On This Day /

Important events in history
on July 31 st

Events

  1. 2014

    1. Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270.

      1. Industrial disaster in Taiwan

        2014 Kaohsiung gas explosions

        On 31 July 2014, a series of gas explosions occurred in the Cianjhen and Lingya districts of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, following reports of gas leaks earlier that night. Thirty-two people were killed and 321 people were injured.

      2. City in southern Taiwan

        Kaohsiung

        Kaohsiung City is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of 2,952 km2 (1,140 sq mi). Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.72 million people as of May 2022 and is Taiwan's third most populous city and largest city in southern Taiwan.

  2. 2012

    1. The largest power outage in history occurred across 22 Indian states, affecting more than 620 million people, or about 9 percent of the world's population.

      1. 2012 power outage in India

        2012 India blackouts

        Two severe power blackouts affected most of northern and eastern India on 30 and 31 July 2012. The 30 July 2012 blackout affected over 400 million people and was briefly the largest power outage in history by number of people affected, beating the January 2001 blackout in Northern India. The blackout on 31 July is the largest power outage in history. The outage affected more than 620 million people, about 9% of the world population, or half of India's population, spread across 22 states in Northern, Eastern, and Northeast India. An estimated 32 gigawatts of generating capacity was taken offline. Of the affected population, 320 million initially had power, while the rest lacked direct access. Electric service was restored in the affected locations between 31 July and 1 August 2012.

      2. Indian national administrative subdivisions

        States and union territories of India

        India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions.

    2. Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.

      1. American swimmer (born 1985)

        Michael Phelps

        Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). When Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps already tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games by winning six gold and two bronze medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.

      2. Soviet gymnast (born 1934)

        Larisa Latynina

        Larisa Semyonovna Latynina is a former Soviet artistic gymnast. Between 1956 and 1964 she won 14 individual Olympic medals and four team medals. She holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals by a gymnast, male or female, with 9. Her total of 18 Olympic medals was a record for 48 years. She held the record for individual event medals, winning 14 over 52 years. She is credited with helping to establish the Soviet Union as a dominant force in gymnastics.

      3. List of multiple Olympic medalists

        This article provides a list of multiple Olympic medalists, i.e. those athletes who have won multiple Olympic medals at either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games.

  3. 2008

    1. East Coast Jets Flight 81 crashes near Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in Owatonna, Minnesota, killing all eight people on board.

      1. 2008 aviation accident

        East Coast Jets Flight 81

        East Coast Jets Flight 81 was a business jet flight operated by East Coast Jets that crashed on July 31, 2008 while attempting a go-around at Owatonna Degner Regional Airport near Owatonna, Minnesota, killing all eight passengers and crew on board. The flight originated in Atlantic City International Airport, and was scheduled to land in Owatonna. The crew made a go-around attempt after the aircraft touched down, but it overran the runway, hit Approach Lighting System fixtures, stalled and crashed, with the main wreckage coming to rest 2,400 ft (730 m) from the runway end.

      2. Airport serving Owatonna, Minnesota, United States

        Owatonna Degner Regional Airport

        Owatonna Degner Regional Airport is three miles northwest of Owatonna, in Steele County, Minnesota. Its IATA identifier "OWA" comes from the first three letters of the city of Owatonna. The airport is used for general aviation.

      3. City in Minnesota, United States

        Owatonna, Minnesota

        Owatonna is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 25,599 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County Free Fair in August.

  4. 2007

    1. The Troubles: Operation Banner, the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland, ended after 38 years with a military stalemate and ceasefire.

      1. 1960s–1990s conflict in Northern Ireland

        The Troubles

        The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "irregular war" or "low-level war". The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe.

      2. 1969–2007 British military operation in Northern Ireland during the Troubles

        Operation Banner

        Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007, as part of the Troubles. It was the longest continuous deployment in British military history. The British Army was initially deployed, at the request of the unionist government of Northern Ireland, in response to the August 1969 riots. Its role was to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and to assert the authority of the British government in Northern Ireland. This involved counter-insurgency and supporting the police in carrying out internal security duties such as guarding key points, mounting checkpoints and patrols, carrying out raids and searches, riot control and bomb disposal. More than 300,000 soldiers served in Operation Banner. At the peak of the operation in the 1970s, about 21,000 British troops were deployed, most of them from Great Britain. As part of the operation, a new locally-recruited regiment was also formed: the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR).

      3. UK military forces

        British Armed Forces

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

    2. Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.

      1. 1969–2007 British military operation in Northern Ireland during the Troubles

        Operation Banner

        Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007, as part of the Troubles. It was the longest continuous deployment in British military history. The British Army was initially deployed, at the request of the unionist government of Northern Ireland, in response to the August 1969 riots. Its role was to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and to assert the authority of the British government in Northern Ireland. This involved counter-insurgency and supporting the police in carrying out internal security duties such as guarding key points, mounting checkpoints and patrols, carrying out raids and searches, riot control and bomb disposal. More than 300,000 soldiers served in Operation Banner. At the peak of the operation in the 1970s, about 21,000 British troops were deployed, most of them from Great Britain. As part of the operation, a new locally-recruited regiment was also formed: the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR).

      2. Part of the United Kingdom on the island of Ireland

        Northern Ireland

        Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2021, its population was 1,903,100, making up about 27% of Ireland's population and about 3% of the UK's population. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the UK Government. Northern Ireland cooperates with the Republic of Ireland in several areas.

  5. 2006

    1. Following intestinal surgery, Fidel Castro provisionally transferred the duties of the Cuban presidency to his brother Raúl.

      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. 2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties

        The 2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties was the handover of the title of president and presidential duties from longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro to his brother Raúl Castro, the next-in-line-of-succession person in Cuba, following Fidel's operation and recovery from an undisclosed digestive illness believed to be diverticulitis. Although Raúl Castro exercised the duties of president, Fidel Castro retained the title of President of the Council of State of Cuba and President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, during this period.

      3. 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.

      4. Leader of Cuba from 2011 to 2021

        Raúl Castro

        Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro.

    2. Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.

      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. Leader of Cuba from 2011 to 2021

        Raúl Castro

        Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro.

  6. 2002

    1. Hamas detonated a bomb at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, killing nine students and injuring about 100 more.

      1. Palestinian Sunni Islamic militant nationalist organization

        Hamas

        Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. It won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and became the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip following the 2007 Battle of Gaza. It also holds a majority in the parliament of the Palestinian National Authority.

      2. Hamas bombing in 2002

        Hebrew University bombing

        The Hebrew University bombing or the Hebrew University massacre was a terror attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas which occurred on 31 July 2002 in a cafeteria at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The attack killed 9 people, including 5 U.S. students, and injured about 100. It was carried out by an East Jerusalem-based Hamas cell whose members are serving multiple life sentences in Israeli prisons for that attack and others. The attack, which sparked a celebration in Gaza City, was condemned by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and several countries.

      3. Mountain in northeast Jerusalem

        Mount Scopus

        Mount Scopus is a mountain in northeast Jerusalem.

      4. Israeli public research university in Jerusalem

        Hebrew University of Jerusalem

        The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened in April 1925. It is the second-oldest Israeli university, having been founded 30 years before the establishment of the State of Israel. The HUJI has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest library for Jewish studies—the National Library of Israel—is located on its Edmond J. Safra campus in the Givat Ram neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

  7. 2000

    1. Three years after being hit by a mudslide, the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Hong Kong fully reopened.

      1. Form of mass wasting

        Mudflow

        A mudflow or mud flow is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/second. Mudflows contain a significant proportion of clay, which makes them more fluid than debris flows, allowing them to travel farther and across lower slope angles. Both types of flow are generally mixtures of particles with a wide range of sizes, which typically become sorted by size upon deposition.

      2. Buddhist temple in Hong Kong

        Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

        The Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery is a mid-20th century Buddhist temple located in Sha Tin, Hong Kong, at 220 Pai Tau Village. Its designation as a monastery is actually a misnomer because there are no monks residing at the complex, which is managed solely by laypersons. Both the main temple building and the pagoda are listed as Grade III historic buildings by the Government of Hong Kong.

  8. 1999

    1. Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the Moon's surface.

      1. Ongoing solar system exploration program by NASA

        Discovery Program

        The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office. The cost of each mission is capped at a lower level than missions from NASA's New Frontiers or Flagship Programs. As a result, Discovery missions tend to be more focused on a specific scientific goal rather than serving a general purpose.

      2. Third mission of the Discovery program; polar orbital reconnaissance of the Moon

        Lunar Prospector

        Lunar Prospector was the third mission selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including mapping of surface composition including Lunar hydrogen deposits, measurements of magnetic and gravity fields, and study of lunar outgassing events. The mission ended July 31, 1999, when the orbiter was deliberately crashed into a crater near the lunar south pole, after the presence of hydrogen was successfully detected.

      3. American space and aeronautics agency

        NASA

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

  9. 1997

    1. FedEx Express Flight 14 crashes at Newark International Airport, injuring five.

      1. 1997 plane crash in Newark, New Jersey, U.S.

        FedEx Express Flight 14

        FedEx Express Flight 14 was a scheduled cargo flight from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey, via Malaysia, Taiwan, and Alaska. On July 31, 1997, the aircraft flying this route crashed during landing on its final segment at Newark International Airport (EWR), inverting and catching fire, injuring all five people on board.

      2. Airport in Newark, New Jersey

        Newark Liberty International Airport

        Newark Liberty International Airport, originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union County, New Jersey. Located about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of downtown Newark, it is a major gateway to points in Europe, South America, Asia, and Oceania. It is jointly owned by the cities and leased to its operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It is the second-busiest airport in the New York airport system, behind John F. Kennedy International Airport.

  10. 1992

    1. The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations.

      1. Country straddling Western Asia and Eastern Europe in the Caucusus

        Georgia (country)

        Georgia is a transcontinental country at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, by Russia to the north and northeast, by Turkey to the southwest, by Armenia to the south, and by Azerbaijan to the southeast. The country covers an area of 69,700 square kilometres (26,900 sq mi), and has a population of 3.7 million people. Tbilisi is its capital as well as its largest city, home to roughly a third of the Georgian population.

      2. Intergovernmental organization

        United Nations

        The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the world's largest and most familiar international organization. The UN is headquartered on international territory in New York City, and has other main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague.

    2. Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.

      1. 1992 aviation accident in Kathmandu

        Thai Airways International Flight 311

        Thai Airways International Flight 311 was a flight from Bangkok, Thailand's Don Mueang International Airport to Kathmandu, Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport. On Friday, 31 July 1992, an Airbus A310-304 on the route, registration HS-TID, crashed on approach to Kathmandu. At 07:00:26 UTC, the aircraft crashed into the side of a mountain 37 kilometres (23 mi) north of Kathmandu at an altitude of 11,500 ft (3,505 m) and a ground speed of 300 knots, killing all 99 passengers and 14 crew members on board. This was both the first hull loss and the first fatal accident involving the Airbus A310.

      2. Capital and largest city in Nepal

        Kathmandu

        Kathmandu, officially Kathmandu Metropolitan City, is the capital and most populous city of Nepal with 845,767 inhabitants living in 105,649 households in 2021 and 2.9 million people in its urban agglomeration. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley, a large valley in the high plateaus in central Nepal, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.

      3. Country in South Asia

        Nepal

        Nepal, formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India in the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the largest city.

    3. China General Aviation Flight 7552 crashes during takeoff from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport, killing 108.

      1. 1992 passenger plane crash in Nanjing, China

        China General Aviation Flight 7552

        China General Aviation Flight 7552 was a China General Aviation flight from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport to Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport. On July 31, 1992, the Yakovlev Yak-42D overran runway 06 during takeoff and impacted an embankment at 210 kilometres per hour, 420 metres (1,380 ft) from the threshold.

      2. Former airport in China (1934–2015)

        Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport

        Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport was an airport for Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province and former capital of the Republic of China. It is located 6.2 kilometres (3.9 mi) south of Xinjiekou, the center of Nanjing, and is surrounded on three sides by the Qinhuai River.

  11. 1991

    1. Soviet Special Purpose Police Unit troops killed seven Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious attack of their campaign against Lithuanian border posts.

      1. Russian special police units

        OMON

        OMON is a system of special police units within the National Guard of Russia. It previously operated within the structures of the Soviet and Russian Ministries of Internal Affairs (MVD). Originating as the special forces unit of the Soviet Militsiya in 1988, it has played major roles in several armed conflicts during and following the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union.

      2. Village in Lithuania

        Medininkai

        Medininkai is a village in Lithuania, located 29 km (18 mi) from Vilnius and 2 km (1.2 mi) from the Lithuanian–Belarusian border.

      3. Assaults on the Lithuanian border in 1990-1991

        Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts

        Several Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts occurred in 1991, after Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union on 11 March 1990. As a Soviet republic, the Lithuanian SSR did not have a state border with customs or checkpoints. The newly declared Republic of Lithuania began establishing the State Border Guard Service, before it was internationally recognized on 27 August 1991 by the states of the European Community. These posts also became a symbol of its struggle for independence. The Soviet government viewed the customs posts as illegal and sent the OMON troops to harass the posts, especially those along the eastern border with Belarus. The unarmed custom officers and armed policemen were intimidated, beaten or killed, their cars were stolen or bombed, the posts were burned down or wrecked, and work of the checkpoints was otherwise disrupted. Two of the incidents resulted in the deaths of a total of eight Lithuanian citizens. In total, about 60 officers were attacked and injured, and 23 border posts were burned or destroyed.

    2. The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles.

      1. Country in Eurasia (1922–1991)

        Soviet Union

        The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics; in practice, both its government and its economy were highly centralized until its final years. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the city of Moscow serving as its capital as well as that of its largest and most populous republic: the Russian SFSR. Other major cities included Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It was the largest country in the world, covering over 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi) and spanning eleven time zones.

      2. 1991 Soviet Union–United States arms control treaty

        START I

        START I was a bilateral treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the reduction and the limitation of strategic offensive arms. The treaty was signed on 31 July 1991 and entered into force on 5 December 1994. The treaty barred its signatories from deploying more than 6,000 nuclear warheads and a total of 1,600 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and bombers.

  12. 1988

    1. Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.

      1. 1988 disaster in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia

        Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal bridge collapse

        The Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal bridge collapse was a disaster of the Penang Ferry Service which occurred on 31 July 1988, at the Sultan Abdul Halim Ferry Terminal in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia. The collapse caused the deaths of 32 people and injured 1,634 people. It was blamed on overcrowding and the jetty being made out of steel bars that led to the collapse.

      2. Town in Malaysia

        Butterworth, Seberang Perai

        Butterworth is the largest urban town in the city of Seberang Perai, Penang, Malaysia. It lies about 3 km (1.9 mi) east of George Town, the capital city of Penang, across the Penang Strait. As of 2021, Butterworth has a total population of 107,591 residents.

      3. Country in Southeast Asia

        Malaysia

        Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital, largest city and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government. The nearby planned capital of Putrajaya is the administrative capital, which represents the seat of both the executive branch and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 32 million, Malaysia is the world's 45th-most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia is in Tanjung Piai. In the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries, home to numerous endemic species.

  13. 1987

    1. A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people.

      1. 1987 tornado in Alberta, Canada

        Edmonton tornado

        The Edmonton tornado of 1987, an event also known as Black Friday to Edmontonians, was a powerful and devastating tornado that ripped through the eastern parts of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and parts of neighbouring Strathcona County on the afternoon of Friday, July 31, 1987. It was one of seven other tornadoes in central Alberta the same day.

      2. Capital and second largest city of Alberta

        Edmonton

        Edmonton is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchors the north end of what Statistics Canada defines as the "Calgary–Edmonton Corridor".

      3. Province of Canada

        Alberta

        Alberta is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories (NWT) to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. It is one of the only two landlocked provinces in Canada. The eastern part of the province is occupied by the Great Plains, while the western part borders the Rocky Mountains. The province has a predominantly continental climate but experiences quick temperature changes due to air aridity. Seasonal temperature swings are less pronounced in western Alberta due to occasional Chinook winds.

  14. 1975

    1. The Troubles: In a botched paramilitary attack, three members of the popular Miami Showband and two Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen were killed in County Down, Northern Ireland.

      1. 1960s–1990s conflict in Northern Ireland

        The Troubles

        The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "irregular war" or "low-level war". The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe.

      2. 1975 mass murder in Northern Ireland

        Miami Showband killings

        The Miami Showband killings was an attack on 31 July 1975 by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. Five people were killed, including three members of The Miami Showband, who were one of Ireland's most popular cabaret bands.

      3. Musical artist

        The Miami Showband

        The Miami Showband were an Irish showband in the 1960s and 1970s led firstly in 1962 by singer Jimmy Harte, followed by Dickie Rock and later by Fran O'Toole. They had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart.

      4. Ulster loyalist paramilitary group formed in 1965

        Ulster Volunteer Force

        The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. The group is a proscribed organisation and is on the terrorist organisation list of the United Kingdom.

      5. County in Northern Ireland

        County Down

        County Down is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of 961 sq mi (2,490 km2) and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east, County Armagh to the west, and County Louth across Carlingford Lough to the southwest.

    2. The Troubles: Three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland.

      1. 1975 mass murder in Northern Ireland

        Miami Showband killings

        The Miami Showband killings was an attack on 31 July 1975 by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. Five people were killed, including three members of The Miami Showband, who were one of Ireland's most popular cabaret bands.

      2. Part of the United Kingdom on the island of Ireland

        Northern Ireland

        Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2021, its population was 1,903,100, making up about 27% of Ireland's population and about 3% of the UK's population. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the UK Government. Northern Ireland cooperates with the Republic of Ireland in several areas.

  15. 1973

    1. A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.

      1. Airline of the United States

        Delta Air Lines

        Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along with its subsidiaries and regional affiliates, including Delta Connection, operates over 5,400 flights daily and serves 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance.

      2. 1973 aviation accident in Massachusetts, United States

        Delta Air Lines Flight 723

        Delta Air Lines Flight 723 was a Douglas DC-9 twin-engine jetliner, operating as a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Burlington, Vermont to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, with an intermediate stop in Manchester, New Hampshire. On July 31, 1973 at 11:08 AM, while on an instrument landing system (ILS) instrument approach into Logan in low clouds and fog, the aircraft descended below the glidepath, struck a seawall and crashed, killing all 89 occupants; two people initially survived, but later died of their injuries.

      3. Civil airport in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

        Logan International Airport

        General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport, also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts. It opened in 1923, covers 2,384 acres (965 ha), has six runways and four passenger terminals, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the largest airport in both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the New England region in terms of passenger volume and cargo handling as well as the busiest airport in the Northeastern United States outside the New York metropolitan area. The airport saw 42 million passengers in 2019, the most in its history. It is named after General Edward Lawrence Logan, a 20th-century war hero native to Boston.

  16. 1972

    1. The Troubles: Hours after the British Army's Operation Motorman brought an end to the autonomous self-declared area of Free Derry in Northern Ireland, three car bombs exploded in the village of Claudy.

      1. 1960s–1990s conflict in Northern Ireland

        The Troubles

        The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "irregular war" or "low-level war". The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe.

      2. Land warfare force of the United Kingdom

        British Army

        The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. As of 2022, the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas, and 28,330 volunteer reserve personnel.

      3. 1972 British Army operation in Northern Irish cities during the Troubles

        Operation Motorman

        Operation Motorman was a large operation carried out by the British Army in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The operation took place in the early hours of 31 July 1972 with the aim of retaking the "no-go areas" that had been established in Belfast and other urban centres. In Derry, Operation Carcan, initially proposed as a separate operation, was executed as part of Motorman.

      4. Self-declared autonomous Irish nationalist area of Derry 1969–1972

        Free Derry

        Free Derry was a self-declared autonomous Irish nationalist area of Derry, Northern Ireland, that existed between 1969 and 1972, during the Troubles. It emerged during the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, which sought to end discrimination against the Irish Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government. The civil rights movement highlighted the sectarianism and police brutality of the overwhelmingly Protestant police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). The area, which included the mainly-Catholic Bogside and Creggan neighbourhoods, was first secured by community activists on 5 January 1969 following an incursion into the Bogside by RUC officers. Residents built barricades and carried clubs and similar arms to prevent the RUC from entering. Its name was taken from a sign painted on a gable wall in the Bogside which read, "You are now entering Free Derry". For six days the area was a no-go area, after which the residents took down the barricades and RUC patrols resumed. Tensions remained high over the following months.

      5. 1972 terror attack in Claudy, Northern Ireland during the Troubles

        Claudy bombing

        The Claudy bombing occurred on 31 July 1972, when three car bombs exploded mid-morning, two on Main Street and one on Church Street in Claudy in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The attack killed nine civilians, injured thirty and became known as "Bloody Monday". Those who planted the bombs had attempted to send a warning before the explosions took place. The warning was delayed, however, because the telephones were out of order due to an earlier bomb attack. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued an immediate denial of responsibility, and later stated that "an internal court of inquiry" had found that its local unit did not carry out the attack. On the thirtieth anniversary of the bombing, there was a review of the case and in December 2002 it was revealed that the IRA had been responsible for the bomb explosions.

      6. Human settlement in Northern Ireland

        Claudy

        Claudy is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies in the Faughan Valley, 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Derry, where the River Glenrandal joins the River Faughan. It is situated in the civil parish of Cumber Upper and the historic barony of Tirkeeran. It is also part of Derry and Strabane district.

    2. The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy.

      1. 1960s–1990s conflict in Northern Ireland

        The Troubles

        The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "irregular war" or "low-level war". The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe.

      2. 1972 British Army operation in Northern Irish cities during the Troubles

        Operation Motorman

        Operation Motorman was a large operation carried out by the British Army in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The operation took place in the early hours of 31 July 1972 with the aim of retaking the "no-go areas" that had been established in Belfast and other urban centres. In Derry, Operation Carcan, initially proposed as a separate operation, was executed as part of Motorman.

      3. Area where authorities are unable to enforce law or sovereignty

        No-go area

        A "no-go area" or "no-go zone" is a neighborhood or other geographic area where some or all outsiders are either physically prevented from entering or can enter at risk. The term includes exclusion zones, which are areas that are officially kept off-limits by the government, such as border zones and military exclusion zones. It also includes areas held by violent non-state actors, such as paramilitary, organized crime and terrorist organizations. In some cases, these areas have been held by insurgent organizations attempting to topple the government, such as Free Derry, an area in Northern Ireland that was held by the Irish Republican Army from 1969 to 1972. In other cases, the areas simply coexist alongside the state; an example is Kowloon Walled City, an area in Hong Kong essentially ruled by triad organizations from the 1950s to the 1970s.

      4. Part of the United Kingdom on the island of Ireland

        Northern Ireland

        Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2021, its population was 1,903,100, making up about 27% of Ireland's population and about 3% of the UK's population. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the UK Government. Northern Ireland cooperates with the Republic of Ireland in several areas.

      5. 1956 invasion of Egypt by Israel, the United Kingdom and France

        Suez Crisis

        The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was an invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel, followed by the United Kingdom and France. The aims were to regain control of the Suez Canal for the Western powers and to remove Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had just swiftly nationalised the foreign-owned Suez Canal Company, which administered the canal. Israel's primary objective was to re-open the blocked Straits of Tiran. After the fighting had started, political pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders. The episode humiliated the United Kingdom and France and strengthened Nasser.

      6. 1919–1921 war between Irish and British forces

        Irish War of Independence

        The Irish War of Independence or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-military Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and its paramilitary forces the Auxiliaries and Ulster Special Constabulary (USC). It was part of the Irish revolutionary period.

      7. 1972 terror attack in Claudy, Northern Ireland during the Troubles

        Claudy bombing

        The Claudy bombing occurred on 31 July 1972, when three car bombs exploded mid-morning, two on Main Street and one on Church Street in Claudy in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The attack killed nine civilians, injured thirty and became known as "Bloody Monday". Those who planted the bombs had attempted to send a warning before the explosions took place. The warning was delayed, however, because the telephones were out of order due to an earlier bomb attack. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued an immediate denial of responsibility, and later stated that "an internal court of inquiry" had found that its local unit did not carry out the attack. On the thirtieth anniversary of the bombing, there was a review of the case and in December 2002 it was revealed that the IRA had been responsible for the bomb explosions.

      8. Human settlement in Northern Ireland

        Claudy

        Claudy is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies in the Faughan Valley, 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Derry, where the River Glenrandal joins the River Faughan. It is situated in the civil parish of Cumber Upper and the historic barony of Tirkeeran. It is also part of Derry and Strabane district.

  17. 1971

    1. Apollo program: the Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.

      1. 1961–1972 American crewed lunar exploration program

        Apollo program

        The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the third United States human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which succeeded in preparing and landing the first humans on the Moon from 1968 to 1972. It was first conceived in 1960 during President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration as a three-person spacecraft to follow the one-person Project Mercury, which put the first Americans in space. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal for the 1960s of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in an address to Congress on May 25, 1961. It was the third US human spaceflight program to fly, preceded by the two-person Project Gemini conceived in 1961 to extend spaceflight capability in support of Apollo.

      2. Fourth crewed mission to land on the Moon

        Apollo 15

        Apollo 15 was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greater focus on science than earlier landings. Apollo 15 saw the first use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle.

      3. Vehicle that travels on the moon's surface

        Lunar rover

        A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo Program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. Other rovers have been partially or fully autonomous robots, such as the Soviet Union's Lunokhods and the Chinese Yutus. Three countries have had operating rovers on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States and China. An Indian mission failed while Japan and Greece currently have planned missions.

  18. 1970

    1. Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.

      1. Last day on which rum was issued to Royal Navy sailors (31 July 1970)

        Black Tot Day

        Black Tot Day was the last day on which the Royal Navy issued sailors with a daily rum ration.

      2. Distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane

        Rum

        Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Philippines, where Tanduay is the largest producer of rum globally.

      3. Naval warfare force of the United Kingdom

        Royal Navy

        The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service.

  19. 1966

    1. The pleasure cruiser MV Darlwyne disappeared off the coast of Cornwall with the loss of all 31 people aboard.

      1. Pleasure cruiser sinking off the Cornish coast in 1966

        Loss of MV Darlwyne

        MV Darlwyne was a pleasure cruiser, a converted Royal Navy picket boat, that disappeared off the Cornish coast on 31 July 1966 with its complement of thirty-one. Twelve bodies and a few artefacts were later recovered, but the rest of the victims and the main body of the wreck were never found.

      2. County of England

        Cornwall

        Cornwall is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, with the River Tamar forming the border between them. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula of the island of Great Britain. The southwesternmost point is Land's End and the southernmost Lizard Point. Cornwall has a population of 568,210 and an area of 3,563 km2 (1,376 sq mi). The county has been administered since 2009 by the unitary authority, Cornwall Council. The ceremonial county of Cornwall also includes the Isles of Scilly, which are administered separately. The administrative centre of Cornwall is Truro, its only city.

    2. The pleasure cruiser MV Darlwyne disappeared off the Cornwall coast with the loss of all 31 aboard.

      1. Pleasure cruiser sinking off the Cornish coast in 1966

        Loss of MV Darlwyne

        MV Darlwyne was a pleasure cruiser, a converted Royal Navy picket boat, that disappeared off the Cornish coast on 31 July 1966 with its complement of thirty-one. Twelve bodies and a few artefacts were later recovered, but the rest of the victims and the main body of the wreck were never found.

      2. County of England

        Cornwall

        Cornwall is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, with the River Tamar forming the border between them. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula of the island of Great Britain. The southwesternmost point is Land's End and the southernmost Lizard Point. Cornwall has a population of 568,210 and an area of 3,563 km2 (1,376 sq mi). The county has been administered since 2009 by the unitary authority, Cornwall Council. The ceremonial county of Cornwall also includes the Isles of Scilly, which are administered separately. The administrative centre of Cornwall is Truro, its only city.

  20. 1964

    1. Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.

      1. American unmanned lunar space missions in the 1960s

        Ranger program

        The Ranger program was a series of unmanned space missions by the United States in the 1960s whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon. The Ranger spacecraft were designed to take images of the lunar surface, transmitting those images to Earth until the spacecraft were destroyed upon impact. A series of mishaps, however, led to the failure of the first six flights. At one point, the program was called "shoot and hope". Congress launched an investigation into "problems of management" at NASA Headquarters and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. After two reorganizations of the agencies, Ranger 7 successfully returned images in July 1964, followed by two more successful missions.

      2. United States lunar space probe

        Ranger 7

        Ranger 7 was the first space probe of the United States to successfully transmit close images of the lunar surface back to Earth. It was also the first completely successful flight of the Ranger program. Launched on July 28, 1964, Ranger 7 was designed to achieve a lunar-impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact.

      3. Natural satellite orbiting the Earth

        Moon

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

      4. Optical instrument that makes distant objects appear magnified

        Telescope

        A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe distant objects, the word telescope now refers to a wide range of instruments capable of detecting different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, and in some cases other types of detectors.

  21. 1954

    1. A team of Italian climbers became the first to reach the summit of K2 (pictured), the world's second-highest mountain.

      1. First successful attempt to climb second-highest mountain on Earth

        1954 Italian expedition to K2

        On 31 July 1954, Italian climbers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli became the first people to reach the summit of K2, the second highest mountain in the world after Mount Everest.

      2. 2nd-highest mountain on Earth

        K2

        K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 ft) above sea level, is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest. It lies in the Karakoram range, partially in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and partially in a China-administered territory of the Kashmir region included in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang.

      3. Wikimedia list article

        List of highest mountains on Earth

        Currently, There are at least 108 mountains on Earth with elevations of 7,200 metres (23,622 ft) or greater above sea level. The vast majority of these mountains are located on the edge of the Indian and Eurasian plates in China, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

  22. 1948

    1. At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.

      1. Major U.S. airport in New York City

        John F. Kennedy International Airport

        John F. Kennedy International Airport is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New York airport system, the 13th-busiest airport in the United States, and the busiest international air passenger gateway into North America. Over 90 airlines operate from the airport, with nonstop or direct flights to destinations in all six inhabited continents.

    2. USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.

      1. Dreadnought battleship of the United States Navy

        USS Nevada (BB-36)

        USS Nevada (BB-36), the third United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships. Launched in 1914, Nevada was a leap forward in dreadnought technology; four of her new features would be included on almost every subsequent US battleship: triple gun turrets, oil in place of coal for fuel, geared steam turbines for greater range, and the "all or nothing" armor principle. These features made Nevada, alongside her sister ship Oklahoma, the first US Navy "standard-type" battleships.

  23. 1945

    1. Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.

      1. French politician (1883-1945)

        Pierre Laval

        Pierre Jean Marie Laval was a French politician. During the Third Republic, he served as Prime Minister of France from 27 January 1931 to 20 February 1932 and 7 June 1935 to 24 January 1936. He again occupied the post during the German occupation, from 18 April 1942 to 20 August 1944.

      2. Client state of Nazi Germany (1940–1944)

        Vichy France

        Vichy France, officially the French State, was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its territory occupied under harsh terms of the armistice, it adopted a policy of collaboration with Nazi Germany, which occupied the northern and western portions before occupying the remainder of Metropolitan France in November 1942. Though Paris was ostensibly its capital, the collaborationist Vichy government established itself in the resort town of Vichy in the unoccupied "Free Zone", where it remained responsible for the civil administration of France as well as its colonies.

      3. Grouping of the victorious countries of the war

        Allies of World War II

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

  24. 1941

    1. The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring authorised SS General Reinhard Heydrich to handle preparations for "the Final Solution of the Jewish question".

      1. Genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany

        The Holocaust

        The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were carried out in pogroms and mass shootings; by a policy of extermination through labor in concentration camps; and in gas chambers and gas vans in German extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bełżec, Chełmno, Majdanek, Sobibór, and Treblinka in occupied Poland.

      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. Nazi German politician and military leader

        Hermann Göring

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

      4. Nazi paramilitary organization

        Schutzstaffel

        The Schutzstaffel was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II.

      5. Nazi high official and deputy head of the SS (1904–1942)

        Reinhard Heydrich

        Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust.

      6. Nazi plan for the genocide of Jews

        Final Solution

        The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a Nazi plan for the genocide of Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official code name for the murder of all Jews within reach, which was not restricted to the European continent. This policy of deliberate and systematic genocide starting across German-occupied Europe was formulated in procedural and geopolitical terms by Nazi leadership in January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference held near Berlin, and culminated in the Holocaust, which saw the murder of 90% of Polish Jews, and two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe.

      7. Debate about the status of Jews in Europe

        Jewish question

        The Jewish question, also referred to as the Jewish problem, was a wide-ranging debate in 19th- and 20th-century European society that pertained to the appropriate status and treatment of Jews. The debate, which was similar to other "national questions", dealt with the civil, legal, national, and political status of Jews as a minority within society, particularly in Europe during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

    2. The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question."

      1. Genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany

        The Holocaust

        The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were carried out in pogroms and mass shootings; by a policy of extermination through labor in concentration camps; and in gas chambers and gas vans in German extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bełżec, Chełmno, Majdanek, Sobibór, and Treblinka in occupied Poland.

      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. German fascist ideology

        Nazism

        Nazism, the common name in English for National Socialism, is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Nazi Germany. During Hitler's rise to power in 1930s Europe, it was frequently referred to as Hitlerism. The later related term "neo-Nazism" is applied to other far-right groups with similar ideas which formed after the Second World War.

      4. Nazi German politician and military leader

        Hermann Göring

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

      5. Nazi paramilitary organization

        Schutzstaffel

        The Schutzstaffel was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II.

      6. Nazi high official and deputy head of the SS (1904–1942)

        Reinhard Heydrich

        Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust.

      7. Nazi plan for the genocide of Jews

        Final Solution

        The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a Nazi plan for the genocide of Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official code name for the murder of all Jews within reach, which was not restricted to the European continent. This policy of deliberate and systematic genocide starting across German-occupied Europe was formulated in procedural and geopolitical terms by Nazi leadership in January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference held near Berlin, and culminated in the Holocaust, which saw the murder of 90% of Polish Jews, and two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe.

      8. Ethnoreligious group and nation from the Levant

        Jews

        Jews or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah. Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the ethnic religion of the Jewish people, although its observance varies from strict to none.

    3. World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.

      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. 1941 battle on the Eastern Front of World War II

        Battle of Smolensk (1941)

        The first Battle of Smolensk was a battle during the second phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, in World War II. It was fought around the city of Smolensk between 10 July and 10 September 1941, about 400 km (250 mi) west of Moscow. The Ostheer had advanced 500 km (310 mi) into the USSR in the 18 days after the invasion on 22 June 1941.

      3. 1918–1946 Russian then Soviet army and air force

        Red Army

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

  25. 1938

    1. Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).

      1. Country in Southeast Europe

        Bulgaria

        Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. Bulgaria covers a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), and is the sixteenth-largest country in Europe. Sofia is the nation's capital and largest city; other major cities are Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas.

      2. Country straddling Western Asia and Southeastern Europe

        Turkey

        Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It shares borders with the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Cyprus is located off the south coast. Turks form the vast majority of the nation's population and Kurds are the largest minority. Ankara is Turkey's capital, while Istanbul is its largest city and financial centre.

      3. 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.

      4. 1918–1992 country in Southeastern Europe

        Yugoslavia

        Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe and Central Europe for most of the 20th century. It came into existence after World War I in 1918 under the name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by the merger of the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs with the Kingdom of Serbia, and constituted the first union of the South Slavic people as a sovereign state, following centuries in which the region had been part of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Peter I of Serbia was its first sovereign. The kingdom gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The official name of the state was changed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929.

    2. Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.

      1. Chemical element, symbol Au and atomic number 79

        Gold

        Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal in a pure form. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver, naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium, and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium.

      2. Chemical element, symbol Ag and atomic number 47

        Silver

        Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. The metal is found in the Earth's crust in the pure, free elemental form, as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining.

      3. King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 522 to 486 BCE

        Darius the Great

        Darius I, commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of Western Asia, parts of the Balkans and the Caucasus, most of the Black Sea's coastal regions, Central Asia, the Indus Valley in the far east, and portions of North Africa and Northeast Africa including Egypt (Mudrâya), eastern Libya, and coastal Sudan.

      4. Ceremonial capital city of the Achaemenid Persian Empire

        Persepolis

        Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by southern Zagros mountains of the Iranian plateau. Modern day Shiraz is situated 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of the ruins of Persepolis. The earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BC. It exemplifies the Achaemenid style of architecture. UNESCO declared the ruins of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979.

  26. 1932

    1. The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.

      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. July 1932 German federal election

        Federal elections were held in Germany on 31 July 1932, following the premature dissolution of the Reichstag. The Nazi Party made significant gains and became the largest party in the Reichstag for the first time, although they failed to win a majority. The Communist Party increased their vote share as well. The two parties jointly controlled a majority of the seats in the Reichstag, meaning no majority coalition government could be formed without including at least one of them.

  27. 1917

    1. First World War: The Battle of Passchendaele began near Ypres, Belgium, with the Allies aiming to force German troops to withdraw from the Channel Ports.

      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. Military campaign of the First World War

        Battle of Passchendaele

        The Third Battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele, was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917, for control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders, as part of a strategy decided by the Allies at conferences in November 1916 and May 1917. Passchendaele lies on the last ridge east of Ypres, 5 mi (8.0 km) from Roulers, a junction of the Bruges-(Brugge)-to-Kortrijk railway. The station at Roulers was on the main supply route of the German 4th Army. Once Passchendaele Ridge had been captured, the Allied advance was to continue to a line from Thourout to Couckelaere (Koekelare).

      3. City in West Flanders, Belgium

        Ypres

        Ypres is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name Ieper is the official one, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to about 34,900 inhabitants.

      4. Countries that fought against the Central Powers

        Allies of World War I

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

      5. Channel Ports

        The Channel Ports are seaports in southern England and the facing continent, which allow for short crossings of the English Channel. There is no formal definition, but there is a general understanding of the term. Some ferry companies divide their routes into "short" and "long" crossings. The broadest definition might be from Plymouth east to Kent and from Roscoff to Zeebrugge although a tighter definition would exclude ports west of Newhaven and Dieppe. A historic group of such ports is the Cinque Ports of south-east England, most of which have ceased to be commercial ports.

    2. World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.

      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. Military campaign of the First World War

        Battle of Passchendaele

        The Third Battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele, was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917, for control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders, as part of a strategy decided by the Allies at conferences in November 1916 and May 1917. Passchendaele lies on the last ridge east of Ypres, 5 mi (8.0 km) from Roulers, a junction of the Bruges-(Brugge)-to-Kortrijk railway. The station at Roulers was on the main supply route of the German 4th Army. Once Passchendaele Ridge had been captured, the Allied advance was to continue to a line from Thourout to Couckelaere (Koekelare).

      3. City in West Flanders, Belgium

        Ypres

        Ypres is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name Ieper is the official one, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to about 34,900 inhabitants.

      4. Province of Belgium

        West Flanders

        West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemish province of East Flanders to the east, the Walloon province of Hainaut in the southeast and the French department of Nord to the west. Its capital is Bruges (Brugge). Other important cities are Kortrijk in the south and Ostend (Oostende) on the coast, Roeselare and Ypres (Ieper). The province has an area of 3,197 km2 (1,234 sq mi) which is divided into eight administrative districts (arrondissementen) containing 64 municipalities. As of January 2019, West Flanders has a population of 1,195,796.

      5. Country in Northwestern Europe

        Belgium

        Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376 per square kilometre (970/sq mi). The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.

  28. 1904

    1. Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.

      1. Conflict between the Russian and Japanese empires from 1904 to 1905

        Russo-Japanese War

        The Russo-Japanese War was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1905 over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major theatres of military operations were located in Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden in Southern Manchuria, and the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. Russia sought a warm-water port on the Pacific Ocean both for its navy and for maritime trade. Vladivostok remained ice-free and operational only during the summer; Port Arthur, a naval base in Liaodong Province leased to Russia by the Qing dynasty of China from 1897, was operational year round. Russia had pursued an expansionist policy east of the Urals, in Siberia and the Far East, since the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. Since the end of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Japan had feared Russian encroachment would interfere with its plans to establish a sphere of influence in Korea and Manchuria.

      2. 1904 minor engagement of the Russo-Japanese War

        Battle of Hsimucheng

        The Battle of Hsimucheng was a minor land engagement of the Russo-Japanese War. It was fought on 31 July 1904 near Hsimucheng, a hamlet in today's Ximu Town (析木镇) about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of the strategic junction town of Haicheng, on the main road connecting Haicheng with the coast between elements of the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Russian Army.

      3. Ground-based armed forces of Japan, from 1868 to 1945

        Imperial Japanese Army

        The Imperial Japanese Army was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan as supreme commander of the army and the Imperial Japanese Navy. Later an Inspectorate General of Aviation became the third agency with oversight of the army. During wartime or national emergencies, the nominal command functions of the emperor would be centralized in an Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ), an ad hoc body consisting of the chief and vice chief of the Army General Staff, the Minister of the Army, the chief and vice chief of the Naval General Staff, the Inspector General of Aviation, and the Inspector General of Military Training.

      4. Land armed force of the Russian Empire

        Imperial Russian Army

        The Imperial Russian Army was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Army consisted of more than 900,000 regular soldiers and nearly 250,000 irregulars.

  29. 1874

    1. Dr. Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University.

      1. American Jesuit educator (1834–1910)

        Patrick Francis Healy

        Patrick Francis Healy was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who was an influential president of Georgetown University, becoming known as its "second founder". The university's flagship building, Healy Hall, bears his name. Though he considered himself and was largely accepted as White, Healy was posthumously recognized as the first Black American to become a Jesuit, earn a PhD, and become the president of a predominantly White university.

      2. Ethnic group in the United States

        African Americans

        African Americans are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslaved Africans who are from the United States. While some Black immigrants or their children may also come to identify as African-American, the majority of first generation immigrants do not, preferring to identify with their nation of origin.

      3. Private university in Washington, D.C., United States

        Georgetown University

        Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate schools, including the Walsh School of Foreign Service, McDonough School of Business, Medical School, Law School, and a campus in Qatar. The school's main campus, on a hill above the Potomac River, is identifiable by its flagship Healy Hall, a National Historic Landmark. The school was founded by and is affiliated with the Society of Jesus, and is the oldest Catholic institution of higher education in the United States, though the majority of students presently are not Catholic.

  30. 1865

    1. The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.

      1. Railway line with a gauge less than the standard of 1435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

        Narrow-gauge railway

        A narrow-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard 1,435 mm. Most narrow-gauge railways are between 600 mm and 1,067 mm.

      2. Town in Queensland, Australia

        Grandchester, Queensland

        Grandchester is a rural town and locality in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Grandchester had a population of 444 people.

  31. 1856

    1. Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.

      1. City in the South Island of New Zealand

        Christchurch

        Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / Ōtākaro flows through the centre of the city, with an urban park along its banks. The city's territorial authority population is 389,300 people, and includes a number of smaller urban areas as well as rural areas. The population of the urban area is 377,900 people. Christchurch is the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand, after Auckland. It is the major urban area of an emerging sub-region known informally as Greater Christchurch. Notable smaller urban areas within this sub-region include Rangiora and Kaiapoi in Waimakariri District, north of the Waimakariri River, and Rolleston and Lincoln in Selwyn District to the south.

  32. 1790

    1. The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.

      1. Type of legal protection for an invention

        Patent

        A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention. In most countries, patent rights fall under private law and the patent holder must sue someone infringing the patent in order to enforce their rights. In some industries patents are an essential form of competitive advantage; in others they are irrelevant.

      2. American inventor

        Samuel Hopkins (inventor)

        Samuel Hopkins was an American inventor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, On July 31, 1790, he was granted the first U.S. patent, under the new U.S. patent statute just signed into law by President Washington on April 10, 1790. Hopkins had petitioned for a patent on an improvement "in the making of Pot ash and Pearl ash by a new Apparatus and Process."

      3. Salt mixture

        Potash

        Potash includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. The name derives from pot ash, plant ashes or wood ash soaked in water in a pot, the primary means of manufacturing potash before the Industrial Era. The word potassium is derived from potash.

  33. 1777

    1. The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution commissioning the Marquis de Lafayette (pictured) as a major general in the American revolutionary forces.

      1. 1775–1781 convention of the Thirteen Colonies

        Second Continental Congress

        The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1776 renamed "United States of America." It convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, with representatives from 12 of the colonies. This came shortly after the Battles of Lexington and Concord and was in succession to the First Continental Congress which met from September 5 to October 26, 1774. The Second Congress functioned as a de facto national government at the outset of the Revolutionary War by raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and writing petitions such as the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms and the Olive Branch Petition. All thirteen colonies were represented by the time the Congress adopted the Lee Resolution which declared independence from Britain on July 2, 1776, and the congress agreed to the Declaration of Independence two days later.

      2. French general and politician (1757–1834)

        Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

        Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles, including the siege of Yorktown. After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. He has been considered a national hero in both countries.

      3. Military rank

        Major general

        Major general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a lieutenant general outranking a major general, whereas a major outranks a lieutenant.

      4. Colonial army during the American Revolutionary War

        Continental Army

        The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was established by a resolution of Congress on June 14, 1775. The Continental Army was created to coordinate military efforts of the Colonies in their war for independence against the British, who sought to keep their American lands under control. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war.

    2. The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States."

      1. 1775–1781 convention of the Thirteen Colonies

        Second Continental Congress

        The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1776 renamed "United States of America." It convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, with representatives from 12 of the colonies. This came shortly after the Battles of Lexington and Concord and was in succession to the First Continental Congress which met from September 5 to October 26, 1774. The Second Congress functioned as a de facto national government at the outset of the Revolutionary War by raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and writing petitions such as the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms and the Olive Branch Petition. All thirteen colonies were represented by the time the Congress adopted the Lee Resolution which declared independence from Britain on July 2, 1776, and the congress agreed to the Declaration of Independence two days later.

      2. French general and politician (1757–1834)

        Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

        Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles, including the siege of Yorktown. After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. He has been considered a national hero in both countries.

  34. 1763

    1. Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War.

      1. Indigenous people of North America

        Odawa

        The Odawa, said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They have long had territory that crosses the current border between the two countries, and they are federally recognized as Native American tribes in the United States and have numerous recognized First Nations bands in Canada. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwe and Potawatomi peoples.

      2. 18th century Native American war chief

        Pontiac (Ottawa leader)

        Pontiac or Obwaandi'eyaag was an Odawa war chief known for his role in the war named for him, from 1763 to 1766 leading Native Americans in an armed struggle against the British in the Great Lakes region due to, among other reasons, dissatisfaction with British policies. It followed the British victory in the French and Indian War, the American front of the Seven Years' War. Pontiac's importance in the war that bears his name has been debated. Nineteenth-century accounts portrayed him as the mastermind and leader of the revolt, but some subsequent scholars argued that his role had been exaggerated. Historians today generally view him as an important local leader who influenced a wider movement that he did not command.

      3. Battle of Pontiac's War (1763)

        Battle of Bloody Run

        The Battle of Bloody Run was fought during Pontiac's War on July 31, 1763, on what now is the site of Elmwood Cemetery in the Eastside Historic Cemetery District of Detroit, Michigan. In an attempt to break Pontiac's siege of Fort Detroit, about 250 British troops attempted to make a surprise attack on Pontiac's encampment.

      4. 1763 conflict by Native Americans against the British in Canada

        Pontiac's War

        Pontiac's War was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–1763). Warriors from numerous nations joined in an effort to drive British soldiers and settlers out of the region. The war is named after Odawa leader Pontiac, the most prominent of many indigenous leaders in the conflict.

  35. 1741

    1. Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.

      1. Holy Roman Emperor from 1742 to 1745

        Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor

        Charles VII was the prince-elector of Bavaria from 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 to his death. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach, and his reign as Holy Roman Emperor thus marked the end of three centuries of uninterrupted Habsburg imperial rule although he was related to the Habsburgs by both blood and marriage. After the death of emperor Charles VI in 1740, he claimed the Archduchy of Austria by his marriage to Maria Amalia of Austria, the niece of Charles VI, and was briefly, from 1741 to 1743, as Charles III King of Bohemia. In 1742, he was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Charles VII and ruled until his death three years later.

      2. State of Austria

        Upper Austria

        Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Länder of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg. With an area of 11,982 km2 (4,626 sq mi) and 1.49 million inhabitants, Upper Austria is the fourth-largest Austrian state by land area and the third-largest by population.

      3. Historical region in the Czech Republic

        Bohemia

        Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohemian kings, including Moravia and Czech Silesia, in which case the smaller region is referred to as Bohemia proper as a means of distinction.

  36. 1715

    1. Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.

      1. Spanish treasure fleet

        1715 Treasure Fleet

        The 1715 Treasure Fleet was actually a combination of two Spanish treasure fleets returning from the New World to Spain, the "Nueva España Fleet", under Capt.-General Don Juan Esteban de Ubilla, and the "Tierra Firme Fleet", under Don Antonio de Echeverz y Zubiza. At two in the morning on Wednesday, July 31, 1715, seven days after departing from Havana, Cuba, all eleven ships of the fleet were lost in a hurricane along the east coast of Florida. A 12th ship, the French frigate "Le Grifon", had sailed with the fleet. Its captain was unfamiliar with the Florida coastline and elected to stay further out to sea. The "Grifon" safely returned to Europe.

      2. Capital and largest city of Cuba

        Havana

        Havana is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. The city has a population of 2.3 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of 728.26 km2 (281.18 sq mi) – making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region.

      3. Island country in the Caribbean

        Cuba

        Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola, and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The official area of the Republic of Cuba is 109,884 km2 (42,426 sq mi) but a total of 350,730 km² including the exclusive economic zone. Cuba is the second-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti, with over 11 million inhabitants.

      4. U.S. state

        Florida

        Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba; it is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Spanning 65,758 square miles (170,310 km2), Florida ranks 22nd in area among the 50 states, and with a population of over 21 million, is the third-most populous. The state capital is Tallahassee and the most populous city is Jacksonville. The Miami metropolitan area, with a population of almost 6.2 million, is the most populous urban area in Florida and the ninth-most populous in the United States; other urban conurbations with over one million people are Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville.

  37. 1712

    1. Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clash in the Baltic Sea; the result is inconclusive.

      1. 1712 battle of the Great Northern War

        Action of 31 July 1712

        This battle took place on 31 July 1712 southeast of Rügen, in the Baltic Sea, during the Great Northern War. The site is known as Neues Tief in German, Nydyp in Danish, and Nya Djupet in Swedish. The action was inconclusive.

      2. Conflict between Sweden and Russia

        Great Northern War

        The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I of Russia, Frederick IV of Denmark–Norway and Augustus II the Strong of Saxony–Poland–Lithuania. Frederick IV and Augustus II were defeated by Sweden, under Charles XII, and forced out of the alliance in 1700 and 1706 respectively, but rejoined it in 1709 after the defeat of Charles XII at the Battle of Poltava. George I of Great Britain and the Electorate of Hanover joined the coalition in 1714 for Hanover and in 1717 for Britain, and Frederick William I of Brandenburg-Prussia joined it in 1715.

      3. Sea in Northern Europe

        Baltic Sea

        The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.

  38. 1703

    1. Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.

      1. 17/18th-century English trader, writer and journalist

        Daniel Defoe

        Daniel Defoe was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.

      2. Whipping-post

        Pillory

        The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks.

      3. Criminal offences under English common law

        Seditious libel

        Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order: if the statement is in writing or some other permanent form it is seditious libel. Libel denotes a printed form of communication such as writing or drawing.

      4. Unbound book

        Pamphlet

        A pamphlet is an unbound book. Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a leaflet or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book.

  39. 1667

    1. The Second Anglo-Dutch War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Breda.

      1. Naval conflict from 1665 to 1667

        Second Anglo-Dutch War

        The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, where England tried to end the Dutch domination of world trade during a period of intense European commercial rivalry, but also as a result of political tensions. After initial English successes, the war ended in a Dutch victory. It was the second of a series of naval wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries.

      2. Treaties agreeing peace between England, the Dutch Republic, France and Denmark–Norway

        Treaty of Breda (1667)

        The Peace of Breda, or Treaty of Breda was signed in the Dutch city of Breda, on 31 July 1667. It consisted of three separate treaties between England and each of its opponents in the Second Anglo-Dutch War: the Dutch Republic, France, and Denmark–Norway. It also included a separate Anglo-Dutch commercial agreement.

  40. 1658

    1. Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India.

      1. Mughal emperor from 1658 to 1707

        Aurangzeb

        Muhi al-Din Muhammad, commonly known as Aurangzeb and by his regnal title Alamgir, was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling from July 1658 until his death in 1707. Under his emperorship, the Mughals reached their greatest extent with their territory spanning nearly the entirety of South Asia.

      2. 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.

  41. 1655

    1. Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.

      1. Conflict in Eastern Europe

        Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)

        The Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667, also called the Thirteen Years' War and the First Northern War, was a major conflict between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1655 and 1660, the Swedish invasion was also fought in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and so the period became known in Poland as "The Deluge" or Swedish Deluge.

      2. European state from the 12th century until 1795

        Grand Duchy of Lithuania

        The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lithuanians, who were at the time a polytheistic nation born from several united Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija.

      3. Capital of Lithuania

        Vilnius

        Vilnius is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 as of 2022 or 625,107. The population of Vilnius's functional urban area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 718,507, while according to the Vilnius territorial health insurance fund, there were 753,875 permanent inhabitants as of November 2022 in Vilnius city and Vilnius district municipalities combined. Vilnius is situated in southeastern Lithuania and is the second-largest city in the Baltic states, but according to the Bank of Latvia is expected to become the largest before 2025. It is the seat of Lithuania's national government and the Vilnius District Municipality.

  42. 1618

    1. Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions.

      1. Dutch Republic stadtholder and Prince of Orange (1567–1625)

        Maurice, Prince of Orange

        Maurice of Orange was stadtholder of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince of Orange upon the death of his eldest half-brother Philip William in 1618, he was known as Maurice of Nassau.

      2. City and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands

        Utrecht

        Utrecht is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Netherlands, about 35 km south east of the capital Amsterdam and 45 km north east of Rotterdam. It has a population of 361,966 as of 1 December 2021.

      3. Dutch Reformed Christian movement

        Remonstrants

        The Remonstrants is a Protestant movement that had split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his original views called Arminianism against the proponents of Calvinism. Condemned by the synod of Dort (1618–19), the Remonstrants remained in a small minority in the Netherlands. In the middle of the 19th century, the Remonstrant Brotherhood was influenced by the liberal Dutch theological movement.

      4. Dutch theologian

        Franciscus Gomarus

        Franciscus Gomarus was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius, whose theological disputes were addressed at the Synod of Dort (1618–19).

  43. 1498

    1. On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.

      1. Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer (1451–1506)

        Christopher Columbus

        Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

      2. Larger of the two major islands which make up Trinidad and Tobago

        Trinidad

        Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies 11 km (6.8 mi) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmost island in the West Indies. With an area of 4,768 km2 (1,841 sq mi), it is also the fifth largest in the West Indies.

  44. 1492

    1. All remaining Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.

      1. 1492 decree expulsion of Jews from Spain

        Alhambra Decree

        The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of practising Jews from the Crowns of Castile and Aragon and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year. The primary purpose was to eliminate the influence of practising Jews on Spain's large formerly-Jewish converso New Christian population, to ensure the latter and their descendants did not revert to Judaism. Over half of Spain's Jews had converted as a result of the religious persecution and pogroms which occurred in 1391. Due to continuing attacks, around 50,000 more had converted by 1415. A further number of those remaining chose to convert to avoid expulsion. As a result of the Alhambra decree and persecution in the years leading up to the expulsion, of Spain's estimated 300,000 Jewish origin population, a total of over 200,000 had converted to Catholicism to remain in Spain, and between 40,000 and 100,000 remained Jewish and suffered expulsion. An unknown number of the expelled eventually succumbed to the pressures of life in exile away from formerly-Jewish relatives and networks back in Spain, and so converted to Catholicism to be allowed to return in the years following expulsion.:17

  45. 1451

    1. Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.

      1. 15th-century French government official and merchant

        Jacques Cœur

        Jacques Cœur was a French government official and state-sponsored merchant whose personal fortune became legendary and led to his eventual disgrace. He initiated regular trade routes between France and the Levant. His memory retains iconic status in Bourges, where he built a palatial house that is preserved to this day.

      2. King of France from 1422 to 1461

        Charles VII of France

        Charles VII, called the Victorious or the Well-Served, was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461.

  46. 1423

    1. Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: A Franco-Scottish army is defeated by the Anglo-Burgundians at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.

      1. Anglo-French conflicts, 1337–1453

        Hundred Years' War

        The Hundred Years' War was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagenet and the French royal House of Valois. Over time, the war grew into a broader power struggle involving factions from across Western Europe, fuelled by emerging nationalism on both sides.

      2. 1423 battle of the Hundred Years' War

        Battle of Cravant

        The Battle of Cravant was fought on 31 July 1423, during the Hundred Years' War between English and French forces at the village of Cravant in Burgundy, at a bridge and ford on the banks of the river Yonne, a left-bank tributary of the Seine, southeast of Auxerre. The battle ended in a victory for the English and their Burgundian allies.

      3. Department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

        Yonne

        Yonne is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is located in its northwestern part, bordering Île-de-France. It was created in 1790 during the French Revolution. Its prefecture is Auxerre, with subprefectures in Avallon and Sens. Its INSEE and postcode number is 89.

  47. 1201

    1. Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos.

      1. Usurper of the Byzantine Empire

        John Komnenos the Fat

        John Komnenos, nicknamed "the Fat", was a Byzantine noble who attempted to usurp the imperial throne from Alexios III Angelos in a short-lived coup in Constantinople on 31 July 1201. The coup drew on opposition to the ruling Angelid dynasty among rival aristocratic families and the common people, who were dissatisfied by the dynasty's failures against external foes. John had previously been an obscure figure, but he became the figurehead of the uprising because of his imperial blood, as he was descended from the illustrious Komnenian dynasty (1081–1185). However, the real driving force behind his coup was probably the ambitious Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos. With the support of the capital's populace, the plotters managed to seize most of the Great Palace in Constantinople's southeastern corner, which the mob proceeded to loot, and John Komnenos was crowned in the Hagia Sophia. Alexios III, however, was secure in his residence in the northwestern Palace of Blachernae, and he sent forces by sea to land in the part of the Great Palace still held by the loyal Varangian Guard. Most of the urban mob dispersed for the night, and the Varangians had little difficulty in suppressing the coup. John Komnenos was captured and executed with many of his followers.

      2. Byzantine emperor from 1195 to 1203

        Alexios III Angelos

        Alexios III Angelos was Byzantine Emperor from March 1195 to 17/18 July 1203. He reigned under the name Alexios Komnenos, associating himself with the Komnenos dynasty. A member of the extended imperial family, Alexios came to the throne after deposing, blinding and imprisoning his younger brother Isaac II Angelos. The most significant event of his reign was the attack of the Fourth Crusade on Constantinople in 1203, on behalf of Alexios IV Angelos. Alexios III took over the defence of the city, which he mismanaged, and then fled the city at night with one of his three daughters. From Adrianople, and then Mosynopolis, he attempted unsuccessfully to rally his supporters, only to end up a captive of Marquis Boniface of Montferrat. He was ransomed and sent to Asia Minor where he plotted against his son-in-law Theodore I Laskaris, but was eventually captured and spent his last days confined to the Monastery of Hyakinthos in Nicaea, where he died.

  48. 1009

    1. Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.

      1. Head of the Catholic Church from 1009 to 1012

        Pope Sergius IV

        Pope Sergius IV was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 31 July 1009 to his death. His temporal power was eclipsed by the patrician John Crescentius. Sergius IV may have called for the expulsion of Muslims from the Holy Land, but this is disputed. Since his time, the practice that the person who has been elected to the office pope takes on a new name became tradition.

      2. Head of the Catholic Church from 1004 to 1009

        Pope John XVIII

        Pope John XVIII was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from January 1004 to his abdication in July 1009. He wielded little temporal power, ruling during the struggle between John Crescentius and Emperor Henry II for the control of Rome.

  49. 781

    1. The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: Sixth day of the seventh month of the first year of the Ten'o (天応) era).

      1. Volcano in Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures, Japan

        Mount Fuji

        Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of 3,776.24 m. It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia, and seventh-highest peak of an island on Earth. Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano that last erupted from 1707 to 1708. The mountain is located about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Tokyo and is visible from there on clear days. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone, which is covered in snow for about five months of the year, is commonly used as a cultural icon of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photography, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.

      2. Calendars used in Japan past and present

        Japanese calendar

        Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with the year, then the month and finally the day, coinciding with the ISO 8601 standard. For example, February 16, 2003 can be written as either 2003年2月16日 or 平成15年2月16日. 年 reads nen and means "year", 月 reads gatsu or 「がつ」and means "month" and finally 日 (usually) reads nichi and means "day".

  50. -30

    1. Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.

      1. Battle of the Last War of the Roman Republic

        Battle of Alexandria (30 BC)

        The Battle of Alexandria was fought on July 1 to July 30, 30 BC between the forces of Octavian and Mark Antony during the last war of the Roman Republic. In the Battle of Actium, Antony had lost the majority of his fleet and had been forced to abandon the majority of his army in Greece, where without supplies they eventually surrendered. Although Antony's side was hindered by a few desertions, he still managed to narrowly defeat Octavian's forces in his initial defence. The desertions continued, however, and, in early August, Octavian launched a second, ultimately successful, invasion of Egypt, after which Antony and his lover, Cleopatra, committed suicide.

      2. Roman politician and general (83 BC – 30 BC)

        Mark Antony

        Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autocratic Roman Empire.

      3. First Roman emperor from 27 BC to AD 14

        Augustus

        Caesar Augustus, also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Principate, which is the first phase of the Roman Empire, and Augustus is considered one of the greatest leaders in human history. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult as well as an era associated with imperial peace, the Pax Romana or Pax Augusta. The Roman world was largely free from large-scale conflict for more than two centuries despite continuous wars of imperial expansion on the empire's frontiers and the year-long civil war known as the "Year of the Four Emperors" over the imperial succession.

Births & Deaths

  1. 2022

    1. Fidel V. Ramos, 12th President of the Philippines (b. 1928) deaths

      1. President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998

        Fidel V. Ramos

        Fidel Valdez Ramos, popularly known as FVR and Eddie Ramos, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer who reached the rank of five-star general/admiral de jure. Rising from second lieutenant to commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Ramos was widely credited and admired by many for revitalizing and renewing international confidence in the Philippine economy during his six years in office. He is the third oldest to assume the presidency, together with the current 17th president, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., next to Sergio Osmeña and Rodrigo Duterte.

      2. 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. Bill Russell, NBA Hall of Fame Player and Coach (b. 1934) deaths

      1. American basketball player and coach (1934–2022)

        Bill Russell

        William Felton Russell was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 12-time NBA All-Star, he was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career. Russell and Henri Richard of the National Hockey League are tied for the record of the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Russell is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He led the San Francisco Dons to two consecutive NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, and he captained the gold-medal winning U.S. national basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

      2. North American professional sports league

        National Basketball Association

        The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. It is the premier men's professional basketball league in the world.

  2. 2020

    1. Alan Parker, English filmmaker (b. 1944) deaths

      1. English film producer and director (1944–2020)

        Alan Parker

        Sir Alan William Parker was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts, many of which won awards for creativity, he began screenwriting and directing films.

  3. 2019

    1. Harold Prince, Broadway producer and director, who received more Tony awards than anyone else in history (b. 1928) deaths

      1. American theatre producer and director (1928–2019)

        Harold Prince

        Harold Smith Prince, commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre.

      2. Annual awards for Broadway theatre

        Tony Awards

        The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Midtown Manhattan.

  4. 2018

    1. Tony Bullimore, British sailor & businessman (b. 1939) deaths

      1. British yachtsman (1939–2018)

        Tony Bullimore

        Tony Bullimore was a British businessman and international yachtsman. He is known especially for being rescued on 10 January 1997 during a sailing race after he had been presumed dead.

  5. 2017

    1. Jeanne Moreau, French actress (b. 1928) deaths

      1. French actress, singer, screenwriter and director (1928–2017)

        Jeanne Moreau

        Jeanne Moreau was a French actress, singer, screenwriter, director, and socialite. She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. Moreau began playing small roles in films in 1949, later achieving prominence with starring roles in Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows (1958), Michelangelo Antonioni's La Notte (1961), and François Truffaut's Jules et Jim (1962). Most prolific during the 1960s, Moreau continued to appear in films into her 80s. Orson Welles called her "the greatest actress in the world".

  6. 2016

    1. Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 58th Yokozuna (b. 1955) deaths

      1. Japanese sumo wrestler

        Chiyonofuji Mitsugu

        Chiyonofuji Mitsugu , born Mitsugu Akimoto , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler and the 58th yokozuna of the sport. Following his retirement as a wrestler, he was the stable master of Kokonoe stable until the time of his death.

      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.

    2. Seymour Papert, South African mathematician (b. 1928) deaths

      1. MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and educator

        Seymour Papert

        Seymour Aubrey Papert was a South African-born American mathematician, computer scientist, and educator, who spent most of his career teaching and researching at MIT. He was one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, and of the constructionist movement in education. He was co-inventor, with Wally Feurzeig and Cynthia Solomon, of the Logo programming language.

  7. 2015

    1. Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (b. 1940) deaths

      1. Novelist, short story writer, critic

        Alan Cheuse

        Alan Stuart Cheuse was an American writer, editor, professor of literature, and radio commentator. A longtime NPR book commentator, he was also the author of five novels, five collections of short stories and novellas, a memoir and a collection of travel essays. In addition, Cheuse was a regular contributor to All Things Considered. His short fiction appeared in respected publications like The New Yorker, Ploughshares, The Antioch Review, Prairie Schooner, among other places. He taught in the Writing Program at George Mason University and the Community of Writers.

    2. Howard W. Jones, American surgeon and academic (b. 1910) deaths

      1. American physician (1910-2015)

        Howard W. Jones

        Howard Wilbur Jones, Jr. was an American gynecological surgeon and in vitro fertilization (IVF) specialist. Jones and his wife, Georgeanna Seegar Jones, were two of the earliest reproductive medicine specialists in the United States. They established the reproductive medicine center that was responsible for the birth of the first IVF baby in the U.S. He wrote articles on the beginning of human personhood and testified before legislators on the same subject. He was one of the early physicians to perform sex reassignment surgeries.

    3. Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927) deaths

      1. American baseball player (1927-2015)

        Billy Pierce

        Walter William Pierce was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball between 1945 and 1964 who played most of his career for the Chicago White Sox. He was the team's star pitcher in the decade from 1952 to 1961, when they posted the third best record in the major leagues, and received the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award for the American League (AL) in 1956 and 1957 after being runner-up in both 1953 and 1955. A seven-time All-Star, he led the American League (AL) in complete games three times despite his slight build, and in wins, earned run average (ERA) and strikeouts once each. He pitched four one-hitters and seven two-hitters in his career, and on June 27, 1958 came within one batter of becoming the first left-hander in 78 years to throw a perfect game.

    4. Roddy Piper, Canadian wrestler and actor (b. 1954) deaths

      1. Canadian professional wrestler and actor (1954–2015)

        Roddy Piper

        Roderick George Toombs, better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor.

    5. Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1926) deaths

      1. American politician

        Richard Schweiker

        Richard Schultz Schweiker was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 14th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1983. He previously served as a U.S. Representative (1961–1969) and a U.S. Senator (1969–1981) from Pennsylvania. In 1976, Schweiker was Reagan's running mate during his unsuccessful presidential campaign.

      2. Government position

        United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

        The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is a member of the United States Cabinet. The office was formerly Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In 1980, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was renamed the Department of Health and Human Services, and its education functions and Rehabilitation Services Administration were transferred to the new United States Department of Education. Patricia Roberts Harris headed the department before and after it was renamed.

  8. 2014

    1. Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (b. 1925) deaths

      1. Warren Bennis

        Warren Gamaliel Bennis was an American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership studies. Bennis was University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California.

    2. Nabarun Bhattacharya, Indian journalist and author (b. 1948) deaths

      1. Indian writer and poet and political activist

        Nabarun Bhattacharya

        Nabarun Bhattacharya was an Indian writer in Bengali language. He was born at Berhampur, West Bengal. He was the only child of actor and playwright Bijon Bhattacharya and writer, activist Mahashweta Devi. His maternal grandfather was the writer from the Kallol era, Manish Ghatak. Visionary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak was his great uncle.

    3. Jeff Bourne, English footballer (b. 1948) deaths

      1. English footballer

        Jeff Bourne

        Jeffrey Albert Bourne was an English footballer who played as a striker. Born in Linton, Derbyshire, he spent most of his early career in the lower English divisions before moving to the United States where he played six seasons in the North American Soccer League, two in the second division American Soccer League. He led the ASL in scoring in 1983.

    4. Wilfred Feinberg, American lawyer and judge (b. 1920) deaths

      1. American judge

        Wilfred Feinberg

        Wilfred Feinberg was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and previously was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

  9. 2013

    1. Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (b. 1922) deaths

      1. American actor (1922–2013)

        Michael Ansara

        Michael George Ansara was an American actor. He portrayed Cochise in the television series Broken Arrow, Kane in the 1979–1981 series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Commander Kang in Star Trek: The Original Series, Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart in the NBC series Law of the Plainsman, and provided the voice for Mr. Freeze in Batman: The Animated Series and several of its spin-offs. Ansara received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in the television industry, located at 6666 Hollywood Boulevard.

    2. Michel Donnet, English-Belgian general and pilot (b. 1917) deaths

      1. Michel Donnet

        Michel G. L. "Mike" Donnet, was a Belgian pilot who served in the Belgian Army and British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He shot down four enemy aircraft confirmed, and achieved the RAF rank of wing commander. After the war, he returned to the Belgian Air Force, and held several important commands before retiring in 1975.

    3. John Graves, American captain and author (b. 1920) deaths

      1. American writer

        John Graves (author)

        John Alexander Graves III was an American writer known for his book Goodbye to a River.

    4. Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (b. 1930) deaths

      1. Trevor Storer

        Trevor Storer was a British businessman and founder of the Pukka Pies company in 1963, which was originally called Trevor Storer's Home Made Pies. He was the author of Bread Salesmanship, which became the training manual for Allied Bakeries in the 1960s. Originally making his pies in his own home, he built the company up until retiring at the age of 65, but remained chairman until his death. As of his time of his death, the company turned over £40 million a year.

      2. British manufacturer of savoury pies

        Pukka Pies

        Pukka Pies is a manufacturer of pies based in Syston, Leicestershire, England.

  10. 2012

    1. Mollie Hunter, Scottish author and playwright (b. 1922) deaths

      1. Scottish writer (1922–2012)

        Mollie Hunter

        Maureen Mollie Hunter McIlwraith was a Scottish writer known as Mollie Hunter. She wrote fantasy for children, historical stories for young adults, and realistic novels for adults. Many of her works are inspired by Scottish history, or by Scottish or Irish folklore, with elements of magic and fantasy.

    2. Alfredo Ramos, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1924) deaths

      1. Brazilian footballer and manager

        Alfredo Ramos (Brazilian footballer)

        Alfredo Ramos de Oliveira, was a Brazilian footballer in the defense role. He was simply known as Alfredo or Polvo by fans.

    3. Gore Vidal, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1925) deaths

      1. American writer (1925–2012)

        Gore Vidal

        Eugene Luther Gore Vidal was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and essays interrogated the social and cultural sexual norms he perceived as driving American life. Beyond literature, Vidal was heavily involved in politics. He twice sought office—unsuccessfully—as a Democratic Party candidate, first in 1960 to the U.S. House of Representatives, and later in 1982 to the U.S. Senate.

    4. Tony Sly, American musician, singer-songwriter (b. 1970) deaths

      1. American singer-songwriter

        Tony Sly

        Anthony James Sly was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the front man of the punk rock band No Use for a Name. In his later years he also gained attention for his acoustic solo work, with two acoustic split albums he released with Lagwagon front man Joey Cape and two solo albums.

  11. 2009

    1. Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (b. 1933) deaths

      1. English footballer and manager

        Bobby Robson

        Sir Robert William Robson was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town.

    2. Harry Alan Towers, English-Canadian screenwriter and producer (b. 1920) deaths

      1. British film producer (1920–2009)

        Harry Alan Towers

        Harry Alan Towers was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 feature films and continued to write and produce well into his eighties. Towers was married to the actress Maria Rohm, who appeared in many of his films.

  12. 2005

    1. Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, 1st President of the European Central Bank (b. 1935) deaths

      1. Dutch politician and economist

        Wim Duisenberg

        Willem Frederik "Wim" Duisenberg was a Dutch politician and economist who served as President of the European Central Bank from 1 June 1998 until 31 October 2003. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA).

      2. Head of the European Central Bank

        President of the European Central Bank

        The president of the European Central Bank is the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), the main institution responsible for the management of the euro and monetary policy in the Eurozone of the European Union (EU).

  13. 2004

    1. Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917) deaths

      1. American actress

        Virginia Grey

        Virginia Grey was an American actress who appeared in over 100 films and a number of radio and television shows from the 1930s to the early 1980s.

  14. 2003

    1. Guido Crepax, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1933) deaths

      1. Italian comics artist (1933–2003)

        Guido Crepax

        Guido Crepas, better known by his pen name Guido Crepax, was an Italian comics artist. He is most famous for his character Valentina, created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of the 1960s. The Valentina series of books and strips became noted for Crepax's sophisticated drawing, and for the psychedelic, dreamlike storylines, generally involving a strong dose of erotism. His work was often politically motivated too, inspired by his Communist convictions. A film based on his work called Baba Yaga, featuring the character Valentina, was made in 1973.

  15. 2002

    1. João Gomes, Brazilian singer births

      1. Musical artist

        João Gomes (singer)

        João Fernando Gomes Valério is a Brazilian singer and songwriter who came to national prominence with his debut album Eu tenho a senha. One song from the album, "Meu Pedaço de Pecado", was the most played song among Brazil's Spotify users as of 1 July 2021, and also appeared in Spotify's Top 50 Global chart the same month.

  16. 2001

    1. Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (b. 1914) deaths

      1. Portuguese politician

        Francisco da Costa Gomes

        Francisco da Costa Gomes, ComTE, GOA was a Portuguese military officer and politician, the 15th president of Portugal.

      2. Head of state of the Portuguese Republic

        President of Portugal

        The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic, is the head of state and highest office of Portugal.

    2. Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910) deaths

      1. Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

        Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

        Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the heir apparent to the throne of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and a member of the Waffen-SS.

  17. 2000

    1. William Keepers Maxwell Jr., American editor, novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1908) deaths

      1. American journalist

        William Keepers Maxwell Jr.

        William Keepers Maxwell Jr. was an American editor, novelist, short story writer, essayist, children's author, and memoirist. He served as a fiction editor at The New Yorker from 1936 to 1975. An editor devoted to his writers, Maxwell became a mentor and confidant to many authors.

  18. 1998

    1. Rico Rodriguez, American actor births

      1. American actor (born 1998)

        Rico Rodriguez (actor)

        Rico Rodriguez II is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Manny Delgado on the ABC sitcom Modern Family, which ran for eleven seasons from 2009 to 2020. He received several Screen Actors Guild Awards for his performance. He has also appeared in numerous other television shows and movies, both as himself and other characters, before, during, and after the show's run, such as Epic Movie, Endgame, El Americano: The Movie, and Nickelodeon's The Substitute and Unfiltered.

  19. 1995

    1. Lil Uzi Vert, American hip hop artist births

      1. American rapper (born 1995)

        Lil Uzi Vert

        Symere Bysil Woods, known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. They are characterized by their facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous fashion, imagery built on a melodic emo approach to trap. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Lil Uzi Vert gained initial recognition following the release of the commercial mixtape Luv Is Rage (2015), which led to a recording contract with Atlantic Records, to whom they signed under DJ Drama's Generation Now imprint.

  20. 1993

    1. Baudouin, King of Belgium (b. 1930) deaths

      1. King of the Belgians from 1951 to 1993

        Baudouin of Belgium

        Baudouin, Dutch name Boudewijn, was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the last Belgian king to be sovereign of the Congo.

  21. 1992

    1. José Fernández, Cuban-American baseball player (d. 2016) births

      1. Cuban baseball player (1992–2016)

        José Fernández (pitcher)

        José Delfín Fernández Gómez was a Cuban-American professional baseball pitcher who played four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a member of the Miami Marlins from 2013 until his death in 2016. He stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed 243 pounds (110 kg) during his playing career. He was affectionately known as "Niño" to his teammates and fans due to the youthful exuberance with which he played the game.

    2. Ryan Johansen, Canadian ice hockey player births

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Ryan Johansen

        Ryan Johansen is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Growing up, he played minor hockey in the Greater Vancouver area until joining the junior ranks with the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) for one season. In 2009–10, he moved to the major junior level with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League (WHL). After his first WHL season, he was selected fourth overall by the Blue Jackets in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Internationally, he has competed for the Canadian national junior team at the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, where he earned a silver medal and was named to the Tournament All-Star Team. In 2015, he participated in the 2015 NHL Skills Competition and was named the 2015 NHL All-Star Game MVP.

    3. Kyle Larson, American race car driver births

      1. American racing driver

        Kyle Larson

        Kyle Miyata Larson is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion and Rookie of the Year, the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year, and the 2014 Cup Series Rookie of the Year. Before and throughout his stock car racing career, Larson has been highly successful in dirt track racing, with wins in prestigious events including the Kings Royal, Knoxville Nationals, and Chili Bowl Nationals. He is also an overall winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race, having won the event with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2015.

    4. Leonard Cheshire, English captain and pilot (b. 1917) deaths

      1. Royal Air Force officer (1917–1992)

        Leonard Cheshire

        Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, was a highly decorated Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot and group captain during the Second World War, and a philanthropist.

  22. 1991

    1. Réka Luca Jani, Hungarian tennis player births

      1. Hungarian tennis player

        Réka Luca Jani

        Réka Luca Jani is a Hungarian tennis player.

  23. 1990

    1. Albert Leduc, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902) deaths

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Albert Leduc

        Joseph Albert Florimond "Battleship" Leduc was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League from 1925 to 1935. with the New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Canadiens. He won Stanley Cup twice, in 1930, and 1931, both with Montreal.

  24. 1989

    1. Victoria Azarenka, Belorussian tennis player births

      1. Belarusian tennis player

        Victoria Azarenka

        Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former world No. 1 in singles, having claimed the top ranking for the first time on 30 January 2012. She was the year-end No. 1 in 2012 and has held the top ranking for a combined total of 51 weeks. Azarenka has won 21 WTA singles titles, including two Grand Slam singles titles at the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open, becoming the first Belarusian player, male or female, to win a Grand Slam tournament singles title. Azarenka is also a three-time major finalist at the US Open, finishing runner-up to Serena Williams in both 2012 and 2013 and to Naomi Osaka in 2020. In singles she also won six Premier Mandatory tournaments, four Premier 5 tournaments, and the singles bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She was the runner-up at the 2011 WTA Finals to Petra Kvitová, reached three other Grand Slam singles semifinals, and had nine other major quarterfinal appearances. She finished with a year-end top 10 singles ranking for five consecutive years between 2009 and 2013.

  25. 1988

    1. Alex Glenn, New Zealand rugby league player births

      1. Cook Islands & NZ international rugby league footballer

        Alex Glenn

        Alex Glenn is a former professional rugby league footballer who captained and played as a second-row and centre for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. He has played for both the Cook Islands and New Zealand at international level.

  26. 1987

    1. Michael Bradley, American soccer player births

      1. American soccer player

        Michael Bradley (soccer)

        Michael Sheehan Bradley is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder and captains Toronto FC in Major League Soccer and formerly captained the United States national team.

    2. Joseph E. Levine, American film producer (b, 1905) deaths

      1. American film producer

        Joseph E. Levine

        Joseph Edward Levine was an American film distributor, financier and producer. At the time of his death, it was said he was involved in one or another capacity with 497 films. Levine was responsible for the US releases of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, Attila and Hercules, which helped revolutionize US film marketing, and was founder and president of Embassy Pictures. Other films he produced included Two Women, Contempt, The 10th Victim, Marriage Italian Style, The Lion in Winter, The Producers, The Graduate, The Night Porter, A Bridge Too Far, and Carnal Knowledge.

  27. 1986

    1. Evgeni Malkin, Russian ice hockey player births

      1. Russian ice hockey player

        Evgeni Malkin

        Evgeni Vladimirovich Malkin is a Russian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Geno", Malkin began his career with his hometown club Metallurg Magnitogorsk, playing for their junior and senior teams. He was then selected second overall in the 2004 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins, though an international transfer dispute delayed the start of his NHL career until 2006.

    2. Brian Orakpo, American football player births

      1. American football player (born 1986)

        Brian Orakpo

        Brian Ndubisi Orakpo is a former American football outside linebacker who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Texas, was recognized as a unanimous All-American, and was drafted by the Washington Redskins with the thirteenth overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He also played for Tennessee Titans, and was selected to four Pro Bowls.

    3. Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900) deaths

      1. Japanese diplomat (1900–1986)

        Chiune Sugihara

        Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through Japanese territory, risking his job and the lives of his family. The fleeing Jews were refugees from German-occupied Western Poland and Soviet-occupied Eastern Poland, as well as residents of Lithuania. In 1985, the State of Israel honored Sugihara as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions. He is the only Japanese national to have been so honored. The year 2020 was "The Year Chiune Sugihara" in Lithuania. It has been estimated as many as 100,000 people alive today are the descendants of the recipients of Sugihara visas.

  28. 1985

    1. Daniel Ciofani, Italian footballer births

      1. Italian footballer

        Daniel Ciofani

        Daniel Ciofani is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Cremonese.

    2. Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist births

      1. French road bicycle racer

        Rémy Di Gregorio

        Rémy Di Gregorio is a French road bicycle racer, who is currently suspended from the sport following a positive in-competition doping test for darbepoetin alfa, a re-engineered form of erythropoietin (EPO). He has previously competed for Française des Jeux (2005–2010), Astana (2011), Cofidis (2012), and Delko–Marseille Provence KTM (2014–2018) in his professional career.

    3. Eugene Carson Blake, American religious leader (b. 1906) deaths

      1. American Presbyterian minister (1906–1985)

        Eugene Carson Blake

        Eugene Carson Blake was an American Presbyterian Church leader.

  29. 1982

    1. Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spanish tennis player births

      1. Spanish tennis player and coach

        Anabel Medina Garrigues

        Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player.

    2. DeMarcus Ware, American football player births

      1. American football player (born 1982)

        DeMarcus Ware

        DeMarcus Omar Ware is an American former football outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Troy University and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys with the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. After spending nine seasons with the Cowboys, Ware departed in 2013 as the franchise's all-time leader in quarterback sacks with 117. Ware then played three seasons for the Denver Broncos, with whom he won Super Bowl 50 over the Carolina Panthers. After the 2016 season with the Broncos, he announced his retirement from the NFL. In 2017, he signed a one-day contract with Dallas to retire as a Cowboy. In 2018, the Broncos hired Ware as a pass-rush consultant.

  30. 1981

    1. Titus Bramble, English footballer births

      1. English footballer

        Titus Bramble

        Titus Malachi Bramble is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back.

    2. Vernon Carey, American football player births

      1. American football player (born 1981)

        Vernon Carey

        Vernon A. Carey Sr. is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for eight seasons with the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Dolphins with the 19th overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft after playing college football for the Miami Hurricanes.

    3. Paul Whatuira, New Zealand rugby league player births

      1. New Zealand rugby league footballer

        Paul Whatuira

        Paul Whatuira is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Parramatta Eels in the NRL in 2011. A New Zealand international centre, he won National Rugby League premierships with the Penrith Panthers and Wests Tigers and achieved success with the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League.

    4. Omar Torrijos, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (b. 1929) deaths

      1. Military leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981

        Omar Torrijos

        Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera was the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard and military leader of Panama from 1968 to his death in 1981. Torrijos was never officially the president of Panama, but instead held titles including "Maximum Leader of the Panamanian Revolution". Torrijos took power in a coup d'état and instituted a number of social reforms.

      2. List of heads of state of Panama

        This article lists the heads of state of Panama since the short-lived first independence from the Republic of New Granada in 1840 and the final separation from Colombia in 1903.

  31. 1980

    1. Mikko Hirvonen, Finnish race car driver births

      1. Finnish rally driver

        Mikko Hirvonen

        Mikko Hirvonen is a Finnish former rally driver, and a current Rally-Raid driver, who drove in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2006 and 2007. In 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 he finished runner-up to Sébastien Loeb. Hirvonen's co-driver was Jarmo Lehtinen from the 2003 season until his retirement in 2014, Lehtinen had replaced Miikka Anttila who co-drove with Hirvonen in the 2002 season.

    2. Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player births

      1. New Zealand international rugby union player

        Mils Muliaina

        Junior Malili "Mils" Muliaina is a former professional rugby union player who most recently played for San Francisco Rush in the US PRO Rugby competition. He played primarily as a fullback, though he has also played as a centre and on the wing.

    3. Pascual Jordan, German physicist, author, and academic (b. 1902) deaths

      1. German physicist and politician (1902–1980)

        Pascual Jordan

        Ernst Pascual Jordan was a German theoretical and mathematical physicist who made significant contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. He contributed much to the mathematical form of matrix mechanics, and developed canonical anticommutation relations for fermions. Jordan algebra is employed for and is still used in studying the mathematical and conceptual foundations of quantum theory, and has found other mathematical applications.

    4. Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924) deaths

      1. Indian singer

        Mohammed Rafi

        Mohammed Rafi was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice; his songs varied from fast peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie. He received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In 1967, he was honored with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India. In 2001, Rafi was honoured with the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted for the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in the CNN-IBN's poll.

      2. Singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in film

        Playback singer

        A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not appear on the screen.

  32. 1979

    1. Jaco Erasmus, South African-Italian rugby player births

      1. Rugby player

        Jaco Erasmus

        Jaco Erasmus is a South African-born Italian rugby union naturalized player. He plays as a flanker.

    2. J. J. Furmaniak, American baseball player births

      1. American baseball player

        J. J. Furmaniak

        Jason Joseph "J. J." Furmaniak is a former American professional baseball infielder, who played in the major leagues for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Oakland Athletics.

    3. Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer births

      1. Danish footballer

        Per Krøldrup

        Per Billeskov Krøldrup is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

    4. Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer births

      1. Spanish footballer (born 1979)

        Carlos Marchena

        Carlos Marchena López is a Spanish retired footballer, and a manager. Mainly a central defender with an aggressive approach, he also played as a defensive midfielder.

    5. B. J. Novak, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter births

      1. American actor

        B. J. Novak

        Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak is an American actor and writer. He has received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

    6. Beatrix Lehmann, English actress and director (b. 1903) deaths

      1. British actress

        Beatrix Lehmann

        Beatrix Alice Lehmann was a British actress, theatre director, writer and novelist.

  33. 1978

    1. Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. American country music band

        Zac Brown Band

        Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown, Jimmy De Martini, John Driskell Hopkins, Coy Bowles, Chris Fryar (drums), Clay Cook, Matt Mangano, Daniel de los Reyes (percussion) and Caroline Jones.

    2. Nick Sorensen, American football player and sportscaster births

      1. American football player and coach (born 1978)

        Nick Sorensen

        Nicholas Carl Sorensen is an American football coach and former safety who is a defensive assistant for the San Francisco 49ers. He played college football at Virginia Tech and signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2001.

    3. Justin Wilson, English race car driver (d. 2015) births

      1. English racing driver (1978–2015)

        Justin Wilson (racing driver)

        Justin Boyd Wilson was a British professional open-wheel racing driver who competed in Formula One (F1) in 2003, the Champ Car World Series (CCWS) from 2004 to 2007 and the IndyCar Series from 2008 to 2015. He won the first Formula Palmer Audi (FPA) in 1998, the International Formula 3000 Championship (IF3000) with Nordic Racing in 2001, and co-won the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona for Michael Shank Racing.

  34. 1976

    1. Joshua Cain, American guitarist and producer births

      1. American musician

        Joshua Cain

        Joshua Allen Cain, is a guitarist and record producer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was the co-founder and lead guitarist of American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack. Cain is also a music producer with multiple past projects; comprising an EP for Epitaph-signed band Sing It Loud and two songs from Metro Station's debut album.

    2. Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer and manager births

      1. Costa Rican footballer

        Paulo Wanchope

        Paulo César Wanchope Watson, more commonly known as Paulo Wanchope, is a Costa Rican football coach and former professional footballer

  35. 1975

    1. Randy Flores, American baseball player and coach births

      1. American baseball player (born 1975)

        Randy Flores

        Randy Alan Flores is an American professional baseball player and executive. He is the director of scouting for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB as a relief pitcher for eight seasons.

    2. Andrew Hall, South African cricketer births

      1. South African cricketer

        Andrew Hall

        Andrew James Hall is a former South African first-class cricketer who played from 1999 until 2011. He played as an all-rounder who bowled fast-medium pace and has been used as both an opening batsman and in the lower order. He was born in Johannesburg in South Africa in 1975 and educated at Hoërskool Alberton in Alberton, Gauteng.

    3. Gabe Kapler, American baseball player and manager births

      1. American baseball player and manager (born 1975)

        Gabe Kapler

        Gabriel Stefan Kapler, nicknamed "Kap", is an American former professional baseball outfielder, and current manager of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB).

  36. 1974

    1. Emilia Fox, English actress births

      1. British actress (born 1974)

        Emilia Fox

        Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film The Pianist. Her other films include the Italian–French–British romance-drama film The Soul Keeper (2002), for which she won the Flaiano Film Award for Best Actress; the drama film The Republic of Love (2003); the comedy-drama film Things to Do Before You're 30 (2005); the black comedy Keeping Mum (2005); the romantic comedy-drama film Cashback (2006); the drama Flashbacks of a Fool (2008); the drama film Ways to Live Forever (2010); the drama-thriller A Thousand Kisses Deep (2011); and the fantasy-horror drama film Dorian Gray (2009).

    2. Leona Naess, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. British singer

        Leona Naess

        Leona Kristina Naess is a British singer-songwriter. She released her debut album, Comatised, in March 2000, which produced the single "Charm Attack".

    3. Jonathan Ogden, American football player births

      1. American football player (born 1974)

        Jonathan Ogden

        Jonathan Phillip Ogden is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle and spent his entire career with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, and was recognized as a unanimous All-American. He was drafted by the Ravens 4th overall in the 1996 NFL Draft, making him the first-ever Ravens draft selection. He was an 11-time Pro Bowl selection and a nine-time All-Pro. Ogden won Super Bowl XXXV with the Ravens in 2001.

  37. 1973

    1. Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player and coach births

      1. Australian RL coach and former professional rugby league footballer

        Nathan Brown (rugby league, born 1973)

        Nathan Brown is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who was the Head Coach of the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s.

    2. Azumafuji Kin'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 40th Yokozuna (b. 1921) deaths

      1. Japanese sumo wrestler

        Azumafuji Kin'ichi

        Azumafuji Kin'ichi was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Taitō, Tokyo. He was the sport's 40th yokozuna, and later a professional wrestler.

      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.

  38. 1972

    1. Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium, 1st President of the United Nations General Assembly (b. 1899) deaths

      1. Belgian politician (1899–1972)

        Paul-Henri Spaak

        Paul-Henri Charles Spaak was an influential Belgian Socialist politician, diplomat and statesman. Along with Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer he was a leader in the formation of the institutions that evolved into the European Union.

      2. Head of the federal government of Belgium

        Prime Minister of Belgium

        The Prime Minister of Belgium or the Premier of Belgium is the head of the federal government of Belgium, and the most powerful person in Belgian politics.

      3. Chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly

        President of the United Nations General Assembly

        The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly.

  39. 1971

    1. Gus Frerotte, American football player and coach births

      1. American football player (born 1971)

        Gus Frerotte

        Gustave Joseph Frerotte is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tulsa.

    2. Walter P. Carter, American soldier and activist (b. 1923) deaths

      1. American activist

        Walter P. Carter

        Walter Percival Carter was an activist and central figure in Baltimore, Maryland during the Civil Rights Movement. He earned that designation by organizing demonstrations against discrimination throughout Maryland. Carter is best known for his work as the chairman of the Baltimore chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from 1960 to 1963 and as the Maryland coordinator for the 1963 March on Washington. A hospital, an elementary school, a recreation center, a college library, and a day-care center in Baltimore have been named in his memory.

  40. 1970

    1. Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian author and poet births

      1. Ahmad Akbarpour

        Ahmad Akbarpour Ahmad Akbarpūr Persian pronunciation: [æhˈmæd(-e) ækbærpuːr], born July 31, 1970 in Chah Varz, Lamerd, Fars Province, is a novelist and author of short stories and children's books.

    2. Ben Chaplin, English actor births

      1. British actor

        Ben Chaplin

        Ben Chaplin is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in films, including The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Washington Square, The Thin Red Line, Birthday Girl, Murder by Numbers, Stage Beauty, The New World, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Dorian Gray, Cinderella, Snowden, The Legend of Tarzan, and The Dig. His TV roles include Game On, Mad Dogs and The Nevers.

    3. Andrzej Kobylański, Polish footballer and manager births

      1. Polish footballer

        Andrzej Kobylański

        Andrzej Kobylański born 31 July 1970 in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker or midfielder. As of March 2012, Kobylański works as assistant manager for KS Cracovia.

    4. Giorgos Sigalas, Greek basketball player, coach, and sportscaster births

      1. Giorgos Sigalas

        Giorgos Sigalas, is a retired Greek professional basketball player and basketball coach. During the decade of the 1990s, the 2.01 m (6'7") tall swingman was the regular team captain of the pro club Olympiacos Piraeus, of the Greek League and the EuroLeague, and also of the Greece men's national basketball team. Nicknamed Rambo, during his playing career, Sigalas was one of the best European defensive players of his generation.

  41. 1969

    1. Antonio Conte, Italian footballer and manager births

      1. Italian association football manager and former player (born 1969)

        Antonio Conte

        Antonio Conte is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

    2. Loren Dean, American actor births

      1. American actor

        Loren Dean

        Loren Dean is an American actor. He has appeared on stage and in feature films.

    3. Kenneth D. Schisler, American lawyer and politician births

      1. American politician

        Kenneth D. Schisler

        Kenneth D. Schisler is a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates and former chair of the Maryland Public Service Commission.

  42. 1968

    1. Saeed-Al-Saffar, Emirati cricketer births

      1. Emirati cricketer

        Saeed-Al-Saffar

        Saeed-al-Saffar is an Emirati cricketer who has represented the UAE at international level, most notably in the One Day International the Emirates side played against the Netherlands in Lahore in the 1996 Cricket World Cup. He also competed for the UAE in the 1996–97 and 2001 versions of the ICC Trophy, which is the qualifying competition for the World Cup played between non-Test nations.

    2. Julian Richards, Welsh director and producer births

      1. Julian Richards (director)

        Julian Richards is a Welsh film director. He is associated with the Cool Cymru era of culture and arts in Wales.

    3. Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (b. 1911) deaths

      1. Australian politician

        Jack Pizzey

        Jack Charles Allan Pizzey was a Queensland Country Party politician. He was Premier of Queensland, in a coalition with the Liberal Party, from 17 January 1968 until his death on 31 July that year. To date, he is the most recent premier of an Australian state to die in office.

      2. Premier of Queensland

        The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland.

  43. 1967

    1. Tony Massenburg, American basketball player births

      1. American basketball player

        Tony Massenburg

        Tony Arnel Massenburg is an American former professional basketball player. He shares a National Basketball Association (NBA) record with Chucky Brown, Joe Smith, & Jim Jackson,for having played with twelve different teams over his career, which has since been broken by Ish Smith.

    2. Tim Wright, Welsh composer births

      1. Welsh video game music composer

        Tim Wright (Welsh musician)

        Tim Wright, alias CoLD SToRAGE, is a Welsh video game music composer most known for his work in video game soundtracks such as Shadow of the Beast II, Agony, Lemmings, Wipeout and Colony Wars.

  44. 1966

    1. Dean Cain, American actor, producer, and screenwriter births

      1. American actor (born 1966)

        Dean Cain

        Dean George Cain is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Cain was the host of Ripley's Believe It or Not! and appeared in the sports drama series Hit the Floor.

    2. Bud Powell, American pianist (b. 1924) deaths

      1. American pianist and composer

        Bud Powell

        Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American jazz pianist and composer. Along with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a leading figure in the development of modern jazz. His virtuosity led many to call him the Charlie Parker of the piano. Powell was also a composer, and many jazz critics credit his works and his playing as having "greatly extended the range of jazz harmony".

  45. 1965

    1. Scott Brooks, American basketball player and coach births

      1. American basketball player and coach

        Scott Brooks

        Scott William Brooks is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the top assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played point guard at San Joaquin Delta College and Texas Christian University before playing his last two years at the University of California, Irvine. He was inducted into UCI's Hall of Fame in 2001.

    2. John Laurinaitis, American wrestler and producer births

      1. American professional wrestler

        John Laurinaitis

        John Hodger Laurinaitis, also known by his former ringname Johnny Ace, is an American retired professional wrestler and business executive.

    3. Ian Roberts, English-Australian rugby league player and actor births

      1. Australian rugby league footballer, and actor

        Ian Roberts (rugby league)

        Ian Roberts is a British-born Australian actor, IT managed services consultant and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative forward, he played club football with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Wigan Warriors, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and North Queensland Cowboys. In 1995 Roberts became the first high-profile Australian sports person and first rugby footballer in the world to come out to the public as gay.

    4. J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer births

      1. British author and philanthropist (born 1965)

        J. K. Rowling

        Joanne Rowling, also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote Harry Potter, a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has sold over 500 million copies, been translated into at least 70 languages, and spawned a global media franchise including films and video games. The Casual Vacancy (2012) was her first novel for adults. She writes Cormoran Strike, an ongoing crime fiction series, as Robert Galbraith.

  46. 1964

    1. Jim Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. Musical artist

        Jim Corr

        James Steven Ignatius Corr, is an Irish musician, singer, songwriter and DJ. He is a member of the Irish folk/rock band The Corrs, the other members being his three younger sisters Andrea, Sharon and Caroline.

    2. Urmas Hepner, Estonian footballer and coach births

      1. Estonian footballer

        Urmas Hepner

        Urmas Hepner is an Estonian former footballer, who is currently coaching Levadia Tallinn's reserves, as well as working in the club's youth system. In 1992 Hepner was named Estonian Footballer of the Year.

    3. Jim Reeves, American singer-songwriter (b. 1923) deaths

      1. American singer

        Jim Reeves

        James Travis Reeves was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville Sound. Known as "Gentleman Jim", his songs continued to chart for years after his death in a plane crash. He is a member of both the Country Music and Texas Country Music Halls of Fame.

  47. 1963

    1. Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), English DJ and musician births

      1. British DJ, musician and record producer

        Fatboy Slim

        Norman Quentin Cook, also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist for the Hull-based indie rock band the Housemartins, who achieved a UK number-one single with their a cappella cover of "Caravan of Love". After the Housemartins split up, Cook formed the electronic band Beats International in Brighton, who produced the number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me". He then played in Freak Power, Pizzaman, and the Mighty Dub Katz with moderate success.

    2. Fergus Henderson, English chef and author births

      1. English chef

        Fergus Henderson

        Fergus Henderson is an English chef who founded the restaurant St John on St John Street in London. He is often noted for his use of offal and other neglected cuts of meat as a consequence of his philosophy of nose to tail eating. Following in the footsteps of his parents, Brian and Elizabeth Henderson, he trained as an architect at the Architectural Association in London. Most of his dishes are derived from traditional British cuisine and the wines are all French.

    3. Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player and coach births

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Brian Skrudland

        Brian Norman Skrudland is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers and Dallas Stars.

  48. 1962

    1. John Chiang, American lawyer and politician, 31st California State Controller births

      1. 33rd California State Treasurer

        John Chiang (California politician)

        John Chiang is an American politician who served as the 33rd Treasurer of California from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 31st Controller of California from 2007 to 2015 and on the California State Board of Equalization from 1997 to 2007.

      2. Chief financial officer of the U.S. state of California

        California State Controller

        The state controller of California is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of California. Thirty-two individuals have held the office of state controller since statehood. The incumbent is Betty Yee, a Democrat. The state controller's main office is located at 300 Capitol Mall in Sacramento.

    2. Kevin Greene, American football player and coach (d. 2020) births

      1. American football player and coach (1962–2020)

        Kevin Greene (American football)

        Kevin Darwin Greene was an American professional football player who was a defensive end and outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1985 through 1999. He had 160 sacks in his career, which ranks third among NFL career sack leaders, and he was voted to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

    3. Wesley Snipes, American actor and producer births

      1. American actor

        Wesley Snipes

        Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. His prominent film roles include Major League (1989), New Jack City (1991), White Men Can't Jump (1992), Passenger 57 (1992), Rising Sun (1993), Demolition Man (1993), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), U.S. Marshals (1998), The Expendables 3 (2014), Coming 2 America (2021), and the Blade film trilogy (1998–2004), portraying Blade. In television, he is known for his role on The Player (2015). Snipes was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his work in The Waterdance (1992) and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the film One Night Stand (1997).

  49. 1961

    1. Frank Gardner, English captain and journalist births

      1. English journalist (born 1961)

        Frank Gardner (journalist)

        Francis Rolleston Gardner is a British journalist and author. He is currently the BBC's Security Correspondent. His parents were both diplomats and his early life was spent in The Hague before being educated at Saint Ronan's School, and Marlborough College. He was commissioned into the British Army Reserves as a second lieutenant joining the 4th Volunteer Battalion, the Royal Green Jackets in September 1984. After a career working in various jobs in the Middle East, including nine years as an investment banker, Gardner joined BBC World as a producer and reporter in 1995. He became the BBC's first full-time Gulf correspondent in 1997, before being appointed BBC Middle East correspondent in 1999. After the 11 September attacks on New York, Gardner specialised in covering stories related to the War on Terror.

    2. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Nigerian banker, royal births

      1. Emir of Kano from 2014 to 2020

        Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

        Sanusi Lamido Sanusipronunciation, known by the religious title Khalifa Sanusi II, is a spiritual leader in the Tijanniyah Sufi order of Nigeria. He is a member of the Dabo dynasty and was emir of the ancient city-state of Kano. He was born in Kano in 1961 into the royal family as the grandson of Muhammadu Sanusi I. He succeeded his great-uncle Ado Bayero to the throne on 8 June 2014, and spent most of his reign advocating for cultural reform in Northern Nigeria, until his dethronement on 9 March 2020 by the kano state government.

  50. 1960

    1. Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach births

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Dale Hunter

        Dale Robert Hunter is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and the former head coach of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and current co-owner, president, and head coach of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. He was born in Petrolia, Ontario, but grew up in nearby Oil Springs, Ontario, and was one of three brothers, with Dave and Mark, to play in the NHL.

    2. Malcolm Ross, Scottish guitarist and songwriter births

      1. Scottish guitarist

        Malcolm Ross (musician)

        Malcolm Ross is a Scottish guitarist. His musical career started when he played guitar in the Scottish band Josef K. They released a string of singles and an album, The Only Fun in Town, on Postcard Records in the early 1980s.

  51. 1959

    1. Stanley Jordan, American guitarist, pianist, and songwriter births

      1. American jazz guitarist

        Stanley Jordan

        Stanley Jordan is an American jazz guitarist noted for his playing technique, which involves tapping his fingers on the fretboard of the guitar with both hands.

    2. Andrew Marr, Scottish journalist and author births

      1. British journalist

        Andrew Marr

        Andrew William Stevenson Marr is a British journalist and broadcaster. Beginning his career as a political commentator, he subsequently edited The Independent newspaper from 1996 to 1998 and was political editor of BBC News from 2000 to 2005.

    3. Kim Newman, English journalist and author births

      1. English novelist (born 1959)

        Kim Newman

        Kim James Newman is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternative fictional versions of history. He has won the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award, and the BSFA award.

  52. 1958

    1. Bill Berry, American drummer and songwriter births

      1. Drummer for R.E.M.

        Bill Berry

        William Thomas Berry is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M. albums. In 1995, Berry suffered a cerebral aneurysm onstage and collapsed. After a successful recovery he left the music industry two years later to become a farmer, and has since maintained a low profile, making sporadic reunions with R.E.M. and appearing on other artists's recordings. His departure made him the only member of the band to not remain with them during their entire run. Berry eventually returned to the industry in 2022.

    2. Mark Cuban, American businessman and television personality births

      1. American investor and entrepreneur (born 1958)

        Mark Cuban

        Mark Cuban is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to Forbes, and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 Forbes 400 list. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.

    3. Suzanne Giraud, French music editor and composer births

      1. Suzanne Giraud

        Suzanne Giraud is a French music educator and composer of contemporary music.

    4. Eino Kaila, Finnish philosopher and psychologist, attendant of the Vienna circle (b. 1890) deaths

      1. Eino Kaila

        Eino Sakari Kaila was a Finnish philosopher, critic and teacher. He worked in numerous fields including psychology, physics and theater, and attempted to find unifying principles behind various branches of human and natural sciences.

  53. 1957

    1. Daniel Ash, English singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. English singer-songwriter (b. 1957)

        Daniel Ash

        Daniel Ash is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He became prominent in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the iconic goth rock band Bauhaus, which spawned two related bands led by Ash: Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets. Recently, he reunited with bandmate Kevin Haskins to form Poptone, a retrospective of their respective careers, featuring Kevin's daughter Diva Dompe on bass. He has also recorded several solo albums. Several guitarists have listed Ash as an influence, including Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Hide of X Japan and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

    2. Mark Thompson, English business executive births

      1. British media executive

        Mark Thompson (media executive)

        Mark John Thompson is a British media executive who is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ancestry, the largest for-profit genealogy company in the world. He is the former president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company. From 2004 to 2012, he served as Director-General of the BBC, and before that was the Chief Executive of Channel 4. In 2009 Thompson was ranked as the 65th most powerful person in the world by Forbes magazine. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2017.

  54. 1956

    1. Michael Biehn, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter births

      1. American actor

        Michael Biehn

        Michael Connell Biehn is an American actor, primarily known for his roles in science fiction films directed by James Cameron; as Sgt. Kyle Reese in The Terminator (1984), Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in Aliens (1986), and Lt. Coffey in The Abyss (1989). His other films include The Fan (1981), Navy SEALs (1990), Tombstone (1993), The Rock (1996), Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001), and Planet Terror (2007). On television, he has appeared in Hill Street Blues (1984), The Magnificent Seven (1998–2000), and Adventure Inc. (2002–2003). Biehn received a Best Actor Saturn Award nomination for Aliens.

    2. Bill Callahan, American football player and coach births

      1. American football coach (born 1956)

        Bill Callahan (American football)

        William E. Callahan is an American football coach who is the offensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders for the 2002 and 2003 seasons and led them to Super Bowl XXXVII. He was also the head coach for the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 2004 to 2007 and the offensive line coach and interim head coach for the Washington Redskins from 2015 to 2019. Callahan is considered to be one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL.

    3. Ron Kuby, American lawyer and radio host births

      1. American lawyer

        Ron Kuby

        Ronald L. Kuby is an American criminal defense and civil rights lawyer, radio talk show host and television commentator. He has also hosted radio programs on WABC Radio in New York and Air America radio.

    4. Deval Patrick, American lawyer and politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts births

      1. Governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015

        Deval Patrick

        Deval Laurdine Patrick is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who chose not to run for reelection to focus on his 2008 presidential campaign. He was reelected in 2010. He was the first African-American Governor of Massachusetts and the first Democratic Governor of the state in 16 years since Michael Dukakis left office in 1991. Patrick served from 1994 to 1997 as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division under President Bill Clinton. He was briefly a candidate for President of the United States in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

      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.

    5. Lynne Rae Perkins, American author and illustrator births

      1. American writer and illustrator of children's books

        Lynne Rae Perkins

        Lynne Rae Perkins is an American writer and illustrator of children's books.

  55. 1954

    1. Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player births

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Derek Smith (ice hockey, born 1954)

        Derek Robert Smith is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings between 1975 and 1983. He was selected by the Sabres in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft.

    2. Onofre Marimón, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1923) deaths

      1. Onofre Marimón

        Onofre Agustín Marimón was a racing driver from Zárate, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He participated in 11 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 1 July 1951. He achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 8 1⁄7 championship points.

  56. 1953

    1. Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria births

      1. Australian politician

        Ted Baillieu

        Edward Norman Baillieu is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of Hawthorn. He was elected leader of the Liberal Party in opposition in 2006, and served as Premier from 2010 until 2013 after winning the 2010 state election. He resigned as Premier on 6 March 2013, and was succeeded by Denis Napthine.

      2. Head of government in the state of Victoria

        Premier of Victoria

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

    2. Jimmy Cook, South African cricketer and coach births

      1. South African cricketer

        Jimmy Cook

        Stephen James Cook is a former South African association football and cricketer who played in three cricket Test matches and four One Day Internationals from 1991 to 1993. His son Stephen Cook currently plays for Gauteng and the national side, the Proteas. He played football for Wits University while studying for a teaching degree in the late seventies and featured in the 1978 Mainstay Cup Final.

    3. Hugh McDowell, English cellist (d. 2018) births

      1. Musical artist

        Hugh McDowell

        Hugh Alexander McDowell was an English cellist best known for his membership of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and related acts.

    4. Robert A. Taft, American soldier and politician (b. 1889) deaths

      1. American politician (1889–1953), son of 27th U.S. President William Howard Taft

        Robert A. Taft

        Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. was an American politician, lawyer, and scion of the Republican Party's Taft family. Taft represented Ohio in the United States Senate, briefly served as Senate Majority Leader, and was a leader of the conservative coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats who prevented expansion of the New Deal. Often referred to as "Mr. Republican", he co-sponsored the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947, which banned closed shops, created the concept of right-to-work states, and regulated other labor practices.

  57. 1952

    1. Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player births

      1. American ice hockey player (b. 1952)

        Chris Ahrens (ice hockey)

        Christopher Alfred Ahrens is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played six seasons in the National Hockey League for the Minnesota North Stars, and four games in the WHA with the Edmonton Oilers.

    2. Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California births

      1. American football player, politician and actor (born 1952)

        Alan Autry

        Carlos Alan Autry Jr., is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League player. During his brief football career, he was known as Carlos Brown. He played the role of Captain Bubba Skinner on the NBC television series In the Heat of the Night, starring Carroll O'Connor. He has also appeared in films and other television shows. In November 2000, he was elected mayor of Fresno, California, and served for two four-year terms through January 2009. In 2008, Autry hosted a radio news talk show on KYNO AM 940 in Fresno, but left the station in 2011.

      2. City in California, United States

        Fresno, California

        Fresno is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about 115 square miles (300 km2) and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, making it the fifth-most populous city in California, the most populous inland city in California, and the 34th-most populous city in the nation. The Metro population of Fresno is 1,008,654 as of 2022.

    3. Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player and coach births

      1. Latvian ice hockey player

        Helmuts Balderis

        Helmuts Balderis-Sildedzis is a Latvian former ice hockey player. He played right wing, participated in the Soviet team's losing effort in the Miracle on Ice, and played part of a single season in the NHL after being drafted in 1989 by the Minnesota North Stars, becoming the oldest player to be drafted by an NHL team at the age of 36.

    4. João Barreiros, Portuguese author and critic births

      1. Portuguese science fiction writer, editor, translator and critic

        João Barreiros

        João Manuel Rosado Barreiros, also known by the pseudonym José de Barros, is a Portuguese science fiction writer, editor, translator and critic.

    5. Faye Kellerman, American author births

      1. American novelist

        Faye Kellerman

        Faye Marder Kellerman is an American writer of mystery novels, in particular the "Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus" series, as well as three nonseries books, The Quality of Mercy, Moon Music, and Straight into Darkness.

  58. 1951

    1. Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Australian tennis player births

      1. Australian aboriginal tennis player (born 1951)

        Evonne Goolagong Cawley

        Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.

    2. Cho Ki-chon, North Korean poet (b. 1913) deaths

      1. North Korean poet (1913–1951)

        Cho Ki-chon

        Cho Ki-chon was a Russian-born North Korean poet. He is regarded as a national poet and "founding father of North Korean poetry" whose distinct Soviet-influenced style of lyrical epic poetry in the socialist realist genre became an important feature of North Korean literature. He was nicknamed "Korea's Mayakovsky" after the writer whose works had had an influence on him and which implied his breaking from the literature of the old society and his commitment to communist values. Since a remark made by Kim Jong-il on his 2001 visit to Russia, North Korean media has referred to Cho as the "Pushkin of Korea".

  59. 1950

    1. Richard Berry, French actor, director, and screenwriter births

      1. French actor

        Richard Berry (actor)

        Richard Berry is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 100 films since 1972. He starred in The Violin Player, which was entered into the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.

  60. 1949

    1. Mike Jackson, American basketball player births

      1. American basketball player

        Mike Jackson (basketball)

        Michael Jackson is an American former professional basketball player. After a collegiate career at the Cal State University Los Angeles, Jackson was selected in both the 1972 ABA draft and 1972 NBA draft.

    2. Alan Meale, English journalist and politician births

      1. British politician

        Alan Meale

        Sir Joseph Alan Meale is a former British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mansfield from 1987 to 2017.

  61. 1948

    1. Russell Morris, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. Musical artist

        Russell Morris

        Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. On 1 July 2008, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) recognised Morris' status when he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

  62. 1947

    1. Karl Green, English bass player and songwriter births

      1. Musical artist

        Karl Green

        Karl Anthony Green is an English songwriter, musician and bassist who was the bass guitarist and backing singer for the 1960s British band, Herman's Hermits.

    2. Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013) births

      1. English actor (1947–2013)

        Richard Griffiths

        Richard Thomas Griffiths was an English actor of film, television, and stage. For his performance in the stage play The History Boys, Griffiths won a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award. For the 2006 film adaptation, Griffiths was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

    3. Mumtaz, Indian actress births

      1. Indian film actress

        Mumtaz (actress)

        Mumtaz Askari Madhvani is an Indian actress. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she is the recipient of a Filmfare Award and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to Hindi cinema.

    4. Hubert Védrine, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs births

      1. French politician (born 1947)

        Hubert Védrine

        Hubert Védrine is a French Socialist politician. He is an advisor at Moelis & Company.

      2. Foreign affairs government office of France

        Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France)

        The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term Quai d'Orsay is often used as a metonym for the ministry. Its cabinet minister, the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs is responsible for the foreign relations of France. The current officeholder, Catherine Colonna, was appointed in 2022.

    5. Ian Beck, English children's illustrator and author births

      1. English children's illustrator and author

        Ian Beck

        Ian Archibald Beck is an English children's illustrator and author. In addition to his numerous children's books, he is also known for his cover illustration on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. More than a million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. Beck was Master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1999.

  63. 1946

    1. Gary Lewis, American pop-rock musician births

      1. American musician (born 1945)

        Gary Lewis (musician)

        Gary Lewis is an American musician who was the leader of Gary Lewis & the Playboys.

  64. 1945

    1. William Weld, American lawyer and politician, 68th Governor of Massachusetts births

      1. 68th Governor of Massachusetts

        Bill Weld

        William Floyd Weld is an American attorney, businessman, author, and politician who served as the 68th Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. A Harvard and Oxford graduate, Weld began his career as legal counsel to the United States House Committee on the Judiciary before becoming the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and later, the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division. He worked on a series of high-profile public corruption cases and later resigned in protest of an ethics scandal and associated investigations into Attorney General Edwin Meese.

      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.

  65. 1944

    1. Geraldine Chaplin, American actress and screenwriter births

      1. American actress

        Geraldine Chaplin

        Geraldine Leigh Chaplin is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to acting, and made her English-language acting debut in her portrayal of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago (1965). She made her Broadway acting debut in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes in 1967, and played the role of ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti in Raúl Araiza's Nefertiti and Akhenaton (1973) alongside famous Egyptian actor Salah Zulfikar. Chaplin received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville (1975). She received a BAFTA nomination for her role in Welcome to L.A. (1976). She played her grandmother Hannah Chaplin in the biopic Chaplin (1992) for which she received her third Golden Globe nomination.

    2. Jonathan Dimbleby, English journalist and author births

      1. British television presenter and journalist

        Jonathan Dimbleby

        Jonathan Dimbleby is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, author and historian. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of television presenter David Dimbleby.

    3. Sherry Lansing, American film producer births

      1. American former actress and film studio executive

        Sherry Lansing

        Sherry Lansing is an American former actress and retired film studio executive. She is a former CEO of Paramount Pictures and president of production at 20th Century Fox. In 1996, she became the first woman to be named Pioneer of the Year by the Foundation of the Motion Picture Pioneers. In 1999, she was appointed to the University of California Board of Regents. In 2005, she became the first female movie studio head to place hand and foot prints at the Grauman's Chinese Theater. In 2001, she was named one of the 30 most powerful women in America by Ladies' Home Journal, and The Hollywood Reporter named her fourth on its Power 100 list in 2003.

    4. Robert C. Merton, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate births

      1. American economist

        Robert C. Merton

        Robert Cox Merton is an American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureate, and professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, known for his pioneering contributions to continuous-time finance, especially the first continuous-time option pricing model, the Black–Scholes–Merton model. In 1993 Merton co-founded hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management.

      2. Economics award

        Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

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

    5. David Norris, Irish scholar and politician births

      1. Irish politician, Joycean scholar and civil rights activist

        David Norris (politician)

        David Patrick Bernard Norris is an Irish scholar, independent Senator and civil rights activist. Internationally, Norris is credited with having "managed, almost single-handedly, to overthrow the anti-homosexuality law which brought about the downfall of Oscar Wilde", a feat he achieved in 1988 after a fourteen-year campaign. He has also been credited with being "almost single-handedly responsible for rehabilitating James Joyce in once disapproving Irish eyes".

    6. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and poet (b. 1900) deaths

      1. French writer and aviator (1900–1944)

        Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

        Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of several of France's highest literary awards and also won the United States National Book Award. He is best remembered for his novella The Little Prince and for his lyrical aviation writings, including Wind, Sand and Stars and Night Flight.

  66. 1943

    1. William Bennett, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Education births

      1. 3rd United States Secretary of Education

        William Bennett

        William John Bennett is an American conservative politician and political commentator who served as secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. He also held the post of director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under George H. W. Bush.

      2. Head of the United States Department of Education

        United States Secretary of Education

        The United States secretary of education is the head of the U.S. Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activities related to all education in the United States. As a member of the Cabinet of the United States, the secretary is sixteenth in the line of succession to the presidency.

    2. Lobo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. American singer-songwriter

        Lobo (musician)

        Roland Kent LaVoie, better known by his stage name Lobo, is an American singer-songwriter who was successful in the 1970s, scoring several U.S. Top 10 hits including "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo", "I'd Love You to Want Me", and "Don't Expect Me to Be Your Friend". These three songs, along with "Where Were You When I Was Falling in Love", gave Lobo four chart toppers on the Easy Listening/Hot Adult Contemporary chart.

    3. Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1905) deaths

      1. English cricketer

        Hedley Verity

        Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 and 144 wickets in 40 Tests at an average of 24.37. Named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1932, he is regarded as one of the most effective slow left-arm bowlers to have played cricket. Never someone who spun the ball sharply, he achieved success through the accuracy of his bowling. On pitches which made batting difficult, particularly ones affected by rain, he could be almost impossible to bat against.

  67. 1942

    1. Francis Younghusband, British Army Officer, explorer and spiritual writer (b.1863) deaths

      1. British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer

        Francis Younghusband

        Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, was a British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer. He is remembered for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia; especially the 1904 British expedition to Tibet, led by himself, and for his writings on Asia and foreign policy. Younghusband held positions including British commissioner to Tibet and President of the Royal Geographical Society.

      2. Land warfare force of the United Kingdom

        British Army

        The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. As of 2022, the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas, and 28,330 volunteer reserve personnel.

      3. Act of traveling and searching for resources or for information about the land or space itself

        Exploration

        Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.

  68. 1941

    1. Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (d. 2004) births

      1. Indian politician

        Amarsinh Chaudhary

        Amarsinh Bhilabhai Chaudhary was an Indian politician. He became the first adivasi to serve as the Chief Minister of Gujarat when he took office in 1985.

      2. List of chief ministers of Gujarat

        The chief minister of Gujarat is the chief executive of the government of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. The chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits, given that he has the confidence of the assembly.

  69. 1940

    1. Udham Singh, Indian activist (b. 1899) deaths

      1. Indian revolutionary (1899–1940)

        Udham Singh

        Udham Singh was an Indian revolutionary belonging to Ghadar Party and HSRA, best known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of the Punjab in India, on 13 March 1940. The assassination was done in revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919, for which O'Dwyer was responsible. Singh was subsequently tried and convicted of murder and hanged in July 1940. While in custody, he used the name Ram Mohammad Singh Azad, which represents the three major religions in India and his anti-colonial sentiment.

  70. 1939

    1. Steuart Bedford, English pianist and conductor (d. 2021) births

      1. English orchestral and opera conductor and pianist (1939–2021)

        Steuart Bedford

        Steuart John Rudolf Bedford was an English orchestral and opera conductor and pianist.

    2. Susan Flannery, American actress births

      1. American actress

        Susan Flannery

        Susan Flannery is an American actress and director known for her roles in the daytime dramas The Bold and the Beautiful and Days of Our Lives.

    3. France Nuyen, Vietnamese-French actress births

      1. French actress

        France Nuyen

        France Nuyen is a French actress, model, and psychological counsellor.

  71. 1935

    1. Yvon Deschamps, Canadian comedian, actor, and producer births

      1. Canadian actor, author, and entertainment producer

        Yvon Deschamps

        Yvon Deschamps is a Quebec author, actor, comedian and producer best known for his monologues. His social-commentary-tinged humour propelled him to prominence in Quebec popular culture in the 1970s and 1980s. A long time comedian and still active, Deschamps is now perceived as one of the greatest in Quebec history.

    2. Geoffrey Lewis, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015) births

      1. American actor (1935-2015)

        Geoffrey Lewis (actor)

        Geoffrey Bond Lewis was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 200 films and television shows, and was principally known for his film roles alongside Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford. He typically portrayed villains or quirky characters. He played a bodyguard in the Jean-Claude van Damme film Double Impact.

  72. 1933

    1. Cees Nooteboom, Dutch journalist, author, and poet births

      1. Dutch novelist, poet and journalist

        Cees Nooteboom

        Cees Nooteboom is a Dutch novelist, poet and journalist. After the attention received by his novel Rituelen, which received the Pegasus Prize, it was the first of his novels to be translated into an English edition, published in 1983 by Louisiana State University Press of the United States. LSU Press published his first two novels in English in the following years, as well as other works through 1990. Harcourt and Grove Press have since published some of his works in English.

  73. 1932

    1. Ted Cassidy, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1979) births

      1. American actor (1932–1979)

        Ted Cassidy

        Theodore Crawford Cassidy was an American actor noted for his tall stature at 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) and deep voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as Star Trek and I Dream of Jeannie, and played Lurch on The Addams Family in the mid-1960s. He also narrated The Incredible Hulk TV series and voiced The Hulk in the show’s first 2 seasons.

    2. John Searle, American philosopher and academic births

      1. American philosopher

        John Searle

        John Rogers Searle is an American philosopher widely noted for contributions to the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and social philosophy. He began teaching at UC Berkeley in 1959, and was Willis S. and Marion Slusser Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Language and Professor of the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley until 2019.

  74. 1931

    1. Nick Bollettieri, American tennis player and coach (d. 2022) births

      1. American tennis coach (1931–2022)

        Nick Bollettieri

        Nicholas James Bollettieri was an American tennis coach. He pioneered the concept of a tennis boarding school, and helped develop many leading tennis players during the past decades, including Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, and Mary Pierce. He also worked with players such as Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchová, Jelena Janković, Nicole Vaidišová, Sabine Lisicki, Sara Errani, Tommy Haas, Max Mirnyi, Xavier Malisse, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Anna Kournikova, Marcelo Ríos, and Kei Nishikori. Bollettieri was also a tour traveling coach, the last time having been for and with Boris Becker for a span of two years.

    2. Kenny Burrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. American jazz guitarist (born 1931)

        Kenny Burrell

        Kenneth Earl Burrell is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 Billboard Top Twenty hit Verve album Organ Grinder Swing. He has cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, along with blues guitarists T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters.

  75. 1929

    1. Lynne Reid Banks, English author births

      1. British writer

        Lynne Reid Banks

        Lynne Reid Banks is a British author of books for children and adults.

    2. Gilles Carle, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2009) births

      1. Gilles Carle

        Gilles Carle, was a French Canadian director, screenwriter and painter.

    3. Don Murray, American actor births

      1. American actor

        Don Murray (actor)

        Donald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor best known for his breakout performance in the film Bus Stop, which earned him a nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His other films include A Hatful of Rain (1957), Shake Hands with the Devil, One Foot in Hell, The Hoodlum Priest (1961), Advise & Consent, Baby the Rain Must Fall, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), Deadly Hero (1975), and Peggy Sue Got Married.

    4. José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer and manager births

      1. Uruguayan footballer and manager

        José Santamaría

        José Emilio Santamaría Iglesias is a retired football central defender and manager.

  76. 1928

    1. Bill Frenzel, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2014) births

      1. American politician

        Bill Frenzel

        William Eldridge Frenzel was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota, representing Minnesota's Third District, which included the southern and western suburbs of Minneapolis.

  77. 1927

    1. Peter Nichols, English author and playwright (d. 2019) births

      1. English playwright (1927–2019)

        Peter Nichols (playwright)

        Peter Richard Nichols was an English playwright, screenwriter, director and journalist.

  78. 1926

    1. Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (d. 2011) births

      1. American physician, abortion rights activist and writer (1926–2011)

        Bernard Nathanson

        Bernard N. Nathanson was an American medical doctor and co-founder, in 1969, of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), later renamed National Abortion Rights Action League. He was also the former director of New York City's Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health, but later became an anti-abortion activist. He was the narrator for the controversial 1984 anti-abortion film The Silent Scream.

    2. Hilary Putnam, American mathematician, computer scientist, and philosopher (d. 2016) births

      1. American mathematician and philosopher (1926–2016)

        Hilary Putnam

        Hilary Whitehall Putnam was an American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist, and a major figure in analytic philosophy in the second half of the 20th century. He made significant contributions to philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of science. Outside philosophy, Putnam contributed to mathematics and computer science. Together with Martin Davis he developed the Davis–Putnam algorithm for the Boolean satisfiability problem and he helped demonstrate the unsolvability of Hilbert's tenth problem.

  79. 1925

    1. Carmel Quinn, Irish singer, actress and writer (d. 2021) births

      1. Irish-American singer and actress (1925–2021)

        Carmel Quinn

        Carmel Quinn was an Irish-American entertainer who appeared on Broadway, television and radio after immigrating to the United States in 1954.

    2. John Swainson, Canadian-American jurist and politician, 42nd Governor of Michigan (d. 1994) births

      1. American politician

        John Swainson

        John Burley Swainson was a Canadian-American politician and jurist who served as the 42nd governor of Michigan from 1961 to 1963.

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

        Governor of Michigan

        The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-elected to serve a second term in 2022. The governor is elected to a 4-year term and is limited to two terms.

  80. 1924

    1. Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach (d. 2015) births

      1. American tennis player and coach

        Jimmy Evert

        James Andrew "Jimmy" Evert (September 9, 1923 – August 21, 2015) was an American tennis coach and player. He was the father of Chris Evert, who was one of the world's top women tennis players in the 1970s and 1980s.

  81. 1923

    1. Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American songwriter and producer, founded Atlantic Records (d. 2006) births

      1. Turkish-American businessman (1923–2006)

        Ahmet Ertegun

        Ahmet Ertegun was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist.

      2. American record label

        Atlantic Records

        Atlantic Recording Corporation is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz, R&B, and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin, and Yes.

    2. Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist and engineer, invented Kevlar (d. 2014) births

      1. American chemist; invented Kevlar (1923–2014)

        Stephanie Kwolek

        Stephanie Louise Kwolek was a Polish-American chemist who is known for inventing Kevlar. Her career at the DuPont company spanned more than 40 years. She discovered the first of a family of synthetic fibers of exceptional strength and stiffness: poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide.

      2. Heat-resistant and strong aromatic polyamide fiber

        Kevlar

        Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires. It is typically spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such, or as an ingredient in composite material components.

  82. 1922

    1. Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007) births

      1. American baseball player and manager

        Hank Bauer

        Henry Albert Bauer was an American right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He played with the New York Yankees (1948–1959) and Kansas City Athletics (1960–1961); he batted and threw right-handed. He served as the manager of the Athletics in both Kansas City (1961–62) and in Oakland (1969), as well as the Baltimore Orioles (1964–68), guiding the Orioles to the World Series title in 1966, a four-game sweep over the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers. This represented the first World Series title in the franchise's history.

  83. 1921

    1. Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International (d. 2005) births

      1. British lawyer and human rights activist

        Peter Benenson

        Peter Benenson was a British barrister, human rights activist and the founder of the human rights group Amnesty International (AI). He refused all honours for most of his life, but in his 80s, largely to please his family, he accepted the Pride of Britain Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2001.

      2. International non-governmental organization

        Amnesty International

        Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments." The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders.

    2. Donald Malarkey, American sergeant and author (d. 2017) births

      1. US army non-commissioned officer

        Donald Malarkey

        Donald George Malarkey was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Malarkey was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Scott Grimes.

    3. Whitney Young, American activist (d. 1971) births

      1. American civil rights leader

        Whitney Young

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

  84. 1920

    1. James E. Faust, American religious leader, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007) births

      1. American Mormon religious leader

        James E. Faust

        James Esdras Faust was an American religious leader, lawyer, and politician. Faust was Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1995 until his death, an LDS Church apostle for 29 years, and a general authority of the church for 35 years.

    2. Ion Dragoumis, Greek philosopher and diplomat (b. 1878) deaths

      1. Greek diplomat and philosopher (1878–1920)

        Ion Dragoumis

        Ion Dragoumis was a Greek diplomat, philosopher, writer and revolutionary.

  85. 1919

    1. Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricketer (d. 2003) births

      1. Indian cricketer

        Hemu Adhikari

        Colonel Hemchandra "Hemu" Ramachandra Adhikari pronunciation (help·info) was an Indian cricketer, representing his country as both a player and a coach in a career that spanned three decades.

    2. Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2006) births

      1. American sportscaster

        Curt Gowdy

        Curtis Edward Gowdy was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s. He coined the nickname "The Granddaddy of Them All" for the Rose Bowl Game, taking the moniker from the Cheyenne Frontier Days in his native Wyoming.

    3. Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (d. 1987) births

      1. Italian Jewish partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer (1919−1987)

        Primo Levi

        Primo Michele Levi was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works include If This Is a Man, his account of the year he spent as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland; and The Periodic Table (1975), linked to qualities of the elements, which the Royal Institution named the best science book ever written.

  86. 1918

    1. Paul D. Boyer, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018) births

      1. American biochemist

        Paul D. Boyer

        Paul Delos Boyer was an American biochemist, analytical chemist, and a professor of chemistry at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research on the "enzymatic mechanism underlying the biosynthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)" with John E. Walker, making Boyer the first Utah-born Nobel laureate; the remainder of the Prize in that year was awarded to Danish chemist Jens Christian Skou for his discovery of the Na+/K+-ATPase.

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

        Nobel Prize in Chemistry

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

    2. Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2010) births

      1. American jazz musician

        Hank Jones

        Henry Jones Jr. was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award. He was also honored in 2003 with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Jazz Living Legend Award. In 2008, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. On April 13, 2009, the University of Hartford presented Jones with an honorary Doctorate of Music for his musical accomplishments.

    3. Frank Renouf, New Zealand businessman and financier (d. 1998) births

      1. New Zealand stockbroker and financier

        Frank Renouf

        Sir Francis Henry Renouf was a New Zealand stockbroker and financier.

  87. 1917

    1. Francis Ledwidge, Irish soldier and poet (b. 1881) deaths

      1. Irish poet

        Francis Ledwidge

        Francis Edward Ledwidge was a 20th-century Irish poet. From Slane, County Meath, and sometimes known as the "poet of the blackbirds", he was later also known as a First World War war poet. He befriended the established writer Lord Dunsany, who helped with publication of his works. He was killed in action at Ypres in 1917.

    2. Hedd Wyn, Welsh language poet (b. 1887) deaths

      1. Welsh poet

        Hedd Wyn

        Hedd Wyn was a Welsh-language poet who was killed on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I. He was posthumously awarded the bard's chair at the 1917 National Eisteddfod. Evans, who had been awarded several chairs for his poetry, was inspired to take the bardic name Hedd Wyn from the way sunlight penetrated the mist in the Meirionnydd valleys.

  88. 1916

    1. Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist (d. 1986) births

      1. Sibte Hassan

        Syed Sibt-e-Hasan was an eminent scholar, journalist and political activist of Pakistan. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of Socialism and Marxism in Pakistan, as well as the moving spirit behind the Progressive Writers Association.

    2. Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006) births

      1. American baseball player, manager, and executive (1916-2006)

        Billy Hitchcock

        William Clyde Hitchcock was an American professional baseball infielder, coach, manager and scout. In Major League Baseball (MLB), he was primarily a third baseman, second baseman and shortstop who appeared in 703 games over nine years with five American League teams. After 18 years as a coach, manager, and scout he became an executive in Minor League Baseball, serving as president of the Double-A Southern League from 1971–80. His older brother, Jimmy Hitchcock, played briefly for the 1938 Boston Bees.

    3. Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1979) births

      1. American TV producer (1916–1979)

        Bill Todman

        William Selden Todman was an American television producer and personality born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest-running shows with business partner Mark Goodson, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions.

  89. 1914

    1. Paul J. Christiansen, American conductor and composer (d. 1997) births

      1. Paul J. Christiansen

        Paul Joseph Christiansen was an American choral conductor and composer. As the youngest son of F. Melius Christiansen, he was brought up into the Lutheran Choral Tradition and quickly developed his own style of conducting and composing that furthered the tradition started by his father. He spent the bulk of his career developing The Concordia Choir and conducted the choir from 1937-1986. He is also credited with establishing the Concordia Christmas Concert which is seen yearly by more than 30,000 people.

    2. Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1983) births

      1. French actor

        Louis de Funès

        Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was a French actor and comedian. He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in film and over 100 on stage. His acting style is remembered for its high-energy performance and his wide range of facial expressions and tics. A considerable part of his best-known acting was directed by Jean Girault.

    3. Jean Jaurès, French journalist and politician (b. 1859) deaths

      1. French / Occitan Socialist leader

        Jean Jaurès

        Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès, commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès, was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social democrats and the leader of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. The two parties merged in 1905 in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). An antimilitarist, Jaurès was assassinated in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I, but remains one of the main historical figures of the French Left. As a heterodox Marxist, Jaurès rejected the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat and tried to conciliate idealism and materialism, individualism and collectivism, democracy and class struggle, patriotism and internationalism.

  90. 1913

    1. Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984) births

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Bryan Hextall

        Bryan Aldwyn Hextall was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL). Considered one of the top wingers of the 1940s, he led the NHL in goal scoring twice and in points once. Additionally, he was named a first-team All-Star three times, and a second-team All-Star once.

    2. John Milne, British geologist and mining engineer. (b. 1850) deaths

      1. British geologist and mining engineer (1850–1913)

        John Milne

        John Milne was a British geologist and mining engineer who worked on a horizontal seismograph.

  91. 1912

    1. Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (d. 2008) births

      1. Australian cricketer (1912–2008)

        Bill Brown (cricketer)

        William Alfred Brown, was an Australian cricketer who played 22 Test matches between 1934 and 1948, captaining his country in one Test. A right-handed opening batsman, his partnership with Jack Fingleton in the 1930s is regarded as one of the finest in Australian Test history. After the interruption of World War II, Brown was a member of the team dubbed "The Invincibles", who toured England in 1948 without defeat under the leadership of Don Bradman. In a match in November 1947, Brown was the unwitting victim of the first instance of "Mankading".

    2. Milton Friedman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006) births

      1. American economist and statistician (1912–2006)

        Milton Friedman

        Milton Friedman was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. With George Stigler and others, Friedman was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty at the University of Chicago that rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism until the mid-1970s, when it turned to new classical macroeconomics heavily based on the concept of rational expectations. Several students, young professors and academics who were recruited or mentored by Friedman at Chicago went on to become leading economists, including Gary Becker, Robert Fogel, Thomas Sowell and Robert Lucas Jr.

      2. Economics award

        Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

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

    3. Irv Kupcinet, American football player and journalist (d. 2003) births

      1. American columnist, broadcaster (1912–2003)

        Irv Kupcinet

        Irving Kupcinet was an American newspaper columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, television talk-show host, and radio personality based in Chicago, Illinois. He was popularly known by the nickname "Kup".

  92. 1911

    1. George Liberace, American violinist (d. 1983) births

      1. Musical artist

        George Liberace

        George Liberace was an American musician and television performer.

  93. 1909

    1. Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Austrian theorist and author (d. 1999) births

      1. Austrian noble and political theorist (1909–1999)

        Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

        Erik Maria Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn was an Austrian political scientist and philosopher. He opposed the ideas of the French Revolution as well as those of communism and Nazism. Describing himself as a "conservative arch-liberal" or "extreme liberal", Kuehnelt-Leddihn often argued that majority rule in democracies is a threat to individual liberties, and declared himself a monarchist and an enemy of all forms of totalitarianism, although he also supported what he defined as "non-democratic republics," such as Switzerland and the early United States. Kuehnelt-Leddihn cited the U.S. Founding Fathers, Tocqueville, Burckhardt, and Montalembert as the primary influences for his skepticism towards democracy.

  94. 1904

    1. Brett Halliday, American engineer, surveyor, and author (d. 1977) births

      1. American novelist

        Brett Halliday

        Brett Halliday is the primary pen name of Davis Dresser, an American mystery and western writer. Halliday is best known for the long-lived series of Michael Shayne mysteries he wrote, and later commissioned others to continue. Dresser also wrote westerns, non-series mysteries, and romances under the names Asa Baker, Matthew Blood, Kathryn Culver, Don Davis, Hal Debrett, Anthony Scott, Peter Field, and Anderson Wayne.

  95. 1902

    1. Gubby Allen, Australian-English cricketer and soldier (d. 1989) births

      1. English cricketer

        Gubby Allen

        Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen CBE was a cricketer who captained England in eleven Test matches. In first-class matches, he played for Middlesex and Cambridge University. A fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, Allen later became an influential cricket administrator who held key positions in the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which effectively ruled English cricket at the time; he also served as chairman of the England selectors.

  96. 1901

    1. Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985) births

      1. French painter and sculptor

        Jean Dubuffet

        Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a more authentic and humanistic approach to image-making. He is perhaps best known for founding the art movement art brut, and for the collection of works—Collection de l'art brut—that this movement spawned. Dubuffet enjoyed a prolific art career, both in France and in America, and was featured in many exhibitions throughout his lifetime.

  97. 1894

    1. Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer (d. 1972) births

      1. Welsh footballer and manager

        Fred Keenor

        Frederick Charles Keenor was a Welsh professional footballer. He began his career at his hometown side Cardiff City after impressing the club's coaching staff in a trial match in 1912 organised by his former schoolteacher. A hard-tackling defender, he appeared sporadically for the team in the Southern Football League before his spell at the club was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. Keenor served in the 17th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, led by Major Frank Buckley, which became known as the Football Battalion. He fought in the Battle of the Somme, suffering a severe shrapnel wound to his thigh in 1916. He returned to Britain and after a lengthy rehabilitation he ended the war as a physical training instructor, reaching the rank of sergeant. He also appeared as a guest player for Brentford during the war.

  98. 1892

    1. Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist and publisher, founded Worldwide Church of God (d. 1986) births

      1. American evangelist (1892-1986)

        Herbert W. Armstrong

        Herbert W. Armstrong was an American evangelist who founded the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). An early pioneer of radio and television evangelism, Armstrong preached what he claimed was the comprehensive combination of doctrines in the entire Bible, in the light of the New Covenant scriptures, which he maintained to be the restored true Gospel. These doctrines and teachings have been referred to as Armstrongism by non-adherents.

      2. Formerly the Worldwide Church of God

        Grace Communion International

        Grace Communion International (GCI), formerly named the Radio Church of God and Worldwide Church of God, is a Christian denomination with 30,000 members in about 550 churches spread across 70 countries. The denomination is structured in the episcopal model based in Charlotte, North Carolina, US, and is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.

    2. Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1959) births

      1. Joseph Charbonneau

        Joseph Charbonneau, was a Canadian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Montreal from 1940 to 1950.

  99. 1891

    1. Jean-Baptiste Capronnier, Belgian stained glass painter (b. 1814) deaths

      1. Belgian stained glass painter