1418 Death of Katherine of Lancaster, wife of Henry III of Castile
1535 Birth of Pope Leo XI (d. 1605)
1567 Death of Shane O’Neill, Irish chieftain
1581 Death of James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, regent of Scotland
1615 First RTcollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.
1693 Death of John Wildman, English soldier and politician
1701 Death of Madeleine de ScudTry, French writer (b. 1607)
1716 Death of Ogata Korin, Japanese painter
1731 Birth of Martha Washington, First American first lady (d. 1802)
1740 Birth of Marquis de Sade first known sadist, writer (Justine).
1743 Birth of Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, Sicilian Occultist (d. 1795)
1754 Death of Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish religious dissenter (b. 1680)
1758 French troops under commander Comtede Lally attack and capture Fort Saint David on the Coromandel Coast.
1761 Death of Jonas Alstr�mer, Swedish industrialist (b. 1685)
1763 Pontiac’s Rebellion: At what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison’s attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort.
1773 Birth of John Randolph, U.S. Senator from Virginia (d. 1833)
1774 Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to let British soldiers into their homes, is reenacted.
1780 In England, the first Derby horse race held.
1780 The Derby horse race is held for the first time.
1785 Death of Jean Paul de Gua de Malves, French mathematician (b. 1713)
1793 Jean Paul Marat recites the names of 29 people to the French National Convention. Almost all of these are guillotined, followed by 17,000 more over the course of the next year during the Reign of Terror.
1797 First ascent of “Great Mountain” (4,622 feet) in Adirondack New York (C Broadhead).
1800 First smallpox vaccination in North America, at Trinity, Newfoundland.
1821 Birth of Ion Bratianu (Lib), premier of Romania (1876-88).
1823 Birth of GTdTon Ouimet, French Canadian politician (d. 1905)
1834 5th national black convention meet (New York City).
1835 Birth of Saint Pius X 257th Roman Catholic pope (1903-14).
1835 P.T. Barnum and his circus begin first tour of US.
1835 P. T. Barnum and his circus begins their first tour of the United States.
1840 Birth of Thomas Hardy England, poet/novelist (Mayor of Casterbridge).
1848 Slavic congress in Prague begins.
1851 First US alcohol prohibition law enacted (Maine).
1855 The Portland Rum Riot occurs in Portland, Maine.
1857 Birth of Edward Elgar Broadheath, England, composer (Pomp and Circumstance).
1857 James Gibbs, Virginia., patents chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine.
1858 Donati Comet first seen named after its discoverer.
1861 Birth of Helen Taft; US first lady.
1862 General Robert E Lee takes command of the Confederate armies of East Virginia and North Carolina.
1863 Birth of Felix Weingartner in Germany; conductor (Zara, Dalmatia).
1864 Battle of Cold Harbour, day two.
1865 At Galveston, Kirby-Smith surrenders the Trans-Mississippi Dept.
1865 Birth of George Lohmann, English cricketer (d. 1901)
1865 Death of Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician (b. 1783)
1866 Renegade Irish Fenians surrender to US forces.
1873 Ground broken on Clay Steet (San Francisco) for world’s first cable railroad.
1875 Death of J=zef Kremer, Polish messianistic philosopher (b. 1806)
1881 Death of �mile LittrT, French lexicographer (b. 1801)
1882 Death of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian revolutionarist (b. 1807)
1882 Guiseppi Garibaldi Italian rebel leader, dies at age 74.
1883 Chicago’s “El” opens to traffic.
1883 First night baseball under lights, Fort Wayne Indiana.
1886 Grover Cleveland is first to wed during presidency (Frances Folsom).
1886 U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the White House, becoming the only president to wed in the executive mansion.
1887 Birth of Howard Johnson, American songwriter (d. 1941)
1890 Birth of Hedda Hopper gossip columnist (From Under My Hat).
1891 Birth of Thurman Arnold, American attorney and jurist (d. 1969)
1894 Birth of Erich R�mer Germany, ice hockey player (Olympic-bronze-1932).
1896 Guglielmo Marconi receives a patent for his newest invention: the radio.
1899 Birth of Lotte Reiniger, German film director (d. 1981)
1899 Black Americans observed day of fasting to protest lynchings.
1899 The government of the Philippines declares war on the USA.
1901 Birth of Michael Todd producer (Around the World in 80 Days).
1901 Death of George Leslie Mackay, Canadian missionary (b. 1844)
1902 Second statewide initiative and referendum law adopted, in Oregon.
1903 Pittsburgh Pirates win a triple header from the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1904 Birth of John Weissmuller actor (Tarzan)/100m swimmer (Olympic-gold-1924, 28).
1907 Birth of Dorothy West, American writer (d. 1998)
1909 Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
1910 First roundtrip flight over the English Channel (C.S. Rolls, England).
1910 Pygmies discovered in Dutch New Guinea.
1913 Birth of Barbara Pym romantic author (Very Private Eye).
1913 First strike settlement mediated by US Department of Labor-railroad clerks.
1914 Glenn Curtiss flies his Langley Aerodrome.
1915 Birth of Walter Tetley, American voice actor (d. 1975)
1917 Birth of Max Showalter Caldwell Kansas; actor/composer (Stockard Channing Show).
1920 Birth of Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish-born German critic
1922 Birth of Charlie Sifford, American golfer
1922 Suffy McInnis (first base) ends an errorless string of 1,700 chances.
1924 U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
1925 Wally Pipp, first baseman of the New York Yankees, asks for a day off due to a headache. He is replaced in the lineup by Lou Gehrig, who also starts the next 2,128 consecutive games.
1926 Birth of Milo O’Shea, Irish actor
1929 Birth of Norton Juster, American author and architect
1930 Birth of Pete Conrad, American astronaut (d. 1999)
1930 First baby born on a vessel passing through Panama Canal.
1932 Birth of Sammy Turner in Patterson, New Jersey, USA; singer (“Lavender Blue Moods”).
1933 Birth of Bob Rozario in Shanghai, China; orchestra leader (Tony Orlando, Marie).
1933 Death of Frank Jarvis, American athlete (b. 1878)
1935 Birth of Carol Shields, American-born novelist (d. 2003)
1936 Birth of Vladimir Golubnichy in USSR; 20km walker (Olympic-gold-1960, 1968).
1936 General Anastasio Somoza takes over as dictator of Nicaragua.
1937 Birth of Jimmy Jones (singer), American singer and songwriter
1940 Birth of Constantine II; deposed king of Greece (-1967).
1941 Birth of Charlie Watts; drummer (The Rolling Stones – “Brown Sugar”).
1941 Death of Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (b. 1903)
1941 Lou Gehrig, Mew York Yankees great, dies at age 37 of ALS in Riverdale, New York.
1943 99th Pursuit Squadron flies first combat mission (over Italy).
1943 Actor Leslie Howard is killed, when Germans shoot down his plane.
1943 Birth of Charles Haid, American actor
1944 Birth of Garo Yepremian; NFL place kicker (Miami Dolphins).
1945 Birth of Jon Peters, American film producer and hairdresser
1946 Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum Italians decide to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After this referendum the king of Italy Umberto II di Savoia is exiled.
1946 Italian plebiscite chooses republic over monarchy.
1948 Birth of Jerry Mathers, American actor
1948 Death of Karl Gebhardt, Nazi doctor (b. 1897)
1949 Birth of Heather Couper, British astronomer
1949 Transjordan is renamed Jordan.
1951 Birth of Larry Robinson, Canadian hockey player
1952 Birth of Gary Bettman, American NHL commissioner
1952 General Motors executives are formally presented with Harley Earl’s proposal for a two-seater sports car. General Motors president Charles Wilson and Chevrolet general manager Thomas Keating approve completing a prototype for the 1953 Motorama. The project is code-named “Opel Sports Car”.
1953 Birth of Craig Stadler in San Diego, California, USA; PGA golfer (Masters 1982).
1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, England.
1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the first to be televised.
1953 In London, England, the news of Edmund Hillary reaching the peak of Mount Everest is first reported.
1954 Birth of Dennis Haysbert, American actor
1955 Birth of Dana Carvey, American actor and comedian
1955 USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between both countries, discontinued since 1948.
1956 Birth of Mani Ratnam, Indian director
1956 Death of Jean Hersholt, Danish actor and humanitarian (b. 1886)
1957 Birth of King Lizzard, American entertainer
1958 Birth of Lawrence Pfohl, American professional wrestler
1959 Birth of Lydia Lunch, American singer
1960 Birth of Tony Hadley; rocker (Spandau Ballet – “True”).
1961 Death of George S. Kaufman, American playwright (b. 1889)
1961 George S Kaufman, playwright/director/pulitzer prize winner, dies at age 72.
1962 Death of Vita Sackville-West, English writer, and gardener (b. 1892)
1965 Birth of Mark Waugh, Australian cricketer
1965 Second of two cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 (Ganges River, India).
1965 Vietnam War: The first contingent of Australian combat troops arrives in South Vietnam.
1966 Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarumon the Moon, becoming the first US spacecraft to soft land on another world.
1967 Death of Benno Ohnesorg, German student of Romance languages and literature (b. 1940)
1967 Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran turn into riots, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group Movement 2 June.
1967 Race riots in Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts.
1968 Birth of Jon Culshaw, British impressionist and comedian
1969 Death of Leo Gorcey, American actor (b. 1917)
1969 In Ottawa, Canada the National Arts Centre opens its doors to the public for the first time.
1970 Death of Bruce McLaren, New Zealand car racer, designer, and manufacturer (b. 1937)
1971 Birth of Anthony Montgomery, American actor
1972 Birth of Wayne Brady, American actor and comedian
1974 Birth of Gata Kamsky, American chess player
1975 French sex workers occupied a Lyon church in protest against excessive fines and taxes, as well as a lack of police action against violence, thereby sparking the birth of the modern sex worker rights movement.
1976 Birth of Adrian Carlos Olivares in Mexico City; singer (Menudo-Cannonball).
1977 Death of Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish actor (b. 1931)
1977 New Jersey allows casino gambling in Atlantic City.
1978 Birth of Nikki Cox, American actress
1979 Death of Jim Hutton, American actor (b. 1934)
1979 In Western Australia, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurs.
1979 John Paul II becomes first pope to visit a communist country (Poland).
1979 NASA launches space vehicle S-198.
1979 Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
1980 Birth of Lindsey Yamasaki; Japanese American professional basketball player.
1981 Death of Rino Gaetano, Italian singer-songwriter (born 1950).
1982 Birth of Jewel Staite; Canadian actress and singer.
1982 Death of Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, President of Pakistan (born 1904).
1983 Birth of Christopher Higgins, Professional hockey player
1983 Toilet catches fire on Air Canada’s DC-9, 23 die at Cincinnati, Ohio.
1984 B A Skiff discovers asteroid #3617.
1985 Nancy Lopez wins the LPGA tournament.
1985 Serial killer Leonard Lake is arrested near San Francisco, California for shoplifting.
1986 Death of Aurel Joliat, Professional hockey player (b. 1901)
1986 New York City transit system issues a new brass with steel bullseye token.
1986 Regular TV coverage of US Senate sessions begins.
1987 AndrTs Segovia, Spanish guitarist, dies at age 94 (born 1893).
1987 Death of Sammy Kaye, American bandleader (b. 1910)
1988 Birth of Ayaka Saito, Japanese voice actor.
1988 Horace A Hildreth (Governor-Maine, 1945-49), dies at age 85.
1989 Birth of Freddy Adu, Ghanaian-born American soccer player.
1989 Cincinnati Reds player Eric Davis hits for the cycle.
1989 Fourteen-year old Scott Isaacs spells “spoliator” to win US National Spelling Bee.
1989 Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman marries Mandy Smith.
1990 Death of Jack Gilford, American actor (b. 1908)
1990 Frederick Mellinger, founder of Fredericks of Hollywood, dies at age 76.
1990 The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 88 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 9. 37 tornadoes occur in Indiana, eclipsing the previous record of 21 during the Super Outbreak of April 1974.
1992 Death of Phillip Dunne, American film director (b. 1908)
1993 Death of Johnny Mize, American baseball player (b. 1913)
1994 In South of Jawa, Indonesia, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurs. At least 250 people killed, 27 missing, 423 injured and many left homeless. About 1,500 houses damaged or destroyed and 278 boats sunk or damaged. Most of the casualties and damage were caused by a tsunami along the southeast coast of Jawa.
1995 SS Captain Erich Priebke is extradited from Argentina to Italy.
1995 United States Air Force Captain Scott O’Grady’s F-16 is shot down over Bosnia while patrolling the NATO no-fly zone.
1996 Death of Ray Combs, American game show host, and comedian (suicide) (born 1956).
1997 Death of Doc Cheatham, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1905)
1997 In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1997 Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1998 California voters approve Proposition 227, abolishing the state’s bilingual education program.
1998 Death of Sylvester Ritter (“Junkyard Dog”), American professional wrestler (b. 1953)
1998 The CIH computer virus is discovered in Taiwan.
1998 The CIH virus is discovered in Taiwan.
1999 After decades of fighting off outside technological influences like television, the King of Bhutan allows television transmissions to commence in the Kingdom for the first time, coinciding with the King’s Silver Jubilee.
1999 Death of Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican musician (The Wailers) (b. 1949)
1999 The Bhutan Broadcasting Service finally brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time.
2000 Death of Svyatoslav Fyodorov, Russian ophthalmologist (b. 1927)
2000 U. S. President William Jefferson Clinton is awarded the Charlemagne prize of the city of Aachen, Germany. Clinton is the first American president to win the prize which is given for contributions toward the unity of Europe.
2001 Death of Imogene Coca, American actress (born 1908).
2003 Death of Burke Marshall, American lawyer and politician (born 1922).
2003 Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.
2004 Death of Loyd Sigmon, American amateur (“ham”) radio broadcastor (born 1909).
2005 At the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo, a US $20 gold coin, 1927-D PCGS MS-66 sells for US$1.65 million.
2005 Construction begins on Northrop Grumman X-47B, the world’s first unmanned surveillance attack aircraft that can operate from both land bases and aircraft carriers.
2005 Death of Samir Kassir, Lebanese journalist and teacher (b. 1950)
2006 A fireball is reported crossing Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Canada, estimated to be 20 miles above the Earth’s surface. A sonic boom is heard over Minnesota.
2006 Death of Vince Welnick, musician, keyboardist (The Grateful Dead) (b. 1951)
2007 Death of Huang Ju, Chinese politician (born 1938).
2007 Four people are charged with a terror plot to blow up JFK International Airport in New York.
2008 A car bomb explodes outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least five.
2008 China Merchants Bank of China announces it will buy Hong Kong’s Wing Lung Bank for US$4.76 billion.
2008 Death of Bo Diddley, American musician (born 1928).
2009 Death of David Eddings, American author (born 1931).
2010 Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigns after just eight months in office.
2010 Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners retires from Major League Baseball at age 40. Griffey ranks fifth on the career home run list with 630, won an MVP award and was a Gold Glover.