Events
★
55 BC -
Julius Caesar invades
Britain.
★
1071 -
Battle of Manzikert: The
Seljuk Turks defeat the
Byzantine Army at
Manzikert.
★
1278 -
Ladislaus IV of Hungary and
Rudolph I of Germany defeat
Premysl Ottokar II of
Bohemia in the
Battle of Marchfield near
Dürnkrut in
Moravia.
★
1303 -
Ala ud din Khilji won
Chittor.
★
1346 -
Hundred Years' War: The military supremacy of the English
longbow over the
French combination of
crossbow and armoured
knights is established at the
Battle of Crécy.
★
1466 - A conjure against
Piero di Cosimo de' Medici in Florence, led by
Luca Pitti, is discovered.
★
1498 -
Michelangelo commissioned to carve the
Pietà .
★
1748 - The first
Lutheran denomination in North America, the
Pennsylvania Ministerium is founded in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
★
1778 - The first ascent of
Triglav, the highest mountain of
Slovenia.
★
1789 -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen approved by
Constituent Assembly at
Palace of Versailles.
★
1818 - The first
Illinois Constitution was signed in
Kaskaskia.
★
1839 - The ship ''
Amistad'' is captured off
Long Island.
★
1858 - First news dispatch by
telegraph.
★
1862 -
American Civil War: The
Second Battle of Bull Run begins.
★
1883 - Eruption of Mount
Krakatoa.
★
1914 -
World War I:
Germans defeat
Russians in
Battle of Tannenberg, a decisive engagement which resulted in the almost complete destruction of the
Russian 2nd Army.
★ 1914 -
World War I: The
British Expeditionary Force briefly checks the
German advance at
Le Cateau.
★ 1914 -
World War I: The
German colony of
Togoland is invaded by
French and
British forces, who take it after 5 days.
★
1920 -
19th amendment to
U.S. Constitution gives women the right to vote.
★
1924 - (August 13 with the Old Style calendar) Catastrophe of Smyrna, known as the Asia Minor Catastrophe to Greeks, occurs. The Ottoman army expels Greeks and other non-Turks from Asia Minor in systematic ethnic cleansing. One of the first of the 20th Century.
★
1928 - May Donoghue drinks a bottle of ginger beer at a cafe in
Paisley, Scotland and finds the remains of a snail in the bottle. She launches a civil action against the drink manufacturer which becomes one of the famous cases in English
Common Law; that of
Donoghue v. Stevenson.
★
1939 - The first
Major League Baseball game is telecast, a double-header between the
Cincinnati Reds and the
Brooklyn Dodgers at
Ebbets Field, in
Brooklyn, New York.
★
1940 -
Chad is the first
French colony to join the Allies under the administration of
Félix Éboué,
France's first black colonial
governor.
★
1942 -
Holocaust in
Chortkiv, western
Ukraine: At 2.30 am the
German Schutzpolizei starts driving
Jews out of houses, splits in groups of 120, packs them in freight cars and deports 2000
Jews to
Belzec death camp. 500 of sick and children murdered on the spot.
★
1944 -
World War II:
Charles de Gaulle enters
Paris.
★
1957 - The
USSR announces the successful test of an
ICBM - a "super long distance intercontinental multistage ballistic rocket ... a few days ago," according to the Soviet news agency,
TASS.
★
1968 - The
Democratic National Convention opens in
Chicago, Illinois.
★ 1968 -
The Beatles' "
Hey Jude" is released (in a shortened version) as a
single in the
United States under the
Apple Records label, to spend nine weeks as number one, a record for any
Beatles single.
★
1969 -
Canada's
Prime Minister decriminalizes
sodomy by saying: "the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation"
★
1970 - The third annual
Isle of Wight rock festival, which would feature the last
UK performance from
Jimi Hendrix, opens in
Great Britain.
★
1972 -
Games of the XX Olympiad open in
Munich,
Germany.
★
1976 -
Raymond Barre becomes
Prime Minister of
France.
★
1977 -
Charter of the French Language is adopted by the
National Assembly of Quebec
★
1978 -
Papal conclave, 1978 (August):
Pope John Paul I is elevated to the
Papacy.
★ 1978 -
Sigmund Jähn becomes first
German cosmonaut on board of the
Soyuz 31 spacecraft.
★
1980 -
John Birges plants a bomb at
Harvey's Resort Hotel in
Stateline, Nevada.
★
1983 - Flooding destroys most of the
old town of
Bilbao,
Spain.
★
1987 -
President Ronald Wilson Reagan proclaims
September 11,
1987 as 9-1-1
Emergency Number Day.
★
1988 -
Merhan Karimi Nasseri arrives at
Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
★
1995 - The
International Rugby Board lifts all restrictions on payments relating to the game of
Rugby Union, thus bringing the game's amateur age to an end.
★
1997 -
Beni-Ali massacre in
Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
★
1999 -
Michael Johnson breaks the
400 metres world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.
★
2002 -
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Éric Gagné converts his first of a record 84 consecutive successful save opportunities.
★ 2002 -
Earth Summit 2002 begins in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
★
2003 -
Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Births
★
1469 -
Ferdinand II of Naples (d.
1496)
★
1540 - King
Magnus of Livonia (d.
1583)
★
1676 -
Robert Walpole,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d.
1745)
★
1694 -
Elisha Williams, American rector of Yale College (d.
1755)
★
1728 -
Johann Heinrich Lambert, German scientist (d.
1777)
★
1736 -
Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle, French chemist (d.
1790)
★
1740 -
Joseph Montgolfier, French inventor (d.
1810)
★
1743 -
Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (d.
1794)
★
1775 -
William Joseph Behr, German writer (d.
1851)
★
1789 -
Abbas Mirza, Prince of Persia (d.
1833)
★
1792 -
Manuel Oribe, Uruguayan political figure (d.
1857)
★
1845 -
Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, widely believed to be the first victim of
Jack the Ripper (d.
1888)
★
1850 -
Charles Robert Richet, French physiologist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1935)
★
1862 -
Herbert Booth, the third son of
William and
Catherine Booth (d.
1926)
★
1873 -
Lee DeForest, American inventor (d.
1961)
★
1874 -
Zona Gale, American novelist (d.
1938)
★
1875 -
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Scottish novelist,
Governor General of Canada (d.
1940)
★
1880 -
Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet and art critic (d.
1918)
★
1882 -
James Franck, German-born physicist,
Nobel laureate (d.
1964)
★
1885 -
Jules Romains, French author (d.
1972)
★
1894 -
Sparky Adams, Baseball player (d.
1989)
★
1896 -
Ivan Mihailov, Bulgarian revolutionary (d.
1990)
★
1897 -
Yoon Boseon,
President of South Korea (d.
1990)
★
1898 -
Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (d.
1979)
★
1899 -
Rufino Tamayo, Mexican painter (d.
1991)
★
1900 -
Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d.
1980)
★
1901 -
Maxwell Taylor, American general (d.
1987)
★ 1901 -
Chen Yi, Chinese communist military commander and politician (d.
1972)
★
1904 -
Christopher Isherwood, English-born writer (d.
1986)
★
1906 -
Albert Sabin, American polio researcher (d.
1993)
★
1908 -
Aubrey Schenck, film producer (d.
1999)
★
1909 -
Jim Davis, American actor (d.
1981)
★ 1909 -
Gene Moore, baseball player (d.
1978)
★
1910 -
Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity and won the Nobel Peace Prize (d.
1997)
★
1914 -
Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (d.
1984)
★
1920 -
Brant Parker, American cartoonist (d.
2007)
★
1921 -
Benjamin Bradlee, American journalist
★
1922 -
Irving R. Levine, American journalist
★
1923 -
Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist
★
1924 -
Alex Kellner, baseball player (d.
1996)
★
1925 -
Jack Hirshleifer, American economist (d.
2005)
★ 1925 -
Alain Peyrefitte, French politician and writer (d.
1999)
★
1928 -
Peter Appleyard, Canadian jazz vibraphonist
★ 1928 -
Naïm Kattan, Canadian novelist and essayist
★
1934 -
Tom Heinsohn, American basketball player and commentator
★
1935 -
Geraldine Ferraro, U.S. Vice Presidential candidate
★
1936 -
Yvette Vickers, American actress
★
1940 -
Don LaFontaine, American voice actor
★
1941 -
Barbet Schroeder, Swiss film director
★ 1941 -
Akiko Wakabayashi, Japanese actress
★ 1941 -
Chris Curtis, English singer and drummer (
The searchers) (d.
2005)
★
1942 -
Vic Dana, American singer
★ 1942 -
Dennis Turner, British politician
★
1944 -
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
★ 1944 -
Stephen Greif, English actor
★ 1944 -
Maureen Tucker, American musician (
The Velvet Underground)
★
1945 -
Tom Ridge, first
United States Secretary of Homeland Security
★
1946 -
Valerie Simpson, American singer
★ 1946 -
Mark Snow, American composer
★ 1946 -
Zhou Ji, Education Minister of the People's Republic of China
★ 1946 -
Chantal Renaud, Quebec singer and actress
★
1950 -
Jerome "Pop" Pentsky, Co-founder and president of Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits
★
1952 -
Bryon Baltimore, Canadian ice hockey player
★ 1952 -
Michael Jeter, American actor (d.
2003)
★ 1952 -
Will Shortz,
New York Times crossword editor
★
1953 -
Pat Sharkey, Irish footballer
★
1954 -
Efren Reyes, World Pool Player
★
1957 -
Dr. Alban, Nigerian-Swedish singer
★ 1957 -
Rick Hansen, Canadian
paraplegic athlete
★
1960 -
Branford Marsalis, American saxophonist and bandleader
★ 1960 -
Nancy Martinez, Canadian-born singer
★
1961 -
Jeff Parrett, American baseball player
★
1962 -
Bob Mionske, American cyclist and attorney
★
1965 -
Chris Burke, American actor
★ 1965 -
Bobby Duncum, Jr., wrestler (d.
2000)
★ 1965 -
Jon Hensley, American actor
★
1966 -
Jacques Brinkman, Dutch field hockey player
★ 1966 -
Shirley Manson, Scottish singer
★
1967 -
Kelly Madison, porn star
★
1970 -
Olimpiada Ivanova, Russian athlete
★
1971 -
ThalÃa, Mexican singer
★
1976 -
Amaia Montero, Spanish singer (
La Oreja de Van Gogh)
★ 1976 -
Zemfira, Russian singer
★
1977 -
Saeko Chiba, Japanese
seiyuu
★ 1977 -
Morris Peterson, American basketball player
★
1979 -
Jamal Lewis, American football player
★ 1979 -
Cristian Mora, Ecuadorian footballer
★ 1979 -
Rubén Pazos, Spanish footballer
★
1980 -
Macaulay Culkin, American actor
★ 1980 -
Chris Pine, American actor
★ 1980 -
Brendan Harris, American baseball player
★
1981 -
Jesse Martin, Australian
yachtsman
★ 1981 -
Petey Williams, Canadian professional wrestler
★
1983 -
Félix Porteiro, Spanish racing driver
★
1986 -
Cassie Ventura, American singer
★
1988 -
Danielle Savre, American actress
★ 1988 -
Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este
★ 1988 -
Evan Ross, American actor
★
1993 -
Keke Palmer, American actress
Deaths
★
1278 - King
Otakar II of Bohemia
★
1346 - Killed in the
Battle of Crécy:
★
★
Charles II of Alençon (b.
1297)
★
★
Louis I of Flanders (b.
1304)
★
★
John I, Count of Luxemburg (b.
1296)
★
★
Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (b.
1320)
★
1349 -
Thomas Bradwardine,
Archbishop of Canterbury
★
1551 -
Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of
Gustav I of Sweden (b.
1516)
★
1572 -
Petrus Ramus, French philosopher (b.
1515)
★
1595 -
Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b.
1531)
★
1666 -
Frans Hals, Dutch painter
★
1714 -
Edward Fowler, English Bishop of Gloucester (b.
1632)
★
1723 -
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch scientist (b.
1632)
★
1785 -
George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, British soldier and politician (b.
1716)
★
1850 -
Louis-Philippe of France (b.
1773)
★
1865 -
Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (b.
1791)
★
1908 -
Tony Pastor, American vaudeville performer (b.
1837)
★
1910 -
William James, American psychologist and philosopher (b.
1842)
★
1915 -
John Bunny American comedian (b.
1863)
★
1930 -
Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (b.
1883)
★
1944 -
Adam von Trott zu Solz, German anti-Nazi diplomat (executed)
★
1945 -
Franz Werfel, Austrian writer (b.
1890)
★
1946 -
Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (b.
1887)
★
1958 -
Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (b.
1872)
★
1968 -
Kay Francis, American actress (b.
1899)
★
1974 -
Charles Lindbergh, American aviator (b.
1902)
★
1976 -
Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (b.
1888)
★
1978 -
Charles Boyer, French actor (b.
1899)
★ 1978 -
José Manuel Moreno, Argentine footballer (b.
1916)
★
1979 -
Mika Waltari, Finnish author (b.
1908)
★
1980 -
Rosa Albach-Retty, German actress (b.
1874)
★ 1980 -
Tex Avery, American cartoonist (b.
1908)
★
1981 -
Roger Nash Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (b.
1884)
★ 1981 -
Lee Elhardt Hays, American folksinger (b.
1914)
★
1986 -
Ted Knight, American actor (b.
1923)
★
1987 -
Georg Wittig, German chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1897)
★
1988 -
Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer (b.
1957)
★
1989 -
Irving Stone, American author (b.
1903)
★
1990 -
Minoru Honda, Japanese astronomer (b.
1913)
★
1992 -
Arthur Leigh Allen, Suspected Zodiac serial killer (b.
1933)
★ 1992 -
Bob de Moor, Belgian comics artist (b.
1925)
★
1995 -
Ronald White, American singer and songwriter (
The Miracles) (b.
1939)
★
1998 -
Frederick Reines, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1918)
★
2000 -
Akbar Adibi, Iranian scientist, father of electronics in Iran (b. 1939)
★
2001 -
Louis Muhlstock, Canadian painter (b.
1904)
★
2003 -
Jim Wacker, American football coach (b.
1937)
★
2004 -
Laura Branigan, American singer (b.
1957)
★
2005 -
Denis D'Amour, Canadian guitarist (
Voivod) (b.
1960)
★ 2005 -
Robert Denning, American interior designer (b.
1927)
★
2006 -
Rainer Barzel, former President of the German Bundestag (b.
1924)
★ 2006 -
Clyde Walcott, Barbadian
West Indies cricketer (b.
1926)
★
2007 -
Gaston Thorn, Luxembourger politician and Prime Minister (b.
1928)
Holidays and observances
★
Namibia -
Namibia Day or
Heroes' Day.
★
Philippines -
National Heroes' Day.
★
Zanzibar -
Sultan's Birthday.
★
United States -
Women's Equality Day.
Religious feasts
★
Adrian of Nicomedia
★
Saint Alexander of Bergamo
★
Saint David Lewis
★
Saint Ninian
★
St Zephyrinus
External links
★
BBC: On This Day
★
★
On This Day in Canada
----