Events Pre-1600 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine. 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery. 1440 – The Prussian Confederation is formed.
1601–1900 1613 – Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia. 1797 – A force of 1,400 French soldiers invade Britain at Fishguard in support of the Society of United Irishmen. They were defeated by 500 British reservists. 1804 – The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales. 1808 – Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e. Finland) to Russia. 1828 – Initial issue of the Cherokee Phoenix is the first periodical to use the Cherokee syllabary invented by Sequoyah. 1842 – John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine. 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto. 1861 – Mariehamn, the capital city of Åland, is founded. 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory. 1874 – The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first edition. 1878 – The first telephone directory is issued in New Haven, Connecticut. 1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated. 1896 – An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fights an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically takes place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.
1901–present 1913 – Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars. 1916 – World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins. 1918 – The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. 1919 – German socialist Kurt Eisner is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany. 1921 – Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution. 1921 – Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup. 1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue. 1929 – In the first battle of the Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong against the Nationalist government of China, a 24,000-strong rebel force led by Zhang Zongchang was defeated at Zhifu by 7,000 NRA troops. 1937 – The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War. 1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japanese kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier and damage the . 1945 – World War II: the Brazilian Expeditionary Force defeat the German forces in the Battle of Monte Castello on the Italian front. 1947 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America. 1948 – NASCAR is incorporated. 1952 – The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free". 1952 – The Bengali language movement protests occur at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). 1958 – The CND symbol, aka peace symbol, commissioned by the Direct Action Committee in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom. 1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna. 1972 – United States President Richard Nixon visits China to normalize Sino-American relations. 1972 – The Soviet uncrewed spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon. 1973 – Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108 people. 1974 – The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt. 1975 – Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison. 1994 – Aldrich Ames is arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for selling national secrets to the Soviet Union in Arlington County, Virginia.Federal Bureau of Investigation 1995 – Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. 2013 – At least 17 people are killed and 119 injured following several bombings in the Indian city of Hyderabad. 2022 – In the prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin declares the Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic as independent from Ukraine, and moves troops into the region. The action is condemned by the United Nations.
Births Pre-1600 921 – Abe no Seimei, Japanese astrologer (died 1005) 1397 – Isabella of Portugal (died 1471) 1462 – Joanna la Beltraneja, princess of Castile (died 1530) 1484 – Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (died 1535) 1498 – Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, English Earl (died 1549) 1541 – Philipp V, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (died 1599) 1556 – Sethus Calvisius, German astronomer, composer, and theorist (died 1615)
1601–1900 1609 – Raimondo Montecuccoli, Italian military commander (died 1680) 1621 – Rebecca Nurse, Massachusetts colonist, executed as a witch (died 1692) 1705 – Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, English admiral and politician (died 1781) 1728 – Peter III of Russia (died 1762) 1783 – Catharina of Württemberg (died 1835) 1788 – Francis Ronalds, British scientist, inventor and engineer who was knighted for developing the first working electric telegraph (died 1873) 1791 – Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and composer (died 1857) 1794 – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and politician, 8th President of Mexico (died 1876) 1801 – John Henry Newman, English cardinal (died 1890) 1817 – José Zorrilla, Spanish poet and playwright (died 1893) 1821 – Charles Scribner I, American publisher, founded Charles Scribner's Sons (died 1871) 1836 – Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (died 1891) 1844 – Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (died 1937) 1860 – Goscombe John, Welsh-English sculptor and academic (died 1952) 1865 – John Haden Badley, English author and educator, founded the Bedales School (died 1967) 1867 – Otto Hermann Kahn, German banker and philanthropist (died 1934) 1875 – Jeanne Calment, French super-centenarian, oldest verified person ever (died 1997) 1878 – Mirra Alfassa, French-Indian spiritual leader (died 1973) 1881 – Kenneth J. Alford, English soldier, bandmaster, and composer (died 1945) 1885 – Sacha Guitry, Russian-French actor, director, and playwright (died 1957) 1887 – Korechika Anami, Japanese general and politician, 54th Japanese Minister of War (died 1945) 1888 – Clemence Dane, English author and playwright (died 1965) 1892 – Harry Stack Sullivan, American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (died 1949) 1893 – Celia Lovsky, Austrian-American actress (died 1979) 1893 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (died 1987) 1894 – Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, Indian chemist and academic (died 1955) 1895 – Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1976) 1896 – Nirala, Indian poet and author (died 1961) 1900 – Jeanne Aubert, French singer and actress (died 1988)
1901–present 1902 – Arthur Nock, English theologian and academic (died 1963) 1903 – Anaïs Nin, French-American essayist and memoirist (died 1977) 1903 – Raymond Queneau, French poet and author (died 1976) 1907 – W. H. Auden, English-American poet, playwright, and composer (died 1973) 1909 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator (died 2015) 1910 – Douglas Bader, English fighter pilot in World War II (died 1982) 1912 – Arline Judge, American actress and singer (died 1974) 1914 – Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish soldier and pilot (died 1999) 1914 – Zachary Scott, American actor (died 1965) 1914 – Jean Tatlock, American psychiatrist and physician (died 1944) 1915 – Claudia Jones, Trinidad-British journalist and activist (died 1964) 1915 – Ann Sheridan, American actress and singer (died 1967) 1915 – Anton Vratuša, Prime Minister of Slovenia (died 2017) 1917 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (died 1996) 1917 – Tadd Dameron, American pianist and composer (died 1965) 1921 – Zdeněk Miler, Czech animator (died 2011) 1921 – John Rawls, American philosopher and academic (died 2002) 1921 – Richard T. Whitcomb, American aeronautical engineer (died 2009) 1924 – Dorothy Blum, American computer scientist and cryptanalyst (died 1980) 1924 – Thelma Estrin, American computer scientist and engineer (died 2014) 1924 – Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean educator and politician, 2nd President of Zimbabwe (died 2019) 1925 – Sam Peckinpah, American director and screenwriter (died 1984) 1925 – Jack Ramsay, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2014) 1927 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (died 1996) 1929 – Chespirito, Mexican actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2014) 1933 – Bob Rafelson, American film director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2022) 1933 – Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2003) 1934 – Rue McClanahan, American actress (died 2010) 1935 – Richard A. Lupoff, American author (died 2020) 1935 – Mark McManus, Scottish actor (died 1994) 1936 – Barbara Jordan, American lawyer and politician (died 1996) 1937 – Ron Clarke, Australian runner and politician, Mayor of the Gold Coast (died 2015) 1937 – Harald V of Norway, King of Norway (died 2026) 1937 – Gary Lockwood, American actor 1938 – Bobby Charles, American singer-songwriter (died 2010) 1938 – Anja Hatakka, Finnish actress and beauty pageant competitor (died 2026) 1940 – Peter Gethin, English racing driver (died 2011) 1940 – John Lewis, American activist and politician (died 2020) 1942 – Tony Martin, Trinidadian-American historian and academic (died 2013) 1942 – Margarethe von Trotta, German actress, director, and screenwriter 1943 – David Geffen, American businessman, co-founded DreamWorks and Geffen Records 1945 – Maurice Bembridge, English golfer (died 2024) 1946 – Tyne Daly, American actress and singer 1946 – Anthony Daniels, English actor and producer 1946 – Alan Rickman, English actor and director (died 2016) 1946 – Bob Ryan, American journalist and author 1947 – Johnny Echols, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1947 – Olympia Snowe, American politician 1949 – Frank Brunner, American illustrator 1949 – Jerry Harrison, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1949 – Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer (died 2022) 1950 – Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopian politician and diplomat, 5th President of Ethiopia 1951 – Vince Welnick, American keyboard player (died 2006) 1952 – Jean-Jacques Burnel, English bass player, songwriter, and producer 1952 – Vitaly Churkin, Russian diplomat, former Ambassador of Russia to the United Nations (died 2017) 1953 – Christine Ebersole, American actress and singer 1953 – William Petersen, American actor and producer 1954 – Christina Rees, British politician 1955 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor, singer, and producer 1958 – Jake Burns, Northern Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist 1958 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1958 – Kim Coates, Canadian-American actor 1958 – Jack Coleman, American actor 1958 – Alan Trammell, American baseball player, coach, and manager 1959 – José María Cano, Spanish singer-songwriter and painter 1960 – Plamen Oresharski, Bulgarian economist and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Bulgaria 1961 – Christopher Atkins, American actor and businessman 1961 – Elliot Hirshman, American psychologist and academic 1962 – Chuck Palahniuk, American novelist and journalist