Events

Pre-1600

• 33 Heartbroken by the deaths of her sons Nero and Drusus, and banished to the island of Pandateria by Tiberius, Agrippina the Elder dies of self-inflicted starvation.

• 320 Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the Sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest).

• 614 King Chlothar II promulgates the Edict of Paris (Edictum Chlotacharii), a sort of Frankish Magna Carta that defends the rights of the Frankish nobles while it excludes Jews from all civil employment in the Frankish Kingdom.

• 629 Dagobert I is crowned King of the Franks.

• 1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock.

• 1016 The Danes defeat the English in the Battle of Assandun.

• 1081 The Normans defeat the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Dyrrhachium.

• 1166 Michael the Syrian, one of the most important Syriac historians, is consecrated as Syriac Orthodox Patriarch at the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery.

• 1281 Pope Martin IV excommunicates King Peter III of Aragon for usurping the crown of Sicily (a sentence renewed on 7 May and 18 November 1282).

• 1356 Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroys the town of Basel, Switzerland.

• 1540 Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto's forces destroy the fortified town of Mabila in present-day Alabama, killing Tuskaloosa.

• 1561 In Japan the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima is fought between the forces of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, resulting in a draw.

• 1565 Ships belonging to the Matsura clan of Japan fail to capture the Portuguese trading carrack in the Battle of Fukuda Bay, the first recorded naval battle between Japan and the West.

• 1597 King Philip II of Spain sends his third and final armada against England, but it ends in failure due to storms. The remaining ships are captured or sunk by the English.

• 1599 Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Báthory in the Battle of Șelimbăr, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people.

1601–1900

• 1630 Frendraught Castle in Scotland, the home of James Crichton of Frendraught, burns down.

• 1648 Boston shoemakers form the first American labor organization.

• 1748 Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession.

• 1775 African-American poet Phillis Wheatley is freed from slavery.

• 1775 American Revolutionary War: The Burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine).

• 1779 American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah is lifted.

• 1851 Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.

• 1860 The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.

• 1867 United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.

• 1887 Johannes Brahms conducts the premiere of his Double Concerto, composed for violinist Joseph Joachim and cellist Robert Hausmann.

• 1898 The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico from Spain.

• 1900 Count Bernhard von Bülow becomes chancellor of Germany.

1901–present

• 1912 First Balkan War: King Peter I of Serbia issues a declaration "To the Serbian People", as his country joins the war.

• 1914 The Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement is founded in Germany.

• 1921 The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

• 1922 The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.

• 1929 The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overrules the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declares that women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law.

• 1944 World War II: Soviet Union begins the liberation of Czechoslovakia from Nazi Germany.

• 1944 World War II: The state funeral of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel takes place in Ulm, Germany.

• 1945 The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

• 1945 A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d'état against president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.

• 1945 Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva Duarte.

• 1954 Texas Instruments announces the Regency TR-1, the first mass-produced transistor radio.

• 1963 Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space.

• 1967 The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.

• 1977 German Autumn: A set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide.

• 1978 Based on the world's first children's art museum, the Henrik Igityan National Centre for Aesthetics opened in Yerevan.

• 1979 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license.

• 1989 The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-34 to deploy the Jupiter-bound Galileo space probe.

• 1991 The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopts a declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.

• 1992 Merpati Nustantara Airlines Flight 5601 crashes into Mount Papandayan near the town of Garut in West Java, Indonesia, killing 31.

• 2003 Bolivian gas conflict: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.

• 2007 Karachi bombing: A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto kills 139 and wounds 450 more. Bhutto herself is uninjured.

• 2019 NASA Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch take part in the first all-female spacewalk when they venture out of the International Space Station to replace a power controller.

• 2019 Riots in Chile's capital Santiago escalate into open battles, with attacks reported at nearly all of the city's 164 Metro stations. President Sebastián Piñera later announces a 15-day state of emergency in the capital.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1127 Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (died 1192)

• 1130 Zhu Xi, Chinese philosopher (died 1200)

• 1405 Pope Pius II (died 1464)

• 1444 John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk (died 1476)

• 1482 Philipp III, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (died 1538)

• 1517 Manuel da Nóbrega, Portuguese-Brazilian priest and missionary (died 1570)

• 1523 Anna Jagiellon, daughter of Sigismund I of Poland (died 1596)

• 1536 William Lambarde, English antiquarian and politician (died 1601)

• 1547 Justus Lipsius, Belgian philologist and scholar (died 1606)

• 1553 Luca Marenzio, Italian composer (died 1599)

• 1587 Lady Mary Wroth, English poet (died 1651)

• 1595 Edward Winslow, American Pilgrim leader (died 1655)

1601–1900

• 1616 Nicholas Culpeper, English botanist (died 1654)

• 1630 Henry Powle, English politician (died 1692)

• 1634 Luca Giordano, Italian painter and illustrator (died 1705)

• 1653 Abraham van Riebeeck, South African-Dutch merchant and politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (died 1713)

• 1662 Matthew Henry, Welsh minister and scholar (died 1714)

• 1663 Prince Eugene of Savoy (died 1736)

• 1668 John George IV, Elector of Saxony (died 1694)

• 1701 Charles le Beau, French historian and author (died 1778)

• 1706 Baldassare Galuppi, Italian harpsichord player and composer (died 1785)

• 1741 Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (died 1803)

• 1770 Thomas Phillips, English artist (died 1845)

• 1777 Heinrich von Kleist, German author and poet (died 1811)

• 1785 Thomas Love Peacock, English author and poet (died 1866)

• 1792 Lucas Alamán, Mexican politician and historian (died 1853)

• 1804 Mongkut, Thai king (died 1868)

• 1822 Midhat Pasha, Ottoman civil servant and politician, 238th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (died 1883)

• 1831 Frederick III, German Emperor (died 1888)

• 1836 Frederick August Otto Schwarz, American businessman, founded FAO Schwarz (died 1911)

• 1850 Basil Hall Chamberlain, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (died 1935)

• 1854 Billy Murdoch, Australian cricketer (died 1911)

• 1859 Henri Bergson, French philosopher and theologian, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1941)

• 1862 Mehmet Esat Bülkat, Ottoman general (died 1952)

• 1865 Arie de Jong, Dutch linguist and author (died 1957)

• 1865 Logan Pearsall Smith, American-English author and critic (died 1946)

• 1868 Ernst Didring, Swedish author (died 1931)

• 1869 Johannes Linnankoski, Finnish author (died 1913)

• 1870 D. T. Suzuki, Japanese author and scholar (died 1966)

• 1872 Mikhail Kuzmin, Russian poet and author (died 1936)

• 1873 Ivanoe Bonomi, Italian lawyer and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Italy (died 1951)

• 1875 Len Braund, English cricketer, coach, and umpire (died 1955)

• 1878 James Truslow Adams, American historian and author (died 1949)

• 1880 Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Ukrainian-Russian general, journalist, and theorist (died 1940)

• 1881 Max Gerson, German-born American physician (died 1959)

• 1882 Väinö Kivisalo, Finnish politician (died 1953)

• 1882 Lucien Petit-Breton, French cyclist (died 1917)

• 1887 Takashi Sakai, Japanese general and politician, Governor of Hong Kong (died 1946)

• 1888 Paul Vermoyal, French actor (died 1925)

• 1893 Sidney Holland, New Zealand lieutenant and politician, 25th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1961)

• 1893 George Ohsawa, Japanese philosopher and academic (died 1966)

• 1894 H. L. Davis, American author and poet (died 1960)

• 1894 Tibor Déry, Hungarian author and translator (died 1977)

• 1897 Isabel Briggs Myers, American theorist and author (died 1980)

• 1898 Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (died 1981)

1901–present

• 1902 Miriam Hopkins, American actress (died 1972)

• 1902 Pascual Jordan, German physicist and theorist (died 1980)

• 1903 Lina Radke, German runner and coach (died 1983)

• 1904 Aarne Juutilainen, Finnish army captain (died 1976)

• 1904 A. J. Liebling, American journalist and author (died 1963)

• 1904 Haim Shirman, Ukrainian-Israeli scholar and academic (died 1981)

• 1905 Jan Gies, Dutch activist (died 1993)

• 1905 Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivorian union leader and politician, 1st President of Côte d'Ivoire (died 1993)

• 1906 James Brooks, American painter and educator (died 1992)

• 1909 Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and theorist (died 2004)

• 1914 Raymond Lambert, Swiss mountaineer (died 1997)

• 1915 Victor Sen Yung, American actor (died 1980)

• 1918 Molly Geertsema, Dutch lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 1991)

• 1918 Konstantinos Mitsotakis, Greek lawyer and politician, 178th Prime Minister of Greece (died 2017)

• 1918 Bobby Troup, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (died 1999)

• 1919 Ric Nordman, Canadian captain and politician (died 1996)

• 1919 Anita O'Day, American singer (died 2006)

• 1919 Pierre Trudeau, Canadian lawyer, academic, and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (died 2000)

• 1919 Camilla Williams, American soprano and educator (died 2012)

• 1920 Melina Mercouri, Greek actress, singer, and politician, 9th Greek Minister of Culture (died 1994)

• 1921 Jerry Cooke, Ukrainian-American photographer and journalist (died 2005)

• 1921 Jesse Helms, American journalist and politician (died 2008)

• 1921 Beatrice Helen Worsley, Mexican-Canadian computer scientist and academic (died 1972)

• 1923 Jessie Mae Hemphill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2008)

• 1924 Buddy MacMaster, Canadian singer-songwriter and fiddler (died 2014)

• 1925 Ramiz Alia, Albanian politician, 1st President of Albania (died 2011)

• 1926 Chuck Berry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2017)

• 1926 Klaus Kinski, German-American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1991)

• 1927 Marv Rotblatt, American baseball player (died 2013)

• 1927 George C. Scott, American actor and director (died 1999)

• 1928 Maurice El Mediouni, Algerian pianist and composer (died 2024)

• 1928 Keith Jackson, American sportscaster and actor (died 2018)

• 1928 Dick Taverne, English lawyer and politician (died 2025)

• 1929 Violeta Chamorro, Nicaraguan publisher and politician, President of Nicaragua (died 2025)

• 1929 Hillard Elkins, American producer and manager (died 2010)

• 1929 Kees Fens, Dutch author and critic (died 2008)

• 1929 Frank Stanmore, Australian rugby league player (died 2005)

• 1930 Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun, Scottish politician (died 2024)

• 1930 Esther Hautzig, Lithuanian-American author (died 2009)

• 1931 Chris Albertson, Icelandic-American historian, journalist, and producer (died 2019)

• 1931 Ien Dales, Dutch civil servant and politician, Dutch Minister of the Interior (died 1994)

• 1932 Roger Climpson, English-Australian journalist (died 2025)

• 1932 Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuanian musicologist and politician

• 1933 Forrest Gregg, American football player and coach (died 2019)

• 1933 Irwin M. Jacobs, American electrical engineer, businessman, and entrepreneur

• 1933 Ludovico Scarfiotti, Italian race car driver (died 1968)

• 1934 Inger Stevens, Swedish-American actress (died 1970)

• 1935 Peter Boyle, American actor (died 2006)

• 1936 Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Cuban cardinal (died 2019)

• 1938 Robert Dove, American lawyer and politician (died 2021)

• 1938 Dawn Wells, American model and actress, Miss Nevada 1959 (died 2020)

• 1939 Flavio Cotti, Swiss lawyer and politician, 82nd President of the Swiss Confederation (died 2020)

• 1939 Mike Ditka, American football player, coach, and sportscaster

• 1939 Lee Harvey Oswald, American assassin of John F. Kennedy (died 1963)

• 1939 Paddy Reilly, Irish folk singer and guitarist

• 1939 Jan Erik Vold, Norwegian poet, author, and translator

• 1940 Talitha Getty, actress and model of Dutch extraction (died 1971)

• 1940 Cynthia Weil, American songwriter (died 2023)

• 1941 Timothy Bell, Baron Bell, English businessman (died 2019)

• 1941 Martha Burk, American psychologist and author

• 1942 Gianfranco Ravasi, Italian cardinal and scholar

• 1943 Christine Charbonneau, Canadian singer-songwriter (died 2014)

• 1943 Birthe Rønn Hornbech, Danish police officer and politician, Danish Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs

• 1945 Huell Howser, American television host and actor (died 2013)

• 1945 Chris Shays, American politician

• 1946 James Robert Baker, American author and screenwriter (died 1997)

• 1946 Frank Beamer, American football player and coach

• 1946 Joe Egan, Scottish singer-songwriter (died 2024)

• 1946 Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Welsh academic and politician (died 2025)

• 1946 Howard Shore, Canadian composer, conductor, and producer

• 1947 Paul Chuckle, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter

• 1947 Job Cohen, Dutch scholar and politician, Mayor of Amsterdam

• 1947 John Johnson, American basketball player (died 2016)

• 1947 Joe Morton, American actor

• 1947 Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 1997)

• 1947 Gary Sullivan, Australian rugby league player

• 1948 Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher, author, and academic

• 1948 Ntozake Shange, American author, poet, and playwright (died 2018)

• 1949 George Hendrick, American baseball player and coach

• 1949 Gary Richrath, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died 2015)

• 1950 Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright and author (died 2006)

• 1951 Mike Antonovich, American ice hockey player and coach

• 1951 Pam Dawber, American actress and producer

• 1951 Terry McMillan, American author and screenwriter

• 1951 David Normington, English civil servant and politician

• 1951 Nic Potter, English bass player and songwriter (died 2013)

• 1952 Roy Dias, Sri Lankan cricketer and coach

• 1952 Paul Geroski, American-English economist and academic (died 2005)

• 1952 Chuck Lorre, American director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1952 Patrick Morrow, Canadian mountaineer and photographer

• 1952 Bảo Ninh, Vietnamese soldier and author

• 1952 Allen Ripley, American baseball player (died 2014)

• 1952 Jerry Royster, American baseball player, coach, and manager

• 1954 Nick Houghton, English general

• 1954 Arliss Howard, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1954 Bob Weinstein, American film executive

• 1955 Jean-Pierre Hautier, Belgian journalist and television host (died 2012)

• 1955 Vanessa Briscoe Hay, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player

• 1955 Timmy Mallett, English radio and television host

• 1955 Stu Mead, American painter and illustrator

• 1955 David Twohy, American director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1955 Rita Verdonk, Dutch journalist and politician, Dutch Minister of Justice

• 1955 Denis Watson, Zimbabwean golfer

• 1955 Mark Welland, English physicist and academic

• 1956 Craig Bartlett, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor

• 1956 Martina Navratilova, Czech-American tennis player and coach

• 1956 Jim Talent, American lawyer and politician

• 1957 Jon Lindstrom, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1957 Catherine Ringer, French singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress

• 1958 Thomas Hearns, American boxer

• 1958 Megumi Ishii, Japanese actress and politician

• 1958 Letitia James, American lawyer, activist and politician

• 1958 Kjell Samuelsson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach

• 1959 Kirby Chambliss, American pilot

• 1959 Mauricio Funes, Salvadoran politician, former president of El Salvador (died 2025)

• 1959 Milcho Manchevski, Macedonian-American director and screenwriter

• 1959 John Nord, American wrestler

• 1960 Erin Moran, American actress (died 2017)

• 1960 Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian martial artist, actor, and producer, and screenwriter

• 1961 Wynton Marsalis, American trumpet player, composer, and educator

• 1961 Rick Moody, American author and composer

• 1961 Gladstone Small, Barbadian-English cricketer

• 1962 Min Ko Naing, Burmese activist

• 1962 Vincent Spano, American actor, director, and producer

• 1963 Sigvart Dagsland, Norwegian singer, pianist and composer

• 1964 Dan Lilker, American singer-songwriter and bass player

• 1964 Charles Stross, English journalist, author, and programmer

• 1965 Zakir Naik, Indian Islamic preacher; founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF)

• 1965 Curtis Stigers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1966 Dave Price, American journalist and game show host

• 1967 Eric Stuart, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and voice actor

• 1968 Rhod Gilbert, Welsh comedian

• 1968 Stuart Law, Australian cricketer and coach

• 1968 Michael Stich, German tennis player and sportscaster

• 1969 Volker Neumüller, German talent manager

• 1969 Nelson Vivas, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager

• 1970 Doug Mirabelli, American baseball player and coach

• 1970 Mike Starink, Dutch television host and actor

• 1971 Nick O'Hern, Australian golfer

• 1972 Mika Ninagawa, Japanese photographer and director

• 1972 Alex Tagliani, Canadian race car driver

• 1973 Stephen Allan, Australian golfer

• 1973 James Foley, American photographer and journalist (died 2014)

• 1973 Michalis Kapsis, Greek footballer

• 1973 Rachel Nichols, American journalist and sportscaster

• 1973 Sarah Winckless, English rower

• 1974 Robbie Savage, Welsh footballer and sportscaster

• 1974 Peter Svensson, Swedish guitarist and songwriter

• 1974 Amish Tripathi, Indian author

• 1974 Zhou Xun, Chinese actress and singer

• 1975 Alex Cora, Puerto Rican baseball player and manager

• 1975 Josh Sawyer, American video game designer

• 1977 Flavia Colgan, Brazilian-American journalist

• 1977 Kunal Kapoor, Indian actor

• 1977 Ryan Nelsen, New Zealand-American soccer player and coach

• 1977 David Vuillemin, French motorcycle racer

• 1978 Mike Tindall, English rugby player

• 1978 Kenji Wu, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and actor

• 1979 Jaroslav Drobný, Czech footballer

• 1979 Ne-Yo, American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor

• 1979 Damon Scott, British entertainer

• 1980 Birsen Yavuz, Turkish sprinter and hurdler

• 1981 Nathan Hauritz, Australian cricketer

• 1981 Tina Hergold, Slovenian tennis player

• 1981 Greg Warren, American football player

• 1982 Thierry Amiel, French singer-songwriter

• 1982 Michael Dingsdag, Dutch footballer

• 1982 Simon Gotch, American wrestler

• 1982 Mark Sampson, Welsh footballer and manager

• 1983 Dante, Brazilian footballer

• 1984 Robert Harting, German discus thrower

• 1984 Freida Pinto, Indian actress and model

• 1984 Esperanza Spalding, American singer-songwriter and bassist

• 1984 Lindsey Vonn, American skier

• 1984 Milo Yiannopoulos, British journalist and public speaker

• 1985 Yoenis Céspedes, Cuban baseball player

• 1985 Andrew Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1986 Wilma Elles, German actress and fashion designer

• 1987 Zac Efron, American actor and singer

• 1987 Freja Beha Erichsen, Danish model

• 1988 Tessa Schram, Dutch director and actress

• 1989 Laci Green, American YouTube personality, video blogger, sex educator, and activist

• 1989 Joy Lauren, American actress, director, and producer

• 1989 Riisa Naka, Japanese model and actress

• 1990 Drew Crawford, American basketball player

• 1990 Brittney Griner, American basketball player

• 1990 Bristol Palin, American public speaker and reality television personality

• 1991 Roly Bonevacia, Dutch footballer

• 1991 Tyler Posey, American actor and musician

• 1991 Toby Regbo, English actor

• 1991 Zohran Mamdani, American politician, mayor of New York City

• 1992 John John Florence, American surfer

• 1992 Barry Keoghan, Irish actor

• 1993 Ivan Cavaleiro, Portuguese footballer

• 1994 Enhō Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler

• 1994 Pascal Wehrlein, German-Mauritian race car driver

• 1996 Terance Mann, American basketball player

• 1998 – Janalynn Castelino, Italian-Indian singer-songwriter

• 2000 Sophie Thatcher, American actress

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 31 Lucius Aelius Sejanus, Roman politician (born 20 BC)

• 325 Emperor Ming of Jin (born 299)

• 707 Pope John VII (born 650)

• 815 Abu'l-Saraya, Zaydi rebel leader

• 1035 Sancho III of Pamplona (born 992)

• 1081 Nikephoros Palaiologos, Byzantine general

• 1101 Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (born 1053)

• 1141 Leopold, Duke of Bavaria (born 1108)

• 1214 John de Gray, bishop of Norwich

• 1366 Petrus Torkilsson, Archbishop of Uppsala

• 1382 James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, Irish politician, Lord Justice of Ireland (born 1331)

• 1417 Pope Gregory XII (born 1326)

• 1442 Infante João of Portugal (born 1400)

• 1480 Uhwudong, Korean dancer and poet (born 1440)

• 1503 Pope Pius III (born 1439)

• 1508 Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell, Lord High Admiral of Scotland

• 1511 Philippe de Commines, French-speaking Fleming in the courts of Burgundy and France (born 1447)

• 1526 Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón, Spanish explorer (born 1475)

• 1541 Margaret Tudor, queen of James IV of Scotland (born 1489)

• 1545 John Taverner, English organist and composer (born 1490)

• 1558 Mary of Hungary (born 1505)

• 1561 Yamamoto Kansuke, Japanese samurai (born 1501)

• 1564 Johannes Acronius Frisius, Dutch physician and mathematician (born 1520)

• 1570 Manuel da Nóbrega, Portuguese-Brazilian priest and missionary (born 1517)

1601–1900

• 1604 Igram van Achelen, Dutch lawyer and politician (born 1528)

• 1646 Isaac Jogues, French priest, missionary, and martyr (born 1607)

• 1667 Fasilides, Ethiopian emperor (born 1603)

• 1678 Jacob Jordaens, Belgian painter illustrator (born 1593)

• 1739 António José da Silva, Brazilian-Portuguese playwright (born 1705)

• 1744 Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (born 1660)

• 1770 John Manners, Marquess of Granby, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire (born 1721)

• 1775 Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (born 1715)

• 1817 Etienne Nicolas Méhul, French pianist and composer (born 1763)

• 1865 Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, English soldier and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1784)

• 1871 Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer, invented the mechanical computer (born 1791)

• 1876 Francis Preston Blair, American journalist (born 1791)

• 1886 Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician and botanist (born 1796)

• 1889 Antonio Meucci, Italian-American engineer (born 1808)

• 1892 William W. Chapman, American lawyer and politician (born 1808)

• 1893 Charles Gounod, French composer and educator (born 1818)

1901–present

• 1908 Nozu Michitsura, Japanese field marshal (born 1840)

• 1911 Alfred Binet, French psychologist and author (born 1857)

• 1921 Ludwig III of Bavaria (born 1845)

• 1931 Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, invented the phonograph (born 1847)

• 1931 Lesser Ury, German painter (born 1861)

• 1934 Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish pathologist, histologist, and neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1852)

• 1935 Gaston Lachaise, French-American sculptor (born 1882)

• 1941 Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portuguese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Portugal (born 1860)

• 1942 Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (born 1862)

• 1947 Michiaki Kamada, Japanese admiral (born 1890)

• 1948 Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal (born 1881)

• 1956 Yoshio Markino, Japanese painter and author (born 1869)

• 1959 Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian-French runner (born 1903)

• 1961 Tsuru Aoki, Japanese-American actress (born 1892)

• 1962 Iván Petrovich, Serbian-German actor and singer (born 1894)

• 1965 Henry Travers, Irish-American actor (born 1874)

• 1966 Elizabeth Arden, Canadian-American businesswoman, founded Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (born 1878)

• 1966 S. S. Kresge, American businessman, founded Kmart (born 1867)

• 1969 Gyula Mándi, Hungarian footballer and manager (born 1899)

• 1973 Margaret Caroline Anderson, American publisher, founded The Little Review (born 1886)

• 1973 Walt Kelly, American illustrator and animator (born 1913)

• 1973 Leo Strauss, German-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (born 1899)

• 1975 K. C. Douglas, American rural blues singer (born 1913)

• 1975 Al Lettieri, American actor (born 1928)

• 1975 Graham Haberfield, English actor (born 1941)

• 1976 Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Indian poet and author (born 1895)

• 1977 Andreas Baader, German militant (born 1943)

• 1977 Gudrun Ensslin, German militant leader, founded the Red Army Faction (born 1940)

• 1978 Ramón Mercader, Spanish journalist, assassin of Leon Trotsky (born 1914)

• 1980 Edwin Way Teale, American photographer and author (born 1899)

• 1982 Dwain Esper, American director and producer (born 1892)

• 1982 Pierre Mendès France, French lawyer and politician, 143rd Prime Minister of France (born 1907)

• 1982 John Robarts, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Ontario (born 1917)

• 1982 Bess Truman, American wife of Harry S. Truman, 40th First Lady of the United States (born 1885)

• 1983 Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish economist and author (born 1897)

• 1983 Willie Jones, American baseball player (born 1925)

• 1984 Henri Michaux, French painter and poet (born 1899)

• 1987 Adriaan Ditvoorst, Dutch director and screenwriter (born 1940)

• 2000 Julie London, American singer and actress (born 1926)

• 2000 Gwen Verdon, American actress and dancer (born 1925)

• 2003 Preston Smith, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Texas (born 1912)

• 2003 Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Spanish journalist, author, and critic (born 1939)

• 2005 Johnny Haynes, English-Scottish footballer (born 1934)

• 2005 Bill King, American sportscaster (born 1927)

• 2006 Mario Francesco Pompedda, Italian cardinal (born 1929)

• 2006 Anna Russell, English-Canadian singer and actress (born 1911)

• 2006 Laurie Taitt, Guyanese-English hurdler (born 1934)

• 2007 Alan Coren, English journalist and author (born 1938)

• 2007 William J. Crowe, American admiral and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (born 1925)

• 2007 Vincent DeDomenico, American businessman, founded the Napa Valley Wine Train (born 1915)

• 2007 Lucky Dube, South African singer-songwriter and keyboard player (born 1964)

• 2008 Dee Dee Warwick, American singer (born 1945)

• 2009 Adriaan Kortlandt, Dutch ethologist and biologist (born 1918)

• 2009 Nancy Spero, American painter and academic (born 1926)

• 2010 Marion Brown, American saxophonist and musicologist (born 1931)

• 2010 Billy Raimondi, American baseball player (born 1912)

• 2012 Brain Damage, American wrestler (born 1977)

• 2012 Sylvia Kristel, Dutch model and actress (born 1952)

• 2012 Slater Martin, American basketball player and coach (born 1925)

• 2012 George Mattos, American pole vaulter (born 1929)

• 2012 Albert Lee Ueltschi, American pilot and businessman, founded FlightSafety International (born 1917)

• 2012 David S. Ware, American saxophonist and composer (born 1949)

• 2013 Tom Foley, American lawyer and politician, 57th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1929)

• 2013 Bum Phillips, American football player and coach (born 1923)

• 2013 Allan Stanley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1926)

• 2013 Bill Young, American sergeant and politician (born 1930)

• 2014 Mariano Lebrón Saviñón, Dominican author and academic (born 1922)

• 2014 Edward Regan, American academic and politician (born 1930)

• 2014 Sidney Shapiro, American-Chinese author and translator (born 1915)

• 2015 Robert Dickerson, Australian painter (born 1924)

• 2015 Gamal El-Ghitani, Egyptian journalist and author (born 1945)

• 2015 Robert W. Farquhar, American engineer (born 1932)

• 2015 Frank Watkins, American bass player (born 1968)

• 2015 Paul West, English-American author, poet, and academic (born 1930)

• 2017 Marino Perani, Italian football player and manager (born 1939)

• 2018 Lisbeth Palme, Swedish child psychologist, former chairwoman of UNICEF (born 1931)

• 2018 Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab, 5th President of the Sudan (born 1934)

• 2019 Rui Jordão, Angolan-born Portuguese footballer (born 1952)

• 2020 René Felber, 81st President of the Swiss Confederation (born 1933)

• 2021 Colin Powell, American military leader and statesman, 65th Secretary of State (born 1937)

• 2022 Harvey Wollman, American politician, 26th Governor of South Dakota (born 1935)

• 2024 Yehuda Bauer, Israeli historian of the Holocaust (born 1926)

• 2024 Ginés González García, Argentine politician and physician (born 1945)

• 2025 Sam Rivers, American bassist (born 1977)

• 2025 Yang Chen-Ning, Chinese theoretical physicist (born 1922)

• 2025 Lia Smith, American diver and transgender rights advocate.

Holidays and observances

• Alaska Day (Alaska, United States)

Christian feast day:

• Asclepiades of Antioch

• Isaac Jogues

• Luke the Evangelist

• Peter of Alcantara, can also be celebrated on October 19.

• October 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Day of Restoration of Independence (Azerbaijan), celebrates the independence of Azerbaijan from the Soviet Union in 1991.

• Necktie Day (Croatia)

• Persons Day (Canada)

• World Menopause Day

References

External links