Events

Pre-1600

• 1 BC Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs.

• 942 Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdanids of Mosul and the Baridis of Basra over control of the Abbasid capital, Baghdad.

• 963 Nikephoros II Phokas is crowned emperor of the Byzantine Empire, swearing to protect the two sons of the previous emperor Romanos II, who are already crowned co-emperors.

• 965 Nikephoros II Phokas captures the city of Tarsus, finalising the Byzantine conquest of Cilicia.

• 1328 The House of Gonzaga seizes power in the Duchy of Mantua, and will rule until 1708.

• 1513 Battle of the Spurs (Battle of Guinegate): King Henry VIII of England and his Imperial allies defeat French forces who are then forced to retreat.

• 1550 Rabbi Moses Isserles issues his ruling in the Bragadin-Giustiniani dispute, one of the earliest instances of a copyright suit over any book.

• 1570 The Principality of Transylvania is established after John II Zápolya renounces his claim as King of Hungary in the Treaty of Speyer.

1601–1900

• 1652 Battle of Plymouth: Inconclusive naval action between the fleets of Michiel de Ruyter and George Ayscue in the First Anglo-Dutch War.

• 1685 Great Turkish War: An imperial coalition army under Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottoman army that had been besieging Esztergom.

• 1717 Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718): An imperial coalition army under Prince Eugene of Savoy defeats an Ottoman army under Haji Halil Pasha, leading to the surrender of the Ottoman garrison of Belgrade a few days later.

• 1777 American Revolutionary War: The Americans led by General John Stark rout British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.

• 1780 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Camden: The British defeat the Americans near Camden, South Carolina.

• 1792 Maximilien Robespierre presents the petition of the Commune of Paris to the Legislative Assembly, which demanded the formation of a revolutionary tribunal.

• 1793 French Revolution: A levée en masse is decreed by the National Convention.

• 1812 War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army.

• 1819 Peterloo Massacre: Seventeen people die and over 600 are injured in cavalry charges at a public meeting at St. Peter's Field, Manchester, England.

• 1837 Three African soldiers in the 1st West India Regiment – Daaga, Edward Coffin and Maurice Ogston – are executed for their role in the St. Joseph Mutiny in the British colony of Trinidad.

• 1841 U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.

• 1844 Governor-general of the Philippines Narciso Claveria signs a decree to reform the country's calendar by skipping Tuesday, December 31, as a solution to anomalies that had existed since Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in 1521.

• 1858 U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal forces a shutdown of the service in a few weeks.

• 1859 The Grand Duchy of Tuscany formally deposes the exiled House of Lorraine.

• 1863 The Dominican Restoration War begins when Gregorio Luperón raises the Dominican flag in Santo Domingo after Spain had recolonized the country.

• 1869 Battle of Acosta Ñu: A Paraguayan battalion largely made up of children is massacred by the Brazilian Army during the Paraguayan War.

• 1870 Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-la-Tour is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.

• 1876 Richard Wagner's Siegfried, the penultimate opera in his Ring cycle, is premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

• 1891 The Basilica of San Sebastian, Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.

• 1896 Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.

• 1900 The Battle of Elands River during the Second Boer War ends after a 13-day siege is lifted by the British. The battle had begun when a force of between 2,000 and 3,000 Boers had surrounded a force of 500 Australians, Rhodesians, Canadians and British soldiers at a supply dump at Brakfontein Drift.

1901–present

• 1906 The 8.2 Valparaíso earthquake hits central Chile, killing 3,882 people.

• 1913 Tōhoku Imperial University of Japan (modern day Tohoku University) becomes the first university in Japan to admit female students.

• 1913 Completion of the Royal Navy battlecruiser .

• 1914 German admiral Wilhelm Souchon hands over the two warships under his command to the Ottomans and becomes commander of the Turkish navy, leading later to the entry of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

• 1916 The Migratory Bird Treaty between Canada and the United States is signed.

• 1918 The Battle of Lake Baikal is fought between the Czechoslovak Legion and the Red Army.

• 1920 Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit on the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. Next day, Chapman will become the second player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game.

• 1920 The congress of the Communist Party of Bukhara opens. The congress would call for armed revolution.

• 1920 Polish–Soviet War: The Battle of Radzymin concludes; the Soviet Red Army is forced to turn away from Warsaw.

• 1923 The United Kingdom gives the name "Ross Dependency" to part of its claimed Antarctic territory and makes the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand its administrator.

• 1927 The Dole Air Race begins from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, during which six out of the eight participating planes crash or disappear.

• 1929 The 1929 Palestine riots break out in Mandatory Palestine between Palestinian Arabs and Jews and continue until the end of the month. In total, 133 Jews and 116 Arabs are killed.

• 1930 The first color sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, is released by Ub Iwerks.

• 1930 The first British Empire Games are opened in Hamilton, Ontario, by the Governor General of Canada, the Viscount Willingdon.

• 1933 Christie Pits riot takes place in Toronto, Ontario.

• 1942 World War II: US Navy L-class blimp L-8 drifts in from the Pacific and eventually crashes in Daly City, California. The two-man crew cannot be found.

• 1943 World War II: 317 Greek civilians are murdered by soldiers of the German 1st Mountain Division in the village of Kommeno, Greece.

• 1944 First flight of a jet with forward-swept wings, the Junkers Ju 287.

• 1945 The National Representatives' Congress, the precursor of the current National Assembly of Vietnam, convenes in Sơn Dương.

• 1946 Mass riots in Kolkata begin; more than 4,000 people would be killed in 72 hours.

• 1946 The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress is founded in Secunderabad.

• 1954 The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.

• 1960 Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

• 1960 Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at , setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.

• 1964 Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy.

• 1966 Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested.

• 1972 In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.

• 1975 Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically hands over land to the Gurindji people after the eight-year Wave Hill walk-off, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 song by Paul Kelly and an annual celebration.

• 1986 A Sudan Airways Fokker F27 Friendship is shot down near Malakal in present day South Sudan, killing 60.

• 1987 Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after takeoff in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.

• 1989 A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.

• 1991 Indian Airlines Flight 257, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach to Imphal Airport, killing all 69 people on board.

• 2005 West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes in Machiques, Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.

• 2008 The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at , at the time becoming the world's highest residence above ground-level.

• 2010 AIRES Flight 8250 crashes at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia, Colombia, killing two people.

• 2012 South African police fatally shoot 34 miners and wound 78 more during an industrial dispute at Marikana near Rustenburg.

• 2013 The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59 others missing.

• 2015 More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on the rebel-held market town of Douma.

• 2015 Trigana Air Flight 267, an ATR 42, crashes in Oksibil, Bintang Mountains Regency, killing all 54 people on board.

• 2020 The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1355 Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster (died 1382)

• 1378 Hongxi Emperor of China (died 1425)

• 1401 Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut (died 1436)

• 1557 Agostino Carracci, Italian painter and etcher (died 1602)

• 1565 Christina, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (died 1637)

• 1573 Anne of Austria, Queen of Poland (died 1598)

1601–1900

• 1637 Countess Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen (died 1706)

• 1645 Jean de La Bruyère, French philosopher and author (died 1696)

• 1650 Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian monk, cosmographer, and cartographer (died 1718)

• 1682 Louis, Duke of Burgundy (died 1712)

• 1744 Pierre Méchain, French astronomer and surveyor (died 1804)

• 1761 Yevstigney Fomin, Russian pianist and composer (died 1800)

• 1815 John Bosco, Italian priest and educator (died 1888)

• 1816 Octavia Taylor, daughter of Zachary Taylor (died 1820)

• 1816 Sara Prinsep, British salon organiser (died 1887)

• 1820 Andrew Rainsford Wetmore, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of New Brunswick (died 1892)

• 1821 Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic (died 1895)

• 1824 John Chisum, American cattle baron (died 1884)

• 1831 John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (died 1901)

• 1832 Wilhelm Wundt, German physician, psychologist, and physiologist (died 1920)

• 1842 Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician, chess player, and academic (died 1922)

• 1845 Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1921)

• 1848 Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (died 1926)

• 1855 James McGowen, Australian politician, 18th Premier of New South Wales (died 1922)

• 1856 Aparicio Saravia, Uruguayan general and politician (died 1904)

• 1858 Arthur Achleitner, German author (died 1927)

• 1860 Martin Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke, English-Scottish cricketer (died 1938)

• 1860 Jules Laforgue, Uruguayan-French poet and author (died 1887)

• 1862 Amos Alonzo Stagg, American baseball player and coach (died 1965)

• 1864 Elsie Inglis, Scottish surgeon and suffragette (died 1917)

• 1865 Mary Gilmore, Australian socialist, poet and journalist (died 1962)

• 1868 Bernarr Macfadden, American bodybuilder and publisher, founded Macfadden Publications (died 1955)

• 1876 Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator and stage designer (died 1942)

• 1877 Roque Ruaño, Spanish priest and engineer (died 1935)

• 1882 Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (died 1968)

• 1884 Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourger-American author and publisher (died 1967)

• 1888 T. E. Lawrence, British colonel, diplomat, writer and archaeologist (died 1935)

• 1888 Armand J. Piron, American violinist, composer, and bandleader (died 1943)

• 1892 Hal Foster, Canadian-American author and illustrator (died 1982)

• 1892 Otto Messmer, American cartoonist and animator, co-created Felix the Cat (died 1983)

• 1894 George Meany, American plumber and labor leader (died 1980)

• 1895 Albert Cohen, Greek-Swiss author and playwright (died 1981)

• 1895 Liane Haid, Austrian-Swiss actress and singer (died 2000)

• 1895 Arthur Rose Eldred, First Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (died 1951)

• 1900 Ida Browne, Australian geologist and palaeontologist (died 1976)

1901–present

• 1902 Georgette Heyer, English author (died 1974)

• 1902 Wallace Thurman, American author and playwright (died 1934)

• 1904 Minoru Genda, Japanese general, pilot, and politician (died 1989)

• 1904 Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1971)

• 1905 Marian Rejewski, Polish mathematician and cryptologist (1st to break German Enigma code) (died 1980)

• 1908 Orlando Cole, American cellist and educator (died 2010)

• 1908 William Keepers Maxwell, Jr., American editor, novelist, short story writer, and essayist (died 2000)

• 1909 Paul Callaway, American organist and conductor (died 1995)

• 1910 Gloria Blondell, American actress (died 1986)

• 1910 Mae Clarke, American actress (died 1992)

• 1911 E. F. Schumacher, German economist and statistician (died 1977)

• 1912 Ted Drake, English footballer and manager (died 1995)

• 1913 Menachem Begin, Belarusian-Israeli politician, Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992)

• 1915 Al Hibbler, American baritone singer (died 2001)

• 1916 Iggy Katona, American race car driver (died 2003)

• 1917 Matt Christopher, American author (died 1997)

• 1917 Roque Cordero, Panamanian composer and educator (died 2008)

• 1919 Karl-Heinz Euling, German captain (died 2014)

• 1920 Charles Bukowski, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer (died 1994)

• 1922 James Casey, English comedian, radio scriptwriter and producer (died 2011)

• 1922 Ernie Freeman, American pianist and bandleader (died 2001)

• 1923 Millôr Fernandes, Brazilian journalist and playwright (died 2012)

• 1924 Fess Parker, American actor (died 2010)

• 1924 Inez Voyce, American baseball player (died 2022)

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

• 1925 Mal Waldron, American pianist and composer (died 2002)

• 1927 Lois Nettleton, American actress (died 2008)

• 1928 Ann Blyth, American actress and singer (died 2026)

• 1928 Eydie Gormé, American singer (died 2013)

• 1928 Ara Güler, Turkish photographer and journalist (died 2018)

• 1928 Eddie Kirkland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2011)

• 1928 Wyatt Tee Walker, American pastor, theologian, and activist (died 2018)

• 1929 Bill Evans, American pianist and composer (died 1980)

• 1929 Helmut Rahn, German footballer (died 2003)

• 1929 Fritz Von Erich, American wrestler and trainer (died 1997)

• 1930 Robert Culp, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2010)

• 1930 Frank Gifford, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (died 2015)

• 1930 Leslie Manigat, Haitian educator and politician, 43rd President of Haiti (died 2014)

• 1930 Flor Silvestre, Mexican singer and actress (died 2020)

• 1933 Reiner Kunze, German poet and translator

• 1933 Julie Newmar, American actress

• 1933 Stuart Roosa, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (died 1994)

• 1934 Angela Buxton, British tennis player (died 2020)

• 1934 Diana Wynne Jones, English author (died 2011)

• 1934 Douglas Kirkland, Canadian-American photographer (died 2022)

• 1934 Ketty Lester, American singer and actress

• 1934 Pierre Richard, French actor, director, and screenwriter

• 1934 John Standing, English actor

• 1934 Sam Trimble, Australian cricketer (died 2019)

• 1935 Cliff Fletcher, Canadian businessman (died 2026)

• 1935 Andreas Stamatiadis, Greek footballer and coach

• 1936 Anita Gillette, American actress and singer

• 1936 Alan Hodgkinson, English footballer and coach (died 2015)

• 1937 David Anderson, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician

• 1937 David Behrman, American composer and producer

• 1937 Ian Deans, Canadian politician (died 2016)

• 1937 Boris Rõtov, Estonian chess player (died 1987)

• 1939 Seán Brady, Irish cardinal

• 1939 Trevor McDonald, Trinidadian-English journalist and academic

• 1939 Billy Joe Shaver, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2020)

• 1939 Eric Weissberg, American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist (died 2020)

• 1940 Bruce Beresford, Australian director and producer

• 1942 Lesley Turner Bowrey, Australian tennis player

• 1942 Barbara George, American R&B singer-songwriter (died 2006)

• 1942 Robert Squirrel Lester, American soul singer (died 2010)

• 1943 Woody Peoples, American football player (died 2010)

• 1944 Kevin Ayers, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013)

• 1944 Russ Titelman, American Grammy Award-winning record producer (Rickie Lee Jones, Steve Winwood, Randy Newman)

• 1945 Bob Balaban, American actor, director, and producer

• 1945 Russell Brookes, English race car driver (died 2019)

• 1945 Suzanne Farrell, American ballerina and educator

• 1945 Gary Loizzo, American guitarist, singer, recording engineer, and record producer (died 2016)

• 1945 Nigel Terry, British stage and film actor (died 2015)

• 1946 Masoud Barzani, Iranian-Kurdish politician, President of Iraqi Kurdistan

• 1946 Lesley Ann Warren, American actress

• 1946 Moria Casán, Argentinian actress and TV personality.

• 1947 Carol Moseley Braun, American lawyer and politician, United States Ambassador to New Zealand

• 1947 Katharine Hamnett, English fashion designer

• 1948 Earl Blumenauer, American politician, U.S. Representative from Oregon

• 1948 Barry Hay, Indian-born Dutch rock musician

• 1948 Mike Jorgensen, American baseball player and manager

• 1948 Pierre Reid, Canadian educator and politician (died 2021)

• 1948 Joey Spampinato, American singer-songwriter and bass player

• 1949 Scott Asheton, American drummer (died 2014)

• 1949 Paul Pasqualoni, American football player and coach

• 1949 Bill Spooner, American guitarist and songwriter

• 1950 Hasely Crawford, Trinidadian runner

• 1950 Stockwell Day, Canadian politician (Canadian Alliance, Conservatives)

• 1950 Marshall Manesh, Iranian-American actor

• 1950 Jeff Thomson, Australian cricketer

• 1951 Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Nigerian businessman and politician, 13th President of Nigeria (died 2010)

• 1952 Reginald VelJohnson, American actor

• 1953 Kathie Lee Gifford, American talk show host, singer, and actress

• 1953 James "J.T." Taylor, American R&B singer-songwriter

• 1954 James Cameron, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1954 George Galloway, Scottish-English politician and broadcaster

• 1955 Jeff Perry, American actor

• 1955 James Reilly, Irish surgeon and politician, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

• 1956 Vahan Hovhannisyan, Armenian soldier and politician (died 2014)

• 1957 Laura Innes, American actress and director

• 1957 R. R. Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (died 2015)

• 1958 Madonna, American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, and director

• 1958 Angela Bassett, American actress

• 1958 Anne L'Huillier, French physicist

• 1958 José Luis Clerc, Argentinian tennis player and coach

• 1959 Marc Sergeant, Belgian cyclist and manager

• 1960 Rosita Baltazar, Belizean choreographer, dancer, and dance instructor (died 2015)

• 1960 Timothy Hutton, American actor, producer and director

• 1960 Franz Welser-Möst, Austrian-American conductor and director

• 1961 Christian Okoye, American football player

• 1962 Steve Carell, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1963 Aloísio Pires Alves, Brazilian footballer and manager

• 1963 Christine Cavanaugh, American voice artist (died 2014)

• 1964 Jimmy Arias, American tennis player and sportscaster

• 1966 Eddie Olczyk, American ice hockey player, coach, and commentator

• 1967 Mark Coyne, Australian rugby league player

• 1967 Ulrika Jonsson, Swedish journalist, actress, and author

• 1968 Arvind Kejriwal, Indian civil servant and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Delhi

• 1968 Andy Milder, American actor

• 1968 Mateja Svet, Slovenian skier

• 1968 Wolfgang Tillmans, German photographer

• 1970 Bonnie Bernstein, American journalist and sportscaster

• 1970 Manisha Koirala, Nepalese actress in Indian films

• 1970 Seth Peterson, American actor

• 1971 Stefan Klos, German footballer

• 1972 Stan Lazaridis, Australian footballer

• 1972 Emily Strayer, American singer and musician

• 1974 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Guyanese cricketer

• 1974 Didier Cuche, Swiss skier

• 1974 Krisztina Egerszegi, Hungarian swimmer

• 1974 Iván Hurtado, Ecuadorian footballer and politician

• 1974 Ryan Longwell, American football player

• 1975 Didier Agathe, French footballer

• 1975 Jonatan Johansson, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager

• 1975 George Stults, American actor

• 1975 Taika Waititi, New Zealand director, screenwriter and actor

• 1979 Paul Gallacher, Scottish footballer

• 1979 Ian Moran, Australian cricketer

• 1980 Vanessa Carlton, American singer-songwriter

• 1980 Emerson Ramos Borges, Brazilian footballer

• 1981 Roque Santa Cruz, Paraguayan footballer

• 1982 Cam Gigandet, American actor

• 1982 Joleon Lescott, English footballer

• 1983 Nikolaos Zisis, Greek basketball player

• 1984 Matteo Anesi, Italian speed skater

• 1984 Candice Dupree, American basketball player

• 1984 Konstantin Vassiljev, Estonian footballer

• 1985 Cristin Milioti, American actress

1986

• Yu Darvish, Japanese baseball player

• Martín Maldonado, Puerto Rican baseball player

• Shawn Pyfrom, American actor

• Kany Diabaté Ahn, French dancer and choreographer

• 1987 Carey Price, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1987 Eri Kitamura, Japanese voice actress and singer.

• 1988 Ismaïl Aissati, Moroccan footballer

• 1988 Ryan Kerrigan, American football player

• 1988 Rumer Willis, American actress

• 1989 Cedric Alexander, American wrestler

• 1989 Wang Hao, Chinese race walker

• 1989 Moussa Sissoko, French footballer

• 1990 Godfrey Oboabona, Nigerian footballer

• 1991 José Eduardo de Araújo, Brazilian footballer

• 1991 Evanna Lynch, Irish actress

• 1991 Young Thug, American rapper, singer and songwriter

• 1992 Diego Schwartzman, Argentinian tennis player

• 1993 Cameron Monaghan, American actor and model

• 1996 Sophie Cunningham, American basketball player

• 1996 Caeleb Dressel, American swimmer

• 1997 Greyson Chance, American musician

• 1999 Karen Chen, American figure skater

• 2001 Jannik Sinner, Italian tennis player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• AD 79 Empress Ma, Chinese Han dynasty consort (born 40)

• 856 Theutbald I, bishop of Langres

• 963 Marianos Argyros, Byzantine general (born 944)

• 1027 George I of Georgia (born 998)

• 1153 Bernard de Tremelay, fourth Grand Master of the Knights Templar

• 1225 Hōjō Masako, Japanese regent and onna-bugeisha (born 1156)

• 1258 Theodore II Laskaris, Byzantine-Greek emperor (born 1222)

• 1285 Philip I, Count of Savoy (born 1207)

• 1297 John II of Trebizond (born 1262)

• 1327 Roch, French saint (born 1295)

• 1339 Azzone Visconti, founder of the state of Milan (born 1302)

• 1358 Albert II, Duke of Austria (born 1298)

• 1419 Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (born 1361)

• 1443 Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shōgun (born 1434)

• 1492 Beatrice of Silva, Dominican nun

• 1518 Loyset Compère, French composer (born 1445)

• 1532 John, Elector of Saxony (born 1468)

1601–1900

• 1661 Thomas Fuller, English historian and author (born 1608)

• 1678 Andrew Marvell, English poet and author (born 1621)

• 1705 Jacob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (born 1654)

• 1733 Matthew Tindal, English philosopher and author (born 1657)

• 1791 Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (born 1719)

• 1836 Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician and theorist (born 1755)

• 1855 Henry Colburn, English publisher (born 1785)

• 1861 Ranavalona I, Queen consort of Kingdom of Madagascar and then sovereign (born 1778)

• 1878 Richard Upjohn, English-American architect (born 1802)

• 1886 Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Indian mystic and philosopher (born 1836)

• 1887 Webster Paulson, English civil engineer (born 1837)

• 1888 John Pemberton, American pharmacist and chemist, invented Coca-Cola (born 1831)

• 1893 Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist and academic (born 1825)

• 1899 Robert Bunsen, German chemist and academic (born 1811)

• 1900 José Maria de Eça de Queirós, Portuguese journalist and author (born 1845)

1901–present

• 1904 Prentiss Ingraham, American soldier and author (born 1843)

• 1911 Patrick Francis Moran, Irish-Australian cardinal (born 1830)

• 1914 Carl Theodor Schulz, German-Norwegian gardener (born 1835)

• 1916 George Scott, English footballer (born 1885)

• 1920 Henry Daglish, Australian politician, Premier of Western Australia (born 1866)

• 1921 Peter I of Serbia (born 1844)

• 1938 Andrej Hlinka, Slovak priest, journalist, and politician (born 1864)

• 1938 Robert Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1911)

• 1945 Takijirō Ōnishi, Japanese admiral (born 1891)

• 1948 Babe Ruth, American baseball player and coach (born 1895)

• 1949 Margaret Mitchell, American journalist and author (born 1900)

• 1952 Lydia Field Emmet, American painter and academic (born 1866)

• 1956 Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (born 1882)

• 1957 Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1881)

• 1958 Jacob M. Lomakin, Soviet Consul General in New York City, journalist and economist (born 1904)

• 1959 William Halsey, Jr., American admiral (born 1882)

• 1959 Wanda Landowska, Polish-French harpsichord player (born 1879)

• 1961 Abdul Haq, Pakistani linguist and scholar (born 1870)

• 1963 Joan Eardley, British artist (born 1921)

• 1971 Spyros Skouras, Greek-American businessman (born 1893)

• 1972 Pierre Brasseur, French actor and screenwriter (born 1905)

• 1973 Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-American biochemist and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1888)

• 1977 Elvis Presley, American singer and actor (born 1935)

• 1978 Alidius Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, Dutch soldier and politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (born 1888)

• 1979 John Diefenbaker, Canadian lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1895)

• 1983 Earl Averill, American baseball player (born 1902)

• 1984 Duško Radović, Serbian children's writer, poet, journalist, aphorist and TV editor (born 1922)

• 1986 Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (born 1902)

• 1986 Jaime Sáenz, Bolivian author and poet (born 1921)

• 1989 Amanda Blake, American actress (born 1929)

• 1990 Pat O'Connor, New Zealand wrestler and trainer (born 1925)

• 1991 Luigi Zampa, Italian director and screenwriter (born 1905)

• 1992 Mark Heard, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1951)

• 1993 Stewart Granger, English-American actor (born 1913)

• 1997 Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani musician and Qawwali singer (born 1948)

• 1997 Sultan Ahmad Nanupuri, Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and teacher (born 1914)

• 1998 Phil Leeds, American actor (born 1916)

• 1998 Dorothy West, American journalist and author (born 1907)

• 2002 Abu Nidal, Palestinian terrorist leader (born 1937)

• 2002 Jeff Corey, American actor (born 1914)

• 2002 John Roseboro, American baseball player and coach (born 1933)

• 2003 Idi Amin, Ugandan field marshal and politician, 3rd President of Uganda (born 1928)

• 2004 Ivan Hlinka, Czech ice hockey player and coach (born 1950)

• 2004 Balanadarajah Iyer, Sri Lankan journalist and poet (born 1957)

• 2004 Carl Mydans, American photographer and journalist (born 1907)

• 2004 Robert Quiroga, American boxer (born 1969)

• 2005 Vassar Clements, American fiddler (born 1928)

• 2005 Tonino Delli Colli, Italian cinematographer (born 1922)

• 2005 William Corlett, English novelist and playwright (born 1938)

• 2005 Frère Roger, Swiss monk and mystic (born 1915)

• 2006 Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguayan general and dictator; 46th President of Paraguay (born 1912)

• 2007 Bahaedin Adab, Iranian engineer and politician (born 1945)

• 2008 Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter and actor (born 1914)

• 2008 Ronnie Drew, Irish musician, folk singer and actor (born 1934)

• 2008 Masanobu Fukuoka, Japanese farmer and author (born 1913)

• 2010 Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek general (born 1923)

• 2011 Mihri Belli, Turkish activist and politician (born 1916)

• 2012 Princess Lalla Amina of Morocco (born 1954)

• 2012 Martine Franck, Belgian photographer and director (born 1938)

• 2012 Abune Paulos, Ethiopian patriarch (born 1935)

• 2012 William Windom, American actor (born 1923)

• 2013 David Rees, Welsh mathematician and academic (born 1918)

• 2014 Patrick Aziza, Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Kebbi State (born 1947)

• 2014 Vsevolod Nestayko, Ukrainian author (born 1930)

• 2014 Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, Italian-South African lawyer and politician (born 1960)

• 2014 Peter Scholl-Latour, German journalist, author, and academic (born 1924)

• 2015 Jacob Bekenstein, Mexican-American physicist, astronomer, and academic (born 1947)

• 2015 Anna Kashfi, British actress (born 1934)

• 2015 Shuja Khanzada, Pakistani colonel and politician (born 1943)

• 2015 Mile Mrkšić, Serb general (born 1947)

• 2016 João Havelange, Brazilian water polo player, lawyer, and businessman (born 1916)

• 2016 John McLaughlin, American television personality (born 1927)

• 2018 Aretha Franklin, American singer-songwriter (born 1942)

• 2018 Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indian poet and 12th Prime Minister of India (born 1924)

• 2018 Wakako Yamauchi, American-Japanese writer (born 1924)

• 2019 Peter Fonda, American actor, director, and screenwriter. (born 1940)

• 2019 Richard Williams, Canadian-British animator (born 1933)

• 2021 Sean Lock, English comedian and actor (born 1963)

• 2023 Howard S. Becker, American sociologist (born 1928)

• 2026 Hayden Panettiere, American actress and singer (born 1989)

Holidays and observances

• Bennington Battle Day (Vermont, United States)

• Children's Day (Paraguay)

Christian feast day:

• Ana Petra Pérez Florido

• Armel (Armagillus)

• Diomedes of Tarsus

• Roch

• Stephen I of Hungary

• Translation of the Acheiropoietos icon from Edessa to Constantinople. (Eastern Orthodox Church)

• August 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Gozan no Okuribi (Kyoto, Japan)

• National Airborne Day (United States)

• Restoration Day (Dominican Republic)

• The first day of the Independence Days, celebrates the independence of Gabon from France in 1960.

• Xicolatada (Palau-de-Cerdagne, France)

References

External links