Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek (in Dutch also Anthonie, Antoni, or Theunis, in English, Antony or Anton; (October 24, 1632 – August 26, 1723) was a Dutch tradesman and scientist from Delft, Netherlands. He is commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology", and considered to be the first microbiologist. He is best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope and for his contributions towards the establishment of microbiology. Using his handcrafted microscopes, he was the first to observe and describe single-celled organisms, which he originally referred to as animalcules, and which we now refer to as microorganisms. He was also the first to record microscopic observations of muscle fibers, bacteria, spermatozoa, and blood flow in capillaries (small blood vessels). Van Leeuwenhoek did not author any books, although he did write many letters.
Events
- 69 – Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus, the commander of the Danube armies, loyal to Vespasian, defeat the forces of Emperor Vitellius.
- 1147 – After a siege of 4 months crusader knights led by Afonso Henriques reconquered Lisbon.
- 1260 – The spectacular Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France; the cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- 1260 – Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seizes power for himself.
- 1360 – The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified at Calais, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War.
- 1590 – John White, The governor of the second Roanoke Colony, returns to England after an unsuccessful search for the "lost" colonists.
- 1648 – The Peace of Westphalia is signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War.
- 1795 – Partitions of Poland: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is completely divided among Austria, Prussia, and Russia
- 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Maloyaroslavets takes place near Moscow.
- 1851 – William Lassell discovers the moons Umbriel and Ariel orbiting Uranus.
- 1857 – Sheffield F.C., the world's first football club, is founded in Sheffield, England.
- 1861 – The First Transcontinental Telegraph line across the United States is completed, spelling the end for the 18-month-old Pony Express.
- 1901 – Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
- 1911 – Orville Wright remains in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a Wright Glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
- 1912 – First Balkan War: The Battle of Kumanovo concludes with the Serbian victory.
- 1917 – Battle of Caporetto; Italy suffers a catastrophic defeat by the forces of Austria-Hungary and Germany on the Austro-Italian front of World War I (lasts until 19 November - also called Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo).
- 1926 – Harry Houdini's last performance, which is at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1929 – "Black Thursday" stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange.
- 1930 – A bloodless coup d'état in Brazil ousts Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa, the last President of the First Republic. Getúlio Dornelles Vargas is then installed as "provisional president."
- 1931 – The George Washington Bridge opens to public traffic.
- 1944 – World War II: The Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku and the battleship Musashi are sunk by American aircraft in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
- 1945 – Founding of the United Nations
- 1946 – A camera on board the V-2 No. 13 rocket takes the first photograph of earth from outer space.
- 1947 – Walt Disney testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists.
- 1949 – The cornerstone of the United Nations Headquarters is laid.
- 1954 – Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam
- 1957 – The USAF starts the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.
- 1960 – Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100. Among the dead is Field Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin, whose death is reported to have occurred in a plane crash
- 1964 – Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia (Southern Rhodesia remained a colony until the next year, with the Unilateral Declaration of Independence)
- 1973 – Yom Kippur War ends
- 1977 – Veterans Day is observed on the fourth Monday in October for the seventh and last time. (The holiday is once again observed on November 11 beginning the following year.)
- 1980 – The government of Poland legalizes Solidarity trade union
- 1986 – Nezar Hindawi is sentenced to 45 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down by a British court, for the attempted bombing on an El Al flight at Heathrow. After the verdict, the United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, claiming that Hindawi is helped by Syrian officials.
- 1990 – Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti reveals to the Italian parliament the existence of Gladio, the Italian "stay-behind" clandestine paramilitary NATO army, which was implicated in false flag terrorist attacks implicating communists and anarchists as part of the strategy of tension from the late 1960s to early 1980s.
- 1998 – Launch of Deep Space 1 comet/asteroid mission
- 2002 – Police arrest spree killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway sniper attacks in the area around Washington, DC.
- 2003 – Concorde makes its last commercial flight.
- 2005 – Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in Florida resulting in 35 direct 26 indirect fatalities and causing $20.6B USD in damage.
- 2007 – Chang'e 1, the first satellite in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, is launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
- 2008 – "Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.
Births
- 51 – Domitian, Roman emperor (d. 96)
- 1378 – David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (d. 1402)
- 1503 – Isabella of Portugal (d. 1539)
- 1561 – Anthony Babington, Leader of the Babington Plot (d. 1586)
- 1632 – Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microbiologist (d. 1723)
- 1675 – Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, English soldier and politician (d. 1749)
- 1710 – Alban Butler, English Catholic priest and writer (d. 1773)
- 1713 – Marie Fel, French opera singer (d. 1794)
- 1739 – Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, German princess and composer (d. 1807)
- 1763 – Dorothea von Schlegel, German novelist (d. 1839)
- 1788 – Sarah Josepha Hale, American poet (d. 1879)
- 1804 – Wilhelm Eduard Weber, German physicist (d. 1891)
- 1811 – Ferdinand Hiller, German composer (d. 1885)
- 1830 – Marianne North, English naturalist and flower painter (d. 1890)
- 1838 – Annie Edson Taylor, American Adventuress (d. 1921)
- 1840 – Eliza Pollock, American archer (d. 1919)
- 1854 – Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist (d. 1907)
- 1855 – James S. Sherman, American politician & 27th Vice President of the United States (d. 1912)
- 1857 – Ned Williamson, American baseball player (d. 1894)
- 1868 – Alexandra David-Néel, French explorer and writer (d. 1969)
- 1872 – Peter O'Connor, Irish athlete (d. 1957)
- 1875 – Konstantin Yuon, Russian painter (d. 1958)
- 1879 – B. A. Rolfe, American musician known as "The Boy Trumpet Wonder", bandleader, recording artist, radio personality and film producer (d. 1956)
- 1882 – Dame Sybil Thorndike, British actress (d. 1976)
- 1885 – Rachel Katznelson-Shazar, Zionist political figure and widow of Zalman Shazar (d. 1975)
- 1887 – Octave Lapize, French cyclist (d. 1917)
- 1887 – Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen of Spain (d. 1969)
- 1891 – Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, President of the Dominican Republic (d. 1961)
- 1894 – Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay, Bengali author (d. 1987)
- 1896 – Jack Warner, English actor (d. 1981)
- 1901 – Gilda Gray, Polish-born American actress and dancer (d. 1959)
- 1903 – Melvin Purvis, American FBI agent (d. 1960)
- 1904 – Moss Hart, American dramatist (d. 1961)
- 1904 – A.K. Golam Jilani, a Bangladeshi who was a revolutionary of the Indian independence movement. (d. 1932)
- 1905 – Fran Zwitter, Slovenian historian (d. 1988)
- 1906 – Alexander Gelfond, Russian mathematician (d. 1968)
- 1908 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian Geophysicist (d. 1993)
- 1909 – Bill Carr, American athlete (d. 1966)
- 1911 – Sonny Terry, American blues musician (d. 1986)
- 1911 – Paul Grégoire, French Canadian archbishop of Montreal (d. 1993)
- 1913 – Tito Gobbi, Italian baritone (d. 1984)
- 1915 – Bob Kane, American cartoonist (d. 1998)
- 1915 – Roger Milliken, American millionaire (d. 2010)
- 1915 – Marghanita Laski, British journalist and novelist (d. 1988)
- 1916 – Anne Sharp, Scottish opera singer (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Frank Piasecki, American aeronautical engineer (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, French mathematician (d. 1996)
- 1921 – R. K. Laxman, Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist
- 1922 – George Miller, American politician
- 1923 – Sir Robin Day OBE, British political broadcaster and commentator (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Denise Levertov, English-born poet (d. 1997)
- 1924 – Mary Lee, B-movie actress and singer (d. 1996)
- 1925 – Luciano Berio, Italian composer (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Bob Azzam, Egyptian singer (d. 2004)
- 1925 – Willie Mabon, American R&B singer, songwriter and pianist (d. 1985)
- 1926 – Rafael Azcona, Spanish screenwriter (d. 2008)
- 1926 – Kidar Nath Sahani, Indian politician (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Y. A. Tittle, American football player
- 1927 – Jean-Claude Pascal, French singer and actor (d. 1992)
- 1927 – Gilbert Bécaud, French composer and actor (d. 2001)
- 1928 – George Bullard, American professional baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1929 – George Crumb, American composer
- 1929 – Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer (d. 2004)
- 1929 – Hubert Aquin, French-Canadian novelist and activist (d. 1977)
- 1930 – J.P. Richardson, The Big Bopper, American singer (d. 1959)
- 1930 – Johan Galtung, Norwegian peace researcher
- 1930 – Sultan Ahmad Shah, King of Malaysia
- 1931 – Sofia Gubaidulina, Russian composer
- 1932 – Stephen Covey, American author and speaker (d. 2012)
- 1932 – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Robert Mundell, Canadian economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1933 – Reginald "Reggie" Kray, British gangster and murderer (d. 2000)
- 1933 – Ronald "Ronnie" Kray, British gangster and murderer (d. 1995)
- 1933 – Norman Rush, American writer
- 1934 – Glen Glenn, American rockabilly singer
- 1935 – Malcolm Bilson, American pianist and music professor
- 1936 – David Nelson, American actor and director (d. 2011)
- 1936 – Bill Wyman, English musician (The Rolling Stones)
- 1936 – Jimmy Dawkins, American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer
- 1937 – Santo Farina, American musician and composer (Santo & Johnny)
- 1938 – Odean Pope, American jazz tenor saxophonist
- 1939 – F. Murray Abraham, American actor
- 1940 – Martin Campbell, New Zealand film director
- 1940 – Rafal Piszcz, Polish canoe racer (d. 2012)
- 1941 – William H. Dobelle, American biomedical engineer
- 1943 – Bill Dundee, American professional wrestler
- 1943 – Corky Siegel, American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer
- 1944 – Ray Downs American author and musician
- 1944 – Viktor Prokopenko, Ukrainian footballer and coach (d. 2007)
- 1944 – Ted Templeman, American record producer, member of 1960's group Harper's Bizarre
- 1945 – Anthony Christian, English artist
- 1945 – Gérald Larose, Quebec labour union executive
- 1945 – Duncan Lunan, Scottish astronomer and writer
- 1945 – Alan Titus, American baritone
- 1946 – Jerry Edmonton, Canadian drummer (Steppenwolf) (d. 1993)
- 1947 – Kevin Kline, American actor
- 1948 – Paul Ryan and Barry Ryan, British composer-singers
- 1948 – Kweisi Mfume, American politician and activist
- 1949 – Robert Pickton, Canadian serial killer
- 1950 – Steven Greenberg, American composer (Lipps Inc.)
- 1950 – Rawly Eastwick, American baseball player
- 1950 – Miroslav Sládek, Czech politician
- 1951 – Meredith Hunter, American murder victim (d. 1969)
- 1951 – George Tsontakis, American composer
- 1952 – David Weber, American science fiction and fantasy author
- 1953 – Mike Papantonio, American lawyer and radio talk show host
- 1953 – Mindy Newell, American comic book writer
- 1953 – Steven Hatfill, American physician, virologist and bio-weapons expert
- 1953 – Jim Pettie, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1953 – David Wright, Composer and producer, co-founder of AD Music
- 1953 – Christoph Daum, German football manager and former footballer
- 1954 – Doug Davidson, American actor
- 1954 – Brad Sherman, American politician
- 1954 – Malcolm Turnbull, Australian politician
- 1954 – Thomas J. Mulcair, Quebec politician
- 1954 – Mike Rounds, American politician, former governor of South Dakota
- 1954 – Jozef Ráž, Slovak musician
- 1955 – Katherine Knight, Australian murderess
- 1955 – Cheryl Studer, American dramatic soprano
- 1956 – Dale Maharidge, American author
- 1956 – Jeff Merkley, American politician, junior senator of Oregon
- 1956 – David Stergakos, Greek-American basketball player
- 1957 – Ron Gardenhire, German-born American baseball manager
- 1957 – John Kassir, American actor and comedian
- 1958 – Vincent K. Brooks, U.S. Army Lieutenant General
- 1958 – Chip Hooper, American tennis player
- 1959 – Anthony Waller, Lebanese film director
- 1960 – Ian Baker-Finch, Australian golfer
- 1960 – B.D. Wong, American actor
- 1960 – Jaime Garzón, Colombian journalist and comedian (d. 1999)
- 1960 – Joachim "Jo" Winkelhock, German race car driver
- 1960 – Dennis Anderson, American monster truck driver (Grave Digger)
- 1961 – Mary Bono, American politician
- 1961 – Bruce L. Castor, Jr. American politician
- 1961 – Dave Meltzer, American wrestling journalist
- 1962 – Dave Blaney, American race car driver
- 1962 – Jay Novacek, American football player
- 1963 – John Hendrie, Scottish footballer
- 1964 – Rosana Arbelo, Spanish singer and composer
- 1964 – Doug Lee, American professional basketball player
- 1964 – Paul Bonwick, politician in Canada
- 1965 – Kyriakos Velopoulos, Greek politician
- 1966 – Roman Abramovich, Russian oil magnate
- 1967 – Jacqueline McKenzie, Australian actress
- 1967 – Ian Bishop, West Indian cricketer
- 1968 – Mark Walton, American story artist, actor
- 1968 – Robert Wilonsky, American journalist
- 1969 – Adela Noriega, Mexican actress
- 1970 – Rob Leslie-Carter, British engineer and project manager
- 1970 – Jeff Mangum, American musician
- 1971 – Dervla Kirwan, Irish actress
- 1971 – Caprice Bourret, American model and actress
- 1972 – Raelee Hill, Australian actress
- 1972 – Kim Ji-soo, South Korean actress
- 1972 – Scott Peterson, American murderer
- 1972 – Pat Williams, American football player
- 1973 – Levi Leipheimer, American cyclist
- 1973 – Madlib, American musician and rapper
- 1973 – Jackie McNamara, Scottish footballer
- 1973 – Jeff Wilson, New Zealand rugby player and cricketer
- 1973 – Laura Veirs American singer-songwriter
- 1974 – Wilton Guerrero, Dominican baseball player
- 1974 – Corey Dillon, American football player
- 1974 – Jamal Mayers, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 – Gábor Babos, Hungarian football player
- 1975 – Juan Pablo Ángel, Colombian footballer
- 1976 – Matteo Mazzantini, Italian rugby player
- 1976 – Joakim Nätterqvist, Swedish actor
- 1976 – Petar Stoychev, Bulgarian swimmer
- 1977 – Iván Kaviedes, Ecuadoran footballer
- 1978 – Carlos Edwards, Trinidadian footballer
- 1978 – James Hopes, Australian one-day cricketer
- 1979 – Ben Gillies, Australian musician (Silverchair)
- 1980 – Monica, American singer and actress
- 1980 – Matthew Amoah, Ghanaian footballer
- 1980 – Niall Breslin, Irish musician
- 1980 – Zac Posen, American fashion designer
- 1980 – Christian Vander, German footballer
- 1980 – Casey Wilson, American comic actress (Happy Endings, Saturday Night Live)
- 1981 – Sebastián Bueno, Argentine footballer
- 1981 – Jemima Rooper, British actress
- 1981 – Tila Tequila, American model
- 1982 – Mohamed Fairuz Fauzy, Malaysian racing driver
- 1982 – Macay McBride, American baseball player
- 1983 – Adrienne Bailon, American actress and singer
- 1983 – V V Brown, English singer
- 1983 – Hernán Garin, Argentine footballer
- 1983 – Brian Vickers, American race car driver
- 1984 – Kaela Kimura, Japanese model and singer
- 1984 – Felicia Chin, Singaporean actress
- 1984 – Jonas Gustavsson, Swedish hockey player
- 1985 – Wayne Rooney, English footballer
- 1985 – Oscar Wendt, Swedish footballer
- 1986 – Drake, Canadian actor and rapper
- 1986 – John Ruddy, English footballer
- 1987 – Charlie White, American ice dancer
- 1987 – Anthony Vanden Borre, Belgian footballer
- 1987 – Lincoln Lewis, Australian actor
- 1988 – Mitch Inman, Australian rugby union footballer
- 1989 – Shenae Grimes, Canadian actress
- 1989 – Eliza Taylor-Cotter, Australian actress
- 1989 – Anderson Conceição Benedito, Brazilian footballer
- 1990 – LaMarcus Tinker, American actor
- 1994 – Krystal Jung, American-born Korean singer
Deaths
- 996 – King Hugh Capet of France (b. 938)
- 1260 – Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt
- 1375 – King Valdemar IV of Denmark (b. c.1320)
- 1537 – Jane Seymour, consort of Henry VIII of England (b. 1508)
- 1572 – Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby, English politician (b. c.1508)
- 1601 – Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer (b. 1546)
- 1655 – Pierre Gassendi, French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (b. 1592)
- 1669 – William Prynne, English Puritan leader (b. 1600)
- 1672 – John Webb, English architect (b. 1611)
- 1725 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (b. 1660)
- 1799 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian composer (b. 1739)
- 1821 – Elias Boudinot, American President of the Continental Congress (b. 1740)
- 1852 – Daniel Webster, American lawyer and politician (b. 1782)
- 1875 – Raffaello Carboni, Italian writer (b. 1817)
- 1898 – Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter (b. 1824)
- 1912 – Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian composer (b. 1842)
- 1915 – Désiré Charnay, French archaeologist (b. 1828)
- 1922 – George Cadbury, British chocolate and cocoa manufacturer (b. 1839)
- 1935 – Dutch Schultz, American organized crime figure (b. 1902)
- 1938 – Ernst Barlach, German sculptor (b. 1870)
- 1943 – Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, French Canadian poet (b. 1912)
- 1944 – Louis Renault, French car manufacturer (b. 1877)
- 1945 – Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian soldier and politician (b. 1887)
- 1948 – Franz Lehár, Austrian composer (b. 1870)
- 1958 – George Edward Moore, British philosopher (b. 1873)
- 1964 – Toni Kinshofer, German mountaineer (b. 1931)
- 1966 – Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician (b. 1896)
- 1971 – Carl Ruggles, American composer (b. 1876)
- 1971 – Jo Siffert, Swiss racing driver (b. 1936)
- 1972 – Jackie Robinson, American baseball player (b. 1919)
- 1972 – Claire Windsor, American actress (b. 1897)
- 1974 – David Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1908)
- 1975 – Zdzislaw Zygulski, Sr., Polish literary historian (b. 1888)
- 1985 – Richie Evans, American NASCAR driver (b. 1941)
- 1985 – Maurice Roy, Archbishop of Quebec, (b. 1905)
- 1989 – Jerzy Kukuczka, Polish mountaineer (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (b. 1921)
- 1993 – Heinz Kubsch, German footballer (b. 1930)
- 1994 – Yannis Hotzeas, Greek Marxist theoretician (b. 1930)
- 1994 – Raúl Juliá, Puerto Rican actor (b. 1940)
- 1996 – Mary Lee, B-movie actress and singer (b. 1924)
- 1997 – Don Messick, American voice actor (b. 1926)
- 2001 – Kathleen Ankers, American designer (b. 1919)
- 2001 – Wolf Rüdiger Hess, German neo-Nazi (b. 1937)
- 2002 – Herman Gaviria, Colombian football player (b. 1969)
- 2002 – Winton M. Blount, United States Postmaster General (b. 1921)
- 2002 – Harry Hay, American activist (b. 1912)
- 2004 – Randy Dorton, American race car crew member (b. 1954)
- 2004 – Ricky Hendrick, American race car team owner (b. 1980)
- 2004 – James Aloysius Hickey, American Catholic cardinal and archbishop (b. 1920)
- 2005 – José Azcona del Hoyo, Honduran statesman (b. 1926)
- 2005 – Joy Clements, American soprano (b. 1932)
- 2005 – Robert Sloman, British television writer (b. 1926)
- 2005 – Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Immanuel C.Y. Hsu, Chinese intellectual and scholar (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Mokarrameh Ghanbari, Iranian painter (b. 1928)
- 2006 – Enolia McMillan, American civil rights activist (b. 1904)
- 2006 – William Montgomery Watt, Scottish historian and Islamic scholar (b. 1909)
- 2007 – Petr Eben, Czech organ composer (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Alisher Saipov, Kyrgyz journalist (b. 1981)
- 2007 – Ian Middleton, New Zealand novelist (b. 1928)
- 2007 – Anne Weale, British writer (b. 1929)
- 2008 – Moshe Cotel, American composer and pianist (b. 1943)
- 2010 – Lamont Johnson, American television director (b. 1922)
- 2010 – Joseph Stein, American playwright (b. 1912)
- 2011 – Sansan Chien, Taiwanese composer (b. 1967)
Holidays and observances
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Zambia from United Kingdom in 1964.
- Suez Day (Egypt)
- United Nations Day, the anniversary of the 1945 Charter of the United Nations (International)
- World Development Information Day (International)
