today.nukz.net: Almanac January 1

Paul Revere (December 21, 1734 – May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, early industrialist, and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride."

Revere was a prosperous and prominent Boston silversmith, who helped organize an intelligence and alarm system to keep watch on the British military. Revere later served as a Massachusetts militia officer, though his service culminated after the Penobscot Expedition, one of the most disastrous campaigns of the American Revolutionary War, for which he was absolved of blame. Following the war, Revere returned to his silversmith trade and used the profits from his expanding business to finance his work in iron casting, bronze bell and cannon casting, and the forging of copper bolts and spikes. Finally in 1800 he became the first American to successfully roll copper into sheets for use as sheathing on naval vessels.

Events

153 BC – Roman consuls begin their year in office.
45 BC – The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time.
42 BC – The Roman Senate posthumously deifies Julius Caesar
69 – The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor.
193 – The Senate chooses Pertinax against his will to succeed Commodus as Roman emperor.
404 – An infuriated Roman mob tears Telemachus, a Christian monk, to pieces for trying to stop a gladiators' fight in the public arena held in Rome.
414 – Galla Placidia, half-sister of Emperor Honorius, is married to the Visigothic king Ataulf at Narbonne. The wedding is celebrated with Roman festivities and magnificent gifts from the Gothic booty.
417 – Emperor Honorius forces Galla Placidia into marriage to Constantius, his famous general (magister militum).
1001 – Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary is named the first King of Hungary by Pope Sylvester II.
1068 – Romanos IV Diogenes marries Eudokia Makrembolitissa and is crowned Byzantine Emperor.
1259 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is proclaimed co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea with his ward John IV Laskaris.
1438 – Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
1502 – The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is first explored by the Portuguese.
1515 – King Francis I of France succeeds to the French throne.
1527 – Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I of Austria as king of Croatia in the Parliament on Cetin.
1600 – Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of March 25.
1651 – Charles II is crowned King of Scotland.
1700 – Russia begins using the Anno Domini era and no longer uses the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire.
1707 – John V is crowned King of Portugal.
1739 – Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
1772 – The first traveler's cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London, England, Great Britain.
1773 – The hymn that became known as "Amazing Grace", then titled "1 Chronicles 17:16–17" is first used to accompany a sermon led by John Newton in the town of Olney, England.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: Norfolk, Virginia is burned by combined Royal Navy and Continental Army action.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: 1,500 soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne's command rebel against the Continental Army's winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey in the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny of 1781.
1788 – First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
1800 – The Dutch East India Company is dissolved.
1801 – The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1801 – The dwarf planet Ceres is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
1803 – Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tây Son Dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Hu?, Vietnam.
1804 – French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black republic and second independent country in North America after the United States
1806 – The French Republican Calendar is abolished.
1808 – The importation of slaves into the United States is banned.
1810 – Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB officially becomes Governor of New South Wales
1812 – The Bishop of Durham, Shute Barrington, orders troops from Durham Castle to break up a miners strike in Chester-le-Street, Co. Durham
1822 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
1833 – The United Kingdom claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
1845 – The Cobble Hill Tunnel in Brooklyn is completed.
1847 – The world's first "Mercy" Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by the Sisters of Mercy, the name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world.
1860 – First Polish stamp is issued.
1861 – Porfirio Díaz conquers Mexico City.
1863 – American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.
1863 – The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska.
1873 – Japan begins using the Gregorian calendar.
1877 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Empress of India.
1880 – Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal.
1885 – Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming's proposal for standard time (and also, time zones)
1890 – Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government.
1890 – The Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, is first held.
1892 – Ellis Island opens to begin processing immigrants into the United States.
1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal, England, is officially opened to traffic.
1898 – New York, New York annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
1899 – Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
1901 – Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.
1901 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister.
1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.
1906 – British India officially adopts the Indian Standard Time.
1908 – For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York, New York's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year at midnight.
1909 – Drilling begins on the Lakeview Gusher.
1910 – Captain David Beatty is promoted to Rear Admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members), since Horatio Nelson.
1911 – Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.
1912 – The Republic of China is established.
1913 – The British Board of Censors is established.
1916 – German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
1920 – The Belorussian Communist Organisation is founded as a separate party.
1923 – Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS.
1927 – The Cristero War begins in Mexico.
1927 – Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian).
1928 – Boris Bazhanov defects through Iran. He is the only assistant of Joseph Stalin's secretariat to have defected from the Eastern Bloc.
1929 – The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver.
1932 – The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth.
1934 – Alcatraz Island becomes a United States federal prison.
1934 – Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".
1937 – Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in the United Kingdom.
1939 – Sydney, Australia, swelters in 45 °C (113 °F) heat, a record for the city.
1942 – The Declaration by United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
1945 – World War II: In retaliation for the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops massacre 30 SS prisoners at Chenogne.
1945 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches Operation Bodenplatte, a massive, but failed attempt to knock out Allied air power in northern Europe in a single blow.
1947 – The American and British occupation zones in Germany, after World War II, merge to form the Bizone, that later became West Germany.
1947 – The Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 comes into effect, converting British subjects into Canadian citizens. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen.
1948 – The British railway network is nationalised to form British Railways.
1948 – The Constitution of Italy comes into force.
1949 – United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
1954 – NBC makes the first coast-to-coast NTSC color broadcast when it telecast the Tournament of Roses Parade, with public demonstrations given across the United States on prototype color receivers.
1956 – Sudan achieves independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom.
1956 – A new year event causes panic and stampedes at Yahiko Shrine, Yahiko, Niigata, Japan, killing at least 124 people.
1957 – George Town, Penang becomes a city by a royal charter granted by Elizabeth II.
1957 – An Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit attacks Brookeborough RUC barracks in one of the most famous incidents of the IRA's Operation Harvest.
1958 – The European Economic Community is established.
1959 – Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces during the Cuban Revolution.
1960 – Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom.
1962 – Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
1962 – United States Navy SEALs established.
1964 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
1965 – The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded in Kabul, Afghanistan.
1966 – A twelve-day New York City transit strike begins.
1966 – After a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa assumes power as president of the Central African Republic.
1970 – Unix time begins at 00:00:00 UTC/GMT.
1971 – Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
1973 – Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Ireland are admitted into the European Economic Community.
1978 – Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 crashes into the sea, due to instrument failure and pilot disorientation, off the coast of Bombay, India, killing 213.
1978 – The Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands becomes effective.
1979 – Formal diplomatic relations are established between the China and the United States.
1980 – Victoria is crowned princess of Sweden.
1981 – Greece is admitted into the European Community.
1981 – Palau achieves self-government though it is not independent from the United States.
1982 – Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary-General of the United Nations.
1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
1984 – The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is divested of its 22 Bell System companies as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T.
1984 – Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
1985 – The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
1985 – The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.
1986 – Aruba becomes independent of Curaçao, though it remains in free association with the Netherlands.
1986 – Spain and Portugal are admitted into the European Community.
1988 – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
1989 – The Montreal Protocol Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer comes into force.
1990 – David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.
1992 – Russia is officially formed.
1993 – Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
1993 – A single market within the European Community is introduced.
1994 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican State of Chiapas.
1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.
1995 – The World Trade Organization goes into effect.
1995 – Sweden, Austria, and Finland are admitted into the European Union.
1995 – The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe becomes the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
1995 – The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.
1996 – Curaçao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Netherlands.
1997 – Zaire officially joins the World Trade Organization.
1997 – Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan is appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations.
1998 – Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
1998 – The European Central Bank is established.
1999 – The Euro currency is introduced in 11 countries - members of the European Union (with the exception of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece and Sweden).
2002 – Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states.
2002 – Taiwan officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
2002 – The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially comes into force.
2004 – In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf wins 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, is "deemed to be elected" to the office of President until October 2007.
2007 – Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official languages of the European Union, joining 20 other official languages.
2007 – Adam Air Flight 574 disappears over Indonesia with 102 people on board.
2008 – Malta and Cyprus officially adopt the Euro currency and become the fourteenth and fifteenth Eurozone countries.
2009 – 66 die in a nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand.
2010 – A suicide car bomber detonates at a volleyball tournament in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, killing 105 and injuring 100 more.
2011 – Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the seventeenth eurozone country.
2012 – Kim Jong-un is officially declared the new Supreme Leader of North Korea.

Births

871 – King Zwentibold of Lotharingia (d. 900)
1431 – Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
1449 – Lorenzo de' Medici (d. 1492)
1467 – King Sigismund I the Old of Poland (d. 1548)
1484 – Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss religious figure (d. 1531)
1511 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall (d. 1511)
1516 – Margaret Leijonhufvud, Swedish noblewoman (d. 1551)
1557 – István Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)
1600 – Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian (d. 1649)
1614 – John Wilkins, English bishop (d. 1672)
1618 – Bartolomé Estéban Murillo, Spanish painter (d. 1682)
1628 – Christoph Bernhard, German composer (d. 1692)
1638 – Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (d. 1685)
1648 – Elkanah Settle, English writer (d. 1724)
1655 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist (d. 1728)
1684 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1748)
1704 – Soame Jenyns, English writer (d. 1787)
1709 – Johann Heinrich Hartmann Bätz, German-Dutch organ builder (d. 1770)
1711 – Franz Freiherr von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)
1714 – Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (d. 1780)
1714 – Giovanni Battista Mancini, Italian singer and author (d. 1800)
1735 – Paul Revere, American patriot (d. 1818)
1745 – Anthony Wayne, American general and politician (d. 1796)
1750 – Frederick Muhlenberg, American politician (d. 1801)
1752 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress (d. 1836)
1768 – Maria Edgeworth, Anglo-Irish novelist (d. 1849)
1774 – André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist (d. 1860)
1779 – William Clowes, English printer (d. 1847)
1803 – Guglielmo Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja, Italian mathematician (d. 1869)
1814 – Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebel (d. 1864)
1819 – Arthur Hugh Clough, English poet (d. 1861)
1823 – Sándor Petofi, Hungarian poet and revolutionary (d. 1849)
1833 – Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (d. 1902)
1834 – Ludovic Halévy, French playwright (d. 1908)
1848 – John Goff, Irish lawyer (d. 1924)
1852 – Eugène-Anatole Demarçay, French chemist (d. 1904)
1854 – Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (d. 1941)
1859 – Thibaw Min, King of Burma (d. 1916)
1860 – John Cassidy, Irish sculptor and painter (d. 1939)
1860 – Dan Katchongva, Native-American Hopi activist (d. 1972)
1860 – Michele Lega, Roman Catholic Cardinal (d. 1935)
1860 – Dirk van Erp, Dutch American coppersmith (d. 1933)
1860 – Jan Vilímek, Czech illustrator and painter (d. 1938)
1863 – Pierre de Coubertin, French aristocrat (d. 1937)
1864 – Qi Baishi, Chinese painter (d. 1957)
1864 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer (d. 1946)
1867 – Lew Fields, American vaudeville performer (d. 1941)
1868 – Snitz Edwards, American actor (d. 1937)
1871 – Montagu Toller, English cricket player (d. 1948)
1873 – Mariano Azuela, Mexican novelist (d. 1952)
1874 – Frank Knox, American politician (d. 1944)
1874 – Gustave Whitehead, German inventor (d. 1927)
1876 – Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (d. 1933)
1878 – Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish scientist and engineer (d. 1929)
1879 – E. M. Forster, English novelist (d. 1970)
1879 – William Fox, Hungarian-born American producer (d. 1952)
1881 – Vajiravudh, King of Thailand (d. 1925)
1885 – Béla Balogh, Hungarian film director (d. 1945)
1887 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)
1888 – John Garand, American inventor (d. 1974)
1888 – Georgios Stanotas, Greek cavalry officer (d. 1965)
1889 – Charles Bickford, American film actor (d. 1967)
1890 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (d. 1966)
1892 – Artur Rodzinski, Croatian conductor (d. 1958)
1892 – Manuel Roxas, Filipino statesman (d. 1948)
1893 – Mordehai Frizis, Greek Army officer (d. 1940)
1894 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian mathematician (d. 1974)
1894 – Shitsu Nakano, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2007)
1895 – J. Edgar Hoover, American FBI director (d. 1972)
1900 – Xavier Cugat, Spanish musician (d. 1990)
1900 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (d. 1986)
1902 – Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (d. 1977)
1904 – Vasilis Avlonitis, Greek actor (d. 1970)
1904 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (d. 1982)
1905 – Stanislaw Mazur, Polish mathematician (d. 1981)
1906 – Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (d. 1974)
1908 – Bill Tapia, American musician (d. 2011)
1909 – Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
1909 – Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian nationalist leader (d. 1959)
1911 – Basil Dearden, British film director (d. 1971)
1911 – Hank Greenberg, American baseball player (d. 1986)
1911 – Roman Totenberg, Polish-born American violinist (d. 2012)
1912 – Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko, Russian mathematician (d. 1995)
1912 – Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)
1912 – Nikiforos Vrettakos, Greek writer and poet (d. 1991)
1914 – Noor Inayat Khan, Indian princess and SOE agent (d. 1944)
1917 – Jule Gregory Charney, American meteorologist (d. 1981)
1917 – Albert Mol, Dutch actor (d. 2004)
1918 – Patrick Anthony Porteous, Scottish hero (d. 2000)
1918 – Edgar Price, American politician (d. 2012)
1919 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer (d. 1990)
1919 – Carole Landis, American film actress (d. 1948)
1919 – J. D. Salinger, American novelist (d. 2010)
1919 – Yoshio Tabata, Japanese singer
1920 – Osvaldo Cavandoli, Italian cartoonist (d. 2007)
1920 – Willie Fennell, Australian comedian, actor (d. 1992)
1920 – Virgilio Savona, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 2009)
1921 – Isma'il Raji al-Faruqi, Palestinian philosopher (d. 1986)
1921 – César Baldaccini, French sculptor (d. 1998)
1921 – Wadih El Safi, Lebanese singer and songwriter
1922 – Ernest Hollings, American politician
1922 – Jerry Robinson, American comic book artist (d. 2011)
1923 – Daniel Gorenstein, American mathematician (d. 1992)
1923 – Milt Jackson, American jazz vibraphonist (Modern Jazz Quartet) (d. 1999)
1924 – Charlie Munger, American philanthropist
1924 – Francisco Macías Nguema, Equatoguinean politician (d. 1979)
1925 – Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and ambassador (d. 2005)
1925 – Valentina Cortese, Italian actress
1925 – Raymond Pellegrin, French actor (d. 2007)
1926 – Richard Verreau, French-Canadian tenor (d. 2005)
1927 – Maurice Béjart, French choreographer (d. 2007)
1927 – Pat Heywood, Scottish actress
1927 – Calum MacKay, Canadian hockey player (d. 2001)
1927 – Yvonne Sanson, Greek film actress (d. 2003)
1927 – Vernon L. Smith, American economist, Nobel laureate
1927 – Doak Walker, American football star (d. 1998)
1928 – Ernest Tidyman, American writer (d. 1984)
1928 – Gerhard Weinberg, German-American historian
1929 – Raymond Chow, Hong Kong film producer
1929 – Larry L. King, American journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2012)
1929 – Joseph Lombardo, American organized crime boss
1929 – Haruo Nakajima, Japanese actor
1930 – Gaafar al-Nimeiry, Sudanese politician (d. 2009)
1930 – Jean-Pierre Duprey, French poet and sculptor (d. 1959)
1930 – Ty Hardin, American film actor
1930 – Frederick Wiseman, American documentary filmmaker
1932 – Leman Çidamli, Turkish actress (d. 2012)
1932 – Jackie Parker, American football player (d. 2006)
1932 – Giuseppe Patanè, Italian opera conductor (d. 1989)
1933 – James Hormel, American philanthropist and diplomat
1933 – Joseph Koo, Chinese composer
1933 – Frederick Lowy, Canadian educator
1933 – Joe Orton, English writer (d. 1967)
1933 – Norman Yemm, Australian actor
1934 – Lakhdar Brahimi, Algerian diplomat
1935 – B. Kliban, American cartoonist (d. 1990)
1936 – Don Nehlen, American football player and coach
1936 – James Sinegal, American businessman
1937 – John Fuller, English poet
1937 – Petros Markaris, Greek writer
1937 – Matt Robinson, American actor (d. 2002)
1937 – Adam Wisniewski-Snerg, Polish author (d. 1995)
1938 – Clay Cole, American television host and producer (d. 2010)
1938 – Robert Jankel, British coachbuilder (d. 2005)
1938 – Frank Langella, American actor
1939 – Michèle Mercier, French actress
1941 – Asrani, Indian actor and comedian
1941 – Younoussi Touré, Malian prime minister
1942 – Dennis Archer, American politician
1942 – Al Hunt, American reporter and news anchor
1942 – Country Joe McDonald, American musician (Country Joe and the Fish)
1942 – Alassane Ouattara, Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire
1942 – Gennadi Sarafanov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2005)
1942 – Judy Stone, Australian pop singer
1943 – Larry Clark, American director
1943 – Tony Knowles, American politician
1943 – Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, Indian scientist
1943 – Don Novello, American actor
1943 – Ronald Perelman, American businessman
1944 – Omar al-Bashir, Sudanese politician, President of Sudan
1944 – Jimmy Hart, American wrestling manager
1944 – Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Pakistani politician
1945 – Peter Duncan, Australian politician
1945 – Jacky Ickx, Belgian race car driver
1946 – Rivelino, Brazilian football player
1946 – Grady Allen, American football player (d. 2012)
1946 – Carl B. Hamilton, Swedish economist and politician
1946 – Susannah McCorkle, American writer and singer (d. 2001)
1946 – Shelby Steele, American author and filmmaker
1946 – Alain Voss, Brazilian-French comics artist
1947 – Jon Corzine, American politician
1947 – Leonard Thompson, American professional golfer
1947 – Paula Tsui, Hong Kong singer
1948 – Devlet Bahçeli, Turkish politician
1948 – Pavel Grachev, Russian general (d. 2012)
1948 – Joe Petagno, American artist
1948 – Ashok Saraf, Marathi/Hindi actor
1948 – Ismael Zambada García, Mexican drug lord
1948 – Ampon Tangnoppakul, Thai lèse majesté prisoner (d. 2012)
1949 – Max Azria, French fashion designer
1949 – Olivia Goldsmith, American author (d. 2004)
1949 – Borys Tarasyuk, Ukrainian politician
1950 – Wayne Bennett, Australian rugby league coach
1950 – Morgan Fisher, English musician (Mott the Hoople)
1950 – Deepa Mehta, Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter
1951 – Ashfaq Hussain, Urdu poet
1951 – Nana Patekar, Indian actor
1951 – Hans-Joachim Stuck, German race car driver
1952 – Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatari ruler, Emir of Qatar
1952 – Stephanie Faracy, American actress
1952 – Rosario Marchese, Italian-Canadian politician
1952 – Shaji N Karun, Indian Filmmaker, cinematographer
1953 – Alpha Blondy, Ivorian reggae singer
1953 – Greg Carmichael, British guitarist (Acoustic Alchemy)
1953 – Gary Johnson, American politician
1953 – Lynn Jones, American baseball player
1954 – Richard Edson, American actor and musician (Sonic Youth, Konk])
1954 – Bob Menendez, American politician
1954 – Dennis O'Driscoll, Irish poet (d. 2012)
1954 – Yannis Papathanasiou, Greek politician
1955 – LaMarr Hoyt, American baseball player
1955 – Gennady Lyachin, Commanding officer of the Russian submarine Kursk (d. 2000)
1956 – Sergei Avdeyev, Russian cosmonaut
1956 – Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (d. 2000)
1956 – Sheila McCarthy, Canadian actress
1956 – Mike Mitchell, American basketball player (d. 2011)
1956 – Ziad Rahbani, Lebanese composer
1956 – Koji Yakusho, Japanese actor
1957 – Mark Hurd, American businessman
1957 – Ewa Kasprzyk, Polish actress
1957 – Evangelos Venizelos, Greek lawyer and politician
1958 – Grandmaster Flash, Barbadian musician (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five)
1958 – Dave Silk, American ice hockey player
1959 – Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghan cosmonaut
1959 – Andy Andrews, American tennis player
1959 – Azali Assoumani, Comorian president
1959 – Panagiotis Giannakis, Greek basketball player and coach
1959 – Michel Onfray, French philosopher
1960 – Rayo de Jalisco, Jr., Mexican wrestler
1960 – Leilani Kai, American wrestler
1960 – Michael Seibert, American ice dancer
1961 – Sergei Babayan, American classical pianist
1961 – Sam Backo, Australian rugby league footballer
1961 – Sam Palahnuk, American video game designer
1961 – Fiona Phillips, British television presenter
1962 – Ari Up, German musician (The Slits) (d. 2010)
1963 – Alberigo Evani, Italian footballer
1963 – Lina Kaciušyte, Lithuanian swimmer
1963 – Dražen Ladic, Croatian footballer
1963 – Jean-Marc Gounon, French race car driver
1964 – Juliana Donald, American actress
1965 – John Sullivan, American politician
1965 – Andrew Valmon, American athlete
1966 – Anna Burke, Australian politician
1966 – Tina Landon, Mexican-American choreographer
1967 – Tim Dog, American rapper
1967 – Gorsha Sur, Russian ice dancer
1967 – Derrick Thomas, American football player (d. 2000)
1967 – Spencer Tunick, American artist
1967 – Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Spanish film director
1968 – Felix Chong, Hong Kong screenwriter
1968 – Miki Higashino, Japanese composer
1968 – Joey Stefano, American actor (d. 1994)
1968 – Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer
1969 – Nicolle Dickson, Australian actress
1969 – Melissa DiMarco, Canadian actress
1969 – Christi Paul, American news anchor
1970 – Sergei Kiriakov, Russian footballer
1970 – Kimberly Page, American manager and actress
1971 – Sammie Henson, American wrestler
1971 – Bobby Holik, Czech ice hockey player
1971 – Phoebus, Greek songwriter
1971 – Juan Carlos Plata, Guatemalan soccer player
1971 – Chris Potter, American saxophonist
1971 – Fredro Starr, American rapper (Onyx)
1972 – Garrett K. Gomez, American horse jockey
1972 – Yermakhan Ibraimov, Kazakh boxer
1972 – Neve McIntosh, Scottish actress
1972 – Barron Miles, American Canadian football player
1972 – Lilian Thuram, French footballer
1973 – Shelda Bede, Brazilian beach volleyball player
1973 – Li Fang, Chinese tennis player
1973 – Danny Lloyd, American actor
1973 – Anwar Mansoor Mangrio, Sindhi poet
1973 – Magnus Sahlgren, Swedish musician (Lake of Tears)
1973 – Bryan Thao Worra, Lao writer
1974 – Christian Paradis, Canadian politician
1974 – Hamilton Ricard, Colombian footballer
1974 – Giorgos Theodotou, Greek-Cypriot footballer
1975 – Chris Anstey, Australian basketball player
1975 – Sonali Bendre, Indian model and actress
1975 – Joe Cannon, American footballer
1975 – Becky Kellar-Duke, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Eiichiro Oda, Japanese artist
1975 – Bengt Sæternes, Norwegian footballer
1975 – Fernando Tatis, Dominican baseball player
1975 – Mohamed Albuflasa, Bahraini dissident poet
1977 – Leoš Friedl, Czech tennis player
1977 – María de la Paz Hernández, Argentinian field hockey player
1977 – Robert Roode, Canadian wrestler
1977 – Hasan Salihamidžic, Bosnian footballer
1977 – Andrei Stoliarov, Russian tennis player
1977 – Jerry Yan, Taiwanese actor and singer (F4)
1978 – Vidya Balan, Indian model and actress
1978 – Nina Bott, German actress
1978 – Phillip Mulryne, Northern Irish footballer
1979 – Matthew Barnson, American composer
1979 – Brody Dalle, Australian singer (The Distillers)
1979 – Koichi Domoto, Japanese artist
1979 – Fadi El Khatib, Lebanese basketball player
1980 – Lazaros Agadakos, Greek basketball player
1980 – Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
1981 – Jonas Armstrong, English actor
1981 – Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian racing driver
1981 – Abdülkadir Koçak, Turkish boxer
1981 – Mladen Petric, Croatian footballer
1981 – Eden Riegel, American actress
1982 – David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
1982 – Luke Rodgers, English footballer
1982 – Egidio Arévalo Ríos, Uruguayan footballer
1983 – Calum Davenport, English footballer
1983 – Thomas Morrison, English actor
1983 – Emi Kobayashi, Japanese model
1983 – Park Sung-Hyun, South Korean Olympic archer
1984 – Christian Eigler, German footballer
1984 – Mohammed Ghaddar, Lebanese footballer
1984 – José Paolo Guerrero, Peruvian footballer
1984 – Alok Kapali, Bangladeshi cricketer
1984 – Stefano Pastrello, Italian footballer
1984 – Michael Witt, Australian rugby league footballer
1984 – Cheung Kin Fung, Hong Kong footballer
1985 – Jeff Carter, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer
1985 – Tiago Splitter, Brazilian basketball player
1985 – Eyjólfur Héðinsson, Icelandic footballer and model
1986 – Pablo Cuevas, Uruguayan tennis player
1986 – Glen Davis, American basketball player
1986 – James Davis, American football player
1986 – Colin Morgan, Irish actor
1986 – Sungmin, South Korean singer (Super Junior)
1987 – Gilbert Brule, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – Chris Collins, American actor and comedian
1987 – Devin Setoguchi, Canadian ice hockey player
1988 – Ghazala Javed, Pakistani singer (d. 2012)
1988 – Grzegorz Panfil, Polish tennis player
1988 – Nelufar Hedayat, English-Afghanistani television personality
1990 – Safaa Rashed, Iraqi weightlifter
1990 – Serkan Kurtulus, Turkish footballer
1991 – Berat Çetinkaya, Turkish footballer
1992 – René Binder, Austrian racing driver
1992 – He Kexin, Chinese gymnast
1992 – Daniel Kofi Agyei, Ghanaian footballer
1998 – Marlene Lawston, American actress

Deaths

510 – Eugendus, French abbot (b. c. 449)
874 – Hasan al-Askari, Shia Imam (b. 846)
898 – Odo, Count of Paris (b. 860)
962 – Baldwin III, Count of Flanders (b. c. 940)
1204 – King Haakon III of Norway (b. c. 1170)
1387 – King Charles II of Navarre (b. 1332)
1515 – King Louis XII of France (b. 1462)
1554 – Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador (b. 1500)
1559 – Christian III of Denmark and Norway (b. 1503)
1560 – Joachim du Bellay, French poet (b. 1522)
1617 – Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter (b. 1558)
1697 – Filippo Baldinucci, Florentine biographer and historian (b. 1624)
1716 – William Wycherley, English dramatist (b. 1640)
1748 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1667)
1759 – Jacques-Joachim Trotti, marquis de La Chétardie, French adventurer (b. 1705)
1766 – James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales ("The Old Pretender") (b. 1688)
1782 – Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)
1789 – Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English politician (b. 1716)
1793 – Francesco Guardi, Venetian painter (b. 1712)
1796 – Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde, French mathematician (b. 1735)
1800 – Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton, French naturalist (b. 1716)
1817 – Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist (b. 1743)
1846 – John Torrington, English Royal Navy stoker, 1st known victim of Franklin's lost expedition (b.1825)
1853 – Gregory Blaxland, Australian explorer (b. 1778)
1862 – Mikhail Vasilievich Ostrogradsky, Russian physicist (b. 1801)
1881 – Louis Auguste Blanqui, French political activist (b. 1805)
1892 – Roswell B. Mason, American politician (b. 1805)
1894 – Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, German physicist (b. 1857)
1896 – Alfred Ely Beach, American inventor (b. 1826)
1906 – Sir Hugh Nelson, Scottish-born Australian politician (b. 1835)
1918 – Wilfred Campbell, Canadian poet (b. 1858)
1919 – Mikhail Drozdovsky, Russian general (b. 1881)
1921 – Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1856)
1922 – István Kühár, Slovene writer and politician (b. 1887)
1931 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (b. 1851)
1940 – Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao, Indian writer and essayist (b. 1865)
1941 – József Konkolics, Hungarian Slovene writer (d. 1861)
1944 – Sir Edwin Lutyens, British architect who designed New Delhi (b. 1869)
1944 – Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
1953 – Hank Williams, American singer (Drifting Cowboys) (b. 1923)
1954 – Duff Cooper, British diplomat and writer (b. 1890)
1955 – Arthur C. Parker, American archaeologist and historian (b. 1881)
1957 – Seán South, Irish militant (b. 1928)
1958 – Edward Weston, American photographer (b. 1886)
1960 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress, screenwriter (b. 1909)
1964 – Bechara El Khoury, President of Lebanon (b. 1890)
1966 – Vincent Auriol, French politician (b. 1884)
1969 – Bruno Söderström, Swedish athlete (b. 1888)
1971 – Saint Amphilochius of Pochayiv, Ukrainian saint (b. 1894)
1972 – Maurice Chevalier, French actor (b. 1888)
1973 – Sergei Kourdakov, Soviet intelligence agent (b. 1951)
1980 – Pietro Nenni, Italian socialist politician (b. 1891)
1981 – Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Jewish concert pianist (b. 1920)
1982 – Victor Buono, American actor (b. 1938)
1984 – Alexis Korner, British blues musician (b. 1928)
1985 – Sigerson Clifford, Irish poet and writer (b. 1913)
1985 – Kamatari Fujiwara, Japanese actor (b. 1905)
1986 – Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
1987 – Lloyd Haynes, American actor (b. 1934)
1989 – Aleka Stratigou, Greek actress (b. 1926)
1992 – Grace Hopper, American computer pioneer (b. 1906)
1994 – Lord Arthur Porritt, New Zealand statesman (b. 1900)
1994 – Cesar Romero, American actor (b. 1907)
1994 – Edward Arthur Thompson, British historian (b. 1914)
1995 – Fred West, British serial killer (suicide) (b. 1941)
1995 – Eugene Wigner, Hungarian American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)
1996 – Arleigh Burke, American admiral (b. 1901)
1996 – Arthur Rudolph, German engineer (b. 1906)
1997 – Ivan Graziani, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
1998 – Helen Wills Moody, American tennis player (b. 1905)
2000 – Colin Vaughan, Australian political journalist (b. 1931)
2001 – Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
2002 – Julia Phillips, American producer (b. 1944)
2003 – Joe Foss, American politician and football league commissioner (b. 1915)
2003 – Dumitru Tinu, Romanian journalist (b. 1940)
2005 – Shirley Chisholm, American politician (b. 1924)
2005 – Eugene J. Martin, American painter, artist (b. 1938)
2006 – Dawn Lake, Australian TV comedienne (b. 1927)
2006 – Harry Magdoff, American magazine editor (b. 1913)
2006 – Hugh McLaughlin, Irish publisher and inventor (b. 1918)
2007 – Leon Davidson, American ufologist (b. 1922)
2007 – Roland Levinsky, South African medical scientist (b. 1943)
2007 – Darrent Williams, American football player (b. 1982)
2008 – Salvatore Bonanno, American crime family member (b. 1932)
2008 – Peter Caffrey, Irish actor (b. 1949)
2008 – Pratap Chandra Chunder, Indian politician (b. 1919)
2008 – Harold Corsini, American photographer (b. 1919)
2009 – Aarne Arvonen, Finnish supercentenerian (b.1897)
2009 – Claiborne Pell, American politician (b. 1918)
2009 – Nizar Rayan, Palestinian Hamas leader (b. 1962)
2009 – Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan terrorist (b. 1960)
2010 – Lhasa de Sela, Mexican-American singer (b. 1972)
2011 – Marin Constantin, Romanian composer and conductor (b. 1925)
2011 – Reynaldo Dagsa, Filipino politician
2011 – Flemming Jørgensen, Danish singer (Bamses Venner) (b. 1947)
2012 – Carlos Soria, Argentine politician (2011) (b. 1948)
2012 – Yafa Yarkoni, Israeli singer (b. 1925)