John Arthur ("Jack") Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the “Galveston Giant,” American Boxer.
Events
- 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian.
- 1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.
- 1492 – Queen Isabella of Castille issues the Alhambra decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.
- 1717 – A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.
- 1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
- 1822 – The massacre of the population of the Greek island of Chios by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following an attempted rebellion, depicted by the French artist Eugène Delacroix.
- 1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
- 1866 – The Spanish Navy bombs the harbor of Valparaíso, Chile.
- 1877 – The family with samurai antecedents that responded to the Saigo army in Oita Nakatsu, rebels.
- 1885 – The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland.
- 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.
- 1903 – Richard Pearse allegedly makes a powered flight in an early aircraft.
- 1906 – The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.
- 1909 – Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 1909 – Construction of the ill fated RMS Titanic begins.
- 1910 – Six North Staffordshire Pottery towns federate to form modern Stoke-on-Trent.
- 1917 – The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark, and renames the territory the United States Virgin Islands.
- 1918 – Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed.
- 1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
- 1921 – The Royal Australian Air Force is formed.
- 1930 – The Motion Pictures Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty eight years.
- 1931 – An earthquake destroys Managua, Nicaragua, killing 2,000.
- 1931 – TWA Flight 599 crashes near Bazaar, Kansas killing 8 including Knute Rockne, head football coach at the University of Notre Dame
- 1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.
- 1945 – World War II: a defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands.
- 1949 – The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.
- 1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
- 1957 – Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta are held. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government.
- 1958 – In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265.
- 1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
- 1964 – A coup d'état in Brazil establishes a military government, under the aegis of general Castello Branco.
- 1965 – An Iberia Airlines Convair 440 crashes into the sea on approach to Tangier, killing 47 of 51 occupants.
- 1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
- 1970 – Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
- 1970 – Nine terrorists from the Japanese Red Army hijack Japan Airlines Flight 351 at Tokyo International Airport, wielding samurai swords and carrying a bomb.
- 1979 – The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
- 1980 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.
- 1985 – The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York.
- 1986 – A Mexicana Boeing 727 en route to Puerto Vallarta erupts in flames and crashes in the mountains northwest of Mexico City, killing 166.
- 1986 – Six metropolitan county councils are abolished in England.
- 1990 – 200,000 protestors take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax.
- 1991 – Georgian independence referendum, 1991: nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country's independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
- 1994 – Human evolution: The journal Nature reports the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull.
- 1995 – Selena, an American singer, was murdered by her friend and employee of her boutiques Yolanda Saldívar who was embezzling money from the establishments. The event was named "Black Friday" by Hispanics.
- 2004 – Iraq War in Anbar Province - In Fallujah, Iraq, 4 American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.
Births
- 250 – Constantius Chlorus, Roman Emperor (d. 306)
- 1360 – Philippa of Lancaster, queen of Portugal (d. 1415)
- 1425 – Bianca Maria Visconti, Duchess of Milan (d. 1468)
- 1499 – Pope Pius IV (d. 1565)
- 1504 – Guru Angad Dev, second Sikh guru (d. 1552)
- 1519 – King Henry II of France (d. 1559)
- 1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (d. 1565)
- 1576 – Louise Juliana of Nassau, Regent of Bohemia (d. 1644)
- 1596 – René Descartes, French philosopher, mathematician (d. 1650)
- 1621 – Andrew Marvell, English poet (d. 1678)
- 1651 – Karl II, Elector Palatine (d. 1685)
- 1675 – Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758)
- 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer (d. 1750)
- 1718 – Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781)
- 1723 – King Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766)
- 1730 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician (d. 1783)
- 1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
- 1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German musician and composer (d. 1800)
- 1777 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist (d. 1859)
- 1778 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist (d. 1858)
- 1794 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American politician and cabinet member (d. 1852)
- 1809 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet (d. 1883)
- 1809 – Otto Lindblad, Swedish composer (d. 1864)
- 1809 – Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, Ukrainian-born Russian writer (d. 1852)
- 1819 – Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, German statesman (d. 1901)
- 1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886)
- 1847 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician (d. 1878)
- 1855 – Alfred E. Hunt, American entrepreneur (d. 1899)
- 1871 – Arthur Griffith, Irish politician (d. 1922)
- 1872 – Alexandra Kollontai, Russian statesman (d. 1952)
- 1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet impresario (d. 1929)
- 1876 – Borisav Stankovic, Serbian writer (d. 1927)
- 1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
- 1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-born American astronomer (d. 1946)
- 1885 – Pascin, Bulgarian painter (d. 1930)
- 1890 – William Lawrence Bragg, English physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1971)
- 1891 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian film actor (d. 1976)
- 1893 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor (d. 1954)
- 1895 – Vardis Fisher, American author (d. 1968)
- 1906 – Shin'ichiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1979)
- 1907 – Eddie Quillan, American actor (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Red Norvo, American jazz vibraphonist (d. 1999)
- 1911 – Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano (d. 1986)
- 1912 – William Lederer, American writer (d. 2009)
- 1913 – Etta Baker, American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer (d. 2006)
- 1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat and writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
- 1915 – Albert Hourani, English historian (d. 1993)
- 1915 – Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese military man (d. 1997)
- 1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress
- 1916 – John H. Wood, Jr., American jurist (d. 1979)
- 1919 – Frank Akins, American football player (d. 1993)
- 1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, English noble
- 1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (d. 1999)
- 1924 – Leo Buscaglia, American author (d. 1998)
- 1924 – Charles Guggenheim, American film director and producer (d. 2002)
- 1925 – Jean Coutu, French Canadian actor (d. 1999)
- 1926 – John Fowles, English author (d. 2005)
- 1927 – César Chávez, American labor activist (d. 1993)
- 1927 – William Daniels, American actor
- 1927 – Bud MacPherson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988)
- 1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer and songwriter (d. 1975)
- 1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-born American fashion designer (d. 2007)
- 1929 – Bertram Fields, American lawyer
- 1931 – Miller Barber, American golfer
- 1932 – John Jakes, American writer
- 1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese film director
- 1933 – Nichita Stanescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983)
- 1934 – Richard Chamberlain, American actor
- 1934 – Shirley Jones, American singer and actress
- 1934 – John D. Loudermilk, American singer and songwriter
- 1934 – Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist, Nobel Laureate
- 1935 – Herb Alpert, American trumpeter and band leader
- 1935 – Judith Rossner, American author
- 1936 – Marge Piercy, American writer
- 1936 – Bob Pulford, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1936 – Dokumamushi Sandayu, Japanese actor
- 1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian statesman
- 1938 – Bill Hicke, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
- 1938 – Michiko Nomura, Japanese voice actor
- 1938 – Arthur B. Rubinstein, American composer
- 1938 – David Steel, Scottish politician
- 1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian politician (d. 1993)
- 1939 – Volker Schlöndorff, German film director
- 1939 – Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
- 1940 – Barney Frank, American politician
- 1940 – Patrick Leahy, American politician
- 1941 – Franco Bonvicini, also known as Bonvi, Italian comic book artist (Sturmtruppen, Nick Carter) (d. 1995)
- 1942 – Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician
- 1942 – Michael Savage, American radio host and political commentator
- 1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor
- 1944 – Pascal Danel, French singer and songwriter
- 1944 – Mick Ralphs, English guitarist (Mott the Hoople, Bad Company)
- 1945 – Valerie Curtin, American actress, writer, and producer
- 1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian
- 1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995)
- 1946 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1947 – Kristian Blak, Danish musician and recording executive
- 1947 – César Gaviria Trujillo, Colombian politician
- 1948 – Gary Doer, Canadian politician and diplomat
- 1948 – Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel laureate
- 1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress
- 1948 – Gustaaf Van Cauter, Belgian cyclist
- 1949 – Gilles Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1950 – András Adorján, Hungarian chess player
- 1950 – Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor
- 1951 – Frankie Sabath, Puerto Rican performer/singer
- 1952 – Dermot Morgan, Irish actor and comedian (d. 1998)
- 1955 – Robert Vance, New Zealand cricketer
- 1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-born Australian guitarist (AC/DC)
- 1957 – Alan Duncan, British politician
- 1957 – Marc McClure, American actor
- 1957 – Kyle Secor, American actor
- 1958 – Tony Cox, American actor
- 1959 – Markus Hediger, Swiss poet and translator
- 1959 – Ali McMordie, Irish bassist (Stiff Little Fingers)
- 1960 – Michelle Nicastro, American actress and singer (d. 2010)
- 1962 – John Taylor, American football player
- 1963 – Paul Mercurio, Australian actor/dancer
- 1964 – Fez Marie Whatley, American radio host and comedian
- 1964 – Paul Wong Koon-Chung, Hong Kong musician (Beyond)
- 1965 – Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player
- 1965 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (d. 2006)
- 1965 – Steven T. Seagle, American comic-book writer
- 1966 – Roger Black, English athlete
- 1966 – Nick Firestone, American race car driver
- 1968 – Naoya Ogawa, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1968 – J.R. Reid, American basketball player
- 1969 – Samantha Brown, American television host
- 1969 – Nyamko Sabuni, Swedish politician
- 1969 – Steve Smith, American basketball player
- 1970 – Patrick Lachman, American heavy metal singer/guitarist
- 1971 – Demetris Assiotis, Greek-Cypriot footballer
- 1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
- 1971 – Craig McCracken, American Animator
- 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
- 1972 – Alejandro Amenábar, Spanish film director
- 1972 – Andrew Bowen, American actor
- 1972 – Ze Frank, American internet personality
- 1972 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer
- 1972 – Hristos Polihroniou, Greek hammer thrower
- 1974 – Benjamin Eicher, Swiss film director
- 1974 – Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bassist (Placebo)
- 1975 – Emma Atkins, English actress
- 1975 – Prodromos Dreliozis, Greek basketball player
- 1975 – Adam Green, American film director
- 1976 – Ashton Moore, American porn actress
- 1976 – Josh Saviano, American actor
- 1977 – Garth Tander, Australian racing driver
- 1977 – Toshiya, Japanese musician (Dir en grey)
- 1978 – Stephen Clemence, English footballer
- 1978 – Jérôme Rothen, French footballer
- 1978 – Tony Yayo, American rapper
- 1979 – Josh Kinney, American baseball player
- 1980 – Dean Clark, English footballer
- 1980 – Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Maaya Sakamoto, Japanese voice actor/Singer
- 1980 – Chien-Ming Wang, Taiwanese baseball player
- 1981 – Ryan Bingham, American singer/songwriter
- 1981 – Gerard McCarthy, British actor
- 1981 – Pa Dembo Tourray, Gambian footballer
- 1981 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer
- 1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter
- 1982 – Ryland Blackinton, American guitarist (Cobra Starship)
- 1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer
- 1982 – Lennon Murphy, American rock singer/songwriter
- 1983 – Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast
- 1983 – Paddy McCarthy, Irish footballer
- 1984 – Dario Bova, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer
- 1984 – David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Eddie Johnson, American soccer player
- 1984 – James Jones, American football player
- 1984 – Yanin Vismistananda, Thai actress
- 1985 – Jessica Szohr, American actress
- 1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer
- 1987 – Humpy Koneru, Indian chess grandmaster
- 1987 – Eros Pisano, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Hogan Ephraim, English footballer
- 1988 – Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer
- 1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
- 1991 – Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer
Deaths
- 1074 – Regency Yorimichi Fujiwara of Japan (b. 992)
- 1340 – Ivan I of Russia, Prince of Moscow (b. 1288)
- 1547 – Francis I of France (b. 1494)
- 1567 – Philipp I of Hesse (b. 1504)
- 1621 – King Philip III of Spain (b. 1578)
- 1631 – John Donne, English writer and prelate (b. 1572)
- 1671 – Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (b. 1637)
- 1703 – Johann Christoph Bach, German composer (b. 1642)
- 1723 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, British-born U.S. state governor (b. 1661)
- 1727 – Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1643)
- 1741 – Pieter Burmann the Elder, Dutch classical scholar (b. 1668)
- 1783 – Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Russian statesman (b. 1718)
- 1797 – Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian slave (b.1745)
- 1837 – John Constable, English painter (b. 1776)
- 1850 – John C. Calhoun, 7th Vice President of the United States (b. 1782)
- 1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English author (b. 1816)
- 1877 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician (b. 1801)
- 1880 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish composer (b. 1835)
- 1885 – Franz Wilhelm Abt, German composer (b. 1819)
- 1913 – J. P. Morgan, American financier (b. 1837)
- 1917 – Emil Adolf von Behring, German physician, Nobel laureate (b. 1854)
- 1915 – Wyndham Halswelle, Scottish athlete (b. 1882)
- 1924 – George Charles Haité, English designer, painter and illustrator (b.1855)
- 1930 – Ludwig Schüler, German politician (b. 1836)
- 1931 – Knute Rockne, American football coach (b. 1888)
- 1935 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Russian-born perfumer (b. 1885)
- 1935 – Concordia Selander, Swedish actress (b. 1861)
- 1944 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (b. 1885)
- 1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1881)
- 1945 – Anne Frank, German-born diarist (b. 1929)
- 1945 – Frank Findlay, New Zealand politician (b. 1884)
- 1952 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American politician (b. 1877)
- 1956 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-born race car driver (b. 1884)
- 1968 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885)
- 1972 – Meena Kumari, Indian actress (b. 1932)
- 1975 – Percy Alliss, English Golfer (b. 1897)
- 1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer and filmmaker (b. 1890)
- 1978 – Charles Best, Canadian medical scientist (b. 1899)
- 1980 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (b. 1905)
- 1980 – Jesse Owens, American athlete (b. 1913)
- 1981 – Enid Bagnold, British playwright (b. 1889)
- 1983 – Christina Stead, Australian writer (b. 1902)
- 1984 – Ronald Clark O'Bryan, American murderer (b. 1944)
- 1986 – O'Kelly Isley, Jr., American singer (The Isley Brothers) (b. 1937)
- 1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor (b. 1925)
- 1988 – William McMahon, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
- 1993 – Chichay, Filipino actress (b. 1918)
- 1993 – Brandon Lee, American actor (b. 1965)
- 1993 – Mitchell Parish, American lyricist (b. 1900)
- 1995 – Selena, American singer (b. 1971)
- 1996 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American musician (The Gun Club) (b. 1958)
- 1998 – Bella Abzug, American politician (b. 1920)
- 1998 – Tim Flock, American race car driver (b. 1924)
- 1999 – Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist (b. 1922)
- 2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1915)
- 2001 – David Rocastle, English footballer (b. 1967)
- 2002 – Barry Took, British comedian (b. 1928)
- 2002 – Moturu Udayam, Indian women's activist (b. 1924)
- 2003 – H.S.M. Coxeter, English-born geometer (b. 1907)
- 2003 – Anne Gwynne, American film actress (b. 1918)
- 2003 – Tommy Seebach, Danish singer (b. 1949)
- 2004 – Scott Helvenston, American Navy SEAL and Blackwater Contractor (b. 1965)
- 2005 – Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist (b. 1951)
- 2005 – Justiniano Montano, Filipino politician (b. 1905)
- 2005 – Frank Perdue, American poultry farmer (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Terri Schiavo, American figure in right-to-die case (b. 1963)
- 2006 – Angela Devi, American adult model (b. 1975)
- 2006 – Jackie McLean, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1931)
- 2007 – Paul Watzlawick, Austrian-born theoreticist (b. 1921)
- 2008 – Jules Dassin, American film director (b. 1911)
- 2008 – Bill Keightley (Mr. Wildcat), American basketball equipment manager (b. 1926)
- 2009 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish news anchor (b. 1943)
- 2009 – Raúl Alfonsín, former President of Argentina (b. 1927)
- 2009 – Choor Singh, Singaporean judge (b. 1911)
- 2010 – Shirley Mills, American actress (b. 1926)
Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day
- Last day of school in India and the Philippines
- Freedom Day (Malta)
- King Nangklao Memorial Day (Thailand)
- Thomas Mundy Peterson Day (New Jersey)
- Transfer Day (US Virgin Islands)
- César Chávez Day (United States of America)
- Geologists Day (in the Soviet Union)
