Events
- 68 - Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditos to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging.
- 721 - Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse.
- 1310 - Duccio's Maestà Altarpiece, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in the Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.
- 1534 - Jacques Cartier is the first European to discover the St. Lawrence River.
- 1650 - The Harvard Corporation, the more powerful of the two administrative boards of Harvard, is established. It was the first legal corporation in the Americas.
- 1667 - The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet starts lasting for five days and resulting in a decisive victory of the Dutch over the English in the Second Anglo-Dutch War and a favourable peace for the Dutch.
- 1732 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia.
- 1772 - British vessel Gaspee is burned off of Rhode Island.
- 1790 - Philadelphia Spelling Book by John Barry becomes the first book to be copyrighted in the United States.
- 1815 - End of the Congress of Vienna: new European political situation is set.
- 1856 - 500 Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
- 1909 - Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, became the first woman to drive across the United States. With three female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for fifty-nine days she drove a Maxwell automobile the 3,800 miles from Manhattan, New York, to San Francisco, California.
- 1915 - U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns over a disagreement regarding the United States' handling of the RMS Lusitania sinking.
- 1922 - First ringing of the Harkness Memorial Chime at Yale University.
- 1923 - Bulgaria's military takes over the government in a coup.
- 1928 - Charles Kingsford Smith completes the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross.
- 1930 - Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle is killed at the Illinois Central train station during rush hour by the Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a 100,000 USD gambling debt owed to Al Capone.
- 1934 - Donald Duck debuts in The Wise Little Hen.
- 1935 - Ho-Umezu Agreement: the Republic of China, under KMT administration, recognized Japanese occupations in Northeast China.
- 1944 - World War II: The Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, since 1941 occupied by Finland.
- 1946 - King Bhumibol Adulyadej ascends to the throne of Thailand. He is currently the world's longest reigning monarch.
- 1953 - Flint-Worcester tornado outbreak sequence: A tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester, Massachusetts killing 94.
- 1954 - McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army.
- 1957 - First ascent of Broad Peak (12th highest mountain).
- 1958 - London Gatwick Airport, (LGW), Crawley, West Sussex, UK officially opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II.
- 1959 - The USS George Washington is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.
- 1967 - Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War.
- 1968 - President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
- 1973 - Secretariat wins the Triple Crown.
- 1974 - The diplomatic relations between Portugal and the Soviet Union were established.
- 1978 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens the priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy excluding black men.
- 1985 - Thomas Sutherland is kidnapped in Lebanon (he was not released until 1991).
- 1986 - The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
- 1991 - The congress of the Italian party Proletarian Democracy decides to merge with the Communist Refoundation Party.
- 1999 - Kosovo War: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization sign a peace treaty.
- 1508 - Primož Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer (d. 1586)
- 1580 - Daniel Heinsius, Flemish scholar (d. 1655)
- 1588 - Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer (d. 1666)
- 1595 - King Wladislaus IV of Poland (d. 1648)
- 1640 - Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1705)
- 1661 - Tsar Feodor III of Russia (d. 1682)
- 1672 - Tsar Peter I of Russia (d. 1725)
- 1686 - Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (d. 1747)
- 1768 - Samuel Slater, American industrialist (d. 1835)
- 1781 - George Stephenson, English mechanical engineer (d.1848)
- 1810 - Otto Nicolai, German composer (d. 1849)
- 1812 - Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer (d. 1910)
- 1843 - Bertha von Suttner, Austrian novelist and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1914)
- 1845 - Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (d. 1914)
- 1849 - Michael Peter Ancher, Danish painter (d. 1927)
- 1851 - Charles Joseph Bonaparte, French politician (d. 1921)
- 1865 - Albéric Magnard, French composer (d. 1914)
- 1865 - Carl Nielsen, Danish composer (d. 1931)
- 1875 - Henry Hallett Dale, English scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1968)
- 1882 - Bobby Kerr, Canadian sprinter (d. 1963)
- 1890 - Leslie Banks, British actor (d. 1952)
- 1891 - Cole Porter, American composer and lyricist (d. 1964)
- 1893 - Irish Meusel, American baseball player (d. 1963)
- 1898 - Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (d. 1952)
- 1900 - Fred Waring, American bandleader (d. 1984)
- 1911 - George Webb, British actor (d. 1998)
- 1912 - Ingolf Dahl, American composer (d. 1970)
- 1915 - Les Paul, American guitarist
- 1916 - Robert McNamara, United States Secretary of Defense and president of the World Bank
- 1921 - Arthur Hertzberg, American Jewish scholar (d. 2006)
- 1922 - John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American poet and aviator (d. 1941)
- 1922 - Fernand Seguin, Canadian biochemist - Radio and TV animator (d. 1988)
- 1922 - George Axelrod, American screenwriter, producer, playwright and film director (d. 2003)
- 1925 - Keith Laumer, science fiction writer (d. 1993)
- 1929 - Johnny Ace, American singer (d. 1954)
- 1930 - Barbara, French singer (d. 1997)
- 1931 - Jackie Mason, American comedian
- 1931 - Joe Santos, American actor
- 1931 - Bill Virdon, American baseball player and manager
- 1934 - Jackie Wilson, American singer (d. 1984)
- 1936 - Mick O'Dwyer, Gaelic footballer and manager
- 1937 - Harald Rosenthal, German biologist
- 1938 - Charles Wuorinen, American composer
- 1939 - Ileana Cotrubaş, Romanian soprano
- 1939 - David Hobbs, English race car driver and personality on American TV
- 1939 - Dick Vitale, American sportscaster
- 1939 - Charles Webb, author
- 1941 - Jon Lord, organist in Deep Purple
- 1943 - Joe Haldeman, science fiction writer
- 1945 - Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (d. 1994)
- 1945 - Nike Wagner, German woman of the theater
- 1947 - Kiran Bedi, Indian Police Service Officer
- 1947 - John Gurda, American historian
- 1948 - Gudrun Schyman, Swedish politician
- 1951 - Dave Parker, American baseball player
- 1951 - James Newton Howard, American film composer
- 1952 - Uzi Hitman, Israeli singer
- 1954 - George Pérez, American comic book artist
- 1954 - Gregory Maguire, American fantasy writer
- 1956 - Patricia Cornwell, American author
- 1959 - Christian Wulff, German politician, currently prime minister of Lower Saxony.
- 1961 - Michael J. Fox, Canadian-born actor
- 1961 - Aaron Sorkin, American writer
- 1963 - Johnny Depp, American actor
- 1963 - Gilad Atzmon, Israeli jazz musician and author
- 1964 - Gloria Reuben, Canadian actress
- 1964 - Hiroko Yakushimaru, Japanese actress and singer
- 1968 - Niki Bakoyianni, Greek high jumper
- 1969 - Eric Wynalda, American footballer
- 1971 - Gilles De Bilde, Belgian footballer
- 1971 - John McKeown, Scottish musician (Yummy Fur, 1990s)
- 1971 - Rick Renstrom, American guitarist
- 1972 - Tomoe Hanba, Japanese voice actress
- 1973 - Tedy Bruschi, American football player
- 1973 - Laura Ponte, Spanish model and royal
- 1973 - Frederic Choffat, Swiss film director
- 1974 - Samoth, Norwegian guitarist (Emperor, Zyklon)
- 1974 - Tim Shaw, British radio personality
- 1974 - Randy Winn, American baseball player
- 1975 - Andrew Symonds, Australian cricketer
- 1975 - Otto Addo, Ghanaian footballer
- 1975 - Jeff Saturday, American football player
- 1977 - Roopa Mishra, Indian civil servant
- 1977 - Amisha Patel, Indian actress
- 1977 - Peja Stojakovic, Serbian basketball player
- 1978 - Shandi Finnessey, game hostess
- 1978 - Matthew Bellamy, British musician (Muse)
- 1978 - Miroslav Klose, German footballer
- 1979 - Ruka, Japanese Drummer
- 1980 - Mike Fontenot, American baseball player
- 1980 - Lehlohonolo Seema, Lesotho footballer
- 1980 - Udonis Haslem, American basketball player
- 1981 - Natalie Portman, Israeli-born actress
- 1981 - Vic Zhou, JVKV band member, Taiwanese actor, singer and model.
- 1981 - Anoushka Shankar, Famous sitarist and daughter of Ravi Shankar
- 1982 - Christina Stürmer, Austrian singer
- 1983 - Alektra Blue, American *** star
- 1983 - Danny Richar, Dominican baseball player
- 1984 - Yulieski Gourriel, Cuban baseball player
- 1984 - Kaleth Morales, Colombian singer and songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1984 - Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer
- 1984 - Masoud Shojaei, Iranian footballer
- 1985 - Sonam Kapoor, Indian actress
- 1985 - Sebastian Telfair, American basketball player
- 1986 - Adamo Ruggiero, Canadian actor
- 1986 - Kary Ng, Hong Kong singer and actress
- 1988 - Mae Whitman, American Actress
- 1993 - Danielle Chuchran, American actress
- 62 - Claudia Octavia, wife of Nero (b. 40)
- 68 - Nero, Roman Emperor (b. 37)
- 373 - Ephrem the Syrian, Christian hymnodist
- 597 - St. Columba, Christian missionary (b. 521)
- 630 - King Shahrbaraz of Persia
- 1361 - Philippe de Vitry, French composer (b. 1291)
- 1563 - William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English statesman (b. 1506)
- 1572 - Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (b. 1528)
- 1583 - Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
- 1656 - Thomas Tomkins, Welsh composer (b. 1572)
- 1716 - Banda Bahadur, Sikh military commander (executed)
- 1717 - Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (b. 1648)
- 1834 - William Carey, one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society (b. 1761)
- 1870 - Charles Dickens, English author (b. 1812)
- 1875 - Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist (b. 1795)
- 1892 - Taiso Yoshitoshi, Woodblock print artist
- 1892 - William Grant Stairs, Canadian explorer (b. 1863)
- 1912 - Ion Luca Caragiale, Romanian writter (b. 1852)
- 1946 - Ananda Mahidol, Rama VIII, king of Thailand (b. 1925)
- 1952 - Adolf Busch, German composer (b. 1891)
- 1958 - Robert Donat, English actor (b. 1905)
- 1959 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1876)
- 1961 - Camille Guérin, French scientist (b. 1872)
- 1964 - Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Canadian-born business tycoon and politician (b. 1879)
- 1973 - Erich von Manstein, German military commander (b. 1887)
- 1974 - Miguel Ãngel Asturias, Guatemalan writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- 1979 - Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1884)
- 1981 - Allen Ludden, TV game show host (b. 1917)
- 1989 - George Wells Beadle, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- 1989 - Rashid Behbudov, Azerbaijani singer and actor (b. 1915)
- 1991 - Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (b. 1903)
- 1993 - Alexis Smith, Canadian actress (b. 1921)
- 1994 - Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1997 - Stanley Knowles, Canadian politician (b. 1908)
- 2000 - Jacob Lawrence, American painter (b. 1917)
- 2004 - Rosey Brown, American football player (b. 1932)
- 2006 - Drafi Deutscher, German Schlager singer (b. 1946)
- 2007 - Frankie Abernathy, Former The Real World: San Diego castmate (b. 1981)
- Roman Empire paganism - third day of the Vestalia in honor of the goddess Vesta