Events

254 - Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I as the 23rd pope.
304 - Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the beheading of the 14-year-old Pancras of Rome.
907 - Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang dynasty after nearly three hundred years of rule.
922 - After much hardship, Abbasid envoy Ahmad ibn Fadlan arrived in the lands of Volga Bulgars.
1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre who is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.
1328 - Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.
1364 - Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland, is founded in Kraków, Poland.
1510 - The Prince of Anhua rebellion begins when Zhu Zhifan kills all the officials invited to a banquet and declares his intent on ousting the powerful Ming dynasty eunuch Liu Jin during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.
1551 - National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru.
1588 - French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry I, Duke of Guise enters the city and a spontaneous uprising occurs.
1593 - London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured by the Privy Council for libel.
1619 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is sentenced to death for high treason.
1689 - King William's War: William III of England joins the League of Augsburg starting a war with France.
1743 - Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia after defeating her rival, Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor.
1780 - American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
1797 - War of the First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.
1821 - The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks is fought in Valtetsi.
1862 - American Civil War: U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: Two divisions of James born McPherson's XVII Corps turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton's defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army during the Vicksburg Campaign.
1864 - American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in "the Bloody Angle".
1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Palmito Ranch: The first day of the last major land action to take place during the Civil War, resulting in a Confederate victory.
1870 - The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.
1873 - Coronation of Oscar II of Sweden
1881 - In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
1885 - North-West Rebellion: The four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.
1926 - General Strike: In the United Kingdom, a nine-day general strike by trade unions ends.
1926 - The Italian-built airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
1932 - Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, Charles Jr., is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home.
1933 - The Agricultural Adjustment Act is enacted to restrict agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies.
1935 - Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (founders of Alcoholics Anonymous) meet for the first time in Akron, Ohio, at the home of Henrietta Siberling.
1937 - The Duke and Duchess of York are crowned as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Westminster Abbey.
1941 - Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.
1942 - World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov: In eastern Ukraine, Red Army forces under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launch a major offensive from the Izium bridgehead, only to be encircled and destroyed by the troops of Army Group South two weeks later.
1942 - World War II: The U.S. tanker SS Virginia is torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507.
1945 - Argentinian labour leader José Peter declares the Federación Obrera de la Industria de la Carne dissolved.
1948 - Wilhelmina, Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands cedes throne.
1949 - The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.
1949 - The western occupying powers approve the Basic Law for the new German state: The Federal Republic of Germany.
1952 - Gaj Singh is crowned Maharaja of Jodhpur.
1955 - Nineteen days after bus workers went on strike in Singapore, rioting breaks out and seriously impacts Singapore's bid for independence.
1955 - Austria regains its independence as the Allied occupation following World War II ends.
1957 - Alfonso de Portago crashes during the Mille Miglia, killing himself, his co-driver, Ed Nelson and ten spectators - five of whom were children.
1958 - A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
1965 - The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
1968 - Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral, east of Lai Khe in South Vietnam on the night of 12/13 May, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides and beginning the Battle of Coral/Balmoral.
1975 - Mayaguez incident: The Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.
1978 - In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba (now known as Katanga). The local government asks the U.S.A., France and Belgium to restore order.
1981 - Francis Hughes starves to death in the Maze Prison in a Republican campaign for political prisoner status to be granted to Provisional IRA prisoners.
1982 - During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan María Fernández y Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet. Krohn, an ultraconservative Spanish priest opposed to the Vatican II reforms, believed that the Pope had to be killed for being an "agent of Moscow".
1986 - NBC debuts the current well-known peacock as seen in the NBC 60th Anniversary Celebration.
1989 - The San Bernardino train disaster kills four people. A week later an underground gasoline pipeline explodes killing two more people.
1998 - Four students are shot at Trisakti University, leading to widespread riots and the fall of Suharto
2002 - Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
2003 - The Riyadh compound bombings, carried out by al-Qaeda, kill 26 people.
2006 - Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.
2006 - Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country.
2007 - Riots in which over 50 people are killed and over 100 are injured take place in Karachi upon the arrival in town of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
2008 - An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.
2008 - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts the largest-ever raid of a workplace in Postville, Iowa, arresting nearly 400 immigrants for identity theft and document fraud.
2015 - A train derailment in Philadelphia kills 8 people and injures over 200.
2015 - A 7.3-magnitude earthquake and six major aftershocks hit Nepal, killing over 200 people.

Births

1496 - Gustav I of Sweden (died 1560)
1590 - Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (died 1621)
1622 - Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French-Canadian soldier and politician, 3rd Governor General of New France (died 1698)
1626 - Louis Hennepin, Flemish priest and missionary (died 1705)
1670 - Augustus II the Strong, Polish king (died 1733)
1700 - Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect and engineer, designed the Palace of Caserta and Royal Palace of Milan (died 1773)
1725 - Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (died 1785)
1739 - Johann Baptist Wanhal, Czech-Austrian organist and composer (died 1813)
1754 - Franz Anton Hoffmeister, German composer and publisher (died 1812)
1755 - Giovanni Battista Viotti, Italian violinist and composer (died 1824)
1767 - Manuel Godoy, Spanish field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (died 1851)
1774 - Ellis Cunliffe Lister, English politician (died 1853)
1803 - Justus von Liebig, German chemist and academic (died 1873)
1804 - Robert Baldwin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Premier of West Canada (died 1858)
1806 - Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish philosopher and politician (died 1881)
1812 - Edward Lear, English poet and illustrator (died 1888)
1814 - Adolf von Henselt, German pianist and composer (died 1889)
1820 - Florence Nightingale, Italian-English nurse, social reformer, and statistician (died 1910)
1825 - Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French lawyer and explorer (died 1878)
1828 - Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (died 1882)
1829 - Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer and educator (died 1896)
1840 - Alejandro Gorostiaga, Chilean colonel (died 1912)
1842 - Jules Massenet, French composer (died 1912)
1845 - Gabriel Fauré, French pianist, composer, and educator (died 1924)
1850 - Henry Cabot Lodge, American historian and politician (died 1924)
1859 - William Alden Smith, American lawyer and politician (died 1932)
1867 - Hugh Trumble, Australian cricketer and accountant (died 1938)
1869 - Carl Schuhmann, German gymnast, wrestler, and weightlifter (died 1946)
1873 - J. E. H. MacDonald, English-Canadian painter (died 1932)
1874 - Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian pediatrician and immunologist (died 1929)
1875 - Charles Holden, English architect, designed the Bristol Central Library (died 1960)
1880 - Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (died 1951)
1885 - Paltiel Daykan, Lithuanian-Israeli lawyer and jurist (died 1969)
1886 - Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain and pilot (died 1937)
1889 - Yvonne de Bray, French actress (died 1954)
1889 - Otto Frank, German-Swiss businessman (died 1980)
1892 - Fritz Kortner, Austrian-German actor and director (died 1970)
1895 - William Giauque, Canadian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1982)
1895 - Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian-American philosopher and author (died 1986)
1899 - Indra Devi, Latvian yoga instructor (died 2002)
1900 - Helene Weigel, Austrian-German actress (died 1971)
1903 - Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (died 1991)
1904 - Eiji Nakano, Japanese actor (died 1990)
1905 - Édouard Rinfret, Canadian lawyer and politician, Postmaster General of Canada (died 1994)
1907 - Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (died 1993)
1907 - Katharine Hepburn, American actress (died 2003)
1910 - Johan Ferrier, Surinamese educator and politician, 1st President of Suriname (died 2010)
1910 - Dorothy Hodgkin, English biochemist, crystallographer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994)
1910 - Gordon Jenkins, American pianist and composer (died 1984)
1911 - Charles Biro, American author and illustrator (died 1972)
1912 - Henry Jonsson, Swedish runner (died 2001)
1912 - Marshal Royal, American saxophonist and clarinet player (died 1995)
1914 - Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet and author (died 1993)
1914 - Howard K. Smith, American journalist and actor (died 2002)
1916 - Albert Murray, American author and critic (died 2013)
1918 - Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Cosmetics (died 2001)
1918 - Julius Rosenberg, American spy (died 1953)
1921 - Joseph Beuys, German sculptor and illustrator (died 1986)
1921 - Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (died 2014)
1922 - Marco Denevi, Argentinian lawyer and author (died 1998)
1922 - Murray Gershenz, American actor and businessman (died 2013)
1922 - Bob Goldham, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (died 1991)
1922 - Roy Salvadori, English race car driver and manager (died 2012)
1924 - Maxine Cooper, American actress and photographer (died 2009)
1924 - Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian-American mathematician and poet (died 2016)
1924 - Tony Hancock, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 1968)
1925 - Yogi Berra, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 2015)
1926 - Viren J. Shah, Indian politician, 21st Governor of West Bengal (died 2013)
1928 - Burt Bacharach, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1928 - Henry Cosby, American songwriter and producer (died 2002)
1928 - Jan Krugier, Polish-Swiss art dealer (died 2008)
1929 - Sam Nujoma, Namibian politician, 1st President of Namibia
1930 - Jesús Franco, Spanish director and screenwriter (died 2013)
1932 - Joel Joffe, Baron Joffe, South African-English lawyer and politician
1933 - Andrei Voznesensky, Russian poet (died 2010)
1935 - Felipe Alou, Dominican-American baseball player, coach, and manager
1935 - Johnny Bucyk, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1936 - Guillermo Endara, Panamanian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Panama (died 2009)
1936 - Tom Snyder, American journalist and talk show host (died 2007)
1936 - Frank Stella, American painter and sculptor
1937 - Beryl Burton, English cyclist (died 1996)
1937 - George Carlin, American comedian, actor, and author (died 2008)
1937 - Susan Hampshire, English actress
1937 - Miriam Stoppard, English physician and author
1938 - Millie Perkins, American actress
1939 - Cyril Chantler, English pediatrician and academic
1939 - Jalal Dabagh, Kurdish journalist and politician
1939 - Miltiadis Evert, Greek minister and politician, 69th Mayor of Athens (died 2011)
1939 - Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2014)
1939 - Ron Ziegler, American politician, White House Press Secretary (died 2003)
1940 - Norman Whitfield, American songwriter and producer (died 2008)
1942 - Ian Dury, English singer-songwriter (The Blockheads and Kilburn and the High Roads) (died 2000)
1942 - Michel Fugain, French singer-songwriter
1942 - Billy Swan, American singer-songwriter
1944 - Chris Patten, English academic and politician, 28th Governor of Hong Kong
1945 - Alan Ball, Jr., English footballer and manager (died 2007)
1945 - Ian McLagan, English-American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Small Faces, Faces, and The New Barbarians) (died 2014)
1945 - Patrick Ricard, French businessman (died 2012)
1946 - Daniel Libeskind, American architect, designed the Imperial War Museum North and Jewish Museum
1947 - Michael Ignatieff, Canadian journalist and politician
1948 - Dave Heineman, American captain and politician, 39th Governor of Nebraska
1948 - Steve Winwood, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith)
1950 - Bruce Boxleitner, American actor and author
1950 - Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor, director, and producer
1950 - Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, Scottish lawyer, academic, and politician
1950 - Billy Squier, American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, and keyboard player
1951 - George Karl, American basketball player and coach
1956 - Bernie Federko, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1956 - Sergio Marchi, Argentinean-Canadian urban planner and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of International Trade
1956 - Asad Rauf, Pakistani cricketer and umpire
1956 - Kimiko Yo, Japanese actress
1957 - Ziya Onis, Turkish economist and academic
1958 - Andreas Petroulakis, Greek cartoonist
1958 - Eric Singer, American drummer and songwriter (Kiss, Avantasia, Badlands, and Eric Singer Project)
1958 - Dries van Noten, Belgian fashion designer
1959 - Ray Gillen, American singer-songwriter (Badlands, Blue Murder, and Sun Red Sun) (died 1993)
1959 - Ving Rhames, American actor
1960 - Lisa Martin, Australian runner
1961 - Thomas Dooley, German-American soccer player and manager
1961 - Billy Duffy, English guitarist and songwriter (The Cult)
1961 - Bruce McCulloch, Canadian actor, director, and producer
1962 - Emilio Estevez, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1962 - Brett Gurewitz, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Bad Religion, Daredevils, and Error)
1963 - Panagiotis Fasoulas, Greek basketball player and politician
1963 - Gavin Hood, South African actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1963 - Stefano Modena, Italian race car driver
1963 - Vanessa A. Williams, American actress and producer
1964 - Pierre Morel, French director and cinematographer
1966 - Stephen Baldwin, American actor, director, and producer
1966 - Dez Fafara, American singer (DevilDriver)
1966 - Bebel Gilberto, American-Brazilian singer-songwriter
1967 - Bill Shorten, Australian lawyer and politician, 21st Minister for Education and Training
1968 - Tony Hawk, American skateboarder and actor
1968 - Catherine Tate, English actress and screenwriter
1969 - Kim Fields, American actress and director
1970 - Mark Foster, English swimmer
1970 - Jim Furyk, American golfer
1970 - Samantha Mathis, American actress
1970 - Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
1971 - Kristin Asbjørnsen, Norwegian singer (Dadafon, Krøyt, Kvitretten)
1971 - Jamie Luner, American actress
1972 - Doug Basham, American wrestler
1973 - Lutz Pfannenstiel, German footballer and manager
1975 - Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player (died 2015)
1976 - Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rapper and producer, co-founded Black Jays
1977 - Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player and coach
1978 - Jason Biggs, American actor and producer
1978 - Malin Åkerman, Swedish-Canadian model, actress, and singer
1978 - Aya Ishiguro, Japanese singer and fashion designer (Morning Musume and Tanpopo)
1980 - Keith Bogans, American basketball player
1980 - Felipe Lopez, Puerto Rican baseball player
1981 - Kentaro Sato, Japanese-American composer and conductor
1981 - Dennis Trillo, Filipino actor and singer
1983 - Domhnall Gleeson, Irish actor
1983 - Alina Kabaeva, Russian gymnast and politician
1983 - Yujiro Kushida, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
1983 - Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
1983 - Virginie Razzano, French tennis player
1983 - Francisco Javier Torres, Mexican footballer
1985 - Paolo Goltz, Argentinian footballer
1985 - Andrew Howe, Italian long jumper and sprinter
1985 - Jeroen Simaeys, Belgian footballer
1986 - Luke Douglas, Australian-Scottish rugby league player
1986 - Jonathan Orozco, Mexican footballer
1986 - Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
1988 - Marcelo Vieira, Brazilian footballer
1990 - Florent Amodio, Brazilian-French figure skater
1990 - Tobias Strobl, German footballer
1995 - Irina Khromacheva, Russian tennis player
1995 - Tamara Korpatsch, German tennis player

Deaths

1003 - Pope Sylvester II (born 946)
1012 - Pope Sergius IV
1465 - Thomas Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (born 1409)
1612 - Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of James I (born1594)
1634 - George Chapman, English poet and playwright (born 1559)
1641 - Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1593)
1684 - Edme Mariotte, French physicist and priest (born 1620)
1699 - Lucas Achtschellinck, Flemish painter (born 1626)
1700 - John Dryden, English poet, playwright, and critic (born 1631)
1708 - Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (born 1658)
1748 - Thomas Lowndes, English astronomer and academic (born 1692)
1759 - Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (born 1700)
1784 - Abraham Trembley, Swiss zoologist and academic (born 1710)
1792 - Charles Simon Favart, French playwright and composer (born 1710)
1796 - Johann Uz, German poet and author (born 1720)
1801 - Nicholas Repnin, Russian general and politician, Governor-General of Baltic provinces (born 1734)
1845 - János Batsányi, Hungarian poet and academic (born 1763)
1856 - Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (born 1786)
1859 - Sergey Aksakov, Russian author and academic (born 1791)
1860 - Charles Barry, English architect, designed Upper Brook Street Chapel and the Palace of Westminster (born 1795)
1864 - J. E. born Stuart, American general (born 1833)
1867 - Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist and academic (born 1795)
1878 - Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (born 1795)
1876 - Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian activist (born 1843)
1907 - Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author and critic (born 1848)
1916 - James Connolly, Scottish-born Irish socialist and rebel leader (born 1868)
1925 - Amy Lowell, American poet and critic (born 1874)
1931 - Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1858)
1944 - Max Brand, American journalist and author (born 1892)
1944 - Arthur Quiller-Couch, English author, poet, and critic (born 1863)
1956 - Louis Calhern, American actor and singer (born 1895)
1957 - Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (born 1928)
1957 - Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (born 1885)
1963 - Richard Girulatis, German footballer and manager (born 1878)
1963 - Robert Kerr, Irish-Canadian sprinter and coach (born 1882)
1966 - Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (born 1896)
1967 - John Masefield, English poet and author (born 1878)
1970 - Nelly Sachs, German poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891)
1971 - Heinie Manush, American baseball player and coach (born 1901)
1973 - Frances Marion, American screenwriter, novelist and journalist (born 1888)
1973 - Art Pollard, American race car driver (born 1927)
1985 - Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (born 1901)
1986 - Elisabeth Bergner, German actress (born 1897)
1992 - Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and songwriter (born 1911)
1992 - Robert Reed, American actor and director (born 1932)
1993 - Omond Solandt, Canadian scientist and academic (born 1909)
1994 - Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst (born 1902)
1994 - John Smith, Scottish-English lawyer and politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1938)
1999 - Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American illustrator (born 1914)
2000 - Adam Petty, American race car driver (born 1980)
2001 - Perry Como, American singer and television host (born 1912)
2001 - Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (born 1925)
2003 - Khalid al-Juhani, Saudi Arabian terrorist (born 1975)
2003 - Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French-American diplomat (born 1933)
2005 - Martin Lings, English author and scholar (born 1909)
2005 - Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress (born 1937)
2006 - Hussein Maziq, Libyan politician, Prime Minister of Libya (born 1918)
2007 - Dadullah, Afghan commander (born 1966)
2008 - Robert Rauschenberg, American painter and illustrator (born 1925)
2008 - Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and social worker (born 1910)
2009 - Antonio Vega, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Nacha Pop) (born 1957)
2012 - Jan Bens, Dutch footballer and coach (born 1921)
2012 - Eddy Paape, Belgian illustrator (born 1920)
2013 - Gerd Langguth, German political scientist, author, and academic (born 1946)
2013 - Constantino Romero, Spanish actor and game show host (born 1947)
2014 - Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress and singer (born 1925)
2014 - Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (born 1925)
2014 - H. R. Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer (born 1940)
2014 - Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1934)
2014 - Lorenzo Zambrano, Mexican businessman and philanthropist (born 1944)
2015 - Peter Gay, German-American historian, author, and academic (born 1923)
2016 - Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (born 1935)
2016 - Susannah Mushatt Jones, American supercentenarian (born 1899)