Events Pre-1600 295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War. 43 BC – In the wake of the murder of Julius Caesar, his nephew and heir, Octavian, uses the threat of military force to compel the Roman Senate to elect him Consul. 797 – Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI is seized by supporters of his mother Irene, deposed and blinded. 947 – Abu Yazid, a Kharijite rebel leader, is defeated and killed in the Hodna Mountains in modern-day Algeria by Fatimid forces. 1153 – After a six-month siege, Baldwin III of Jerusalem captures Ascalon, obtaining a vast amount of plunder and securing the southern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1274 – Coronation of Edward I of England. 1458 – Pope Pius II is elected the 211th Pope. 1504 – In Ireland, the Hiberno-Norman de Burghs (Burkes) and Cambro-Norman Fitzgeralds fight in the Battle of Knockdoe. 1561 – Mary, Queen of Scots, aged 18, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France.
1601–1900 1604 – Eighty Years War: a besieging Dutch and English army led by Maurice of Orange forces the Spanish garrison of Sluis to capitulate. 1659 – Parliamentarian forces under John Lambert defeat Royalist forces under George Booth in the battle of Winnington Bridge, ending Booth's Uprising. 1666 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: Rear Admiral Robert Holmes leads a raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 116 to 160 merchant ships, an act later known as "Holmes's Bonfire". 1691 – An Imperial army under Ludwig of Baden defeats the Ottomans in the battle of Slankamen. 1692 – Salem witch trials: In Salem, province of Massachusetts Bay, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs Sr., John Proctor, John Willard, and clergyman George Burroughs are executed after being convicted of witchcraft. 1725 – J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, a cantata setting the unchanged text of Neander's hymn."Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren BWV 137; BC A 124 Bach Digital 2025 1745 – Prince Charles Edward Stuart raises his standard in Glenfinnan: The start of the Second Jacobite Rebellion, known as "the 45". 1745 – Ottoman–Persian War: In the Battle of Kars, the Ottoman army is routed by Persian forces led by Nader Shah. 1759 – Battle of Lagos: Naval battle during the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France. 1772 – Gustav III of Sweden stages a coup d'état, in which he assumes power and enacts a new constitution that divides power between the Riksdag and the King. 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Blue Licks: The last major engagement of the war, almost ten months after the surrender of the British commander Charles Cornwallis following the Siege of Yorktown. 1787 – Sultan Abdul Hamid I declares war against the Russian Empire in an effort to regain territories lost in previous conflicts, starting the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792. 1812 – War of 1812: American frigate defeats the British frigate off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada earning the nickname "Old Ironsides". 1813 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas joins Argentina's Second Triumvirate. 1839 – The French government announces that Louis Daguerre's photographic process is a gift "free to the world". 1848 – California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January). 1854 – The First Sioux War begins when United States Army soldiers kill Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return are massacred. 1861 – First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps. 1862 – Dakota War: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.
1901–present 1903 – The Transfiguration Uprising breaks out in East Thrace, resulting in the establishment of the Strandzha Commune. 1909 – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opens for automobile racing. William Bourque and his mechanic are killed during the first day's events. 1920 – The Tambov Rebellion breaks out, in response to the Bolshevik policy of Prodrazvyorstka.Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panné, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej Paczkowski, Stéphane Courtois, The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, Harvard University Press, 1999, hardcover, 858 pages, . 1927 – Patriarch Sergius of Moscow proclaims the declaration of loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet Union. 1934 – The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio. 1934 – The German referendum of 1934 approves Adolf Hitler's appointment as head of state with the title of Führer. 1936 – The Great Purge of the Soviet Union begins when the first of the Moscow Trials is convened. 1940 – First flight of the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber. 1941 – Germany and Romania sign the Tiraspol Agreement, rendering the region of Transnistria under control of the latter. 1942 – World War II: Operation Jubilee (The Dieppe Raid): The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division leads an amphibious assault by allied forces on Dieppe, France and fails. 1944 – World War II: Liberation of Paris: Paris, France rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops. 1945 – August Revolution: Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh take power in Hanoi, Vietnam. 1953 – Cold War: The CIA and MI6 help to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. 1955 – In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives. 1960 – Cold War: In Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage. 1960 – Sputnik program: Korabl-Sputnik 2: The Soviet Union launches the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants. 1964 – Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, is launched. Two months later, it would enable live coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics. 1965 – Japanese prime minister Eisaku Satō becomes the first post-World War II sitting prime minister to visit Okinawa Prefecture. 1978 – In Iran, the Cinema Rex fire causes more than 300 deaths. 1980 – Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar burns after making an emergency landing at Riyadh International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people. 1980 – Otłoczyn railway accident: In Poland's worst post-war railway accident, 67 people lose their lives and a further 62 are injured. 1981 – Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra. 1981 – Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão. 1987 – Hungerford massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a semi-automatic rifle and then commits suicide. 1989 – Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years. 1989 – Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. 1991 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine. 1991 – Crown Heights riot in New York City begins.Shapiro, Edward S. (2002). "Interpretations of the Crown Heights Riot". American Jewish History. 1999 – In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević. 2002 – Khankala Mi-26 crash: A Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside Grozny, killing 118 soldiers. 2003 – A truck-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees. 2003 – Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing: A suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, planned by Hamas, kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children. 2004 – Google Inc. has its initial public offering on Nasdaq. 2005 – The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins. 2009 – A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others. 2010 – Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait. 2013 – The Dhamara Ghat train accident kills at least 37 people in the Indian state of Bihar. 2017 – Tens of thousands of farmed non-native Atlantic salmon are accidentally released into the wild in Washington waters in the 2017 Cypress Island Atlantic salmon pen break.
Births Pre-1600 232 – Marcus Aurelius Probus, Roman emperor (died 282) 1342 – Catherine of Bohemia, duchess of Austria (died 1395) 1398 – Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Santillana, Spanish poet and politician (died 1458) 1570 – Salamone Rossi, Italian violinist and composer (probable; (died 1630) 1583 – Daišan, Chinese prince and statesman (died 1648) 1590 – Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire (died 1649) 1596 – Elizabeth Stuart, queen of Bohemia (died 1662)
1601–1900 1609 – Jan Fyt, Flemish painter (died 1661)Joannes Fijt at the Netherlands Institute for Art History 1621 – Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Dutch painter, etcher, and poet (died 1674) 1631 – John Dryden, English poet, literary critic and playwright (died 1700) 1646 – John Flamsteed, English astronomer and academic (died 1719) 1674 – František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect (died 1766) 1686 – Eustace Budgell, English journalist and politician (died 1737) 1689 (baptized) – Samuel Richardson, English author and publisher (died 1761) 1700 – Bajirao I, 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. (died 1740) 1711 – Edward Boscawen, English admiral and politician (died 1761) 1719 – Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (died 1781) 1743 – Madame du Barry, French mistress of Louis XV (died 1793) 1777 – Francis I, king of the Two Sicilies (died 1830) 1815 – Harriette Newell Woods Baker, American editor and children's book writer (died 1893) 1819 – Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt, Luxembourger-Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 1894) 1830 – Julius Lothar Meyer, German chemist (died 1895) 1835 – Tom Wills, Australian cricketer and pioneer of Australian rules football (died 1880) 1843 – C. I. Scofield, American minister and theologian (died 1921) 1846 – Luis Martín, Spanish religious leader, 24th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (died 1906) 1848 – Gustave Caillebotte, French painter and engineer (died 1894) 1849 – Joaquim Nabuco, Brazilian politician and diplomat (died 1910) 1858 – Ellen Willmott, English horticulturalist (died 1934) 1870 – Bernard Baruch, American businessman and philanthropist (died 1965) 1871 – Orville Wright, American engineer and pilot, co-founded the Wright Company (died 1948) 1873 – Fred Stone, American actor and producer (died 1959) 1878 – Manuel L. Quezon, Filipino soldier, lawyer, and politician, 2nd President of the Philippines (died 1944) 1881 – George Enescu, Romanian violinist, pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1955) 1883 – Coco Chanel, French fashion designer, founded the Chanel Company (died 1971) 1883 – José Mendes Cabeçadas, Portuguese admiral and politician, 9th President of Portugal (died 1965) 1885 – Grace Hutchins, American labor reformer and researcher (died 1969) 1887 – S. Satyamurti, Indian lawyer and politician (died 1943) 1895 – C. Suntharalingam, Sri Lankan lawyer, academic, and politician (died 1985) 1899 – Colleen Moore, American actress (died 1988)