• Home
• Articles
• Dates
• Days
• Today in History
• Topics
• Quiz

Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 175

202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the invading Carthaginian army, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus in the Battle of Zama.
439 - The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in North Africa.
615 - St Deusdedit I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1031 - Abbot Humbertus van Echternach opens grave of Saint Willibrord
1216 - King John of England dies at Newark-on-Trent and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry.
1298 - Rindfleish-140 Jews of Heilbron Germany are murdered
1453 - 2nd Battle at Castillon: France beats English, end of hundred year war
1466 - 2nd Peace of Thorn
1466 - The Thirteen Years' War ends with the Second Treaty of Thorn.
1492 - Columbus sites "Isabela" (Fortune Island, Bahamas)
1512 - Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology (Doctor in Biblia).
1576 - Dutch provinces begin consultation about Spanish existence
1630 - In Boston the 1st general court is held
1634 - Beach Island in North sea destroyed by a heavy storm flood
1682 - English Lord Shaftesbury flees to Holland
1722 - French C Hopffer patents fire extinguisher
1739 - England declares war on Spain [OS=Oct 30]
1765 - Stamp Act Congress met in NY, wrote decl of rights & liberties
1781 - Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown at 2 PM; Revolutionary War ends
1812 - Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow
1818 - US & Chicasaw Indians sign a treaty
1822 - In Parnaíba; Simplício Dias da Silva, João Cândido de Deus e Silva and Domingos Dias declare the independent state of Piauí.
1845 - Richard Wagners opera "Tannhäuser," premieres in Dresden
1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman in US to receive medical degree
1853 - 1st flour mill in Hawaii begins operations
1856 - James Kelly & Jack Smith fight bareknuckle for 6h15m in Melbourne
1859 - Wilhelm Tempel discovers diffuse nebula around Pleid star Merope
1863 - Battle of Buckland Mills, VA
1864 - Approx 25 Confederates make surprise attack on St Albans, Vermont
1864 - Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, Union beats back Conf attackers
1864 - US brig-gen Emory Upton (25) promoted to general-major
1870 - 1st (4) blacks elected to House of Reps
1870 - British SS Cambria leaves for Noth sea coast, 196 killed
1872 - World's largest gold nugget (215 kg) found in New South Wales
1874 - Mary Walsh & Charles Colson are 1st couple to be married in a balloon
1879 - Afghan's emir Mohammed Yakub forced to resign
1879 - Thomas Edison demonstrates electric light
1882 - Pierre de Brazza meets Henry Morton Stanley
1888 - Moshav Gederah is attacked by Arabs
1900 - Henry O Tanner, painter, wins Medal of Honor at Paris Exposition
1900 - S African Pres Paul Kruger departs for Europe
1901 - Edward Elgar's "Pomp & Circumstance March," premieres in Liverpool
1901 - Santos-Dumont proves airship maneuverable by circling Eiffel Tower
1904 - Polytechnic University of the Philippines founded as Manila Business School through the superintendence of the American C.A. O'Reilley.
1906 - Georges Chemenceau succeeds Sarien premier of France
1907 - 1st printing of Dutch Tribune (Wijnkoop/Van Ravesteyn/Ceton)
1911 - Royal Mint in London sends dies for $1 coin to Ottawa Branch
1912 - Tripoli (Libya) passes from Turkish to Italian control
1914 - US post office 1st used an automobile to collect & deliver mail
1915 - Russia/Italy declares war on Bulgaria
1917 - Love Field in Dallas, Texas is opened.
1919 - 1st Distinguished Service Medal awarded to a woman
1919 - Reds beat White Sox, 5 games to 3 in 16th World Series. This series is known as black sox scandal as 8 White Sox throw series
1921 - Portuguese Prime Minister António Granjo and other politicians are murdered in a Lisbon coup.
1923 - Ban Johnson persuades AL owners to prohibit boxing in their parks
1923 - Beierse govt refuses to prohibit NSDAP newspaper Völkischer Beobachter
1924 - General Christian Worker's union demands 8 hr work day in Belgium
1925 - Italian army takes Somalia
1926 - John C Garand patents semi-automatic rifle
1926 - Russian Politburo throws out Leo Trotsky & followers
1930 - Jules Ladoumègue runs world record 1 km (2:23.6)
1932 - Austria forbids demonstration by nazi's & anti fascists
1932 - British govt signs trade agreement with Soviet Union
1932 - Henry Ford gives his 1st radio speech
1932 - Jimmie Foxx wins AL MVP & Chuck Klein wins NL MVP
1933 - Berlin Olympic Committee vote to introduce basketball in 1936
1935 - Mao Tse Tung's army reaches Shanxi
1936 - HR Ekins of "NY World-Telegram" beats 2 other reporters in a race around the world on commercial flights, by 18½ days
1939 - Goering begins plunder through Nazi's occupied areas
1941 - 1st woman jockey in North America, Anna Lee Wiley in Mexico
1943 - Conference of foreign ministers in Moscow
1943 - Theater Guild presentation of "Othello" opens at Shubert
1943 - Yankee 2nd baseman Joe Gordon announces retirement (hates NY)
1943 - Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.
1944 - British premier Winston Churchill flies back to London from Moscow
1944 - Canadian troops liberate Aardensburg
1944 - John Van Druten's "I Remember Mama," premieres in NYC
1944 - Navy says black women can join WAVES
1944 - US forces land in Philippines
1947 - De Gaulles RPF wins French municipal elections
1948 - "My Romance" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 95 performances
1949 - A's trade 2nd baseman Nellie Fox to White Sox for Joe Tipton
1949 - Yanks trade Joe Gordon to Cleveland for Allie Reynolds
1950 - Bird Building at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is dedicated
1950 - UN forces entered Pyongyang, capital of North Korea
1951 - Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Texas Women's Golf Open
1951 - Pres Harry S Truman formally ends state of war with Germany
1952 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA Betty Jameson Golf Tournament
1953 - 1st jet transcontinental nonstop scheduled service
1953 - Singer Julius LaRosa is fired on TV by Arthur Godfrey
1954 - Egypt & Great Britain sign treaty; British troops departs
1954 - KAKE TV channel 10 in Wichita, KS (ABC) begins broadcasting
1954 - First ascent of Cho Oyu
1957 - "Damn Yankees" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 1,022 performances
1957 - Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Mont, became 1st NHLer to score 500 goals
1958 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1959 - Florence Henderson joins Today Show panel
1959 - William Gibson's "Miracle Worker," premieres in NYC
1960 - France grants Mauritania independence
1960 - KWCS (now KOOG) TV channel 30 in Ogden, UT (IND) begins broadcasting

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 222

1276 - Prince Hisaaki, Japanese shogun (d. 1328)
1433 - Marsilio Ficino, Italian philosopher (d. 1499)
1507 - Viglius ab Aytta Zuichemus, [Aytta van Zwichem], Dutch priest
1545 - Giovanale Ancina, composer
1581 - Dimitri Ivanovitch, Russian son of Ivan IV "the Terrible"
1582 - Dmitry Ivanovich, Russian Tsarevich (d. 1591)
1605 - Thomas Browne, British writer (Garden of Cyrus)
1610 - James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, English statesman and soldier (d. 1688)
1652 - Louis Le Quointe, composer
1658 - Adolf Friedrich II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1704)
1680 - John Abernethy, Irish Protestant minister (d. 1740)
1684 - Johann Christoph Fravenholtz, composer
1688 - William Cheselden, English surgeon and anatomist (d. 1752)
1690 - Giuseppi Maria Carretti, composer
1718 - Victor-François, 2nd duc de Broglie, Marshal of France (d. 1804)
1720 - John Woolman, American Quaker preacher and abolitionist (d. 1772)
1721 - Joseph de Guignes, French orientalist (d. 1800)
1784 - John McLoughlin, Hudson's Bay Co pioneer in Oregon Country
1784 - Leigh Hunt, British writer (Lord Byron)
1792 - Dirk Donker Curtius, Dutch attorney/minister of Justice (liberal)
1810 - Cassius Marcellus Clay, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1903
1819 - Joseph C Juglar, French physician/economist (Crises Commercial)
1824 - Frantisek Pivoda, composer
1824 - Rufus Saxton, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1908
1828 - Adolfo Fumagalli, composer
1834 - Francis Channing Barlow, US lawyer/gen-major/co-founder (ABA)
1850 - Annie S Peck, mountain climber/explorer/diplomat
1851 - Empress Myeongseong, Empress of Korea (d. 1895)
1858 - George Albert Boulenger, Belgian naturalist (d. 1937)
1859 - Georg Knorr, German engineer (brake system trains)
1860 - Affie Jarvis, cricketer (Australian WK of the late 19th century)
1862 - Auguste Lumière, made 1st movie (Workers Leaving Lumière Factory)
1863 - John Huston Finley, Ill, editor (NY Times (1937-38)
1865 - Godfrey Cripps, cricketer (one Test S Africa v England 1892, 18 & 3)
1866 - Clarence Lucas, composer
1868 - Bertha Landes, 1st woman elected mayor of a major US city (Seattle)
1871 - Walter B Cannon, US physiologist (Wisdom of the Body)
1873 - Barton King, cricketer (North America's greatest all-rounder)
1873 - Jaap Eden, Dutch World Champion cycling & speed skating
1876 - Mordecai (3 finger) Brown, hall of fame pitcher
1882 - Vincas Kreve-Mickievicius, Lithuania, poet/philologist/playwright
1885 - Charles Merrill, American investment banker (d. 1956)
1889 - Uncle Art Satherly, entertainer (1968 Acad of Country Music Award)
1892 - Alexander A Aljechin, Russian/French chess champ (1927-35, 37-46)
1892 - Ilmari Hannikainen, composer
1895 - Louis Mumford, cultural historian/city planner/writer
1895 - Frank Durbin, last American veteran of the Battle of Verdun (d.1999)
1896 - Bob O'Farrell, American baseball player (d. 1988)
1897 - Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Pakistani scientist and scholar (d. 1994)
1899 - Miguel Asturias, Guatemala, poet/diplomat (Hombres de Maiz, Nobel 67)
1900 - Bill Ponsford, cricketer (great Australian batsman, HS 437 Vic v NSW)
1900 - Theodoro Valcarcel, composer
1900 - Roy Worters, Canadian ice hockey goaltender (d. 1957)
1900 - Erna Berger, German soprano (d. 1990)
1901 - Arleigh A Burke, Colo, admiral (WW II, Solomon Islands, Navy Cross)
1903 - Vittorio Giannini, composer
1903 - Tor Johnson, Swedish wrestler and actor (d. 1971)
1907 - Roger Wolfe Kahn, American bandleader (d. 1962)
1908 - Nils Geirr Tveitt, composer
1908 - Patrick Cairns "Spike" Hughes, British jazz musician/composer (Elegy)
1909 - Robert Beatty, Ontario, actor (Amorous Mr Pawn, Where Eagles Dare)
1909 - Marguerite Perey, French physicist (d. 1975)
1910 - Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, India, astrophysicist (Nobel 1983)
1911 - George Cates, NYC, orch leader (Lawrence Welk Show)
1911 - Hilde Spiel, writer
1913 - Jean Urruty, France, Jai-Alai champion
1913 - Vasco Pratolini, Italian writer (Le ragazze di San Frediano)
1913 - Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet and songwriter (d. 1980)
1914 - Harold Gimblett, cricketer (legendary Somerset & England batsman)
1915 - Farid al-Atrash, Syrian composer, musician, and actor (d. 1974)
1916 - David Lewis, Pitts Pa, actor (Edward Quartermaine-General Hospital)
1916 - Emil Gilels, Odessa Russia, pianist (Brussels Competition-1938)
1916 - Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Sweden, opera composer (Herr von Hancken)
1916 - Toby Rowland, theatrical manager
1918 - Louis Althusser, French philosopher (For Marx, Strangled His Wife)
1918 - Robert Charles Evans, mountaineer/doctor
1920 - LaWanda Page, Cleve Ohio, actress (Aunt Esther-Sanford & Sons)
1920 - Pandurang Shastri Athavale, Indian philosopher (d. 2003)
1921 - George Nader, Pasadena Calif, actor (Robot Monster, Away All Boats)
1921 - Gunnar Nordahl, Sweden, soccer player (Olympic-gold-1948)
1922 - Jack Anderson, Long Beach, Calif, journalist (Wash Post)
1925 - Bernard Hepton, Bradford England, actor (6 Wives of Henry VIII)
1925 - Victor Zorza, journalist/Russian specialist
1926 - Joel Feinberg, American moral philosopher (d. 2004)
1926 - Arne Bendiksen, Norwegian singer and songwriter
1927 - Marjorie Tallchief, US ballerina (Harkness Ballet)
1927 - Pierre Alechinsky, Belgian painter/director (Cobra)
1928 - Buff Cobb, Florence Italy, actress (Masquerade Party)
1929 - Balbir Singh, India, field hockey player (Olympic-gold-1948-56)
1929 - Dumitru Capoianu, composer
1930 - Tom ap Rees, botanist
1931 - Laszlo Kalmar, composer
1931 - John le Carré, English novelist
1932 - Lloyd Haynes, South Bend Indiana, actor (Pete Dixon-Room 222)
1932 - Robert Reed, Highland Park Ill, actor (Mike-Brady Bunch, Nurse)
1933 - Brian Booth, cricketer (dual Australian cricket/hockey international)
1933 - Wilfried Dietrich, German FR, super-heavyweight (Olympic-gold-1960)
1934 - David Guard, rocker (Kingston Trio)
1934 - Des Hoare, cricketer (Australian quickie in Test in 1961 v W Indies)
1934 - Jakubu Gowon, army staff chief/president of Nigeria (1966-75)

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 100 of 106

727 - Saint Frideswide
1187 - Pope Urban III
1216 - King John
1268 - Konradin von Hohenstaufen, duke of Zwaben, beheaded
1432 - John de Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, English politician (b. 1392)
1547 - Pierino del Vaga, Italian painter, dies at about 46
1553 - Bonifazio Veronese/Veneziano, [de' Pitati], Italian painter, dies
1587 - Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1541)
1608 - Martinus A del Rio, Spanish lawyer historian/theologist, dies
1608 - Martin Delrio, Flemish theologian and occultist (b. 1551)
1609 - Jacobus Arminius, [Jacob Hermans], theologist, dies at about 49
1636 - Marcin Kazanowski, Polish politician
1682 - Thomas Browne, English writer (b. 1605)
1745 - Jonathan Swift, English writer (Gulliver's Travels), dies
1758 - Johan H Roman, Finnish/Swedish composer/conductor/violinist, dies
1786 - Pietro Alessandro Pavona, composer, dies at 58
1790 - Lyman Hall, US physician/signer (Decl of Ind), dies at 66
1793 - Francisco Morera, composer, dies at 62
1810 - Jean-Georges Noverre, French choreographer (ballet d'action), dies
1813 - Josef Poniatovski, Polish gen/marshal of France, dies in battle
1834 - Cornelis Loots, accountant/poet (Volkswoede), dies at 69
1835 - Henry Doeff, translator (Dutch-Japanese dictionary), dies at 57
1838 - Henry Fagel, baron/court clerk of States-General/diplomat, dies at 73
1842 - Aleksey Koltsov, Russian poet (b. 1808)
1851 - Marie Thérèse Charlotte (b. 1778)
1856 - William Sprague III, American politician from Rhode Island (b. 1799)
1864 - Daniel Davidson Bidwell, magistrate/brig-general, dies in battle at 45
1888 - Amaat Vyncke, Flemish missionary/founder (Flemish Wind), dies at 38
1889 - King Louis of Portugal (b. 1838)
1897 - George Pullman, American inventor and industrialist (b. 1831)
1901 - Carl Frederik Tietgen, Danish financier and industrialist (b. 1829)
1909 - Cesare Lombroso, Italian psychiatrist/criminologist, dies
1912 - J E B B P Q C Dwyer, cricketer (Aus-born Sussex bowler 1906-09), dies
1918 - Joseph Lesage, French painter/etcher (WW I), dies at 34
1918 - Harold Lockwood, American actor (b. 1887)
1921 - Antonio Granjo, premier (Portugal), murdered
1932 - Arthur Friedheim, composer, dies at 72
1934 - Johan J Arch, graphic artist (houtgravures), dies at 63
1936 - Lu Xun, Chinese writer (b. 1881)
1937 - Betty Carver, wife of English fieldmarshal Bernard Montgomery, dies
1937 - Ernest Rutherford baron of Nelson, Engl physicist (Nobel 1908), dies
1943 - Adrianus M de Young, writer (Merijntje Gijzen's youth), murdered
1950 - Edna St Vincent Millay, poet/dramatist/feminist (Harp Weaver-Pulitzer Prize)
1955 - John Hodiak, actress (Lifeboat, Battleground), dies at 41
1956 - Isham Jones, American musician (b. 1894)
1957 - Vere G Childe, British archaeologist/prehistorian, dies at 65
1959 - Boughera El Quafi, marathoner (Olympic-gold-1928), shot to death at 60
1959 - Stanley Bate, composer, dies at 45
1960 - Gunther AR Raphael, German composer (Busskantate), dies at 57
1961 - Benjamin Merkelbach, architect/city builder of Amsterdam, dies at 60
1961 - John Axel Fernstrom, composer, dies at 63
1964 - Maurice Gosfield, actor (Doberman-Phil Silvers Show), dies at 51
1964 - Nettie Palmer, Australian poet and essayist (b. 1885)
1966 - Elizabeth Arden, US cosmetic manufacturer, dies
1970 - Unica Zorn, writer, dies at 54
1971 - Alberto Pirelli, Italian industrial, dies at 89
1971 - Betty Bronson, actress (Naked Kiss), dies after brief illness at 64
1978 - Gig Young, American actor, kills his bride of 3 weeks and commits suicide at 64
1981 - Frank DeKova, actor (F Troop), dies
1981 - Paul Snoek, [Edm Schietekat], Belgian poet, dies at 48
1982 - Jock Ewing, dies in an aircrash on TV show "Dallas"
1983 - Albert Carel Willink, painter (surrealism), dies at 83
1983 - Maurice Bishop, premier of Grenada (1979-83), murdered in coup
1984 - Henri Michaux, writer, dies
1984 - Jerzy Popieluszko, Polish priest/dissident, kidnapped & murdered
1984 - Jon-Erik Hexum, accidentally shoots himself on set of "Cover Up" at 27
1985 - Alfred Rouleau, French Canadian businessman (b. 1915)
1986 - Moses Asch, record founder (Folkways), dies at 81
1986 - Dele Giwa, Nigerian journalist
1987 - Jacqueline du Pre, British cellist, dies at 42
1987 - Hermann Lang, German race car driver (b. 1909)
1988 - Friedrich Weinreb, Polish/Neth theologist/economist, dies at 77
1988 - Son House, American musician (b. 1902)
1992 - Cleavon Little, actor (Blazing Saddles), dies at 53
1992 - Gert Nastian, general & companion of Petra Kelly, found dead at 69
1992 - Maurice le Roux, French conductor/composer (Contes immoraux), dies
1992 - Petra Kelly, founder (German Green Party), found dead at 44
1993 - Bert Schoofs, table tennis star, dies at 48
1993 - Dionisio Herrero, Spanish air force general, murdered
1993 - Lois Kibbee, actress (Edge of Night), dies of brain tumor at 71
1993 - Roy Armstrong, English historian (Traditional buildings), dies at 91
1994 - Martha Raye, actress (Pin Up Girl), dies after illness at 78
1994 - Munavarsjo Nazrijev, vice-president of Tadzjikistan, dies
1994 - Oldrich Cernik, Czechoslovakia premier (1968-70), dies at 72
1994 - Stanislaw Brunstein, artist, dies at 79
1995 - Don E Cherry, jazz Musician, dies at 58
1995 - Vicki Stangroome, campaigner, dies at 53
1996 - Frank Neville Hosband Robinson, physicist, dies at 71
1996 - Oliver Charles Anderson, novelist, dies at 84
1997 - Glen Buxton, guitarist (Alice Cooper), dies of pneumonia at 49
1999 - Nathalie Sarraute, Russian-born French writer (b. 1900)
1999 - James C. Murray, American politician (b. 1917)
2000 - Hortense Ellis, Jamaican reggae singer (b. 1941)
2003 - Alija Izetbegović, President of Bosnia-Herzegovina (b. 1925)
2003 - Margaret Murie, American conservationist (b. 1902)
2003 - Michael Hegstrand, American professional wrestler (b. 1960)
2004 - Elliott Smith, American Singer Songwriter(b. 1969)
2005 - Dallas Cook, American musician (Suburban Legends) (b. 1982)
2005 - Corinne Lévesque, wife of Quebec premier René Lévesque (b. 1943)
2006 - James Glennon, American cinematographer (b. 1942)