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Events
- 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas and becomes Emperor.
- 1209 - Otto IV is crowned emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent
III.
- 1227 - Assassination of Caliph al-Adil.
- 1511 - Formation of the Holy League of
Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Papal States
and the Republic of Venice against France.
- 1537 - The first complete English-language
Bible (the Matthew Bible) is printed, with translations by
William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.
- 1582 - Pope Gregory XIII implements the
Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is
followed directly by October 15.
- 1636 - The Swedish Army defeats the armies of
Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the
Battle of Wittstock.
- 1693 - Battle of Marsaglia: Piedmontese troops are
defeated by the French.
- 1725 - Foundation of Rosario in Argentina.
- 1777 - Battle of Germantown: Troops under
George Washington are repelled by British
troops under Sir William Howe.
- 1779 - The Fort Wilson Riot takes place.
- 1795 - Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national
prominence with a "Whiff of Grapeshot", using cannon to suppress armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the French
Legislature (National Convention).
- 1824 - Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.
- 1830 - Creation of the state of Belgium after separation from
The Netherlands.
- 1853 - Crimean War: The Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia.
- 1883 - First run of the Orient Express.
- 1883 - First meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow,
Scotland.
- 1895 - The first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship
administered by the United States Golf Association is played on a
nine-hole course in Newport, Rhode Island.
- 1910 - Declaration of the Portuguese Republic. King
Manuel II flees to the United
Kingdom.
- 1910 - Adoption of the Flag of Bermuda.
- 1918 - An explosion kills more than 100 and destroys the T.A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant in Sayreville, New Jersey. Fires and explosions continue for three days forcing massive evacuations
and spreading ordnance over a wide area, pieces of which are still being found in 2007.
- 1921 - Riccardo Zanella becomes first elected
president of Free State of Fiume.
- 1927 - Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mt. Rushmore.
- 1940 - Meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini at the Brenner Pass.
- 1943 - World War II: U.S. captures Solomon Islands.
- 1957 - Launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial
satellite to orbit the Earth.
- 1957 - Avro Arrow roll-out ceremony at Avro Canada
plant in Malton, Ontario.
- 1958 - Fifth Republic of France is established.
- 1960 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a
Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes after a bird
strike on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 of 72 on board.
- 1965 - The first Pope to ever visit the United States of America, Pope Paul VI arrives in
New York.
- 1966 - Basutoland becomes independent from the
United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.
- 1967 - Omar Ali Saifuddin III of
Brunei abdicates in favour of his son, His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
- 1975 - A Cessna 310Q airplane crashes over Wilmington, North Carolina, killing the pilot and severely injuring several pro wrestlers
affiliated with the NWA's Mid-Atlantic promotion. One of the survivors is the legendary Ric
Flair.
- 1976 - Official launch of the Intercity 125
High Speed Train (HST).
- 1983 - Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph (1,019 km/h), driving
Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.
- 1985 - Free Software Foundation is founded in
Massachusetts, USA.
- 1988 - U.S. televangelist Jim Bakker is indicted for fraud.
- 1991 - The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic
Treaty is opened for signature.
- 1992 - The Rome General Peace Accords ends
a 16 year civil war in Mozambique.
- 1992 - El Al Flight 1862: an El Al
Boeing 747-258F crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.
- 1993 - Russian Constitutional
Crisis: In Moscow, tanks bombard the White House, a government building that housed the Russian
parliament, while demonstrators against President Boris Yeltsin rally outside.
- 1997 - The second largest cash robbery in
U.S. history occurs at the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Loomis, Fargo and
Company. An FBI investigation eventually results in 24
convictions and the recovery of approximately 95% of the $17.3 million in cash which had been taken.
- 2001 - Siberia Airlines Flight 1812: a
Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the
Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200
missile. 78 people are killed.
- 2003 - Maxim restaurant suicide
bombing in Haifa, Israel: 21 Israelis, Jews and Arabs, are killed, and 51 others
wounded.
- 2004 - SpaceShipOne wins
Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.
Births
- 1160 - Alys, Countess of the Vexin,
daughter of Louis VII of France (d. 1220)
- 1289 - King Louis X of France (d. 1316)
- 1379 - King Henry III of Castile (d.
1406)
- 1515 - Lucas Cranach the Younger, German
painter (d. 1586)
- 1542 - Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (d.
1621)
- 1550 - King Charles IX of Sweden (d.
1611)
- 1562 - Christian Sørensen
Longomontanus, Danish astronomer (d. 1647)
- 1570 - Péter Pázmány, Hungarian cardinal (d.
1637)
- 1625 - Jacqueline Pascal, French child prodigy (d.
1661)
- 1626 - Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of England,
Scotland, and Ireland (d. 1712)
- 1657 - Francesco Solimena, Italian painter (d.
1747)
- 1720 - Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian
artist (d. 1778)
- 1723 - Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, German
entomologist (d. 1798)
- 1759 - Antoine Arbogast, French
mathematician (d. 1803)
- 1787 - François Guizot, French statesman (d.
1874)
- 1807 - Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, French
Canadian politician, prime minister of the Province of Canada (d. 1864)
- 1814 - Jean-François Millet, French painter (d.
1875)
- 1822 - Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States (d. 1893)
- 1841 - Prudente José de Morais Barros, President of
Brazil (d. 1912)
- 1858 - Michael Pupin, Serbian-born telephone
pioneer (d. 1935)
- 1861 - Frederic Remington, American painter (d.
1909)
- 1862 - Edward Stratemeyer, American author (d.
1930)
- 1876 - Hugh McCrae, Australian writer (d. 1958)
- 1877 - Razor Smith, English cricketer (d. 1946)
- 1880 - Damon Runyon, American writer (d. 1946)
- 1881 - Walther von Brauchitsch, German
Commander-in-Chief (d. 1948)
- 1884 - Subramaniya Siva, Indian freedom fighter (d.
1925)
- 1886 - Luis Alberni, Spanish actor (d. 1962)
- 1888 - Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (d.
1954)
- 1892 - Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian politician (d.
1934)
- 1895 - Buster Keaton, American comedian (d.
1966)
- 1903 - John Vincent Atanasoff, American
computer pioneer (d. 1995)
- 1903 - Ernst Kaltenbrunner, German military officer and senior Nazi (d.
1946)
- 1903 - Bona Arsenault, French Canadian politician, historian and genealogist (d.
1993)
- 1907 - Run Run Shaw, Hong
Kong media mogul
- 1910 - Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player (d.
2002)
- 1914 - Jim Cairns, Australian politician (d.
2003)
- 1914 - Brendan Gill, American writer (d. 1997)
- 1916 - Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist,
Nobel laureate
- 1916 - Jan Murray, American comedian (d. 2006)
- 1916 - George Sidney, American film director (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
- 1922 - Malcolm Baldrige, 26th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 1987)
- 1922 - Shin Kyuk-Ho, Japanese businessman
- 1924 - Charlton Heston, American actor
- 1928 - Alvin Toffler, American author
- 1928 - Torben Ulrich, Danish musician, writer, filmmaker and tennis player
- 1929 - Scotty Beckett, American child actor,
Our Gang comedies (d. 1968)
- 1929 - Leroy Van Dyke, American singer
- 1931 - Richard Rorty, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy,
Stanford University
- 1932 - Milan Chvostek, Canadian television
director
- 1934 - Sam Huff, American football player
- 1937 - Jackie Collins, British author
- 1937 - Jim Sillars, Scottish politician
- 1938 - Kurt Wüthrich, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1940 - Silvio Marzolini, Argentine footballer
- 1940 - Alberto Vilar, Cuban-American investor and philanthropist
- 1941 - Roy Blount, Jr., American writer
- 1941 - Anne Rice, American writer
- 1941 - Robert Wilson (director), American theatre director
- 1941 - Karl Oppitzhauser, Austrian racing driver
- 1942 - Karl W. Richter, American aviator (d.
1967)
- 1943 - H. Rap Brown, American civil rights activist
- 1944 - Tony La Russa, American baseball manager
- 1944 - Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (d. 2006)
- 1945 - Clifton Davis, American actor
- 1946 - Chuck Hagel, American politician
- 1946 - Bridget St John, English singer/songwriter and guitarist
- 1946 - Susan Sarandon, American actress
- 1947 - Ann Widdecombe, British politician
- 1947 - Julien Clerc, French singer
- 1947 - Jim Fielder, American bassist (Blood,
Sweat & Tears)
- 1948 - Linda McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment
- 1949 - Armand Assante, American actor
- 1949 - Stephen Gyllenhaal, American director
- 1950 - Meg Bennett, American writer and actress
- 1951 - Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov, Kazakh poet
- 1953 - Tchéky Karyo, Turkish-French actor
- 1955 - Jorge Valdano, Argentine footballer
- 1957 - Alexander Tkachyov, Soviet
gymnast
- 1957 - Bill Fagerbakke, American actor
- 1959 - Chris Lowe, British musician (Pet Shop Boys)
- 1959 - Tony Meo, English snooker player
- 1960 - Afrika Bambaataa, American musician
- 1960 - Joe Boever, American baseball player
- 1961 - Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese author
- 1962 - Jon Secada, Cuban singer and songwriter
- 1963 - A.C. Green, American basketball player
- 1964 - Sarah Lancashire, British actress
- 1965 - Skip Heller, American musician
- 1967 - Marcus Bentley, British voice actor
- 1967 - Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin, Hong Kong actor and Cantopop
singer
- 1967 - Liev Schreiber, American actor
- 1970 - Richard Hancox, English footballer
- 1971 - Friderika Bayer, Hungarian singer
- 1972 - Kurt Thomas, American basketball
player
- 1973 - Chris Parks, American wrestler
- 1974 - Paco León, Spanish actor
- 1975 - Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian football
player
- 1976 - Alicia Silverstone, American actress
- 1976 - Mauro Camoranesi, Argentine-Italian footballer
- 1978 - Ko Soo, South Korean television and movie actor
- 1979 - Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress
- 1979 - Stefan Booth, British actor
- 1980 - Kristina Lenko, Canadian Ice Skater
- 1980 - Me'Lisa Barber, American athlete
- 1980 - Sarah Fisher, American race car driver
- 1980 - Tomáš Rosický, Czech footballer
- 1981 - Justin Williams, Canadian ice hockey
player
- 1981 - Scott Hammond, American photographer
- 1982 - Jered Weaver, American baseball player
- 1982 - Tony Gwynn Jr., American baseball player
- 1983 - Risa Kudo, Japanese gravure idol
- 1983 - Ueda Tatsuya, Japanese idol (member of KAT-TUN)
- 1983 - Dan Clarke, British racing driver
- 1984 - Lena Katina, Russian singer
- 1986 - Yuridia, Mexican singer
- 1989 - Lil Mama, American rapper
- 2005 - Prince Emmanuel of Belgium
Deaths
- 1052 - Vladimir of Novgorod (b. 1020)
- 1221 - William III Talvas, Count of Ponthieu
(b. 1179)
- 1250 - Herman VI, Margrave of Baden
- 1305 - Emperor Kameyama of Japan (b. 1249)
- 1582 - Teresa of Avila, Spanish saint (b.
1515)
- 1597 - Sarsa Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1550)
- 1646 - Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of
Arundel, English statesman (b. 1586)
- 1660 - Francesco Albani, Italian painter (b.
1578)
- 1661 - Jacqueline Pascal, French child prodigy (b.
1625)
- 1669 - Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Dutch painter (b.
1606)
- 1680 - Pierre-Paul Riquet, French engineer
- 1743 - John Campbell, 2nd Duke of
Argyll, Scottish soldier (b. 1678)
- 1749 - Franz Freiherr von der Trenck,
Austrian soldier (b. 1711)
- 1754 - Tanacharison, Catawba Indian chief
- 1785 - David Brearly, American statesman (b.
1703)
- 1821 - John Rennie, Scottish engineer (b.
1761)
- 1851 - Manuel de Godoy, Spanish statesman (b.
1767)
- 1859 - Karl Baedeker, German publisher (b.
1801)
- 1864 - Joseph Montferrand, French Canadian logger
and strong man (b. 1802)
- 1867 - Francis Xavier Seelos German-American
Roman Catholic priest (b. 1819)
- 1890 - Catherine Booth, the Mother of The Salvation Army (b. 1829)
- 1903 - Otto Weininger, Austrian philosopher (b.
1880)
- 1904 - Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor (b.
1834)
- 1904 - Karl Bayer, Austrian chemist (b. 1847)
- 1910 - Sergey Muromtsev, Russian lawyer and
politician, and President of the First Imperial Duma (b. 1850)
- 1935 - Jean Béraud, French painter (b. 1849)
- 1935 - Marie Gutheil-Schoder, German soprano (b. 1874)
- 1944 - Al Smith, American politician (b. 1873)
- 1946 - Barney Oldfield, American automobile pioneer
(b. 1878)
- 1947 - Max Planck, A German Nobel laureate (b. 1858)
- 1951 - Willie Moretti, American gangster (b.
1894)
- 1969 - Natalino Otto, Italian singer (b.
1912)
- 1970 - Janis Joplin, American singer (b. 1943)
- 1974 - Anne Sexton, American poet (b. 1928)
- 1975 - Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress (b.
1903)
- 1981 - Freddie Lindstrom, Major League Baseball Hall of famer (b. 1905)
- 1982 - Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist (b. 1932)
- 1989 - Graham Chapman, British comedian (b.
1941)
- 1989 - Secretariat, American race horse (b. 1970)
- 1991 - J. Frank Wilson, American singer
(J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers) (b. 1941)
- 1992 - Denny Hulme, New Zealand race care driver (b.
1936)
- 1993 - Jim Holton, Scottish footballer (b. 1951)
- 1994 - Danny Gatton, American guitar virtuoso (b.
1945)
- 1996 - Larry Gene Bell, American child murderer
(executed by electric chair)
- 1997 - Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese game developer (b.
1941)
- 1999 - Erik Brødreskift (aka Grim), Norwegian
black metal musician (b. 1969)
- 1999 - Art Farmer, American jazz trumpet player (b. 1928)
- 1999 - Bernard Buffet, French painter (b. 1928)
- 2000 - Michael Smith, Nobel laureate (b. 1932)
- 2000 - Yu Kuo-hwa, former Premier of Taiwan (b. 1914)
- 2001 - Blaise Alexander, American Race Car Driver (b.
1976)
- 2002 - Alphonse Chapanis, founder of ergonomics (b.
1917)
- 2002 - André Delvaux, Belgian film director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2003 - Sid McMath, American politician (b. 1912)
- 2004 - Gordon Cooper, American astronaut (b.
1927)
- 2005 - Stanley K. Hathaway, American politician
(b. 1924)
- 2006 - Tom Bell, English actor on stage, television
and film (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances
External links