Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic). AI analysis
James Christie holds his first sale in London, establishing what would become Christie's auction house. AI analysis
Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives. AI analysis
U.S. President James K. Polk triggers the California Gold Rush by confirming the discovery of gold in California. AI analysis
The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, ending Prohibition. AI analysis
Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary, and Romania during WWII. AI analysis
Flight 19, a group of U.S. Navy bombers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle. AI analysis
The Great Smog blankets London, killing thousands and triggering major air pollution reforms. AI analysis
The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge to form the AFL-CIO. AI analysis
Egypt and Israel hold their first formal peace talks. AI analysis
The U.S. Congress repeals the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act. AI analysis
Ukrainians vote overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union. AI analysis
The U.S. Senate approves the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). AI analysis
Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji. AI analysis
Nelson Mandela, former South African president and anti-apartheid revolutionary, passes away. AI analysis
The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from the Winter Olympics for doping violations. AI analysis
France suspends a controversial fuel tax following mass protests by the "Yellow Vest" movement. AI analysis
The U.S. begins the largest COVID-19 vaccine distribution effort in its history. AI analysis
The UAE switches its workweek to Monday-Friday, aligning with Western business days. AI analysis
Germany announces it will legalize recreational cannabis. AI analysis
Zhu Wen
Chinese emperor
(d. 912)
Zbigniew Oleśnicki
Polish cardinal and statesman
(d. 1455)
Willibald Pirckheimer
German lawyer and author
(d. 1530)
Nicolas Cleynaerts
Flemish philologist and lexicographer
(d. 1542)
Ashikaga Yoshiaki
Japanese shōgun
(d. 1597)
Fausto Sozzini
Italian theologian and author
(d. 1604)
Ubbo Emmius
Dutch historian and geographer
(d. 1625)
Anne Cecil
Countess of Oxford, English countess
(d. 1588)
Henry Lawes
English composer
(d. 1662)
Robert Harley
1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department
(d. 1724)
Francesco Scarlatti
Italian violinist and composer
(d. 1741)
Francesco Geminiani
Italian violinist and composer
(d. 1762)
Giuseppe de Majo
Italian organist and composer
(d. 1771)
Martin Van Buren
American lawyer and politician, 8th President of the United States
(d. 1862)
George Shepherd
English illustrator and painter
(d. 1862)
Fyodor Tyutchev
Russian poet and diplomat
(d. 1873)
Afanasy Fet
Russian poet and author
(d. 1892)
Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz
American philosopher and academic, co-founded Radcliffe College
(d. 1907)
Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière
French-Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Premier of Quebec
(d. 1908)
Christina Rossetti
English poet and author
(d. 1894)
George Armstrong Custer
American general
(d. 1876)
Marcus Daly
Irish-American businessman
(d. 1900)
Eduard Seler
German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, and academic
(d. 1922)
Clinton Hart Merriam
American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist, and ethnographer
(d. 1942)
John Jellicoe
1st Earl Jellicoe, English admiral and politician, 2nd Governor-General of New Zealand
(d. 1935)
Konstantin Korovin
Russian-French painter and set designer
(d. 1939)
John Henry Leech
English entomologist
(d. 1900)
Paul Painlevé
French mathematician and politician, 84th Prime Minister of France
(d. 1933)
John Beresford
Irish polo player
(d. 1944)
Traian Demetrescu
Romanian poet and author
(d. 1896)
Antti Aarne
Finnish author and academic
(d. 1925)
Józef Piłsudski
Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland
(d. 1935)
Arnold Sommerfeld
German physicist and academic
(d. 1951)
Ellis Parker Butler
American author and poet
(d. 1937)
Vítězslav Novák
Czech composer and educator
(d. 1949)
Harry Nelson Pillsbury
American chess player
(d. 1906)
Arthur Currie
Canadian general
(d. 1933)
Clyde Vernon Cessna
American pilot and businessman, founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation
(d. 1954)
René Cresté
French actor and director
(d. 1922)
Rose Wilder Lane
American journalist and author
(d. 1968)
Pieter Oud
Dutch historian, academic, and politician, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands
(d. 1968)
Nikolai Uglanov
Soviet politician
(d. 1937)
David Bomberg
English painter, illustrator, and academic
(d. 1957)
Fritz Lang
Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
(d. 1976)
Paul Kogerman
Estonian chemist and academic
(d. 1951)
Charles Robberts Swart
South African lawyer and politician, 1st State President of South Africa
(d. 1982)
Elbert Frank Cox
American mathematician and academic
(d. 1969)
Ann Nolan Clark
American historian, author, and educator
(d. 1995)
Carl Ferdinand Cori
Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate
(d. 1984)
Nunnally Johnson
American director, producer, and screenwriter
(d. 1977)
Gershom Scholem
German-Israeli philosopher and historian
(d. 1982)
Josh Malihabadi
Indian-Pakistani poet and translator
(d. 1982)
Grace Moore
American soprano and actress
(d. 1947)
Jimmy Dimmock
English footballer
(d. 1972)
Walt Disney
American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company
(d. 1966)
Milton H. Erickson
American psychiatrist and author
(d. 1980)
Werner Heisenberg
German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
(d. 1976)
Emeric Pressburger
Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwriter
(d. 1988)
Strom Thurmond
American educator, general, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina
(d. 2003)
Johannes Heesters
Dutch-German actor and singer
(d. 2011)
C. F. Powell
English-Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
(d. 1969)
Francisco Javier Arana
Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state
(d. 1949)
Otto Preminger
Austrian-American actor, director, and producer
(d. 1986)
Lin Biao
Chinese general and politician, 2nd Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
(d. 1971)
Giuseppe Occhialini
Italian-French physicist and academic
(d. 1993)
Abraham Polonsky
American director and screenwriter
(d. 1999)
Władysław Szpilman
Polish pianist and composer
(d. 2000)
Kate Simon
American travel writer
(d. 1990)
Sonny Boy Williamson II
American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
(d. 1965)
Esther Borja
Cuban soprano and actress
(d. 2013)
Helen Dettweiler
American golfer
(d. 1990)
Hans Hellmut Kirst
German lieutenant and author
(d. 1989)
Hilary Koprowski
Polish-American virologist and immunologist, created the world's first effective live polio vaccine
(d. 2013)
Walt McPherson
American basketball player and coach
(d. 2013)
Ken Downing
English racing driver
(d. 2004)
Alun Gwynne Jones
Baron Chalfont, English historian and politician
(d. 2020)
Alvy Moore
American actor and producer
(d. 1997)
Casey Ribicoff
American philanthropist
(d. 2011)
Don Robertson
American songwriter and pianist
(d. 2015)
Robert Sobukwe
South African banker and politician
(d. 1978)
Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Nicaraguan politician, 73rd President of Nicaragua
(d. 1980)
Adetowun Ogunsheye
first female Nigerian professor and university dea
n
Bhumibol Adulyadej
King of Thailand
(d. 2016)
W.D. Amaradeva
Sri Lankan musician and composer
(d. 2016)
Madis Kõiv
Estonian physicist, philosopher, and author
(d. 2014)
Yi-Fu Tuan
Chinese-American geographer
(d. 2022)
Ladislav Novák
Czech footballer and manager
(d. 2011)
Alf Dubs
Baron Dubs, British politicia
n
Sheldon Glashow
American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureat
e
Jim Hurtubise
American race car driver
(d. 1989)
Nadira
Indian actress
(d. 2006)
Little Richard
American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
(d. 2020)
Gennadiy Agapov
Russian race walker
(d. 1999)
Harry Holgate
Australian politician, 36th Premier of Tasmania
(d. 1997)
Joan Didion
American novelist and screenwriter
(d. 2021)
Calvin Trillin
American novelist, humorist, and journalis
t
Yury Vlasov
Ukrainian-Russian weightlifter and politician
(d. 2021)
James Lee Burke
American journalist, author, and academi
c
J. J. Cale
American singer-songwriter and guitarist
(d. 2013)
Tony Crafter
Australian cricket umpir
e
Boris Ignatyev
Russian footballer and manage
r
Peter Pohl
Swedish author, director, and screenwrite
r
Frank Wilson
American singer-songwriter and producer
(d. 2012)
Bryan Murray
Canadian ice hockey coach
(d. 2017)
Eva Joly
Norwegian-French judge and politicia
n
Andrew Yeom Soo-jung
South Korean cardina
l
Jeroen Krabbé
Dutch actor, director, and produce
r
Serge Chapleau
Canadian cartoonis
t
Moshe Katsav
Iranian-Israeli educator and politician, 8th President of Israe
l
José Carreras
Spanish tenor and acto
r
Andy Kim
Canadian pop singer-songwrite
r
Sarel van der Merwe
South African racing drive
r
Rudy Fernandez
Filipino triathlete
(d. 2022)
Bruce Golding
Jamaican lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Jamaic
a
Tony Gregory
Irish activist and politician
(d. 2009)
Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa
Mongolian cosmonaut and military leade
r
Jim Messina
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and produce
r
Jim Plunkett
American football player and radio hos
t
Kim Simmonds
Welsh blues-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
(d. 2022)
Don Touhig
Welsh journalist and politicia
n
Denise Drysdale
Australian television host and actres
s
John Altman
English composer and conducto
r
David Manning
English civil servant and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United State
s
Morgan Brittany
American actres
s
Link Byfield
Canadian journalist and author
(d. 2015)
Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven
Belgian painter and illustrato
r
Gwen Lister
South African-Namibian journalist, publisher, and activis
t
Hanif Kureishi
English author and playwrigh
t
Miyuki Kawanaka
Japanese singe
r
Juha Tiainen
Finnish hammer thrower
(d. 2003)
Klaus Allofs
German footballer and manage
r
Butch Lee
Puerto Rican basketball playe
r
Adam Thorpe
French-English author, poet, and playwrigh
t
Krystian Zimerman
Polish virtuoso pianis
t
Raquel Argandoña
Chilean model, actress, and politicia
n
Art Monk
American football playe
r
Dynamite Kid
English wrestler
(d. 2018)
Lee Chapman
English footballe
r
Oleksandr Yaroslavsky
Ukrainian businessma
n
Frans Adelaar
Dutch footballer and manage
r
Osvaldo Golijov
Argentinian-American composer and educato
r
Jack Russell
American singer-songwriter and producer
(d. 2024)
Matthew Taylor
English businessman and politicia
n
Ralf Dujmovits
German mountainee
r
Laura Flanders
British journalis
t
José Cura
Argentinian tenor, conductor, and directo
r
Pablo Morales
American swimmer and coac
h
Nivek Ogre
Canadian singer-songwrite
r
Fred Rutten
Dutch footballer and manage
r
Doctor Dré
American television and radio hos
t
Carrie Hamilton
American actress and playwright
(d. 2002)
Alberto Nisman
Argentinian lawyer
(d. 2015)
Martin Vinnicombe
Australian cyclis
t
Manish Malhotra
Indian fashion designe
r
John Rzeznik
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and produce
r
Wayne Smith
Jamaican rapper
(d. 2014)
Valeriy Spitsyn
Russian race walke
r
Gary Allan
American singer-songwriter and guitaris
t
Margaret Cho
American comedian, actress, producer, and screenwrite
r
Lisa Marie
American model and actres
s
Lydia Millet
American novelis
t
Falilat Ogunkoya
Nigerian sprinte
r
Eric Etebari
American actor, director, and produce
r
Morgan J. Freeman
American director, producer, and screenwrite
r
Sajid Javid
British Pakistani banker and politician, Chancellor of the Excheque
r
Lewis Pugh
English swimmer and lawye
r
Ramón Ramírez
Mexican footballe
r
Catherine Tate
English actress, comedian, and write
r
Kevin Haller
Canadian ice hockey playe
r
Michel'le
American singer-songwrite
r
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
German businessman and politician, German Federal Minister of Defenc
e
Ashia Hansen
American-English triple jumpe
r
Gabriel Hjertstedt
Swedish golfe
r
Kali Rocha
American actres
s
Cliff Floyd
American baseball player and sportscaste
r
Duane Ross
American hurdler and coac
h
Argo Arbeiter
Estonian footballe
r
Arik Benado
Israeli footballe
r
Mikelangelo Loconte
Italian singer-songwriter, producer, and acto
r
Luboš Motl
Czech physicist and academi
c
Ravish Kumar
Indian journalist and autho
r
Brian Lewis
American sprinte
r
Ronnie O'Sullivan
English snooker player and radio hos
t
Paula Patton
American actres
s
Amy Acker
American actres
s
Xavier Garbajosa
French rugby playe
r
Norishige Kanai
Japanese doctor and astronau
t
Sachiko Kokubu
Japanese actress and mode
l
Rachel Komisarz
American swimmer and coac
h
Peter van der Vlag
Dutch footballe
r
Neil Druckmann
American video game designer and autho
r
Olli Jokinen
Finnish ice hockey playe
r
Marcelo Zalayeta
Uruguayan footballe
r
Matteo Ferrari
Italian footballe
r
Niklas Hagman
Finnish ice hockey playe
r
Gareth McAuley
Northern Irish footballe
r
Nick Stahl
American acto
r
Ibrahim Maalouf
Lebanese-French trumpet player and compose
r
Jessica Paré
Canadian actres
s
Adan Canto
Mexican acto
r
Eddy Curry
American basketball playe
r
Keri Hilson
American singer-songwriter and actres
s
Gabriel Luna
American acto
r
Joakim Lindström
Swedish ice hockey playe
r
Lauren London
American actres
s
Shikhar Dhawan
Indian crickete
r
Frankie Muniz
American actor, drummer, and race car drive
r
Josh Smith
American basketball playe
r
Danny Wicks
Australian rugby league playe
r
LeGarrette Blount
American football playe
r
James Hinchcliffe
Canadian Indycar racing drive
r
Justin Smoak
American baseball playe
r
A. J. Pollock
American baseball playe
r
Ross Bagley
American acto
r
Tina Charles
American basketball playe
r
Kyle Long
American football playe
r
Joanna Rowsell
English cyclis
t
Jurrell Casey
American football playe
r
Kwon Yu-ri
South Korean singer-songwriter and actres
s
Montee Ball
American football playe
r
Cam Fowler
Canadian-American ice hockey playe
r
Jacopo Sala
Italian footballe
r
Christian Yelich
American baseball playe
r
Ilja Antonov
Estonian footballe
r
Natalie Sourisseau
Canadian field hockey playe
r
Ross Barkley
English footballe
r
Ondrej Duda
Slovak footballe
r
Semi Ojeleye
American basketball playe
r
Danny Levi
New Zealand rugby league playe
r
Anthony Martial
French footballe
r
Kaetlyn Osmond
Canadian figure skate
r
Levy Rozman
American chess International Master, streamer and YouTube
r
Maddie Poppe
American singer-songwriter and musicia
n
Quinnen Williams
American football playe
r
Conan Gray
American singer-songwrite
r
Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura
Roman politician
(b. 114 BC)
Li Ban
emperor of Cheng Han
(b. 288)
Ealhswith
queen consort and wife of Alfred the Great, King of Wesse
x
Ramon Berenguer II
Count of Barcelona
(b. 1053)
Dirk van Are
bishop and lord of Utrech
t
Joan
Countess of Flanders and Hainault
(b. 1199 or 1200)
John III
Duke of Brabant
(b. 1300)
Johan Friis
Danish politician
(b. 1494)
Gaspard Bauhin
Swiss botanist and physician
(b. 1560)
Jean François Sarrazin
French author and poet
(b. 1611)
Severo Bonini
Italian organist and composer
(b. 1582)
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes
sieur de La Vérendrye, Canadian commander and explorer
(b. 1685)
Johann Friedrich Fasch
German violinist and composer
(b. 1688)
James Stirling
Scottish mathematician and surveyor
(b. 1692)
Phillis Wheatley
Senegal-born slave, later American poet
(b. 1753)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Austrian composer and musician
(b. 1756)
Henry Ross
Canadian-Australian gold miner
(b. 1829)
Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg
German poet and lawyer
(b. 1750)
Alexandre Dumas
French novelist and playwright
(b. 1802)
Eliza R. Snow
American poet and songwriter
(b. 1804)
Schalk Willem Burger
South African commander, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of the South African Republic
(b. 1852)
Władysław Reymont
Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate
(b. 1867)
Claude Monet
French painter
(b. 1840)
Vachel Lindsay
American poet
(b. 1879)
Alexander Atabekian
Armenian physician and anarchist publisher
(b. 1869)
Jan Kubelík
Czech violinist and composer
(b. 1880)
Amrita Sher-Gil
Hungarian-Pakistani painter
(b. 1913)
Jock Delves Broughton
English captain
(b. 1883)
Louis Dewis
Belgian-French painter and educator
(b. 1872)
Shoeless Joe Jackson
American baseball player and manager
(b. 1887)
Abanindranath Tagore
Indian painter, author, and academic
(b. 1871)
William Sterling Parsons
American admiral
(b. 1901)
Glenn L. Martin
American pilot and businessman, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company
(b. 1886)
Emil Fuchs
German-American lawyer and businessman
(b. 1878)
Karl Amadeus Hartmann
German composer and educator
(b. 1905)
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan
(b. 1892)
V. Veerasingam
Sri Lankan educator and politician
(b. 1892)
Joseph Erlanger
American physiologist, neuroscientist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate
(b. 1874)
Fred Clark
American actor
(b. 1914)
Claude Dornier
German engineer and businessman, founded Dornier Flugzeugwerke
(b. 1884)
Robert Watson-Watt
Scottish engineer, invented the radar
(b. 1892)
Constance McLaughlin Green
American historian and author
(b. 1897)
Katherine Milhous
American author and illustrator
(b. 1894)
Aleksandr Vasilevsky
Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union
(b. 1895)
Jesse Pearson
American actor, singer, and screenwriter
(b. 1930)
Robert Aldrich
American director, producer, and screenwriter
(b. 1918)
Cecil M. Harden
American politician
(b. 1894)
Edward Youde
Welsh-Chinese sinologist and diplomat, 26th Governor of Hong Kong
(b. 1924)
John Pritchard
English conductor and director
(b. 1921)
Alfonso A. Ossorio
Filipino-American painter and sculptor
(b. 1916)
Richard Speck
American mass murderer
(b. 1941)
Harry Horner
Czech-American director, producer, and production designer
(b. 1910)
L. B. Cole
American illustrator and publisher
(b. 1918)
Charles Evans
English mountaineer, surgeon, and educator
(b. 1918)
Gwen Harwood
Australian poet and playwright
(b. 1920)
Clair Cameron Patterson
American scientist
(b. 1922)
Eugen Cicero
Romanian-German jazz pianist
(b. 1940)
Albert Gore
Sr., American lawyer and politician
(b. 1907)
Franco Rasetti
Italian-American physicist and academic
(b. 1901)
Roone Arledge
American sportscaster and producer
(b. 1931)
Ne Win
Burmese general and politician, 4th President of Burma
(b. 1911)
Edward L. Masry
American lawyer and politician
(b. 1932)
David Bronstein
Ukrainian-Belarusian chess player and theoretician
(b. 1924)
Andrew Imbrie
American composer and academic
(b. 1921)
George Paraskevaides
Greek-Cypriot businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Joannou & Paraskevaides
(b. 1916)
Karlheinz Stockhausen
German composer and academic
(b. 1928)
George Brecht
American chemist and composer
(b. 1926)
Nina Foch
Dutch-American actress
(b. 1924)
Beverly Garland
American actress and businesswoman
(b. 1926)
Anca Parghel
Romanian singer-songwriter and pianist
(b. 1957)
William Lederer
American soldier and author
(b. 1912)
Alan Armer
American director, producer, and screenwriter
(b. 1922)
Don Meredith
American football player, sportscaster, and actor
(b. 1938)
Peter Gethin
English racing driver
(b. 1940)
Gennady Logofet
Russian footballer and manager
(b. 1942)
Dave Brubeck
American pianist and composer
(b. 1920)
Elisabeth Murdoch
Australian philanthropist
(b. 1909)
Oscar Niemeyer
Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and Cathedral of Brasília
(b. 1907)
Ignatius IV of Antioch
Syrian patriarch
(b. 1920)
Fred Bassetti
American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects
(b. 1917)
William B. Edmondson
American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Africa
(b. 1927)
Nelson Mandela
South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate
(b. 1918)
Ernest C. Brace
American captain and pilot
(b. 1931)
Fabiola
Queen of Belgium
(b. 1928)
Talât Sait Halman
Turkish poet, translator, and historian
(b. 1931)
Jackie Healy-Rae
Irish hurdler and politician
(b. 1931)
Silvio Zavala
Mexican historian and author
(b. 1909)
Vic Eliason
American clergyman and radio host, founded VCY America
(b. 1936)
Tibor Rubin
Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient
(b. 1929)
Chuck Williams
American businessman and author, founded Williams Sonoma
(b. 1915)
Tyruss Himes ("Big Syke")
American rapper
(b. 1968)
Michael I of Romania
fifth and last king of Romania
(b. 1921)
August Ames
Canadian American pornographic actress
(b. 1994)
Robert Walker
American actor
(b. 1940)
Peter Alliss
English professional golfer
(b. 1931)
Bob Dole
American politician
(b. 1923)
Kirstie Alley
American actress and producer
(b. 1951)
Norman Lear
American screenwriter and producer
(b. 1922)