By Tracy Rocelyn
1245 - King Philip III of France (d. 1285)
1925 - Corinne Calvet, Paris France, actress (Phantom of Hollywood)
1925 - Johnny Horton, American musician (d. 1960)
1874 - Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish clergyman (d. 1949)
1876 - Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist (d. 1937)
1926 - Edmund Cooper, UK, sci-fi author (Seed of Light, All Fool's Day)
1883 - Jaroslav Haek, Czech novelist (d. 1923)
1927 - Lars Hall, Sweden, Pentathelete (Olympic-gold-1952)
1717 - Guillaume Gommaire Kennis, composer
1896 - Hans List, Austrian inventor (d. 1996)
1743 - Robert Jasper van de Capellen, master of Marsch/politician
1931 - William L [Bill] Clay, (Rep-D-MO, 1969- )
1770 - David Thompson, English/Canadian explorer (Columbia River)
1905 - Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician
1790 - John Cockerill, English/Belgian industrialist
1792 - Johann Friedrich Schwencke, composer
1909 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
1938 - Larry [Van Cott] Niven, US, sci-fi author (5 Hugo, Neutron Star)
1910 - Srirangam Srinivasarao, Telugu poet and lyricist
1939 - Ellen Taafe Zwilich, Miami Florida, (1st woman composer Pulitzer 1982)
1916 - Robert Shaw, American conductor (d. 1999)
1920 - Duncan Hamilton, British racing driver (d. 1994)
1941 - Johnny Farina, rocker (Santo & Johnny)
1846 - Rosalie Amstein, writer
1923 - Al Lewis, American actor (d. 2006)
1857 - Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1940)
1923 - Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (d. 2004)
1864 - Frans Netscher, Dutch writer/journalist (Studies of nude model)
1944 - Richard Shoff, rocker (Sandpipers)
1865 - Max Nettlau, German anarchist (d. 1944)
1928 - Hugh Hood, Canadian author (d. 2000)
1870 - Franz Lehar, operetta composer (Naughty Marietta)
1945 - Mike Beacon, rocker (Ox)
1945 - Mimi Farina, rocker (Reflections in a Crystal Wind)
1946 - Donald Schollander, Charlotte NC, swimmer (Olympic-4 gold-64)
1934 - Jerry Lordan, British composer and singer (d. 1995)
1883 - David John de Lloyd, composer
1947 - Robert Scott, (Rep-D-Virginia)
1885 - Luigi Russolo, composer
1886 - Frank Merrik, composer
1888 - John Crowe Ransom, US poet/critic (God Without Thunder)
1948 - Perry King, Alliance OH, actor (Andy Warhol's "Bad")
1948 - Wayne Kramer, jazz artist (Dangerous Madness)
1891 - Watze Cuperus, Frisian author (Swart mar leaflik)
1893 - Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi foreign minister (d. 1946)
1895 - Philippe Panneton, French Canadian physician, diplomat and writer (d. 1960)
1952 - Jacques Audiard, French film director
1953 - Merrill Osmond, Ogden Utah, singer (Osmond Brothers, Donnie & Marie)
1971 - Randy Bierman, WLAF tackle (Scottish Claymores)
1971 - Ryan Hawblitzel, West Palm Beach Fla, pitcher (Colorado Rockies)
1899 - Lucie Mannheim, Berlin, actress (East Meets West, 39 Steps)
1955 - Nicolas Hulot, French journalist
1902 - Andre-Francois Marescotti, composer
1902 - Rudolf Wittelsbach, composer
1957 - Duane G Carey, St Paul Minn, major USAF/astronaut
1973 - Akon, American R&B Singer
1958 - Charles Berling, French actor, director and screenwriter
1974 - Chris Darkins, NFL running back (Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31)
1909 - F. E. McWilliam,Irish sculptor (d. 1992)
1975 - Johnny Galecki, Bree Belgium, actor (American Dreamer, David-Roseanne)
1975 - Elliott Sadler, American race car driver
1911 - John-Baptist J Walgrave, [Henricus/Humanus], Flemish, theologist
1976 - Amanda Palmer, American musician (The Dresden Dolls)
1977 - Jeannie Haddaway, American politician
1977 - Pell James, American actress
1913 - Bernard Charles Sendall, deputy director general (ITA)
1964 - Ian Healy, cricket wicket-keeper (Australian since 1988)
1981 - Emma Pierson, British actress
1964 - Barrington Levy, Jamaican musician
1916 - Dugo D Schenker, Suriname/Antillian producer
1965 - Daniela Costian, Australian discus/shot putter (Olympics-96)
1917 - Bea Wain, US singer/radio host (Lucky Strike Hit Parade)
1918 - W Donald McNeill, tennis champ (US Open-1940)
1919 - Valeer [Valerius V] van Kerkhove, Flemish writer/producer
1920 - Duncan Hamilton, driver
1984 - Shawn Daivari, Persian-American professional wrestler and manager
1922 - Anton Murray, cricketer (South African batsman in 10 Tests 1951-55)
1968 - Richard Pilon, Saskatoon, NHL defenseman (NY Islanders)
1987 - Rohit Sharma, Indian Cricketer
1968 - Sandra Beikoff, Mackay QLD, golfer (1990 Sunshine Coast Open)
311 - The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
313 - Battle of Tzirallum: Emperor Licinius defeats Maximinus II and unifies the Eastern Roman Empire.
1006 - Supernova SN 1006, the brightest supernova in recorded history, appears in the constellation Lupus.
1315 - Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged on the public gallows at Montfaucon.
1492 - Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.
1513 - Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.
1671 - Petar Zrinski, the Croatian Ban from the Zrinski family, is executed.
1789 - On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.
1803 - Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
1812 - The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.
1838 - Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.
1863 - A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fought a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarn, Mexico.
1871 - The Camp Grant Massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.
1894 - Coxey's Army reaches Washington, D.C. to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893.
1900 - Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
1900 - Casey Jones dies in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi, while trying to make up time on the Cannonball Express.
1904 - The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair opens in St. Louis, Missouri.
1907 - Honolulu, Hawaii becomes an independent city.
1920 - Peru becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1925 - Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Company for $146 million plus $50 million for charity.
1927 - The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.
1927 - Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
1937 - The Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative.
1938 - The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit (a prototype of Bugs Bunny).
1938 - The first televised FA Cup Final takes place between Huddersfield Town and Preston North End.
1939 - The 1939-40 New York World's Fair opens.
1939 - NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.
1943 - World War II: Operation Mincemeat: The submarine HMS Seraph surfaces in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and dressed as a British military intelligence officer.
1945 - World War II: Fhrerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building.
1947 - In Nevada, the Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam a second time.
1948 - In Bogot, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.
1953 - In Warner Robins, Georgia, an F4 tornado kills 18 people.
1956 - Former Vice President and Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia. He collapses after proclaiming "I would rather be a servant in the house of the lord than sit in the seats of the mighty."
1961 - K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.
1963 - The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.
1966 - The Church of Satan is established at the Black House in San Francisco, California.
1967 - The Aldene Connection opened in Roselle Park, NJ, shutting down the CNJ's Jersey City waterfront terminal and transferring commuters to Newark Penn Station.
1973 - Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aids H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and others have resigned.
1975 - Fall of Saigon (or Liberation of Saigon from the Communist perspective): Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.
1980 - Accession of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
1988 - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II officially opens World Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia.
1993 - CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.
1993 - Virgin Radio broadcasts for the first time in the United Kingdom.
1993 - Monica Seles is stabbed by Gnter Parche, an obsessed fan, during a quarterfinal match of the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany
1995 - U.S. President Bill Clinton became the first President to visit Northern Ireland.
1999 - Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bringing the number of members to 10.
2004 - U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
2008 - Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.
2009 - Chrysler automobile company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
2009 - Seven people are killed and 17 injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
2010 - Hailed as the largest World's Fair in history, Expo 2010 opens in Shanghai, China.