BC 30–Pharaoh Ptolemy XV of Egypt dies at age 17. He was killed on the orders of Octavian, who would become the Roman Emperor Augustus. Between the death of Cleopatra, on August 12, 30 BC, up to his own death, he was nominally the sole pharaoh. He was the eldest son of Cleopatra VII, and possibly the only son of Julius Caesar, after whom he was named.
79–Mount Vesuvius begins stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
406–Gothic King Radagaisus is executed after he is defeated by Roman general Stilicho, and 12,000 "barbarians" are incorporated into the Roman army or sold as slaves.
476–Odoacer, chieftain of the Germanic tribes is proclaimed King of Italy by his troops.
634–Abu Bakr dies at Medina and is succeeded by Umar I, who becomes the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
818–Ali al-Ridha, 8th of the Saudi Arabian Twelve Imams, dies from poisoning in Tus, Persia, Abbasid Empire, at age 53.
1176–Emperor Rokujo of Japan dies at age 11. He was made Crown Prince before his first birthday, and was enthroned at the age of eight months.
1244–The Jerusalem's citadel, the Tower of David, surrenders to Khwarezmian Empire.
1305–Sir William Wallace is executed for high treason at Smithfield in London, England.
1328–French troops stop an uprising of Flemish farmers.
1329–Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine, dies.
1382–The Golden Horde, led by khan Tokhtamysh, lays siege to the capital of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
1387–Olaf II of Denmark dies.
1514–The Battle of Chaldiran ends with a decisive victory for the Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, over the Shah Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty.
1521–Christian II of Denmark is deposed as King of Sweden and Gustav Vasa is elected regent.
1541–French explorer, Jacques Cartier, lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada.
1572–During the French Wars of Religion, mob violence against Huguenots in Paris, France, results in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre.
1592–In the Japanese invasions of Korea, the Yeongwon Castle is besieged by the Japanese Fourth Division led by Ito Suketaka.
1614–Jews are expelled from Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire, following the plundering of the Judengasse.
1614–The University of Groningen is established in the Dutch Republic.
1617–The first one-way streets are established in London, England.
1628–George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham, is assassinated by John Felton.
1655–The Swedish Empire, led by Charles X Gustav, defeats the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1703–Sultan Mustafa II of the Ottoman Empire is dethroned.
1754–Louis XVI of France is born.
1765–The Burmese-Siamese War begins.
1775–King George III delivers his Proclamation of Rebellion to the Court of St. James's, stating that the American colonies have proceeded to a state of open and avowed rebellion.
1784–Western North Carolina (present-day eastern Tennessee) declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin. It is not accepted into the United States, and only lasts for four years.
1793–Colonial clergyman, Increase Mather, dies of bladder failure in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, at age 84. He published nearly 100 books, and is credited with helping end executions for witchcraft in colonial America.
1799–Napoleon I of France leaves Egypt for France en route to seizing power.
1831–Nat Turner's slave rebellion is suppressed.
1833–Britain abolishes slavery in its colonies, with 700,000 slaves freed.
1836–Marie Henriette of Austria is born.
1839–The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as a base in preparation for war with Qing China. The ensuing three-year conflict will later be known as the First Opium War.
1852–Politician, Clímaco Calderón, is born. He was the 15th President of Colombia.
1858–The Round Oak rail accident occurs in Brierley Hill in Black Country, England.
1864–In the American Civil War, the Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico, except Galveston, Texas.
1866–The Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague.
1873–The Albert Bridge opens in Chelsea, London, England.
1890–Publisher, Harry Frank Guggenheim, is born in West End, New Jersey. He co-founded Newsday magazine with his wife, Alicia Patterson, in 1940. The circulation of Newsday reached 450,000 and received the Pulitzer Prize in 1954.
1892–Politician, Deodoro da Fonseca, dies. He was the first President of Brazil.
1898–The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, departs from London, England.
1900–Politician, Kuroda Kiyotaka, dies. He was the second Prime Minister of Japan.
1901–Six hundred American “Thomasite” school teachers arrive in Manila on the USAT Thomas.
1902–Canobie Lake Park opens in Salem, New Hampshire. In the park's early years, it is known for its flower gardens, promenades, and gentle attractions. Today, the park features over 50 rides, including roller coasters, a log flume, a hand-painted antique carousel, a steam train, a Ferris wheel, the Starblaster, Dodgems, DaVinci's Dream, and over a dozen kiddie rides.
1904–The automobile tire chain is patented.
1912–Actor and dancer, Gene Kelly, is born.
1914–Japan declares war on Germany and bombs Qingdao, China.
1923–Captain Lowell Smith and Lieutenant John P. Richter perform the first mid-air refueling on De Havilland DH-4B, setting an endurance flight record of 37 hours.
1923–Computer scientist, Edgar F. Codd, is born.
1924–Mars makes its closest approach to Earth since the 10th century.
1925–Film director, Robert Mulligan, is born.
1926–Actor, Rudolph Valentino, dies of peritonitis in New York, New York, at age 31. An estimated 100,000 people lined the streets of New York City to pay their respects at his funeral. Suicides of despondent fans were reported. Windows were smashed as fans tried to get in and an all-day riot erupted on August 24th. An early pop icon and a sex symbol of the 1920s, he was known as the "Latin Lover" or simply as "Valentino." He appeared in the silent films The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, and The Son of the Sheik.
1927–Italian anarchists, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, are executed after a lengthy, controversial trial.
1929–An Arab attack on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, continues until the next day, resulting in the death of about 68 Jews. The remaining Jews are forced to leave the city.
1929–Actress, Vera Miles, is born.
1931–Actress, Barbara Eden, is born. She is best known for her starring role on the fantasy sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. She was married to actor, Michael Ansara.
1932–Politician, Houari Boumediene, is born. He was the second President of Algeria.
1933–Politician, Pete Wilson, is born. He was the 36th Governor of California.
1934–Writer, Diane Di Prima, is born in New York. She is one of the best known of the few women of the Beat movement.
1939–Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, the Baltic states, Finland, Romania, and Poland are divided between the two nations.
1943–During World War II, Kharkiv is liberated as a result of the Battle of Kursk.
1944–The city of Marseille, France, is liberated by the Allies during World War II.
1944–King Michael of Romania dismisses the pro-Nazi government of Marshal Antonescu, who is arrested. Romania then switches sides from the Axis to the Allies in World War II.
1944–A U.S. Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into a school in Freckleton, England, killing 61 people.
1947–Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, is born in Wembley, England.
1948–The World Council of Churches is formed.
1949–Actress, Shelley Long, is born.
1949–Musician, Rick Springfield, is born.
1951–Mark Hudson, of The Hudson Brothers, is born in Portland, Oregon.
1951–Politician, Akhmad Kadyrov, is born. He was the first President of the Chechen Republic.
1951–Queen Noor of Jordan is born.
1958–In the Chinese Civil War, the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.
1960–Lyricist and theatrical producer, Oscar Hammerstein II, dies of stomach cancer at age 65. He was best known for his collaboration with composer, Richard Rodgers.
1961–East Germany imposes new curbs on travel between West and East Berlin. In retaliation, the Western powers place tanks and 1,000 troops along the Berlin Wall.
1961–Dean DeLeo, of Stone Temple Pilots, is born.
1962–John Lennon marries Cynthia Powell at the Mount Pleasant Registry Office in Liverpool, England. The couples’ wedding lunch, funded by Brian Epstein, is at Reece’s Cafeteria and John spends the evening performing with The Beatles.
1962–Actor, Hoot Gibson, dies.
1964–The Beatles, on a tour of America, perform a 29-minute concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. Attendance is 18,700. Since Capitol Records was planning to release a live Beatles album in the U.S., the the night’s concert is recorded. Both Capitol Records and The Beatles gave the resulting tapes the thumbs-down; the quality of the recording was too poor to release, and the tapes were shelved.
1964–Fashion designer, Wendy Pepper, is born. She competed on the first season the the TV series Project Runway.
1966–Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
1966–On their final tour of America, The Beatles perform at Shea Stadium in New York, New York. Unlike the previous year’s performance, which had sold out, there are 11,000 empty seats in the 55,600 seat stadium. Nonetheless, The Beatles earn more than the previous year, receiving $189,000 for their performance.
1966–A chart topper: Sunny by Bobby Hebb.
1966–Actor, director, and screenwriter, Francis X. Bushman, dies.
1968–The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Soft Machine play at the New York Rock Festival in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York.
1968–The Rascals' hit People Got To Be Free is awarded a Gold record.
1970–Organized by Mexican American labor union leader, César Chávez, the Salad Bowl strike (the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history) begins.
1970–After a gig at the legendary New York club Max's Kansas City, Lou Reed leaves The Velvet Underground, essentially ending the group.
1970–Actor, River Phoenix, is born River Jude Bottom in Madras, Oregon. He appeared in the films Explorers, Stand by Me, The Mosquito Coast, A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, Little Nikita, Running on Empty, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, I Love You to Death, Dogfight, My Own Private Idaho, Sneakers, and The Thing Called Love. His brother is actor, Joaquin Phoenix.
1973–The Intelsat communications satellite is launched.
1973–A bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis: over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathise with their captors, leading to the term "Stockholm Syndrome."
1974–New York newspapers publish that John Lennon has seen a UFO, while standing on his apartment’s terrace. The sighting took place at 9:00 p.m.
1975–Former Free guitarist Paul Kossof's heart stops beating for 35 minutes at Northwick Park Hospital in London, England. A blood clot in his leg reached his heart which put him in a coma. He survives and goes back to his group, Back Street Crawler.
1978–Baseball player, Kobe Bryant, is born.
1980–Actress, Joanne Froggatt, is born in Littlebeck, North Yorkshire, England. She is best known for the role of lady's maid Anna Bates in the BBC production of Downton Abbey.
1982–Bachir Gemayel is elected Lebanese President amidst the country’s raging civil war.
1982–Businessman, Alfred S. Bloomingdale, dies of throat cancer in Santa Monica, California, at age 66. Bloomingdale was born into great wealth. He was the son of Rosalind and Hiram Bloomingdale, and the grandson of Lyman G. Bloomingdale, a co-founder of the famous department store, Bloomingdales.
1985–Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany.
1989–Two million people from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, stand on the Vilnius-Tallinn road, holding hands (Baltic Way).
1989–An Australian domestic airline threatens to fire and sue 1,645 pilots over a dispute. The pilots resign.
1990–Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War.
1990–Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
1990–East and West Germany announce they will unite on October 3rd, ending four decades of post-World War II division.
1990–Bob Dylan’s childhood home in Hibbing, Minnesota, is sold to an anonymous buyer.
1990–Orchestra leader, David Rose, dies of a heart attack in Burbank, California, at age 80. He is best known for the compositions The Stripper, Holiday for Strings, and Calypso Melody.
1994–Eugene Bullard, the only black pilot in World War I, is posthumously commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.
1994–Chinese chef and restaurateur, Joyce Chen, dies of Alzheimer's disease in Lexington, Massachusetts. She is known for popularizing northern-style Chinese cuisine in the United States.
1996–Osama bin Laden issues a message entitled, “A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places.”
1997–Politician, Eric Gairy, dies. He was the first Prime Minister of Grenada.
1997–Biochemist and crystallographer, John Kendrew, dies.
1999–Screenwriter, Norman Wexler, dies.
2000–Gulf Air Flight 072 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain, killing 143 people.
2006–Natascha Kampusch, who had been abducted at the age of ten, escapes from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil, after eight years of captivity.
2005–Actor, Brock Peters, dies of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles, California, at age 78. He is best known for the role of Tom Robinson in the film To Kill a Mockingbird. He appeared in the films Carmen Jones, Porgy and Bess, The L-Shaped Room, Major Dundee, The Incident, Soylent Green, and Two-Minute Warning.
2006–Jazz musician and bandleader, Maynard Ferguson, dies of kidney and liver failure in Ventura, California, at age 78. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own band in 1957.
2007–The skeletal remains of Russia's last royal family members, Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister, Grand Duchess Anastasia, are discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia.
2011–Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of the Bab al-Azizia compound during the Libyan Civil War.
2011–A 5.8 earthquake shakes the state of Virginia. Damage occurs to monuments and structures in Washington, D.C., and the resulting damage is estimated at $200 to $300 million.
2012–A hot-air balloon crashes near the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, killing six people and injuring 28 others.
2013–A riot at the Palmasola prison complex in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, kills 31 people.
2016–It is reported that North Korea has laid landmines on the northern side of the so-called “Bridge of No Return” near the village of Panmunjom in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), in order to block the potential defection by its own soldiers.
2016–Ramen noodles have surpassed cigarettes as the most valuable prison “currency.” This is because the quality of American prison food has gone down due to an increase in cost-cutting measures.
2016–The highest and longest glass bridge opens over China's Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon in Hunan Province.
2016–NASA’s Curiosity Rover sends images of Mars that look like the American Southwest, with eroded mesas and buttes, capped with rock that is resistant to wind erosion.
2016–Actor, Steven Hill, dies in Monsey, New York, at age 94. His two best-known TV roles are District Attorney Adam Schiff on Law & Order, and Dan Briggs on Mission: Impossible. He appeared in the films The Goddess, A Child Is Waiting, The Slender Thread, It’s My Turn, Eyewitness, Rich and Famous, Yentl, Teachers, Garbo Talks, Legal Eagles, Heartburn, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Running on Empty, White Palace, and The Firm.
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1974–New York newspapers publish that John Lennon has seen a UFO, while standing on his apartment’s terrace. The sighting took place at 9:00 p.m.
