BC 30–Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, commits suicide.
526–Italian ruler, King Theoderic the Great, dies of dysentery at Ravenna. His daughter, Amalasuntha, takes power as regent for her 10-year-old son, Athalaric.
1146–European leaders outlaw the crossbow intending to end war for all time.
1282–Peter III of Aragon, originally traveling with his fleet on a military expedition against the Hafsid Kingdom, ends up in the Sicilian town of Trapani, after he was asked by the inhabitants of Palermo to help in the fight against Charles of Anjou.
1329–Khutughtu Khan, Emperor Mingzong of Yuan, dies.
1334–Peter of Castile is born in Burgos, Castile, Spain.
1363–The forces of two Chinese rebel leaders, Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang, are pitted against each other in what is one of the largest naval battles in history, during the last decade of the ailing, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.
1428–Emperor Shoko of Japan dies at age 27.
1464–Pope Paul II succeeds Pope Pius II as the 211th pope.
1483–Louis XI of France dies at Château de Plessis-lez-Tours in France, at age 60.
1569–Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, is born.
1574–Guru Ram Das becomes the Fourth Sikh Guru/Master.
1716–Gardner, Capability Brown, is born Lancelot Brown in Kirkharle, Northumberland, England. He was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "England's greatest gardener." He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure. He was called "Capability" Brown, because he would tell his landed clients that their estates had great "capability" for landscape improvement.
1727–Anne, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain, is given the title Princess Royal.
1791–The HMS Pandora sinks after having run aground on the outer Great Barrier Reef the previous day.
1797–Author, Mary Shelley, is born in London, England. Her mother died soon after. She was not quite 17 years old when she eloped with poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. She is best known for her gothic novel, Frankenstein, written at age 21. During the 19th century, because of the melodramatic stage version of the novel, she was more famous than her husband. Her parents were philosopher and political theoretician, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft, a major force in early British feminism.
1799–The entire Dutch fleet is captured by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell during the War of the Second Coalition.
1800–Gabriel Prosser postpones a planned slave rebellion in Richmond, Virginia, but is arrested before he can make it happen.
1808–Princess Ludovika of Bavaria is born.
1812–Businessman, Agoston Haraszthy, is born. He founded Buena Vista Winery.
1813–Creek "Red Sticks" kill over 500 settlers (including over 250 armed militia) in Fort Mims, north of Mobile, Alabama.
1813–Princess Mathilde Caroline of Bavaria is born.
1818–Politician, Alexander H. Rice, is born. He was the 30th Governor of Massachusetts.
1835–Melbourne, Australia, is founded.
1836–The city of Houston, Texas, is founded by Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen.
1842–Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia is born.
1870–Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia is born.
1873–Austrian explorers, Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht, discover the archipelago of Franz Josef Land in the Arctic Sea.
1893–Politician, Huey Long, is born. He was the 40th Governor of Louisiana.
1896–In the Philippine Revolution, after Spanish victory in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, eight provinces in the Philippines are declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas.
1896–Actor, Raymond Massey, is born.
1898–Actress, Shirley Booth, is born.
1906–Actress, (Rose) Joan Blondell, is born in Manhattan, New York. Establishing herself as a sexy wisecracking blonde, she was a pre-Code staple of Warner Bros. pictures and appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions. She appeared in the films The Public Enemy, Union Depot, Miss Pinkerton, Footlight Parade, Stage Struck, Lady for a Night, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Nightmare Alley, The Opposite Sex, Desk Set, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, and The Cincinnati Kid. Her younder sister was actress, Gloria Blondell. She was married to actor, Dick Powell, and film producer, Mike Todd.
1908–Actor, Fred MacMurray, is born Frederick Martin MacMurray in Kankakee, Illinois. He is best known for his starring role in the TV series My Three Sons. He appeared in the films Remember the Night, Double Indemnity, The Miracle of the Bells, Callaway Went Thataway, The Caine Mutiny, The Shaggy Dog, The Apartment, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Kisses for My President, Follow Me, Boys!, and The Happiest Millionaire. He was married to actress, June Haver.
1909–Burgess Shale fossils are discovered by Charles Doolittle Walcott.
1915–Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland, is born.
1917–Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia ia born.
1918–Fanni Kaplan shoots and seriously injures Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin.
1919–Country singer, Kitty Wells, is born.
1926–Police officer, Daryl Gates, is born.
1927–The New Orleans Rhythm Kings record, Tiger Rag, one of the most popular ragtime jazz tunes of all time.
1927–Fashion designer, Geoffrey Beene, is born Samuel Albert Bozeman, Jr. in Haynesville, Louisiana. Beene would become one of New York's most famous and recognizable designers. He was known for his simple and comfortable, yet dressy, women's wear.
1927–Actor, Bill Daily, is born.
1927–Anne Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, is born.
1928–Singer-songwriter and conductor, Johnny Mann, is born John Russell Mann in Baltimore, Maryland. As bandleader with the Johnny Mann Singers, he recorded approximately three dozen albums, hosted the TV series Stand Up and Cheer, and was the musical director for The Joey Bishop Show.
1930–Businessman and philanthropist, Warren Buffett, is born.
1931–Astronaut, Jack Swigert, is born.
1935–Musician, John Phillips, is born in Paris Island, South Carolina. He was the founder of the pop vocal group, The Mamas and The Papas.
1938–Make-up artist and businessman, Max Factor, Sr., dies. He founded the Max Factor Company.
1939–Actress, Elizabeth Ashley, is born.
1940–The Second Vienna Award reassigns the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.
1943–Cartoonist, R. Crumb, is born Robert Dennis Crumb in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1966, at age 23, he settled in the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, California. By the early 1970s, his “Snatch” series, often sexually explicit and graphic in its violence, was tried for obscenity and removed from circulation on both the East and West coasts. He was the creator of many characters, including Fritz the Cat, Angelfood McSpade, Whiteman, Mr. Natural, and Flakey Foont, who innocently sought easy solutions to the world's most complex problems. He designed the album cover for Big Brother and the Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills.
1943–Skier, Jean-Claude Killy, is born in France.
1944–Journalist and author, Molly Ivins, is born.
1944–Baseball player, Tug McGraw, is born.
1945–The Allied Control Council, governing Germany after World War II, comes into being.
1945–Hong Kong is liberated from Japan by British Armed Forces.
1946–Queen Anne-Marie of Greece is born.
1947–Actress, Peggy Lipton, is born in Lawrence, New York. She is best known for the role of Julie Barnes on the TV series The Mod Squad.
1950–Ralph Hancock, Welsh garden designer, dies in London, England, at age 57. He designed Rockefeller Center in New York City.
1951–Actor, Timothy Bottoms, is born.
1954–Actor, David Paymer, is born.
1956–The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway opens in southern Louisiana.
1957–”Alan Freed’s Third Anniversary Show” takes place as a week-long series of concerts at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater in New York. Performers include Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Jimmie Rodgers, The Cleftones, The Moonglows, O.C. Smith, The Del-Vikings, The Diamonds, Mickey and Sylvia, Little Richard, and King Curtis.
1959–Bobby Darin's Mack the Knife debuts on the pop charts. The song, from Brecht & Weill's Three Penny Opera, will be the singer's biggest hit.
1960–Journalist and politician, Ben Bradshaw, is born.
1962–Japan conducts a test of the NAMC YS-11, its first aircraft since World War II and its only successful commercial aircraft from before or after the war.
1963–A “hotline” telephone link is installed between the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, and the White House in Washington, D.C. The intention is to allow direct communication in the event of a crisis between the U.S. President and the leader of the Soviet Union (USSR). This had been agreed to following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
1963–The Beatles continue filming for a documentary being made to explore the ”Mersey Beat” boom. Shooting outside of Ringo Starr’s home, the Beatle is seen leaving his house, having to fight his way through the crowd of teenagers gathered outside, and making his way to George Harrison’s convertible sports car, which speeds away with fans hanging onto the back. Ringo then shoots a solo scene, visiting a women’s beauty parlor in recognition of his comments about wanting to be a lady’s hairdresser. This will be the final day of filming for the documentary The Mersey Sound.” Prints of the documentary were provided to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and the National Film Archive in London. Extracts from this documentary have appeared many times over the years.
1963–Actor, Michael Chiklis, is born.
1964–The Beatles, on tour in America, perform at Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, for a crowd of 18,000 fans.
1965–The Beatles, on tour in North America, perform one show at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California. The concert is recorded, and seven tracks will be included on the 1977 album The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl. For their two consecutive nights at the Hollywood Bowl, The Beatles earned $90,000.
1967–Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
1967–Model, Frederique van der Wal, is born.
1968–The Beatles’ single Hey Jude/Revolution is released in the U.K.
1969–The three-day Texas International Pop Festival opens at the International Motor Speedway in Dallas, Texas. Performers include Chicago Transit Authority, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, and Santana.
1970–Actor, Del Moore, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Encino, California, at age 54. He began his career in radio before moving to television. He co-starred in the early TV sitcom Life with Elizabeth (1953-1955), with Betty White. He appeared in the films Bus Stop, Hollywood or Bust, The Bellboy, Cinderfella, Dondi, The Errand Boy, The Nutty Professor, The Patsy, The Disorderly Orderly, Two on a Guillotine, The Big Mouth, and Catalina Caper.
1972–John Lennon performs two One to One benefit concerts with Yoko Ono and Elephant’s Memory at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The concerts are to benefit the Willowbrook School for Children. The concerts are recorded, and some of the songs are later edited into the LP and video John Lennon: Live in New York City. John purchased $60,000 worth of tickets to distribute to volunteer fund-raisers. The event, organized by Geraldo Rivera, raised over $1.5 million. Other acts performing were Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, and Sha Na Na.
1972–Actress, Cameron Diaz, is born.
1973–Rolling Stone reports that after two albums, the post-Jim Morrison Doors have parted. Ray Manzarek is back in Los Angeles, California, putting a new group together.
1974–A Belgrade-Dortmund express train derails at the main train station in Zagreb, Republic of Croatia, killing 153 passengers.
1974–A powerful bomb explodes at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters in Marunouchi, Tokyo, Japan. Eight people are killed and 378 others are injured.
1979–Actress, Jean Seberg, dies.
1981–President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar of Iran are assassinated in a bombing committed by the People's Mujahedin of Iran.
1981–Actress and dancer, Vera-Ellen, dies.
1984–The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.
1984–At an auction in London, England, $23,056 is paid for an unpublished manuscript written by John Lennon.
1985–Author, Taylor Caldwell, dies.
1991–During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan declares its independence.
1992–The 11-day Ruby Ridge standoff ends with Randy Weaver surrendering to federal authorities.
1992–The 44th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards announces its winners. Best Dramatic Series: Northern Exposure; Best Comedy Series: Murphy Brown; Best Musical or Variety Series: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; Best Mini-Series: A Woman Named Jackie; Best Made for Television Movie: Miss Rose White; Best Actor: Christopher Lloyd; Best Actress: Dana Delany; Best Comedy Actor: Craig T. Nelson; Best Comedy Actress: Candice Bergen. The ceremonies are held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California. The hosts are Tim Allen, Kirstie Alley, and Dennis Miller.
1993–The Late Show with David Letterman debuts on CBS-TV. The Ed Sullivan Theater (on 54th Street in New York City) was remodeled for the series.
1993–Actor, Richard Jordan, dies.
1994–Film director, Lindsay Anderson, dies in Angoulême, France, at age 71. He was a leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave. His films include This Sporting Life, The White Bus, if...., O Lucky Man!, In Celebration, Look Back in Anger, Britannia Hospital, The Whales of August, and Glory! Glory!
1995–NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.
1995–Sterling Morrison, of The Velvet Underground, dies.
1998–Armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and their Angolan and Zimbabwean allies recapture Matadi and the Inga dams in the western DRC from RCD and Rwandan troops.
1999–In a referendum, East Timor votes for independence from Indonesia.
2003–While being towed across the Barents Sea, the de-commissioned Russian submarine K-159 sinks, taking nine crew members and 800 kg of spent nuclear fuel with it.
2003–Actor, Charles Bronson, dies of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California, at age 81. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his final years. He appeared in the films Red Skies of Montana, Miss Sadie Thompson, House of Wax, Vera Cruz, Crime Wave, Jubal, Machine-Gun Kelly, Never So Few, The Magnificent Seven, Kid Galahad, The Great Escape, 4 for Texas, The Sandpiper, This Property is Condemned, The Dirty Dozen, Once Upon a Time in the West, Twinky, The Mechanic, Death Wish, Breakheart Pass, Murphy’s Law, and The Indian Runner.
2005–Super-centenarian, Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, dies in Hoogeveen, Drenthe, Netherlands, at age 115 (and 62 days). She was the oldest person ever in the history of the Netherlands.
2006–Actor, Glenn Ford, dies after a series of strokes in Beverly Hills, California, at age 90. He appeared in the films Gilda, A Stolen Life, The Man from Colorado, The Big Heat, The Violent Men, Blackboard Jungle, Ransom!, Jubal, The Teahouse of the August Moon, 3:10 to Yuma, Cowboy, The Gazebo, Cimarron, Pocketful of Miracles, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Dear Heart, The Rounders, and Superman.
2007–Journalist and author, Michael Jackson, dies.
2012–Music manager, Chris Lighty, dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound outside of his apartment in New York, New York, at age 44. He was reportedly dealing with financial struggles, including owing around $5 million to the IRS. He had managed P. Diddy, 50 Cent, and Mariah Carey.
2013–Poet, Seamus Heaney, dies following a short illness in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, at age 74. He was recognized as one of the principal contributors to poetry during his lifetime. Heaney was a professor at Harvard from 1981 to 1997, and its Poet in Residence from 1988 to 2006. His literary papers are held by the National Library of Ireland.
2013–Super-centenarian, Soledad Mexia, dies in Chula Vista, California, at age 114 (and 17 days). She was the oldest verified Mexican-born person ever, until being surpassed by Dominga Velasco on May 30, 2015.
2014–Tom Thabane, the Prime Minister of Lesotho, flees to South Africa as the army allegedly stages a coup.
2015–Film director and producer, Wes Craven, dies of brain cancer in Los Angeles, California, at age 76. He is known for his work on horror films, particularly slasher films, but he is best known for creating the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, featuring the Freddy Krueger character. His other films include The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, Swamp Thing, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and Scream (1, 2, 3, and 4).
2015–Neurologist and author, Oliver Sacks, dies.
2016–Scientists announce that the Earth’s Anthropocene (“Age of Humans”) epoch began in 1950, with the start of the era of nuclear bomb tests, disposable plastics, and the human population boom. The term Anthropocene was coined not by a geologist, but by the Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist, Paul Crutzen, in 2000. The scientific credibility of the Anthropocene proposition is likely to be called into question the more that scientists use the term informally or otherwise. We have spent the past 11,500 years living in the Holocene epoch, the interglacial period during which Homo sapiens has flourished.
2016–Two North Korean officials are publicly executed by Kim Jong-un after they disobeyed orders. Former agriculture minister, Hwang Min, was charged with unsuitable policies, and Ri Yong Jin, a senior official at the education ministry, was charge with sleeping at a meeting with Kim, showing disrespect for the leader.
2016–A car bomb explodes outside the President of Somalia's compound in Mogadishu, killing at least five people.
2016–Photojournalist, Marc Riboud, dies at age 93. He was best known for his extensive reports on the East: The Three Banners of China, Face of North Vietnam, Visions of China, and In China.
2016–Engineer, Joe Sutter, dies of complications from pneumonia in Seattle, Washington, at age 95. He worked for the Boeing Airplane Company and was manager of the design team for the Boeing 747 under Malcolm T. Stamper, the head of the 747 project. Smithsonian Air and Space Magazine has described Sutter as the "father of the 747."
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1993–The Late Show with David Letterman debuts on CBS-TV. The Ed Sullivan Theater (on 54th Street in New York City) was remodeled for the series.
