• 636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins.
• 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.
• 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
• 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom.
• 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
• 805 – Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising
• 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
• 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria
• 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.
• 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him.
• 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
• 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
• 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
• 1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory.
• 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
• 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.
• 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
• 1309 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
• 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
• 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
• 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
• 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.
• 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
• 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded.
• 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
• 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded.
• 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded.
• 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549).
• 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
• 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels.
• 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
• 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states.
• 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
• 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
• 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.
• 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
• 1914 – A servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright murders seven people and sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin.
• 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
• 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.
• 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I.
• 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production.
• 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula.
• 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
• 1939 – Twenty-six Stukas commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn.
• 1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.
• 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
• 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage.
• 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal: The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses.
• 1943 – World War II:  Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds.
• 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France.
• 1945 – Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Emperor Showa following effective surrender of Japan in the World War II, Korea gains Independence from the Empire of Japan.
• 1947 – India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of Crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
• 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.
• 1948 – The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
• 1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people.
• 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
• 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
• 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
• 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016.
• 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.
• 1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
• 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.
• 1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.
• 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.
• 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
• 1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1973 – Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
• 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung-hee.
• 1975 – Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
• 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
• 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
• 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh
• 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
• 1998 – Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured.
• 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.
• 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.
• 2005 – The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting.
• 2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.
• 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video.
• 2013 – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.
• 2015 – North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 8½ hours ahead of UTC.

• 1013 – Teishi, empress of Japan (d. 1094)
• 1171 – Alfonso IX, king of León and Galicia (d. 1230)
• 1195 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese priest and saint (d. 1231)
• 1385 – Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, English commander (d. 1417)
• 1402 – Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English commander (d. 1460)
• 1432 – Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
• 1455 – George, duke of Bavaria (d. 1503)
• 1507 – George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, German prince (d. 1553)
• 1575 – Bartol Kašić, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1650)
• 1589 – Gabriel Báthory, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1613)
• 1607 – Herman IV, landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg (d. 1658)
• 1608 – Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1652)
• 1613 – Gilles Ménage, French lawyer, philologist, and scholar (d. 1692)
• 1615 – Marie de Lorraine, duchess of Guise (d. 1688)
• 1652 – John Grubb, American politician (d. 1708)
• 1702 – Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian painter and Royal Academician (d. 1788)
• 1717 – Blind Jack, English engineer (d. 1810)
• 1736 – Johann Christoph Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1803)
• 1740 – Matthias Claudius, German poet and author (d. 1815)
• 1769 – Napoleon, French general and emperor (d. 1821)
• 1771 – Walter Scott, Scottish novelist, playwright, and poet (d. 1832)
• 1785 – Thomas De Quincey, English journalist and author (d. 1859)
• 1798 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian warrior (d. 1831)
• 1807 – Jules Grévy, French lawyer and politician, 4th President of the French Republic (d. 1891)
• 1824 – John Chisum, American businessman (d. 1884)
• 1839 – Antonín Petrof, Czech piano maker (d. 1915)
• 1844 – Thomas-Alfred Bernier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1908)
• 1845 – Walter Crane, English artist and book illustrator (d. 1915)
• 1856 – Keir Hardie, Scottish politician and trade unionist (d. 1915)
• 1857 – Albert Ballin, German businessman (d. 1918)
• 1858 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (d. 1924)
• 1859 – Charles Comiskey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1931)
• 1860 – Florence Harding, American publisher, 31st First Lady of the United States (d. 1924)
• 1863 – Aleksey Krylov, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 1945)
• 1865 – Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual leader, founded Reiki (d. 1926)
• 1866 – Italo Santelli, Italian fencer (d. 1945)
• 1872 – Sri Aurobindo, Indian guru, poet, and philosopher (d. 1950)
• 1873 – Ramaprasad Chanda, Indian archaeologist and historian (d. 1942)
• 1875 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English pianist, violinist, and composer (d. 1912)
• 1876 – Stylianos Gonatas, Greek colonel and politician, 111th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1966)
• 1877 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna (d. 1941)
• 1879 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (d. 1959)
• 1881 – Alfred Wagenknecht, German-American activist and politician (d. 1956)
• 1882 – Marion Bauer, American composer and critic (d. 1955)
• 1882 – Gisela Richter, English archaeologist and art historian (d. 1972)
• 1883 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor and architect (d. 1962)
• 1885 – Edna Ferber, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1968)
• 1886 – Bill Whitty, Australian cricketer (d. 1974)
• 1890 – Jacques Ibert, French composer and educator (d. 1962)
• 1892 – Louis de Broglie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
• 1892 – Abraham Wachner, New Zealand politician, 35th Mayor of Invercargill (d. 1950)
• 1893 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and academic (d. 1950)
• 1896 – Gerty Cori, Czech-American biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
• 1896 – Catherine Doherty, Russian-Canadian activist, founded the Madonna House Apostolate (d. 1985)
• 1896 – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer and educator (d. 1958)
• 1898 – Jan Brzechwa, Polish author and poet (d. 1966)
• 1900 – Estelle Brody, American silent film actress (d. 1995)
• 1900 – Jack Tworkov, Polish-American painter and educator (d. 1982)
• 1901 – Arnulfo Arias Madrid, 21st president of the republic of Panamá (d. 1988)
• 1901 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1975)
• 1902 – Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and critic (d. 1943)
• 1904 – George Klein, Canadian inventor, invented the motorized wheelchair (d. 1992)
• 1909 – Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader (d. 1973)
• 1912 – Julia Child, American chef and author (d. 2004)
• 1912 – Wendy Hiller, English actress (d. 2003)
• 1914 – Paul Rand, American graphic designer and art director (d. 1996)
• 1915 – Signe Hasso, Swedish-American actress (d. 2002)
• 1916 – Aleks Çaçi, Albanian journalist and author (d. 1989)
• 1917 – Jack Lynch, Irish footballer and politician, 5th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 1999)
• 1917 – Óscar Romero, Salvadoran archbishop (d. 1980)
• 1919 – Huntz Hall, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1919 – Benedict Kiely, Irish journalist and author (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Judy Cassab, Austrian-Australian painter (d. 2008)
• 1921 – August Kowalczyk, Polish actor and director (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Leonard Baskin, American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2000)
• 1922 – Giorgos Mouzakis, Greek trumpet player and composer (d. 2005)
• 1922 – Sabino Barinaga, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1988)
• 1923 – Rose Marie, American actress and singer (d. 2017)
• 1924 – Robert Bolt, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1924 – Hedy Epstein, German-American Holocaust survivor and activist (d. 2016)
• 1924 – Yoshirō Muraki, Japanese production designer, art director, and fashion designer (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Phyllis Schlafly, American lawyer, writer, and political activist (d. 2016)
• 1925 – Mike Connors, American actor and producer (d. 2017)
• 1925 – Rose Maddox, American singer-songwriter and fiddle player (d. 1998)
• 1925 – Oscar Peterson, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 2007)
• 1925 – Bill Pinkney, American singer (The Drifters) (d. 2007)
• 1925 – Erik Schmidt, Swedish-Estonian painter and author (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Julius Katchen, American pianist and composer (d. 1969)
• 1926 – Sami Michael, Iraqi-Israeli author and playwright
• 1926 – John Silber, American philosopher and academic (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, Greek lawyer and politician, 6th President of Greece (d. 2016)
• 1927 – Eddie Leadbeater, English cricketer (d. 2011)
• 1927 – Oliver Popplewell, English cricketer and judge
• 1928 – Carl Joachim Classen, German scholar and academic (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Malcolm Glazer, American businessman (d. 2014)
• 1928 – Nicolas Roeg, English director and cinematographer
• 1931 – Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Richard F. Heck, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
• 1932 – Abby Dalton, American actress
• 1932 – Johan Steyn, Baron Steyn, South African-English lawyer and judge
• 1933 – Bobby Helms, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1997)
• 1933 – Stanley Milgram, American social psychologist (d. 1984)
• 1933 – Mike Seeger, American folk musician and folklorist (d. 2009)
• 1934 – Bobby Byrd, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Reginald Scarlett, Jamaican cricketer and coach
• 1935 – Régine Deforges, French author, playwright, and director (d. 2014)
• 1936 – Rita Shane, American soprano and educator (d. 2014)
• 1938 – Stephen Breyer, American lawyer and judge
• 1938 – Stix Hooper, American jazz drummer (The Crusaders)
• 1938 – Pran Kumar Sharma, Indian cartoonist (d. 2014)
• 1938 – Maxine Waters, American educator and politician
• 1938 – Janusz Zajdel, Polish engineer and author (d. 1985)
• 1940 – Gudrun Ensslin, German militant leader, founded Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
• 1941 – Jim Brothers, American sculptor (d. 2013)
• 1941 – Don Rich, American country musician (The Buckaroos) (d. 1974)
• 1942 – Pete York, English rock drummer
• 1943 – Eileen Bell, Northern Irish civil servant and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly
• 1944 – Dimitris Sioufas, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Health
• 1945 – Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician, 9th Prime Minister of Bangladesh
• 1946 – Jimmy Webb, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1948 – Patsy Gallant, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1948 – Tom Johnston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1950 – Tommy Aldridge, American drummer
• 1950 – Tom Kelly, American baseball player
• 1950 – Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
• 1951 – Ann Biderman, American screenwriter and producer
• 1951 – Bobby Caldwell, American singer-songwriter
• 1951 – John Childs, English cricketer
• 1952 – Chuck Burgi, American drummer
• 1953 – Carol Thatcher, English journalist and author
• 1953 – Mark Thatcher, English businessman
• 1954 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish journalist and author (d. 2004)
• 1956 – Lorraine Desmarais, Canadian pianist and composer
• 1956 – Freedom Neruda, Ivorian journalist
• 1956 – Robert Syms, English businessman and politician
• 1957 – Željko Ivanek, Slovenian-American actor
• 1958 – Simon Baron-Cohen, English-Canadian psychiatrist and author
• 1958 – Craig MacTavish, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1958 – Simple Kapadia, Indian actress and costume designer (d. 2009)
• 1958 – Victor Shenderovich, Russian journalist and radio host
• 1959 – Scott Altman, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
• 1961 – Ed Gillespie, American political strategist
• 1961 – Matt Johnson, English singer-songwriter and musician
• 1961 – Gary Kubiak, American football player and coach
• 1961 – Suhasini Maniratnam, Indian actress and screenwriter
• 1962 – Tom Colicchio, American chef and author
• 1962 – Rıdvan Dilmen, Turkish footballer and manager
• 1962 – Inês Pedrosa, Portuguese writer
• 1962 – Vilja Savisaar-Toomast, Estonian lawyer and politician
• 1963 – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Simon Hart, Welsh soldier and politician
• 1963 – Jack Russell, England cricketer and coach
• 1964 – Jane Ellison, English lawyer and politician
• 1964 – Melinda Gates, American businesswoman and philanthropist, co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• 1965 – Rob Thomas, American author, screenwriter, and producer
• 1966 – Scott Brosius, American baseball player and coach
• 1966 – Dimitris Papadopoulos, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1967 – Tony Hand, Scottish ice hockey player and coach
• 1968 – Debra Messing, American actress
• 1969 – Bernard Fanning, Australian singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Carlos Roa, Argentine footballer
• 1970 – Anthony Anderson, American comedian, actor, and producer
• 1970 – Ben Silverman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter, founded Electus Studios
• 1971 – Adnan Sami, Indian singer, musician, music composer, pianist and actor
• 1972 – Ben Affleck, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1972 – Jennifer Alexander, Canadian ballerina (d. 2007)
• 1974 – Natasha Henstridge, Canadian model and actress
• 1974 – Tomasz Suwary, Polish footballer
• 1975 – Bertrand Berry, American football player and radio host
• 1975 – Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer and coach
• 1975 – Brendan Morrison, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Kara Wolters, American basketball player
• 1976 – Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1977 – Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Anthony Rocca, Australian footballer and coach
• 1978 – Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
• 1978 – Stavros Tziortziopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1978 – Kerri Walsh Jennings, American volleyball player
• 1979 – Carl Edwards, American race car driver
• 1979 – Jon Hopkins, English producer and musician^[1][2]
• 1981 – Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
• 1981 – Óliver Pérez, American baseball player
• 1982 – Casey Burgener, American weightlifter
• 1982 – Germán Caffa, Argentine footballer
• 1982 – David Harrison, American basketball player
• 1983 – Siobhan Chamberlain, English association football goalkeeper
• 1987 – Ryan D'Imperio, American football player
• 1987 – Michel Kreder, Dutch cyclist
• 1987 – Sean McAllister, English footballer
• 1988 – Oussama Assaidi, Moroccan footballer
• 1989 – Joe Jonas, American singer-songwriter
• 1989 – Ryan McGowan, Australian footballer
• 1989 – Jordan Rapana, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1991 – Petja Piiroinen, Finnish snowboarder
• 1992 – Baskaran Adhiban, Indian chess player
• 1993 – Clinton N'Jie, Cameroonian footballer
• 1993 – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, English footballer
• 1994 – Lasse Vigen Christensen, Danish footballer
• 1994 – Kosuke Hagino, Japanese swimmer
• 1995 – Chief Keef, American rapper^[3]

• 398 – Lan Han, official of the Xianbei state Lan Yan
• 423 – Honorius, Roman emperor (b. 384)
• 465 – Libius Severus, Roman emperor (b. 420)
• 767 – Abu Hanifa, Iraqi scholar and educator (b. 699)^[4][5]
• 778 – Roland, Frankish military leader
• 873 – Yi Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 833)
• 874 – Altfrid, bishop of Hildesheim
• 912 – Han Jian, Chinese warlord (b. 855)
• 932 – Ma Xisheng, Chinese governor and king (b. 899)
• 978 – Li Yu, ruler ('king') of Southern Tang
• 1022 – Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos, Byzantine rebel
• 1038 – Stephen I, Hungarian king (b. 975)
• 1057 – Macbeth, King of Scotland
• 1118 – Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1048)
• 1196 – Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
• 1224 – Marie of France, Duchess of Brabant (b. 1198)
• 1257 – Saint Hyacinth of Poland
• 1274 – Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and educator, founded the College of Sorbonne (b. 1201)
• 1275 – Lorenzo Tiepolo, Doge of Venice
• 1328 – Yesün Temür, emperor of the Yuan Dynasty (b. 1293)
• 1369 – Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England (b. 1314)
• 1388 – Adalbertus Ranconis de Ericinio, Bohemian theologian and rector of the University of Paris (b. circa 1320)
• 1399 – Ide Pedersdatter Falk, Danish noblewoman (b. 1358)
• 1496 – Infanta Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile and León (b. 1428)
• 1506 – Alexander Agricola, Flemish composer (b. c. 1445)
• 1507 – John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1439)
• 1528 – Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, French general (b. 1485)
• 1552 – Hermann of Wied, German archbishop (b. 1477)
• 1594 – Thomas Kyd, English playwright (b. 1558)
• 1621 – John Barclay, Scottish poet and author (b. 1582)
• 1666 – Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German missionary and astronomer (b. 1591)
• 1714 – Constantin Brâncoveanu, Romanian prince (b. 1654)
• 1728 – Marin Marais, French viol player and composer (b. 1656)
• 1758 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (b. 1698)
• 1799 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and author (b. 1729)
• 1852 – Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (b. 1760)
• 1859 – Nathaniel Claiborne, American farmer and politician (b. 1777)
• 1907 – Joseph Joachim, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1831)
• 1909 – Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian sociologist and journalist (b. 1866)
• 1917 – Thomas J. Higgins, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1831)
• 1925 – Konrad Mägi, Estonian painter and educator (b. 1878)
• 1928 – Anatole von Hügel, Italian ethnologist and academic, co-founded St Edmund's College, Cambridge (b. 1854)
• 1935 – Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
• 1935 – Will Rogers, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (b. 1879)
• 1935 – Paul Signac, French painter and author (b. 1863)
• 1936 – Grazia Deledda, Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1871)
• 1942 – Mahadev Desai, Indian activist and author (b. 1892)
• 1945 – Korechika Anami, Japanese general and politician, 54th Japanese Minister of the Army (b. 1887)
• 1945 – Fred Hockley, English lieutenant and pilot (b. 1923)
• 1951 – Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1882)
• 1953 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist and engineer (b. 1875)
• 1962 – Lei Feng, Chinese soldier (b. 1940)
• 1967 – René Magritte, Belgian painter (b. 1898)
• 1971 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1887)
• 1975 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bengali politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (b. 1920)
• 1975 – Clay Shaw, American businessman (b. 1913)
• 1975 – Harun Karadeniz, Turkish political activist and author (b. 1942)
• 1981 – Carol Ryrie Brink, American author (b. 1895)
• 1981 – Jørgen Løvset, Norwegian gynaecologist and academic (b. 1896)
• 1982 – Ernie Bushmiller, American cartoonist (b. 1905)
• 1982 – Jock Taylor, Scottish motorcycle sidecar racer (b. 1954)
• 1982 – Hugo Theorell, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
• 1989 – Minoru Genda, Japanese general, pilot, and politician (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek general and diplomat (b. 1897)
• 1990 – Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician and actor (b. 1962)
• 1992 – Linda Laubenstein, American physician and academic (b. 1947)
• 1994 – Wout Wagtmans, Dutch cyclist (b. 1929)
• 1995 – John Cameron Swayze, American journalist and actor (b. 1906)
• 1997 – Ida Gerhardt, Dutch poet and educator (b. 1905)
• 1999 – Hugh Casson, English architect and interior designer (b. 1910)
• 2001 – Yavuz Çetin, Turkish singer-songwriter (b. 1970)
• 2001 – Richard Chelimo, Kenyan runner (b. 1972)
• 2001 – Kateryna Yushchenko, Ukrainian computer scientist and academic (b. 1919)
• 2004 – Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 2004 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (b. 1941)
• 2005 – Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist and academic (b. 1927)
• 2006 – Te Atairangikaahu, New Zealand queen (b. 1931)
• 2006 – Rick Bourke, Australian rugby league player (b. 1955)
• 2006 – Coenraad Bron, Dutch computer scientist and academic (b. 1937)
• 2006 – Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer and manager (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Richard Bradshaw, English conductor and director (b. 1944)
• 2007 – John Gofman, American biologist, chemist, and physicist (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand physician (b. 1908)
• 2007 – Sam Pollock, Canadian businessman (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Vic Toweel, South African-Australian boxer (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Jerry Wexler, American journalist and producer (b. 1917)
• 2011 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1984)
• 2012 – Bob Birch, American bass player and saxophonist (b. 1956)
• 2012 – Altamiro Carrilho, Brazilian flute player and composer (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Harry Harrison, American author and illustrator (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (b. 1944)
• 2013 – Sławomir Mrożek, Polish-French author and playwright (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Marich Man Singh Shrestha, Nepali politician, 28th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1942)
• 2014 – Licia Albanese, Italian-American soprano and actress (b. 1909)
• 2015 – Julian Bond, American academic and politician (b. 1940)
• 2015 – Hamid Gul, Pakistani general (b. 1936)
• 2017 – Gunnar Birkerts, Latvian-American architect (b. 1925)

Madonna at 60: The Queen of Pop in seven charts

Image copyrightSHUTTERSTOCK

Madonna turns 60 on Thursday. To celebrate, we're taking a look back at her 35 years in the industry.

Since Madonna's eponymous debut album hit the shelves in 1983, she's performed on 10 concert tours and sold more than 300 million records. 

This has earned her a spot in the Guinness World Records as the best-selling female recording artist of all time. 

What else can a look at the numbers tell us about the Queen of Pop?

1) She's had more UK number one albums than any other female artist

Twelve of Madonna's albums have hit the number one spot. Only the Beatles and Elvis Presley can boast more.

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Greatest hits album The Immaculate Collection spent a 338 weeks in the charts after its release in 1990 - including more than two months at number one.

2) These are the people's favourites

Like A Virgin your favourite Madonna tune? Join the crowd: Spotify data ranks this 1984 classic as her most popular song. 

In fact, only one song in the top five is not from the 80s: Hung Up from 2005. 

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3) She's had more singles in the top five than any other female artist

Madonna's had 46 singles make the top five in the UK charts - only Elvis has had more. 

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The run of top five hits spans three decades, from Like A Virgin in 1984 to Celebration in 2009. 

Image copyrightSHUTTERSTOCK

4) Her Super Bowl performance was record-breaking

Obviously, Google wasn't around to tell us what people were curious about back in the 1980s. 

But since 2010, global searches for Madonna reached their highest point in March 2012, when she was the Super Bowl's first female headline act since Janet Jackson had her "wardrobe malfunction" in 2004.

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In 2012, Madonna set a record for the highest viewing audience of a Super Bowl halftime show - which lasted until 2015 when it was smashed by Katy Perry and 'Left Shark'.

5) Spotify doesn't hear Madonna the same way we do

Most streaming services give songs a numeric value to determine if it's a "happy" or "sad" song, based on its key, tempo and other factors.

It only measures how the music sounds - and ignores the lyrical content - but uses this information to auto-recommend new music to us.

So looking at how Spotify's computers "hear" her work, they would classify it as getting "sadder" over time, with slower songs and more minor keys being used.

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Clearly this is far from the whole story - machines can't (currently) understand the words and "feel" songs in the way we do.

Some of Madonna's deepest, most emotional work is actually on her early albums, despite those records sounding more "happy" overall.

True Blue from 1986 ranks among the "happiest" sounding, despite songs covering teenage pregnancy, deceit and parental estrangement.

And while 2012's MDNA and 2015's Rebel Heart both sound "gloomier" to a computer, songs such as Give Me All Your Luvin and Girl Gone Wild are lyrically anything but.

So streaming services have a way to go before they can reveal more to us about a song than just its sound.

6) G major is the most common key

Madonna's studio albums feature songs in 24 different keys - but G major is the most common, with 17 songs employing it. 

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7) She's the richest female musician in America

Looks like she really is a Material Girl. 

Forbes estimated Madonna's net worth at $580m (£454m) last year, making her the richest female artist based in America, comfortably $200m (£157m) ahead of runner-up Celine Dion.

• 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who had died the previous day, had no heirs.
• 963 – Nikephoros II Phokas is crowned emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1328 – The House of Gonzaga seizes power in the Duchy of Mantua, and will rule until 1708.
• 1513 – Battle of the Spurs (Battle of Guinegate): King Henry VIII of England and his Imperial allies defeat French Forces who are then forced to retreat.
• 1652 – Battle of Plymouth: Inconclusive naval action between the fleets of Michiel de Ruyter and George Ayscue in the First Anglo-Dutch War.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans led by General John Stark rout British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Camden: The British defeat the Americans near Camden, South Carolina.
• 1792 – Maximilien de Robespierre presents the petition of the Commune of Paris to the Legislative Assembly, which demanded the formation of a revolutionary tribunal.
• 1793 – French Revolution: A levée en masse is decreed by the National Convention.
• 1812 – War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army.
• 1819 – Peterloo Massacre: Seventeen people die and over 600 are injured in cavalry charges at a public meeting at St. Peter's Field, Manchester, England.
• 1841 – U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.
• 1858 – U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal forces a shutdown of the service in a few weeks.
• 1859 – The Grand Duchy of Tuscany formally deposes the exiled House of Lorraine.
• 1863 – The Dominican Restoration War begins when Gregorio Luperón raises the Dominican flag in Santo Domingo after Spain had recolonized the country.
• 1869 – Battle of Acosta Ñu: A Paraguayan battalion made up of children is massacred by the Brazilian Army during the Paraguayan War.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-la-Tour is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
• 1891 – The Basilica of San Sebastian, Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.
• 1896 – Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
• 1900 – The Battle of Elands River during the Second Boer War ends after a 13-day siege is lifted by the British. The battle had begun when a force of between 2,000 and 3,000 Boers had surrounded a force of 500 Australians, Rhodesians, Canadians and British soldiers at a supply dump at Brakfontein Drift.
• 1906 – The 8.2 M_w Valparaíso earthquake hits central Chile, killing 3,882 people.
• 1913 – Tōhoku Imperial University of Japan (modern day Tohoku University) becomes the first university in Japan to admit female students.
• 1913 – Completion of the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary.
• 1916 – The Migratory Bird Treaty between Canada and the United States is signed.
• 1918 – The Battle of Lake Baikal was fought between the Czechoslovak Legion and the Red Army.
• 1920 – Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit on the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees, and dies early the next day. Chapman was the second player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game, the first being Doc Powers in 1909.
• 1920 – The congress of the Communist Party of Bukhara opens. The congress would call for armed revolution.
• 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: The Battle of Radzymin concludes; the Soviet Red Army is forced to turn away from Warsaw.
• 1923 – The United Kingdom gives the name "Ross Dependency" to part of its claimed Antarctic territory and makes the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand its administrator.
• 1927 – The Dole Air Race begins from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, during which six out of the eight participating planes crash or disappear.
• 1929 – The 1929 Palestine riots break out in Mandatory Palestine between Palestinian Arabs and Jews and continue until the end of the month. In total, 133 Jews and 116 Arabs are killed.
• 1930 – The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks.
• 1930 – The first British Empire Games were opened in Hamilton, Ontario by the Governor General of Canada, the Viscount Willingdon.
• 1942 – World War II: A naval L-class blimp drifts in from the Pacific and eventually crashes in Daly City, California. The two-man crew cannot be found.
• 1944 – First flight of a jet with forward-swept wings, the Junkers Ju 287.
• 1945 – The National Representatives' Congress, the precursor of the current National Assembly of Vietnam, convenes in Sơn Dương.
• 1946 – Mass riots in Kolkata begin; more than 4,000 people would be killed in 72 hours.
• 1946 – The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress is founded in Secunderabad.
• 1954 – The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.
• 1960 – Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1960 – Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.
• 1962 – Eight years after the remaining French India territories were handed to India, the ratifications of the treaty are exchanged to make the transfer official.
• 1962 – Pete Best is discharged from The Beatles, to be replaced two days later by Ringo Starr.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy.
• 1966 – Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested.
• 1972 – In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
• 1987 – Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after take off in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.
• 1989 – A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.^[1]
• 2005 – West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes in Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.
• 2008 – The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 1,389 feet (423 m), at the time becoming the world's highest residence above ground-level.
• 2012 – South African police fatally shoot 34 miners and wound 78 more during an industrial dispute at Marikana near Rustenburg.
• 2013 – The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59 others missing.
• 2015 – More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on the rebel-held market town of Douma.
• 2017 – Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force.

• 1355 – Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster (d. 1382)
• 1378 – Hongxi Emperor of China (d. 1425)
• 1401 – Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut (d. 1436)
• 1557 – Agostino Carracci, Italian painter and etcher (d. 1602)
• 1565 – Christina, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (d. 1637)
• 1573 – Anne of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1598)
• 1637 – Countess Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen (d. 1706)
• 1645 – Jean de La Bruyère, French philosopher and author (d. 1696)
• 1650 – Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian monk, cosmographer, and cartographer (d. 1718)
• 1682 – Louis, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1712)
• 1744 – Pierre Méchain, French astronomer and surveyor (d. 1804)
• 1761 – Yevstigney Fomin, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1800)
• 1815 – John Bosco, Italian priest and educator (d. 1888)
• 1816 – Octavia Taylor, daughter of Zachary Taylor (d. 1820)
• 1820 – Andrew Rainsford Wetmore, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1892)
• 1821 – Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic (d. 1895)
• 1831 – John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (d. 1901)
• 1832 – Wilhelm Wundt, German physician, psychologist, and physiologist (d. 1920)
• 1842 – Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician, chess player, and academic (d. 1922)
• 1845 – Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1921)
• 1848 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (d. 1926)
• 1855 – James McGowen, Australian politician, 18th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1922)
• 1856 – Aparicio Saravia, Uruguayan general and politician (d. 1904)
• 1858 – Arthur Achleitner, German author (d. 1927)
• 1860 – Martin Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke, English-Scottish cricketer (d. 1938)
• 1860 – Jules Laforgue, Uruguayan-French poet and author (d. 1887)
• 1862 – Amos Alonzo Stagg, American baseball player and coach (d. 1965)
• 1865 – Mary Gilmore, Australian socialist, poet and journalist (d. 1962)
• 1868 – Bernarr Macfadden, American bodybuilder and publisher, founded Macfadden Publications (d. 1955)
• 1876 – Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator and stage designer (d. 1942)
• 1877 – Roque Ruaño, Spanish priest and engineer (d. 1935)
• 1882 – Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (d. 1968)
• 1884 – Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourger-American author and publisher (d. 1967)
• 1888 – T. E. Lawrence, British colonel, diplomat, writer and archaeologist (d. 1935)
• 1888 – Armand J. Piron, American violinist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1943)
• 1892 – Hal Foster, Canadian-American author and illustrator (d. 1982)
• 1892 – Otto Messmer, American cartoonist and animator, co-created Felix the Cat (d. 1983)
• 1894 – George Meany, American plumber and labor leader (d. 1980)
• 1895 – Albert Cohen, Greek-Swiss author and playwright (d. 1981)
• 1895 – Liane Haid, Austrian-Swiss actress and singer (d. 2000)
• 1900 – Ida Browne, Australian geologist and palaeontologist (d. 1976)
• 1902 – Georgette Heyer, English author (d. 1974)
• 1902 – Wallace Thurman, American author and playwright (d. 1934)
• 1904 – Minoru Genda, Japanese general, pilot, and politician (d. 1989)
• 1904 – Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1908 – Orlando Cole, American cellist and educator (d. 2010)
• 1908 – William Keepers Maxwell, Jr., American editor, novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2000)
• 1909 – Paul Callaway, American organist and conductor (d. 1995)
• 1910 – Gloria Blondell, American actress (d. 1986)
• 1910 – Mae Clarke, American actress (d. 1992)
• 1911 – E. F. Schumacher, German economist and statistician (d. 1977)
• 1912 – Ted Drake, English footballer and manager (d. 1995)
• 1913 – Menachem Begin, Belarusian-Israeli politician, 6th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
• 1915 – Al Hibbler, American baritone singer (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Iggy Katona, American race car driver (d. 2003)
• 1917 – Matt Christopher, American author (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Roque Cordero, Panamanian composer and educator (d. 2008)
• 1919 – Karl-Heinz Euling, German captain (d. 2014)
• 1920 – Charles Bukowski, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer (d. 1994)
• 1922 – James Casey, English comedian, radio scriptwriter and producer (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Ernie Freeman, American pianist and bandleader (d. 2001)
• 1923 – Millôr Fernandes, Brazilian journalist and playwright (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Fess Parker, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1924 – Inez Voyce, American baseball player
• 1925 – Willie Jones, American baseball player (d. 1983)
• 1925 – Mal Waldron, American pianist and composer (d. 2002)
• 1927 – Lois Nettleton, American actress (d. 2008)
• 1928 – Ann Blyth, American actress and singer
• 1928 – Eydie Gormé, American singer (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Ara Güler, Turkish photographer and journalist
• 1928 – Eddie Kirkland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Wyatt Tee Walker, American pastor, theologian, and activist (d. 2018)
• 1929 – Bill Evans, American pianist and composer (d. 1980)
• 1929 – Helmut Rahn, German footballer (d. 2003)
• 1929 – Fritz Von Erich, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1997)
• 1930 – Robert Culp, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Frank Gifford, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (d. 2015)
• 1930 – Leslie Manigat, Haitian educator and politician, 43rd President of Haiti (d. 2014)
• 1933 – Reiner Kunze, German poet and translator
• 1933 – Tom Maschler, English author and publisher
• 1933 – Julie Newmar, American actress
• 1933 – Stuart Roosa, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1994)
• 1934 – Donnie Dunagan, American actor and soldier
• 1934 – Diana Wynne Jones, English author (d. 2011)
• 1934 – Ketty Lester, American singer and actress
• 1934 – Pierre Richard, French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1934 – John Standing, English actor
• 1934 – Dave Thomas, English-Welsh golfer and architect (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Sam Trimble, Australian cricketer
• 1935 – Cliff Fletcher, Canadian businessman
• 1935 – Andreas Stamatiadis, Greek footballer and coach
• 1936 – Anita Gillette, American actress and singer
• 1936 – Alan Hodgkinson, English footballer and coach (d. 2015)
• 1937 – David Anderson, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician
• 1937 – David Behrman, American composer and producer
• 1937 – Ian Deans, Canadian politician (d. 2016)
• 1937 – Boris Rõtov, Estonian chess player (d. 1987)
• 1939 – Seán Brady, Irish cardinal
• 1939 – Trevor McDonald, Trinidadian-English journalist and academic
• 1939 – Billy Joe Shaver, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1939 – Eric Weissberg, American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist
• 1940 – Bruce Beresford, Australian director and producer
• 1942 – Lesley Turner Bowrey, Australian tennis player
• 1942 – Barbara George, American R&B singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1942 – Robert Squirrel Lester, American soul singer (The Chi-Lites) (d. 2010)
• 1943 – Woody Peoples, American football player (d. 2010)
• 1944 – Kevin Ayers, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
• 1945 – Bob Balaban, American actor, director, and producer
• 1945 – Russell Brookes, English race car driver
• 1945 – Suzanne Farrell, American ballerina and educator
• 1945 – Gary Loizzo, American guitarist, singer, recording engineer, and record producer (d. 2016)
• 1946 – Masoud Barzani, Iranian-Kurdish politician, President of Iraqi Kurdistan
• 1946 – Lesley Ann Warren, American actress
• 1947 – Carol Moseley Braun, American lawyer and politician, United States Ambassador to New Zealand
• 1947 – Katharine Hamnett, English fashion designer
• 1948 – Earl Blumenauer, American politician, U.S. Representative from Oregon
• 1948 – Barry Hay, Indian-born Dutch rock musician (Golden Earring)
• 1948 – Mike Jorgensen, American baseball player and manager
• 1948 – Pierre Reid, Canadian educator and politician
• 1948 – Joey Spampinato, American singer-songwriter and bass player (NRBQ)
• 1949 – Scott Asheton, American drummer (d. 2014)
• 1949 – Paul Pasqualoni, American football player and coach
• 1949 – Bill Spooner, American guitarist and songwriter (The Tubes)
• 1950 – Hasely Crawford, Trinidadian runner
• 1950 – Jeff Thomson, Australian cricketer
• 1950 – Naseeruddin Shah, Indian film and stage actor and director.
• 1951 – Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Nigerian businessman and politician, 13th President of Nigeria (d. 2010)
• 1953 – Kathie Lee Gifford, American talk show host, singer, and actress
• 1953 – James "J.T." Taylor, American R&B singer-songwriter
• 1954 – James Cameron, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1954 – George Galloway, Scottish-English politician and broadcaster
• 1955 – James Reilly, Irish surgeon and politician, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs
• 1956 – Vahan Hovhannisyan, Armenian soldier and politician (d. 2014)
• 1957 – Laura Innes, American actress and director
• 1957 – R. R. Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2015)
• 1958 – Madonna, American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, and director
• 1958 – Angela Bassett, American actress
• 1958 – José Luis Clerc, Argentinian tennis player and coach
• 1958 – Oscar Collodo, Swiss-Italian rugby player and coach
• 1958 – Diane Dodds, Northern Irish educator and politician
• 1959 – Marc Sergeant, Belgian cyclist and manager
• 1960 – Timothy Hutton, American actor, producer and director
• 1960 – Franz Welser-Möst, Austrian-American conductor and director
• 1960 – Paul van Ass, Dutch field hockey coach
• 1961 – Christian Okoye, American football player
• 1961 – Angela Smith, English academic and politician
• 1962 – Steve Carell, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Aloísio Pires Alves, Brazilian footballer and manager
• 1963 – Christine Cavanaugh, American voice artist (d. 2014)
• 1964 – Jimmy Arias, American tennis player and sportscaster
• 1964 – Nigel Redman, English rugby player
• 1964 – Barry Venison, English footballer and journalist
• 1966 – Eddie Olczyk, American ice hockey player, coach, and commentator
• 1967 – Mark Coyne, Australian rugby league player
• 1967 – Ulrika Jonsson, Swedish journalist, actress, and author
• 1968 – Mateja Svet, Slovenian skier
• 1968 – Wolfgang Tillmans, German photographer
• 1968 – Arvind Kejriwal, Indian civil servant and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Delhi
• 1970 – Bonnie Bernstein, American journalist and sportscaster
• 1970 – Saif Ali Khan, Indian actor and producer
• 1970 – Manisha Koirala, Indian actress
• 1971 – Stefan Klos, German footballer
• 1972 – Frankie Boyle, Scottish comedian and television host
• 1972 – Stan Lazaridis, Australian footballer
• 1972 – Emily Robison, American singer-songwriter and banjo player
• 1973 – Damian Jackson, American baseball player
• 1974 – Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Guyanese cricketer
• 1974 – Krisztina Egerszegi, Hungarian swimmer
• 1974 – Iván Hurtado, Ecuadorian footballer and politician
• 1975 – Didier Agathe, French footballer
• 1975 – Jonatan Johansson, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager
• 1975 – Pantelis Konstantinidis, Greek footballer
• 1975 – George Stults, American model and actor
• 1975 – Álvaro Tardáguila, Uruguayan cyclist
• 1975 – Taika Waititi, New Zealand director, screenwriter and actor
• 1977 – Pavel Královec, Czech football referee
• 1978 – Ben Galea, Australian rugby league player and referee
• 1979 – Paul Gallacher, Scottish footballer
• 1979 – Eduardo Maiorino, Brazilian mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (d. 2012)
• 1979 – Ian Moran, Australian cricketer
• 1980 – Emerson Ramos Borges, Brazilian footballer
• 1980 – Vanessa Carlton, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1980 – Bob Hardy, English bass player (Franz Ferdinand)
• 1980 – Piet Rooijakkers, Dutch cyclist
• 1980 – Raniere Silva dos Santos, Brazilian footballer
• 1981 – Roque Santa Cruz, Paraguayan footballer
• 1982 – Joleon Lescott, English footballer
• 1983 – Nikolaos Zisis, Greek basketball player
• 1984 – Matteo Anesi, Italian speed skater
• 1984 – Didier Cuche, Swiss skier
• 1984 – Candice Dupree, American basketball player
• 1984 – Konstantin Vassiljev, Estonian footballer
• 1985 – Cristin Milioti, American actress
• 1986 – Yu Darvish, Japanese baseball player
• 1987 – Carey Price, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1988 – Ismaïl Aissati, Moroccan footballer
• 1989 – Wang Hao, Chinese race walker
• 1989 – Moussa Sissoko, French footballer
• 1990 – Godfrey Oboabona, Nigerian footballer
• 1991 – José Eduardo de Araújo, Brazilian footballer
• 1992 – Diego Schwartzman, Argentinian tennis player
• 1996 – Caeleb Dressel, American swimmer
• 1997 – Greyson Chance, American musician^[2]
• 1999 – Karen Chen, American figure skater

• AD 79 – Empress Ma, Chinese Han dynasty consort (b. 40)
• 856 – Theutbald I, bishop of Langres
• 963 – Marianos Argyros, Byzantine general (b. 944)
• 1027 – George I of Georgia (b. 998)
• 1153 – Bernard de Tremelay, fourth Grand Master of the Knights Templar
• 1225 – Hōjō Masako, Japanese regent and onna-bugeisha (b. 1156)
• 1258 – Theodore II Laskaris, Byzantine-Greek emperor (b. 1222)
• 1285 – Philip I, Count of Savoy (b. 1207)
• 1297 – John II of Trebizond (b. 1262)
• 1327 – Roch, French saint (b. 1295)
• 1339 – Azzone Visconti, founder of the state of Milan (b. 1302)
• 1358 – Albert II, Duke of Austria (b. 1298)
• 1419 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (b. 1361)
• 1443 – Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shogun (b. 1434)
• 1492 – Beatrice of Silva, Dominican nun^[3]
• 1518 – Loyset Compère, French composer (b. 1445)
• 1532 – John, Elector of Saxony (b. 1468)
• 1661 – Thomas Fuller, English historian and author (b. 1608)
• 1678 – Andrew Marvell, English poet and author (b. 1621)
• 1705 – Jacob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (b. 1654)
• 1733 – Matthew Tindal, English philosopher and author (b. 1657)
• 1791 – Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (b. 1719)
• 1836 – Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1755)
• 1855 – Henry Colburn, English publisher (b. 1785)
• 1861 – Ranavalona I, Queen consort of Kingdom of Madagascar and then sovereign (b. 1778)^[4]
• 1878 – Richard Upjohn, English-American architect (b. 1802)
• 1886 – Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Indian mystic and philosopher (b. 1836)
• 1887 – Webster Paulson, English civil engineer (b. 1837)
• 1888 – John Pemberton, American pharmacist and chemist, invented Coca-Cola (b. 1831)
• 1893 – Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist and academic (b. 1825)
• 1899 – Robert Bunsen, German chemist and academic (b. 1811)
• 1900 – José Maria de Eça de Queirós, Portuguese journalist and author (b. 1845)
• 1904 – Prentiss Ingraham, American soldier and author (b. 1843)
• 1911 – Patrick Francis Moran, Irish-Australian cardinal (b. 1830)
• 1914 – Carl Theodor Schulz, German-Norwegian gardener (b. 1835)
• 1916 – George Scott, English footballer (b. 1885)
• 1920 – Henry Daglish, Australian politician, 6th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1866)
• 1921 – Peter I of Serbia (b. 1844)
• 1938 – Andrej Hlinka, Slovak priest, journalist, and politician (b. 1864)
• 1938 – Robert Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1911)
• 1945 – Takijirō Ōnishi, Japanese admiral (b. 1891)
• 1948 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player and coach (b. 1895)
• 1949 – Margaret Mitchell, American journalist and author (b. 1900)
• 1952 – Lydia Field Emmet, American painter and academic (b. 1866)
• 1956 – Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1882)
• 1957 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
• 1959 – William Halsey, Jr., American admiral (b. 1882)
• 1959 – Wanda Landowska, Polish-French harpsichord player (b. 1879)
• 1961 – Abdul Haq, Pakistani linguist and scholar (b. 1870)
• 1971 – Spyros Skouras, Greek-American businessman (b. 1893)
• 1972 – Pierre Brasseur, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1905)
• 1973 – Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-American biochemist and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
• 1977 – Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (b. 1935)
• 1978 – Alidius Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, Dutch soldier and politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1888)
• 1979 – John Diefenbaker, Canadian lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1895)
• 1983 – Earl Averill, American baseball player (b. 1902)
• 1984 – Duško Radović, Serbian children's writer, poet, journalist, aphorist and TV editor (b. 1922)
• 1986 – Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (b. 1902)
• 1986 – Jaime Sáenz, Bolivian author and poet (b. 1921)
• 1989 – Amanda Blake, American actress (b. 1929)
• 1990 – Pat O'Connor, New Zealand wrestler and trainer (b. 1925)
• 1991 – Luigi Zampa, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1905)
• 1992 – Mark Heard, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1951)
• 1993 – Stewart Granger, English-American actor (b. 1913)
• 1997 – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani musician and Qawwali singer (b. 1948)
• 1998 – Phil Leeds, American actor (b. 1916)
• 1998 – Dorothy West, American journalist and author (b. 1907)
• 2002 – Abu Nidal, Palestinian terrorist leader (b. 1937)
• 2002 – Jeff Corey, American actor (b. 1914)
• 2002 – John Roseboro, American baseball player and coach (b. 1933)
• 2003 – Idi Amin, Ugandan field marshal and politician, 3rd President of Uganda (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Ivan Hlinka, Czech ice hockey player and coach (b. 1950)
• 2004 – Balanadarajah Iyer, Sri Lankan journalist and poet (b. 1957)
• 2004 – Carl Mydans, American photographer and journalist (b. 1907)
• 2004 – Robert Quiroga, American boxer (b. 1969)
• 2005 – Vassar Clements, American fiddler (b. 1928)
• 2005 – Tonino Delli Colli, Italian cinematographer (b. 1922)
• 2005 – William Corlett, English novelist and playwright (b. 1938)
• 2005 – Frère Roger, Swiss monk and mystic (b. 1915)
• 2006 – Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguayan general and dictator; 46th President of Paraguay (b. 1912)
• 2007 – Bahaedin Adab, Iranian engineer and politician (b. 1945)
• 2008 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Masanobu Fukuoka, Japanese farmer and author (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek general (b. 1923)
• 2011 – Mihri Belli, Turkish activist and politician (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Princess Lalla Amina of Morocco (b. 1954)
• 2012 – Martine Franck, Belgian photographer and director (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Abune Paulos, Ethiopian patriarch (b. 1935)
• 2012 – William Windom, American actor (b. 1923)
• 2013 – David Rees, Welsh mathematician and academic (b. 1918)
• 2014 – Patrick Aziza, Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Kebbi State (b. 1947)
• 2014 – Vsevolod Nestayko, Ukrainian author (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, Italian-South African lawyer and politician (b. 1960)
• 2014 – Peter Scholl-Latour, German journalist, author, and academic (b. 1924)
• 2015 – Jacob Bekenstein, Mexican-American physicist, astronomer, and academic (b. 1947)
• 2015 – Anna Kashfi, British actress (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Shuja Khanzada, Pakistani colonel and politician (b. 1943)
• 2015 – Mile Mrkšić, Serb general (b. 1947)
• 2016 – João Havelange, Brazilian water polo player, lawyer, and businessman (b. 1916)
• 2016 – John McLaughlin, American television personality (b. 1927)

Morgana King: Godfather actress 

and Jazz singer dies aged 87

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

The Godfather actress and jazz singer Morgana King has died aged 87.

She played Carmela Corleone - the wife of Marlon Brando's Don Vito - in the first two Godfather films, alongside a Grammy-nominated jazz career.

King passed away from cancer on 22 March at her home in Palm Springs, California, the Riverside County coroner's office confirmed.

Her death had gone unreported until her friend John Hoglund posted a public message of condolence.

Paying tribute on Facebook he said that while "many will remember her as Marlon Brando's wife and Al Pacino's mother," King was also a "major part" of the jazz scene.

Born in New York to Italian parents, her father - a self-taught musician - died when she was 11, leaving her to be raised by her mother in the Bronx and attend James Munroe High School.

Skip Facebook post by John

King's singing career began when she performed in clubs throughout her teenage years.

According to an article in JazzTimes, this included singing Body and Soul for Billie Holiday in her dressing room, at which the star remarked "take care of this baby, 'cause that's my child".

Respected by her peers, King went on to perform in Las Vegas and around the country as well as on television on The Tonight Show, Playboy After Dark and The Hollywood Palace.

A Grammy nomination for her 1964 hit single A Taste of Honey marked the commercial peak of her five-decade, 20-album career. 

Iconic Godfather role

As rock'n' roll came to dominate the charts, King got her theatrical break in The Godfather after meeting with the trilogy's director Francis Ford Coppola.

The crime saga, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as mafia kingpins of the Corleone family, won three Oscars and remains one of the most critically-revered series of all time.

Her portrayal of 'Mama' Carmela, Vito's long-suffering wife in 1972's opening instalment, featured virtually no spoken lines, but saw her take centre stage during its memorable wedding scene, singing the Italian song Luna Mezz'o Mare.

Image copyrightPARAMOUNT PICTURES

She reprised the role for the 1974 sequel, but refused to be filmed in the coffin for superstitious reasons, leaving Coppola's mother to stand-in as a replacement.

According to The Washington Post, Coppola used King as a cultural reference point on set due to her Sicilian-born parents.

"Francis would ask me if the set looked like a real Sicilian house," she said in 1988. "I told him to put a statue of St. Anthony on the wall." 

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Beyond The Godfather, King appeared in 1998's Brooklyn State of Mind with Danny Aiello and ABC soap opera All My Children

She also continued a prolific singing career, performing in clubs throughout the decades. 

She released her 20th studio album in 1992, and gave her last live performance in 2000.

King married twice, first to trumpeter Tony Fruscella, aged 17, but the couple divorced after nine years according to the LA Times. 

She later married trombonist Willie Dennis in 1961 but he died in a car accident four years later.

A daughter from her first marriage, Graysan Simental, died in 2008.

Survivors include a grandson.

Νέα έρευνα: Η έκρηξη του ηφαιστείου της Σαντορίνης έγινε πιο πρόσφατα -Μετά το 1600 π.Χ

Πέθανε ένας θρύλος -«Εσβησε» η βασίλισσα της σόουλ, Αρίθα Φράνκλιν