Events Pre-1600 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time. 737 – The Türgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their baggage train. 1061 – Election of Pope Alexander II following the death of Pope Nicholas II two months prior. 1139 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes the Caucasus mountains in the Seljuk Empire, causing mass destruction and killing up to 300,000 people. 1342 – Battle of Morlaix is fought in the Hundred Years' War.; 1399 – Henry IV is proclaimed king of England. 1520 – Suleiman the Magnificent becomes sultan of the Ottoman Empire. 1541 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and his forces enter Tula territory in present-day western Arkansas, encountering fierce resistance. 1551 – A coup by the military establishment of Japan's Ōuchi clan forces their lord to commit suicide, and their city is burned.
1601–1900 1687 – The Venetians under Girolamo Corner take the city of Herceg Novi from the Ottoman Empire. 1736 – The Lebanese Council of 1736 begins, a major turning point in the reform of the Maronite Church. In the following three days, the assembled Maronite and Latin clergy presided by Yusuf ibn Siman as-Simani discuss various reforms and elaborate rules and canons.; 1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: France and Spain defeat Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo, but soon have to withdraw from Sardinia. 1791 – The first performance of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute takes place two months before his death. 1791 – France's National Constituent Assembly is dissolved, to be replaced the next day by the National Legislative Assembly. 1863 – Georges Bizet's opera Les pêcheurs de perles, premieres in Paris.; 1882 – Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant, the Vulcan Street Plant, begins operation. 1888 – Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes. 1895 - Friedrich Nietzsche finished writing The Antichrist, with the 7 propositions Law Against Christianity, marked by him as a Day of Salvation, Day and Year 1 of a new calendar.
1901–present 1906 – The Royal Galician Academy, the Galician language's biggest linguistic authority, is established in La Coruña, Spain. 1907 – The McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio. 1909 – The Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania makes a record-breaking westbound crossing of the Atlantic, that will not be bettered for 20 years. 1915 – World War I: Radoje Ljutovac becomes the first soldier in history to shoot down an enemy aircraft with ground-to-air fire. 1918 – Ukrainian War of Independence: Insurgent forces led by Nestor Makhno defeats the Central Powers at the battle of Dibrivka. 1919 – The Elaine massacre in Arkansas commences. 1935 – The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated. 1936 – American journalists Herbert R. Ekins, reporter for the New York World-Telegram, Dorothy Kilgallen of the New York Journal and Leo Kieran of The New York Times start the race to travel around the world Moments and Milestones: Once Around, Smithsonian /smithsonianmag.com (accessdate 8 august 2025) on commercial airline flights. The race takes 18 ½ days. 1938 – Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, whereby Germany annexes the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. 1938 – The League of Nations unanimously outlaws "intentional bombings of civilian populations". 1939 – World War II: General Władysław Sikorski becomes prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile. 1939 – NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game. 1941 – World War II: The Babi Yar massacre comes to an end. 1943 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy is dedicated by President Roosevelt. 1944 – World War II: the Germans commence a counter offensive to retake the Nijmegen salient, this having been captured by the allies during Operation Market Garden. 1945 – The Bourne End rail crash, in Hertfordshire, England, kills 43. 1947 – The 1947 World Series begins. It is the first to be televised, to include an African-American player, to exceed $2 million in receipts, to see a pinch-hit home run, and to have six umpires on the field. 1947 – Pakistan joins the United Nations. 1949 – The Berlin Airlift ends. 1954 – The U.S. Navy submarine is commissioned as the world's first nuclear-powered vessel. 1960 – The Flintstones, the first prime-time animated sitcom, premieres on ABC television. 1966 – Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana. 1968 – The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time. 1970 – Jordan makes a deal with the PFLP for the release of the remaining hostages from the Dawson's Field hijackings. 1975 – Malév Flight 240 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while on approach to Beirut International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 60. 1978 – Finnair Flight 405 is hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras in Oulu, Finland. 1980 – Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation. 1993 – The 6.2 Latur earthquake shakes Maharashtra, India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) killing 9,748 and injuring 30,000. 1994 – Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-68. 1999 – The Tokaimura nuclear accident causes the deaths of two technicians in Japan's second-worst nuclear accident. 2000 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Twelve-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah is shot and killed on the second day of the Second Intifada. 2005 – Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in a Danish newspaper. 2009 – The 7.6 Sumatra earthquake leaves 1,115 people dead. 2016 – Hurricane Matthew becomes a Category 5 hurricane, making it the strongest hurricane to form in the Caribbean Sea since 2007. 2016 – Two paintings with a combined value of $100 million are recovered after having been stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002.
Births Pre-1600 1207 – Rumi, Persian mystic and poet (died 1273) 1227 – Pope Nicholas IV (died 1292) 1530 – Girolamo Mercuriale, Italian philologist and physician (died 1606) 1550 – Michael Maestlin, German astronomer and mathematician (died 1631)
1601–1900 1622 – Johann Sebastiani, German composer (died 1683) 1689 – Jacques Aubert, French violinist and composer (died 1753) 1700 – Stanisław Konarski, Polish monk, poet, and playwright (died 1773) 1710 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, English politician, Lord President of the Council (died 1771) 1714 – Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, French epistemologist and philosopher (died 1780) 1732 – Jacques Necker, Swiss-French politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1804) 1743 – Christian Ehregott Weinlig, German cantor and composer (died 1813) 1765 – José María Morelos, Mexican priest and general (died 1815) 1800 – Decimus Burton, English architect, designed the Pharos Lighthouse (died 1881) 1813 – John Rae, Scottish physician and explorer (died 1893) 1814 – Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, American feminist, educator, and philanthropist (died 1900) 1827 – Ellis H. Roberts, American journalist and politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States (died 1918) 1827 – Peter Ward, New York politician (died 1891) 1832 – Ann Jarvis, American activist, co-founded Mother's Day (died 1905) 1836 – Remigio Morales Bermúdez, Peruvian politician, President of Peru (died 1894) 1852 – Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer, conductor, and educator (died 1924) 1861 – William Wrigley Jr., American businessman, founded Wrigley Company (died 1932) 1863 – Reinhard Scheer, German admiral (died 1928) 1870 – Thomas W. Lamont, American banker and philanthropist (died 1948) 1870 – Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1942) 1882 – Hans Geiger, German physicist and academic (died 1945) 1883 – Bernhard Rust, German educator and politician (died 1945) 1883 – Nora Stanton Blatch Barney, American civil engineer, architect, and suffragist (died 1971) 1887 – Lil Dagover, Indonesian-German actress (died 1980) 1893 – Lansdale Ghiselin Sasscer, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (died 1964) 1895 – Lewis Milestone, Moldovan-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1980) 1897 – Alfred Wintle, Russian-English soldier and politician (died 1966) 1897 – Charlotte Wolff, German-English physician and psychotherapist (died 1986) 1898 – Renée Adorée, French-American actress (died 1933) 1898 – Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois (died 1977) 1898 – Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, German-American author and illustrator (died 1986)
1901–present 1901 – Thelma Terry, American bassist and bandleader (died 1966) 1904 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (died 1971) 1905 – Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1996) 1905 – Michael Powell, English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1990) 1906 – Mireille Hartuch, French singer-songwriter and actress (died 1996) 1908 – David Oistrakh, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (died 1974) 1910 – Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish captain (died 1962) 1911 – Gustave Gilbert, American psychologist (died 1977) 1912 – Kenny Baker, American singer and actor (died 1985) 1913 – Bill Walsh, American screenwriter and producer (died 1975) 1915 – Lester Maddox, American businessman and politician, 75th Governor of Georgia (died 2003) 1917 – Yuri Lyubimov, Russian actor and director (died 2014) 1917 – Buddy Rich, American drummer, bandleader, and actor (died 1987) 1918 – Lewis Nixon, U.S. Army captain (died 1995) 1918 – René Rémond, French historian and economist (died 2007) 1919 – Roberto Bonomi, Argentinian race car driver (died 1992) 1919 – Elizabeth Gilels, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (died 2008) 1919 – William L. Guy, American lieutenant and politician, 26th Governor of North Dakota (died 2013) 1919 – Patricia Neway, American soprano and actress (died 2012) 1921 – Deborah Kerr, Scottish-English actress (died 2007) 1921 – Aldo Parisot, Brazilian-American cellist and educator (died 2018) 1922 – Lamont Johnson, American actor, director, and producer (died 2010) 1922 – Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2006) 1923 – Donald Swann, Welsh-English pianist and composer (died 1994) 1924 – Truman Capote, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1984) 1925 – Arkady Ostashev, Russian engineer and scientist in the former Soviet space program (died 1998) 1926 – Heino Kruus, Estonian basketball player and coach (died 2012) 1926 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2010) 1927 – W. S. Merwin, American poet and translator (died 2019) 1928 – Elie Wiesel, Romanian-American author, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016) 1928 – Ray Willsey, Canadian-American football player and coach (died 2013) 1929 – Carol Fenner, American author and illustrator (died 2002) 1929 – Vassilis Papazachos, Greek seismologist and academic (died 2022) 1929 – Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Filipino politician, diplomat and writer (died 2017) 1929 – Dorothee Sölle, German theologian and author (died 2003) 1931 – Angie Dickinson, American actress 1931 – Teresa Gorman, English educator and politician (died 2015) 1932 – Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese author, playwright, and politician, Governor of Tokyo (died 2022) 1932 – Johnny Podres, American baseball player and coach (died 2008) 1933 – Cissy Houston, American singer (died 2024) 1934 – Alan A'Court, English footballer and manager (died 2009) 1934 – Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2014) 1934 – Anna Kashfi, Indian-American actress (died 2015) 1935 – Johnny Mathis, American singer and actor 1936 – Jim Sasser, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Ambassador to China (died 2024)