EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST 28/7

[edit]

• 1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina.
• 1540 – Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.
• 1571 – La Laguna encomienda, known today as the Laguna province in the Philippines is founded by the Spaniards as one of the oldest encomiendas (provinces) in the country.
• 1778 – Constitution of the province of Cantabria ratified at the Assembly Hall in Bárcena la Puente, Reocín, Spain.
• 1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just are executed by guillotine in Paris, France.
• 1808 – Mahmud II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
• 1809 – Peninsular War: Battle of Talavera: Sir Arthur Wellesley's British, Portuguese and Spanish army defeats a French force led by Joseph Bonaparte.
• 1821 – José de San Martín declares the independence of Peru from Spain.
• 1854 – USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the United States Navy, is commissioned.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Ezra Church: Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful attempt to drive Union forces from Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1866 – At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream becomes the first and youngest female artist to receive a commission from the United States government for a statue (of Abraham Lincoln).
• 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law.
• 1896 – The city of Miami, Florida is incorporated.
• 1914 – In the culmination of the July Crisis, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, igniting World War I.
• 1915 – The United States begins a 20-year occupation of Haiti.
• 1932 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C.
• 1933 – Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Spain are established.
• 1935 – First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
• 1938 – Hawaii Clipper disappears between Guam and Manila as the first loss of an airliner in trans-Pacific China Clipper service.
• 1942 – World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 227. In response to alarming German advances, all those who retreat or otherwise leave their positions without orders to do so are to be tried in a military court, with punishment ranging from duty in a shtrafbat battalion, imprisonment in a Gulag, or execution.
• 1943 – World War II: Operation Gomorrah: The Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians.
• 1945 – A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 and injuring 26.
• 1948 – The Metropolitan Police Flying Squad foils a bullion robbery in the "Battle of London Airport".
• 1955 – The Union Mundial pro Interlingua is founded at the first Interlingua congress in Tours, France.
• 1957 – Heavy rain and a mudslide in Isahaya, western Kyushu, Japan, kills 992.
• 1965 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.
• 1973 – Summer Jam at Watkins Glen: Nearly 600,000 people attend a rock festival at the Watkins Glen International Raceway.
• 1974 – Spetsgruppa A, Russia's elite special force, was formed.
• 1976 – The Tangshan earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 moment magnitude flattens Tangshan in the People's Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851.
• 1984 – The 1984 Summer Olympics officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad were opened in Los Angeles.
• 1993 – Andorra joins the United Nations.
• 1996 – The remains of a prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains will be known as the Kennewick Man.
• 2001 – Australian Ian Thorpe becomes the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championships.
• 2002 – Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground.
• 2005 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty-year-long armed campaign in Northern Ireland.
• 2008 – The historic Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare burns down for the second time in 80 years.
• 2010 – Airblue Flight 202 crashes into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 152 people aboard. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan history and the first involving an Airbus A321.

Births[edit]

• 1347 – Margaret of Durazzo (d. 1412)
• 1635 – Robert Hooke, English physicist and chemist (d. 1703)
• 1659 – Charles Ancillon, French jurist and diplomat (d. 1715)
• 1746 – Thomas Heyward, Jr., American judge and politician (d. 1809)
• 1750 – Fabre d'Églantine French actor, playwright, and politician (d. 1794)
• 1796 – Ignaz Bösendorfer, Austrian businessman, founded the Bösendorfer Company (d. 1859)
• 1804 – Ludwig Feuerbach, German anthropologist and philosopher (d. 1872)
• 1815 – Stefan Dunjov, Bulgarian colonel (d. 1889)
• 1844 – Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (d. 1889)
• 1857 – Ballington Booth, English-American activist, co-founded Volunteers of America (d. 1940)
• 1860 – Elias M. Ammons, American businessman and politician, 19th Governor of Colorado (d. 1925)
• 1860 – Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (d. 1922)
• 1863 – Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, Russian general (d. 1919)
• 1866 – Beatrix Potter, English children's book writer and illustrator (d. 1943)
• 1866 – Albertson Van Zo Post, American fencer (d. 1938)
• 1867 – Charles Dillon Perrine, American-Argentinian astronomer (d. 1951)
• 1872 – Albert Sarraut, French journalist and politician, 106th Prime Minister of France (d. 1962)
• 1874 – Ernst Cassirer, Polish-American philosopher and academic (d. 1945)
• 1879 – Lucy Burns, American activist, co-founded the National Woman's Party (d. 1966)
• 1879 – Stefan Filipkiewicz, Polish painter (d. 1944)
• 1887 – Marcel Duchamp, French-American painter and sculptor (d. 1968)
• 1887 – Willard Price, Canadian-American journalist and author (d. 1983)
• 1893 – Rued Langgaard, Danish organist and composer (d. 1952)
• 1896 – Barbara La Marr, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1926)
• 1898 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1900 – Catherine Dale Owen, American actress (d. 1965)
• 1901 – Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1979)
• 1901 – Rudy Vallée, American singer, actor, and saxophonist (d. 1986)
• 1902 – Albert Namatjira, Australian painter (d. 1959)
• 1902 – Karl Popper, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1994)
• 1907 – Earl Tupper, American inventor and businessman, founded Tupperware Brands (d. 1983)
• 1909 – Aenne Burda German publisher (d. 2005)
• 1909 – Malcolm Lowry, English novelist and poet (d. 1957)
• 1914 – Carmen Dragon, American conductor and composer (d. 1984)
• 1915 – Charles Hard Townes, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
• 1915 – Dick Sprang, American illustrator (d. 2000)
• 1916 – David Brown, American journalist and producer (d. 2010)
• 1920 – Andrew V. McLaglen, English-American director and producer (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Jacques Piccard, Belgian-Swiss oceanographer and engineer (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Ray Ellis, American conductor and producer (d. 2008)
• 1924 – Luigi Musso, Italian race car driver (d. 1958)
• 1924 – C. T. Vivian, American minister, author, and activist
• 1925 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
• 1926 – Charlie Biddle, American-Canadian bassist (d. 2003)
• 1927 – John Ashbery, American poet
• 1929 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American journalist, 37th First Lady of the United States (d. 1994)
• 1929 – Shirley Ann Grau American novelist and short story writer
• 1930 – Firoza Begum, Bangladeshi singer (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Junior Kimbrough, American singer and guitarist (d. 1998)
• 1930 – Jean Roba, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 2006)
• 1930 – Ramsey Muir Withers, Canadian general (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Alan Brownjohn, English poet and author
• 1931 – Johnny Martin, Australian cricketer (d. 1992)
• 1932 – Natalie Babbitt, American author and illustrator
• 1933 – Charlie Hodge, Canadian ice hockey player and scout
• 1934 – Jacques d'Amboise, American dancer and choreographer
• 1935 – Neil McKendrick, English historian and academic
• 1936 – Russ Jackson, Canadian football player and coach
• 1936 – Garfield Sobers, Barbadian cricketer
• 1937 – Francis Veber, French director and screenwriter
• 1938 – Luis Aragonés, Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2014)
• 1938 – Arsen Dedić, Croatian singer-songwriter and poet (d. 2015)
• 1938 – Alberto Fujimori, Peruvian engineer, academic, and politician, 90th President of Peru
• 1938 – Chuan Leekpai, Thai lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Thailand
• 1939 – Richard Johns, English air marshal
• 1940 – Philip Proctor, American voice actor and screenwriter
• 1941 – Peter Cullen, Canadian voice actor and singer
• 1941 – Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor and educator
• 1941 – Susan Roces, Filipino actress and producer
• 1942 – Marty Brennaman, American sportscaster
• 1942 – Tonia Marketaki, Greek director and screenwriter (d. 1994)
• 1943 – Mike Bloomfield, American guitarist and songwriter (The Electric Flag) (d. 1981)
• 1943 – Bill Bradley, American basketball player and politician
• 1943 – Richard Wright, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Pink Floyd) (d. 2008)
• 1945 – Jim Davis, American cartoonist, created Garfield
• 1946 – Jonathan Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1946 – Linda Kelsey, American actress
• 1946 – Fahmida Riaz, Pakistani poet and activist
• 1947 – Peter Cosgrove, Australian general and politician, 26th Governor General of Australia
• 1947 – Sally Struthers, American actress
• 1948 – Gerald Casale, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director (Devo and Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers)
• 1948 – Georgia Engel, American actress
• 1948 – Eiichi Ohtaki, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer (Happy End) (d. 2013)
• 1949 – Vida Blue, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1949 – Peter Doyle, Australian singer and guitarist (The New Seekers) (d. 2001)
• 1949 – Simon Kirke, English drummer (Bad Company and Free)
• 1949 – Steve Peregrin Took, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Tyrannosaurus Rex, Pink Fairies, Shagrat, Steve Took's Horns) (d. 1980)
• 1949 – Randall Wallace, American screenwriter and producer
• 1950 – Shahyar Ghanbari, Iranian singer-songwriter
• 1951 – Santiago Calatrava, Spanish architect and engineer, designed the Athens Olympic Sports Complex
• 1951 – Doug Collins, American basketball player and coach
• 1951 – Ray Kennedy, English footballer
• 1954 – Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2013)
• 1954 – Gerd Faltings, German mathematician and academic
• 1954 – Steve Morse, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple, Living Loud, Angelfire, Kansas, and Flying Colors)
• 1954 – Mikey Sheehy, Irish footballer
• 1955 – Nikolay Zimyatov, Russian skier
• 1956 – John Feinstein, American journalist and author
• 1956 – Robert Swan, English explorer
• 1958 – Terry Fox, Canadian runner and activist (d. 1981)
• 1958 – Michael Hitchcock, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – William T. Vollmann, American novelist, short story writer and journalist
• 1960 – Luiz Fernando Carvalho, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1960 – Jon J. Muth, American author and illustrator
• 1960 – Yōichi Takahashi, Japanese illustrator
• 1961 – Yannick Dalmas, French race car driver
• 1961 – Aleksandr Kurlovich, Belarusian weightlifter
• 1962 – Jonathan Pila, Australian mathematician at the University of Oxford
• 1962 – Rachel Sweet, American actress, singer, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Beverley Craven, Sri Lankan-English singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1964 – Lori Loughlin, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer
• 1965 – Delfeayo Marsalis, American trombonist and producer
• 1966 – Shikao Suga, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1967 – Taka Hirose, Japanese bass player (Feeder)
• 1969 – Garth Snow, American ice hockey player and manager
• 1970 – Michael Amott, Swedish guitarist and songwriter (Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars, Candlemass, Carcass, and Carnage)
• 1970 – Isabelle Brasseur, Canadian figure skater
• 1970 – Paul Strang, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach
• 1971 – Stephen Lynch, American singer-songwriter, and actor
• 1971 – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
• 1971 – Annie Perreault, Canadian speed skater
• 1972 – Robert Chapman, English cricketer
• 1972 – Ed Templeton, American skateboarder and businessman
• 1973 – Marc Dupré, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1973 – Steve Staios, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1974 – Alexis Tsipras, Greek engineer and politician, 186th Prime Minister of Greece
• 1975 – Leonor Watling, Spanish actress and singer (Marlango)
• 1976 – Jacoby Shaddix, American singer-songwriter (Papa Roach and Fight the Sky)
• 1977 – Aki Berg, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Manu Ginóbili, Argentinian basketball player
• 1978 – Kārlis Vērdiņš, Latvian poet
• 1978 – Hitomi Yaida, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1979 – Henrik Hansen, Danish footballer
• 1979 – Birgitta Haukdal, Icelandic singer-songwriter and producer (Írafár)
• 1979 – Lee Min-woo, South Korean singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (Shinhwa)
• 1979 – Alena Popchanka, Belarusian-French swimmer and coach
• 1980 – Darina, Mexican singer-songwriter
• 1980 – Stephen Christian, American singer-songwriter (Anberlin and Anchor & Braille)
• 1980 – Anthony Weaver, American football player
• 1981 – Michael Carrick, English footballer
• 1983 – Cody Hay, Canadian figure skater
• 1984 – Zach Parise, American ice hockey player
• 1985 – Mathieu Debuchy, French footballer
• 1985 – Dustin Milligan, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1985 – Darren Murphy, Irish footballer
• 1986 – Alexandra Chando, American actress
• 1986 – Lauri Korpikoski, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1987 – Yasser Corona, Mexican footballer
• 1987 – Yevhen Khacheridi, Ukrainian-Greek footballer
• 1987 – Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma, Spanish footballer
• 1988 – Gunnar Nelson, Icelandic mixed martial artist
• 1988 – Greg Hardy, American football player
• 1989 – Felipe Kitadai, Brazilian martial artist
• 1990 – Soulja Boy, American rapper, producer, and actor
• 1990 – Simone Pizzuti, Italian footballer
• 1993 – Harry Kane, English footballer
• 1993 – Moses Odubajo, English footballer
• 1993 – Cher Lloyd, English singer-songwriter

Deaths[edit]

• 450 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (b. 401)
• 1057 – Pope Victor II (b. 1018)
• 1128 – William Clito, English son of Sybilla of Conversano (b. 1102)
• 1230 – Leopold VI, Duke of Austria (b. 1176)
• 1285 – Keran, Queen of Armenia
• 1527 – Rodrigo de Bastidas, Spanish explorer, founded the city of Santa Marta (b. 1460)
• 1540 – Thomas Cromwell, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1495)
• 1631 – Guillén de Castro y Bellvis, Spanish playwright (b. 1569)
• 1655 – Cyrano de Bergerac, French poet and playwright (b. 1619)
• 1667 – Abraham Cowley, English poet and author (b. 1618)
• 1675 – Bulstrode Whitelocke, English lawyer and politician (b. 1605)
• 1685 – Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1618)
• 1718 – Étienne Baluze, French scholar and academic (b. 1630)
• 1741 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1678)
• 1750 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer (b. 1685)
• 1762 – George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (b. 1691)
• 1794 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the Committee of Public Safety (b. 1758)
• 1794 – Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, French soldier and politician (b. 1767)
• 1808 – Selim III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1761)
• 1809 – Richard Beckett, English cricketer and captain (b.1772)
• 1818 – Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (b. 1746)
• 1835 – Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (b. 1768)
• 1836 – Nathan Mayer Rothschild, German-English banker and financier (b. 1777)
• 1842 – Clemens Brentano, German author and poet (b. 1778)
• 1844 – Joseph Bonaparte, French brother of Napoleon (b. 1768)
• 1849 – Charles Albert of Sardinia (b. 1798)
• 1869 – Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Czech anatomist and physiologist (b. 1787)
• 1878 – George Law Curry, American publisher and politician (b. 1820)
• 1895 – Edward Beecher, American minister and theologian (b. 1803)
• 1930 – John DeWitt, American hammer thrower (b. 1881)
• 1930 – Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
• 1933 – Nishinoumi Kajirō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, 30th yokozuna (b. 1890)
• 1934 – Marie Dressler, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1868)
• 1934 – Louis Tancred, South African cricketer and pilot (b. 1876)
• 1935 – Meletius IV of Constantinople (b. 1871)
• 1942 – Flinders Petrie, English archaeologist and academic (b. 1853)
• 1946 – Saint Alphonsa, first woman of Indian origin to be Canonization as a saint by the Catholic Church (b. 1910)
• 1957 – Edith Abbott, American economist, social worker, and educator (b. 1876)
• 1957 – Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (b. 1876)
• 1965 – Edogawa Ranpo, Japanese author and critic (b. 1894)
• 1965 – Attallah Suheimat, Jordanian politician (b. 1875)
• 1967 – Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1942)
• 1968 – Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
• 1969 – Ramón Grau, Cuban physician and politician, 6th President of Cuba (b. 1882)
• 1969 – Frank Loesser, American composer (b. 1910)
• 1971 – Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, Canadian colonel and diplomat (b. 1890)
• 1971 – Myril Hoag, American baseball player (b. 1908)
• 1971 – Charles E. Pont, French-American minister and painter (b. 1898)
• 1972 – Helen Traubel, American soprano and actress (b. 1903)
• 1972 – Charu Majumdar, Indian activist and theorist (b. 1918)
• 1979 – Don Miller, American football player and coach (b. 1902)
• 1979 – Charles Shadwell, English conductor and bandleader (b. 1898)
• 1981 – Stanley Rother, American priest and missionary (b. 1935)
• 1982 – Keith Green, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1953)
• 1990 – Jill Esmond, English actress (b. 1908)
• 1992 – Sulev Nõmmik, Estonian actor and director (b. 1931)
• 1993 – Stanley Woods, Irish motorcycle racer (b. 1903)
• 1996 – Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and academic (b. 1908)
• 1997 – Rosalie Crutchley, English actress (b. 1920)
• 1997 – Seni Pramoj, Thai lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1905)
• 1998 – Zbigniew Herbert, Polish poet and author (b. 1924)
• 1998 – Lenny McLean, English boxer, actor, and author (b. 1949)
• 1998 – Consalvo Sanesi, Italian race car driver (b. 1911)
• 1999 – Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• 2000 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist and historian (b. 1918)
• 2001 – Ahmed Sofa, Bangladeshi poet, author, and critic (b. 1943)
• 2002 – Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
• 2003 – Valerie Goulding, Irish activist and politician (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Francis Crick, English biologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 2004 – Tiziano Terzani, Italian journalist and author (b. 1938)
• 2006 – David Gemmell, English author (b. 1948)
• 2007 – Karl Gotch, Belgian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Jim LeRoy, American soldier and pilot (b. 1961)
• 2009 – Reverend Ike, American minister (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Jim Johnson, American football player and coach (b. 1941)
• 2011 – Abdul Fatah Younis, Libyan general (b. 1944)
• 2012 – Colin Horsley, New Zealand-English pianist and educator (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Sepp Mayerl, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1937)
• 2012 – William F. Milliken Jr., American race car driver and engineer (b. 1911)
• 2013 – Mustafa Adrisi, Ugandan general and politician, 3rd Vice President of Uganda (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Eileen Brennan, American actress and singer (b. 1932)
• 2013 – William Scranton, American captain and politician, 13th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1917)
• 2013 – Ersilio Tonini, Italian cardinal (b. 1914)
• 2014 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Alakbar Mammadov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Jan Kulczyk, Polish businessman (b. 1950)
• 2015 – Edward Natapei, Vanuatuan politician, 6th Prime Minister of Vanuatu (b. 1954)
• 2015 – Clive Rice, South African cricketer and coach (b. 1949)