EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST. 14/7

• 756 – An Lushan Rebellion: Emperor Xuanzong flees the capital Chang'an as An Lushan's forces advance toward the city.
• 1223 – Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II.
• 1420 – Battle of Vítkov Hill, decisive victory of Czech Hussite forces commanded by Jan Žižka against Crusade army led by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1769 – An expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá establishes a base in California and sets out to find the Port of Monterey (now Monterey, California).
• 1771 – Foundation of the Mission San Antonio de Padua in modern California by the Franciscan friar Junípero Serra.
• 1789 – French Revolution: Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille.
• 1789 – Alexander Mackenzie finally completes his journey to the mouth of the great river he hoped would take him to the Pacific, but which turns out to flow into the Arctic Ocean. Later named after him, the Mackenzie is the second-longest river system in North America.
• 1790 – French Revolution: Citizens of Paris celebrate the unity of the French people and the national reconciliation in the Fête de la Fédération.
• 1791 – The Priestley Riots drive Joseph Priestley, a supporter of the French Revolution, out of Birmingham, England.
• 1798 – The Sedition Act becomes law in the United States making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government.
• 1853 – Opening of the first major US world's fair, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York City.
• 1865 – First ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper and party, four of whom die on the descent.
• 1874 – The Chicago Fire of 1874 burns down 47 acres of the city, destroying 812 buildings, killing 20, and resulting in the fire insurance industry demanding municipal reforms from Chicago's city council.
• 1877 – The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 begins in Martinsburg, West Virginia when Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers have their wages cut for the second time in a year.
• 1881 – Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Pat Garrett outside Fort Sumner.
• 1900 – Armies of the Eight-Nation Alliance capture Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion.
• 1902 – The Campanile in St Mark's Square, Venice collapses, also demolishing the loggetta.
• 1911 – Harry Atwood, an exhibition pilot for the Wright brothers, lands his airplane at the South Lawn of the White House. He is later awarded a Gold medal from U.S. President William Howard Taft for this feat.
• 1915 – World War I: The McMahon–Hussein Correspondence between Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca and the British official Henry McMahon concerning the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire begins.
• 1916 – World War I: Start of the Battle of Delville Wood as an action within the Battle of the Somme, which was to last until 3 September 1916.
• 1928 – New Vietnam Revolutionary Party is founded in Huế, providing some of the communist party's most important leaders in its early years.
• 1933 – Gleichschaltung: In Germany, all political parties are outlawed except the Nazi Party.
• 1933 – The Nazi eugenics begins with the proclamation of the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring that calls for the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who suffers from alleged genetic disorders.
• 1938 – Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world.^[1]
• 1943 – In Diamond, Missouri, the George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument in honor of an African American.
• 1948 – Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party, is shot and wounded near the Italian Parliament.
• 1950 – Korean War: North Korean troops initiate the Battle of Taejon.
• 1957 – Rawya Ateya takes her seat in the National Assembly of Egypt, thereby becoming the first female parliamentarian in the Arab world.
• 1958 – Iraqi Revolution: In Iraq the monarchy is overthrown by popular forces led by Abd al-Karim Qasim, who becomes the nation's new leader.
• 1960 – Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her famous study of chimpanzees in the wild.
• 1965 – The Mariner 4 flyby of Mars takes the first close-up photos of another planet.
• 1969 – Football War: After Honduras loses a soccer match against El Salvador, riots break out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers.
• 1969 – The Federal Reserve Banks begins removing large denominations of United States currency from circulation.^[2]
• 1976 – Capital punishment is abolished in Canada.
• 1992 – 386BSD is released by Lynne Jolitz and William Jolitz beginning the Open Source operating system revolution. Linus Torvalds releases his Linux soon afterwards.
• 2002 – French President Jacques Chirac escapes an assassination attempt unscathed during Bastille Day celebrations.
• 2003 – Hurricane Claudette gathers strength over the Gulf of Mexico and heads for the Texas coast, killing 2 people.
• 2015 – NASA's New Horizons probe performs the first flyby of Pluto, and thus completes the initial survey of the Solar System.
• 2016 – A terrorist vehicular attack in Nice, France kills 86 civilians and injures over 400 others.

• 926 – Murakami, emperor of Japan (d. 967)
• 1410 – Arnold, Duke of Guelders, (d. 1473)
• 1448 – Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1508)
• 1454 – Poliziano, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1494)
• 1515 – Philip I, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1560)
• 1602 – Cardinal Mazarin, Italian-French cardinal and politician, 2nd Chief Minister of the French Monarch (d. 1661)
• 1608 – George Goring, Lord Goring, English general (d. 1657)
• 1610 – Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1670)
• 1634 – Pasquier Quesnel, French priest and theologian (d. 1719)
• 1671 – Jacques d'Allonville, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1732)
• 1675 – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French general (d. 1747)
• 1676 – Caspar Abel, German historian, poet, and theologian (d. 1763)
• 1696 – William Oldys, English historian and author (d. 1761)
• 1721 – John Douglas, Scottish bishop and scholar (d. 1807)
• 1743 – Gavrila Derzhavin, Russian poet and politician (d. 1816)
• 1755 – Michel de Beaupuy, French general (d. 1796)
• 1785 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist, playwright, and diplomat (d. 1851)
• 1801 – Johannes Peter Müller, German physiologist and anatomist (d. 1858)
• 1816 – Arthur de Gobineau, French author and diplomat (d. 1882)
• 1829 – Edward Benson, English archbishop (d. 1896)
• 1859 – Willy Hess, German violinist and educator (d. 1928)
• 1861 – Kate M. Gordon, American activist (d. 1931)
• 1862 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and illustrator (d. 1918)
• 1865 – Arthur Capper, American journalist and politician, 20th Governor of Kansas (d. 1951)
• 1866 – Juliette Wytsman, Belgian painter (d. 1925)
• 1868 – Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist and spy (d. 1926)
• 1872 – Albert Marque, French sculptor and doll maker (d. 1939)
• 1874 – Abbas II of Egypt (d. 1944)
• 1874 – Crawford Vaughan, Australian politician, 27th Premier of South Australia (d. 1947)
• 1878 – Donald Meek, Scottish actor (d. 1946)
• 1885 – Sisavang Vong, Laotian king (d. 1959)
• 1888 – Scipio Slataper, Italian author and critic (d. 1915)
• 1889 – Marco de Gastyne, French painter and illustrator (d. 1982)
• 1889 – Ante Pavelić, Croatian war criminal and Porajmos perpetrator; 1st Foreign Minister of the Independent State of Croatia (d. 1959)
• 1893 – Clarence J. Brown, American publisher and politician, 36th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio (d. 1965)
• 1893 – Garimella Satyanarayana, Indian poet and author (d. 1952)
• 1894 – Dave Fleischer, American animator, director, and producer (d. 1979)
• 1896 – Buenaventura Durruti, Spanish soldier and anarchist (d. 1936)
• 1898 – Happy Chandler, American lawyer and politician, 49th Governor of Kentucky, second Commissioner of Baseball (d. 1991)
• 1901 – Gerald Finzi, English composer and academic (d. 1956)
• 1901 – George Tobias, American actor (d. 1980)
• 1903 – Irving Stone, American author and educator (d. 1989)
• 1906 – Tom Carvel, Greek-American businessman, founded Carvel (d. 1990)
• 1906 – William H. Tunner, American general (d. 1983)
• 1907 – Chico Landi, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1989)
• 1910 – William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, and actor, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (d. 2001)
• 1911 – Pavel Prudnikau, Belarusian poet and author (d. 2000)
• 1912 – Woody Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1967)
• 1912 – Buddy Moreno, American musician (d. 2015)
• 1913 – Gerald Ford, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 38th President of the United States (d. 2006)
• 1918 – Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Arthur Laurents, American director, screenwriter, and playwright (d. 2011)
• 1918 – Jay Wright Forrester, American computer engineer and systems scientist (d. 2016)
• 1920 – Shankarrao Chavan, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Finance (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Marijohn Wilkin, American country and gospel songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Sixto Durán Ballén, American-Ecuadorian architect and politician, 48th President of Ecuador (d. 2016)
• 1921 – Leon Garfield, English author (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Armand Gaudreault, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Geoffrey Wilkinson, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
• 1922 – Robin Olds, American general and pilot (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Elfriede Rinkel, German SS officer
• 1922 – Käbi Laretei, Estonian-Swedish concert pianist (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Dale Robertson, American actor (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Robert Zildjian, American businessman, founded Sabian (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Warren Giese, American football player, coach, and politician (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Bruce L. Douglas, American politician
• 1926 – Wallace Jones, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Harry Dean Stanton, American actor, musician, and singer (d. 2017)
• 1926 – Himayat Ali Shair, Urdu poet
• 1927 – John Chancellor, American journalist (d. 1996)
• 1927 – Mike Esposito, American author and illustrator (d. 2010)
• 1928 – Nancy Olson, American actress
• 1928 – William Rees-Mogg, English journalist and public servant (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Polly Bergen, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Benoît Sinzogan, Beninese military officer and politician
• 1931 – Jacqueline de Ribes, French fashion designer and philanthropist
• 1931 – E. V. Thompson, English police officer and author (d. 2012)
• 1932 – Rosey Grier, American football player and actor
• 1932 – Del Reeves, American country singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
• 1933 – Robert Bourassa, Canadian lawyer and politician, 22nd Premier of Quebec (d. 1996)
• 1933 – Dumaagiin Sodnom, Mongolian politician; 13th Prime Minister of Mongolia
• 1936 – Robert F. Overmyer, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1996)
• 1937 – Yoshirō Mori, Japanese journalist and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Japan
• 1938 – Jerry Rubin, American activist, author, and businessman (d. 1994)
• 1938 – Tommy Vig, Hungarian vibraphone player, drummer, and composer
• 1939 – Karel Gott, Czech singer-songwriter and actor
• 1939 – George Edgar Slusser, American scholar and author (d. 2014)
• 1940 – Susan Howatch, English author and academic
• 1941 – Maulana Karenga, American philosopher, author, and activist, created Kwanzaa
• 1941 – Andreas Khol, German-Austrian lawyer and politician
• 1942 – Ken Hutcherson, American football player (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Javier Solana, Spanish physicist and politician, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1943 – Christopher Priest, English author
• 1945 – Jim Gordon, American drummer and songwriter
• 1946 – Sue Lawley, English journalist
• 1946 – John Wood, Australian actor and screenwriter
• 1947 – John Blackman, Australian radio and television presenter
• 1947 – Claudia J. Kennedy, American general
• 1947 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Navin Ramgoolam, Mauritius physician and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Mauritius
• 1948 – Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, Zulu king
• 1948 – Tom Latham, American politician
• 1948 – Earl Williams, American baseball player (d. 2013)
• 1949 – Tommy Mottola, American businessman and music publisher
• 1950 – Bruce Oldfield, English fashion designer
• 1952 – Bob Casale, American guitarist, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2014)
• 1952 – Franklin Graham, American evangelist and missionary
• 1952 – George Lewis, American musician and composer
• 1952 – Joel Silver, American actor and producer, co-founded Dark Castle Entertainment
• 1953 – Martha Coakley, American lawyer and politician, 58th Attorney General of Massachusetts
• 1955 – L. Brent Bozell III, American journalist and activist, founded the Media Research Center
• 1958 – Mircea Geoană, Romanian politician and diplomat, 97th Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1959 – Aubrey McClendon, American businessman (d. 2016)
• 1960 – Anna Bligh, Australian politician, 37th Premier of Queensland
• 1960 – Kyle Gass, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
• 1960 – Jane Lynch, American actress and game show host
• 1960 – Mike McPhee, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 – Jackie Earle Haley, American actor
• 1962 – Vanessa Lawrence, English geographer and civil servant
• 1963 – Jacques Lacombe, Canadian organist and conductor
• 1964 – Brett Ogle, Australian golfer
• 1964 – Igor Shpilband, Russian-American ice dancer and coach
• 1965 – Urmas Kruuse, Estonian lawyer and politician, 41st Mayor of Tartu
• 1966 – Matthew Fox, American actor
• 1966 – Matt Hume, American mixed martial artist and trainer
• 1966 – Brian Selznick, American author and illustrator
• 1967 – Marios Constantinou, Cypriot footballer and manager
• 1967 – Jeff Jarrett, American wrestler and promoter, co-founder of Impact Wrestling
• 1967 – Patrick J. Kennedy, American politician
• 1967 – Hashan Tillakaratne, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1967 – Robin Ventura, American baseball player and manager
• 1968 – Michael Palmer, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
• 1969 – José Hernández, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
• 1969 – Sven Sester, Estonian politician
• 1970 – Jacob Young, Norwegian guitarist
• 1971 – Howard Webb, English footballer and referee
• 1973 – Tani Fuga, Samoan rugby player
• 1973 – Paul Methric, American rapper and producer
• 1974 – Erick Dampier, American basketball player
• 1974 – David Mitchell, British comedian
• 1975 – Derlei, Brazilian footballer
• 1975 – Tim Hudson, American baseball player
• 1975 – Jamey Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1977 – Gordon Cree, Scottish singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1977 – Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
• 1978 – Mattias Ekström, Swedish race car driver
• 1979 – Bernie Castro, Dominican baseball player
• 1979 – Axel Teichmann, German skier
• 1980 – George Smith, Australian rugby player
• 1981 – Matti Hautamäki, Finnish ski jumper
• 1981 – Robbie Maddison, Australian motorcycle racer
• 1982 – Dmitry Chaplin, Russian-American dancer and choreographer
• 1982 – Achille Coser, Italian footballer
• 1983 – Igor Andreev, Russian tennis player
• 1983 – Thomas Howard, American football player (d. 2013)
• 1983 – Tito Muñoz, American conductor and academic
• 1984 – Nilmar, Brazilian footballer
• 1984 – Renaldo Balkman, American basketball player
• 1984 – Erica Blasberg, American golfer (d. 2010)
• 1984 – Lenka Dlhopolcová, Slovak tennis player
• 1984 – Mounir El Hamdaoui, Moroccan footballer
• 1984 – Samir Handanović, Slovenian footballer
• 1985 – Billy Celeski, Australian footballer
• 1985 – Darrelle Revis, American football player
• 1985 – Chris Wright, English cricketer
• 1986 – Alexander Gerndt, Swedish footballer
• 1986 – Nikolay Kulemin, Russian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Dan Smith, English singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Aqeel Ahmed, English director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1987 – Drew Fortier, American musician, songwriter, filmmaker, and actor
• 1987 – Margus Hunt, Estonian-American football player, discus thrower, and shot putter
• 1987 – Adam Johnson, English footballer
• 1987 – Dan Reynolds, American singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Sean Smith, American football player
• 1987 – Ryan Sweeting, Bahamian-American tennis player
• 1988 – Conor McGregor, Irish mixed martial artist
• 1988 – James Vaughan, English footballer
• 1989 – Sakari Mattila, Finnish footballer
• 1989 – Rolando McClain, American football player
• 1989 – Cyril Rioli, Australian rules footballer
• 1991 – Shabazz Napier, American basketball player
• 1993 – Sayaka Yamamoto, Japanese singer
• 1995 – Kim Hyo-joo, South Korean golfer
• 1995 – Federico Mattiello, Italian footballer
• 1995 – Serge Gnabry, German footballer
• 1997 – Cengiz Ünder, Turkish footballer

• 664 – Eorcenberht, king of Kent
• 809 – Ōtomo no Otomaro, Japanese general and Shogun (b. 731)
• 850 – Wei Fu, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
• 937 – Arnulf I, duke of Bavaria
• 1223 – Philip II, king of France (b. 1165)
• 1242 – Hōjō Yasutoki, regent of Japan (b. 1183)
• 1262 – Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester, English soldier (b. 1222)
• 1486 – Margaret of Denmark, daughter of Christian I of Denmark (b. 1456)
• 1526 – John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, English peer, landowner, and Lord Great Chamberlain of England (b. 1499)
• 1575 – Richard Taverner, English translator (b. 1505)
• 1614 – Camillus de Lellis, Italian priest and saint (b. 1550)
• 1723 – Claude Fleury, French historian and author (b. 1640)
• 1742 – Richard Bentley, English scholar and theologian (b. 1662)
• 1766 – František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect (b. 1674)
• 1774 – James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley, Irish field marshal (b. 1682)
• 1780 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (b. 1713)
• 1789 – Jacques de Flesselles, French politician (b. 1721)
• 1789 – Bernard-René de Launay, French politician (b. 1740)
• 1790 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (b. 1717)
• 1809 – Nicodemus the Hagiorite, Greek monk and saint (b. 1749)
• 1816 – Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan general (b. 1750)
• 1817 – Germaine de Staël, French philosopher and author (b. 1766)
• 1827 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist and engineer, reviver of wave theory of light, inventor of catadioptric lighthouse lens (b. 1788)
• 1834 – Edmond-Charles Genêt, French-American diplomat (b. 1763)
• 1850 – August Neander, German historian and theologian (b. 1789)
• 1856 – Edward Vernon Utterson, English lawyer and historian (b. 1775)
• 1876 – John Buckley, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1813)
• 1881 – Billy the Kid, American criminal (b. 1859)
• 1904 – Paul Kruger, South African politician, 5th President of the South African Republic (b. 1824)
• 1907 – William Henry Perkin, English chemist and academic (b. 1838)
• 1910 – Marius Petipa, French dancer and choreographer (b. 1818)
• 1917 – Octave Lapize, French cyclist (b. 1887)
• 1918 – Quentin Roosevelt, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1897)
• 1936 – Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Indian-American author and scholar (b. 1890)
• 1937 – Julius Meier, American businessman and politician, 20th Governor of Oregon (b. 1874)
• 1939 – Alphonse Mucha, Czech painter and illustrator (b. 1860)
• 1954 – Jacinto Benavente, Spanish author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
• 1965 – Adlai Stevenson II, American soldier and politician, 5th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1900)
• 1966 – Julie Manet, French painter and art collector (b. 1878)
• 1967 – Tudor Arghezi, Romanian author and poet (b. 1880)
• 1968 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian author and poet (b. 1892)
• 1970 – Preston Foster, American actor (b. 1900)
• 1973 – Ali Kılıç, Turkish captain and politician (b. 1890)
• 1974 – Carl Andrew Spaatz, American general (b. 1891)
• 1975 – Madan Mohan, Iraqi-Indian composer and conductor (b. 1924)
• 1979 – Walter Keppel, 9th Earl of Albemarle, English nobleman and soldier (b. 1882)
• 1984 – Ernest Tidyman, American author and screenwriter (b. 1928)
• 1986 – Raymond Loewy, French-American industrial designer (b. 1893)
• 1989 – Frank Bell, English linguist and academic (b. 1916)
• 1991 - Constance Stokes, Australian painter (b. 1906)
• 1993 – Léo Ferré, Monacan singer-songwriter, pianist, and poet (b. 1916)
• 1994 – César Tovar, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1940)
• 1996 – Jeff Krosnoff, American race car driver (b. 1964)
• 1998 – Richard McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (b. 1909)
• 2000 – Pepo, Chilean cartoonist (b. 1911)
• 2000 – William Roscoe Estep, American historian and academic (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Meredith MacRae, American actress (b. 1944)
• 2001 – Guy de Lussigny, French painter (b. 1929)
• 2002 – Joaquín Balaguer, Dominican lawyer and politician, 41st President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1906)
• 2002 – Fritz Glatz, Austrian race car driver (b. 1943)
• 2003 – François-Albert Angers, Canadian economist and academic (b. 1909)
• 2005 – Joe Harnell, American pianist and composer (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Cicely Saunders, English hospice founder (b. 1918)
• 2007 – John Ferguson Sr., Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1938)
• 2012 – John Arbuthnott, 16th Viscount of Arbuthnott, Scottish businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Kincardineshire (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Don Brinkley, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Frank R. Burns, American football player and coach (b. 1928)
• 2012 – King Hill, American football player (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Sixten Jernberg, Swedish skier (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Roy Shaw, English businessman and boxer (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Herbert M. Allison, American lieutenant and businessman (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Matt Batts, American baseball player and coach (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Dennis Burkley, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Bill Warner, American motorcycle racer (b. 1969)
• 2013 – Vladimir Mikhailovich Zakharov, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Alice Coachman, American high jumper (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Vange Leonel, Brazilian singer-songwriter and activist (b. 1963)
• 2014 – John Victor Parker, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Willer Bordon, Italian businessman, academic, and politician, Italian Minister of the Environment (b. 1949)
• 2015 – Wolf Gremm, German director and producer (b. 1942)
• 2015 – Masao Horiba, Japanese businessman, founded Horiba (b. 1924)
• 2016 – Helena Benitez, Filipino politician, educator and environmentalist (b. 1914)
• 2017 – Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician (b. 1977)