/year

August 18 in history

222 sourced entries recorded on August 18, from 180 BCE to 2023 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 636August 15–20 – Battle of Yarmouk: In engagements along the Yarmouk River, Muslim forces (25,000 men) of the Rashidun Caliphate, led by Khalid ibn al-Walid, decisively defeat the armies of the Byzantine Empire, effectively completing the Muslim conquest of Syria. It will be regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests, after the death of Muhammad.source
  • 684Battle of Marj Rahit: Muslim partisans under Marwan I defeat the supporters of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr near Damascus, and cement Umayyad control of Syria.source
  • 1089Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, marries Eupraxia of Kiev (daughter of Grand Prince Vsevolod I) at Cologne. She is crowned and assumes the name Adelaide (or Adelheid).source
  • 1136Seljuk sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud appoints al-Rashid Billah's uncle Al-Muqtafi as new caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.source
  • 1272Nubian forces sack the Egyptian Red Sea outpost of Aydhab and raid the southern frontier city of Aswan. In return, Baibars invades the kingdom of Makuria.source
  • 1307On the question of whether a prayer to the English Bishop Thomas de Cantilupe led to the miracle of the resurrection of William Cragh the day after Cragh's execution by hanging on November 27, 1290, Cragh himself testifies before a papal commission at a hearing in Hereford. Of 38 miracles alleged to have been the result of intercession by Cantilupe, the papal commission finds 12 of them doubtful, but accepts another 26 and recommends canonization. Pope John XXII will formally canonize Bishop Cantilupe on April 17, 1320.source
  • 1373The Treaty of Fürstenwalde is concluded between the Holy Roman Empire and the Margravate of Brandenburg, as the Margrave Otto V abdicates the throne and sells Brandenburg to the Holy Roman Emperor in return for several castles and towns in the Upper Palatinate 500,000 imperial guilders (1,900 kg or almost 68,000 ounces of gold) as Margrave of Brandenburgsource
  • 1374King Lajos of Hungary pledges his infant daughter, Princess Hedwig, to marriage to Wilhelm of Habsburg, the four-year-old son of Leopold III, Duke of Austria, as part of an alliance between Austria and Hungary.source
  • 1415The siege of Harfleur begins during the Hundred Years War.source
  • 1417King Henry V begins the siege of Caen with bombardment of the walls using advanced weaponry.source
  • 1439Smederevo Fortress, the seat of government of the Despotate of Serbia, surrenders to the Ottoman Empire after a siege of three months under the command of the Sultan Murad II. The siege had started after the Despot, Durad Branković, had departed to the Republic of Venice, leaving the nation under the control of his son, Grgur Branković. Grgur is appointed as the Ottoman Governor of the Serbian province.source
  • 1477Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, marries Prince Maximilian, son of the Holy Roman Emperor, in Ghent, bringing her Flemish and Burgundian lands into the Holy Roman Empire, and detaching them from France.source
  • 1487The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella make a triumphant entrance into the newly captured city of Malaga.source
  • 15037 French cardinals are called to Rome for a papal conclave, to start in September following the death of Pope Alexander VI.source
  • 1516King Francis I of France and Pope Leo X sign the Concordat of Bologna, agreeing on the relationship between church and state in France.source
  • 1516King Francis I of France and Pope Leo X sign the Concordat of Bologna, agreeing relationships between church and state in France.source
  • 1553John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, is tried and convicted of treason for his role in putting his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, on the throne.source
  • 1563Merchants from the Bungo Province destroy the Portuguese settlement in Yokoseura, Japansource
  • 1568The Third War of Religion begins in France, after an unsuccessful attempt by the Royalists to capture Louis I, Prince of Condé and Gaspard II de Coligny, the Huguenot leaders.source
  • 1572Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre marries Margaret of Valois, sister of King Charles and daughter of Catherine de' Medici, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics in France.source
  • 1587According to legend, Saul Wahl is named king of Poland; he is deposed the following day.source
  • 1590John White, governor of the Colony of Roanoke, returns to Roanoke after having left the North American colony in 1587 to get supplies. Upon arrival at, the crew of the ships Hopewell and Moonlight find that the Roanoke Colony is deserted, with the only clues to where the colonist went being the word "CRO" carved into a tree, and the word CROATOAN (believed to be a reference to Hatteras Island, where the colonists formerly lived).source
  • 1594the monks of the abbey on Innisfallen Island are dispossessed by the Crown.source
  • 1596The siege of the Dutch city of Hulst is completed after a month as Spanish forces under the command of Albert, son of the late Holy Roman Emperor Maxmimilan II, force the surrender of the city.source
  • 1604England concludes the Treaty of London with Spain, ending the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), an intermittent conflict within the Eighty Years' War.source
  • 1634In France, Urbain Grandier, accused of wizardry, is burned alive in Loudun.source
  • 1643Parliament passes "An Ordinance for Explanation of a former Ordinance for Sequestration of Delinquents Estates with some Enlargements", including an "Oath of Abjuration" of the Pope.source
  • 1654Oliver Cromwell launches the Western Design with the appointment of Admiral William Penn to prepare for a fleet to leave on Christmas Day for an English expedition to the Caribbean to counter Spanish commercial interests, effectively beginning the Anglo-Spanish War (which will last until after the English Restoration in 1660). The fleet leaves Portsmouth in late December.source
  • 1664England annexes the New Netherland colony in North America, renaming it the Province of New York (after James, Duke of York).source
  • 1667In an effort to prevent narrow streets from being blocked from all light by tall buildings, the city of Paris enacts its first building code limiting the height of new construction. Buildings may be no taller than eight toise – 15.6 m – tall. In 1783, rules are implemented to consider the width of the street.source
  • 1670John Dryden is appointed as historiographer royal.source
  • 1683Francesco Maria Imperiale Lercari becomes the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa.source
  • 1700August 18 (August 7 O.S.) – The Peace of Travendal is concluded between the Swedish Empire, Denmark–Norway and Holstein-Gottorp in Traventhal. On the same day, Augustus II, King of Poland, and Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, enter the war against Sweden.source
  • 1700The Peace of Travendal is concluded when Denmark–Norway signs a peace treaty at Traventhal House in Holstein. Denmark-Norway has to withdraw from Holstein and Sweden withdraws from Denmark. The peace will last for the next 10 years.source
  • 1700August 18 (August 7 OS) – Peace of Travendal concluded between the Swedish Empire, Denmark-Norway and Holstein-Gottorp in Traventhal. On the same day, Augustus II, King of Poland, and Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, enter the war against Sweden.source
  • 1705August 16–18 – In an Atlantic tropical cyclone across Cuba and Florida, four ships are lost and there are many casualties.source
  • 1706King Louis XIV of France makes his last visit to Paris, and gets an update on the construction of the veterans' hospital at the Dome des Invalides, which he had commissioned more than 35 years earlier.source
  • 1708War of the Spanish Succession: Menorca is captured by British forces.source
  • 1715Battle of Rügen (1715)source
  • 1721The Sack of Shamakhi occurs, in the Persian Safavid Empire.source
  • 1743August 18 (August 7 Old Style) – Russia and Sweden sign the Treaty of Åbo.source
  • 1744The wedding between Crown Prince Adolf Frederick and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia on Drottningholm Palace.source
  • 1759Battle of Lagos: The British fleet of Edward Boscawen defeats a French force under Commodore Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran off the Portuguese coast.source
  • 1765Joseph II becomes Holy Roman Emperor.source
  • 1769Brescia Explosion: The city of Brescia, Italy is devastated when the Church of San Nazaro is struck by lightning. The resulting fire ignites 200,000 lb (90,000 kg) of gunpowder being stored there, causing a massive explosion, which destroys 1/6 of the city and kills 3,000 people.source
  • 1783The 1783 Great Meteor passes on a 1,000-mile track across the North Sea, Great Britain and France, prompting scientific discussion.source
  • 1783Great Meteor passes over the east coast of Britain, sparking reports in the press and the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.source
  • 1786The Kingdom of Denmark-Norway charters six settlements in Iceland to trade with it, thus ending the Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly, and founding Reykjavík.source
  • 1789The Liège Revolution breaks out in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.source
  • 1789Beginning of Liège Revolution: democrats occupy the town hallsource
  • 1791Richard Bowen enters and names Jervis Bay aboard the Atlantic.source
  • 1806English seal hunter Abraham Bristow discovers the Auckland Islands.source
  • 1806English seal hunter Abraham Bristow discovers the Auckland Islands.source
  • 1812August 16–18 – Battle of Smolensk: The Grande Armée (180,000 men) under Emperor Napoleon I defeats the Russian army on the road to Moscow.source
  • 1816August 12–24 – The Treaty of St. Louis, between the United States and the Council of Three Fires tribes, is signed in St. Louis.source
  • 1825Scottish adventurer Gregor MacGregor issues a £300,000 loan with 2.5% interest, through the London bank of Thomas Jenkins & Company, for the fictitious Central American republic of Poyais. His actions led to the Panic of 1825, the first modern stock market crash, in England.source
  • 1825Scottish adventurer Gregor MacGregor issues a £300,000 loan with 2.5% interest through the London bank of Thomas Jenkins & Company for the fictitious Central American republic of Poyais. His actions lead to the Panic of 1825, the first modern stock market crash, starting in the Bank of England and precipitating the closure of six London banks and sixty country ones in England.source
  • 1829August 15–22 – Cincinnati riots of 1829.source
  • 1831The paddle steamer Rothsay Castle is wrecked at the eastern end of the Menai Strait with the loss of 93 lives.source
  • 1832The Savings Bank of New South Wales is establishedsource
  • 1833The Canadian ship SS Royal William sets out from Pictou, Nova Scotia on a 25-day passage of the Atlantic Ocean, primarily under steam, to Gravesend in England.source
  • 1838The United States Exploring Expedition sets sail from Hampton Roads, Virginia.source
  • 1843Dalkey Atmospheric Railway opens unofficially.source
  • 1851Rosas declares war on Empire of Brazilsource
  • 1855Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, with Prince Albert, begins a 10-day state visit to Paris, the first visit of a reigning British monarch to France since 1413. While there, she visits the Exposition Universelle.source
  • 1864American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern – Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, forcing the Confederates to use wagons.source
  • 1868The element later named as helium is first detected in the spectrum of the Sun's chromosphere, by French astronomer Jules Janssen, during a total eclipse in Guntur, British India, but is assumed to be sodium.source
  • 1868The element later named as helium is first detected in the spectrum of the Sun's chromosphere by astronomer Jules Janssen during a total eclipse in Guntur, India, but assumed to be sodium (on 20 October English astronomer Norman Lockyer identifies it).source
  • 1872Licensing Act establishes licences for public houses and limits drinking hours.source
  • 1877Asaph Hall discovers Phobos, the inner moon of Mars.source
  • 1882The Married Women's Property Act 1882 receives royal assent in Britain; it enables women to buy, own and sell property, and to keep their own earnings.source
  • 1882The passenger ship Thetis departs carrying Romanian Jews to Palestine as part of the First Aliyah. They found Rosh Pinna and Zikhron Ya'akov.source
  • 1883Ion Brătianu signs the secret Romanian-Austro-Hungarian Alliance Treaty, which aligns the country with the Triple Alliance.source
  • 1892William Ewart Gladstone assumes the U.K. premiership, as head of the Liberal government, with Irish Nationalist Party support.source
  • 1899Llest Colliery explosion at Pontyrhyl in the South Wales coalfield of the U.K. kills 19 miners.source
  • 1904Chris Watson resigns as the first Labor prime minister and is succeeded by George Reid of the Free Trade Party.source
  • 1908Maypole Colliery disaster: an underground explosion at Abram in the Lancashire Coalfield, kills 76 miners.source
  • 1911August 17–20 – Britain's National Railway strike of 1911, its first national strike of railway workers; on August 19 it leads to the Llanelli riots in Wales which result in 6 deaths.source
  • 1917The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 in Greece destroys 32% of the city, leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.source
  • 1919Russian Civil War: North Russia intervention – The Bolshevik fleet at Kronstadt, protecting Petrograd on the Baltic Sea, is substantially damaged by British Royal Navy Coastal Motor Boats (torpedo boats) and military aircraft in a combined operation.source
  • 1920August 13–25 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw – The Red Army is defeated.source
  • 1923The Home Bank of Canada failssource
  • 1923The first British Track & Field championships for women are held in London.source
  • 1926In the United States, a weather map is televised for the first time, sent from NAA Arlington to the Weather Bureau office in Washington, D.C.source
  • 1932August 18–19 – Scottish aviator Jim Mollison becomes the first pilot to make an East-to-West solo transatlantic flight, from Portmarnock, County Dublin, Ireland to RCAF Station Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick, Canada, in his de Havilland Puss Moth high-wing monoplane The Heart's Content.source
  • 1932Auguste Piccard reaches an altitude of 16,197 m with a hot air balloon.source
  • 1938Colonel General Ludwig Beck, convinced that Hitler's decision to attack Czechoslovakia will lead to a general European war, resigns his position as Chief of the Army General Staff in protest.source
  • 1940The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, is installed as Governor of the Bahamas.source
  • 1940WWII: "The Hardest Day" in the Battle of Britain: Both sides lose more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign, without the Luftwaffe achieving dominance over RAF Fighter Command.source
  • 1941Adolf Hitler orders a temporary halt to Nazi Germany's systematic euthanasia of the mentally ill and handicapped due to protests. However, graduates of the T-4 Euthanasia Program are then transferred to concentration camps, where they continue in their trade.source
  • 1944WWII: American submarine USS Rasher sinks Teia Maru, Eishin Maru, Teiyu Maruqq and aircraft carrier Japanese aircraft carrier Taiyō from Japanese convoy HI71, in one of the most effective American "wolfpack" attacks of the war.source
  • 1945Opening of the founding conference of the Christian Social Party.source
  • 1945Subhas Chandra Bose, one of the Indian Freedom movement leaders, presumed dead in a plane crash in Taiwansource
  • 1946The Vergarola explosion of ordnance in Croatia kills 70.source
  • 1947The Nawab of Mohammad Mahabat Khanji III, ruler of the Princely state of Junagadh, a former British Protectorate since 1807 and the other small states of Bantva, Manavadar and Sardargadh, were also former British Protectorates since 1818 of the Kathiawar Peninsula despite an overall Hindu majority of the population all acceded to the Dominion of Pakistan, this was influenced by Shah Nawaz Bhutto the Dewan of the state. In response, the Dominion of India claimed that the accession was invalid, since the states were surrounded by India and demanded a plebiscite on the future of Junagadh and Manavadar (princely state). Pakistan agreed, on condition that votes also be held in Hyderabad State and Kashmir and Jammu; India rejected this proposal and also refused to allow the Government of Pakistan any role in administering a plebiscite.source
  • 1948August 10–23 – The Herrenchiemsee convention prepares the draft for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.source
  • 1948The Danube Commission is created by the Belgrade Convention (enters into force 11 May 1949).source
  • 1949Kemi Bloody Thursday: two protesters die in the scuffle between the police and the strikers' protest procession in Kemi, Finland.source
  • 1951The National Progressive Party wins 19 out of 39 seats in the Parliament of Laos in the 1951 Laotian parliamentary election.source
  • 1952A 7.5 earthquake shakes the Tibet region leaving a balance of 54 fatalities.source
  • 1953August 15–19 – Cold War: 1953 Iranian coup d'état – Overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh, by Iranian military in favour of strengthening the monarchical rule of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, with the support of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (as "Operation Ajax") and the United Kingdom.source
  • 1953The second Kinsey Report, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, on American sexual habits, is issued.source
  • 1955The first meeting of the Organization of Central American States (Organización de Estados Centroamericanos, ODECA) is held, in Antigua Guatemala.source
  • 1955The First Sudanese Civil War begins.source
  • 1958Regional postage stamps of Great Britain are first issued.source
  • 1958Brojen Das from East Pakistan swims across the English Channel in a competition, the first Bangali as well as the first Asian to ever do it. He is first among 39 competitors.source
  • 1958Mikkel Sveinhaug, farmer and politician (born 1873)source
  • 1962Norway launches its 1st sounding rocket, Ferdinand 1, from Andøya Space Center and becomes a space nation.source
  • 1964The International Olympic Committee bans South Africa from the Tokyo Olympics on the grounds that its teams are racially segregated.source
  • 1965Vietnam War: Operation Starlite – 5,500 United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in Quảng Ngãi Province, in the first major American ground battle of the war. The Marines were tipped off by a Viet Cong deserter who said that there was an attack planned against the U.S. base at Chu Lai.source
  • 1966Vietnam War – Battle of Long Tan: D Company, 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, meets and defeats a Viet Cong force estimated to be four times larger, in Phuoc Tuy Province, Republic of Vietnam.source
  • 19681968 Hida river bus accident, two charter buses occur debris flow, following push into Hida River, Gifu Prefecture, due after heavy torrential rain. According to local official confirmed report, 104 people lost to lives with one of worst road accident in Northeast Asia.source
  • 1969August 15–18 – The Woodstock Festival is held near White Lake, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.source
  • 1975August 17–18 – Typhoon Phyllis, where hit on landslide, debris flow, flood swept hit in Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku Island, killing 77 persons and 209 persons injures, according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management official confirmed report.source
  • 1976Korean axe murder incidentsource
  • 1983Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 and causing over US$3.8 billion (2005 dollars) in damage.source
  • 1988Hamas issues their Charter which outlines the organization's founding identity, positions, and aims.source
  • 1991August 17–20 – Hurricane Bob hits North Carolina and New England, killing 17 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage.source
  • 1992Prime Minister of the United Kingdom John Major announces the creation of Iraqi no-fly zones (→ Operation Southern Watch).source
  • 1993The 14th-century Kapellbrücke covered wooden truss bridge in Lucerne is largely destroyed by fire.source
  • 1994Yeshayahu Leibowitz (born 1903), Russian (Latvia)-born Israeli philosopher and scientist.source
  • 1994Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants: a 12-person jury reaches its verdict to award Stella Liebeck $2,860,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, later reduced to $640,000, for burns she received from a spilled hot coffee. McDonald's and Liebeck will later settle out of court.source
  • 19941994 Mascara earthquake: a 5.8 earthquake leaves 171 dead in Algeria.source
  • 1996August 16–25: Five athletes from Armenia competed at the 1996 Summer Paralympics.source
  • 2005Peace Mission 2005, the first joint China–Russia military exercise, begins its eight-day training on the Shandong Peninsula.source
  • 2010The hall opened in Gdańsk-Sopot.source
  • 2010August 14–26 – Lithuania achieved 19th place in 2010 Summer Youth Olympics with 5 medal (3 golden and 2 bronze)source
  • 2017The first terrorist attack ever sentenced as a crime in Finland kills two people and injures eight others. Islamic terrorist Abderrahman Bouanane, a Moroccan man carried out the ISIS-inspired attack in southwest Finland.source
  • 2018September 2 – The 2018 Asian Games are held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia.source
  • 2018August 10–20 – Heavy rainfall causes severe floods in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the worst flood to hit the state in a century.source
  • 201818 August to 2 September - Tajikistan will participate at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesiasource
  • 2019"Miloš the Great" Highway, a section of Corridor XI (or A2 motorway; part of the E761 and E763 European routes) from Obrenovac to Preljina, is opened.source
  • 2019100 activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in Iceland hold a funeral for Okjökull glacier, which has completely melted after once covering 15.5 km².source
  • 2020Former president Mohamed uld Abdel Aziz (2008-2019) is arrested on charges of corruption.source
  • 2022August 9 – August 18: Guyana at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Gamessource
  • 2022An explosion destroyed a barge at Southwest Bay on the island of Malekula.source
  • 2023August 16–21 – Hurricane Hilary, a Category 4 Pacific Hurricane, strikes the Baja California peninsula and later causes record flooding in Southern California.source

Births

  • 1275Bartholomew Badlesmere, English nobleman (died 1322)source
  • 1305Ashikaga Takauji, Japanese general (shogun) (died 1358)source
  • 1450Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (died 1524)source
  • 1458Lorenzo Pucci, Italian Catholic cardinal (died 1531)source
  • 1497Francesco Canova da Milano, Italian composer (died 1543)source
  • 1526Claude, Duke of Aumale (died 1573)source
  • 1559Frederik van den Bergh, Dutch soldier in the Eighty Years' War (died 1618)source
  • 1564Federico Borromeo, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan (died 1631)source
  • 1587Virginia Dare, Virginia colony settlersource
  • 1605Henry Hammond, English churchman (died 1660)source
  • 1606Maria Anna of Spain (died 1646)source
  • 1629Agneta Horn, memoir writer (died 1672)source
  • 1651François Noël, Jesuit missionary (died 1729)source
  • 1673Louise Élisabeth de Joybert, politically active Canadian governors' wife (died 1740)source
  • 1692Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, French politician and prince (died 1740)source
  • 1700Baji Rao I, general of the Maratha Empire in India (died 1740)source
  • 1700Lars Pinnerud, woodcarver (died 1762).source
  • 1750Antonio Salieri, Italian composer (died 1825)source
  • 1764Judah Leib Ben-Ze'ev, Galician Jewish modern Hebrew philologist, lexicographer, Biblical scholar and poet (died 1811)source
  • 1774Meriwether Lewis, American explorer, soldier and public administrator (died 1809)source
  • 1792John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1878)source
  • 1807Charles Francis Adams Sr., American historical editor, politician and diplomat (died 1886)source
  • 1830Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (died 1916)source
  • 1863Khazʽal Ibn Jabir, Sheikh of Mohammerah.source
  • 1927Rosalynn Carter, First Lady of the United States (died 2023)source
  • 1933Roman Polanski, Polish film directorsource
  • 1962Felipe Calderón, Mexican politician, 50th President of Mexicosource
  • 1988G-Dragon, South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter and fashion iconsource
  • 1998Nick Fuentes, American far-right political commentatorsource
  • 1998Tenshin Nasukawa, Japanese kickboxer and mixed martial artistsource
  • 2008Gordey Kolesov, Russian-Chinese prodigysource

Deaths

  • 180 BCEEmpress Dowager Lü, de facto ruler of the Chinese Han dynasty and wife of Emperor Gao (born 241 BC)source
  • 353Magnus Decentius, brother and Caesar of Magnentiussource
  • 440Pope Sixtus III dies after an 8-year reign in which he has resisted heresy and sponsored major construction programs in Rome. He is succeeded by Leo I as the 45th pope.source
  • 440Pope Sixtus III (born 390)source
  • 472Ricimer dies at his palace of malignant fever, vomiting blood.source
  • 472Ricimer, de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empiresource
  • 670Fiacre, Irish hermitsource
  • 673Kim Yu-shin, general of Silla (born 595)source
  • 849Walafrid Strabo, Frankish theological writersource
  • 911Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, first Zaydi Imam of Yemen (born 859)source
  • 1095Olaf I of Denmark ("Hunger") dies after a 9-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother Eric I ("the Good") as king of Denmark.source
  • 1095Olaf I ("Hunger"), king of Denmarksource
  • 1211Narapatisithu, ruler of the Pagan Kingdom (Burma) (born 1150)source
  • 1214Pedro Fernández de Castro, Spanish noblemansource
  • 1227Genghis Khan dies during the fall of Yinchuan after a 21-year reign. His exact cause of death remains a mystery, and is variously attributed to being killed in action against the Western Xia, illness, falling from his horse, or wounds sustained during hunting. Genghis is succeeded by his third son, Ögedei Khan, who becomes the "Great Khan" of the Mongol Empire.source
  • 1258Theodore II Laskaris, emperor of Nicaeasource
  • 1276Adrian V, pope of the Catholic Church (born 1215)source
  • 1276Adrian V (Hadrian) dies after a 2-month reign at Viterbo. He is succeeded by John XXI as the 187th pope of Rome (until 1277).source
  • 1285William Reade, English bishop and theologian (born 1183)source
  • 1297Simon de Beaulieu, French nobleman and bishopsource
  • 1308Clare of Montefalco, Italian nun and abbess (born 1268)source
  • 1430Thomas de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician (born 1406)source
  • 1500Alfonso of Aragon, prince (born 1481)source
  • 1502Knut Alvsson, Norwegian nobleman and politician (born 1455)source
  • 1503Pope Alexander VI (born 1431)source
  • 1503Pope Alexander VI dies after a reign of 11 years, and the largest gathering of cardinals up to that time— 21 from Italy, 11 from Spain and 7 from France— is called to Rome for a papal conclave, to start in September.source
  • 1559Pope Paul IV, leader of the Roman Catholic Church since 1555, dies at the age of 83 after a reign of four years. The office of the Pope remains vacant until almost the end of the year before a successor is chosen.source
  • 1559Pope Paul IV (born 1476)source
  • 1563Étienne de La Boétie, French judge and writer (born 1530)source
  • 1563Étienne de La Boétie, judge, political philosopher and sonneteer (born 1530)source
  • 1620Wanli Emperor, of China (born 1563)source
  • 1629Vendela Skytte, writer, poet and Lady of Letters (born 1608)source
  • 1634Urbain Grandier, French priest (born 1590)source
  • 1642Guido Reni, Italian painter (born 1575)source
  • 1648Ibrahim, Ottoman Sultan (born 1615)source
  • 1746Two of the four rebellious Scottish lords, Earl of Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerinoch, are beheaded in the Tower of London (Lord Lovat is executed in 1747).source
  • 1746two of the four rebellious Scottish lords, the Earl of Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerinoch, are beheaded in the Tower (Lord Lovat executed 1747).source
  • 1765Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1708)source
  • 1809Matthew Boulton, English manufacturer, engineer (born 1728)source
  • 1823Demerara rebellion of 1823: In the British colony of Demerara-Essequibo (modern-day Guyana in South America), an insurrection of 10,000 black slaves begins; it is suppressed after three days, but hundreds of suspects are executed in the reprisals that follow.source
  • 1826Scottish explorer Alexander Gordon Laing becomes the first European to reach Timbuktu but is murdered there on September 26.source
  • 1850Honoré de Balzac, French author (born 1799)source
  • 1862Simon Fraser, Canadian explorer (born 1776)source
  • 1905Joseph Cochran, American missionary.source
  • 1943Hans Jeschonnek, German general (suicide) (born 1899)source
  • 1945Subhas Chandra Bose, Leader of Indian National Army (Third-degree burns from aircrash) (born 1897)source
  • 1945WWII: Death of Subhas Chandra Bose – Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose is killed as a result of his overloaded Japanese plane crashing in Japanese Taiwan.source
  • 1945Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose died in a plane crash at Taihoku (Taipei).source
  • 1976At Panmunjom, North Korea, two United States soldiers are killed while trying to chop down part of a tree in the Korean Demilitarized Zone which has obscured their view.source
  • 1983Five people are killed and 18 others injured when a road train is deliberately driven into a motel at Ayers Rock in the Northern Territory of Australia (the driver, Douglas Edward Crabbe, is convicted in March 1984).source
  • 1989Leading Colombian presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá.source
  • 2005A man described as al-Qaeda's leader in Saudi Arabia, Saleh Mohammed al-Aoofi, is killed in a shootout with police.source
  • 2015Russell Henderson, 91, Trinidad and Tobago-born jazz musician.source
  • 2018Kofi Annan, 80, Ghanaian diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997–2006), Nobel Prize laureate (2001).source