/year

August 31 in history

216 sourced entries recorded on August 31, from 12 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 805Shunzong issues an edict to yield the throne to his son Xianzong (Li Chun), because of an illness, taking for himself the title of "Retired Emperor" (Taishang Huang). Xian is confronted with political disputes in Zi Prefecture (Shaanxi).source
  • 1142Suggested date of the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy.source
  • 1203The Venetians rally a rabble of soldiers and storm through the walls, attacking the Mitation Mosque which results in extensive fires in Constantinople. Finally, they are fought off by the Byzantines and Muslims standing side by side. It becomes one of the most extensive urban conflagrations in European History and renders some 100,000 people homeless.source
  • 1302The Peace of Caltabellotta is signed between King Charles the Lame, King of Naples and King Frederick III of Sicily, ending the War of the Sicilian Vespers. The Kingdom of Sicily will pass to Angevin rule on Frederick's death, in return Charles pays a tribute of some 100,000 ounces of gold. Frederick hands over all his possessions in Calabria and releases Charles' son Philip I, prince of Taranto, from his prison in Cefalù.source
  • 1308(Tokuji 3, 15th day of the 8th month of Tokuji 3) Prince Morikuni becomes the ninth, and last, shogun of the Kamakura bakufu.source
  • 1314King Haakon V of Norway moves his capital from Bergen to Oslo – where he builds Akershus Fortress, from which Norway is ruled for the next 500 years.source
  • 1343A naval league is formed between the Pope, the Republic of Venice, the Knights Hospitaller and the Kingdom of Cyprus, to prepare the Smyrniote Crusades.source
  • 1351The French captured the besieged town of Saint-Jean-d'Angély upon the arrival of the King of France.source
  • 1385King Richard II of England begins an invasion of Scotland. The English burn Holyrood and Edinburgh, but return home without a decisive battle.source
  • 1390Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III overthrows his brother, Abu Bakr Shah, as Sultan of Delhi.source
  • 1420A 9.4 M S -strong earthquake shakes Chile's Atacama Region, causing tsunamis in Chile, as well as Hawaii and Japan.source
  • 1432Sigismund Kęstutaitis attempts the capture or murder of Švitrigaila, his rival for the throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Švitrigaila manages to escape.source
  • 1436An attempt by Spain to recapture Gibraltar from the Moors fails as the expedition leader Enrique Pérez de Guzmán drowns along with 40 of his men after reaching the shore.source
  • 1440In France, the Siege of Tartas is commenced in Gascony by troops of the Kingdom of England and the English-controlled Duchy of Gascony in an attempt to oust a French supporter of King Charles VII, Charles II d'Albret, who has taken control of Tartas. The siege lasts for almost two years before being abandoned by the English.source
  • 1440The siege of Tartas begins as part of the Hundred Years Warsource
  • 1522Pope Adrian VI is crowned at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.source
  • 1565Chaseabout Raid: Moray and at least 1,000 of his rebels arrive in Edinburgh for a confrontation with the Scottish crown. After cannon fire from Edinburgh Castle, the rebels retreat toward England to seek help. The rebellion is ended by the end of September.source
  • 1578The Forbisher expedition departs North America for its journey back to England.source
  • 1663Gilbert Sheldon enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.source
  • 1681Protestant activist Stephen College, convicted of treason, is hanged, drawn and quartered in Oxford.source
  • 1681English perjurer Titus Oates is told to leave his state apartments in Whitehall; his fame begins to wane, and he is soon arrested and imprisoned for sedition.source
  • 1681Perjurer Titus Oates is told to leave his state apartments in Whitehall; his fame begins to wane, and he is soon arrested and imprisoned for sedition.source
  • 1705August 31–September 5 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Siege of Zoutleeuw is carried out by the alliance of Dutch, English, Scottish and Holy Roman Empire troops against the French-held fortress of Zoutleeuw (in modern-day Belgium).source
  • 1707Treaty of Altranstädt (1707) signed between Charles XII of Sweden and Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, during the Great Northern War.source
  • 170931 August (11 September NS) – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Malplaquet – troops of the Dutch Republic, Habsburg monarchy, Great Britain and the Kingdom of Prussia led by the Duke of Marlborough drive the French from the field but suffer twice as many casualties. The song "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is based on the French song "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre" composed following this battle.source
  • 1715Old Dock, Liverpool, England, the world's first enclosed commercial wet dock (Thomas Steers, engineer), opens.source
  • 1715Opening of Old Dock, Liverpool, the world's first enclosed commercial wet dock (Thomas Steers, engineer).source
  • 1737The Prince and Princess of Wales have their first child, Princess Augusta. The birth takes place at St James's Palace, the royal couple having absconded from Hampton Court Palace in the middle of the night to avoid the King and Queen being present.source
  • 1751Robert Clive takes the Indian town of Arcot from the French.source
  • 1775August 29 – September 12 – The Independence Hurricane from South Carolina to Nova Scotia kills 4,170, mostly fishermen and sailors.source
  • 1792August 29–September 2 – War of the First Coalition: Battle of Verdun – Prussian forces defeat French troops led by Nicolas-Joseph Beaurepaire.source
  • 1793Thomas Muir sentenced to penal transportation for 14 years.source
  • 1803The Lewis and Clark Expedition begins as Lewis and a crew of 11 depart on the Ohio River.source
  • 1805British Army General David Baird departs from Cork, leading an expedition to capture the Cape of Good Hope. Their ship arrives on January 4.source
  • 1813After besieging San Sebastián, allied troops in Spain rampage, ransack and burn down the town almost entirely.source
  • 1819A significant earthquake (estimated M5.9±0.2) struck near Lurøy in Northern Norway.source
  • 1823Battle of Trocadero: French infantry of the "Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis" capture the fort of Trocadero and turn its guns on Cádiz.source
  • 1823Spanish liberal revolutionaries suffer a major defeat against the French at the Battle of Trocaderosource
  • 1824The Revd. Henry Williams lays the keel for the 55-ton schooner Herald 1826 ship, the first sailing ship (schooner) built in New Zealand.source
  • 1827F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the death of George Canning.source
  • 1827Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich is appointed prime minister following the death of Canning, continuing the Canningite Government as the Goderich Ministry; he will serve for only 144 days.source
  • 1830Edwin Beard Budding is granted an English patent for the invention of the lawn mower.source
  • 1833The chartered ship Amphitrite sinks off Boulogne-sur-Mer while transporting 108 British female convicts and 12 children from Woolwich in England to New South Wales in what is now Australia. All of the passengers die, along with 13 of the 16 crew, leaving 3 survivors.source
  • 1833Chartered ship Amphitrite sinks off Boulogne-sur-Mer while undertaking the penal transportation of 108 British female convicts and 12 children from Woolwich to New South Wales with the loss of 133 lives; only 3 crew survive.source
  • 1836Last hanging for arson, Daniel Case at Ilchester.source
  • 1838scene painter David Roberts sets sail for Egypt to produce a series of drawings of the region for use as the basis for paintings and chromolithographs.source
  • 1839The First Carlist War (Spain) ends with the Convenio de Vergara, also known as the Abrazo de Vergara ("the embrace in Vergara"; Bergara in Basque), between liberal general Baldomero Espartero, Count of Luchana and Carlist General Rafael Maroto.source
  • 1848The Public Health Act receives Royal Assent, establishing Boards of Health across England and Wales and paving the way for considerable improvements in public sanitation to counter endemic cholera in British cities. This year the third cholera pandemic reaches the UK.source
  • 1854August 31–September 8 – An epidemic of cholera in London kills over 10,000. Dr John Snow traces the source of one outbreak (that killed 500) to a single water pump, validating his theory that cholera is water-borne, and forming the starting point for epidemiology.source
  • 185431 August–8 September – An epidemic of cholera in London kills 10,000. Dr John Snow traces the source of one outbreak (that killed 500) to a single water pump, validating his theory that cholera is water-borne, and forming the starting point for epidemiology.source
  • 1855The First Volunteer Militia units are formed, by year end 21 Companies have been formed.source
  • 1859Belgian Chamber of Representatives votes to fortify Antwerp as a National Redoubt.source
  • 1859August 28–September 2 – The solar storm of 1859, the largest geomagnetic solar storm on record, causes the Northern lights to be visible as far south as Montería, Colombia and knocks out telegraph communication (this is also called the Carrington event).source
  • 1862last mail coach runs from Carlisle to Hawick.source
  • 1864American Civil War: Union forces, led by General William T. Sherman, launch an assault on Atlanta.source
  • 1871Adolphe Thiers becomes President of the French Republic.source
  • 1876Murad V, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid II.source
  • 1883The Calgary Herald publishes its first issuesource
  • 1886The 6.9–7.3 Mw Charleston earthquake affects southeastern South Carolina with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Sixty people are killed and damage is estimated at $5–6 million.source
  • 1888Whitechapel murders: The mutilated body of London prostitute Mary Ann Nichols is found; she is considered the first victim of Jack the Ripper.source
  • 1891Brussels Conference Act of 1890 enters into force.source
  • 1894New Zealand enacts the world's first minimum wage law, to take effect on January 1, in the passage of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1894.source
  • 1897Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the Kinetoscope, a precursor of the movie projector.source
  • 1907Count Alexander Izvolsky and Sir Arthur Nicolson sign the Anglo-Russian Entente in Saint Petersburg, bringing a pause in The Great Game in Central Asia, and establishing the Triple Entente.source
  • 1907August 24–31 – The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam meets in the Netherlands.source
  • 1910Gafanha da Nazaré is founded by Prior Sardo and becomes the last Portuguese town to receive a foral (royal charter) from the monarchy, granted by King Manuel II.source
  • 1913Dublin Lock-out: "Bloody Sunday": The dispute escalates when the Dublin Metropolitan Police kill one demonstrator and injure 400, in dispersing a demonstration.source
  • 1913Sandford flies west from Avondale covering 3 mi at 45 mph, but crashes at New Lynn on the return to Avondale.source
  • 1916The newspaper B.T. is established as a tabloid spinoff from Berlingske Ridende.source
  • 1920August 28–September 2 – Bukhara operation: The Russian Red Army and Young Bukharians overthrow the Emirate of Bukhara, leading to the establishment of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.source
  • 1923The Italian navy occupies Corfu, in retaliation for the murder of an Italian officer. The League of Nations protests, and the occupation ends on September 30.source
  • 1925Anthropologist Margaret Mead lands in American Samoa to begin nine months of field work that will culminate in her 1928 book Coming of Age in Samoa. The bestselling book will become the first popular anthropological study and will change many attitudes towards tribal peoples.source
  • 19261926 Horta earthquakesource
  • 1929The Young Plan, which sets the total World War I reparations owed by Germany at US$26,350,000,000 to be paid over a period of 58½ years, is finalized.source
  • 1932A total solar eclipse is visible from northern Canada through northeastern Vermont, New Hampshire, southwestern Maine and the Capes of Massachusetts.source
  • 1940WWII: Texel Disaster: Two British Royal Navy destroyers are sunk by running into a minefield off the coast of the occupied Netherlands with the loss of around 400 men, 300 of them dead.source
  • 1940British film stars Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh are married at the San Ysidro Ranch in California.source
  • 1941WWII (Uprising in Serbia): Battle of Loznica: Chetniks capture the town of Loznica in Nazi-occupied Serbia.source
  • 1941The Great Gildersleeve debuts on NBC Radio in the United States.source
  • 1942The 1942 Luxembourgish general strike is launched, to protest against forced conscription in Luxembourg.source
  • 1944The Mad Gasser of Mattoon apparently resumes his mysterious attacks in Mattoon, Illinois for two weeks.source
  • 1945A team at American Cyanamid's Lederle Laboratories, Pearl River, New York, led by Yellapragada Subbarow, announces they have obtained folic acid in a pure crystalline form. This vitamin is abundant in green leaf vegetables, liver, kidney, and yeast.source
  • 1947In Hungary, communists fail to gain a majority in the 1947 Hungarian parliamentary election (despite widespread fraud) and turn to direct action as part of the country's transition to Communism (1944–1949).source
  • 1949Six of the last sixteen surviving veterans of the Union Army, in the American Civil War, meet in Indianapolis.source
  • 1949The retreat of the Democratic Army of Greece to Albania, after its defeat at Mount Gramos, marks the end of the Greek Civil War.source
  • 1951The first Volkswagen Type 1 rolls off the production line in Uitenhage, South Africa.source
  • 1952An accident causing 13 deaths results in closure of the Grenzlandring as an auto race circuit in Wegberg, Germany.source
  • 1957The Federation of Malaya gains independence from the United Kingdom, subsequently celebrated as Malaysia's National Day. Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, becomes the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya. The country's new Constitution had come into force on August 27. The Alliance Party and its successor are the ruling coalition until 2018.source
  • 1958August 30–September 1 – Notting Hill race riots: Riots occur between blacks and whites in Notting Hill, London.source
  • 1959The Workers' Stadium sports venue in Beijing (China) is officially opened.source
  • 1962The Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago becomes fully independent of the United Kingdom's British Empire.source
  • 1965U.S. President Johnson signs a law penalizing the burning of draft cards with up to 5 years in prison and a $1,000 fine.source
  • 1968The first in a destructive earthquake doublet affected eastern Iran. The 7.4 Mw Dasht-e Bayaz earthquake shook the area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Fifteen-thousand people were killed.source
  • 1969A military junta rules the country following the sudden illness of President Artur da Costa e Silva. The junta is made up of ministers Aurélio de Lira Tavares from the Army, Augusto Rademaker from the Navy, and Márcio de Sousa e Melo from the Air Force.source
  • 1970Solar eclipse of August 31, 1970: An annular solar eclipse is visible in Oceania, and is the 14th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 144.source
  • 1970August 31 – September 5: Tropical Storm Norma.source
  • 1977August 29 – September 4:Hurricane Anitasource
  • 1980Victory of the strike in Gdańsk Shipyard, Poland. The Gdańsk Agreement is signed, opening a way to start the first free (i.e. not state-controlled) trade union in the communist bloc, "Solidarity" (Solidarność).source
  • 1980Colour television launched in Sabah and Sarawak by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM)source
  • 1981A bomb explodes at the United States Ramstein Air Base in West Germany, injuring 20 people.source
  • 1986The cargo ship Khian Sea departs from the docks of Philadelphia, carrying 14,000 tons of toxic waste. It wanders the seas for the next 16 months trying to find a place to dump its cargo. The waste is later dumped in Haiti.source
  • 1986The Soviet passenger liner SS Admiral Nakhimov collides with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev in the Black Sea and sinks almost immediately, killing 398.source
  • 1986Aeroméxico Flight 498, a Douglas DC-9, collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 82 (67 on both aircraft and 15 on the ground).source
  • 1986Sinking of SS Admiral Nakhimov in the Black Sea, 423 deaths.source
  • 1987Michael Jackson releases Bad, his first studio album since Thriller, the best-selling album of all time. The album would produce five number one singles in the US, a record which has not been broken.source
  • 1989The separatist group Patani Malays People's Consultative Council is founded.source
  • 1989In the aftermath of the Chadian–Libyan conflict of 1978–87, representatives of Libya and Chad agree to let the International Court of Justice determine ownership of the Aouzou Strip, which has been occupied by Libya since 1973.source
  • 1993Russia completes removing its troops from Lithuania.source
  • 1994The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army announces a "complete cessation of military operations" as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. This will temporarily end in 1996 with the Docklands bombing in England before a definite ceasefire in 1997. In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement is signed and the IRA decommissions its weapons in 2005source
  • 1994The Russian Army leaves Estonia and Latvia, ending the last traces of Eastern Europe's Soviet occupation.source
  • 1994biggest heist in Malaysia prepared by Mamak Gang at the Subang International Airportsource
  • 1996Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces launch an offensive into the northern No-Fly Zone and capture Arbil.source
  • 1996at the request of the Kurdistan Democratic Party leadership, Iraqi troops captured the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan held city of Erbil and the Battle of Erbil took place as part of the Kurdish Civil War.source
  • 1999Afghan Northern Alliance leaders, including Ahmad Shah Masood, General Sayed Husain Anwari, Ustad Sayaf and Yonnus Qanooni, met in the Panjsher Valley of Afghanistan to plan the establishment of a central Afghan bank and the recreation of close to a dozen ministries.source
  • 1999A Líneas Aéreas Privadas Argentinas flight crashes during takeoff from Aeroparque Jorge Newbery. There are 65 fatalities (63 occupants of the aircraft and 2 on the ground) – as well as injuries, some serious, to at least 34 people.source
  • 2001The World Conference against Racism 2001 begins in Durban, South Africa. Israel and the United States withdraw three days later, alleging antisemitism in the conference.source
  • 2002August 26–September 4 – Earth Summit 2002 takes places in Johannesburg, South Africa, aimed at discussing sustainable development by the United Nations.source
  • 2002August 22–September 4 – Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, makes landfall, killing at least 236 people.source
  • 2004Former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milošević stands trial for crimes against humanity.source
  • 2005August 29 – September 4 – 2005 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Ho Chi Minh City.source
  • 2005The Al-Aimmah bridge disaster in Baghdad, Iraq kills 953 Shia Muslim pilgrims who were celebrating a religious festival.source
  • 2012Armenia severs diplomatic relations with Hungary, following the extradition to Azerbaijan and subsequent pardoning of Ramil Safarov, who was convicted of killing an Armenian soldier in Hungary in 2004. The move is also met with fierce criticism from other countries.source
  • 2016The Brazilian Senate votes (61–20) to impeach the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff. The Vice President of Brazil, Michel Temer, who had assumed the presidential powers and duties as Acting President of Brazil during Rousseff's suspension, takes office for the remainder of her term.source
  • 2017Visa requirements for Japanese citizens are waived.source
  • 20192019 Alta helicopter crash: A sightseeing helicopter crashes in the mountains of Skoddevarre in Alta Municipality, Norway, killing all 6 occupants.source
  • 2020Authorities break up a gang that falsified Spanish passports to facilitate emigration.source
  • 2020Rwandan genocide: Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the 1994 movie Hotel Rwanda, is arrested on terrorism charges.source
  • 2021August 24–September 5 – The 2020 Summer Paralympics were held in Tokyo, Japan. They were originally scheduled for 25 August–6 September 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.source
  • 2024A helicopter crashed in Kamchatka Krai, Russia, killing all 22 occupants on board.source
  • 2024August 28 – September 8 – The 2024 Summer Paralympics are held in Paris, France.source
  • 2025An earthquake in eastern Afghanistan kills over 2,200 people and injures 3,500.source
  • 2025Between 370 and 1,000 people are reported killed in a landslide caused by heavy rain that buries the village of Tarasin in the Marrah Mountains of Central Darfur and leaves one survivor.source

Births

  • 12Caligula, Roman emperor (died 41 AD)source
  • 161Commodus, Roman emperor (died 192)source
  • 1018Jeongjong II, ruler of Goryeo (Korea) (died 1046)source
  • 1168Emperor Zhangzong of Jin, Chinese ruler (died 1208)source
  • 1433Sigismondo d'Este, Italian nobleman (died 1507)source
  • 1542Isabella de' Medici, Italian princess (died 1576)source
  • 1546Daniel Adam z Veleslavína, Czech lexicographer (died 1599)source
  • 1569Jahangir, Mughal emperor (died 1627)source
  • 1570Gustav of Saxe-Lauenburg, prince (died 1597)source
  • 1702Louis-François Roubiliac, French sculptor who worked in England (died 1762)source
  • 1737Princess Augusta, eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (died 1813)source
  • 1739Johann Augustus Eberhard, German theologian, philosopher (died 1809)source
  • 1764Johan August Sandels, soldier and politician (died 1831)source
  • 1769David Hosack American physician and botanist, a Hamilton family doctor (died 1835)source
  • 1786Michel Eugène Chevreul, French chemist (died 1889)source
  • 1797Ramón Castilla, Peruvian military leader and politician, three times President of Peru (died 1867)source
  • 1802Karl von Urban, Austrian field marshal (died 1877)source
  • 1811Théophile Gautier, French writer (died 1872)source
  • 1821Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician and physicist (died 1894)source
  • 1870Maria Montessori, Italian educator (died 1952)source
  • 1880Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (died 1962)source
  • 1945Sir Van Morrison, Irish rock musiciansource
  • 1947Somchai Wongsawat, Former Thai Prime Ministersource
  • 1956Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)source
  • 1977Jeff Hardy, American professional wrestlersource
  • 1979Mickie James, American professional wrestlersource
  • 1996Jalen Brunson, American basketball playersource
  • 2004Jang Won-young, singersource

Deaths

  • 318Liu Cong, Chinese emperorsource
  • 577John Scholasticus, patriarch of Constantinoplesource
  • 651Aidan, Irish-born bishop of Lindisfarnesource
  • 731Ōtomo no Tabito, Japanese poet (born 665)source
  • 894Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ta'i, Muslim governorsource
  • 970Han Xizai, Chinese official (born 902)source
  • 1054Kunigunde of Altdorf, German noblewoman (born c.1020)source
  • 1056Empress Theodora (a sister of the former Empress Zoë) dies after a 18-month reign, by a sudden illness at Constantinople. She is succeeded by Michael VI Bringas ("the Old"), who had served as military finance minister under the former Emperor Romanos III. Michael is appointed through the influence of Leo Paraspondylos, Theodora's most trusted adviser. This ends the Macedonian dynasty.source
  • 1056Theodora, empress regnant of the Byzantine Empiresource
  • 1057Michael VI, Byzantine emperorsource
  • 1140Godebold, bishop of Meissensource
  • 1158King Sancho III ("the Desired") dies after a 1-year reign. He is succeeded as ruler of Castile by his 2-year-old son Alfonso VIII ("the Noble"). The noble houses of Lara and Castro claim the regency, as the boy's uncle, Ferdinand II (ruler of León and Galicia).source
  • 1158Sancho III, king of Castile (born 1134)source
  • 1192Garnier de Nablus, 10th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitallersource
  • 1218Al-Adil I falls ill and dies at Damascus after an 18-year reign. He is succeeded in Syria by his eldest son Al-Mu'azzam and in Egypt by his younger son, Al-Kamil.source
  • 1218Al-Adil I, Ayyubid general and sultan (born 1145)source
  • 1234Go-Horikawa, emperor of Japan (born 1212)source
  • 1237Huijong, Korean ruler of Goryeo (born 1181)source
  • 1240Raymond Nonnatus, Spanish cardinalsource
  • 1247Konrad I of Masovia, Polish nobleman (House of Piast)source
  • 1249Rodrigo Díaz, Spanish prelate and bishopsource
  • 1287Konrad von Würzburg, German poet and writersource
  • 1315Andrea Dotti, Italian nobleman and preacher (born 1256)source
  • 1367In Switzerland, Amadeus IV, Count of Geneva become the new Count of Geneva when his brother, Aymon III, dies of battle wounds after only seven months after taking office on January 18.source
  • 1372Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, English soldier (born 1301)source
  • 1422King Henry V of England (born 1386)source
  • 1470Frederick II, Count of Vaudémont (born c.1428)source
  • 1502Thomas Wode, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleassource
  • 1528Matthias Grünewald, German artist (born 1470)source
  • 1579Patrick O'Hely, Roman Catholic Bishop of Mayo (executed by the English).source
  • 1654Ole Worm, Danish physician and antiquary (born 1588)source
  • 1655Ole Worm, physician and antiquary (born 1588)source
  • 1688John Bunyan, English writer (born 1628)source
  • 1709Andrea Pozzo, Jesuit Brother, architect and painter (born 1642)source
  • 1724King Louis I of Spain (born 1707)source
  • 1724Louis I of Spain dies of smallpox, aged 17, after a reign of seven months, and his father Philip V resumes the throne.source
  • 1724Louis I of Spain (born 1707)source
  • 1729John Blackadder, Scottish soldier (born 1664)source
  • 1772William Borlase, English naturalist (born 1695)source
  • 1782George Croghan, American colonist (born c. 1718)source
  • 1796John McKinly, the first president of Delaware, dies in Wilmington, Delaware.source
  • 1811Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French navigator, military commander (born 1729)source
  • 1814Arthur Phillip, British admiral, 1st Governor of New South Wales (born 1738)source
  • 1814Admiral Arthur Phillip RN, British naval officer and former Governor of New South Wales, dies at Bath, England aged 75.source
  • 1818Arthur St. Clair, American soldier, politician (born 1737)source
  • 1858Chief Oshkosh, Menominee chief (born 1795)source
  • 1864Ferdinand Lassalle, Prussian-German philosopher, socialist and politician (born 1825)source
  • 1867Charles Baudelaire, French writer (born 1821)source
  • 1869Irish scientist Mary Ward is killed by a steam car.source
  • 1886The 7.0 Mw Charleston earthquake affects southeastern South Carolina, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme); 60 people are killed, and damage is estimated at $5–6 million.source
  • 1897Louisa Lane Drew, English-born American actress, theater manager (born 1820)source
  • 1903William Hastie, clergyman and theologian (born 1842)source
  • 1920Wilhelm Wundt, German physiologist, psychologist (born 1832)source
  • 1997Death of Diana, Princess of Wales: Diana, Princess of Wales, is taken to a hospital after a car accident shortly after midnight, in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 4:00 am.source
  • 1997Diana, Princess of Wales, 36, British royal and ex-wife of future King Charles III, and activist.source
  • 20232023 Johannesburg building fire: 77 people are killed and more than 85 are injured in a fire in a building that had been taken over by gangs who rented it out to squatters.source