/year

July 23 in history

207 sourced entries recorded on July 23, from 64 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 64July 18- 27 – Great Fire of Rome: A fire begins which destroyed three of fourteen of the administrative regions of Rome, more commonly known as the Palatine Hill, the Circus Maximus, and the Oppian hill. Also suffering severe damage were the Campus Martius and the Via Lata.source
  • 811Nikephoros I reaches Pliska, and destroys a Bulgarian army of 12,000 elite soldiers who guard the stronghold. Another hastily assembled relief force of 50,000 soldiers suffers a similar fate. The Byzantines capture the defenseless capital. Nikephoros plunders the city and captures Krum's treasury. He burns the countryside, slaughters sheep and pigs, as he pursues the retreating Bulgars southwest towards Serdica (modern-day Sofia).source
  • 1018July 22–23 – Battle of the River Bug: Polish forces under Bolesław I defeat Yaroslav the Wise near the River Bug. Yaroslav retreats to Novgorod, abandoning Kiev.source
  • 1263July 20–24 – Nahmanides, Spanish chief rabbi, defends the Talmud in an important debate (the Disputation of Barcelona) against Pablo Christiani, before James I of Aragon.source
  • 1266Siege of Safed: Mamluk forces capture the castle of Safed, defended by a garrison of 1,700 men (including some 500 Knights Templar), after a 6-week siege. Sultan Baibars promises safe conduct but when the Christians and Templars are on their way towards Acre, they are seized and beheaded.source
  • 1319Battle of Chios: A Knights Hospitaller-Genoese fleet (some 30 ships) led by Albert of Schwarzburg defeats a Turkish fleet, off Chios.source
  • 1396Queen Margaret makes her great-nephew and adopted son Erik of Pomerania joint ruler of Sweden. Eric has already been made joint ruler of Norway.source
  • 1441Abū r-Rabīʿ Sulaymān al-Mustakfī bi-Llāh, or Al-Mustakfi II, becomes the new Caliph of Cairo upon the death of his father, Al-Mu'tadid II.source
  • 1448The League of Lezhë, made up of the armies of various Albanian principalities, defeats the forces of the Venetian Republic and the Ottoman Empire at the battle of Scutari.source
  • 1453The Burgundian army led by Duke Philip the Good defeats the rebel forces of Ghent at the Battle of Gaveresource
  • 1495After failing at the Battle of Deal, Perkin Warbeck and his troops land with 11 ships at the Ireland port of Waterford to gain a foothold in his attempt to invade England. Warbeck is joined by an Irish noble, Maurice FitzGerald, Earl of Desmond, and begins an 11-day siege. The defenders of Waterford protect the walled city by damming the St. John's River to flood the marshes around Warbeck's soldiers, and fire the fortresses cannons at Warbeck's ships.source
  • 1503Orbital calculations suggest that on this day Pluto moves outside Neptune's orbit, remaining there for 233 years.source
  • 1508Upon the death of his father, King Oxlahuh-Tz'i, Hun-Iqʼ becomes one of the two kings of Guatemala's Kaqchikel Maya civilization. Hun-Iqʼ reigns jointly with King Kablahuh-Tihax until the latter's death on February 4.source
  • 1512Sten Sture the Younger is elected new Regent of Sweden, replacing Eric Trolle.source
  • 1522A counter-attack by local peasants and the French Army defeats the English Army in the first Battle of Morlaix, the day after the English pillage the town of Morlaix and begin loading their treasure on to their ships. When the French Army, commanded by Guy XVI de Laval, arrives, it finds that most of the English soldiers are either sleeping or drunk after having celebrated a conquest, and about 700 English soldiers are massacred.source
  • 1529The Blackfriars court is adjourned after word is received that Pope Clement VII has revoked its charter.source
  • 1532The Nuremberg Religious Peace is granted to members of the Schmalkaldic League, granting them religious liberty.source
  • 1537The third Ottoman–Venetian War begins as the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent leads an invasion of the Republic of Venice. The war will continue until October 2, 1540.source
  • 1542(10th day of 6th month of Tenbun 11) In Japan, a six-year rebellion within the Date clan when clan leader Date Tanemune, returning home from a day of falconry, is attacked by his oldest son, Date Harumune, and imprisoned at Kōri-Nishiyama Castle in Fukushima Prefecture. Tanemune is rescued by an aide, Koyanagigawa Munetomo, and escapes. The war lasts for six years before Harumune triumphs and becomes the new leader of the Date clan.source
  • 1566The Danes burn Skara domkyrka.source
  • 1575July 20–26 – Rathlin Island Massacre: English adventurers Francis Drake and John Norreys, acting for the Earl of Essex, lead an expedition that culminates in the massacre of 500 of the clan MacDonnell in a surprise raid on Rathlin Island.source
  • 1589Abbas the Great, who has recently become the Safavid Emperor of Persia, arranges the assassination of his benefactor, the Viceroy Murshid Qoli Khan at a banquet.source
  • 1595The Spanish raid Cornwall, England.source
  • 1597Earthquake in the Highlands.source
  • 1598Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, departs from Danzig (now Gdańsk) with 80 transports, several warships and exiled members of the Swedish parliament to invade Sweden. The troops land at Kalmar on July 31, and secure its surrender.source
  • 1609A three-day hurricane begins in the Caribbean Sea and separates the nine London Company's ships and their 600 passengers who are en route to relieve the Jamestown settlement. One ship sinks, and the flagship is wrecked. Less than 300 settlers make it to Virginia.source
  • 1632Three hundred colonists for New France depart Dieppe.source
  • 1632Three hundred colonists for New France depart Dieppe.source
  • 1637After a court battle, King Charles I of England hands over title to the North American colony of Massachusetts to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, one of the founders of Plymouth Council for New England.source
  • 1637Introduction of a new Scottish Prayer Book is met with widespread demonstrations, notably that of Jenny Geddes at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, who is said to have thrown a stool at the Dean's head.source
  • 1645Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia comes to the throne.source
  • 1675July 16–24 – An envoy from Massachusetts attempts to negotiate with the Nipmuck tribe.source
  • 1678The Battle of Ortenbach, one of the last major engagements of the Franco-Dutch War, takes place near Offenburg at the Rhine river in southwestern Germany, as French forces under the command of François de Créquy overwhelm a larger force of Holy Roman Empire troops commanded by the Duke of Lorraine, Karl V Leopold.source
  • 1678The Battle of Ortenbach, part of the Franco-Dutch Warsource
  • 168023 July–24 July – trial of Oliver Plunkett, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, at Dundalk for conspiracy in the supposed "Popish Plot" ends without indictment and on 24 October he is transferred to London.source
  • 1681The Bombardment of Chios during the French-Tripolitania War (1681-1685) is part of a wider campaign by France against the Barbary Pirates in the 1680s.source
  • 1702The first performance of the opera Médus, roi des Mèdes by François Bouvard takes place at the Paris Opera.source
  • 1727Seventeen Ursuline Sisters from France land in New Orleans, in the Louisiana territory of New France, after a journey that began on February 22. They later create the orphanage which is the predecessor of Catholic Charities and the Ursuline Academy, the oldest Catholic school in the United States.source
  • 1743James Oglethorpe departs from Georgia to England and returns there in September.source
  • 1745Jacobite rising: The Young Pretender Charles Edward Stuart lands on Eriskay in the Hebrides from the Du Teillay.source
  • 1745Jacobite rising: Charles Stuart lands on Eriskay in the Hebrides in Scotland.source
  • 1747Ahmad Shah Durrani establishes the Durrani Empire after being elected by Pashtun chieftains in a jirga at Naderabad, laying the foundation for modern Afghanistan.source
  • 1759Keel laying of HMS Victory at Chatham Dockyard.source
  • 1765Headed by Odawa Chief Pontiac and George Croghan, a party of Great Lakes tribesmen and British soldiers travel along the Wabash River and obtain the release of all white prisoners of war remaining in the Miami people and Odawa villages between Ouiatenon (near modern-day Granville, Indiana) and Detroit.source
  • 1777The brothers Jørgen Wichmand and Thomas Frederik Wichmand were ennobled by letters patent under the name Wichfeld.source
  • 1789Upon the death of his father, Finnur Jónsson, Hannes Finnsson becomes bishop of Skálholt.source
  • 1794Ratcliffe Fire destroys over 400 homes in London.source
  • 1803Robert Emmet's uprising in Ireland begins.source
  • 1803Emmet's insurrection: United Irishman Robert Emmet stages a rising in Dublin which is quelled by the military, with approximately fifty rebels and twenty soldiers dead. The Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Lord Kilwarden, is hacked to death. Neither Michael Dwyer (from County Wicklow), nor Thomas Russell (in the North), nor rebels from Kildare, are able to offer support for the rebellion as planned.source
  • 1803Emmet's insurrection in Ireland: United Irishman Robert Emmet stages a rising in Dublin which is quelled by the military, with approximately fifty rebels and twenty soldiers dead. The Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Lord Kilwarden, is hacked to death.source
  • 1806British invasions of the River Plate: A British expeditionary force of 1,700 men lands on the left bank of the Río de la Plata and invades Buenos Aires.source
  • 1813Sir Thomas Maitland is appointed as the first Governor of Malta, transforming the island from a British protectorate to a de facto colony.source
  • 1829In the United States, William Burt obtains the first patent for a form of typewriter, the typographer.source
  • 1829William Austin Burt obtains the first patent for a typographer (typewriter).source
  • 1830Beerhouse Act 1830 liberalise regulations on the brewing and sale of beer by individuals.source
  • 1835Mariano Enrique Calvo is appointed as the 3rd vice president of Bolivia, succeeding José Miguel de Velasco.source
  • 1839First Anglo-Afghan War: Battle of Ghazni – British forces capture the fortress city of Ghazni in Afghanistan.source
  • 1840The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union, but not proclaimed until 10 February 1841.source
  • 1840Pedro II is declared "of age" prematurely, and begins to reassert central control in Brazil.source
  • 1840Act of Union. The Queen sanctions the union of Upper and Lower Canada. The United Canada Act allows larger government to borrow more money.source
  • 1840Vaccination Act 1840 provides for free vaccination for the poor and prohibits variolation.source
  • 1842Hørsholm Textile Factory is established in Hørsholm.source
  • 1849French scientist Hippolyte Fizeau makes a measurement of the speed of light in air using a specially devised apparatus.source
  • 1862Anglo-Belgian Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed.source
  • 1862American Civil War: Henry Halleck takes command of the Union Army.source
  • 1865The SS Great Eastern departs on a voyage to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable.source
  • 1881The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.source
  • 1881A boundary treaty is signed by Argentina and the neighbouring country of Chile. The treaty is signed in Buenos Aires by Bernardo de Irigoyen, on the part of Argentina, and Francisco de Borja Echeverría, on the part of Chile, with the aim to establish a precise and exact borderline between the two countries based on the uti possidetis juris principle. Despite dividing largely unexplored lands, the treaty lays the groundwork for nearly all of Chile's and Argentina's current 5600 km of shared borders.source
  • 1881Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentinasource
  • 1882The Imo Incident occurs in Seoul, Korea, as a result of bad rations and late payment for soldiers of the Joseon Army.source
  • 1884The first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall, Leamington Spa, England, are recorded in today's Courier.source
  • 1886The Republic of Cunani, located in present-day Amapá, is proclaimed.source
  • 1886Steve Brodie is reported to have made a jump from the Brooklyn Bridge, a claim subsequently disputed.source
  • 1900July 23 – 25 – The First Pan-African Conference is held in London.source
  • 1904A continuous track tractor is patented by David Roberts of Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham in England.source
  • 1908Young Turk Revolution: The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) issues a formal ultimatum to Sultan Abdul Hamid II, to restore the constitution of 1876 within the Ottoman Empire; it is restored the following day.source
  • 1908July 13–25 – The 1908 Summer Olympics are held in London. (Originally scheduled to be in Rome, but changed due to the Mount Vesuvius eruption of 1906. Figure skating events are held in London from October 28–29.)source
  • 1914July Ultimatum: Austria-Hungary presents Serbia with an unconditional ultimatum.source
  • 19211st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party opens in Shanghai.source
  • 1929The Pro-Wailing Wall Committee is established by Joseph Klausner, Professor of Modern Hebrew Literature at the Hebrew University, to defend Jewish rights at the Western Wall.source
  • 1929Construction of the first 1000 ft (300 m)-long ocean liner, RMMV Oceanic, for the White Star Line, begun by Harland and Wolff in Belfast in 1928, is cancelled.source
  • 1940Welles Declaration: United States Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles announces that the U.S. will not accord diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union's occupation of the Baltic states.source
  • 1941WWII: Italian aircraft damage the British destroyer HMS Fearless which has to be sunk in the Mediterranean.source
  • 1942The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp begin operation, killing 6,500 Jews newly arrived from the Warsaw Ghetto.source
  • 1943On the recommendation of the National Petroleum Council, Brazil bans the use of private motorcycles throughout the nation in order to conserve fuel. Use of gasoline-powered automobiles had been prohibited the year before.source
  • 1945WWII: French marshal Philippe Pétain, who headed the Vichy government during WWII, goes on trial for treason.source
  • 1952General Mohammed Naguib leads the Free Officers (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser – the real power behind the coup) in the overthrow of King Farouk of Egypt.source
  • 1952The European Coal and Steel Community is established.source
  • 1952The foreign ministers of the six European Coal and Steel Community meet in Paris to decide on the seat of the organisation's headquarters. At Joseph Bech's proposal, Luxembourg City is chosen as the provisional working seat.source
  • 1955July 18–23 – Geneva Summit between the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and France.source
  • 1957Asghar Khan becomes the first native Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force and the world's youngest Air Vice Marshal at 36 years old.source
  • 1962The International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos is signed.source
  • 1962Telstar relays the first live trans-Atlantic television signal.source
  • 1966Katangese troops in Stanleyville, Congo, revolt for several weeks in support of the exiled minister Moise Tshombe.source
  • 1968July 23–28 – Black militants led by Fred (Ahmed) Evans engage in a fierce gunfight with police in the Glenville Shootout of Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States, leaving 7 people killed.source
  • 1968El Al Flight 426 hijacking: The only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft takes place, when a Boeing 707 carrying ten crew members and 38 passengers is taken over by three terrorists of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The aircraft, El Al Flight 426, which was en route from Rome to Tel Aviv, is diverted to Algiers by the hijackers. Negotiations with the hijackers lasted for 40 days. Both the hijackers and the passengers, including 21 Israeli hostages, were eventually freed.source
  • 19701970 Omani coup d'état: Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, is deposed in a bloodless palace coup by his son, Qaboos, with covert British support. Among the reforms he introduces is the abolition of chattel slavery in Oman.source
  • 1972The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.source
  • 1974The Greek military junta is replaced by a civilian government, the metapolitefsi.source
  • 1977July 21–24 – The Libyan–Egyptian War, sparked by a Libyan raid on Sallum, begins.source
  • 1981July 23–29 – Strong temperature drops are recorded in much of the country. Snow falls in cities like La Serena and Copiapó, where previously thought impossible.source
  • 1982Torrential rain and mudslides in Nagasaki, Japan, destroy bridges and kill 299.source
  • 1982Twilight Zone accident: During filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie, actor Vic Morrow and 2 child actors die in a helicopter stunt accident in California.source
  • 1982The International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling by 1985–1986.source
  • 1983The 25-year long Sri Lankan Civil War begins, following rising ethnic tensions between the minority Tamil and majority Sinhalese communities of Sri Lanka.source
  • 1983National Service conscript Sek Kim Wah and his accomplice Nyu Kok Meng went to rob a rich businessman and his family who lived in Andrew Road. Sek murdered three of the victims (which included the businessman, his wife and the family maid), with the remaining two hostages (the businessman's young daughter and the girl's tuition teacher) being released by Nyu, who protected them from Sek's murderous rampage, which would make headlines nationwide and brought shock to Singaporeans in 1983. Sek, who was also involved in an unrelated double murder that occurred a month earlier, was later arrested and sentenced to death for the five murders. Nyu, who turned himself in, was subsequently incarcerated for life and caned 6 strokes for armed robbery after the prosecution decided to dismiss the murder charges against him since he did not partake in the killings Sek committed. Sek was eventually hanged in Changi Prison Complex on 9 December 1988.source
  • 1983Heavy rain and mudslides in western Shimane Prefecture, Japan, kill 117.source
  • 1986In London, the then Prince Andrew, Duke of York (later Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.source
  • 1987The United States Census Bureau reports the biggest population gains in metropolitan U.S. areas of over 1 million people since 1980: Phoenix (population increase of 26%); Dallas-Fort Worth (+25%); Atlanta (+20%); San Antonio (+19%) Tampa-Saint Petersburg (+19%); San Diego (+18%); Sacramento (+17%); and Houston (+17%). The largest population losses were in Rust Belt cities: Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland.source
  • 19871987 Tokyo Metropolitan area power outage, where 2.8 million household affected, which restore spent more three and half hours, according to Japanese government confirmed report.source
  • 1992North Korea snubs China by not sending a congratulatory message on the Communist Party's anniversary.source
  • 1995A constitutional referendum was held in the country.source
  • 1995July 21–26 – Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: The Chinese People's Liberation Army fires missiles into the waters north of Taiwan.source
  • 1999Mohammed VI of Morocco becomes king upon the death of his father Hassan II.source
  • 1999NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is launched.source
  • 1999July 22–25 – Woodstock '99 was held in Rome, New York at former Griffiss Air Force Base, which was marred with difficult environmental conditions, poor sanitation, overpriced food and water, looting, violence, rapes, riots and several deaths.source
  • 2000July 11–25 – A summit meeting takes place at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat, ending without an agreement.source
  • 2001Megawati Sukarnoputri is inaugurated as the first female president of Indonesia.source
  • 2002Salvadoran generals José Guillermo García and Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova are found liable for torture in an American court.source
  • 2005A series of bombings hit the resort city of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, killing over 80 people.source
  • 2009The SEACOM cable becomes operational, raising hopes of higher speed and lower cost internet connections in Kenya.source
  • 2011July 14–23 – Two frontal systems enter south-central Chile causing great snowfalls that leaves thousand of people isolated.source
  • 2012The Solar storm of 2012 is an unusually large coronal mass ejection emitted by the Sun which barely misses the Earth by nine days. If it had hit, it would have caused up to US$2.6 trillion in damages to electrical equipment worldwide.source
  • 2013July 22–28 – XIV World Youth Day, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.source
  • 2014July 23–August 3 – The 2014 Commonwealth Games takes place in Glasgow, Scotland.source
  • 2015Studénka train crashsource
  • 2018The Saddle Dam D in Paksong, Laos collapses leaving up to 1,100 people missing.source
  • 2021August 8 – The 2020 Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, Japan. They were originally scheduled for 24 July–9 August 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.source
  • 2022The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the recent monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, as the number of reported cases exceeds 17,000 in 75 countries.source
  • 2023The 2023 Spanish general election is held, with the People's Party becoming the largest party in the Congress of Deputies.source
  • 20232023 Greece wildfires: Tens of thousands of tourists flee Rhodes, Greece, amid wildfires and a major heatwave, in what officials say is the largest evacuation in the country's history.source
  • 2023Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard wins the Tour de France for the second consecutive time.source
  • 2024Vanuatu leads a diplomatic effort at the International Court of Justice to rule that states must protect human rights and phase out fossil fuels to address climate change.source
  • 2025The International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules that countries can sue each other over historical emissions of greenhouse gases and the effects of climate change.source
  • 2025The International Court of Justice, acting on a case led by Vanuatu, rules that climate change is an "existential threat" and that countries failing to meet their climate obligations could be in breach of international law and liable to reparations claims by affected countries.source

Births

  • 1127Zhao Fu, emperor of the Song Dynasty (died 1129)source
  • 1301Otto I ("Otto the Merry"), Austrian nobleman and co-ruler (died 1339)source
  • 1339Louis I, Duke of Anjou (died 1384)source
  • 1339Louis I, Duke of Anjou (died 1384)source
  • 1370Pier Paolo Vergerio the Elder, Italian humanist (died 1444 or 1445)source
  • 1401Francesco I Sforza, Italian condottiero (died 1466)source
  • 1441Danjong of Joseon, King of Joseon (died 1457)source
  • 1503Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, Queen consort of the Romans, Bohemia and Hungary (died 1547)source
  • 1635Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, iconic figure in the history of New France (died 1660)source
  • 1649Pope Clement XI (died 1721)source
  • 1666Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield (died 1732)source
  • 1705Francis Blomefield, English antiquarian (died 1752)source
  • 1710Jonathan Belcher, lawyer, chief justice, and lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia (died 1776)source
  • 1746Bernardo de Gálvez, Spanish military leader, aids the United States in its quest for independence in the American Revolutionary War (died 1786)source
  • 1773Thomas Brisbane, Scottish astronomer, Governor of New South Wales (died 1860)source
  • 1777Philipp Otto Runge, German painter (died 1810)source
  • 1816Charlotte Cushman, American actress (died 1876)source
  • 1820Julia Gardiner Tyler, First Lady of the United States (died 1889)source
  • 1892Haile Selassie I, Ethiopian emperor (died 1975)source
  • 1892João de Souza Mendes, chess master (died 1969)source
  • 1941Sergio Mattarella, Italian lawyer, judge and politician, 12th President of Italysource
  • 1950Mustafa Arapi, painter and art restorersource
  • 1953Najib Razak, 6th Prime Minister of Malaysiasource
  • 1967Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (died 2014)source

Deaths

  • 955He Ning, Chinese official and chancellor (born 898)source
  • 997Nuh II, Samanid emir (born 963)source
  • 1022Lei Yungong, Chinese palace eunuch and advisersource
  • 1065Gunther of Bamberg, German noblemansource
  • 1100Warner of Grez, French noblemansource
  • 1160Al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah, Fatimid caliph (born 1149)source
  • 1227Qiu Chuji, Chinese Taoist religious leader (born 1148)source
  • 1274Wonjong of Goryeo, Korean prince and ruler (born 1219)source
  • 1373Saint Birgitta, Swedish saint (born 1303)source
  • 1393Konrad von Wallenrode, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knightssource
  • 1393Konrad von Wallenrode, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights snce 1391, dies of a stroke ten days after opening a peace conference at Thorn.source
  • 1403Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester, English rebel (executed) (born 1343)source
  • 1536Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, illegitimate son of Henry VIII of England (born 1519)source
  • 1562Götz von Berlichingen, German knight and mercenary (born 1480)source
  • 1577Scipione Rebiba, Italian cardinal (born 1504)source
  • 1584John Day, English Protestant printer (born 1522)source
  • 1596Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (born 1526)source
  • 1645Tsar Michael I of Russia (born 1596)source
  • 1654Orazio Grassi, Italian Jesuit priest, architect and scientist (born 1583)source
  • 1727Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (born c. 1660)source
  • 1728At the conclusion of the Szeged witch trials in the city of the same name in Hungary, six men and six women are burned at the stake on the island of Boszorkány Sziget (Hungarian for "Witch Island").source
  • 1736Anna Colbjørnsdatter, national heroine (born 1665 or 1667).source
  • 1742Susanna Wesley, mother of John and Charles Wesley, known as mother of Methodism. (born 1669)source
  • 1757Domenico Scarlatti, Italian composer (born 1685)source
  • 1764Gilbert Tennent, Irish-born religious leader (born 1703)source
  • 1773George Edwards, English ornithologist and naturalist (born 1694)source
  • 1781John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-born Continental Congressman (born 1724)source
  • 1789Finnur Jónsson, bishop.source
  • 1793Roger Sherman, American lawyer, signer of the Declaration of Independence (born 1721)source
  • 1836Ísleifur Einarsson, politician.source
  • 1840Carl Blechen, German painter, specializing in fantastic landscapes with demons and grotesque figures (born 1798)source
  • 1878Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, Bohemian pathologist, philosopher and politician (born 1804)source
  • 1885Ulysses S. Grant, 63, American Civil War general, 18th President of the United States (born 1822)source
  • 1906Kodama Gentarō, general and politician (born 1852)source
  • 1927Reginald Dyer, British army officer, perpetrator of Jallianwala Bagh massacre (born 1864)source
  • 1927Arthur Hoffmann, politician (born 1857)source
  • 1932Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviation pioneer (suicide) (born 1873)source
  • 1941José Quiñones Gonzalessource
  • 1951Marshal Philippe Pétain, former Prime Minister and Head of State of France, Chief of State of Vichy France during World War II, hero commander of World War I who led the French Army to victory at the nine-month-long Battle of Verdun, for which he was called "the Lion of Verdun", dies while serving a sentence of life-imprisonment on the island of Île-d'Yeu at 95 years old.source
  • 1951Philippe Pétain, French World War I marshal, leader of Vichy France, 78th Prime Minister of France (born 1856)source
  • 1955Cordell Hull, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (born 1871)source
  • 1967July 23–31 – 12th Street Riot: In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city: 43 are killed, 342 injured and 1,400 buildings burned.source
  • 1973The Avianca Building in Bogotá, Colombia, suffers a serious fire, in which four people are killed.source
  • 198313 Sri Lanka Army soldiers are killed during a deadly ambush by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, thus beginning the Sri Lankan Civil War, which would continue until 2009.source
  • 1983Four Four Bravo ambush: A 15-man patrol of the Sri Lankan Army is ambushed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Thirunelveli. 13 of its members were killed. The ambush was a watershed event for ethnic relations in Sri Lanka and would be one of the immediate causes for the Sri Lankan Civil War.source
  • 1999Hassan II, 70, Moroccan monarch, King of Morocco (since 1961), heart attack.source
  • 2011Wenzhou train collision; 2 high speed trains in Wenzhou, China collided on a viaduct, sending multiple cars off the viaduct and crushing some. 40 people are killed and 192 people are injured.source
  • 2011Amy Winehouse, 27, British singer-songwriter ("Rehab", "Stronger Than Me", "Take the Box"), accidental alcohol poisoning.source