/year

March 21 in history

227 sourced entries recorded on March 21, from 537 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 537Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls with four siege towers, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the Vivarium, by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas and Peranius.source
  • 630Emperor Heraclius returns the True Cross, one of the holiest Christian relics, to Jerusalem. He tries to promote Monothelitism, which is rejected by the Christians.source
  • 717Battle of Vincy: Charles Martel invades Neustria and defeats the forces of King Chilperic II at Vincy, near Cambrai. He pursues him and his mayor of the palace Ragenfrid to Paris, before turning back to deal with his stepmother Plectrude at Cologne, to turn over half the wealth of his late father Pepin of Herstal. Charles allows both Plectrude and his nephew Theudoald (who at eleven was still a little child) to live (a gesture uncommon for the time), and obliges her to accept his sovereignty.source
  • 1089Cîteaux Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery, is established by a group of French monks under Robert of Molesme in southern France.source
  • 1098Cîteaux Abbey, located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, is founded by Robert of Molesme, founder of the Cistercian Order.source
  • 1152King Louis VII repudiates his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine and has it annulled on grounds of misconduct and consanguinity – returning her lands and titles. Within 6 weeks, Eleanor re-marries Henry of Anjou, who had claimed the counties of Anjou and Maine, and the province of Touraine upon the death of his father Geoffrey Plantagenet (the Fair), the previous year. With the addition of Eleanor's lands, he now controls territory stretching unbroken, from Cherbourg to Bayonne.source
  • 1306In France, Hugh V, at the age of 11, becomes the new Duke of Burgundy upon the death of his father, Robert II.source
  • 1373The Battle of Chiset is fought between France and England near what is now Chizé in Deux-Sèvres département in France. The French force of 1,500 defenders, led by Bertrand du Guesclin overwhelms 700-man English force led by Baron Devereux, who is taken prisoner of war.source
  • 1373The Battle of Chiset is fought at Chizé between English and French forces during the Hundred Years' War. The French had laid siege to the town and the English sent a relief force. The French, led by Bertrand du Guesclin, met the relief force and defeated it.source
  • 1377John Minsterworth, who had plotted a French invasion of the Kingdom of England in conjunction with France's King Charles V, is arrested in Pamplona, and letters to him regarding the proposed invasion are discovered. Minsterworth is taken first to Bordeaux in France and then returned for imprisonment in the Tower of London, where he reveals plans for a May 1378 invasion by the French Navy. Convicted of treason, he is executed on April 12 and his body is drawn and quartered.source
  • 1405John the Fearless, already Duke of Burgundy, becomes the Count of Flanders upon the death of his mother, Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, bringing the French speakers of Burgundy and the Flemish speaking citizens of Flanders under common rule in what will later become the Kingdom of Belgium.source
  • 1413Henry V succeeded his father as King of England and revives his family's claim to the French throne.source
  • 1413Henry, Prince of Wales becomes King Henry V of England the day after the death of his father Henry IV.source
  • 1418The Concordats of Constance are approved by the Council of Constance for signing by the various parties.source
  • 1421Battle of Baugé: A small French force, led by Gilbert Motier de La Fayette, surprises and defeats a smaller English force under Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence, a brother of King Henry V of England, in Normandy. Thomas, heir to the throne and Crown Prince, is killed in the attack, along with about 1,000 other of men.source
  • 1421Battle of Baugé is fought during the Hundred Years War. The English commander Thomas, Duke of Clarence, younger brother of Henry V, is killed in battle.source
  • 1422Hundred Years' War – The Siege of Meaux ends in France after more than five months as the starving citizens of the walled city of Meaux open the city gates and surrender to the English forces led by King Henry V. The city had been under siege since October 6. The city's defending troops flee across a bridge to their last line of defense, the fortress known as Le Marché.source
  • 1446In the Holy Roman Empire in Germany, the Electors of Cologne, Trier, Mainz, and the Palatinate, along with representatives of the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, assemble at Frankfurt-am-Main and create a mutual defense alliance to resist Pope Eugene IV.source
  • 1460After having control of Malbork Castle, the Polish Army begins a siege against the Prussian town of Marienburg.source
  • 1488The Treaty of Valencia is signed in Spain between the Kingdom of Navarre and the "Catholic Monarchy" of Aragon and Castile.source
  • 1498In Friesland, in the Netherlands, during the ongoing civil war between the Vetkopers and Schieringers, the Schieringers seek out the help of Albrecht III, Duke of Saxony at the cost of losing Frisian independence.source
  • 1500Ludovico Sforza and his Swiss mercenary army retakes Novara from the French.source
  • 1524da Verrazzano's expedition makes landfall at Cape Fear at what is later the U.S. state of North Carolina.source
  • 1543In Nuremberg, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) is printed during the illness of Nicholas Copernicus, offering mathematical arguments for the existence of the heliocentric universe, denying the geocentric model. According to legend, Copernicus, who had a stroke in December, is presented a copy of the book on his deathbed shortly before dying on May 24 in Frombork at the age of 70.source
  • 1556Armistice between Sweden and Russia i Käräjäkallio.source
  • 1590The Treaty of Constantinople is signed between the Ottoman Empire (in modern-day Turkey) and the Safavid Empire (modern-day Iran), ending a 12-year war between the two nations.source
  • 1591Pope Gregory XIV issues the papal bull Cogit nos, prohibiting the placing of bets on the outcome of papal elections, the length of time that a pope will reign, or who will be appointed as a cardinal.source
  • 1625James Ussher is appointed Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland) and Primate of All Ireland.source
  • 1632Thirty Years' War: King Gustavus Adolphus makes a triumphant entry into Nuremberg, where he is welcomed by the populace and pledges to protect the cause of Protestantism.source
  • 1657Army of Flanders recovers Saint-Ghislain from the French.source
  • 1678Thomas Shadwell's comedy A True Widow is given its first performance, at The Duke's Theatre in London, staged by the Duke's Company.source
  • 1678Thomas Shadwell's comedy A True Widow is given its first performance, at The Duke's Theatre in London, staged by the Duke's Company.source
  • 1681The "Oxford Parliament" is summoned in England by King Charles II and meets in Oxford rather than in Westminster, but is dissolved seven days later. No further sessions of parliament are held until after the death of Charles in 1685.source
  • 1689Robert Lundy swears allegiance to William III and Mary II and is commissioned as governor of Derry, where he commands the garrison.source
  • 1703Jeanne Guyon is freed from the Bastille in Paris after more than seven years imprisonment for heresy.source
  • 1703Jeanne Guyon is freed in Paris after more than seven years imprisonment for heresy in the Bastille.source
  • 1705Battle of Cabrita Pointsource
  • 1710A verdict is given in the trial of High Church clergyman Henry Sacheverell, leading to riots breaking out in a number of places, including Wrexham, where a rabble breaks the windows of dissenters' homes and their meeting house.source
  • 1718Piracy Act 1717 receives royal assent, providing the punishment of penal transportation (to British North America) as an alternative to a death sentence for lesser crimes.source
  • 1733The Molasses Act is passed by British House of Commons, which reinforces the negative opinions of the British by American colonists. The Act then goes to the House of Lords, which consents to it on May 4 and it receives royal assent on May 17.source
  • 1757Sweden signs an alliance treaty with France and Austria in the multinational effort to remove King Frederick the Great, even though Queen Consort Ulrika of Sweden is Frederick's sister. Sweden agrees to contribute 25,000 troops to the French and Austrian force.source
  • 1757France signs an alliance treaty with Sweden and Austria in the multinational effort to remove King Frederick the Great, even though Queen Consort Ulrika of Sweden is Frederick's sister. Sweden agrees to contribute 25,000 troops to the Frenco-Austrian force.source
  • 1770King Prithvi Narayan Shah shifts to the newly constructed Basantapur Palace, in the capital Kathmandu, as the first King of the Unified Kingdom of Nepal.source
  • 1770the College Historical Society, a debating society at Trinity College Dublin, founded by Edmund Burke, holds its first meeting when Burke's Club (founded 1747) merges with the Historical Club (1753).source
  • 1788Great New Orleans Fire (1788) kills 25% of the population and destroys 856 buildings, including St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo, leaving most of the town in ruins. At the time New Orleans was a Spanish colony that would be secretly given to France in 1800. Not until 1803 would New Orleans as part of the Louisiana Purchase become part of the United States.source
  • 1788The Great New Orleans Fire destroys 856 buildings, including St. Louis Cathedral and The Cabildo, leaving most of the town in ruins.source
  • 1790Thomas Jefferson reports to President George Washington in New York, as the new United States Secretary of State.source
  • 1797Battle of Parramatta: Resistance leader Pemulwuy leads a group of aboriginal warriors, estimated to be at least 100, in an attack on a government farm at Toongabbie in Sydney, Australia.source
  • 1799War of the Second Coalition: Victory of Archduke Charles and the Austrian army over the French army of Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at the Battle of Ostrach.source
  • 1804The Napoleonic Code is adopted as French civil law.source
  • 1804The Napoleonic Code entered into force, forbidding privileges based on birth, allowing freedom of religion, and specifying that government jobs should go to the most qualifiedsource
  • 1809March 20–22 - Crossing the Gulf of Bothniasource
  • 1816The Institut de France is reorganized by King Louis XVIII into four royal academies: a revived Académie française; the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres; the Royal Academy of Sciences; and the Académie des Beaux-Arts.source
  • 1817The flag of the Pernambucan Revolt is publicly blessed by the dean of Recife Cathedral, Brazil.source
  • 1821Austrian forces under Johann Frimont enter Naples and restore the authority of Ferdinand I.source
  • 1825British première of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (1824) is presented by the Philharmonic Society of London at its Argyll Rooms conducted by Sir George Smart (and with the choral "Ode to Joy" sung in Italian).source
  • 1829The bloodless Wellington–Winchilsea duel takes place at Battersea near Londonsource
  • 1837Flooding in Burcht and Stabroek.source
  • 1843The world does not end, contrary to the first prediction by American preacher William Miller.source
  • 1843Guadalupe Victoria, 1st President of Mexico (born 1786)source
  • 1844The Baháʼí calendar begins.source
  • 1846Achel Priory founded as a filiation from Westmalle Abbey.source
  • 1848A large demonstration goes to Christiansborg Palace. Absolutism is abolished.source
  • 1858Indian Rebellion: British troops retake Lucknow.source
  • 1859Pennsylvania issues the charter establishing the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, the first organization of its kind in the United States, and founder of the nation's first zoo.source
  • 1859The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issues the charter establishing the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, the first organization of its kind in the United States and founder of the nation's first zoo.source
  • 1861Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy, gives the infamous Cornerstone Speech in Savannah, Georgia, in which he declares that slavery is the natural condition of blacks, and the foundation of the Confederacy.source
  • 1861The Auckland Examiner, which started in 1856, ceases publication.source
  • 1862James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin appointed Governor-General of India.source
  • 1865March 19–21 – American Civil War : Battle of Bentonville: Union troops compel Confederate forces to retreat from Four Oaks, North Carolina.source
  • 1871The 1871 Ontario election: Edward Blake's Liberals win a majority, defeating J. S. Macdonald's Liberal-Conservativessource
  • 1871Victor Hugo moves to Brussels.source
  • 1871Welsh-born journalist Henry Morton Stanley sets out for Africa to seek missing Scottish explorer and missionary Dr. David Livingstone.source
  • 1871Otto von Bismarck becomes the first Chancellor of the German Empire.source
  • 1871John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne marries Princess Louise, a daughter of Queen Victoria, at Windsor; she is the first legitimate daughter of a British monarch to marry a subject since 1515.source
  • 1894A syzygy of planets occurs, as Mercury transits the Sun as seen from Venus, and Mercury and Venus both transit the Sun as seen from Saturn, but no two of the transits are simultaneous.source
  • 1899The Eden Theatre in La Ciotat, a commune in France near Marseille, lays a claim to being the first cinema as brothers Auguste Lumière and Louis Lumière present their short film, L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat ("The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station") to 250 surprised spectators.source
  • 1899A report documented that bubonic plague reached Medina and another report noted that at least 21 cases of the plague.source
  • 1901SY Discovery (later named RRS Discovery) is formally launched in Dundee.source
  • 1905March 14 – 23 of the 26 crew of the British barque Kyber die when the ship is wrecked off England's Land's End.source
  • 1909The remains of the Báb are placed in the Baháʼí Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, at this time within the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1910Harry Houdini achieves one of the first powered flights in Australia.source
  • 1914Nojima Ginzo piloted the double-propeller compound-blade aircraft "Falcon" at 10:37 and took off to an altitude of 100 meters and hovered for four minutes before landing. This day was designated by the Taiwan Governor-General's Office as Taiwan Airlines Memorial Daysource
  • 1918July 18 – WWI: The Spring Offensive by the German Army along the Western Front fails to make a breakthrough, despite large losses on each side, including nearly 20,000 British Army dead on the first day, Operation Michael, on the Somme.source
  • 1919The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established by Béla Kun.source
  • 1921The New Economic Policy starts in Soviet Russia.source
  • 1925Tennessee Governor Austin Peay signs the Butler Act, prohibiting the teaching of evolution in the state's public schools.source
  • 1925Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortilèges, to a libretto by Colette, is premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.source
  • 1928Charles Lindbergh is presented with the Medal of Honor for his first transatlantic flight.source
  • 1928Charles Lindbergh is presented the Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight.source
  • 1930The Chilean Air Force is established.source
  • 1931The Australian National Airways aircraft Southern Cloud, carrying 8 persons, disappears on a flight between Sydney and Melbourne. The wreckage is not located until 1958.source
  • 1932March 21–22 – 1932 Deep South tornado outbreak: A series of deadly tornadoes in the United States kills more than 220 people in Alabama, 34 in Georgia and 17 in Tennessee.source
  • 193421 March to 14 June – The Australian Eastern Mission, led by deputy prime minister John Latham, visited a number of countries in East Asia and South-East Asia, the first Australian diplomatic mission outside the British Empire.source
  • 19341934 Hakodate fire, Japanese government official report, 2166 persons were perished.source
  • 1935Reza Shah of Iran asks the international community to formally adopt the name "Iran" to refer to the country, in place of the name "Persia".source
  • 1936March 18–21. Strike action at Polish Rubber Factory Semperit in Kraków,source
  • 1937Ponce massacre: A police squad, acting under orders from Governor of Puerto Rico Blanton Winship, opens fire on peaceful demonstrators protesting at the arrest of Puerto Rican Nationalist Party leader Pedro Albizu Campos, killing 17 people and injuring over 200.source
  • 1937The founding of the kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan by members of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement from Czechoslovakia and Poland.source
  • 1938The founding of the kibbutz Hanitasource
  • 1939March 10–21 — 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)source
  • 1943Exchange of wounded British and Italian soldiers in Mersinsource
  • 1946Svein Sturla Hungnes, actor, theatre director and instructorsource
  • 1949The Philippine Air Force conducts what would be the first reported strafing raid on a several hundred communist Huk peasants on the Sierra Madre mountains of central Luzon, killing 30 guerrillas.source
  • 1952Kwame Nkrumah is elected Prime Minister of the Gold Coast.source
  • 1952The last two executions in the Netherlands take place.source
  • 1952Tornadoes ravage the lower Mississippi River Valley, leaving 208 dead, through March 22.source
  • 1956March 21–22 – On his way to India, Anastas Mikoyan stays in Kabul.source
  • 1956The 28th Academy Awards Ceremony is held in Los Angeles. Marty is awarded Best Picture.source
  • 1960The Sharpeville massacre in South Africa results in more than 69 black protesters shot dead by police, 300 injured.source
  • 1960Juan Manuel Oliva, Governor of Guanajuato 2006-2012.source
  • 1961The State Council of Romania is created and the first election for the President of the State Council, the de facto head of state, is held in the Great National Assembly with a single candidate, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who is duly elected.source
  • 1962Beginning of the 1962 Mexico City radiation accidentsource
  • 1964Non ho l'età (music by Nicola Salerno, text by Mario Panzeri), sung by Gigliola Cinquetti, wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 (staged in Copenhagen) for Italy.source
  • 1964Representing Luxembourg, Hugues Aufray finishes fourth in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 with the song Dès que le printemps revient.source
  • 1966The Economic and Social Council is created to aid industrial relations between employers, employees, and the government.source
  • 1967Vietnam War: In ongoing campus unrest, Howard University students protesting the Vietnam War, the ROTC program on campus and the draft, confront Gen. Lewis Hershey, then head of the U.S. Selective Service System, and as he attempts to deliver an address, shout him down, with one protester chanting "America is the Black man's battleground."source
  • 1967Charles Manson is released from Terminal Island. Telling the authorities that prison had become his home, he requested permission to stay. Upon his release, he relocates to San Francisco where he spends the Summer of Love.source
  • 1968Rwanda signs the International Coffee Agreement of 1968.source
  • 1968March 19–23 – Afrocentrism, Black Power, Vietnam War: Students at Howard University in Washington, D.C., signal a new era of militant student activism on college campuses in the U.S. Students stage rallies, protests and a 5-day sit-in, laying siege to the administration building, shutting down the university in protest over its ROTC program and the Vietnam War, and demanding a more Afrocentric curriculum.source
  • 1970Representing Luxembourg, David Alexandre Winter finishes twelfth (and last) in the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 with the song Je Suis Tombé Du Ciel. It is the first and (so far) only occasion on which Luxembourg has scored 'nul points'.source
  • 1970"All Kinds of Everything", sung by Dana (music and lyrics by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith), wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 (staged in Amsterdam) for Ireland.source
  • 1970Dana wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with the song "All Kinds of Everything".source
  • 1973The Lofthouse Colliery disaster occurs in Great Britain. Seven miners are trapped underground; none survive.source
  • 1977Prime Minister Indira Gandhi withdraws the state of emergency which was implemented on June 25, 1975.source
  • 1980U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.source
  • 1982According to Japanese government official report, twelve climbers were human fatalities, due suffer heavy fog and avalanche hit on Mount Yatsu, Nagano Prefecture.source
  • 1983Yamoussoukro officially becomes the Ivorian political capital after transfer from Abidjan.source
  • 1985A referendum on military rule is held in order to confirm the military rule of Hussain Mohammed Ershad. The referendum asks voters "Do you support the policies of President Ershad, and do you want him to continue to run this administration until a civilian government is formed through elections?" The result is that 94.5% vote in favour, with a turnout of 72.2%. The opposition organises a general strike on the day of the referendum, and alleges that the results are fraudulent.source
  • 1985Canadian paraplegic athlete and activist Rick Hansen sets out on his 26-month, 40,000 km Man in Motion tour, which raises US$26 million for spinal cord research and quality-of-life initiatives.source
  • 1985Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985source
  • 1987Soccer player Ruud Gullit is transferred by PSV to AC Milan for a record fee of 17 million Dutch Guilder.source
  • 1990Namibia is officially independent. Sam Nujoma is sworn in as the first President of Namibia, in a ceremony attended by representatives of 147 countries, including 20 heads of state. Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first President of Namibia watched by Nelson Mandela (who had been released from prison shortly beforehand) and representatives from 147 countries, including 20 heads of state.source
  • 1990Romania applies to join the Council of Europe; the request was accepted on 7 October 1993.source
  • 1994The 66th Academy Awards, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Steven Spielberg's Holocaust drama Schindler's List wins seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director (Spielberg).source
  • 1997In Zaire, Étienne Tshisekedi is appointed prime minister; he ejects supporters of Mobutu Sese Seko from his cabinet.source
  • 1998The European Union announces an arms embargo against Serbia and Montenegro.source
  • 1999Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.source
  • 1999The 71st Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles with Shakespeare in Love winning Best Picture.source
  • 2000March 12–26 – Pope John Paul II visits Israel, and thus becomes the second pope to visit Israel. During his stay, the Pope visits Yad Vashem (the Israeli national Holocaust memorial) and the Western Wall placing a letter inside it in which he prayed for forgiveness for the actions against Jews in the past.source
  • 2001First case of foot and mouth disease discoveredsource
  • 2006Microblogging and social networking service website Twitter(now known as X) was launched.source
  • 2009Khadijeh Saqafi, 93, Iranian widow of religious/political leader Ruhollah Khomeini, after long illness.source
  • 2014Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signs a bill formalizing the process.source
  • 2016Barack Obama visits Cuba, marking the first time a sitting US president has visited the island nation since President Calvin Coolidge visited in 1928.source
  • 2016President Barack Obama made a state visit to Cuba.source
  • 2016The International Criminal Court finds former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the first time the ICC convicted someone of sexual violence.source
  • 2020The first case of COVID-19 is confirmed in Timor-Leste, a state of emergency is declared.source
  • 2021Clashes in Apure between Colombian FARC dissidents and the Venezuelan Armed Forces cause at least six casualties, as well as displacing 4,000 Venezuelans.source
  • 2022China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 crashes in Guangxi, China, killing all 133 people on board.source
  • 2023Commissioning ceremony of KDB As-Siddiq at Jetty Bravo, Muara Naval Base.source
  • 2023March 8–21 – The 2023 World Baseball Classic is held in, and won by, Japan.source
  • 2025A major power outage causes Heathrow Airport in London to completely shut down, with disruption expected to last for days, affecting thousands of flights around the world.source
  • 2025South Korea experiences one of its worst wildfires in modern history; over 87 000 hectares of land are destroyed in South Gyeongsang Province, killing at least 32 people.source

Births

  • 927Taizu, emperor of the Song dynasty (died 976)source
  • 1256Henry I, Margrave of Brandenburg ("Lackland"), German nobleman (died 1318)source
  • 1295Henry Suso, German priest, mystic and writer (died 1366)source
  • 1317Isabel de Verdun, English noblewoman (House of Clare) (died 1349)source
  • 1425Henry Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick, English nobleman (died 1446)source
  • 1467Caritas Pirckheimer, German nun (died 1532)source
  • 1474Angela Merici, Italian religious leader and saint (died 1540)source
  • 1492John II, Count Palatine of Simmern, Count Palatine of Simmern (1509-1557) (died 1557)source
  • 1501Anne Brooke, Baroness Cobham, English noble (died 1558)source
  • 1521Maurice, Elector of Saxony (died 1553)source
  • 1523Kaspar Eberhard, German theologian (died 1575)source
  • 1546Bartholomeus Spranger, Flemish painter (died 1611)source
  • 1551Maria Anna of Bavaria (died 1608)source
  • 1555John Leveson, English politician (died 1615)source
  • 1595Ferdinando Ughelli, Italian Cistercian monk and church historian (died 1670)source
  • 1626Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur, Spanish Catholic saint, missionary to Guatemala (died 1667)source
  • 1702Bento de Moura Portugal (died 1766)source
  • 1704Alexander Ferdinand, 3rd Prince of Thurn and Taxis (died 1773)source
  • 1714Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, British judge (died 1794)source
  • 1763Jean Paul, German writer (died 1825)source
  • 1806Benito Juárez, Mexican statesman, folk hero (died 1872)source
  • 1813James Strang, Mormon splinter group leader (died 1856)source
  • 1839Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer (died 1881)source
  • 1913Ivan Goran Kovačić, poet and writer (died 1943)source
  • 1935Brian Clough, English footballer and manager (died 2004)source
  • 1950Sergey Lavrov, current Foreign Minister of Russiasource
  • 1955Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian congressman and politician, 38th President of Brazilsource
  • 1960Ayrton Senna, Brazilian triple Formula One world champion (died 1994)source
  • 1975Mark Williams, Welsh professional snooker playersource

Deaths

  • 547Saint Benedict, Patron Saint of Europe, twin brother of St Scholastica, famous for building the Monastery of Mt Cassino and for his Benedictine Monastic Rulesource
  • 642Cyrus of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria and governor of Egyptsource
  • 867Osberht, king of Northumbriasource
  • 867Ælla, king of Northumbriasource
  • 1034Ezzo (or Ehrenfried), German count palatinesource
  • 1063Richeza of Lotharingia, queen of Polandsource
  • 1076Robert I ("the Old"), duke of Burgundy (born 1011)source
  • 1201Absalon, Danish archbishop and statesman (born 1128)source
  • 1238Awhad al-Din Kermani, Persian Sufi poetsource
  • 1271Ibn Sab'in, Andalusian philosopher and mysticsource
  • 1295Gaykhatu, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate (born 1259)source
  • 1301Guillaume de Champvent, Swiss nobleman and bishopsource
  • 1306Robert II, French nobleman (House of Burgundy) (born 1248).source
  • 1320Wernher von Homberg, Swiss nobleman and knightsource
  • 1349Jewish persecutions during the Black Death: Erfurt massacre – The Jewish community of Erfurt (Germany) is murdered and expelled in a pogrom.source
  • 1372Rudolf VI, Margrave of Badensource
  • 1487Nicholas of Flüe, Swiss hermit and saint (born 1417)source
  • 1507Jan Feliks "Szram" Tarnowski, Polish nobleman (born 1471)source
  • 1556Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (burned at the stake) (born 1489)source
  • 1556In Oxford, Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, is burned at the stake for treason for his role in the English Reformation as chief bishop of the Anglican Church.source
  • 1571Odet de Coligny, French cardinal and Protestant (born 1517)source
  • 1571Odet de Coligny, Cardinal of Châtillon. (b.1517)source
  • 1617Pocahontas, Algonquian (Native American) princess (born c. 1596)source
  • 1617Pocahontas (Rebecka Rolfe), daughter of the Chief of the Powhatan Algonquian tribe in the English colony of Virginia and the wife of English colonist John Rolfe, dies of smallpox after an illness of three days contracted as the couple and their son were preparing to return to America. She is buried at Gravesend.source
  • 1656James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland (born 1581)source
  • 1706Mary Channing, who was pregnant at the time that she was convicted of the murder of her husband, is burned at the stake at Dorset, in front of a crowd of 10,000 onlookers.source
  • 1729John Law, Scottish-born economist (born 1671)source
  • 1729Elżbieta Sieniawska, politically influential Polish magnate (born 1669)source
  • 1729John Law, Scottish economist, died in Venice (born 1671)source
  • 1734Robert Wodrow, Scottish historian (born 1679)source
  • 1751Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (born 1706)source
  • 1762Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, French astronomer (born 1713)source
  • 1772Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, French cartographer (born 1703)source
  • 1775Thomas Penn, son of William Penn, founder of the Province of Pennsylvania (born 1702)source
  • 1800William Blount, U.S. statesman (born 1749)source
  • 1800William Blount, politician (born 1749)source
  • 1801Battle of Alexandria in Egypt: British troops defeat the French, but the British commander, Sir Ralph Abercromby, dies later of a wound received in the action.source
  • 1804Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien (executed) (born 1772)source
  • 1831José Tomás Ovalle y Bezanilla (born 1787)source
  • 1843Robert Southey, English poet (born 1774)source
  • 1913About a hundred people of the Hehuan Mountain expedition and mountaineering team died due to snow and ice and were missing.source
  • 1915Frederick Winslow Taylor, American engineer, economist (born 1856)source
  • 2013Chinua Achebe, 82, Nigerian poet, professor and novelist (Things Fall Apart, Anthills of the Savannah).source
  • 2021Shahied Wagid Hosain, singer (born c.1961).source