On this day in History - Jan. 31

• 36 BC - Antonia Minor was born (d. 0038 AD). Daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor.
  
• 0314 - Pope Silvester I began his Papacy.
• 0743 - Muhammad al-Baqir dies (b. 0676). Shia Imam.
• 0877 - Taejo of Goryeo was born (d. 0943). Ruler of Korea.
• 1338 - King Charles V of France (d. 1380).
• 1398 - Emperor Suko of Japan dies (b. 1334).
• 1435 - Xuande dies (b. 1398). Emperor of China.
• 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon.
• 1512 - King Henry of Portugal was born (d. 1580)/ Nascimento do Cardeal-rei Henrique I de Portugal.
• 1542 - Descoberta das Cataratas do Iguaçu, por Dom Alvar Nuñes Cabeza de Vaca.
• 1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu was born (d. 1616). Shogun of Japan.
• 1550 - Henry I, Duke of Guise was born (d. 1588). French Catholic leader.
• 1558 - Descubrimiento de la Isla Grande de Chiloé en Chile, por una expedición española integrada por Alonso de Ercilla .
• 1561 - Bairam Khan dies. Great Mughal General, regent for Akbar.
  
• 1561 - Menno Simons dies (b. 1496). Dutch Mennonite leader.
• 1580 - King Henry of Portugal dies on the day of his 68th birthday (b. 1512)/ Cardeal-rei Henrique I de Portugal faleceu no dia do 68º. aniversário.
• 1597 - John Regis was born (d. 1640). French saint.
• 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes (b. 1570), Ambrose Rokewood and Thomas Wintour (b. 1571) are executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England.
• 1615 - Claudio Aquaviva dies (b. 1543). Italian Jesuit.
• 1624 - Arnold Geulincx was born (d. 1669). Flemish philosopher.
• 1632 - Joost Bürgi dies (b. 1552). Swiss clockmaker and mathematician.
• 1665 - Johannes Clauberg dies (b. 1622). German theologian and philsopher.
• 1673 - Louis de Montfort was born (d. 1716). French catholic priest and saint.
• 1676 - Se funda en Guatemala de la Real Universidad de San Carlos.
• 1686 - Hans Egede was born (d. 1758). Norwegian Lutheran missionary.
• 1686 - Jean Mairet dies (b. 1604). French dramatist.
• 1720 - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford dies (b. 1654). English privy councilor.
• 1729 - Jakob Roggeveen dies (b. 1659). Dutch explorer.
• 1736 - Bruno Mauricio de Zabala dies. Founder of Montevideo (Uruguay).
• 1736 - Filippo Juvara dies (b. 1678). Italian architect.
• 1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Dock Hospital.
• 1752 - Gouverneur Morris was born (d. 1816). American lawmaker and diplomat.
• 1759 - François Devienne was born (d. 1803). French composer.
• 1788 - Charles Edward Stuart dies (b. 1720). Pretender to the British throne.
• 1790 - Thomas Lewis dies (b. 1718). Irish-born Virginia settler.
• 1794 - Marriott Arbuthnot dies (b. 1711). British admiral.
• 1797 - Franz Schubert was born (d. 1828). Austrian composer who was one of the most gifted musicians of the 19th century.
• 1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.
• 1815 - José Félix Ribas dies (b. 1775). Venezuelan independentist leader.
• 1820 - William B. Washburn was born (d. 1887). 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)
• 1828 - Alexander Ypsilantis dies (b. 1792). Phanariot Greek military commander and national hero of the Greek War of Independence.
• 1835 - William Charles Lunalilo was born (d. 1874). Monarch of Hawaii.
  
• 1836 - John Cheyne dies (b. 1777). British physician, surgeon and author.
  
• 1841 - Se constituye la República de El Salvador, al disolverse la Federación de las Provincias Unidas de Centroamérica.
• 1841 - Sam Loyd was born (d. 10 Apr 1911). Samuel Loyd was an American puzzlemaker who was best known for composing chess problems and games, including Parcheesi, in addition to other mathematically based games and puzzles.
• 1844 - Henri Gratien, Comte Bertrand dies (b. 1773). French general.
• 1846 - After the Milwaukee Bridge War, Juneautown and Kilbourntown unified as the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• 1848 - John C. Fremont court-martialed on grounds of mutiny and disobeying orders.
• 1849 - Corn Laws are abolished in the United Kingdom (following legislation in 1846).
• 1851 - David Spangler Kaufman dies (b. 1813). American politician.
• 1857 - George Jackson Churchward was born (d. 1933). GWR Chief mechanical engineer.
• 1862 - Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an eighteen inch telescope at Northwestern University.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
• 1865 - The House of Representatives approved the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery in the United States.
• 1865 - Henri Desgrange was born (d. 1940). Founder of the Tour-de-France.
• 1865 - Shastriji Maharaj was born (d. 1951). Indian spiritual leader.
• 1866 - Lev Shestov was born (d. 1938). Russian philosopher.
• 1867 - Maronite nationalist leader Karam leaves Lebanon on board of a French ship for Algeria
• 1868 - Theodore William Richards was born (d. 1928). American chemist, Nobel Prize for Chemics laureate in 1914.
• 1872 - Zane Grey was born born in Zanesville, Ohio. American writer and pioneer of Western as a new literary genre .
• 1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.
• 1881 - Anna Pavlova was born (d. 1931). Russian ballerina.
  
• 1881 - Irving Langmuir was born (d. 1957). American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1881 - Joseph Augustine Cushman was born (d. 16 April 1949). U.S. paleontologist and geologist known for his work on paleoecology as shown by Foraminifera (marine protozoans). He was the most well-known foraminiferologist of his time.
• 1884 - Theodor Heuss was born (d. 1963). German politician and publicist.
• 1888 - John Bosco dies (b. 1815). Italian priest, youth worker, educator, founder of the Salesian Society / Dom João Bosco, faleceu em Turim (n. 16 Ago 1815). Religioso, educador e escritor italiano. Criou a ordem dos Salesianos em Turim no ano de 1859, com 22 outros religiosos. Foi canonizado em 1 de Abril de 1934.
• 1889 - Frank Foster was born (d. 1958). English cricketer.
• 1891 - The first attempt of a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
• 1891 - Luís de Montalvor (Luís Felipe de Saldanha da Gama da Silva Ramos) was born in S. Vincent, Cape Vert (d. 2 Mar 1947, in Lisbon). Portuguese poet and editor.
• 1892 - Eddie Cantor was born (d. 1964). American actor and singer.
• 1892 - Charles Spurgeon dies (b. 1834). English preacher and evangelist.
• 1894 - Isham Jones was born (d. 1956). American jazz musician.
• 1896 - Sofya Yanovskaya was born (d. 1966). Russian mathematician.
• 1900 - Datu Muhammad Salleh is shot dead in Kampung Teboh, Tambuan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion
• 1901 - Marie Luise Kaschnitz was born in Karlsruhe (d. 10 Oct 1974 in Rome). German writer.
• 1902 - Alva Myrdal was born (d. 1986). Swedish politician , diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1902 - Julian H. Steward was born (d. 6 Feb 1972). American anthropologist best known as one of the leading neoevolutionists of the mid-20th century and as the founder of the theory of cultural ecology
• 1902 - Tallulah Bankhead was born (d. 1968). American actress.
• 1905 - John O'Hara was born (d. 1970). American novelist and short-story writer.
• 1907 - Timothy Eaton dies (b. 1834). Canadian department store founder.
• 1908 - Roberto Chavero ("Atahualpa Yupanqui") was born. Argentine singer and guitarist.
• 1910 - The Portuguese republican revolution broke out in the northern city of Porto.
• 1910 - F. Castro Soromenho was born in Vila de Chinde. Mozambican journalist and writer.
• 1911 - Eddie Byrne was born (d. 1981). British actor.
• 1913 - Don Hutson was born (d. 1997). American football player.
• 1914 - Carey Loftin was born (d. 1977). American actor and stuntman.
• 1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott was born (d. 1994). American boxer.
• 1914 - Sri Daya Mata was born. Hindu religious figure.
  
• 1915 - World War I: Germany uses poison gas against Russians.
• 1915 - Alan Lomax was born (d. 2002). American singer and musicologist.
• 1915 - Garry Moore was born (d. 1993). American comedian.
  
• 1915 - Thomas Merton was born (d. 1968). American monk and author.
• 1917 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.
• 1917 - Los científicos alemanes Otto Hahn y Lise Meitner descubren el protactinio, elemento radiactivo
• 1918 - A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
• 1919 - The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland.
• 1919 - Jackie Robinson was born (d. 1972). American baseball player.
• 1921 - Carol Channing was born. American actress.
• 1921 - E. Fay Jones was born. American architect.
• 1921 - John Agar was born (d. 2002). American actor.
  
• 1921 - Mario Lanza (Alfredo Cocozza Lanza) was born (d. 1959). Operatic singer, actor .
• 1922 - Joanne Dru was born (d. 1996). American actress.
• 1923 - Norman Mailer was born. American writer and journalist
• 1923 - Eligiusz Niewiadomski dies (b. 1869). Assassin of Gabriel Narutowicz.
• 1925 - Ajmed Zogu is elected President of Albania.
• 1925 - Benjamin Hooks was born. American head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
• 1926 - Tom Alston was born (d. 1993). American baseball player.
• 1928 - Chuck Willis was born (d. 1958). American singer and songwriter.
• 1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.
• 1929 - Jean Simmons was born. British actress.
• 1929 - Rudolf Ludwig Mössbauer was born. German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate in 1961, with Robert Hofstadter of the United States, for his researches concerning the resonance absorption of gamma-rays and his discovery in this connection of the Mössbauer effect.
• 1930 - 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
• 1930 - Joakim Bonnier was born (d. 1972). Swedish racecar driver.
  
• 1930 - Lynn Carlin was born. American actress
• 1931 - Christopher Chataway was born. English athlete, newscaster and politician.
• 1931 - Ernie Banks was born. American baseball player.
• 1933 - Bernardo Provenzano was born. Mafia boss
• 1933 - Camille Henry was born (d. 1997). National Hockey League player.
• 1933 - John Galsworthy dies (b. 1867). English writer Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.
• 1934 - Bob Turner was born (d. 2005). Canadian ice hockey player.
  
• 1934 - James Franciscus was born (d. 1991). American actor.
• 1935 - Kenzaburo Oe was born. Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1936 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts.
• 1937 - Andrée Boucher was born (d. 2007). Canadian politician.
  
• 1937 - Philip Glass was born. American composer
• 1937 - Regimantas Adomaitis was born. Lithuanian actor.
• 1937 - Suzanne Pleshette was born (d. 2008). American actress.
  
• 1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was born.
• 1938 - James G. Watt was born. American politician.
• 1938 - Constitui-se oficialmente em Burgos o primeiro governo espanhol presidido pelo general Franco, que substitui a Junta Técnica do Estado.
• 1939 - Claude Gauthier was born. Canadian singer and songwriter.
• 1940 - Kitch Christie was born (d. 1998). South African rugby union coach.
• 1941 - Layforce set sail.
• 1941 - Jessica Walter was born. American actress.
• 1941 - Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt was born. American politician.
• 1941 - Charles V. Chapin dies (b. 17 Jan 1856). American physician and epidemiologist who, with Gardner T. Swarts, established the first municipal bacteriological laboratory in the U.S. (1888) in Providence, Rhode Island.
• 1942 - Daniela Bianchi was born. Italian actress.
• 1942 - Derek Jarman was born (d. 1994). American director and writer.
• 1942 - Henry Larkin dies (b. 1860). Baseball player.
• 1943 - As forças militares alemãs cercadas em Stalinegrado rendem-se ao exército soviético. Durante a Batalha de Stalingrado 160.000 alemães morreram e 90.000 foram feitos prisioneiros, incluindo o marechal de campo von Paulus, o primeiro marechal alemão a render-se.
• 1944 - World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
• 1944 - World War II: Anzio campaign. (Darby's Rangers) 1st Ranger Battalion The entire 6615th Ranger Force (Provisional) was destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Cisterna, Italy.
• 1944 - Charlie Musselwhite was born. American musician
• 1944 - Jean Giraudoux dies (b. 1882). French writer.
• 1945 - US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed, the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion.
• 1945 - Joseph Kosuth was born. American conceptual artist.
• 1945 - Eddie Slovik dies (b. 1920). American soldier.
• 1946 - Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
• 1946 - Terry Kath was born (d. 1978). American musician.
• 1947 - Jonathan Banks was born. American actor.
• 1947 - Nolan Ryan was born. American baseball player.
• 1948 - Muneo Suzuki was born. Japanese politician.
• 1949 - Johan Derksen was born. Dutch footballer and sports journalist.
• 1949 - Ken Wilber was born. American philosopher.
• 1950 - President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
• 1950 - Alexander Korzhakov was born. Boris Yeltsin's bodyguard.
• 1951 - Dave Benton was born. Aruban-born singer.
• 1951 - Harry Wayne Casey was born. American singer and musician (KC and the Sunshine Band).
• 1951 - Phil Manzanera was born. English guitarist (Roxy Music, Quiet Sun, 801).
• 1952 - Nadya Rusheva was born (d. 1969). Russian painter.
• 1952 - Pedro Prado, faleceu, escritor chileno, Premio Nacional de Literatura de Chile em 1949.
• 1953 - A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands.
• 1954 - Adrian Vandenberg was born. Dutch musician (Whitesnake).
• 1954 - Edwin Howard Armstrong dies (b. 1890). American electrical engineer and inventor of the FM radio.
• 1955 - John Mott dies (b. 1865). American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• 1956 - Guy Mollet becomes Prime Minister of France.
• 1956 - Juscelino Kubitschek becomes President of Brazil.
• 1956 - John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten was born. English singer (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.).
• 1956 - A. A. Milne dies (b. 1882). English author.
• 1957 - Eight people on the ground in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
• 1958 - Explorer program: Explorer 1 - The first successful launch of an American American satellite into orbit.
• 1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.
• 1958 - Dave Finlay was born. Professional wrestler
• 1959 - Anthony LaPaglia was born. Australian actor.
• 1959 - Kelly Lynch was born. American actress.
• 1959 - Kelly Moore was born. American stock car driver
• 1960 - Grant Morrison was born. British comic book author and chaos magician
• 1961 - Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2 - Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
• 1961 - Lloyd Cole was born. British singer and songwriter
• 1961 - Ham the Chimp travels into outer space. The U.S. launched a 4-year-old male chimpanzee named Ham on a Mercury-Redstone 2 rocket into suborbital flight to test the capabilities of the Mercury capsule.
• 1961 - Jânio Quadros, tendo como vice João Goulart, foi empossado presidente do Brasil ao ser eleito com 48% dos votos da população.
• 1961 - Nuno Morais Sarmento was born. Portuguese politician.
• 1962 - Cuba es expulsada de la Organización de Estados Americanos.
• 1962 - Sophie Muller was born. Music video director.
• 1964 - Billey Shamrock was born. Swedish singer.
• 1964 - Jeff Hanneman was born. American guitarist (Slayer).
• 1964 - Sylvie Bernier was born. Quebec olympic diver.
• 1966 - The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
• 1966 - Dr Umar Alisha was born. A Sufi Master was Born at Pithapuram.
• 1966 - General Arthur Ernest Percival dies (b. 1887). British Army Officer.
• 1966 - Dirk Brouwer dies (b. 1 Sep 1902). Dutch-born U.S. astronomer and geophysicist known for his achievements in celestial mechanics, especially for his pioneering application of high-speed digital computers for astronomical computations.
• 1967 - Fat Mike was born. American musician.
• 1967 - Irene Wan was born. Hong Kong actress.
• 1967 - Joey Wong was born. Taiwanese actress.
• 1967 - Eddie Tolan dies (b. 1908). American athlete.
• 1968 - Mauritius breaks from Britain after days of rioting (Independence is officially achieved on 12 March 1968.)
• 1968 - Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon.
• 1968 - Nauru declares independence from Australia.
• 1968 - Matt King was born. British actor and comedian.
• 1968 - Patrick Stevens was born. Belgian athlete.
• 1969 - Meher Baba dies (b. 1894). Indian guru.
• 1970 - A Saskatchewan Court convicts 17 year old hippie, David Milgaard of murder; he is sentenced to life in prison. He spent 23 years in jail until April 14, 1992 when DNA evidence proves him innocent of all charges.
• 1970 - Minnie Driver was born. British actress.
• 1970 - Slim Harpo dies (b. 1924). American singer.
• 1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 Mission - Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
• 1971 - The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begin in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1971 - Dimitris Markos was born. Greek footballer.
• 1971 - Lee Young Ae was born. South Korean actress.
• 1971 - Patrick Kielty was born. Northern Irish comedian and television presenter.
• 1971 - Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky dies (b. 1891). Russian literary historian, linguist.
• 1973 - Portia de Rossi was born. Australian actress.
• 1973 - Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch dies (b. 1895). Norwegian economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner.
• 1974 - Ariel Pestano was born. Cuban baseball player.
• 1974 - Wil Anderson was born. Australian comedian.
• 1974 - Samuel Goldwyn dies (b. 1882). American film studio executive.
• 1975 - Fred Coleman was born. Former National Football League wide receiver.
• 1975 - Jackie O was born. Australian radio host.
• 1975 - Preity Zinta was born. Indian actress.
• 1976 - Buddy Rice was born. American race car driver.
• 1976 - Traianos Dellas was born. Greek footballer
• 1976 - Ernesto Miranda dies (b. 1941). American litigant.
• 1977 - Jim Kleinsasser was born. American football player.
• 1977 - Kate Shindle was born. American actress
• 1977 - Kerry Washington was born. American actress.
• 1977 - Mark Dutiaume was born. National Hockey League player.
• 1977 - Shingo Katori was born. Japanese actor and singer (SMAP).
• 1978 - Brad Rutter was born. Jeopardy! champion.
• 1978 - Fabián Caballero was born. Argentine footballer.
• 1978 - Ray Shah was born. Irish DJ, TV, radio presenter.
• 1979 - Daniel Tammet was born. British autistic savant
• 1980 - Thirty-nine people burned to death in the occupation of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala.
• 1980 - James Adomian was born. American actor.
• 1980 - Ryan Kienle was born. American musician.
• 1980 - Tiffany Limos was born. American actress.
• 1981 - Amrita Arora was born. Indian actress.
• 1981 - Julio Arca was born. Argentinian soccer player.
• 1981 - Justin Timberlake was born. American singer.
• 1981 - Sergio D. Acosta was born. Chicano filmmaker.
• 1981 - Cozy Cole dies (b. 1909). American jazz drummer.
• 1982 - Andreas Görlitz was born. German footballer.
• 1982 - Brad Thompson was born. American baseball player.
• 1982 - Bruno Nogueira was born. Portuguese actor, comedian and TV host.
• 1982 - Elena Paparizou was born. Greek singer.
• 1982 - Jānis Sprukts was born. Latvian ice hockey player.
• 1982 - Yuniesky Betancourt was born. Major League Baseball shortstop.
• 1982 - Inocêncio Romeiro Enes dies (b. 1892). Portuguese (Azorian) religious.
• 1983 - James Sutton was born. British television actor.
• 1983 - Tom Vangeneugden was born. Belgian swimmer.
• 1984 - Jeremy Wariner was born. American 400m runner.
• 1983 - Tom Vangeneugden, Belgian swimmer.
• 1984 - Vernon Davis was born. NFL player.
• 1985 - Adam Federici was born. Australian footballer.
• 1985 - Mario Williams was born. NFL player.
• 1986 - Yves Makabu-Makalambay was born. Belgian football goalkeeper.
• 1987 - Yves Allégret dies (b. 1907). French film director.
• 1988 - Super Bowl XXII: The Washington Redskins win their second championship of the 1980s, 42-10.
• 1988 - In Aveiro (Portugal), Diogo Freitas do Amaral is elected President of CDS (Center Democratic and Social) during the VIII Congress of the party.
• 1989 - Fernando Namora dies (b. 15 Apr 1919). Portuguese writer /Fernando Namora morre em Lisboa (n. 15 Abr 1919 em Condeixa-a-Nova). Médico e escritor português era até então o autor português mais traduzido em todo o mundo. Em Condeixa foi criada a Casa Museu Fernando Namora. Casa da Malta (1945), Minas de S. Francisco (1946), Retalhos da Vida de um Médico (1949-1963, em dois volumes), Domingo à Tarde (1961), Rio Triste (1982) e Sentados na Relva (1986).
• 1990 - The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow.
• 1990 - Kota Yabu was born. Japanese actor and singer.
• 1990 - Rashad Khalifa dies stabbed (b. 1935). Egyptian-born imam.
• 1990 - Salvador Barata Feyo dies (b. 5 Dec 1899 in Moçamedes, Mozambique). Portuguese sculptor, essayst and pedagogue.
• 1991 - Márcio Mello dies (b. 1906). Brazilian politician.
• 1992 - Willie Dixon dies (b. 1915). American musician.
• 1993 - Super Bowl XXVII: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills, 52-17.
• 1994 - Um incêndio destrói o Grande Teatro de Liceo, de Barcelona, construído em 1847.
• 1995 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy.
• 1995 - Dragon Ball Z ends its run in Japan.
• 1995 - George Abbott dies (b. 1887). American stage director and producer.
• 1995 - George Robert Stibitz dies (b. 30 April 1904). U.S. mathematician who was regarded by many as the "father of the modern digital computer."
• 1996 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1.400.
• 1997 - John Joseph Scanlan dies (b. 1930). Irish Catholic prelate.
• 1999 - Super Bowl XXXIII: The Denver Broncos defeat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-19.
• 1999 - Norm Zauchin dies (b. 1929). American baseball player.
• 2000 - Gil Kane dies (b. 1926). Latvian-born comic book writer.
• 2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Malibu, California killing 131.
• 2001 - In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crash into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
• 2001 - Gordon R. Dickson dies (b. 1923). Canadian writer.
• 2002 - A large section of the Antarctic Larsen Ice Shelf begins disintegrating, eventually consuming about 3,250 km² (1,254 miles²) over a 35-day period.
• 2002 - Francis Gabreski dies (b. 1919). American fighter pilot.
• 2003 - The Waterfall train disaster occurs near Waterfall, New Sout Wales, Australia.
• 2004 - Mystery Science Theater 3000 ends its run on the Sci-Fi Channel.
• 2004 - Eleanor Holm dies (b. 1913). American swimmer.
• 2005 - The child molestation trial of superstar Michael Jackson begins in California.
• 2006 - Samuel A. Alito Jr. assumes office as the 110th Supreme Court justice of the United States.
• 2006 - António Monteiro dies (b. 1944). Portuguese diplomat and politician.
• 2006 - Moira Shearer dies (b. 1926). Scottish actress (The Red Shoes) and ballerina.
• 2007 - Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.
• 2007 - Kirka Babitzin dies (b. 1950). Finnish singer.
• 2007 - Molly Ivins dies (b. 1944). American political columnist and author.
• 2007 - Lee Bergere dies (b. 1924). American actor.
• 2007 - Adelaide Tambo dies (b. 1929). South African activist and wife of Oliver Tambo.
• 2008 - Zeltim Odie Peterson dies (b. 1997). Famous pug.
• 2009 - Nagesh dies. Indian comedian actor in Kollywood.
• Catholicism - Feast day of St. John Bosco, Saint Pedro Nolasco, Saint Marcella, Saint Geminianus, Blessed Ludovica.