Nothingandall: On this day in History

4004 BC - On the preceding eve of this day (in the proleptic Julian calendar), the universe was created, according to the archbisshop James Ussher in his Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar.
0042 BC - Roman Republican civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi - Brutus's army is decisively defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian. He commits suicide.
0042 BC - Marcus Junius Brutus dies (b.85 BC). Roman senator.
0425 - Valentinian III elevated as Roman Emperor. He was only 6 years old.
0502 - The Synodus Palmaris, called by Gothic king Theodoric the Great, discharges Pope Symmachus of all charges, thus ending the schism of Antipope Laurentius.
0930 - Daigo was born (b. 0885). Emperor of Japan.
1086 - At the Battle of az-Zallaqah, the army of Yusuf ibn Tashfin defeats the forces of Castilian King Alfonso VI.
1157 - The Battle of Grathe Heath ends the civil war in Denmark. King Sweyn III is killed and Valdemar I restores the country.
1295 – The first treaty forming the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France against England is signed in Paris.
1456 - Giovanni da Capistrano dies (b. 1386). Italian saint.
1459 - Exércitos de D. Afonso V e Infante D. Henrique derrotam os mouros em Alcácer Ceguer.
1503 - Isabella of Portugal was born ( † 1 Maio 1539). Queen of Spain and empress of Germany.
1516 - Charlotte de Valois was born (d. 1524). Princess of France.
1520 - King Carlos I (1500-1558) was crowned as German emperor Charles V (1520-1558), a Holy Roman Emperor.
1550 - Tiedemann Giese dies (b. 1480). Polish Catholic bishop.
1581 - Michael Neander dies (b. 1529). German mathematician and astronomer.
1596 - Turks under Mohammed III defeat Austrian Archduke Maximillian's forces near Erlau, Hungary.
1616 - Leonhard Hutter dies (b. 1563). German theologian.
1634 - Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp was born (d. 1715). Queen of Sweden.
1641 - Outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 - anniversary commemorated by Irish Protestants for over 200 years.
1642 - Battle of Edgehill: first major battle of the First English Civil War.
1688 - Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange dies (b. 1610). French philologist.
1694 - American colonial forces led by Sir William Phips, fail to seize Quebec.

1698 - Ange-Jacques Gabriel was born (d. 1782). French architect.

1705 - Maximilian Ulysses Reichsgraf von Browne was born (d.1757). Austrian field marshal.

1707 - The first Parliament of Great Britain meets.

1715 - Peter II of Russia was born (d. 1730).

1730 - Anne Oldfield dies (b. 1683). English actress.

1739 - War of Jenkins' Ear starts: British Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, reluctantly declares war on Spain.

1749 - Nicolas Appert was born (d. 1841). Chef, confectioner, chemist and inventor.

1762 - Samuel Morey was born (b. 1843). American inventor.

1764 - Hector Munro's British forces defeat Nawab of Oudh at Buxar, Bengal.

1764 - Emmanuel-Auguste de Cahideuc, Comte Dubois de la Motte dies (b. 1683). French naval officer.

1766 - Emmanuel, marquis de Grouchy was born (d.1847). French marshal.

1771 - Jean-Andoche Junot was born (d. 1813). French general.

1774 - Michel Benoist dies (b. 1715). French Jesuit missionary and scientist.

1790 - Chauncey Allen Goodrich was born (d. 1860). American clergyman, educator and lexicographer.

1796 - Stefano Franscini was born (d. 1857). Swiss Federal Councilor.

1801 - Albert Lortzing was born (d. 1851). German composer.

1805 - John Bartlett was born (d. 1905). American lexicographer.

1812 - Claude François de Malet, a French general, begins a conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon Bonaparte, claiming that the Emperor died in Russia and that he was now the commandant of Paris. De Malet was executed on October 29.

1813 - The Pacific Fur Company trading post in Astoria, Oregon is turned over to the rival British North West Company (the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest was dominated for the next three decades by the United Kingdom.

1813 - Ludwig Leichhardt was born (d. 1848). German explorer.

1815 – João Maurício Wanderley was born (d. 1889). Brazilian magistrate and politician.

1817 - Anselmo José Braamcamp was born. Portuguese politician.

1817 - Pierre Athanase Larousse was born (d. 1875). French lexicographer and encyclopedist.

1835 - Adlai E. Stevenson was born. 23 rd Vice President of the United States.

1837 - Moriz Kohn Kaposi was born. Hungarian physician.

1844 - Robert Bridges was born (d. 1930). English poet.

1844 - Sarah Bernhardt was born (d. 1923). French actress.

1846 - Pedro Castera was born. Mexican writer.

1850 – The first National Women's Rights Convention is begun in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.

1855 - Kansas Free State forces set up a competing government under their Topeka, Kansas constitution, which outlaws slavery in the United States territory.

1861 - President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in Washington, D.C. for all military-related cases.

1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Westport - Union forces under General Samuel R. Curtis defeat Confederate troops led by General Stirling Price at Westport, near Kansas City.

1865 - Neltje Blanchan was born (d. 1918). American writer.

1867 - 72 Senators were summoned by Royal Proclamation to serve as the first members of the Canadian Senate.

1869 - John Heisman was born (d. 1936). American football player and coach.

1869 - Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby dies (b. 1799). Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1870 - Franco-Prussian War: the Siege of Metz concludes with a decisive Prussian victory.

1870 - Bishop Francis Kelley was born (d. 1948). Catholic Bishop of Oklahoma.

1872 - Théophile Gautier dies (b.1811). French writer, poet, writer, historian, and critic.

1873 – William D. Coolidge was born (d. 1975). American physicist and inventor.

1875 - Gilbert N. Lewis was born (d. 1946). American chemist.

1876 - Franz Schlegelberger was born (d. 1970). German judge and politician.

1880 - Una O'Connor was born (d. 1959). Irish actress.

1885 - Lawren Harris was born (d. 1970). Canadian painter.

1885 - Charles S. West dies (b. 1829). Texas jurist and politician.

1887 - Nascia o Padre Américo (m. 16 Jul 1956). Fundador da Casa do Gaiato.

1888 - Onésime Gagnon was born (d. 1961). French Canadian politician, lieutenant-governor of Quebec.

1890 - Borodin's Opera "Prince Igor" was produced posthumously in St. Petersburg.

1892 - Gummo Marx was born (d. 21 Apr 1977). American actor and comedian (Marx Brothers): The Four Nightingales, Fun in Hi Skule, Mr. Green’s Reception, Home Again;

1894 - Rube Bressler was born (d. 1966). Baseball player.

1896 - André Lévêque was born (d. 1930). French engineer and scientist.

1900 - Douglas Jardine was born (d. 1958). English cricketer.

1904 - Eneida de Moraes was born. Brazilian journalist.

1904 - Harvey Penick was born (d. 1995). American golfer.

1905 - Felix Bloch was born (d. 1983). Swiss-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.

1905 - Gertrude Ederle was born (d. 2003). American swimmer.

1906 - Alberto Santos-Dumont flies the 14-bis in the first officially-recognised heavier-than-air flight at Champs de Bagatelle, Paris, France.

1907 - Hermínia Silva was born - official birthday : some fontes say that the real date was 2 Oct (d. 13 Jun 1993). Portuguese singer (fado) and actress [A Aldeia da Roupa Branca (1938), O Costa do Castelo (1943), Ribatejo (1949) e O Diabo Era Outro (1969)].

1908 - Ilya Frank was born (d. 1990). Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.

1909 - Zellig Harris was born (d. 1992). American linguist.

1910 - Chulalongkorn dies (b. 1853). King of Thailand.

1910 – Richard Mortensen was born (d. 1993). Danish painter.

1911 - First use of aircraft in war: an Italian pilot takes off from Libya to survey Turkish lines during the Turco-Italian War.

1912 - First Balkan War: The Battle of Kumanovo between the Serbian and Ottoman armies begins.

1914 - José Evaristo Uriburu dies. President of Argentina (1895-1898).

1915 - Woman's suffrage: In New York City, 25,000-33,000 women march up Fifth Avenue to demand the right to vote.

1915 - W. G. Grace dies (b. 1848). English cricketer.

1917 – Lenin calls for the October Revolution.

1917 - Júlio Resende was born. Portuguese painter (See O Lugar do desenho - Fundação Júlio Resende).

1918 - James Daly was born (d. 3 Jul 1978). Emmy Award-winning actor: Hallmark Hall of Fame: Eagle in a Cage [1965-1966]; Medical Center, Planet of the Apes, The Invaders;

1919 - Manolis Andronikos was born (d. 1992). Greek archeologist, professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

1920 - Ted Fujita was born (d. 1998). Japanese meteorologist.

1921 - John Boyd Dunlop dies (b. 1840). Scottish inventor.

1922 - Coleen Gray was born. American actress.

1923 - Aslam Farrukhi was born. Pakistani scholar and poet.

1923 - Frank Sutton was born (d. 1974). American actor.

1923 - Ned Rorem was born. American composer, Pulitzer Prize winner Air Music [1976].

1924 - Paulo Renato was born in Lisbon (d. 26 Dec 1981). Portuguese actor.

1925 - Fred Shero was born (d. 1990). Canadian hockey player and coach.

1925 - Johnny Carson was born (d. 23 Jan 2005). American television host. Emmy Award-winning comedian, TV host: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson [1977-1978, 1978-1979], 1979-1980, 1991-1992]; The Johnny Carson Show, Who Do You Trust?, Earn Your Vacation.

1925 - Manos Hadjidakis was born (d. 1994). Greek composer.

1927 - Leszek Kołakowski was born. Polish philosopher.

1928 – Bella Darvi was born (d. 1971). Polish-born French actress.

1928 – Harold P. Warren was born (d. 1985). American movie director.

1929 - Great Depression: After a steady decline in stock market prices since a peak in September, the New York Stock Exchange begins to show signs of panic.

1929 - The first transcontinental air service begins from New York to Los Angeles.

1930 - The first miniature golf tournament finished in Chattanooga, TN.

1931 - Diana Dors was born (d. 1984). British actress.

1931 – Jim Bunning was born. American baseball player and politician

1931 – William P. Clark was born. United States Secretary of the Interior under Ronald Reagan

1932 - Abebe Bikila dies. Egypcian runner, winner of Roma's Olympic Marathon in 1960

1934 - Samuel Anthony, Jr. was born. American architect.

1935 - Dutch Schultz, Abe Landau, Otto Berman, and Bernard "Lulu" Rosenkrantz are fatally shot in a bar in Newark in what will become known as The Chophouse Massacre

1935 - Chi Chi Rodriguez was born. Puerto Rican golfer.

1936 - Philip Kaufman was born. American film director.

1937 - Gil Alberto Enríquez Gallo assumes the presidency of Ecuador.

1937 - Carlos Lamarca was born (d. 1971). Brazilian militar and guerilla.

1939 - Ellie Greenwich was born. American singer.

1939 - Zane Grey dies (b. 1872). American author.

1940 – Baby Jane Holzer was born. American art collector, film producer and Andy Warhol "superstar"

1940 - Ellie Greenwich was born. American songwriter.

1940 - Pelé was born. Brazilian football player, one of the best (or the best) of all time.

1941 - World War II: Georgy Zhukov assumes command of Red Army efforts to stop the German advance into Russia.

1941 - Burning of Odessa Jews, Ukraine: 19,000 Jews are burned alive at Dalnik in Odessa, by Romanian and German troops. The next day, another 10,000 Jews are killed. Romanian Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolae Deleanu administered the executions.

1941 - Walt Disney's cartoon film, "Dumbo," was released.

1941 - Igor Smirnov was born. Moldovan politician.

1941 – Mel Winkler was born. American actor.

1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein starts - At El Alamein in Egypt, British forces begin a major offensive against Axis forces.

1942 - All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner are killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Among the victims is award-winning composer and songwriter Ralph Rainger ("Thanks for the Memory", "Love in Bloom", "Blue Hawaii").

1942 – The Battle for Henderson Field begins during the Guadalcanal Campaign and ends on October 26.

1942 - Anita Roddick was born (d. 2007). Founder of The Body Shop.

1942 - Michael Crichton was born. American writer. His work includes "Jurassic Park" and "The Andromeda Strain."

1942 - Ralph Rainger dies (b. 1901). American composer and Hollywood songwriter.

1944 - World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf begins - The largest naval battle in history begins in Leyte Gulf, the Red Army enters Hungary.

1944 - Mike Harding was born. English singer and comedian.

1944 - Charles Glover Barkla dies (b. 1877). English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.

1945 - Kim Larsen was born. Danish singer.

1946 - The United Nations General Assembly convened in New York for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing Meadow.

1946 - Graça Machel was born. Wife of Nelson Mandela (and widow of the late Mozambique president Samora Machel).

1946 - Melquiades Martinez was born. U.S. Senator from Florida.

1948 – Brian Ross was born. American journalist.

1948 - Edival Perrini was born in Curitiba, Paraná. Brazilian poet.

1948 - Hermann Hauser was born. Austrian-born technological entrepreneur.

1948 – Tony Anselmo was born. American animator and cartoon voice actor, current voice of Donald Duck (1985-present)

1949 - Michael 'Wurzel' Burston was born. British musician, Former member of Motörhead

1949 - Nick Tosches was born. American writer.

1950 - Al Jolson dies (b. 1886). American singer and actor.

1951 - Charly García was born. Argentine musician.

1951 - Fatmir Sejdiu was born. President of Kosovo.

1951 - Juvenal Bucuane was born in Xai-Xai. Mozambican writer and poet.

1952 - The Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to Ukrainian-born microbiologist Selmart A. Waksman for his discovery streptomycin, the 1st antibiotic to successfully treat tuberculosis.

1952 - Pierre Moerlen was born. French drummer and percussionist.

1953 - Federal Constitution of Rhodesia and Nyasaland goes into effect.

1954 - Britain, France, United States and Soviet Union agree to end occupation of Germany.

1954 - Ang Lee was born. Taiwanese-born director and producer.

1956 - Thousands of Hungarians protest Soviet influence and occupation in their nation (Hungarian Revolution is put down on November 4).

1956 - Dwight Yoakam was born. American singer, songwriter, and actor.

1957 – Martin Luther King III was born. American human rights advocate.

1958 - Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced a new set of comic strip characters The Smurfs.

1958 - The Springhill Mine Bump - An underground earthquake traps 174 miners in the No. 2 colliery at Springhill, Nova Scotia, the deepest coal mine in North America at the time. By November 1, rescuers from around the world had dug out 100 of the victims, marking the death toll at 74.

1958 - The Smurfs, a fictional race of blue dwarves later popularized in a Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon series appear for the first time, in the story Le flute à six schtroumpfs, a Johan and Peewit adventure by Peyo which is serialized in the weekly comics magazine Spirou.

1958 - Boris Pasternak won the Nobel Prize in literature. However, Soviet authorities pressured Pasternak into relinquishing the award.

1958 - Soviet Union approves loan for Aswan Dam in Egypt.

1958 – Michael Eric Dyson was born. American activist, professor, author

1958 - Nancy Grace was born. American former prosecutor.

1958 – Rose Nabinger was born. German singer.

1959 – Sam Raimi was born. American film director.

1959 - "Weird Al" Yankovic was born. American musical parodist.

1959 - Gerda Lundequist dies (b. 1871). Swedish actress.

1960 – Randy Pausch was born (d. 2008). American computer science professor, author.

1960 - Wayne Rainey was born. American motorcyclist.

1961 - Andoni Zubizarreta was born. Spanish football player.

1961 - Don Harris was born. American professional wrestler.

1961 - Laurie Halse Anderson was born. American writer.

1962 - Doug Flutie was born. American football player.

1964 - Robert Trujillo was born. American rock musician.

1965 - Vietnam War: Operation Silver Bayonet - The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in conjunction with South Vietnamese forces, launch a new operation, seeking to destroy North Vietnamese forces in Pleku Province in II Corps Tactical Zone (the Central Highlands).

1965 - Al Leiter was born. American baseball player.

1965 - Augusten Burroughs was born. American writer.

1966 - Alex Zanardi was born. Italian Formula One driver.

1966 - Cláudia Raia was born. Brazilian actress.

1967 - Dale Crover was born. American musician (Melvins, The Men of Porn, Altamont).

1969 - Trudi Canavan was born. Australian writer.

1970 - ‘Lady Soul’, Aretha Franklin, won a gold record for Don’t Play that Song.

1970 – Grant Imahara was born. American TV Mythbuster.

1970 – Zoe Wiseman was born. American Model and Photographer.

1970 - Jasmin St. Claire was born. West Indian actress.

1971 – Carlo Forlivesi was born. Italian composer.

1971 - Christopher Horner was born. American cyclist.

1972 - Fabricio Carpenejar was born in Caxias do Sul (RS). Brazilian poet and journalist (his blog here).

1973 - Watergate Scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations about the scandal.

1973 - A U.N. sanctioned cease-fire officially ends the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Syria.

1973 - Cat Deeley was born. English TV presenter and model.

1973 – Christian Dailly was born. Scottish footballer.

1974 – Jasmin St. Claire was born. Former pornographic actress.

1974 - Sander Westerveld was born. Dutch soccer player.

1974 - Lino António da Conceição dies. Portuguese painter.

1975 - Jessicka was born. American artist.

1975 - Keith Van Horn was born. American basketball player.

1975 - Odalys Garcia was born. Cuban actress.

1976 - US president Jimmy Carter, in a Playboy magazine interview, states that "I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me."

1976 - Cat Deeley was born. English model and television personality.

1976 - Ryan Reynolds was born. Canadian actor and comedian.

1978 - Archie Thompson was born. Australian footballer.

1978 – Jimmy Bullard was born. English footballer.

1978 - Steve Harmison was born. English cricketer.

1978 - Maybelle Carter dies (b. 1909). American guitarist and musical innovator.

1979 - Jorge Solis was born. Mexican professional boxer.

1979 - Simon Davies was born. Welsh football player.

1980 - Pedro Liriano was born. Dominican baseball player.

1981 – Ben Francisco was born. American baseball player.

1981 - Jeroen Bleekemolen was born. Dutch racing driver.

1981 - Leticia Dolera was born. Spanish actress.

1982 - Robert The Earl Kim was born. Korean-American lover of pink and friend of argyle

1982 - Mirel Radoi was born. Romanian football player.

1982 - Valentin Badea was born. Romanian footballer.

1983 - Lebanon Civil War: The U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut is hit by a truck bomb, killing 241 U.S. Marines.

1983 - A French army barracks in Lebanon is also hit that same morning, killing 58 troops.

1983 - Filipos Darlas was born. Greek footballer.

1983 - Josh Strickland was born. American entertainer.

1983 - Jessica Savitch dies (b. 1947). American journalist.

1984 - Izabel Goulart was born. Brazilian model.

1984 - James Petrillo dies (b. 1892). Leader of the U.S. musicians union.

1984 - Oskar Werner dies (b. 1922). Austrian actor.

1985 - James Kotecki was born. American political blogger.

1985 – Masiela Lusha was born. Albanian-American writer and actress.

1986 – Briana Evigan was born. American actress.

1986 - Jake Robinson was born. English footballer.

1986 – Jessica Stroup was born. American actress.

1986 - Edward Adelbert Doisy dies (b. 1893). American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1987 - The U.S. Senate rejected the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork on a 58-42 vote.

1987 - Faye Hamlin was born. Swedish singer (Play).

1987 - João Fernando de Almeida Prado dies. Brazilian writer, journalist and historian.

1988 - Nicolaj Agger was born. Danish football player.

1989 - The Hungarian Republic is officially declared by president Mátyás Szűrös (replacing the Hungarian People's Republic).

1989 - Phillips Disaster in Pasadena, Texas killed 23 and injured 314.

1989 - Armida dies (b. 1911). Mexican-American stage, vaudeville and film actress.

1990 - Stevie Brock was born. American singer.

1990 - Louis Althusser dies (b. 1918). French philosopher.

1991 - Princess Mako of Akishino of Japan was born.

1992 - The Toronto Blue Jays win their second straight World Series.

1992 - Emperor Akihito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil.

1992 - Humberto Díaz-Casanueva dies. Chilean diplomat and writer.

1993 – Shankill Road bombing: A Provisional IRA bomb prematurely detonates in the Shankill area of Belfast, killing the bomber and nine civilians.

1993 - Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini dies. Brazilian physician and surgeon.

1994 - A Tamil rebel suicide bomber at an election rally in Colombo, Sri Lanka, kills at least 50 people, including Gamini Dissanayake, opposition candidate for president.

1995 - After a meeting in New York, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announces accord with U.S. President Bill Clinton that Russian troops would help enforce peace in Bosnia.

1996 - The civil trial of former American football player O.J. Simpson opens in Santa Monica, California.

1996 - A historian reveals that the Swiss bank accounts of presumed Holocaust victims were used to settle Switzerland's postwar compensation disputes with Poland and Hungary.

1996 - Bob Grim dies (b. 1930). Baseball player.

1997 - South Africa's Nelson Mandela receives a hero's welcome in Libya, and calls for the United Nations to lift sanctions that are harming "our African brothers and sisters."

1997 - Bert Haanstra dies (b. 1916). Dutch filmmaker.

1998 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat reach a "land-for-peace" agreement.

1998 - Leonardo Ferraz de Carvalho dies. Portuguese economist.

1998 - Abortion in the United States: In Amherst, New York, abortion doctor Barnett Slepian is killed by a sniper in his home.

1998 - Swatch Internet Time introduced.

1998 - Barnett Slepian dies (b. 1946). American physician.

1999 - Illinois' George Ryan pays the first visit to communist Cuba by a U.S. governor since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, declaring he has come "to build bridges between people."

1999 - Apple Computer's Mac OS 9 is released and sold.

2001 - Ronald William Kirby dies (b. 1928). British artist.

2001 - Indonesia's parliament passes a bill granting the rebellious province of Irian Jaya sweeping autonomy, a greater share of resource revenues and a new name — Papua.

2001 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army of Northern Ireland commences disarmament after peace talks encouraged by American President Bill Clinton.

2001 – Apple releases the iPod.

2002 - Moscow Theatre Siege begins: Chechen rebels seize the House of Culture theater in Moscow and take approximately 700 theatergoers hostage.

2002 - British police detain Abu Qatada, a fugitive Muslim cleric who allegedly was an influential supporter of the al-Qaida terrorist network.

2002 - Adolph Green dies (b. 1915). American lyricist and playwright.

2003 - George W. Bush addresses a joint sitting of the houses of the Australian Parliament and is shouted down by Green Party senators Kerry Nettle and Bob Brown.

2003 - Bill Nicholson dies (b. 1919). English football player and manager.

2003 - Tony Capstick dies (b. 1944). English actor, comedian, and musician.

2003 - Soong May-ling dies (b. 1897). Wife of the President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek.

2003 - The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for 2003 has been awarded to "UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and all staff of the United Nations in special memory of Sergio Vieira de Mello and many other UN officials who have lost their lives in carrying out their work for peace in the world".

2004 - Brazil's 'Operation Cajuana' launches its first rocket into space, the VSB-30 just 14 months after its space program was devastated by a deadly launch pad accident.

2004 - A powerful earthquake and its aftershocks hit Niigata prefecture, northern Japan, killing 35 people, injuring 2,200, and leaving 85,000 homeless or evacuated.

2004 - Suspected Islamic militants kill 16 people heading to a soccer match in a pre-dawn ambush south of Algeria's capital — the first bloodshed since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

2004 - Tunisia’s President Ben Ali won elections with 94.5% of the vote.

2004 – Bill Nicholson dies (b. 199). English footballer.

2004 - Robert Merrill dies (b.1919). American baritone.

2005 - 2nd round of Presidential elections in Poland.

2005 - Legislative elections in Argentine.

2005 - John Muth dies (b. 1930). American economist.

2005 – Stella Obasanjo dies (b. 1945). Nigerian first lady.

2005 – William Hootkins dies (b. 1948). American actor.

2006 - Nepalese new year N.S.1127 according to lunar calendar Nepal Sambat begins.

2006 - Police in Hungary fire tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse protesters in anti-government demonstrations coinciding with the nation's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its uprising against Soviet rule.

2006 - Lebo Mathosa dies (b. 1977). South African entertainer.

2007 – A powerful Cold front in the Bay of Campeche causes the Usumacinta Jackup rig to collide with Kab 101, leading to the death and drowning of 22 people during rescue operations after they evacuated the rig.

2007 - António Cabral dies in Vila Real (b. 30 Apr. 1931). Portuguese poet and writer.

2007 - John Ilhan dies (b. 1965). Australian entrepreneur.

2007 - Lim Goh Tong dies (b. 1918). Malaysian-born Chinese businessman.

2008 – Kevin Finnegan dies (b. 1948). British Middleweight Boxing Champion.

R. C. Saints - Saint Giovanni da Capistrano; Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius.

Hungary - National Day (revolution of 1956 and the proclamation of the Republic of Hungay in 1989).

Astrology: First day of sun sign Scorpio.

Chemistry: Mole Day.

Republic of Macedonia - Day of the revolution.

Chulalongkorn Memorial Day in Thailand.

French Republican Calendar - Céleri (Celery) Day, second day in the Month of Brumaire.

Dia da Aviação e do Aviador (Brasil).