Events

• 3761 BC – The epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).
• 336 – Pope Mark dies, leaving the papacy vacant.
• 1513 – Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
• 1542 – Explorer Cabrillo discovers Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.
• 1571 – The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroys the Turkish fleet.
• 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1763 – George III of Great Britain issues British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.
• 1776 – Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.
• 1800 – French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the British 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional French song Le Trente-et-un du mois d'août.
• 1826 – The Granite Railway begins operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.
• 1828 – The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.
• 1840 – Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road: the Confederate forces' attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.
• 1864 – American Civil War: U.S.S. Wachusett captures the C.S.S. Florida Confederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.
• 1868 – Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War – Siege of Paris: Leon Gambetta flees Paris in a balloon.
• 1879 – Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.
• 1912 – The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.
• 1916 – Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222-0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history.
• 1919 – KLM of the Netherlands is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
• 1920 – The Suwalki Agreement between Poland and Lithuania is signed.
• 1933 – Air France is inaugurated, after being formed from a merger of 5 French airlines.
• 1940 – World War II: the McCollum memo proposes bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.
• 1942 – World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.
• 1944 – World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jews burn down the crematoria.
• 1949 – German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.
• 1955 – Beat poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem "Howl" for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.
• 1958 – President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of General Ayub Khan and the army, suspends the 1956 constitution, imposes martial law, and cancels the elections scheduled for January 1959.
• 1958 – The U.S. manned space-flight project is renamed Project Mercury.
• 1959 – U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits first ever photographs of the far side of the moon.
• 1960 – Nigeria joins the United Nations.
• 1962 – U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, U.S.S.R.
• 1963 – John F. Kennedy signs ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.
• 1977 – The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.
• 1971 – Oman joins the United Nations.
• 1982 – Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.
• 1985 – The Achille Lauro is hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.
• 1993 – The Great Flood of 1993 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage.
• 1998 – Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten by two young adults in Laramie, Wyoming.
• 2001 – The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.
• 2003 – Gray Davis is recalled as Governor of California, three years before the official end of his office term. Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor.
• 2004 – King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates.

Births

• 1471 – King Frederick I of Denmark and Norway (d. 1533)
• 1573 – William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1645)
• 1576 – John Marston, English writer (d. 1634)
• 1589 – Maria Magdalena of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (d. 1631)
• 1713 – Granville Elliott, British military officer (d. 1759)
• 1728 – Caesar Rodney, American lawyer (d. 1784)
• 1744 – Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman (d. 1819)
• 1748 – King Charles XIII of Sweden (d. 1818)
• 1769 – Solomon Sibley, American politician (d. 1846)
• 1786 – Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1871)
• 1835 – Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913)
• 1841 – King Nicholas I of Montenegro (d. 1921)
• 1849 – James Whitcomb Riley, American poet (d. 1916)
• 1866 – Wlodimir Ledochowski, Polish-Austrian director of the Society of Jesus (d. 1942)
• 1870 – Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1873)
• 1879 – Joe Hill, American Labor Activist and Poet (d. 1915)
• 1881 – Mikhail Drozdovsky, Russian general (d. 1918)
• 1884 – Major Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (d. 1927)
• 1885 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
• 1885 – Claud Ashton Jones, United States Navy rear admiral and Medal of Honor winner
• 1888 – Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States (d. 1965)
• 1892 – Dwain Esper, director (d. 1982)
• 1894 – Del Lord, American director (d. 1970)
• 1897 – Elijah Muhammad, American Black Muslim leader (d. 1975)
• 1898 – Joe Giard, American baseball player (d. 1956)
• 1900 – Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official (d. 1945)
• 1905 – Andy Devine, American actor (d. 1977)
• 1907 – Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Bolivian politician (d. 2001)
• 1909 – Anni Blomqvist, Finnish novelist (d. 1990)
• 1909 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American politician, 72^nd Mayor of Albany, New York (d. 1983)
• 1910 – Henry P. McIlhenny, American philanthropist (d. 1986)
• 1911 – Vaughn Monroe, American singer (d. 1973)
• 1911 – Shura Cherkassky, Ukrainian classical pianist (d. 1995)
• 1912 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, President of Peru (d. 2002)
• 1913 – Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and writer (d. 1987)
• 1914 – Alfred Drake, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1914 – Sarah Churchill, British actress (d. 1982)
• 1917 – June Allyson, American actress (d. 2006)
• 1919 – Sir Zelman Cowen, Australian politician
• 1920 – Jack Rowley, English footballer (d. 1998)
• 1921 – Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Grady Hatton, American baseball player
• 1922 – William Zinsser, American writer
• 1923 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Québécois member of Les Automatistes (d. 2002)
• 1923 – Irma Grese, Supervisor at Nazi concentration camps (d. 1945)
• 1926 – Diana Lynn, American actress (d. 1971)
• 1927 – R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist (d. 1989)
• 1927 – Al Martino, American singer and actor (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (d. 1980)
• 1929 – Robert Westall, British author (d. 1993)
• 1929 – Graeme Ferguson, Canadian filmmaker and executive
• 1931 – Cotton Fitzsimmons, American basketball coach (d. 2004)
• 1931 – Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate
• 1934 – Amiri Baraka, American writer
• 1934 – Ulrike Meinhof, German terrorist (d. 1976)
• 1935 – Thomas Keneally, Australian author
• 1936 – Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor
• 1937 – Maria Szyszkowska, Polish politician
• 1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist
• 1939 – Clive James, Australian television presenter and writer
• 1939 – Harold Kroto, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1939 – Bill Snyder, American football coach
• 1940 – Bruce Vento, American politician (d. 2000)
• 1943 – Joy Behar, American television personality
• 1943 – José Cardenal, Cuban baseball player
• 1943 – Oliver North, American former military officer
• 1944 – Judee Sill, American musician (d. 1979)
• 1944 – Donald Tsang, current Chief executive of Hong Kong
• 1945 – Kevin Godley, British musician (10cc)
• 1946 – Bernard Lavilliers, French singer
• 1946 – Pengiran Anak Saleha, Queen of Brunei
• 1948 – Diane Ackerman, American poet and essayist
• 1949 – Dave Hope, American musician (Kansas)
• 1950 – Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian politician
• 1951 – John Mellencamp, American singer
• 1951 – David J. Halberstam, American radio executive
• 1952 – Mary Badham, American actress
• 1952 – Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation
• 1952 – Jacques Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
• 1952 – Graham Yallop, Australian cricketer
• 1953 – Tico Torres, musician (Bon Jovi)
• 1954 – Kenneth Atchley, American composer
• 1955 – Yo-Yo Ma, French-born American cellist
• 1955 – Ralph Johnson, American computer scientist
• 1957 – Michael W. Smith, American singer
• 1957 – Jayne Torvill, British figure skater
• 1958 – Judy Landers, American actress
• 1959 – Dylan Baker, American character actor
• 1959 – Simon Cowell, English recording executive
• 1959 – Lourdes Flores, Peruvian politician
• 1959 – Jean-Marc Fournier, French-Canadian politician
• 1960 – Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer
• 1960 – Viktor Lazlo, Belgian singer
• 1961 – Matthew Roloff, American reality star
• 1961 – Brian Mannix, Australian singer and actor
• 1962 – Dave Bronconnier, Canadian politician
• 1964 – Sam Brown, English singer-songwriter
• 1964 – Dan Savage, American sex-columnist and author
• 1964 – Paul Stewart, English footballer
• 1965 – Genji Hashimoto, Japanese racing driver
• 1966 – Sherman Alexie, Native American author and comedian
• 1966 – Marco Beltrami, Italian-American film composer
• 1967 – Toni Braxton, American singer
• 1967 – Luke Haines, English musician (The Auteurs, Black Box Recorder)
• 1967 – Takahiro Izutani, Japanese Composer
• 1968 – Thom Yorke, English singer (Radiohead)
• 1969 – Javier Álvarez, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Bobbie Brown, American actress, model
• 1969 – Malia Hosaka, Hawaiian professional wrestler
• 1969 – Maria Whittaker, English model
• 1969 – Benny Chan Ho Man, Hong Kong actor and singer
• 1970 – Nicole Ari Parker, American actress
• 1971 – Daniel Boucher, Québécois musician
• 1972 – Ben Younger, American screenwriter and film director
• 1973 – Dida, Brazilian footballer
• 1973 – Sami Hyypiä, Finnish footballer
• 1973 – Priest Holmes, American Football Running Back
• 1974 – Allison Munn, American actress
• 1974 – Charlotte Nilsson, Swedish singer
• 1974 – Alexander Polinsky, American actor
• 1975 – Terry Gerin, American professional wrestler
• 1975 – Damian Kulash, American musician (OK Go)
• 1975 – Tim Minchin, Australian comedian and musician
• 1976 – Taylor Hicks, American musician
• 1976 – Santiago Solari, Argentinian footballer
• 1976 – Gilberto Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 – Charles Woodson, American football player
• 1976 – Marc Coma, Spanish motorcycle racer
• 1977 – Brandon Quinn, American actor
• 1977 – Meighan Desmond, New Zealand actress
• 1978 – Alesha Dixon, British pop singer (Mis-Teeq)
• 1978 – Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer
• 1979 – Simona Amânar, Romanian gymnast
• 1979 – Aaron Ashmore, Canadian actor
• 1979 – Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actor
• 1979 – Tang Wei, Chinese actress
• 1980 – Edison Chen, Canadian actor
• 1980 – Tim Cresswell, Hong Kong footballer
• 1981 – Doni Schroader, American avant garde composer,pop musician
• 1982 – Madjid Bougherra, Algerian footballer
• 1982 – Jermain Defoe, English footballer
• 1982 – Robby Ginepri, American tennis player
• 1982 – Eirini Sevastou, Greek singer
• 1982 – Li Yundi, Chinese classical pianist
• 1983 – Scottie Upshall, Canadian Hockey Player
• 1984 – Toma Ikuta, Japanese singer and actor
• 1984 – Salman Butt, Pakistani cricketer
• 1985 – Evan Longoria, American baseball player
• 1986 – Lee Nguyen, American footballer
• 1986 – Chase Daniel, American football player
• 1986 – Gunnar Nielsen, Faroese footballer
• 1986 – Bree Olson, American pornographic actress
• 1987 – Jeremy Brockie, New Zealand footballer
• 1987 – Sam Querrey, American tennis player
• 1988 – Stacy DuPree, American musician (Eisley)
• 2001 – Princess Senate Seeiso, daughter of King Letsie III of Lesotho

Deaths

• 336 – Pope Mark
• 929 – Charles the Simple, King of France (b. 879)
• 1368 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III of England (b. 1338)
• 1553 – Cristóbal de Morales, Spanish composer (b. c.1500)
• 1555 – Louis of Praet, Habsburg diplomat (b. 1488)
• 1577 – George Gascoigne, English poet
• 1612 – Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat, (b. 1538)
• 1620 – Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish military leader (b. 1547)
• 1637 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (b. 1587)
• 1651 – Jacques Sirmond, French Jesuit scholar (b. 1559)
• 1653 – Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1581)
• 1708 – Guru Gobind Singh, tenth Sikh Guru (b. 1666)
• 1772 – John Woolman, American Quaker preacher and abolitionist (b. 1720)
• 1787 – Henry Muhlenberg, German-born founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church (b. 1711)
• 1792 – George Mason, American statesman (b. 1725)
• 1793 – Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician (b. 1718)
• 1796 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (b. 1710)
• 1849 – Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet (b. 1809)
• 1894 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American writer (b. 1809)
• 1896 – Emma Wedgwood, English naturalist, wife of Charles Darwin, (b. 1808)
• 1903 – Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (b. 1832)
• 1906 – Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1848)
• 1911 – John Hughlings Jackson, English neurologist (b. 1835)
• 1919 – Alfred Deakin, second Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1856)
• 1925 – Christy Mathewson, American baseball player (b. 1880)
• 1926 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychologist (b. 1856)
• 1943 – Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (b. 1899)
• 1943 – Radclyffe Hall, British author (b. 1880)
• 1944 – Helmut Lent, German night fighter pilot (b. 1918)
• 1956 – Clarence Birdseye, American inventor (b. 1886)
• 1959 – Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
• 1966 – Grigoris Asikis, Greek singer and songwriter. (b. 1890)
• 1966 – Smiley Lewis, American musician (b. 1913)
• 1967 – Norman Angell, British politician and Nobel Laureate (b. 1872)
• 1969 – Léon Scieur, Belgian cyclist (b. 1888)
• 1981 – Albert Cohen, Greek-born Swiss novelist (b. 1895)
• 1991 – Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (b. 1905)
• 1992 – Allan Bloom, American philosopher and educator (b. 1930)
• 1992 – Tevfik Esenç, last known speaker of Ubykh (b. 1904)
• 1993 – Cyril Cusack, Irish actor (b. 1910)
• 1994 – Niels Kaj Jerne, English-born Danish immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
• 1998 – Arnold Jacobs, American tuba player a.k.a. Song and Wind (b. 1915)
• 2001 – Christopher Adams, British-born pro wrestler and judoka (b. 1955)
• 2001 – Herblock, American cartoonist (b. 1909)
• 2001 – Roger Gaudry, French Canadian chemist, businessman and corporate director (b. 1913)
• 2002 – Pierangelo Bertoli, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
• 2003 – Izzy Asper, Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate (b. 1932)
• 2003 – Arthur Berger, American composer (b. 1912)
• 2003 – Wally George, American conservative TV commentator (b. 1931)
• 2004 – Ken Bigley, British civil engineer, kidnapped and murdered in Iraq (b. 1942)
• 2005 – Charles Rocket, American actor (b. 1949)
• 2006 – Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist (b. 1958)
• 2006 – Abraham Afewerki, Eritrean singer (b.1966)
• 2006 – Julen Goikoetxea, Spanish Basque cyclist (b. 1985)
• 2007 – Norifumi Abe, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1975)
• 2007 – George E. Sangmeister, American politician (b. 1931)
• 2008 – Leslie Hardman, Jewish Orthodox rabbi (b. 1913)
• 2009 – Irving Penn, American photographer (b. 1917)

Holidays and observances

• RC Saints – Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary; formerly Saint Justina, Saint Osyth
• Feast day of Pope Mark.
• Saints Sergius and Bacchus; also see October 7
• French Republican Calendar – Sixteenth day in the Month of Vendémiaire
• Brazil – Composer Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada