Today in History on This Day in History

535 - St Agapitus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
609 - Pope Boniface I turns Pantheon in Rome into a Catholic church
641 - Eligius (Saint Eloy) becomes bishop of Doornik-Noyon
1106 - Henry I of Limburg becomes duke of Neth-Lutherans
1110 - Crusaders march into Beirut causing a bloodbath
1364 - Peter Coutherel banished from Leuven
1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola
1559 - Excavated corpse of heretic David Jorisz burned in Basel
1568 - Mary Queen of Scots is defeated by English at battle of Langside
1588 - King Henri III flees Paris
1607 - English colonists (John Smith) lands near James River in VA
1624 - Admiral Hermites fleet blockade Lima Peru
1637 - Cardinal Richelieu of France creates the table knife
1643 - Battle at Grantham: English parliamentary armies beat royalists
1643 - Heavy earthquake strikes Santiago Chile; kills 1/3 of population

Today's Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

Born Today

Singer-Songwriter Stevie Wonder (1950) Birthdays 1 - 15 of 250
1024 - Hugh of Cluny, French saint (d. 1109)
1254 - Maria of Brabant, queen of France (d. 1321)
1314 - Sergius of Radonesh, Russian saint
1588 - Ole Worm, Danish physician (d. 1654)
1592 - John Cloppenburg, vicar/theologist
1638 - Richard Simon, French Biblical critic (d. 1712)
1655 - Innocent XIII, [Michelangiolo dei Conti], Italy, 244th Pope (1721-24)
1699 - Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1782)
1707 - Carl von Linné, Swedish scientist (d. 1778)
1712 - Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff, Danish statesman (d. 1772)
1717 - Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria (Wife of emperor Franz I)
1729 - Henry William (Baron) Stiegel, early American glassmaker
1730 - Charles Watson-Wentworth 2nd Marquis of Rockingham, British PM (1765-66, 1782) and Whig
1735 - Horace Coignet, composer
1742 - Archduchess Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (d. 1798)

Today's Famous Birthdays »

Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 5 of 5
1922 - "Latin Lover" silent actor Rudolph Valentino (27) weds film costume and set designer Natacha Rambova (25) in Mexicali, Mexico
1932 - Russian composer Dmitri Sjostakovitch marries Nina Varsar
2003 - Former NBA star Dennis Rodman (42) weds Michelle Moyer on a small civil ceremony in Newport Beach, California
2006 - Actress Sara Bakker weds Sloan Alexander at the United Church on the Green in New Haven, Connecticut
2006 - British football star player Gary O'Neil (22) weds Donna Guerin in Highclere Castle, Hampshire

Today's Famous Weddings »

Famous Deaths

Passed Away Today

Arctic explorer/Nobel Laureate Fridtjof Nansen (1930) Deaths 1 - 15 of 97
384 - Servatius/Aravatius, bishop of Tongeren, dies at 65+
1162 - Géza II of Hungary
1176 - Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1119)
1312 - Theobald II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1263)
1381 - John of Chatillon, governor/viceroy of Holland, dies
1390 - Robert II the Steward, King of Scots (1371-90), dies
1573 - Takeda Shingen, Japanese warlord (b. 1521)
1619 - Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, lands advocate, beheaded
1704 - Louis Bourdaloue, French Jesuit preacher (b. 1632)
1732 - Theodor Schwartzkopff, composer, dies at 72
1742 - Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1719)
1776 - Anton de Haen, medical Ratio medendi, dies at 71
1787 - Johann Michael Malzat, composer, dies at 38
1793 - Martin Gerbert, composer, dies at 72
1807 - Eliphalet Dyer, American statesman and judge (b. 1721)