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27 BC - Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian receives the title Augustus by the Roman Senate.
550 - Gothic War (535–552): The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
929 - Emir Abd-ar-rahman III of Cordoba declares himself caliph, thereby establishing the Caliphate of Cordoba.
1362 - A great storm tide in the North Sea destroys the German island of Strand and the city of Rungholt.
1412 - The Medici family are made official bankers of the Papacy.
1456 - Painter Filippo Lippi elopes with Lucrezia Buti, a young nun from the convent of Saint Margherita.
1492 - The first grammar of a modern language, in Spanish, is presented to Queen Isabella.
1547 - Ivan the Terrible becomes Tsar of Russia.
1556 - Philip II becomes King of Spain.
1572 - The Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
1581 - English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
1605 - The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes was published in Madrid.
1707 - The Scottish Parliament, ratified the Act of Union, paving way for the creation of the Great Britain.
1761 - British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.
1777 - Vermont declares its independence from New York.
1780 - American Revolution: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
1795 - French occupy Utrecht, Netherlands.
1809 - Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
1847 - John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
1878 - Captain Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from the Ottoman rule.
1883 - The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil service, is passed.
1896 - Defeat of Cymru Fydd at South Wales Liberal Federation AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire.
1900 - The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
1909 - Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
1919 - Temperance movement: The United States of America ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification.
1945 - Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
1956 - President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.
1968 - Youth International Party (Yippies) is founded.
1969 - Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
1969 - Metroliner train starts running.
1970 - Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
1979 - The Shah of Iran flees Iran with his family and relocates to Egypt.
1986 - First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
1992 - El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City that ends a 12-year civil war that claimed at least 75,000.
1995 - UPN begins broadcasting.
2001 - Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
2002 - The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which will be its final one. Columbia disintegrates 16 days later on re-entry.
2005 - Adriana Iliescu gives birth at age 66 and becomes the oldest woman in the world to do so.
2006 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.
2006 - Liu Xinjuan is committed by the Chinese government to a psychiatric hospital, allegedly for political activism.

Births
1245 - Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III of England (d. 1296)
1409 - René I of Naples (d. 1480)
1477 - Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
1501 - Anthony Denny, confidant of King Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)
1616 - François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort, French soldier (d. 1669)
1626 - Lucas Achtschellinck, Flemish painter (d. 1699)
1634 - Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norwegian poet (d. 1716)
1675 - Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French writer (d. 1755)
1728 - Niccola Piccinni, Italian composer (d. 1800)
1821 - John C. Breckenridge, Confederate general (d. 1875)
1834 - Robert R. Hitt, American politician (d. 1906)
1838 - Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
1853 - Andre Michelin, French industrialist (d. 1931)
1874 - Robert W. Service, Canadian poet (d. 1958)
1885 - Zhou Zuoren, Chinese writer (d. 1967)
1886 - John Hamilton, American actor (d. 1958)
1888 - Osip Brik, Russian writer (d. 1945)
1897 - Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet (d. 1977)
1898 - Margaret Booth, American film editor (d. 2002)
1901 - Fulgencio Batista, Cuban leader (d. 1973)
1901 - Frank Zamboni, American inventor (d. 1988)
1902 - Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (d. 1945)
1906 - Diana Wynyard, British actress (d. 1964.
1907 - Paul Nitze, American government official (d. 2004)
1908 - Ethel Merman, American actress/singer (d. 1984)
1910 - Dizzy Dean, baseball player (d. 1974)
1911 - Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
1911 - Eduardo Frei Montalva, president of Chile (d.1982)
1918 - Nel Benschop, Dutch poetess (d. 2005)
1918 - Stirling Silliphant, American writer (d. 1996)
1921 - Francesco Scavullo, American fashion photographer (d. 2004)
1922 - Ernesto Bonino, Italian singer
1923 - Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
1924 - Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
1928 - William Kennedy, American author
1930 - Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer (d. 2006)
1931 - Johannes Rau, President of Germany (d. 2006)
1932 - Dian Fossey, American zoologist (d. 1985)
1933 - Susan Sontag, American writer (d. 2004)
1934 - Marilyn Horne, American mezzo-soprano
1935 - A.J. Foyt, American race car driver
1942 - René Angélil, Canadian singer (Baronets), husband and manager of Céline Dion
1942 - Barbara Lynn, American singer and guitarist
1943 - Brian Ferneyhough, British composer
1943 - Ronnie Milsap, American singer/songwriter
1944 - Jim Stafford, Singer, songwriter and guitarist
1946 - Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
1946 - Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano
1947 - Laura Schlessinger, American radio talk show host
1948 - John Carpenter, American film director
1948 - Dalvanius, New Zealand entertainer (d. 2002)
1948 - Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
1948 - Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief of Gourmet
1950 - Debbie Allen, American dancer/choreographer
1951 - Glenn Ordway, American radio talk show host
1952 - King Fuad II of Egypt
1953 - Robert Jay Mathews, White Nationalist (d. 1984)
1956 - Martin Jol, Tottenham football manager
1958 - Anatoli Boukreev, Russian climber (d. 1997)
1959 - Sade, Nigerian-born singer
1962 - Paul Webb, British musician (Talk Talk)
1963 - James May, Top Gear presenter
1966 - Maxine Jones, American singer (En Vogue)
1969 - Roy Jones Jr., American boxer
1970 - Ron Villone, Major League Baseball Player
1970 - Garth Ennis, Irish comic book author
1973 - Josie Davis, American actress
1974 - Kate Moss, English model
1974 - Marlon Anderson, Baseball player
1975 - Greg Strause, American director in special effects
1976 - Viktor Maslov, Russian racing driver
1977 - Jeff Foster, American basketball player
1979 - Aaliyah, American singer (d. 2001)
1979 - Brenden Morrow, Canadian hockey player
1979 - Jason Ward, National Hockey League player
1980 - Albert Pujols, baseball player
1980 - Michelle Wild, Hungarian model
1981 - Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes)
1982 - Samuel Preston, British singer (The Ordinary Boys)
1983 - Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
1988 - Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
1991 - Julie Dubela, American singer

Deaths
1400 - John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician (executed)
1545 - George Spalatin, German reformer (b. 1484)
1547 - Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
1554 - Christiern Pedersen, Danish humanist
1585 - Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral (b. 1512)
1659 - Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
1710 - Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (b. 1675)
1711 - Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Ceylon (b. 1651)
1747 - Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet (b. 1680)
1748 - Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (b. 1684)
1750 - Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshall (b. 1667)
1752 - Francis Blomefield, English topographer (b. 1705)
1794 - Edward Gibbon, English historian (b. 1737)
1809 - John Moore, British general (b. 1761)
1815 - Emma, Lady Hamilton, English mistress of Horatio Nelson (b. 1765)
1817 - Alexander J. Dallas, American statesman (b. 1759)
1834 - Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician (b. 1769)
1856 - Thaddeus William Harris, American naturalist (b. 1795)
1865 - Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (b. 1828)
1879 - Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet (b. 1827)
1891 - Léo Delibes, French composer (b. 1836)
1898 - Charles Pelham Villiers (b. 1802), longest-serving MP in the British House of Commons
1917 - George Dewey, U.S. admiral (b. 1837)
1919 - Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, President of Brazil (b. 1848)
1924 - Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald, philanthropist (b. 1859)
1936 - Albert Fish, American serial killer (b. 1870)
1942 - Carole Lombard, American actress (b. 1908)
1957 - Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor (b. 1867)
1962 - Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor (b. 1883)
1967 - Robert J. Van de Graaff, American nuclear physicist (b. 1901)
1969 - Jan Palach, Czech Freedom Fighter (b. 1948)
1969 - Vernon Duke, American composer and songwriter (b . 1903)
1971 - Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
1972 - Ross Bagdasarian, American actor and creator of The Chipmunks (b. 1919)
1979 - Ted Cassidy, American actor (b. 1932)
1979 - August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (b. 1897)
1981 - Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
1982 - Red Smith, American sports columnist (b. 1905)
1986 - Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
1988 - Ballard Berkeley, English actor (b. 1904)
1988 - Andrija Artuković, Croatian war criminal (b. 1899)
1993 - Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Icelandic strength athlete (b. 1960)
1995 - Eric Mottram, English poet, teacher, critic, and editor (b. 1924)
1997 - Ennis Cosby, son of entertainer Bill Cosby (murdered)
2000 - John Rankin, musical entertainer (b. 1959)
2001 - Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1939)
2002 - Michael Bilandic, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
2002 - Eddie Meduza, Swedish composer (b. 1948)
2002 - Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928)
2002 - Ron Taylor, American actor (b. 1952)
2004 - Kalevi Sorsa, Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
2005 - Marjorie Williams, American journalist (b. 1958)