Events

Pre-1600

  • 610 – Heraclius arrives at Constantinople, kills Byzantine Emperor Phocas, and becomes emperor.
  • 816 – King Louis the Pious is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope.
  • 869 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to depose patriarch Photios I.
  • 1143 – With the signing of the Treaty of Zamora, King Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognises Portugal as a Kingdom.
  • 1450 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria expels Jews from his jurisdiction.

1601–1900

  • 1607 – Assassins attempt to kill Venetian statesman and scientist Paolo Sarpi.
  • 1789 – French Revolution: The Women's March on Versailles effectively terminates royal authority.
  • 1813 – War of 1812: The Army of the Northwest defeats a British and Native Canadian force threatening Detroit.
  • 1869 – The Saxby Gale devastates the Bay of Fundy region in Canada.
  • 1869 – The Eastman tunnel, in Minnesota, United States, collapses during construction, causing a landslide that nearly destroys St. Anthony Falls.
  • 1877 – The Nez Perce War in the northwestern United States comes to an end.
  • 1900 – Peace congress in Paris condemns British policy in South Africa and asserts Boer Republic's right to self-determination.

1901–present

  • 1905 – The Wright brothers pilot the Wright Flyer III in a new world record flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes.
  • 1910 – In a revolution in Portugal the monarchy is overthrown and a republic is declared.
  • 1911 – The Kowloon–Canton Railway commences service.
  • 1914 – World War I: An aircraft successfully destroys another aircraft with gunfire for the first time.
  • 1921 – The World Series is the first to be broadcast on radio.
  • 1930 – British airship R101 crashes in France en route to India on its maiden voyage killing 48 people.
  • 1931 – Clyde Edward Pangborn and Hugh Herndon, Jr. make the first nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean in the plane Miss Veedol.
  • 1936 – The Jarrow March sets off for London.
  • 1938 – Holocaust: In Nazi Germany, Jews' passports are invalidated.
  • 1943 – World War II: Pacific Theater: Ninety-eight American POWs are executed by Japanese forces on Wake Island.
  • 1944 – The Provisional Government of the French Republic enfranchises women.
  • 1945 – A six-month strike by Hollywood set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of the Warner Brothers studio.
  • 1947 – President Truman makes the first televised Oval Office address.
  • 1962 – The first of the James Bond film series, based on the novels by Ian Fleming, Dr. No, is released in Britain.
  • 1962 – The first Beatles single "Love Me Do" is released in Britain.
  • 1963 – The United States suspends the Commercial Import Program in response to repression of the Buddhist majority by the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem.
  • 1966 – A reactor at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station near Detroit suffers a partial meltdown.
  • 1968 – A Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in Derry is violently suppressed by police.
  • 1970 – The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is founded in the United States.
  • 1970 – The British Trade Commissioner, James Cross, is kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec, triggering the October Crisis in Canada.
  • 1974 – Bombs planted by the PIRA in pubs in Guildford kill four British soldiers and one civilian.
  • 1982 – Tylenol products are recalled after bottles in Chicago laced with cyanide cause seven deaths.
  • 1984 – Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space.
  • 1985 - Seven Israeli vacationers, including four children, are killed in a mass shooting at Ras Burqa in the Sinai Peninsula by an Egyptian soldier.
  • 1988 – A Chilean opposition coalition defeats Augusto Pinochet in his re-election attempt.
  • 1990 – After 150 years The Herald newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, is published for the last time as a separate newspaper.
  • 1991 – An Indonesian Air Force C-130 crash kills 135 people.
  • 1994 – Swiss police find the bodies of 48 members of the Order of the Solar Temple, who had died in a cult mass murder-suicide.
  • 1999 – The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in West London kills 31 people.
  • 2000 – Mass demonstrations in Serbia force the resignation of Slobodan Milošević.
  • 2011 – In the Mekong River massacre, two Chinese cargo boats are hijacked and 13 crew members murdered.
  • 2021 – Windows 11 is released to the general public.

Births

Pre-1600

  • 1274 – Al-Dhahabi, Syrian scholar and historian (died 1348)
  • 1338 – Alexios III of Trebizond (died 1390)
  • 1377 – Louis II of Anjou (died 1417)
  • 1422 – Catherine, Princess of Asturias, Spanish royal (died 1424)
  • 1487 – Ludwig of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German nobleman (died 1553)
  • 1520 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal and diplomat (died 1589)
  • 1524 – Rani Durgavati, Queen of Gond (died 1564)

1601–1900

  • 1609 – Paul Fleming, German physician and poet (died 1640)
  • 1641 – Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan, French mistress of Louis XIV (died 1707)
  • 1658 – Mary of Modena (died 1718)
  • 1687 – Maria Maddalena Martinengo, Italian nun (died 1737)
  • 1703 – Jonathan Edwards, American pastor and theologian (died 1758)
  • 1712 – Francesco Guardi, Italian painter (died 1793)
  • 1713 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and critic (died 1784)
  • 1715 – Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau, French economist and educator (died 1789)
  • 1728 – Chevalier d'Éon, French diplomat and spy (died 1810)
  • 1743 – Giuseppe Gazzaniga, Italian composer and educator (died 1818)
  • 1781 – Bernard Bolzano, Czech mathematician and philosopher (died 1848)
  • 1792 – Joseph Crosfield, English businessman (died 1844)
  • 1795 – Alexander Keith, Scottish-Canadian brewer and politician, 13th Mayor of Halifax (died 1873)
  • 1803 – Friedrich Bernhard Westphal, Danish-German painter (died 1844)
  • 1816 – Ursula Frayne, Irish-Australian nun and missionary (died 1885)
  • 1820 – David Wilber, American lawyer and politician (died 1890)
  • 1824 – Henry Chadwick, English-American historian and author (died 1908)
  • 1829 – Chester A. Arthur, American general, lawyer, and politician, 21st President of the United States (died 1886)
  • 1841 – Philipp Mainländer, German philosopher (died 1876)
  • 1844 – Francis William Reitz, South African lawyer and politician, 5th State President of the Orange Free State (died 1934)
  • 1848 – Guido von List, Austrian-German journalist and poet (died 1919)
  • 1850 – Sergey Muromtsev, Russian lawyer and politician (died 1910)
  • 1856 – Peadar Toner Mac Fhionnlaoich, Irish author and playwright (died 1942)
  • 1858 – Helen Churchill Candee, American journalist and author (died 1949)
  • 1864 – Louis Lumière, French director and producer (died 1948)
  • 1873 – Lucien Mérignac, French fencer (died 1941)
  • 1877 – Mike O'Neill, Irish-American baseball player and manager (died 1959)
  • 1878 – Louise Dresser, American actress (died 1965)
  • 1879 – Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1970)
  • 1882 – Robert H. Goddard, American physicist, engineer, and academic (died 1945)
  • 1883 – Ernst Pittschau, German actor (died 1951)
  • 1885 – Arunachalam Mahadeva, Sri Lankan politician and diplomat (died 1969)
  • 1887 – René Cassin, French judge and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1976)
  • 1887 – Manny Ziener, German actress (died 1972)
  • 1888 – Mary Fuller, American actress and screenwriter (died 1973)
  • 1889 – Teresa de la Parra, French-Venezuelan author and educator (died 1936)
  • 1892 – Remington Kellogg, American zoologist and paleontologist (died 1969)
  • 1894 – Bevil Rudd, South African runner and journalist (died 1948)
  • 1898 – Nachum Gutman, Moldovan-Israeli painter and sculptor (died 1980)
  • 1899 – Elda Anderson, American physicist and health researcher (died 1961)

1901–present

  • 1901 – John Alton, Austrian-American director and cinematographer (died 1996)
  • 1902 – Larry Fine, American comedian (died 1975)
  • 1903 – M. King Hubbert, American geophysicist and academic (died 1989)
  • 1905 – John Hoyt, American actor (died 1991)
  • 1905 – Harriet E. MacGibbon, American actress (died 1987)
  • 1907 – Mrs. Miller, American novelty singer (died 1997)
  • 1907 – Ragnar Nurkse, Estonian-American economist and academic (died 1959)
  • 1908 – Mehmet Ali Aybar, Turkish lawyer and politician (died 1995)
  • 1908 – Joshua Logan, American director and screenwriter (died 1988)
  • 1911 – Pierre Dansereau, Canadian ecologist and academic (died 2011)
  • 1911 – Brian O'Nolan, Irish author and playwright (died 1966)
  • 1912 – Fritz Fischer, German physician and convicted war criminal (died 2003)
  • 1913 – Eugene B. Fluckey, American admiral, Medal of Honor recipient (died 2007)
  • 1914 – Zhang Zhen, Chinese general and politician (died 2015)
  • 1916 – Stetson Kennedy, American author and activist (died 2011)
  • 1917 – Allen Ludden, American television personality and game show host (died 1981)
  • 1917 – Magda Szabó, Hungarian author and poet (died 2007)
  • 1919 – Donald Pleasence, English actor (died 1995)
  • 1921 – Bill Willis, American football player and coach (died 2007)
  • 1922 – José Froilán González, Argentinian racing driver (died 2013)
  • 1922 – Bil Keane, American cartoonist (died 2011)
  • 1923 – Kailashpati Mishra, Indian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor of Gujarat (died 2012)
  • 1924 – Bill Dana, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2017)
  • 1929 – Richard F. Gordon Jr., American captain, pilot, and astronaut (died 2017)
  • 1929 – Bill Wirtz, American businessman (died 2007)
  • 1930 – Pavel Popovich, Ukrainian general, pilot, and cosmonaut (died 2009)
  • 1930 – Reinhard Selten, German economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016)
  • 1931 – Rosalie Gower, Canadian nurse and politician (died 2013)
  • 1932 – Neal Ascherson, Scottish journalist and author
  • 1932 – Dean Prentice, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2019)
  • 1932 – Michael John Rogers, English ornithologist and police officer (died 2006)
  • 1933 – Doug Bailey, American political consultant, founded The Hotline (died 2013)
  • 1933 – Billy Lee Riley, American rockabilly musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer (died 2009)
  • 1934 – Kenneth D. Taylor, Canadian businessman and diplomat (died 2015)
  • 1934 – Angelo Buono, American serial killer and rapist (died 2002)
  • 1936 – Václav Havel, Czech poet, playwright, and politician, 1st President of the Czech Republic (died 2011)
  • 1937 – Barry Switzer, American football player and coach
  • 1940 – Terry Trotter, American jazz pianist
  • 1941 – Stephanie Cole, English actress
  • 1941 – Eduardo Duhalde, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 50th President of Argentina
  • 1941 – Frank Stagg, Irish republican died on hunger strike (died 1976)
  • 1942 – Richard Street, American singer-songwriter (died 2013)
  • 1943 – Ben Cardin, American lawyer and politician
  • 1943 – Steve Miller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Michael Morpurgo, English author, poet, and playwright
  • 1943 – Etela Farkašová, Slovak philosopher and writer
  • 1944 – Richard Rosser, Baron Rosser, English union leader and politician (died 2024)
  • 1945 – Brian Connolly, Scottish singer-songwriter (died 1997)
  • 1946 – Zahida Hina, Pakistani journalist and author
  • 1946 – Robin Lane Fox, English historian and author
  • 1946 – Jean Perron, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1946 – David Watson, English footballer
  • 1947 – Brian Johnson, English singer and songwriter
  • 1949 – Ralph Goodale, Canadian lawyer and politician, 36th Canadian Minister of Finance
  • 1949 – Bill James, American historian and author
  • 1949 – Yashiki Takajin, Japanese singer and television host (died 2014)
  • 1950 – Jeff Conaway, American actor and singer (died 2011)
  • 1950 – Edward P. Jones, American novelist and short story writer
  • 1950 – James Rizzi, American painter and illustrator (died 2011)
  • 1951 – Karen Allen, American actress
  • 1963 – Laura Davies, English golfer and sportscaster
  • 1965 – Mario Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1966 – Jan Verhaas, Dutch snooker player and referee
  • 1967 – Rex Chapman, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Guy Pearce, English-Australian actor
  • 1974 – Heather Headley, Trinidadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress
  • 1975 – Parminder Nagra, English actress
  • 1975 – Monica Rial, American voice actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1975 – Scott Weinger, American actor
  • 1980 – Paul Thomas, American bass player
  • 1981 – Jeanette Antolin, American gymnast
  • 1981 – Joel Lindpere, Estonian footballer
  • 1981 – Andy Nägelein, German footballer
  • 1982 – Michael Roos, Estonian-American football player
  • 1982 – Steve Williams, Australian-German rugby player
  • 1983 – Jesse Eisenberg, American actor and writer
  • 1984 – Angel Perkins, American sprinter
  • 1985 – Nicola Roberts, English singer-songwriter
  • 1985 – Brooke Valentine, American singer and songwriter
  • 1987 – Dillon Francis, American DJ and record producer
  • 1987 – Michael Grabner, Austrian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Jesse Joensuu, Finnish ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Kevin Mirallas, Belgian footballer
  • 1987 – Tim Ream, American soccer player
  • 1987 – Park So-yeon, South Korean singer, dancer, and actress
  • 1987 – Luigi Vitale, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Brandan Wright, American basketball player
  • 1988 – Benny Howell, English cricketer
  • 1988 – Bahar Kızıl, German singer-songwriter
  • 1988 – Maja Salvador, Filipino actress, dancer, singer, and host
  • 1989 – Kelsey Adrian, Canadian basketball player
  • 1989 – Marcel Baude, German footballer
  • 1989 – Ify Ibekwe, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Travis Kelce, American football player
  • 1990 – Nathan Peats, Australian rugby league player
  • 1991 – Pär Lindholm, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1991 – Tornike Shengelia, Georgian basketball player
  • 1992 – Kevin Magnussen, Danish racing driver
  • 1992 – Cody Zeller, American basketball player
  • 1993 – Jewell Loyd, American basketball player
  • 1993 – Wakamotoharu Minato, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1997 – Michael Hoecht, Canadian American football player
  • 1998 – Exequiel Palacios, Argentine footballer
  • 1999 – Washington Sundar, Indian cricketer
  • 2006 – Jacob Tremblay, Canadian actor
  • 578 – Justin II, Byzantine emperor (born 520)
  • 610 – Phocas, Byzantine emperor
  • 989 – Henry III, duke of Bavaria (born 940)
  • 1056 – Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1016)
  • 1111 – Robert II, count of Flanders (born 1065)
  • 1112 – Sigebert of Gembloux, French monk, historian, and author (born 1030)
  • 1214 – Alfonso VIII, king of Castile and Toledo (born 1155)
  • 1225 – Al-Nasir, Abbasid caliph (born 1158)
  • 1285 – Philip III, king of France (born 1245)
  • 1354 – Giovanni Visconti, Italian cardinal (born 1290)
  • 1398 – Blanche of Navarre, queen of France (born 1330)
  • 1399 – Raymond of Capua, Italian priest and Master General (born c. 1330)
  • 1524 – Joachim Patinir, Flemish landscape painter (born c. 1480)
  • 1528 – Richard Foxe, English bishop and academic (born 1448)
  • 1540 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet and educator (born 1488)
  • 1564 – Pierre de Manchicourt, Flemish composer and educator (born 1510)
  • 1565 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (born 1522)

1601–1900

  • 1606 – Philippe Desportes, French poet and author (born 1546)
  • 1629 – Heribert Rosweyde, Jesuit hagiographer (born 1569)
  • 1714 – Kaibara Ekken, Japanese botanist and philosopher (born 1630)
  • 1740 – Jean-Philippe Baratier, German astronomer and scholar (born 1721)
  • 1777 – Johann Andreas Segner, Slovak-German mathematician, physicist, and physician (born 1704)
  • 1802 – Sanité Bélair, Haitian freedom fighter (born 1781)
  • 1805 – Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1738)
  • 1813 – Tecumseh, American tribal leader (born 1768)
  • 1827 – William Mullins, 2nd Baron Ventry, Anglo-Irish politician and peer (born 1761)
  • 1848 – Joseph Hormayr, Baron zu Hortenburg, Austrian-German historian and politician (born 1781)
  • 1861 – Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish archbishop (born 1778)
  • 1880 – Jacques Offenbach, German-French cellist and composer (born 1819)
  • 1885 – Thomas C. Durant, American railroad tycoon (born 1820)
  • 1895 – Ralph Tollemache, English priest (born 1826)

1901–present

  • 1913 – Hans von Bartels, German painter and educator (born 1856)
  • 1914 – Albert Solomon, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Tasmania (born 1876)
  • 1918 – Roland Garros, French soldier and pilot (born 1888)
  • 1921 – John Storey, Australian politician, 20th Premier of New South Wales (born 1869)
  • 1927 – Sam Warner, Polish-American director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded Warner Bros. (born 1887)
  • 1929 – Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly, Indian priest, founded the Sisters of the Destitute (born 1876)
  • 1930 – Christopher Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson, Indian-English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Air (born 1875)
  • 1933 – Renée Adorée, French-American actress (born 1898)
  • 1933 – Nikolai Yudenich, Russian general (born 1862)
  • 1936 – J. Slauerhoff, Dutch poet and author (born 1898)
  • 1938 – Faustina Kowalska, Polish nun and saint (born 1905)
  • 1938 – Albert Ranft, Swedish actor and director (born 1858)
  • 1940 – Ballington Booth, English-American activist, co-founded the Volunteers of America (born 1857)
  • 1940 – Lincoln Loy McCandless, American rancher and politician (born 1859)
  • 1940 – Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1889)
  • 1941 – Louis Brandeis, American lawyer and jurist (born 1856)
  • 1942 – Dorothea Klumpke, American astronomer (born 1861)
  • 1943 – Leon Roppolo, American clarinet player and composer (born 1902)
  • 1950 – Frederic Lewy, German-American neurologist and academic (born 1885)
  • 1952 – Joe Jagersberger, Austrian racing driver (born 1884)
  • 1967 – Clifton Williams, American astronaut (born 1932)
  • 1976 – Barbara Nichols, American actress (born 1928)
  • 1976 – Lars Onsager, Norwegian-American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1903)
  • 1981 – Gloria Grahame, American actress (born 1923)
  • 1983 – Humberto Mauro, Brazilian director and screenwriter (born 1897)
  • 1983 – Earl Tupper, American inventor and businessman, founded the Tupperware Corporation (born 1907)
  • 1985 – Karl Menger, Austrian-American mathematician from the Vienna Circle (born 1902)
  • 1986 – Mike Burgmann, Australian racing driver and accountant (born 1947)
  • 1986 – Hal B. Wallis, American film producer (born 1898)
  • 1986 – James H. Wilkinson, English mathematician and computer scientist (born 1919)
  • 1992 – Eddie Kendricks, American singer-songwriter (born 1939)
  • 1996 – Seymour Cray, American engineer and businessman, founded CRAY Inc (born 1925)
  • 1997 – Brian Pillman, American football player and wrestler (born 1962)
  • 2000 – Johanna Döbereiner, Brazilian agronomist (born 1924)
  • 2000 – Cătălin Hîldan, Romanian footballer (born 1976)
  • 2001 – Mike Mansfield, American soldier, politician, and diplomat, 22nd United States Ambassador to Japan (born 1903)
  • 2002 – Chuck Rayner, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1920)
  • 2003 – Dan Snyder, Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1978)
  • 2003 – Timothy Treadwell, American environmentalist, director, and producer (born 1957)
  • 2004 – Rodney Dangerfield, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1921)
  • 2004 – William H. Dobelle, American biologist and academic (born 1941)
  • 2004 – Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand-English physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916)
  • 2006 – Antonio Peña, Mexican wrestling promoter, founded Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (born 1953)
  • 2010 – Bernard Clavel, French journalist and author (born 1923)
  • 2010 – Mary Leona Gage, American model and actress, Miss USA 1957 (born 1939)
  • 2010 – Steve Lee, Swiss singer-songwriter (born 1963)
  • 2011 – Derrick Bell, American academic and scholar (born 1930)
  • 2011 – Bert Jansch, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1943)
  • 2011 – Steve Jobs, American businessman, co-founder of Apple Inc. (born 1955)
  • 2011 – Charles Napier, American actor and singer (born 1936)
  • 2011 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American activist, co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (born 1922)
  • 2011 – Gökşin Sipahioğlu, Turkish photographer and journalist (born 1926)
  • 2012 – Keith Campbell, English biologist and academic (born 1954)
  • 2012 – Vojin Dimitrijević, Croatian-Serbian lawyer and activist (born 1932)
  • 2012 – James W. Holley III, American dentist and politician (born 1926)
  • 2012 – Edvard Mirzoyan, Georgian-Armenian composer and educator (born 1921)
  • 2012 – Claude Pinoteau, French director and screenwriter (born 1925)
  • 2013 – Ruth R. Benerito, American chemist and academic (born 1916)
  • 2013 – Carlo Lizzani, Italian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)
  • 2013 – Yakkun Sakurazuka, Japanese voice actress and singer (born 1976)
  • 2014 – David Chavchavadze, English-American CIA officer and author (born 1924)
  • 2014 – Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver (born 1959)
  • 2014 – Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian-American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer (born 1930)
  • 2014 – Yuri Lyubimov, Russian actor and director (born 1917)
  • 2015 – Chantal Akerman, Belgian-French actress, director, and producer (born 1950)
  • 2015 – Joker Arroyo, Filipino lawyer and politician (born 1927)
  • 2015 – Grace Lee Boggs, American philosopher, author, and activist (born 1915)
  • 2015 – Henning Mankell, Swedish author and playwright (born 1948)
  • 2016 – Brock Yates, American journalist and author (born 1933)
  • 2017 – Eberhard van der Laan, Dutch politician, mayor of Amsterdam (born 1955)
  • 2024 – Robert Coover, American novelist (born 1932)

Holidays and observances

  • World Space Week (October 4–10)
  • Armed Forces Day (Indonesia)
  • Christian feast day:
  • Anna Schäffer
  • Faustina Kowalska
  • Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Blessed Bartolo Longo
  • Thraseas
  • Hor and Susia (Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria)
  • Placid and Maurus
  • Placidus (martyr)
  • October 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Vanuatu)
  • Engineer's Day (Bolivia)
  • International Day of No Prostitution
  • Republic Day (Portugal)
  • Teachers' Day (Pakistan)
  • Teachers' Day (Russia)
  • World Teachers' Day

References