Events

• 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada.
  • The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
• 1689 – Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros.
• 1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.
• 1847 – American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.
• 1864 – Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig.
  • Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement.
• 1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
• 1915 – French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.
• 1930 – The British Broadcasting Corporation announced that “there is no news” in their evening report.
• 1942 – World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.
• 1942 – Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
• 1943 – World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by US fighters over Bougainville Island.
• 1945 – Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
• 1946 – The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
• 1949 – The Republic of Ireland Act comes into effect.
• 1949 – The keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States is laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding.
  • However, construction is cancelled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.
• 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
• 1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country’s first President.
  • The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.
• 1988 – The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
• 1996 – In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defence Forces shell the United Nations compound at Qana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge.
• 2018 – King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country’s name will change to Eswatini.
• Army Day (Iran).
• Victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice (Russia; Julian Calendar).

People (Births)

• 1898 – Patrick Hennessy, Irish soldier and businessman (d. 1981).
• 1924 – Henry Hyde, American commander, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007).
• 1924 – Roy Mason, English miner and politician, Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2015).
• 1929 – Peter Hordern, English soldier and politician.
• 1947 – Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (d. 2013).
• 1960 – Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova, Ukrainian runner.
• 1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian runner.
• 1990 – Anna van der Breggen, Dutch cyclist.

People (Deaths)

• 727 – Agallianos Kontoskeles, Byzantine commander and rebel leader.
• 1742 – Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician (b. 1664).
• 1859 – Tatya Tope, Indian general (b. 1814).
• 1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (b. 1884).
• 1945 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer, invented the vacuum tube (b. 1849).
• 1945 – Ernie Pyle, American journalist and soldier (b. 1900).
• 1951 – Óscar Carmona, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 11th President of Portugal (b. 1869).
• 1958 – Maurice Gamelin, Belgian-French general (b. 1872).
• 1986 – Marcel Dassault, French businessman, founded Dassault Aviation (b. 1892).
• 1998 – Terry Sanford, American lieutenant and politician, 65th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1917).
• 2003 – Edgar F. Codd, English-American soldier, pilot, and computer scientist (b. 1923).
• 2013 – Steuart Pringle, English general (b. 1928).