Today July 14th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1223 – Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II of France.
1698 – The Darien scheme begins with five ships, bearing about 1,200 people, departing Leith for the Isthmus of Panama.
1769 – The de Portolá Expedition establishes a base in California, and sets out to find the Port of Monterey (now Monterey, California).
1771 – Foundation of the Mission San Antonio de Padua in modern California by the Franciscan friar Junípero Serra.
1789 – French Revolution: Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille and free seven prisoners.
1790 – French Revolution: Citizens of Paris celebrate the constitutional monarchy and national reconciliation in the Fête de la Fédération.
1791 – The Priestley Riots drive Joseph Priestley, a supporter of the French Revolution, out of Birmingham, England.
1798 – The Sedition Act becomes United States law making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government.
1865 – First ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper and party, four of whom died on the descent.
1881 – Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Pat Garrett outside Fort Sumner.
1902 – The Campanile in St Mark s Square, Venice collapses, also demolishing the loggetta.
1933 – Gleichschaltung: In Germany, all political parties are outlawed except the Nazi Party.
1943 – In Joplin, Missouri, George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument in honor of a African American.
1948 – Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party, is shot near to the Italian Parliament.
1958 – Iraqi Revolution: in Iraq the monarchy is overthrown by popular forces lead by Abdul Karim Kassem, who becomes the nation s new leader.
1965 – The Mariner 4 flyby of Mars takes the first close-up photos of another planet.
1969 – Football War: after Honduras loses a soccer game against El Salvador, rioting breaks out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers.
1969 – The United States $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills are officially withdrawn from circulation.
1992 – 386BSD is released by Lynne Jolitz and William Jolitz beginning the Open Source Operating System Revolution. Linus Torvalds release his Linux soon afterwards.
2002 – French President Jacques Chirac escapes an assassination attempt unscathed during Bastille Day celebrations.
2003 – The United States Government admits to the existence of Area 51
2007 – Russia withdraws from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
Births
1454 – Poliziano, Florentine humanist (d. 1494)
1602 – Jules Mazarin, French statesman and cardinal (d. 1661)
1608 – George Goring, Lord Goring, English royalist soldier (d. 1657)
1610 – Ferdinando II de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1670)
1634 – Pasquier Quesnel, French Jansenist theologian (d. 1719)
1671 – Jacques D Allonville, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1732)
1675 – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French soldier (d. 1747)
1676 – Caspar Abel, German theologian, historian, and poet (d. 1763)
1696 – William Oldys, English antiquarian and bibliographer (d. 1761)
1721 – John Douglas, Scottish Anglican bishop and man of letters (d. 1807)
1743 – Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, Russian poet (d. 1816)
1785 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American writer, journalist (d. 1851)
1801 – Johannes Peter Müller, German physiologist (d. 1858)
1816 – Arthur de Gobineau, French philosopher (d. 1882)
1829 – Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1896)
1834 – James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American painter (d. 1903)
1858 – Emmeline Pankhurst, English suffragette (d. 1928)
1859 – Willy Hess, German violinist (d. 1928)
1860 – Owen Wister, American author (d. 1938)
1862 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and graphic artist (d. 1918)
1865 – Arthur Capper, Newspaper publisher and politician (d. 1951)
1868 – Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist, writer, spy, and administrator (d. 1926)
1874 – Khedive Abbas II of Egypt (d. 1944)
1885 – King Sisavang Vong of Laos (d. 1959)
1891 – Alexander M. Volkov, Russian novelist and mathematician (d. 1977)
1893 – Clarence J. Brown, Newspaper publisher and politician (d. 1965)
1896 – Buenaventura Durruti, Spanish anarchist (d. 1936)
1898 – A. B. Happy Chandler, American politician and baseball commissioner (d. 1991)
1901 – Gerald Finzi, British composer (d. 1956)
1903 – Irving Stone, American writer (d. 1989)
1906 – Tom Carvel, Greek-born businessman and inventor (d. 1990)
1910 – William Hanna, American animator (d. 2001)
1911 – Terry-Thomas, British actor (d. 1990)
1912 – Northrop Frye, Canadian literary critic (d. 1991)
1912 – Woody Guthrie, American folk musician (d. 1967)
1913 – Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States (d. 2006)
1918 – Ingmar Bergman, Swedish film and theatre director (d. 2007)
1918 – Arthur Laurents, American playwright, novelist, and director
1919 – Lino Ventura, Italian-born actor (d. 1987)
1921 – Leon Garfield, English children s author (d. 1996)
1921 – Geoffrey Wilkinson, English chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1996)
1922 – Robin Olds, American World War II and Vietnam War ace fighter pilot (d. 2007)
1922 – Elfriede Rinkel, Nazi concentration camp guard
1923 – Dale Robertson, American actor
1923 – Willie Steele, American Olympic gold medalist (d. 1989)
1924 – James W. Black, Scottish pharmacologist, Nobel laureate
1926 – Harry Dean Stanton, American actor
1927 – John Chancellor, American television commentator (d. 1996)
1928 – Nancy Olson, American actress
1930 – Polly Bergen, American actress
1932 – Roosevelt Grier, American football player and actor
1933 – Robert Bourassa, Quebec politician (d. 1996)
1937 – Yoshiro Mori, Japanese politician
1938 – Jerry Rubin, American activist (d. 1994)
1939 – Karel Gott, Czech singer
1939 – Sid Haig, American actor
1939 – George E. Slusser, American scholar and writer
1940 – Susan Howatch, English author
1941 – Maulana Karenga, American author and activist
1941 – Andreas Khol, Austrian politician
1942 – Javier Solana, Spanish European Union foreign policy chief
1943 – Christopher Priest, English novelist
1944 – Billy McCool, American baseball player
1946 – Vincent Pastore, American actor
1946 – John Wood, Australian actor
1947 – Claudia Kennedy, U.S. Army officer
1947 – Navin Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius
1950 – Gwen Guthrie, American singer (d. 1999)
1951 – Erich Hallhuber, German actor (d. 2003)
1952 – Franklin Graham, American evangelist
1952 – Eric Laneuville, American director, Actor, Producer
1952 – Joel Silver, American film producer
1952 – Bob Casale, AKA Bob 2, American Musician (Devo)
1955 – L. Brent Bozell, American author and activist
1956 – Vladimir Kulich, Czech actor
1958 – Joe Keenan, American screenwriter, television producer and novelist.
1960 – Jane Lynch, American actress
1960 – Anna Bligh, Australian politician
1960 – Angelique Kidjo, Beninese singer
1961 – Jackie Earle Haley, American actor
1962 – Jeff Olson, American musician
1963 – Phil Rosenthal, American newspaper columnist
1966 – Tanya Donelly, American musician (Belly)
1966 – Juliet Cesario, American actress
1966 – Ellen Reid, Canadian musician (Crash Test Dummies)
1966 – Matthew Fox, American actor
1966 – Brian Selznick, American author and illustrator
1967 – Robin Ventura, American baseball player
1967 – Patrick J. Kennedy, politician
1968 – Kazushi Sakuraba, Japanese mixed martial artist/professional wrestler
1970 – Nina Siemaszko, American actress
1971 – Mark LoMonaco, American professional wrestler
1971 – Joey Styles, American wrestling commentator
1971 – Marie-Chantal Toupin, French Canadian singer
1972 – Deborah Mailman, Australian actress
1973 – Halil Mutlu, Bulgaria-born Turkish weightlifter
1973 – Adam Quinn, American bagpipe player
1973 – Candela Peña, Spanish actress
1974 – David Mitchell, English comedian and actor
1975 – Taboo, American rapper
1975 – Tim Hudson, American baseball player
1976 – Geraint Jones, English cricketer
1976 – Kirsten Sheridan, Irish film director and screenwriter
1977 – Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
1979 – Bernie Castro, Dominican baseball player
1979 – Axel Teichmann, German cross-country skier
1980 – George Smith, Australian Rugby player
1981 – Lee Mead, English actor
1981 – Yomi, Japanese vocalist (Nightmare)
1982 – Dmitry Chaplin, So You Think You Can Dance finalist
1983 – Wesley Dening, Australian TV personality
1984 – Chris Steele, Canadian musician, (Alexisonfire)
1985 – Billy Celeski, Australian footballer
1986 – SpongeBob SquarePants, American cartoon charachter
1987 – Adam Johnson, English footballer
1988 – James Vaughan, English footballer
1989 – Sean Flynn-Amir, American actor
Deaths
664 – Deusdedit of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury
937 – Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria
1223 – King Philip II of France (b. 1165)
1575 – Richard Taverner, English Bible translator
1614 – Camillus de Lellis, Italian saint (b. 1550)
1671 – Méric Casaubon, English classical scholar (b. 1599)
1723 – Claude Fleury, French historian (b. 1640)
1742 – Richard Bentley, English classical scholar (b. 1662)
1766 – František Maxmilián Kanka, Czech architect (b. 1674)
1774 – James O Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley and Kilmaine, British field marshal (b. 1682)
1780 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher (b. 1713)
1789 – Jacques de Flesselles, French provost (assassinated) (b. 1721)
1789 – Bernard-René de Launay, governor of the Bastille, murdered during the Storming of the Bastille (b. 1740)
1790 – Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (b. 1717)
1817 – Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, Swiss author (b. 1766)
1827 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist (b. 1788)
1834 – Edmond Charles Genêt, French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution (b. 1763)
1850 – August Neander, German theologian (b. 1789)
1876 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English Methodist chapel builder (b. 1816)
1881 – Billy the Kid, American outlaw
1904 – Paul Kruger, Boer resistance leader (b. 1824)
1907 – William Henry Perkin, English chemist and inventor (b. 1838)
1910 – Marius Petipa, French dancer and choreographer (b. 1818)
1917 – Octave Lapize, French cyclist (b. 1887)
1918 – Quentin Roosevelt, American Aviator, son of Theodore Roosevelt (b. 1897)
1925 – Pancho Villa, Filipino world boxing champion (b. 1901)
1939 – Alphonse Mucha, Czech painter, decorative artist (b. 1860)
1954 – Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
1954 – Jackie Saunders, American silent screen actress (b. 1892)
1965 – Adlai Stevenson, United States Presidential candidate (b. 1900)
1966 – Julie Manet, French painter (b. 1878)
1967 – Tudor Arghezi, Romanian writer (b. 1880)
1968 – Konstantin Georgiyevich Paustovsky, Russian writer (b. 1892)
1968 – Ilias Tsirimokos, Greek Prime Minister (b. 1907)
1974 – Carl Spaatz, American Air Force general (b. 1891)
1975 – Madan Mohan, Hindi Film s Melodious Music director (b. 1924)
1984 – Ernest Tidyman, American writer (b. 1928)
1989 – Frank Bell, British educator (b. 1916)
1993 – Léo Ferré, French singer and songwriter (b. 1916)
1994 – César Tovar, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (b. 1940)
1996 – Jeff Krosnoff, CART driver (b. 1964)
1998 – Richard McDonald, American fast food pioneer (b. 1909)
2000 – William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (b. 1920)
2000 – René Ríos Boettiger, Chilean cartoonist (b. 1911)
2000 – Meredith MacRae, American actress (b. 1944)
2002 – Joaquín Balaguer, President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1906)
2003 – Éva Janikovszky, Hungarian novelist (b. 1926)
2003 – François-Albert Angers, French Canadian economist (b. 1909)
2005 – Joe Harnell, American musician, composer and arranger (b. 1924)
2005 – Cicely Saunders, English Nurse, physician and writer (b. 1918)
2007 – John Ferguson Sr, former professional hockey player (b. 1938)
2008 – Henki Kolstad, Norwegian actor (b. 1915)
Holidays and observances
France and all French dependencies – Bastille Day.
Sweden – Birthday of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, an official flag day.
Saint Idus
Saint Libertus (d. 743)
Saint Ulric (d. 1093)
Saint Camillus de Lellis (d. 1614) (RC, except USA)
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (d. 1680) (RC, obligatory Memorial, USA)