St Giles' Day

Events

Pre-1600

* 1145 – The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated.
* 1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancona by the forces of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
* 1355 – King Tvrtko I of Bosnia writes ''In castro nostro Vizoka vocatum'' from the Old town of Visoki.
* 1420 – A 9.4 M_S-strong earthquake shakes Chile's Atacama Region causing tsunamis in Chile as well as Hawaii and Japan.Manuel Abad, Tatiana Izquierdo, Miguel Cáceres, Enrique Bernárdez and Joaquín Rodríguez‐Vidal (2018). ''Coastal boulder deposit as evidence of an ocean‐wide prehistoric tsunami originated on the Atacama Desert coast (northern Chile)''. Sedimentology. Publication: December 13th, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12570
*1449 – Tumu Crisis: The Mongols capture the Emperor of China.
* 1529 – The Spanish fort of Sancti Spiritu, the first one built in modern Argentina, is destroyed by natives.
*1532 – Lady Anne Boleyn is made Marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII of England.

1601–1900

* 1604 – Adi Granth, now known as Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhs, is first installed at Harmandir Sahib.
* 1644 – Battle of Tippermuir: James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose defeats the Earl of Wemyss's Covenanters, reviving the Royalist cause.
* 1645 – English Civil War. Scottish Covenanter forces abandon their month-long Siege of Hereford, a Cavalier stronghold, on news of Royalist victories in Scotland.
* 1715 – At the age of five, Louis XV becomes king of France in succession to his great-grandfather, King Louis XIV.
*1763 – Catherine II of Russia endorses Ivan Betskoy's plans for a Foundling Home in Moscow.
*1772 – The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is founded in San Luis Obispo, California.
* 1774 – Massachusetts Bay colonists rise up in the bloodless Powder Alarm.
*1804 – Juno, one of the largest asteroids in the Main Belt, is discovered by the German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding.
* 1831 – The Order of St. Gregory the Great is established by Pope Gregory XVI of the Vatican State to recognize high support for the Vatican or for the Pope, by a man or a woman, and not necessarily a Roman Catholic.
*1836 – Narcissa Whitman, one of the first English-speaking white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington.
* 1838 – Saint Andrew's Scots School, the oldest school of British origin in South America, is established.
*1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Chantilly: Confederate Army troops defeat a group of retreating Union Army troops in Chantilly, Virginia.
*1864 – American Civil War: The Confederate Army General John Bell Hood orders the evacuation of Atlanta, ending a four-month siege by General William Tecumseh Sherman.
* 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Sedan is fought, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory.
* 1873 – Cetshwayo ascends to the throne as king of the Zulu nation following the death of his father Mpande.
*1878 – Emma Nutt becomes the world's first female telephone operator when she is recruited by Alexander Graham Bell to the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company.
*1880 – The army of Mohammad Ayub Khan is routed by the British at the Battle of Kandahar, ending the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
* 1894 – Over 400 people die in the Great Hinckley Fire, a forest fire in Hinckley, Minnesota.
* 1897 – The Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America.

1901–present

* 1923 – The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing about 105,000 people.
*1939 – World War II: Nazi Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, beginning the European phase of World War II.
* 1961 – TWA Flight 529 crashed shortly after takeoff from Midway Airport in Chicago, killing all 78 people on board. At the time, it was the deadliest single plane disaster in U.S. history.
* 1967 – Six-Day War: The Khartoum Resolution is issued at the Arab Summit, and eight countries adopt the "three 'no's against Israel".
* 1969 – A coup in Libya brings Muammar Gaddafi to power.
* 1973 – A 76-hour multinational rescue effort in the Celtic Sea resulted in the Rescue of Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman.
*1974 – The ''SR-71 Blackbird'' sets (and holds) the record for flying from New York to London in the time of one hour, 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds at a speed of .
*1981 – Central African President David Dacko is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General André Kolingba.
*1982 – The United States Air Force Space Command is founded.
*1983 – Cold War: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft enters Soviet airspace, killing all 269 on board, including Congressman Lawrence McDonald.
*2004 – The Beslan school siege begins when armed terrorists take schoolchildren and school staff hostage in North Ossetia, Russia; by the end of the siege, three days later, more than 385 people are dead (including hostages, other civilians, security personnel and terrorists).
*2008 – Iraq War: The United States Armed Forces transfers control of Anbar Province to the Iraqi Armed Forces.

Births

Pre-1600

* 948 – Jing Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 982)
* 1145 – Ibn Jubayr, Arab geographer and poet (d. 1217)
* 1288 – Elizabeth Richeza of Poland (d. 1335)
* 1341 – Frederick III the Simple, King of Sicily (d. 1377)
*1453 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general (d. 1515)
* 1477 – Bartolomeo Fanfulla, Italian mercenary (d. 1525)
* 1561 – Gervase Helwys, English murderer (d. 1615)
* 1566 – Edward Alleyn, English actor and major figure of the Elizabethan theatre; founder of Dulwich College and Alleyn's School (d. 1626)
* 1577 – Scipione Borghese, Italian cardinal and art collector (d. 1633)
* 1579 – John Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince-Bishop, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1634)
*1588 – Henri, Prince of Condé (d. 1646)
*1592 – Maria Angela Astorch, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1665)

1601–1900

*1606 – Nicholas Slanning, English politician (d. 1643)
*1608 – Giacomo Torelli, Italian stage designer, engineer, and architect (d. 1678)
* 1647 – Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark, daughter of King Frederick III of Denmark (d. 1717)
* 1653 – Johann Pachelbel, German organist, composer, and educator (d. 1706)
*1689 – Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, Bohemian architect, designed Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral (d. 1751)
*1711 – William IV, Prince of Orange (d. 1751)
* 1726 – Johann Becker, German organist, composer, and educator (d. 1803)
* 1795 – James Gordon Bennett Sr., American publisher, founded the ''New York Herald'' (d. 1872)
*1799 – Ferenc Gyulay, Hungarian-Austrian commander and politician (d. 1868)
*1811 – James Montgomrey, Leader and important benefactor of his home town of Brentford, England (d. 1883)
* 1818 – José María Castro Madriz, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, 1st President of Costa Rica (d. 1892)
* 1848 – Auguste Forel, Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, and psychiatrist (d. 1931)
* 1850 – Jim O'Rourke, American baseball player and manager (d. 1919)
* 1851 – John Clum, American journalist and agent (d. 1932)
* 1853 – Aleksei Brusilov, Russian general (d. 1926)
*1854 – Engelbert Humperdinck, German playwright and composer (d. 1921)
* 1855 – Innokenty Annensky, Russian poet and critic (d. 1909)
* 1856 – Sergei Winogradsky, Ukrainian-Russian microbiologist and ecologist (d. 1953)
*1864 – Akashi Motojiro, Japanese general (d. 1919)
*1866 – James J. Corbett, American boxer (d. 1933)
* 1867 – John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, English sailor and politician (d. 1947)
*1868 – Henri Bourassa, Canadian publisher and politician (d. 1952)
* 1871 – J. Reuben Clark, American lawyer, civil servant, and religious leader (d. 1961)
*1875 – Edgar Rice Burroughs, American author (d. 1950)
*1876 – Harriet Shaw Weaver, English journalist and activist (d. 1961)
* 1877 – Francis William Aston, English chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1945)
* 1877 – Rex Beach, American author, playwright, and water polo player (d. 1949)
*1878 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1942)
* 1878 – J. F. C. Fuller, English general and historian (d. 1966)
* 1878 – Tullio Serafin, Italian conductor and director (d. 1968)
*1883 – Didier Pitre, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1934)
*1884 – Hilda Rix Nicholas, Australian artist (d. 1961)
* 1884 – Sigurd Wallén

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