History of Today 15 July: Important Events, Births and Deaths

Welcome to History of Today 15 July. On this page, you can read important historical events, famous births, notable deaths and general knowledge facts related to 15 July. This information is useful for UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, State PSC and other competitive exams.

Last updated on 15 July 2026, 01:01 AM

Important Events on 15 July in History

15 Jul 2018: France win their second World Cup title, defeating Croatia 4–2. Read more
15 Jul 2016: Factions of the Turkish Armed Forces attempt a coup. Read more
15 Jul 2014: A train derails on the Moscow Metro, killing at least 24 and injuring more than 160 others. Read more
15 Jul 2012: South Korean rapper Psy releases his hit single Gangnam Style. Read more
15 Jul 2009: Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashes near Jannatabad, Qazvin, Iran, killing 168. Read more
15 Jul 2009: Space Shuttle program: Endeavour is launched on STS-127 to complete assembly of the International Space Station's Kibō module. Read more
15 Jul 2006: Twitter, later one of the largest social media platforms in the world, is launched. Read more
15 Jul 2003: AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day. Read more
15 Jul 2002: "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and possession of explosives during the commission of a felony. Read more
15 Jul 2002: The Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan sentences British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to death, and three others suspected of murdering The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl to life. Read more
15 Jul 1998: Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil MP S. Shanmuganathan is killed by a claymore mine. Read more
15 Jul 1996: A Belgian Air Force C-130 Hercules carrying the Royal Netherlands Army marching band crashes on landing at Eindhoven Airport. Read more
15 Jul 1983: An attack at Orly Airport in Paris is launched by Armenian militant organisation ASALA, leaving eight people dead and 55 injured. Read more
15 Jul 1983: Nintendo and Sega enter the console market with the respective releases of the Famicom and SG-1000 in Japan. Read more
15 Jul 1979: U.S. president Jimmy Carter gives his "malaise speech". Read more
15 Jul 1975: Space Race: Apollo–Soyuz Test Project features the dual launch of an Apollo spacecraft and a Soyuz spacecraft on the first Soviet-United States human-crewed flight. It was the last launch of both an Apollo spacecraft, and the Saturn family of rockets. Read more
15 Jul 1975: Aeroflot Flight E-15 crashes on approach to Batumi International Airport, killing 40. Read more
15 Jul 1974: In Nicosia, Cyprus, Greek junta-sponsored nationalists launch a coup d'état, deposing Makarios III and installing Nikos Sampson as the president of Cyprus. Read more
15 Jul 1971: The United Red Army is founded in Japan. Read more
15 Jul 1966: Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam begin Operation Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. Read more
15 Jul 1955: Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others. Read more
15 Jul 1954: The Boeing 367-80, the prototype for both the Boeing 707 and C-135 series, takes its first flight. Read more
15 Jul 1946: The State of North Borneo, now Sabah, Malaysia, is annexed by the United Kingdom. Read more
15 Jul 1942: The Holocaust: Nazi Germany begins the deportation of 100,000 Jews from the occupied Netherlands to extermination camps. Read more
15 Jul 1927: Massacre of July 15, 1927: Eighty-nine protesters are killed by Austrian police in Vienna. Read more
15 Jul 1922: The Japanese Communist Party is established in Japan. Read more
15 Jul 1920: Aftermath of World War I: The Parliament of Poland establishes Silesian Voivodeship before the Polish-German plebiscite. Read more
15 Jul 1918: World War I: The Second Battle of the Marne begins near the River Marne with a German attack. Read more
15 Jul 1916: In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing). Read more
15 Jul 1910: In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gives a name to Alzheimer's disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer. Read more
15 Jul 1888: The stratovolcano Mount Bandai erupts, killing approximately 500 people in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Read more
15 Jul 1870: Reconstruction Era of the United States: Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union. Read more
15 Jul 1870: Canadian Confederation: Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory are transferred to Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company, and the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are established from these vast territories. Read more
15 Jul 1862: American Civil War: The CSS Arkansas, the most effective ironclad on the Mississippi River, battles with Union Navy ships commanded by Admiral David Farragut, severely damaging three ships and sustaining heavy damage herself. Read more
15 Jul 1849: The first air raid in history occurs; Austria launches pilotless balloons against the city of Venice Read more
15 Jul 1840: The Great Powers of Europe conclude the convention of London in order to stabilise the Near East. Read more
15 Jul 1838: Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers the Divinity School Address at Harvard Divinity School, discounting Biblical miracles and declaring Jesus a great man, but not God. The Protestant community reacts with outrage. Read more
15 Jul 1834: The Spanish Inquisition is officially disbanded after nearly 356 years. Read more
15 Jul 1823: A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy. Read more
15 Jul 1815: Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon. Read more
15 Jul 1806: Pike Expedition: United States Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis, Missouri, to explore the west. Read more

Famous Births on 15 July

15 Jul 2008: Iain Armitage, American actor Iain Armitage is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Sheldon Cooper in Young Sheldon, a spin-off prequel to The Big Bang Theory, from 2017 to 2024. He also played Ziggy Chapman in Big Little Lies (2017–2019) and voiced young Shaggy Rogers in Scoob! (2020) Read more
15 Jul 2005: JuJu Watkins, American basketball player Judea Skies "JuJu" Watkins is an American college basketball player for the USC Trojans of the Big Ten Conference. Read more
15 Jul 1999: Mohamed Sobhy, Egyptian footballer Mohamed Sobhy Mohamed Daader is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Egyptian Premier League club Zamalek. Read more
15 Jul 1998: Noah Gragson, American racing driver Noah Quinn Gragson is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports. Read more
15 Jul 1997: Jil Teichmann, Swiss tennis player Jil Belén Teichmann is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the WTA as high as No. 21 in singles and No. 73 in doubles. Read more
15 Jul 1997: Anthony Cirelli, Canadian ice hockey player Anthony Cirelli is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Lightning in the third round, 72nd overall, of the 2015 NHL entry draft. Cirelli won the Stanley Cup back-to-back with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021. Read more
15 Jul 1996: Vivianne Miedema, Dutch football player Anna Margaretha Marina Astrid "Vivianne" Miedema is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker or attacking midfielder for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the Netherlands national team. She previously played for Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and SC Heerenveen. Read more
15 Jul 1994: Mason Dye, American actor Mason Andrew Dye is an American actor. He is best known for his breakout role of Jason Carver in Stranger Things, and Bombsight in The Boys universe. Read more
15 Jul 1993: Håvard Nielsen, Norwegian footballer Håvard Nielsen is a Norwegian professional footballer who last played as a forward for 2. Bundesliga club Hannover 96. He played for the Norway national team. Read more
15 Jul 1993: Harrison Rhodes, American racing driver Harrison L. Rhodes is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 52 Chevrolet Camaro for Jimmy Means Racing. He is not related to NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Ben Rhodes. Read more
15 Jul 1993: Masataka Yoshida, Japanese baseball player Masataka Yoshida , shortened by teammates to “Masa”, nicknamed Macho Man, is a Japanese professional baseball designated hitter and left fielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He started his professional career with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Read more
15 Jul 1992: Tobias Harris, American basketball player Tobias John Harris is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers before declaring for the 2011 NBA draft where he was drafted 19th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats and then traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. Harris has also played for the Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. Harris' career earnings are the most of any player in NBA history without an All-Star appearance. Read more
15 Jul 1992: Wayde van Niekerk, South African sprinter Wayde van Niekerk is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the record when he won the event at the 2016 Olympics. Read more
15 Jul 1991: Danilo, Brazilian footballer Danilo Luiz da Silva, known as Danilo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo and the Brazil national team. Read more
15 Jul 1991: Derrick Favors, American basketball player Derrick Bernard Favors is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League. Favors played college basketball for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for one season before being selected by the New Jersey Nets with the third overall pick of the 2010 NBA draft. Read more
15 Jul 1991: Evgeny Tishchenko, Russian boxer Evgeny Andreyevich Tishchenko is a Russian professional boxer. He was the inaugural World Boxing Association (WBA) bridgerweight champion but was subsequently stripped after testing positive for banned substance. As an amateur, he won gold medals at the 2016 Olympics, 2015 World Championships, and the 2015 and 2017 European Championships and silver at the 2013 and 2017 World Championships. Read more
15 Jul 1991: Nuria Párrizas Díaz, Spanish tennis player Nuria Párrizas Díaz is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 45 in singles, which she first reached in March 2022, and No. 320 in doubles, achieved in September 2022. Read more
15 Jul 1990: Olly Alexander, English singer and actor Oliver Alexander Thornton is an English singer, songwriter, actor, and LGBTQ activist who rose to prominence as the lead singer of the English pop band Years & Years, achieving two No. 1 albums on the UK Albums Chart, a No. 1 single and five Top 10 entries on the UK Singles Chart. He continued to release music under the band's name between 2021 and 2023 until their dissolution in 2024. During their career Years & Years were nominated for six Brit Awards. Read more
15 Jul 1990: Zach Bogosian, American ice hockey player Zach Bogosian is an American professional ice hockey player who is a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. Bogosian won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Lightning in 2020. Read more
15 Jul 1990: Damian Lillard, American basketball player Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard Sr. is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also serves as the general manager of the Weber State Wildcats men's basketball program in the Big Sky Conference. Nicknamed "Dame Time", he played college basketball for Weber State and earned third-team All-American honors in 2012. Lillard was selected by the Trail Blazers with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2012–13 season. He is a nine-time NBA All-Star, a seven-time All-NBA Team selection, and the Trail Blazers’ all-time leading scorer. As of the end of the 2024–25 season, he ranked fourth on the NBA's all-time list of three-point field goals made, with 2,804. Read more
15 Jul 1990: Tyler Young, American racing driver Tyler Randall Young is an American former professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He owns Young's Motorsports, a team in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, fielding the No. 02 and No. 42 Chevrolet Camaros and in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series which fields the No. 02 Chevrolet Silverado. He also has been a driver for his own team, last starting a race in 2018. Before stepping back to driving part-time to focus on the ownership side of the team, Young drove his No. 02 full-time in 2014 and 2015. Read more
15 Jul 1989: Alisa Kleybanova, Russian tennis player Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career, she won two singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Read more
15 Jul 1989: Anthony Randolph, American basketball player Anthony Erwin Randolph Jr. is an American and naturalized Slovenian former professional basketball player. He represented the senior Slovenian national basketball team, winning the 2017 EuroBasket with them. Born in Germany to two American parents who served in the US military there, Randolph's family eventually relocated to the United States, where he grew up in Pasadena, California. The family later moved to Dallas, Texas, where Randolph soon became a standout at Woodrow Wilson High School, eventually being recruited by the LSU Tigers. After one year, Randolph left college, and entered the 2008 NBA draft, where he was chosen as the fourteenth pick overall by the Golden State Warriors. In 2016, he earned an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection. Read more
15 Jul 1989: Tristan Wilds, American actor and singer-songwriter Tristan Paul Mack Wilds is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series, The Wire, and as Dixon Wilson on the CW teen drama series, 90210. He was also featured in the Adele music video for "Hello". As a recording artist, he signed with record producer Salaam Remi's Louder than Life Recordings, an imprint of Sony Music to release his debut studio album, New York: A Love Story (2013), which narrowly entered the Billboard 200 and received a nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. Wilds' second album, AfterHours (2017), was released independently, and failed to chart. Read more
15 Jul 1988: Aimee Carrero, American actress Aimee Carrero is an American actress. She is known for her leading roles in the sitcom Young & Hungry (2014–2018), and the thriller series The Consultant (2023) with recurring roles on shows such as the ABC family drama Lincoln Heights (2009), and the FX spy series The Americans (2014), the Netflix miniseries Maid (2021), and the Apple TV+ dramedy series Your Friends & Neighbors (2025). Read more
15 Jul 1986: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, American actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films Aquaman (2018) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal drama The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), and Morpheus / Agent Smith in The Matrix Resurrections (2021). For his portrayal of Cal Abar / Doctor Manhattan in the HBO limited series Watchmen (2019), he won a Primetime Emmy Award. He also starred in episodes of The Handmaid's Tale (2018) and Black Mirror (2019). Read more
15 Jul 1986: Tyler Kennedy, Canadian ice hockey player Tyler Kennedy is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey centre who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils. He was selected by the Penguins in the fourth round, 99th overall, of the 2004 NHL entry draft. Read more
15 Jul 1986: Kareem Rahma, Egyptian-American comedian, artist, and media entrepreneur Kareem Rahma is an Egyptian-American comedian, artist, and media entrepreneur. Rahma is one of the founders of Nameless Network, a media company started by a group of former Vice employees. Rahma is a senior advisor to XTR. Previously, he worked at The New York Times. He has since gained wider recognition for his ongoing internet interview series, Subway Takes. Read more
15 Jul 1984: Angelo Siniscalchi, Italian footballer Angelo Siniscalchi is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie D club AC Rezzato. Read more
15 Jul 1984: Veronika Velez-Zuzulová, Slovak skier Veronika Valette-Zuzulová is a retired Slovak alpine ski racer. Born in Bratislava, she specialised in the slalom and was the most successful Slovak alpine skier before Petra Vlhová. She was coached by her father Timotej Zuzula and Vladimír Kovár. In april 2012, she married coach Romain Velez and added her maiden name to her married name becoming Velez-Zuzulová. They divorced in August 2022. In September 2025 she married french Gaspard Valette Read more
15 Jul 1983: Salvatore Iovino, American racing driver Salvatore Iovino is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is also a team owner for Holleran-Iovino Racing (HIR) in the K&N Pro Series East, competing under the Patriot Motorsports Group banner. Prior to competing in stock car racing, he competed as a NHRA drag racing driver. Iovino is a first-generation driver. Read more
15 Jul 1983: Nelson Merlo, Brazilian racing driver Nelson Merlo is a Brazilian racing driver. In 2005, he won the Brazilian Formula Renault season, taking a win in six races. Read more
15 Jul 1983: Heath Slater, American wrestler Heath Wallace Miller is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE from 2006 to 2020 under the ring name Heath Slater. He also performed in Impact Wrestling, under the mononymous name Heath. Read more
15 Jul 1982: Julien Canal, French racing driver Julien Antoine Jules Canal is a French racing driver. Having won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010, 2011 and 2012 whilst driving GT cars, Canal became a staple of the LMP2 category, winning the WEC class title in 2015 and 2017. Read more
15 Jul 1982: Neemia Tialata, New Zealand rugby player Neemia Stanley Tialata is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer. He most recently played for RC Narbonne in the Pro D2. Tialata also previously played for Stade Toulousain in the Top 14. As well as representing New Zealand All Blacks from 2005 to 2010, he also played for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and for Wellington in the ITM/Air New Zealand Cup when available. Currently, Neemia serves as the Director of Rugby at Wellington College in Wellington, New Zealand – along with his former All Black teammate Piri Weepu, who serves as the Wellington College 1st XV head coach. Read more
15 Jul 1982: Aída Yéspica, Venezuelan model and actress Aída María Yéspica Jaime is a Venezuelan actress, TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder. Considered a sex symbol of the 2000s and 2010s, she has participated in variety and reality shows, acted in films and TV programs, posed for several nude calendars, and appeared in television commercials. Read more
15 Jul 1981: Alou Diarra, French footballer Alou Diarra is a French professional football coach and former player. Known for his leadership ability, he served as captain of both Bordeaux and the France national team. Read more
15 Jul 1981: Petros Klampanis, Greek bassist and composer Petros Klampanis is a Greek jazz bassist, composer, arranger, and producer. Known for blending jazz with Mediterranean and Balkan folk influences, he is the founder of the independent label PKmusik, which features a range of artists from diverse backgrounds. Read more
15 Jul 1981: Marius Stankevičius, Lithuanian footballer Marius Stankevičius is a Lithuanian professional football manager and former player who works as head coach of A Lyga club TransINVEST. A former defender, he was the Lithuanian player of the year in 2008 and 2009. Read more
15 Jul 1981: Taylor Kinney, American actor Taylor Jackson Kinney is an American actor and model. He played Jared in Zero Dark Thirty, Phil in The Other Woman, and Chicago Fire Department Captain Kelly Severide on the American drama Chicago Fire. He also played Craig, one of Fiona's love interests, on Shameless. Read more
15 Jul 1980: Reggie Abercrombie, American baseball player Reginald Damascus Abercrombie is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins and Houston Astros. Read more
15 Jul 1980: Jonathan Cheechoo, Canadian ice hockey player Jonathan Earl Cheechoo is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Read more
15 Jul 1980: Julia Perez, Indonesian singer and actress (died 2017) Yuli Rachmawati, better known as Julia Perez, abbreviated as Jupe, was an Indonesian singer, model, and actress. In the early 2010s, she became known for her outspoken statements against conservative Muslim clerics, who deemed her as too erotic for Indonesian audiences. Read more
15 Jul 1979: Laura Benanti, American actress and singer Laura Ilene Benanti is an American actress and singer. Read more
15 Jul 1979: Alexander Frei, Swiss footballer Alexander Frei or Alex Frei is a Swiss professional football coach and a former player who played as a striker. He was most recently head coach of FC Aarau in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football. Read more
15 Jul 1979: Edda Garðarsdóttir, Icelandic footballer Edda Garðarsdóttir is an Icelandic football coach and former player who last managed Úrvalsdeild club KR. Since her debut in 1997 she has accrued over 100 caps for Iceland's national team and competed at the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 finals in Finland. Read more
15 Jul 1979: Renata Kučerová, Czech tennis player Renata Kučerová is a former Czech tennis player. Read more
15 Jul 1979: Travis Fimmel, Australian actor Travis Fimmel is an Australian actor. He played Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel television series Vikings (2013–2017), Marcus in HBO science fiction series' Raised by Wolves, Desmond Hart in Dune: Prophecy, and the leading role of James Cormack in Black Snow (2024). Read more
15 Jul 1978: Miguel Olivo, Dominican baseball player Miguel Eduardo Olivo Peña is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher for several teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2002 to 2014. He also played in the Mexican League from 2014 to 2017. Read more
15 Jul 1977: D. J. Kennington, Canadian racing driver Douglas James Kennington is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Canada Series, driving the No. 17 Dodge Challenger for his own team, DJK Racing. He won the 2010 and 2012 Canada Series championships. Kennington also previously competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 99 Toyota Supra for B. J. McLeod Motorsports, and part-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports. He is the son of Doug Kennington, a former CASCAR driver and founder of St. Thomas Raceway Park. Read more
15 Jul 1977: André Nel, South African cricketer André Nel is a South African former cricketer who played all formats as a fast bowler. He retired from international cricket on 25 March 2009. Read more
15 Jul 1977: Lana Parrilla, American actress Lana Parrilla is an American actress. She was a regular cast member in the fifth season of the ABC sitcom Spin City (2000–2001) and in the fourth season of 24 (2005), and starred in Boomtown (2002–2003), Windfall (2006), Swingtown (2008), and as Dr. Eva Zambrano in the short-lived medical drama Miami Medical (2010), and as The Evil Queen / Regina Mills in the ABC fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time (2011–2018). Among her awards and nominations is a 2012 ALMA Award win for Outstanding TV Actress—Drama. In 2021, she played the role of Rita Castillo in the second season of Why Women Kill. Read more
15 Jul 1977: John St. Clair, American football player John Bradley St. Clair is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the third round of the 2000 NFL draft. He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers. Read more
15 Jul 1977: Ray Toro, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Raymond Toro is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the band My Chemical Romance. Read more
15 Jul 1976: Steve Cunningham, American boxer Steven Ormain Cunningham is an American professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title twice between 2007 and 2011. His nickname, "USS", is a reference to his US Navy service on the aircraft carriers USS America and USS Enterprise between 1994 and 1998. Read more
15 Jul 1976: Marco Di Vaio, Italian footballer Marco Di Vaio is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer, in his long club career, Di Vaio scored over 200 league goals while playing for several clubs, mainly in Italy, as well as in France, Spain and Canada. At international level, Di Vaio represented the Italy national football team at Euro 2004. Read more
15 Jul 1976: Diane Kruger, German actress and model Diane Kruger is a German actress. She is a former model-turned-actress who, early in her film career, gained worldwide recognition and received the Trophée Chopard from the Cannes Film Festival. Read more
15 Jul 1976: Gabriel Iglesias, Mexican-American comedian and voice actor Gabriel Jesús Iglesias, nicknamed Fluffy, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He has produced a number of stand-up specials for television outlets such as Comedy Central and Netflix, including I'm Not Fat… I'm Fluffy, and Hot and Fluffy. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous live-action and animated TV shows and films, including starring in the sitcom Mr. Iglesias on Netflix, playing Tobias in the 2012 movie Magic Mike and its 2015 sequel, and providing the voice of Speedy Gonzales in Space Jam: A New Legacy. He was also the host of the shows Stand Up Revolution on Comedy Central and Fluffy's Food Adventures on Fuse. Read more
15 Jul 1975: Cherry, American wrestler and manager Kara Elizabeth Drew is an American valet and professional wrestler, better known under the ring name Cherry. She is best known for her tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), as the manager of former Tag Team Champions Deuce 'n Domino. Read more
15 Jul 1975: Danny Law, English cricketer Danny Law is a former English cricketer. Born in Lambeth, Law played for Sussex, Essex and Durham between 1993 and 2003. Read more
15 Jul 1975: Ben Pepper, Australian basketball player Ben Pepper is an Australian former professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL). Read more
15 Jul 1973: Brian Austin Green, American actor Brian Austin Green is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of David Silver on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–2000). Green was also a series regular on television shows Freddie (2005–2006), Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009), Wedding Band (2012–2013), and Anger Management (2012–2014). Read more
15 Jul 1973: Buju Banton, Jamaican singer Mark Anthony Myrie, known professionally as Buju Banton, is a Jamaican Reggae and dancehall musician. He is one of the most significant and well-regarded artists in Jamaican music. Banton has collaborated with many international artists, including those in the hip-hop, Latin and punk rock genres, as well as the sons of Bob Marley. Read more
15 Jul 1972: Scott Foley, American actor Scott Kellerman Foley is an American actor, director and producer, who is known for roles on shows such as The Unit, Scrubs, Felicity, and Scandal. In film, he's most known as Roman Bridger in Scream 3. He has also guest starred on Grey's Anatomy, Dawson's Creek, and House. Read more
15 Jul 1972: John Dolmayan, Armenian-American drummer Hovig Dolmayan, better known as John Dolmayan, is an Armenian-American musician, best known as the drummer of System of a Down. He is also the former drummer for Scars on Broadway. Dolmayan was ranked number 33 on Loudwire's list of Top 200 Hard Rock + Metal Drummers of All Time. Read more
15 Jul 1971: Jim Rash, American actor, comedian, and filmmaker James Rash is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He played Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2012. Read more
15 Jul 1970: Tarkan Gözübüyük, Turkish bass player and producer Tarkan Gözübüyük is the bass player of the Turkish heavy metal band Mezarkabul. He is in relationship with Turkish actrist Janset over 20 years. Read more
15 Jul 1969: Ain Tammus, Estonian footballer and coach Ain Tammus is an Estonian goalkeeping coach and a former professional footballer. He is currently a goalkeeping coach at Levadia Tallinn. Read more
15 Jul 1968: Eddie Griffin, American comedian, actor, and producer Edward Rubin Griffin is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom Malcolm & Eddie, the title character in the 2002 comedy film Undercover Brother, and Tiberius Jefferson "T.J." Hicks in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005). He also portrayed Lester Matthews in John Q. (2002), Orpheus in Scary Movie 3 (2003), Pope Sweet Jesus in Norbit (2007), and voiced Richard Pryor on Black Dynamite (2012–2015). Griffin was ranked at number 62 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. Read more
15 Jul 1967: Adam Savage, American actor and special effects designer Adam Whitney Savage is an American special effects creator and educational video presenter. He is best known as the former co-host, with Jamie Hyneman, of the Discovery Channel television series MythBusters and Unchained Reaction. His model work has appeared in major films, including Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and The Matrix Reloaded. He hosts the TV program Savage Builds, which premiered on the Science Channel on June 14, 2019. His platform Adam Savage's Tested includes a website and a YouTube channel. Read more
15 Jul 1967: Elbert West, American singer-songwriter (died 2015) Elbert Lee West was an American country music artist. Initially a session songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, West saw his first chart success in the 1990s as a co-writer on singles for country singer Tracy Lawrence, including the Number Ones "Sticks and Stones" and "Can't Break It to My Heart". West co-wrote album tracks for other artists, including tracks for Tim McGraw and John Michael Montgomery. Read more
15 Jul 1966: Jason Bonham, English singer-songwriter and drummer Jason John Bonham is an English drummer. He is the son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. Since his father's death in September 1980, he has performed with the surviving three members of Led Zeppelin on several occasions, including the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at The O2 Arena in London in December 2007. He has also done extensive work as a session musician, led the group Bonham in the 1980s and '90s, and is a member of the supergroup Black Country Communion. Read more
15 Jul 1966: Irène Jacob, French-Swiss actress Irène Marie Jacob is a French-Swiss actress known for her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. She won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Kieślowski film The Double Life of Veronique, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her 1994 film Three Colours: Red. Her other film appearances include The Secret Garden (1993), Beyond the Clouds (1995), U.S. Marshals (1998), and Eternity (2016). Read more
15 Jul 1965: Alistair Carmichael, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland Alexander Morrison "Alistair" Carmichael is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Orkney and Shetland since 2001. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he previously served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2013 to 2015 and as Deputy Government Chief Whip from 2010 to 2013. He currently serves as the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. Read more
15 Jul 1965: Gero Miesenböck, Austrian neuroscientist and educator Gero Andreas Miesenböck is an Austrian scientist. He is currently Waynflete Professor of Physiology and Director of the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour (CNCB) at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Read more
15 Jul 1965: David Miliband, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Wright Miliband is a British former politician serving as President of the International Rescue Committee since 2013. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Shields in North East England from 2001 to 2013. He and his brother, Ed Miliband, were the first siblings to sit in the Cabinet simultaneously since Edward, Lord Stanley and Oliver Stanley in 1938. He was a candidate for Labour Party leadership in 2010, following the resignation of Gordon Brown, but was defeated by his brother and subsequently left politics. Read more
15 Jul 1963: Brigitte Nielsen, Danish-Italian actress Brigitte Nielsen is a Danish actress, model, and singer. She began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She subsequently acted in the 1985 films Red Sonja and Rocky IV, later returning to the Rocky series in Creed II (2018). Nielsen starred in the 1986 film Cobra alongside her then-husband Sylvester Stallone. She played a villain in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and starred as the Black Witch in the 1990s Italian film series Fantaghirò. She later built a career starring in B-movies, hosting TV shows, and appearing on reality shows. Read more
15 Jul 1963: Steve Thomas, English-Canadian ice hockey player and coach Stephen Antony "Stumpy" Thomas is a Canadian former ice hockey right winger who played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Detroit Red Wings. Read more
15 Jul 1962: Nikos Filippou, Greek basketball player and manager Nikolaos "Nikos" Filippou is a retired Greek professional basketball player. At a height of 2.02 m, he played at the power forward position. Read more
15 Jul 1962: Michelle Ford, Australian swimmer Michelle Jan Ford is an Australian former long-distance freestyle and butterfly swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle, bronze in the 200-metre butterfly, and 4th in the 400-metres freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She was the only non-Eastern Bloc female swimmer to win an individual gold medal at the 1980 games. She also set two world records in her career, and was the first Australian woman to win individual Olympic medals in two distinct specialised strokes. Read more
15 Jul 1961: Lolita Davidovich, Canadian actress Lolita Davidovich is a Canadian film and television actress, best known for portraying Blaze Starr in the 1989 film Blaze, for which she received a Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination. Read more
15 Jul 1961: Jean-Christophe Grangé, French journalist and screenwriter Jean-Christophe Grangé is a French mystery writer, journalist, and screenwriter. Read more
15 Jul 1961: Forest Whitaker, American actor Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, filmmaker, and activist. His accolades include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Honorary Palme d'Or. Read more
15 Jul 1959: Vincent Lindon, French actor, director, and screenwriter Vincent Lindon is a French actor and filmmaker. For his role in the film The Measure of a Man (2015), Lindon won Best Actor at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actor at the 41st César Awards and the IFFI Best Actor Award (Male) at the 46th International Film Festival of India. Read more
15 Jul 1958: Gary Heale, English footballer and coach Gary John Heale is an English former professional footballer who played for teams in England, the Netherlands, and the United States. Read more
15 Jul 1958: Mac Thornberry, American lawyer and politician William McClellan "Mac" Thornberry is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 13th congressional district from 1995 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Thornberry represented the most Republican district in the United States by partisan voting index. The district covers the Texas Panhandle and stretched between the Oklahoma and New Mexico borders. Read more
15 Jul 1957: Cecile Richards, American activist and former Planned Parenthood president (died 2025) Cecile Richards was an American activist who served as the president of both the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliated Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018. In 2010, Richards was elected to the Ford Foundation board of trustees. In spring 2019, Richards co-founded Supermajority, a women's political action group. Read more
15 Jul 1957: Mac McAnally, American singer-songwriter Lyman Corbitt McAnally Jr., known professionally as Mac McAnally, is an American singer-songwriter, session musician, and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. Two of his singles were hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and six more on the Hot Country Songs chart. His ninth chart entry came in late 2008-early 2009 as a guest vocalist on Kenny Chesney's cover of his 1990 single "Down the Road". Read more
15 Jul 1956: Ashoke Sen, Indian theoretical physicist and string theorist Ashoke Sen FRS is an Indian theoretical physicist and ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair Professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), Bangalore. A former distinguished professor at the Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Prayagraj, He is also an honorary fellow in National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) India. He is also a Morningstar Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a distinguished professor at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study. His main area of work is string theory. He was among the first recipients of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics "for opening the path to the realization that all string theories are different limits of the same underlying theory". Read more
15 Jul 1956: Ian Curtis, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1980) Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead vocalist, songwriter, and occasional guitarist of the band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980). Read more
15 Jul 1956: Nicholas Harberd, British botanist, educator, and academician Nicholas Paul Harberd an Emeritus Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford. He was previously Sibthorpian Professor and served as head of Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford before it became part of the Department of Biology, University of Oxford. Read more
15 Jul 1956: Barry Melrose, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster Barry James Melrose is a Canadian–American retired broadcaster and former professional ice hockey player and head coach. Melrose played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and National Hockey League (NHL). After retiring from playing, he became a head coach and is best known for being the coach of the Los Angeles Kings in their run to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. Until 2023, he was a long-time commentator and hockey analyst for ESPN as well as a contributor for the NHL Network. Read more
15 Jul 1956: Steve Mortimer, Australian rugby league player, coach, and administrator Stephen Charles Mortimer, also nicknamed "Turvey", is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a halfback. Mortimer played a Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs club record 272 first-grade games between 1976 and 1988, winning four premierships with the club during the 1980s. Mortimer's two younger brothers, Peter and Chris, also played for the club. Read more
15 Jul 1956: Joe Satriani, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Joseph Satriani is an American rock guitarist, composer, record producer, and songwriter. Early in his career, he worked as a guitar instructor, with many of his former students achieving fame, including Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan, and Alex Skolnick. Satriani went on to have a successful solo music career, starting in the mid-1980s. He is a 15-time Grammy Award nominee and has sold over ten million albums, making him the bestselling instrumental rock guitarist of all time. Read more
15 Jul 1956: Wayne Taylor, South African racing driver Wayne Taylor is a South African sports car racing driver and team owner. He won the 1996 and 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. He drove for SunTrust Racing with Max Angelelli. He co-drove in the 2006 International Race of Champions in the United States with Angelelli. Taylor now owns and manages his own team competing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Read more
15 Jul 1954: John Ferguson, Australian rugby league player John "Chicka" Ferguson is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative winger, in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership for the Newtown Jets, Eastern Suburbs Roosters and finally the Canberra Raiders, with whom he won the 1989 and 1990 NSWRL premierships. A prolific try-scorer, who topped the NSWRL's scoring list in 1988, Ferguson also played in England with Wigan, helping them to victory in the 1985 Challenge Cup Final. He has since been named in Australia's indigenous team of the century (1908–2008). Read more
15 Jul 1954: Giorgos Kaminis, American-Greek lawyer and politician, 78th Mayor of Athens Georgios Kaminis is a Greek American politician and professor of constitutional law. He was the Greek Ombudsman from April 2003 until September 2010 and Mayor of Athens from 2011 until 2019. Read more
15 Jul 1954: Mario Kempes, Argentinian footballer and manager Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, he finished as La Liga's top goalscorer twice with Valencia where he amassed 116 goals in 184 league games. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Read more
15 Jul 1953: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haitian priest and politician, 49th President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who served as president of Haiti in 1991, from 1993 to 1994, from 1994 to 1996, and from 2001 to 2004. He was in exile after the 1991 military coup until 1994 and again after his overthrow in 2004 until 2011. Aristide was a member of the Lavalas Political Organization before he founded the party Fanmi Lavalas in 1996. Read more
15 Jul 1953: Sultanah Haminah, Malaysian royal consort Che Puan Besar Hajah Haminah binti Haji Hamidun, formerly known as Sultanah Haminah is the former Sultanah of Kedah and the widow of Sultan Abdul Halim Mua'dzam Shah. Born as a commoner, she married Sultan Abdul Halim on 25 December 1975 as his second wife. She served as the 14th Raja Permaisuri Agong from 2011 to 2016, during her husband's second term as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Malaysian federal head of state. After her husband's death in September 2017, his successor and her brother-in-law Sultan Sallehuddin, bestowed upon her the title Che Puan Besar of Kedah, roughly equivalent to the queen dowager. Read more
15 Jul 1953: Mohamad Shahrum Osman, Malaysian politician Mohamad Shahrum bin Osman was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Lipis constituency in Pahang from 2004 to 2013. He sat in Parliament as a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party in the Barisan Nasional government and also served as the Chairman of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN). Read more
15 Jul 1953: Alicia Bridges, American singer-songwriter Alicia Bridges is an American singer and songwriter who co-wrote and performed her international hit "I Love the Nightlife " in 1978. Read more
15 Jul 1952: John Cleland, British racing driver John Cunningham Cleland is a British retired auto racing driver, best known for winning the British Touring Car Championship in 1989 and 1995. Read more
15 Jul 1952: Celia Imrie, English actress Celia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. Read more
15 Jul 1952: Terry O'Quinn, American actor Terrance Quinn, known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance as John Locke on the TV series Lost (2004–2010). In film, he also played the title role in The Stepfather (1987) and Howard Hughes in The Rocketeer (1991) with roles in other films such as Heaven's Gate (1980), Silver Bullet (1985), Young Guns (1988), Blind Fury (1989), Tombstone (1993) and Primal Fear (1996). Read more
15 Jul 1952: David Pack, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer David Robert Pack is an American singer, songwriter, who is best known as co-founder, lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Ambrosia in the 1970s and 1980s. Pack wrote and sang all of Ambrosia's RIAA certified gold hits including 3x Grammy nominee “Biggest Part of Me”, “How Much I Feel” and “You're the Only Woman .” Read more
15 Jul 1952: Marky Ramone, American drummer and songwriter Marc Steven Bell, better known as Marky Ramone, is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for the punk rock band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. He replaced drummer Tommy Ramone in the Ramones in 1978 and played with the band from 1978 to 1983 and 1987 to 1996: their longest-serving drummer. He has also played drums for other punk rock and heavy metal bands including his own band, Marky Ramone and the Intruders. As of 2026, he is one of three surviving members of the band, the others being Richie Ramone and C.J. Ramone. He continues to keep the Ramones' legacy alive around the world with his band Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg. Read more
15 Jul 1952: Johnny Thunders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1991) John Anthony Genzale, known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of New York Dolls. He later formed the Heartbreakers and played as a solo artist. Read more
15 Jul 1951: Gregory Isaacs, Jamaican-English singer-songwriter (died 2010) Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in The New York Times, described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae". Read more
15 Jul 1951: Jesse Ventura, American wrestler, actor, and politician, 38th Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura is an American politician, Vietnam veteran, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation, he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003. He was elected governor with the Reform Party and is the party's only candidate to win a major government office. Read more
15 Jul 1950: Colin Barnett, Australian economist and politician, 29th Premier of Western Australia Colin James Barnett is an Australian former politician who served as the 29th Premier of Western Australia from 2008 to 2017. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other portfolios in Western Australia's Court–Cowan ministry. Read more
15 Jul 1950: Steve James, American guitarist, songwriter, and luthier (died 2023) Steve James was an American folk blues musician.A multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, James operated in the fields of acoustic and folk blues. Without the benefit of promotion from a major record label, James had secured his fan base from consistent touring. Read more
15 Jul 1950: Arianna Huffington, Greek-American journalist and publisher Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington is a Greek and American author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman. Read more
15 Jul 1949: Carl Bildt, Swedish politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Sweden Nils Daniel Carl Bildt is a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and as leader of the Moderate Party (M) from 1986 to 1999. He served twice as Leader of the Opposition. He later held office as Foreign Minister under Fredrik Reinfeldt, serving from 2006 to 2014. He represented Stockholm Municipality as a Member of the Riksdag from 1979 until 2001. As a member of the noble Bildt family, he is a great-great grandson of former prime minister Gillis Bildt. Read more
15 Jul 1949: Trevor Horn, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer Trevor Charles Horn is a British record producer and musician. His influence on pop and electronic music in the 1980s was such that he has been called "the man who invented the eighties". Read more
15 Jul 1949: Harvey C. Krautschun, American politician (died 2026) Harvey C. Krautschun was an American politician. He served as a Republican member of the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1985 to 1996, serving as Speaker of the House between 1995 and 1996. Read more
15 Jul 1949: Richard Russo, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter Richard Russo is an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and teacher. In 2002, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for his novel Empire Falls. Several of his works have been adapted into television series and movies. He is known for his realistic depictions of rural, small-town life in the Northeastern United States, particularly in Maine, Pennsylvania, and Russo's native Upstate New York. Read more
15 Jul 1948: Twinkle, English singer-songwriter (died 2015) Lynn Annette Ripley, better known by the stage name Twinkle, was an English singer-songwriter. She had chart success in the 1960s with her songs "Terry" and "Golden Lights". Read more
15 Jul 1948: Dimosthenis Kourtovik, Greek anthropologist and critic Dimosthenis Kourtovik is a Greek writer, literary critic and anthropologist. He studied biology in Athens and West Germany and specialized later on physical anthropology. In 1986 he obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Wroclaw, Poland, with a thesis on the evolution of human sexuality. Read more
15 Jul 1948: Artimus Pyle, American rock drummer and songwriter Thomas Delmer "Artimus" Pyle is an American musician who played drums with the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1974 to 1977 and from 1987 to 1991. He and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Read more
15 Jul 1947: Lydia Davis, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist Lydia Davis is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, poet, and translator from French and other languages, who often writes very short stories. Davis has produced several new translations of French literary classics, including Swann's Way by Marcel Proust and Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Read more
15 Jul 1947: Pridiyathorn Devakula, Thai economist and politician, Thai Minister of Finance Mom Rajawongse Pridiyathorn Devakula is a Thai economist. He was the Governor of the Bank of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Following the 2006 Thai coup d'état he served as minister of finance and deputy prime minister in the interim civilian government led by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont. Following the 2014 Thai coup d'état he was appointed a deputy prime minister in the first military appointed cabinet under General Prayut Chan-o-cha. Two days earlier he had resigned from his position as chairman of the board of Post Publishing PLC, the publisher of the Bangkok Post, Thailand's leading English-language newspaper. Read more
15 Jul 1947: Roky Erickson, American singer-songwriter and musician (died 2019) Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Called an "outsider genius", he was a founding member and leader of the 13th Floor Elevators, as well as a pioneer of psychedelic rock music during the mid to late 1960s. Additionally, he founded the band Roky Erickson and the Aliens in the late 1970s. Read more
15 Jul 1946: Linda Ronstadt, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Linda Maria Ronstadt is a retired American singer and musician who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, folk, pop, country, and soul. Read more
15 Jul 1946: Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah Muiz'zaddin Wad'daulah has reigned as the sultan of Brunei since 1967, and has also served as the prime minister of Brunei since its independence from British rule in 1984. He is among the world's few remaining absolute monarchs. Read more
15 Jul 1945: David Arthur Granger, Guyanese politician, 9th President of Guyana David Arthur Granger is a Guyanese former politician and retired military officer who served as the ninth president of Guyana from 2015 to 2020. A member of the People’s National Congress (PNC), he previously served as Commander of the Guyana Defence Force and as National Security Adviser from 1990 to 1992. He was leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Guyana from 2012 to 2015. Read more
15 Jul 1945: Peter Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Peter Charles Lewis is one of the founding members of the band Moby Grape. Three of his better known songs with Moby Grape are "Fall on You" and "Sitting by the Window" from the self-titled first Moby Grape album and "If You Can't Learn from My Mistakes" from Moby Grape '69. Read more
15 Jul 1945: Jürgen Möllemann, German soldier and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (died 2003) Jürgen Wilhelm Möllemann was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as Minister of State at the Foreign Office (1982–1987), as Minister of Education and Research (1987–1991), as Minister of Economics (1991–1993) and as the vice chancellor of Germany (1992–1993) in the government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Read more
15 Jul 1944: Millie Jackson, American singer-songwriter Mildred Virginia Jackson is an American R&B and soul recording artist. Beginning her career in the early 1960s, three of Jackson's albums have been certified gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies sold. Jackson's songs often include long spoken sections, sometimes humorous, sometimes sexually explicit. According to the cataloguing site WhoSampled.com, her songs have appeared in 189 samples, 51 covers, and six remixes. Read more
15 Jul 1944: Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor (died 2019) Jan-Michael Vincent was an American actor. He emerged as a leading man in the 1970s, playing notable roles in films like Going Home (1971), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture; The Mechanic (1972), Damnation Alley (1977), and Big Wednesday (1978). He earned his second Golden Globe nomination for his role on the television miniseries The Winds of War (1983) before starring as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the television series Airwolf (1984–87). Read more
15 Jul 1944: Nigel Williams, English conservator (died 1992) Nigel Reuben Rook Williams was an English conservator and expert on the restoration of ceramics and glass. From 1961 until his death he worked at the British Museum, where he became the Chief Conservator of Ceramics and Glass in 1983. There his work included the successful restorations of the Sutton Hoo helmet and the Portland Vase. Read more
15 Jul 1943: Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Northern Irish astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a Northern Irish physicist who, while conducting research for her doctorate, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. This discovery later earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974, but she was not among the awardees. Read more
15 Jul 1942: Vivian Malone Jones, American civil rights activist (died 2005) Vivian Juanita Malone Jones was the first black student to graduate from the University of Alabama, in 1965. She and James Hood were the first black students able to enroll at the university since Autherine Lucy and Pollie Myers initially strove to desegregate the school. Malone became famous when George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, attempted to physically block her and Hood from enrolling at the all-white university. Malone faced threats and ostracism at the university but successfully graduated in two years with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management. Throughout her career, Malone continued to work for civil rights causes. She worked for various federal agencies like the Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency, and served as executive director of the Voter Education Project. Read more
15 Jul 1941: Livia Gouverneur, Venezuelan activist (died 1961) Livia Margarita Gouverneur Camero was a Venezuelan student who was killed during a protest in support of the Cuban Revolution and against the presence in Venezuela of allies of Fulgencio Batista. Her death has become a symbol of social justice in Venezuela. Read more
15 Jul 1940: Chris Cord, American racing driver (died 2022) Chris Cord was an American racing driver and investment banker. He won the Group 5 SP class at the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1987 IMSA GT Championship in the GTO class. Read more
15 Jul 1940: Denis Héroux, Canadian director and producer (died 2015) Denis Héroux, was a Canadian film director and producer. Read more
15 Jul 1940: Ronald Gene Simmons, American sergeant and convicted murderer (died 1990) Ronald Gene Simmons Sr. was an American spree killer and former military serviceman who murdered 16 people, including 14 members of his own family, over a week in December 1987 in Arkansas. The killings, centered at his home near Dover and later at several public locations, remain the deadliest familicide and mass murder in Arkansas history. Simmons, a retired U.S. Navy and Air Force veteran, was convicted in two trials, sentenced to death, waived all appeals, and was executed by lethal injection in 1990 — the first person executed by that method in Arkansas. His refusal to appeal led to the U.S. Supreme Court case Whitmore v. Arkansas. Read more
15 Jul 1940: Robert Winston, English surgeon, academic, and politician Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter, and Labour peer. Read more
15 Jul 1939: Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Portuguese economist and politician, 19th President of the Portuguese Republic Aníbal António Cavaco Silva is a Portuguese economist and politician who served as the president of Portugal from 2006 to 2016, and as prime minister of Portugal, from 1985 to 1995. His 10-year tenure was the longest of any prime minister since Salazar, and the longest for a freely elected prime minister in Portugal's republican history. He was the first Portuguese prime minister to win an absolute parliamentary majority under the current constitutional system. He is most recognized for guiding Portugal into the European Union, liberalizing the Portuguese economy and improving infrastructures across the country. As prime minister, his style and policies came to be known as Cavacoism. Read more
15 Jul 1938: Bill Alsup, American racing driver (died 2016) Bill Alsup was an American race car driver. He was the first Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CART & USAC Champ Car starts in his career. His best race finish of third came three times and he was the 1981 CART Championship runner-up, putting in a winless but consistent season for Penske Racing, his only effort with a top-level team. He returned to his own team the next year and struggled until leaving Champ Car following the 1984 Sanair Super Speedway race. Read more
15 Jul 1938: Ernie Barnes, American football player, actor, and painter (died 2009) Ernest Eugene Barnes Jr. was an American artist, well known for his unique style of elongated characters and movement. He was also a professional football player, actor and author. Read more
15 Jul 1938: Carmen Callil, Australian publisher, founded Virago Press (died 2022) Dame Carmen Thérèse Fakhry Callil, was an Australian publisher, writer and critic who spent most of her career in the United Kingdom. She founded Virago Press in 1973 and received the Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature in 2017. She has been described by Gail Rebuck as "the most extraordinary publisher of her generation". Read more
15 Jul 1938: Barry Goldwater, Jr., American lawyer and politician Barry Morris Goldwater Jr. is an American politician. He is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California, serving from 1969 to 1983. He is the son of U.S. Senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater. Both served together father and son in the U.S. Congress through 1969-1984. Read more
15 Jul 1937: Prabhash Joshi, Indian journalist (died 2009) Prabhash Joshi was an Indian journalist, especially Hindi journalism, writer and political analyst. He was strongly in favour of "ethics and transparency". He played a part in Gandhian movement, Bhoodan movement, and in the surrender of bandits and in the struggle against emergency. Read more
15 Jul 1936: George Voinovich, American lawyer and politician, 65th Governor of Ohio (died 2016) George Victor Voinovich was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998, and the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989. He is the most recent Republican to serve as mayor of Cleveland as of 2026. Read more
15 Jul 1935: Donn Clendenon, American baseball player and lawyer (died 2005) Donn Alvin Clendenon was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1961 to 1972 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Clendenon won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award for the 1969 World Series, during which he hit three home runs to help lead the "Miracle Mets" to an upset victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Read more
15 Jul 1935: Alex Karras, American football player, wrestler, and actor (died 2012) Alexander George Karras was an American professional football player, professional wrestler, sportscaster, and actor. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection while playing defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1958 to 1970. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Centennial class. Read more
15 Jul 1935: Ken Kercheval, American actor and director (died 2019) Kenneth Marine Kercheval was an American actor, best known for his role as Cliff Barnes in the television series Dallas and its 2012 revival. Read more
15 Jul 1934: Harrison Birtwistle, English composer and academic (died 2022) Sir Harrison Birtwistle was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include The Triumph of Time (1972) and the operas The Mask of Orpheus (1986), Gawain (1991), and The Minotaur (2008). The last of these was ranked by music critics at The Guardian in 2019 as the third-best piece of the 21st century. Even his compositions that were not written for the stage often showed a theatrical approach. A performance of his saxophone concerto Panic during the BBC's Last Night of the Proms caused "national notoriety". He received many international awards and honorary degrees. Read more
15 Jul 1934: Eva Krížiková, Czech actress (died 2020) Eva Krížiková was a Slovak film and stage actress, often celebrated as one of the greatest entertainers ever in her country of origin and The First Lady of Slovak Humor, respectively. Apart from her cinematic achievements, her name was credited in over five hundred productions made for television. Read more
15 Jul 1934: Risto Jarva, Finnish director and producer (died 1977) Risto Antero Jarva was a Finnish filmmaker. Read more
15 Jul 1933: Julian Bream, English classical guitarist and lutenist (died 2020) Julian Alexander Bream was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. Regarded as one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public perception of the classical guitar as a respectable instrument. Over the course of a career that spanned more than half a century, Bream also helped revive interest in the lute. Read more
15 Jul 1933: Guido Crepax, Italian author and illustrator (died 2003) Guido Crepax, was an Italian comics artist. He is most famous for his character Valentina, created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of the 1960s. The Valentina series of books and strips became noted for Crepax's sophisticated drawing, and for the psychedelic, dreamlike storylines, generally involving a strong dose of eroticism. His work was often politically motivated too, inspired by his Communist convictions. A film based on his work called Baba Yaga, featuring the character Valentina, was made in 1973. Read more
15 Jul 1933: John Hopfield, American physicist and neuroscientist, 2024 Nobel laureate John Joseph Hopfield is an American physicist and emeritus professor of Princeton University, most widely known for his study of associative neural networks in 1982. He is known for the development of the Hopfield network. Before its invention, research in artificial intelligence (AI) was in a decay period or AI winter, Hopfield's work revitalized large-scale interest in this field. Read more
15 Jul 1933: M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Indian author and screenwriter (died 2024) Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Narayanan Nair was an Indian author, lecturer, screenplay writer, filmmaker and literary statesman. He was a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and was one of the masters of post-Independence Indian literature. Randamoozham, which retells the story of the Mahabharata from the point of view of Bhimasena, is widely credited as his masterpiece. Read more
15 Jul 1932: Ed Litzenberger, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2010) Edward Charles John "Eddie" Litzenberger was a Canadian ice hockey right winger from Neudorf, Saskatchewan. Litzenberger was "donated" to the Chicago Black Hawks by the Montreal Canadiens in his first year in the National Hockey League (NHL). At the time the Black Hawks were struggling to survive as a franchise, and the league governors decided to help the team remain viable. Read more
15 Jul 1931: Clive Cussler, American archaeologist and author (died 2020) Clive Eric Cussler was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have been listed on The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times. Cussler was the founder and chairman of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), which has discovered more than 60 shipwreck sites and numerous other notable underwater wrecks. He was the sole author or main author of more than 80 books. He often placed himself into his books as himself. Read more
15 Jul 1931: Joanna Merlin, American actress and casting director (died 2023) Joanna Merlin was an American actress and casting director who worked with Stephen Sondheim and starred in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof. She wrote two acting guides and was a faculty member of New York University's graduate acting program. From 2000 to 2011, she was known for her recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Judge Lena Petrovsky. Read more
15 Jul 1931: Jacques-Yvan Morin, Canadian lawyer and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec (died 2023) Jacques-Yvan Morin was a Canadian law professor and politician in Quebec. Morin graduated from the McGill University Faculty of Law with a BCL in 1953, where he was the founder of the McGill Law Journal. He taught international and constitutional law at Université de Montréal from 1958 until 1973. He was deputy director of the Canadian Yearbook of International Law from 1963 to 1973 and founded the Quebec Journal of International Law in 1984. Read more
15 Jul 1930: Jacques Derrida, Algerian-French philosopher and academic (died 2004) Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he applied in some of his texts, and which he developed through close readings of the linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology. He is one of the major figures associated with post-structuralism and postmodern philosophy although he distanced himself from post-structuralism and disavowed the word "postmodernity". Read more
15 Jul 1930: Richard Garneau, Canadian journalist and sportscaster (died 2013) Richard Garneau, was a Canadian sports journalist and writer in Quebec. Read more
15 Jul 1930: Stephen Smale, American mathematician and computer scientist Stephen Smale is an American mathematician, known for his research in topology, dynamical systems and mathematical economics. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 and spent more than three decades on the mathematics faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, where he currently is a professor emeritus, with research interests in algorithms, numerical analysis and global analysis. Read more
15 Jul 1930: Einosuke Akiya, Japanese Buddhist leader Einosuke Akiya is a Japanese Buddhist leader. He was the fifth president of Soka Gakkai from 18 July 1981 to 9 November 2006. After his resignation from that position, he became the chairman of the Supreme Leader Meeting of Soka Gakkai in November 2006. He also had responsibilities in many Soka Gakkai's satellites (supreme advisor of Sōka University, honorary director of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, and president of Soka Gakkai International. Read more
15 Jul 1929: Charles Anthony, American tenor and actor (died 2012) Charles Anthony Caruso, better known by his stage name of Charles Anthony, was an American actor and tenor noted for his portrayal of comprimario characters in opera. Anthony had the distinction of appearing in more performances at the Metropolitan Opera than any other performer. He celebrated his fiftieth anniversary with the company in 2004, and gave his farewell in the role of the aged Emperor Altoum in Turandot, at the Met, on January 28, 2010. Read more
15 Jul 1929: Francis Bebey, Cameroonian-French guitarist (died 2001) Francis Bebey was a Cameroonian musicologist, writer, composer, and broadcaster. Read more
15 Jul 1929: Ian Stewart, Scottish racing driver (died 2017) Ian Macpherson McCallum Stewart was a British racing driver from Scotland. Read more
15 Jul 1928: Pál Benkő, Hungarian-American chess player (died 2019) Pal Charles Benko was a Hungarian and American chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems. Read more
15 Jul 1928: Carl Woese, American microbiologist and biophysicist (died 2012) Carl Richard Woese was an American microbiologist and biophysicist. Woese defined the Archaea in 1977 through a pioneering phylogenetic taxonomy of 16S ribosomal RNA, a technique that has revolutionized microbiology. He also originated the RNA world hypothesis in 1967, although not by that name. Woese held the Stanley O. Ikenberry Chair and was professor of microbiology at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. Read more
15 Jul 1928: Viramachaneni Vimla Devi, Indian parliamentarian (died 1967) Dr. Veeramachaneni Vimala Devi was an Indian parliamentarian. She was elected to the 3rd Lok Sabha from Eluru constituency as a member of Communist Party of India in 1962. Read more
15 Jul 1927: Nan Martin, American actress (died 2010) Nan Martin was an American actress and comedian who starred in movies and on television. Read more
15 Jul 1927: Carmen Zapata, American actress (died 2014) Carmen Margarita Zapata often referred to as "The First Lady of the Hispanic Theater" was an American actress best known for her role in the PBS bilingual children's program Villa Alegre. Zapata was also the co-founder and director of the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts in Los Angeles. Zapata took an active part in the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Zapata was born in New York City to Julio Zapata, a Mexican immigrant, and Ramona Roca, an Argentine immigrant. Read more
15 Jul 1927: Håkon Brusveen, Norwegian cross-country skier (died 2021) Håkon Brusveen was a Norwegian cross-country skier. He competed in the individual 15 km and 4 × 10 km relay events at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won two medals in 1960: a gold in the 15 km and a silver in the relay; in 1956 he placed fifth and fourth, respectively. In 1958 he was awarded the Holmenkollen medal, and in 1960 the Morgenbladet Gold Medal. A freelance sports broadcaster for NRK for 35 years, he was a pioneering color commentator of cross-country skiing events. Read more
15 Jul 1926: Driss Chraïbi, Moroccan-French journalist and author (died 2007) Driss Chraïbi was a Moroccan author whose novels deal with colonialism, culture clashes, generational conflict and the treatment of women and are often perceived as semi-autobiographical. Read more
15 Jul 1926: Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentinian general and politician, 44th President of Argentina (died 2003) Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli was an Argentine military officer who held power as the de facto President of Argentina from December 1981 to June 1982. Galtieri ruled as a military dictator during the National Reorganization Process as leader of the Third Junta with Jorge Anaya and Basilio Lami Dozo. Read more
15 Jul 1926: Raymond Gosling, English physicist and academic (died 2015) Raymond George Gosling was a British scientist. While a PhD student at King's College, London he worked under the supervision of Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin. The crystallographic experiments of Franklin and Gosling, together with others by Wilkins, produced data that helped James Watson and Francis Crick to infer the structure of DNA. Read more
15 Jul 1926: Sir John Graham, 4th Baronet, English diplomat (died 2019) Sir John Alexander Noble Graham, 4th Baronet, was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Iraq, Iran and NATO. Read more
15 Jul 1925: Philip Carey, American actor (died 2009) Philip Carey was an American actor, well-known for playing the role of Asa Buchanan on the soap opera One Life to Live for nearly three decades. Read more
15 Jul 1925: Taylor Hardwick, American architect, designed Haydon Burns Library and Friendship Fountain Park (died 2014) Taylor Hardwick was an American architect, interior designer, filmmaker, and educator who designed hundreds of buildings throughout northeast Florida, predominantly in and near the city of Jacksonville. Read more
15 Jul 1925: D. A. Pennebaker, American documentary filmmaker (died 2019) Donn Alan Pennebaker was an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of direct cinema. Performing arts and politics were his primary subjects. In 2013, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award. The Independent called Pennebaker "arguably the pre-eminent chronicler of Sixties counterculture". Read more
15 Jul 1925: Evan Hultman, American politician (died 2025) Evan "Curly" Hultman was an American politician and attorney in the state of Iowa. He served as Attorney General of Iowa from 1961 to 1965, as a Republican. He was major general in the United States Army Reserve and served in the Army during World War II. He attended the University of Iowa, earning a B.A. in 1949, and J.D. in 1952. Hultman died on February 16, 2025, at the age of 99. Read more
15 Jul 1925: Antony Carbone, American actor (died 2020) Antony Carbone was an Italian-American movie and television actor. Read more
15 Jul 1925: Pandel Savic, American football player (died 2018) Pandel Savic was an American football player, starting at quarterback for two years with the Ohio State Buckeyes. He originated from the village of Dragoš, then in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Read more
15 Jul 1924: Jeremiah Denton, American admiral and politician (died 2014) Jeremiah Andrew Denton Jr. was an American politician and United States Navy two-star admiral who served as a U.S. senator representing Alabama from 1981 to 1987. He was the first Republican to be popularly elected to a Senate seat in Alabama. Read more
15 Jul 1924: Marianne Bernadotte, Swedish actress and philanthropist (died 2025) Gullan Marianne, Princess Bernadotte, Countess of Wisborg, also known as Princess Marianne Bernadotte, was a Swedish actress, fashion icon, and philanthropist who in 1961 married Sigvard Bernadotte, the second son of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and was officially included in the Swedish royal family. Read more
15 Jul 1923: Philly Joe Jones, American jazz drummer (Miles Davis Quintet) (died 1985) Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones was an American jazz drummer. He was noted for being able to adjust his style of playing to allow for any group or individual's needs. Read more
15 Jul 1922: Leon M. Lederman, American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2018) Leon Max Lederman was an American experimental physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1988, along with Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger, for research on neutrinos. He also received the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1982, along with Martin Lewis Perl, for research on quarks and leptons. Lederman was director emeritus of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois. He founded the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, in Aurora, Illinois in 1986, where he was resident scholar emeritus from 2012 until his death in 2018. Read more
15 Jul 1922: Jean-Pierre Richard, French writer (died 2019) Jean-Pierre Richard was a French literary critic. Read more
15 Jul 1921: Henri Colpi, Swiss-French director and screenwriter (died 2006) Henri Colpi was a French film editor and film director. Read more
15 Jul 1921: Robert Bruce Merrifield, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2006) Robert Bruce Merrifield was an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1984 for the invention of solid phase peptide synthesis. Read more
15 Jul 1919: Fritz Langanke, German lieutenant (died 2012) The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded for a wide range of reasons and across all ranks, from a senior commander for skilled leadership of his troops in battle to a low-ranking soldier for a single act of extreme gallantry. A total of 7,321 awards were made between its first presentation on 30 September 1939 and its last bestowal on 17 June 1945. This number is based on the analysis and acceptance of the order commission of the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR). Presentations were made to members of the three military branches of the Wehrmacht—the Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy) and Luftwaffe —as well as the Waffen-SS, the Reichsarbeitsdienst and the Volkssturm. There were also 43 recipients in the military forces of allies of the Third Reich. Read more
15 Jul 1919: Iris Murdoch, Anglo-Irish British novelist and philosopher (died 1999) Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her first published novel, Under the Net (1954), was selected in 1998 as one of Modern Library's 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Her 1978 novel The Sea, The Sea won the Booker Prize. In 1987, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". Read more
15 Jul 1918: Bertram Brockhouse, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2003) Bertram Neville Brockhouse, was a Canadian physicist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for pioneering contributions to the development of neutron scattering techniques for studies of condensed matter", in particular "for the development of neutron spectroscopy". Read more
15 Jul 1918: Brenda Milner, English-Canadian neuropsychologist and academic Brenda Milner is a British-Canadian neuropsychologist who has contributed extensively to the research literature on various topics in the field of clinical neuropsychology. Milner is a professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University and a professor of Psychology at the Montreal Neurological Institute. As of 2020, she holds more than 25 honorary degrees and she continued to work in her nineties. Her work covers many aspects of neuropsychology including her lifelong interest in the involvement of the temporal lobes in episodic memory. She is sometimes referred to as one of the founders of neuropsychology and has been essential in its development. She received the Balzan Prize for Cognitive Neuroscience in 2009, and the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience, together with John O'Keefe, and Marcus E. Raichle, in 2014. She turned 100 in July 2018. Read more
15 Jul 1917: Robert Conquest, English-American historian, poet, and academic (died 2015) George Robert Acworth Conquest was a British and American historian, poet, and novelist. He was one of the West’s leading Sovietologists during the Cold War and was influential to both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Conquest was also affiliated with the anticommunist Information Research Department, within the British Foreign Affairs Office. Read more
15 Jul 1917: Joan Roberts, American actress and singer (died 2012) Joan Roberts was an American actress, most famous for creating the role of Laurey in the original Broadway production of Oklahoma! in 1943. Read more
15 Jul 1917: Nur Muhammad Taraki, Afghan journalist and politician (died 1979) Nur Muhammad Taraki was an Afghan communist politician, revolutionary, journalist and writer. He was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who served as its General Secretary from 1965 to 1979 and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 1978 to 1979. Read more
15 Jul 1916: Sumner Gerard, American politician and diplomat (died 2005) Sumner Gerard Jr. MBE was an American businessman, politician, and diplomat. Born in New York to a prominent family, Gerard attended Groton School and Trinity College, Cambridge. After serving in the army, navy, and Marine Corps during World War II, he moved to Montana and became involved in business, including mining and ranching, and politics. Read more
15 Jul 1915: Albert Ghiorso, American chemist and academic (died 2010) Albert Ghiorso was an American nuclear scientist and co-discoverer of a record 12 chemical elements on the periodic table. His research career spanned six decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1990s. Read more
15 Jul 1915: Kashmir Singh Katoch, Indian army officer (died 2007) Lieutenant General Kashmir Singh Katoch, MC was an Indian Army General and military adviser to the Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, officiating as the Chief of Staff of the State Forces during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. He later served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. Read more
15 Jul 1914: Birabongse Bhanudej, Thai racing driver and sailor, member of the Thai royal family (died 1985) Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh, commonly known as Prince Bira of Siam or simply Prince Bira, was a member of the Thai royal family. Bira was also a racing driver, sailor and pilot, who competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1954 and at four editions of the Summer Olympics between 1956 and 1972. Read more
15 Jul 1914: Akhtar Hameed Khan, Pakistani economist, scholar, and activist (died 1999) Akhter Hameed Khan was a Pakistani-Bangladeshi development practitioner and social scientist. He promoted participatory rural development in West Pakistan, East Pakistan and other developing countries, and widely advocated community participation in development. His particular contribution was the establishment of a comprehensive project for rural development, the Comilla Model (1959). It earned him the Ramon Magsaysay Award from the Philippines and an honorary Doctorate of law from Michigan State University. Read more
15 Jul 1914: Howard Vernon, Swiss-French actor (died 1996) Mario Walter Lippert, better known by his stage name Howard Vernon, was a German-born Swiss actor and photographer. He had an extensive career in French cinema which spanned nearly 200 productions over 55 years, between 1945 and 2000. He was best known for his close association with cult filmmaker Jesús Franco, appearing in 40 of the director’s films, beginning with the titular character in The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962). Read more
15 Jul 1913: Cowboy Copas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1963) Lloyd Estel Copas, known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer. He was popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Copas was a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Read more
15 Jul 1913: Hammond Innes, English journalist and author (died 1998) Ralph Hammond Innes was a British novelist who wrote over 30 novels, as well as works for children and travel books. Read more
15 Jul 1913: Abraham Sutzkever, Russian poet and author (died 2010) Abraham Sutzkever was an acclaimed Yiddish poet. The New York Times wrote that Sutzkever was "the greatest poet of the Holocaust." Read more
15 Jul 1911: Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton, English geographer and politician, Secretary of State for Air (died 1994) Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton, Baron Shackleton was a British geographer, Royal Air Force officer and Labour Party politician. Read more
15 Jul 1909: Jean Hamburger, French physician and surgeon (died 1992) Jean Hamburger was a French physician, surgeon and essayist. He is particularly known for his contribution to nephrology, and for having performed the first renal transplantation in France in 1952. Read more
15 Jul 1906: R. S. Mugali, Indian poet and academic (died 1993) Ram Shri Mugali was a Kannada language writer. He was awarded the central Sahitya Akademi in 1956 for his work "Kannada Sahitya Charitre". He was the president of the 44th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held in Siddganga, in the Tumkur district of Karnataka state, India. Read more
15 Jul 1906: Rudolf Uhlenhaut, English-German engineer (died 1989) Rudolf Uhlenhaut was a British-German engineer, driving engineer for Mercedes-Benz, and the father of Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and 300 SLR. He had a long association with the Mercedes-Benz racing programme of the 1930s and 1950s, and is best known for his road legal Uhlenhaut Coupé version of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SLR race car. Read more
15 Jul 1905: Dorothy Fields, American songwriter (died 1974) Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote more than 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (1930), "Don't Blame Me" (1948), "Pick Yourself Up" (1936), "I'm in the Mood for Love" (1935), "You Couldn't Be Cuter" (1938) and "Big Spender" (1966). Throughout her career, she collaborated with various influential figures in the American musical theater, including Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin, Arthur Schwartz, and Jimmy McHugh. Along with Ann Ronell, Dana Suesse, Bernice Petkere, and Kay Swift, she was one of the first successful Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood female songwriters. Read more
15 Jul 1905: Anita Farra, Italian actress (died 2008) Anita Farra was an Italian stage and film actress. She appeared in around forty films during her career, generally in small or supporting roles, such as that in The Siege of the Alcazar (1940). Farra was also a noted voice actor, dubbing foreign films for release in Italy. She made a number of films in Spain. Read more
15 Jul 1904: Rudolf Arnheim, German-American psychologist and author (died 2007) Rudolf Arnheim was a German-born writer, art and film theorist, and perceptual psychologist. He learned Gestalt psychology from studying under Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler at the University of Berlin and applied it to art. Read more
15 Jul 1903: Walter D. Edmonds, American journalist and author (died 1998) Walter "Wat" Dumaux Edmonds was an American writer best known for historical novels. One of them, Drums Along the Mohawk (1936), was adapted as a Technicolor feature film in 1939, directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert. Read more
15 Jul 1903: K. Kamaraj, Indian journalist and politician (died 1975) Kumaraswami Kamaraj, popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist, politician, social reformer and statesman who served as the Chief Minister of Madras from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963. He also served as the president of the Indian National Congress between 1964–1967 and was responsible for the elevation of Lal Bahadur Shastri and later Indira Gandhi to the position of Prime Minister of India, because of which he was widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. Later, he was the founder and president of the Indian National Congress (O). Read more
15 Jul 1902: Jean Rey, Belgian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the European Commission (died 1983) Jean Rey was a Belgian Liberal politician who served as the second president of the European Commission from 1967 to 1970. He served as European Commissioner for External Relations from 1958 to 1967. The 1983–1984 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour. Read more
15 Jul 1899: Seán Lemass, Irish soldier and politician, 4th Taoiseach of Ireland (died 1971) Seán Francis Lemass was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 and 1945 to 1948, Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954, 1945 to 1949 and 1932 to 1939 and Minister for Supplies from 1939 to 1945. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1924 to 1969. Read more
15 Jul 1894: Tadeusz Sendzimir, Polish-American engineer (died 1989) Tadeusz Sendzimir was a Polish engineer and inventor of international renown. He held 120 patents in mining and metallurgy, 73 of which were awarded to him in the United States. Read more
15 Jul 1893: Enid Bennett, Australian-American actress (died 1969) Enid Eulalie Bennett was an Australian silent film actress, mostly active in American film. Read more
15 Jul 1893: Dick Rauch, American football player and coach (died 1970) Richard Harvie Rauch was an American football player and coach. Rauch attended Pennsylvania State University. He was a player-coach for the Boston Bulldogs, New York Yankees and the Maroons over the course of his five-year career. Rauch made his professional debut in the National Football League (NFL) in 1925 with the Pottsville Maroons. He was also the first NFL coach to institute daily practices. Read more
15 Jul 1892: Walter Benjamin, German philosopher and critic (died 1940) Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western Marxism, and post-Kantianism, he made contributions to the philosophy of history, metaphysics, historical materialism, criticism, and aesthetics, and had an oblique but overwhelmingly influential impact on the resurrection of the Kabbalah by virtue of his life-long epistolary relationship with Gershom Scholem. Read more
15 Jul 1887: Wharton Esherick, American sculptor (died 1970) Wharton Esherick was an American artist and designer. An artistic polymath, he worked in a wide variety of art media including painting, printmaking, and sculpture. His design works range from architectural interiors to handheld, tactile objects like light pulls and chess pieces. Esherick is best known for his wood furniture, which synthesizes modernist sculptural form with functional craft. His influence was keenly felt within the genre of Postwar studio craft, where he has been called the “father of studio furniture” and the “dean of American craftsmen.” The sculptor and furniture designer Wendell Castle cited Esherick as a formative influence. Castle credited Esherick with demonstrating that "furniture could be a form of sculpture," the "inherent tree characteristics in the utilization of wood," and the "importance of the entire sculptural environment." Read more
15 Jul 1883: Denny Barry, Irish Republican, died during the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes (died 1923) Denis Barry was an Irish Republican who died during the 1923 Irish hunger strikes, shortly after the Irish Civil War. Read more
15 Jul 1880: Enrique Mosca, Argentinian lawyer and politician (died 1950) Enrique Mosca was an Argentine lawyer and politician prominent in the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR). Read more
15 Jul 1871: Doppo Kunikida, Japanese journalist, author, and poet (died 1908) Doppo Kunikida was a Japanese author of novels and romantic poetry during the Meiji period, noted as one of the inventors of Japanese naturalism. Read more
15 Jul 1867: Jean-Baptiste Charcot, French physician and explorer (died 1936) Jean-Baptiste Étienne Auguste Charcot, better known in France as Commandant Charcot, was a French scientist, medical doctor and polar scientist. His father was the neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893).
As a sportsman, he was French rugby XV champion in 1896 and also won a double silver medal in sailing at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Read more
15 Jul 1865: Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, Anglo-Irish businessman and publisher, founded the Amalgamated Press (died 1922) Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, he was an early developer of popular journalism, and he exercised vast influence over British popular opinion during the Edwardian era. Lord Beaverbrook said he was "the greatest figure who ever strode down Fleet Street." About the beginning of the 20th century there were increasing attempts to develop popular journalism intended for the working class and tending to emphasize sensational topics. Harmsworth was the main innovator. Read more
15 Jul 1865: Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian-German mathematician and theorist (died 1945) Wilhelm Wirtinger was an Austrian mathematician, working in complex analysis, geometry, algebra, number theory, Lie groups, and knot theory. Read more
15 Jul 1864: Marie Tempest, English actress and singer (died 1942) Dame Mary Susan Etherington, known professionally as Marie Tempest, was an English singer and actress. Read more
15 Jul 1858: Emmeline Pankhurst, English political activist and suffragist (died 1928) Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win the right to vote in Great Britain and Ireland in 1918, partially due to her role in the White Feather Campaign. In 1999, Time named her as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating that "she shaped an idea of objects for our time" and "shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back". She was widely criticised for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognised as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. Read more
15 Jul 1852: Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor (died 1920) Josef Ichhäuser (1852–1920), known by the stage name Josef Josephi (also spelled Joseffy), was an Austrian Empire-born singer (tenor-baritone) and actor. Read more
15 Jul 1850: Frances Xavier Cabrini, Italian-American nun and saint (died 1917) Frances Xavier Cabrini, also known as Mother Cabrini, was a prominent Italian-American religious sister in the Catholic Church. She was the first American to be recognized by the Catholic Church as a Saint. Read more
15 Jul 1848: Vilfredo Pareto, Italian economist and sociologist (died 1923) Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto was an Italian polymath, whose areas of interest included sociology, civil engineering, economics, political science, and philosophy. He made several important contributions to economics, particularly in the study of income distribution and in the analysis of individuals' choices, and was one of the minds behind the Lausanne School of economics. He was also responsible for popularising the use of the term elite in social analysis and contributed to elite theory. He has been described as "one of the last Renaissance scholars. Trained in physics and mathematics, he became a polymath whose genius radiated into nearly all other major fields of knowledge." Read more
15 Jul 1827: W. W. Thayer American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Oregon (died 1899) William Wallace Thayer, was an American Democratic politician active in U.S. states of Idaho and Oregon. Most notably, he served as the sixth governor of Oregon from 1878 to 1882 and Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1888 to 1889. Read more
15 Jul 1817: Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet, English engineer, designed the Forth Bridge (died 1898) Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet, KCMG, LLD, FRSE was an English civil engineer specialising in the construction of railways and railway infrastructure. In the 1850s and 1860s, he was engineer for the world's first underground railway, London's Metropolitan Railway, built by the "cut-and-cover" method under city streets. In the 1880s, he was chief engineer for the Forth Bridge, which opened in 1890. Fowler's was a long and eminent career, spanning most of the 19th century's railway expansion, and he was engineer, adviser or consultant to many British and foreign railway companies and governments. He was the youngest president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, between 1865 and 1867, and his major works represent a lasting legacy of Victorian engineering. Read more
15 Jul 1812: James Hope-Scott, English lawyer and academic (died 1873) James Robert Hope-Scott was a British barrister and Tractarian. Read more
15 Jul 1808: Henry Edward Manning, English cardinal (died 1892) Henry Edward Manning was an English prelate of the Catholic Church, and the second Archbishop of Westminster from 1865 until his death in 1892. He was ordained in the Church of England as a young man, but converted to Catholicism in the aftermath of the Gorham judgement. Read more
15 Jul 1800: Sidney Breese, American jurist and politician (died 1878) Sidney Breese, a lawyer, soldier, author and jurist born in New York, became an early Illinois pioneer and represented the state in the United States Senate as well as served as Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, and has been called "father of the Illinois Central Railroad". Read more

Notable Deaths on 15 July

15 Jul 2021: Peter R. de Vries, Dutch investigative journalist and crime reporter (born 1956) Peter Rudolf de Vries was a Dutch investigative journalist and crime reporter. His television program Peter R. de Vries, misdaadverslaggever covered high-profile cases and set a Dutch television viewing record. For decades he was famous in the Netherlands for his works in unsolved crimes. He also became internationally renowned for his programme covering the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. In 2005, he founded his own political party which was disbanded soon after. Read more
15 Jul 2017: Martin Landau, American film and television actor (born 1928) Martin James Landau was an American actor. His career began in the late 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959). His career breakthrough came with leading roles in the television series Mission: Impossible (1966–1969) and Space: 1999 (1975–1977). Read more
15 Jul 2015: Masahiko Aoki, Japanese-American economist and academic (born 1938) Masahiko Aoki was a Japanese economist, Tomoye and Henri Takahashi Professor Emeritus of Japanese Studies in the Economics Department, and Senior Fellow of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Aoki was known for his work in comparative institutional analysis, corporate governance, the theory of the firm, and comparative East Asian development. Read more
15 Jul 2015: Wan Li, Chinese politician, 4th Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (born 1916) Wan Li was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician who served as First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1983 to 1988 and the 5th Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1988 to 1993. Read more
15 Jul 2015: Aubrey Morris, British actor (born 1926) Aubrey Morris was a British actor known for his appearances in the films A Clockwork Orange and The Wicker Man. Read more
15 Jul 2015: Dave Somerville, Canadian singer (born 1933) David Troy Somerville was a Canadian singer best known as the co-founder, and original lead singer, of The Diamonds, one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1950s. Read more
15 Jul 2014: Óscar Acosta, Honduran author, poet, and diplomat (born 1933) Óscar Acosta Zeledón was a Honduran writer, poet, critic, politician and diplomat. Read more
15 Jul 2014: James MacGregor Burns, American historian, political scientist, and author (born 1918) James MacGregor Burns was an American historian and political scientist, presidential biographer, and authority on leadership studies. He was the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government Emeritus at Williams College and Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 1971 Burns received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in History and Biography for his work on America's 32nd president, Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom. Read more
15 Jul 2014: Edward Perl, American neuroscientist and academic (born 1926) Edward Roy Perl was an American neuroscientist whose research focused on neural mechanisms of and circuitry involved in somatic sensation, principally nociception. Work in his laboratory in the late 1960s established the existence of unique nociceptors. Perl was one of the founding members of the Society for Neuroscience and served as its first president. He was a Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology and a member of the UNC Neuroscience Center at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Read more
15 Jul 2014: Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (born 1924) Robert Aloysius Roe was an American Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from November 4, 1969 to January 3, 1993. Read more
15 Jul 2013: Ninos Aho, Syrian-American poet and activist (born 1945) Ninos Aho, was an Assyrian poet and activist. He is recognized one of the pioneers of the modern Assyrian nationalistic movement. Read more
15 Jul 2013: Henry Braden, American lawyer and politician (born 1944) Henry English "Hank" Braden IV was a lawyer and politician. Read more
15 Jul 2013: Tom Greenwell, American lawyer and judge (born 1956) Thomas Frederick Greenwell was a judge of the Texas 319th District Court based in Corpus Christi in Nueces County, Texas. The first Republican to serve on the 319th court, Greenwell was first elected in 2002 and reelected in 2006 and 2010. Read more
15 Jul 2013: Earl Gros, American football player (born 1940) Earl Roy Gros was an American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. Born and raised in Louisiana, he played college football at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge. Read more
15 Jul 2013: Noël Lee, Chinese-American pianist and composer (born 1924) Noël Lee was an American classical pianist and composer. Read more
15 Jul 2013: Meskerem Legesse, Ethiopian runner (born 1986) Meskerem Legesse was an Ethiopian distance runner. She participated in the 1,500 meters at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Legesse turned professional and participated in a number of U.S. events at various distances. Read more
15 Jul 2013: John T. Riedl, American computer scientist and academic (born 1962) John Thomas Riedl was an American computer scientist and the McKnight Distinguished Professor at the University of Minnesota. His published works include highly influential research on the social web, recommendation systems, and collaborative systems. Read more
15 Jul 2012: Boris Cebotari, Moldovan footballer (born 1975) Boris Cebotari was a Moldovan footballer. Read more
15 Jul 2012: Tsilla Chelton, Israeli-French actress (born 1919) Tsilla Chelton was a French actress of theatre and film, famous for playing the main role in 1990 film Tatie Danielle, in which she was nominated for a César Awards and as an elderly Dominican in Sister Smile. Read more
15 Jul 2012: Grant Feasel, American football player (born 1960) Grant Earl Feasel was an American professional football center in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, and Seattle Seahawks. Read more
15 Jul 2012: David Fraser, English general (born 1920) General Sir David William Fraser, was a senior British Army officer who served as Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies from 1978 until his retirement from military service in 1980. He was also a prolific author, publishing over 20 books mostly focused on the history of the Second World War. Read more
15 Jul 2012: Celeste Holm, American actress and singer (born 1917) Celeste Holm was an American actress. Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's Gentleman's Agreement (1947), and was nominated for her roles in Come to the Stable (1949) and All About Eve (1950). She also is known for her performances in The Snake Pit (1948), A Letter to Three Wives (1949), The Tender Trap (1955), and High Society (1956) as well as for originating the role of Ado Annie in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! (1943). Read more
15 Jul 2012: Yoichi Takabayashi, Japanese director and screenwriter (born 1931) Yoichi Takabayashi was a Japanese film director. Read more
15 Jul 2011: Friedrich Wilhelm Schnitzler, German landowner and politician (born 1928) Friedrich "Fritz" Wilhelm Schnitzler was a German landowner and business manager, and also a local politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the founder of the agricultural association of the District of Reutlingen and co-founder of the landholders' association of Baden-Württemberg, and lobbyist in the state parliament. Read more
15 Jul 2011: Googie Withers, British-Australian actress (born 1917) Georgette Lizette "Googie" Withers was an English dancer and actress, with a lengthy career spanning some 73 years in theatre, film, and television. She was a well-known actress and star of British films during and after the Second World War. Read more
15 Jul 2010: James E. Akins, American politician and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (born 1926) James Elmer Akins was the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from September, 1973 to February, 1976, just in time to serve during the 1973 Oil Crisis of October, 1973 to March, 1974. Akins was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the advisory council of the Iran Policy Committee (IPC). Akins has been involved with the pro-Palestine organization If Americans Knew. Read more
15 Jul 2008: György Kolonics, Hungarian canoe racer (born 1972) György "Kolo" Kolonics was a Hungarian sprint canoeist who won two gold and two bronze medals at four Summer Olympics. He also won a record fifteen gold medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. He died from cardiac arrest while preparing for his fifth Olympics. Read more
15 Jul 2006: Robert H. Brooks, American businessman, founder of Hooters and Naturally Fresh, Inc. (born 1937) Robert Howell Brooks was founder of Naturally Fresh, Inc. in 1966 in Atlanta, Georgia. He helped create the Hooters of America, Inc. restaurant chain that would eventually drive that company's rapid expansion in the mid–late 1990s. Read more
15 Jul 2006: Alireza Shapour Shahbazi, Iranian archaeologist and academic (born 1942) Alireza Shapour Shahbazi was a prominent Persian archaeologist, Iranologist and a world expert on Achaemenid archaeology. Shahbazi got a BA degree in and an MA degree in East Asian archaeology from SOAS. Shahbazi had a doctorate degree in Achaemenid archaeology from University of London. Alireza Shapour Shahbazi was a lecturer in Achaemenid archaeology and Iranology at Harvard University. He was also a full professor of archaeology at Shiraz University and founded at Persepolis the Institute of Achaemenid Research in 1974. After the Islamic revolution, he moved to the US, firstly teaching at Columbia University and then later becoming a full professor of history in Eastern Oregon University. Read more
15 Jul 2003: Roberto Bolaño, Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet, and essayist (born 1953) Roberto Bolaño Ávalos was a Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist. In 1999, Bolaño won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel The Savage Detectives, and in 2008 he was posthumously awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for his novel 2666, which was described by board member Marcela Valdes as a "work so rich and dazzling that it will surely draw readers and scholars for ages". Read more
15 Jul 2003: Elisabeth Welch, American actress and singer (born 1904) Elisabeth Margaret Welch was an American singer, actress, and entertainer, whose career spanned seven decades. Her best-known songs were "Stormy Weather", "Love for Sale" and "Far Away in Shanty Town". She was American-born, but was based in Britain for most of her career. Read more
15 Jul 2001: C. Balasingham, Sri Lankan lawyer and civil servant (born 1917) Coomarasamy Balasingham was a leading Ceylon Tamil civil servant. Read more
15 Jul 2000: Louis Quilico, Canadian opera singer and educator (born 1925) Louis Quilico, was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often referred to as "Mr Rigoletto" in reference to the Verdi opera. During his 45-year-long career he shared performing credits with opera's greatest stars. He spent 25 consecutive years at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. After his retirement from the stage in 1998 he continued to perform and record, most often with his second wife, pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico,, with whom he made four CDs. The couple also toured together extensively in concerts until Quilico's death in 2000. Quilico received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in November 1999 for his lifetime contribution to classical music. Read more
15 Jul 1998: S. Shanmuganathan, Sri Lankan politician (born 1960) Sarawanabavanandan Shanmuganathan was a Sri Lankan Tamil militant, politician and Member of Parliament. Read more
15 Jul 1997: Justinas Lagunavičius, Lithuanian basketball player (born 1924) Justinas Lagunavičius was a Lithuanian basketball player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He trained at VSS Žalgiris in Kaunas. Read more
15 Jul 1997: Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer, founded Versace (born 1946) Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace was an Italian fashion designer and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up, home furnishings and clothes. He also designed costumes for theatre and films. As a friend of Eric Clapton, Princess Diana, Whitney Houston, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Madonna, Elton John, Tupac Shakur, Joan Collins and many other celebrities, he was one of the first designers to link fashion to the music world. He and his partner Antonio D'Amico were regulars on the international party scene. The place where he was born and raised, Reggio di Calabria, greatly influenced his career. Read more
15 Jul 1992: Hammer DeRoburt, Nauruan educator and politician, 1st President of Nauru (born 1922) Hammer DeRoburt was a Nauruan politician and independence leader. He led negotiations for independence from Australia and the end of the country's status as a United Nations trust territory. He was subsequently elected as the inaugural president of Nauru, serving four terms in office. Prior to independence he was head chief of Nauru and chair of the Nauru Local Government Council. Read more
15 Jul 1992: Chingiz Mustafayev, Azerbaijani journalist and author (born 1960) Chingiz Fuad oghlu Mustafayev was an independent Azerbaijani journalist, posthumously bestowed the title of National Hero of Azerbaijan. Mustafayev, with the medical degree and no formal background in journalism save for a year of on the job training, created a video record of the early stages of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, most of the documentary had to be shot from the frontline which ultimately was the cause of his abrupt death due to mortar wounds. Read more
15 Jul 1991: Bert Convy, American actor, singer, and game show host (born 1933) Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy was an American actor, singer, game-show panelist, and host known for Tattletales, Super Password and Win, Lose or Draw. Read more
15 Jul 1990: Zaim Topčić, Yugoslav and Bosnian writer (born 1920) Zaim Topčić was a Bosnian writer of novels. He twice won the Annual Award of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the novels Lump of Sun and Black Snows. Read more
15 Jul 1990: Margaret Lockwood, English actress (born 1916) Margaret Mary Day Lockwood was a British actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included The Lady Vanishes (1938), Night Train to Munich (1940), The Man in Grey (1943), and The Wicked Lady (1945). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress for the 1955 film Cast a Dark Shadow. She also starred in the television series Justice (1971–74). Ronald Bergan of The Guardian called her "one of the most beautiful, energetic, and spirited actresses in the history of British cinema." Read more
15 Jul 1990: Omar Abu Risha, Syrian poet and diplomat, 4th Syrian Ambassador to the United States (born 1910) Omar Abu Risha was a Syrian poet and diplomat. He served as the Syrian ambassador to the United States from 1961 to 1964 and was a renowned poet who lyricized Fī Sabīli al-Majd , Syria's de facto national anthem. Read more
15 Jul 1989: Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (born 1956) Laurence Paul Cunningham was an English professional footballer who played as a winger. He notably played in England, France, and Spain, where he became the first-ever English player to sign for Real Madrid. Read more
15 Jul 1988: Eleanor Estes, American librarian, author, and illustrator (born 1906) Eleanor Estes was an American children's writer and a children's librarian. Her book Ginger Pye, for which she also created illustrations, won the Newbery Medal. Three of her books were Newbery Honor Winners, and one was awarded the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Estes' books were based on her life in small-town Connecticut in the early 1900s. Read more
15 Jul 1986: Billy Haughton, American harness racer and trainer (born 1923) William Robert (Billy) Haughton was an American harness driver and trainer. He was one of only three drivers to win the Hambletonian four times, the only one to win the Little Brown Jug five times, and the only one to win the Messenger Stakes seven times. With a career record of 4,910 wins and about $40 million in earnings, he was first in annual winnings 12 times – 1952–59, 1963, 1965, 1967, and 1968 – and in heats won from 1953 to 1958. Read more
15 Jul 1982: Bill Justis, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer (born 1926) William Everett Justis Jr. was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, "Raunchy". As a songwriter, he was also often credited as Bill Everette. Read more
15 Jul 1981: Frédéric Dorion, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1898) Frédéric Dorion was a Quebec politician and chief justice. He led a group of Independent MPs in the House of Commons of Canada who were opposed to the implementation of conscription during World War II. Read more
15 Jul 1979: Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican academic and politician, 29th President of Mexico (born 1911) Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños was a Mexican politician and member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970. Previously, he served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Puebla's 1st district, a senator of the Congress of the Union for Puebla, and Secretary of the Interior. Read more
15 Jul 1977: Donald Mackay, Australian businessman and activist (born 1933) Donald Bruce Mackay was an Australian businessman and anti-drug campaigner. He disappeared in 1977, but his body has never been found. In 1986, James Bazley was convicted for his murder. Read more
15 Jul 1976: Paul Gallico, American journalist and author (born 1897) Paul William Gallico was an American novelist and short story and sports writer. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures. He is perhaps best remembered for The Snow Goose, his most critically successful book, for the novel The Poseidon Adventure, primarily through the 1972 film adaptation, and for four novels about the beloved character of Mrs. Harris. Read more
15 Jul 1974: Christine Chubbuck, American journalist (born 1944) Christine Chubbuck was an American television news reporter who worked for stations WTOG and WXLT-TV in Sarasota, Florida. She is best known for being the first person to die by suicide on a live television broadcast. Read more
15 Jul 1969: Grace Hutchins, American labor reformer and researcher (born 1885) Grace Hutchins was an American labor reformer and researcher, journalist, political activist and communist. She spent many years of her life writing about labor and economics, in addition to being a lifelong dedicated member of the Communist Party, along with Anna Rochester, a Marxist economist and historian and her companion of 45 years. Together they were known for promoting radical Christian pacifism in the United States, although Hutchins was also regularly involved in strikes, demonstrations and labor disputes. Read more
15 Jul 1966: Seyfi Arkan, Turkish architect (born 1903) Abdurrahman Seyfettin Arkan, Seyfi Nasih was a Turkish architect, the personal architect of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He was born in 1903 in Istanbul. He attended Kadikoy French School and Galatasaray High School. He was first in his class under Vedat Tek in 1928, and later worked with Hans Poelzig in Germany. In 1933, he designed the Glass Villa of Çankaya Köşkü, the President of Turkey's official residence, as well as Florya Atatürk Marine Mansion, a Bauhaus-style former residence of Atatürk and now a museum, in 1935. Read more
15 Jul 1965: Francis Cherry, American lawyer and politician, 35th Governor of Arkansas (born 1908) Francis Adams Cherry was an American judge and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as probate judge of the Twelfth Chancery District Court of Arkansas in 1942 and again from 1944 to 1952 and as governor of Arkansas from 1953 to 1955. Read more
15 Jul 1961: John Edward Brownlee, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Alberta (born 1884) John Edward Brownlee was the fifth premier of Alberta, serving from 1925 until 1934. Born in Port Ryerse, Ontario, he studied history and political science at the University of Toronto's Victoria College before moving west to Calgary to become a lawyer. His clients included the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA); through his connection with that lobby group, he was involved in founding the United Grain Growers (UGG). Read more
15 Jul 1961: Nina Bari, Russian mathematician (born 1901) Nina Karlovna Bari was a Soviet mathematician known for her work on trigonometric series. She is also well-known for two textbooks, Higher Algebra and The Theory of Series. Read more
15 Jul 1960: Set Persson, Swedish politician (born 1897) Set Persson was a Swedish communist leader. Read more
15 Jul 1960: Lawrence Tibbett, American singer and actor (born 1896) Lawrence Mervil Tibbett was an American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone with large, deep, and dark-timbred voice. His dynamic range ranged from forceful fortes to delicate pianissimos, he sang leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City more than 600 times from 1923 to 1950. He performed diverse musical theatre roles, including Captain Hook in Peter Pan in a touring show. Read more
15 Jul 1959: Ernest Bloch, Swiss-American composer and academic (born 1880) Ernest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the most significant Swiss composers in history. Several of his most notable compositions reflect his Jewish heritage. As well as producing musical scores, Bloch had an academic career that culminated in his recognition as Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley in 1952. Read more
15 Jul 1959: Vance Palmer, Australian author and critic (born 1885) Edward Vivian "Vance" Palmer was an Australian novelist, dramatist, essayist and critic. Read more
15 Jul 1957: James M. Cox, American publisher and politician, 46th Governor of Ohio (born 1870) James Middleton Cox was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th and 48th governor of Ohio, and a two-term U.S. representative from Ohio. As the Democratic nominee for President of the United States at the 1920 presidential election, he lost in a landslide to fellow Ohioan Warren G. Harding. Cox's running mate was future president Franklin D. Roosevelt. He founded the chain of newspapers that continues today as Cox Enterprises, a media conglomerate. Read more
15 Jul 1957: Vasily Maklakov, a Russian lawyer and politician (born 1869) Vasily Alekseyevich Maklakov was a Russian student activist, a trial lawyer and liberal parliamentary deputy, an orator, and one of the leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party, notable for his advocacy of a constitutional Russian state. He served as deputy in the (radical) Second, and conservative Third and Fourth State Duma. According to Stephen F. Williams Maklakov is "an inviting lens to which to view at the last years of Tsarism". Read more
15 Jul 1953: Geevarghese Mar Ivanios, Indian archbishop, founded the Order of the Imitation of Christ (born 1882) Panikkervettil Thomas Panicker Geevarghese, known formally as Geevarghese Mar Ivanios, was the first metropolitan archbishop and founder of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He was a key figure in the Malankara Reunion Movement, which sought to reunite the Malankara Church with the Catholic Church, culminating in his joining the Catholic Church in 1930 along with a group of followers. Read more
15 Jul 1948: John J. Pershing, American general (born 1860) John Joseph Pershing, nicknamed "Black Jack", was an American army general, educator, and founder of the Pershing Rifles. He served as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I from 1917 to 1920. In addition to leading the AEF to victory in World War I, Pershing served as a mentor to many in the generation of generals who led the United States Army during World War II, including George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Lesley J. McNair, George S. Patton, and Douglas MacArthur. Read more
15 Jul 1947: Walter Donaldson, American soldier and songwriter (born 1893) Walter Donaldson was a prolific American popular songwriter and publishing company founder, composing many hit songs of the 1910s to 1940s, that have become standards and form part of the Great American Songbook. Read more
15 Jul 1946: Razor Smith, English cricketer and coach (born 1877) William Charles "Razor" Smith was a Surrey slow bowler. Nicknamed "Razor" because of his extreme thinness, Smith was a frail man and prone to serious injury; he could rarely get through a full season's cricket, but when fit and healthy, could command the sharpest off-break among bowlers of his day. He was also able to bowl a somewhat faster ball with a very high flight that turned a little from leg and, with any help from the pitch, would get up almost straight. Read more
15 Jul 1944: Marie-Victorin Kirouac, Canadian botanist and academic (born 1885) Brother Marie-Victorin, F.S.C., was a Canadian member of Brothers of the Christian Schools and a noted botanist in Quebec, Canada. Read more
15 Jul 1942: Wenceslao Vinzons, Filipino lawyer and politician (born 1910) Wenceslao "Bintao" Quinito Vinzons Sr. was a Filipino patriot and leader of the Philippine armed resistance against the Japanese invasion in World War II. He was the youngest delegate to the 1935 Philippine Constitutional Convention. For leading demonstrations as a student leader, he was dubbed the "Father of Student Activism in the Philippines" when he, along with Narciso J. Alegre and future Senator and Vice President Arturo Tolentino, founded the Young Philippines Party. Read more
15 Jul 1940: Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and physician (born 1857) Paul Eugen Bleuler was a Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist most notable for his influence on modern concepts of mental illness. He coined several psychiatric terms including schizophrenia, schizoid, autism, depth psychology and what Sigmund Freud called "Bleuler's happily chosen term 'ambivalence'". Bleuler remains a controversial figure in psychiatric history for his racist and ableist beliefs, as well as his implementation of eugenic practises in psychiatry based on these beliefs, most notably at the Burghölzli clinic in Zurich. Read more
15 Jul 1940: Robert Wadlow, American giant, 8"11' 271 cm (born 1918) Robert Pershing Wadlow, also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man known for being the tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. Wadlow was born and raised in Alton, Illinois, a small city near St. Louis, Missouri. Read more
15 Jul 1933: Irving Babbitt, American scholar, critic, and academic (born 1865) Irving Babbitt was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion and conservative thought in the period between 1910 and 1930. He was a cultural critic in the tradition of Matthew Arnold and a consistent opponent of romanticism, as represented by the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Politically he can, without serious distortion, be called a follower of Aristotle and Edmund Burke. He was an advocate of classical humanism but also offered an ecumenical defense of religion. His humanism implied a broad knowledge of various moral and religious traditions. His book Democracy and Leadership (1924) is regarded as a classic text of political conservatism. Babbitt is regarded as a major influence over American cultural and political conservatism. Read more
15 Jul 1933: Freddie Keppard, American cornet player (born 1890) Freddie Keppard was an American jazz cornetist who once held the title of "King" in the New Orleans jazz scene. This title was previously held by Buddy Bolden and succeeded by Joe Oliver. Read more
15 Jul 1932: Bahíyyih Khánum, Iranian writer and leader in the Baha'i faith (born 1846) Bahíyyih Khánum was the only daughter of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, and Ásíyih Khánum. She was born in 1846 with the given name Fatimih Sultan, and was entitled "Varaqiy-i-'Ulyá" or "Greatest Holy Leaf". Brought up through the trying times her family lived through, in adulthood she served the interests of the religion and was even quite often entrusted with running the affairs of the religion. Greatly favoured by Bahá'u'lláh, she is seen within the Baháʼí Faith as one of the greatest women to have lived. According to Baháʼís, every dispensation has one particular holy woman or "immortal heroine". In the time of Jesus it was the Virgin Mary, the time of Muhammad it was his daughter Fatima Zahra and during the Báb's dispensation it was Táhirih. Baháʼís believe that Bahíyyih Khánum is the outstanding heroine of the Baháʼí dispensation. Read more
15 Jul 1932: Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven, South African poet and politician (born 1873) Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven, who published under his initials C.J. Langenhoven, was a South African poet who played a major role in the development of Afrikaans literature and cultural history. His poetry was one of the then young language's foremost promoters. He is best known for writing the words for "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika", which was used previously as the national anthem during apartheid. He was affectionately known as Sagmoedige Neelsie or Kerneels. His childhood friend who helped him get into poetry was called Hans Conrodius van Zyl. Read more
15 Jul 1931: Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian-German economist and mathematician (born 1868) Ladislaus Josephovich Bortkiewicz was a Russian economist and statistician of Polish ancestry. He wrote a book showing how the Poisson distribution, a discrete probability distribution, can be useful in applied statistics, and he made contributions to mathematical economics. He lived most of his professional life in Germany, where he taught at Strassburg University and Berlin University (1901–1931). Read more
15 Jul 1930: Leopold Auer, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1845) Leopold von Auer was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers. Read more
15 Jul 1930: Leonora Barry, Irish-born American social activist (born 1849) Leonora M. Kearney Barry was an Irish-American labor activist. As the only woman to hold national office within the Knights of Labor, she brought attention to the conditions of working women through her involvement in the labor reform movement. She also furthered the progress of women's rights during the period following the American Civil War and Reconstruction. Read more
15 Jul 1929: Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (born 1874) Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Read more
15 Jul 1919: Emil Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1852) Hermann Emil Louis Fischer was a German chemist and 1902 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He discovered the Fischer esterification. He also developed the Fischer projection, a symbolic way of drawing asymmetric carbon atoms. He also hypothesized the lock and key mechanism of enzyme action. He never used his first given name, and was known throughout his life simply as Emil Fischer. Read more
15 Jul 1904: Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright and short story writer (born 1860) Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short story writer. Widely considered one of the greatest writers of all time, his career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Chekhov was a physician by profession. "Medicine is my lawful wife," he once said, "and literature is my mistress." Read more
15 Jul 1898: Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (born 1825) Jean-Baptiste Salpointe was a French-born prelate who serve as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico in the United States from 1885 to 1894. Read more
15 Jul 1890: Gottfried Keller, Swiss author, poet and playwright (born 1819) Gottfried Keller was a Swiss poet and writer of German literature. Best known for his novel Green Henry and his cycle of novellas called Seldwyla Folks, he became one of the most popular narrators of literary realism in the late 19th century. Read more
15 Jul 1885: Rosalía de Castro, Spanish author and poet (born 1837) María Rosalía Rita de Castro, was a Galician poet and novelist, considered one of the most important figures of the 19th-century Spanish literature and modern lyricism. Widely regarded as the greatest Galician cultural icon, she was a leading figure in the emergence of the literary Galician language. Through her work, she projected multiple emotions, including the yearning for the celebration of Galician identity and culture, and female empowerment. She is credited with challenging the traditional female writer archetype. Read more
15 Jul 1883: General Tom Thumb, American circus performer (born 1838) Charles Sherwood Stratton, better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb", was an American with dwarfism who achieved great fame as a performer under circus pioneer P. T. Barnum. Read more
15 Jul 1858: Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, Russian painter (born 1806) Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov was a Russian painter who adhered to the waning tradition of Neoclassicism but found little sympathy with his contemporaries. Although Ivanov was born and died in St. Petersburg, he spent the most of his life in Rome, where he worked on his magnum opus, The Appearance of Christ Before the People. Read more
15 Jul 1857: Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and composer (born 1791) Carl Czerny was an Austrian composer, music educator, and pianist of Czech origin. His music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and his books of studies for the piano are still widely used in piano teaching. He was one of Ludwig van Beethoven's best-known pupils and would later on be one of the main teachers of Franz Liszt. Read more
15 Jul 1851: Anne-Marie Javouhey, French nun, founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny (born 1779) Anne-Marie Javouhey, SJC was a French nun who founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny. She is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church. She is known as the Liberator of the Slaves in the New World, and as the mother of the town of Mana, French Guiana. Read more
15 Jul 1851: Juan Felipe Ibarra, Argentinian general and politician (born 1787) Juan Felipe Ibarra was an Argentine soldier and politician.
He was one of the caudillos who dominated the Argentine interior during the formation of the national state,
and ruled the province of his birth for decades. Read more
15 Jul 1844: Claude Charles Fauriel, French philologist and historian (born 1772) Claude Charles Fauriel was a French historian, philologist and critic. Read more
15 Jul 1839: Winthrop Mackworth Praed, English poet and politician (born 1802) Winthrop Mackworth Praed —typically written as W. Mackworth Praed—was an English politician and poet. Read more
15 Jul 1828: Jean-Antoine Houdon, French sculptor (born 1741) Jean-Antoine, chevalier Houdon was a French neoclassical sculptor. Read more

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Why is History of Today important for exams?

History of Today helps students remember important dates, events and personalities for competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway and PSC.

Where can I read daily history facts?

You can read daily history facts on this History of Today section, updated regularly with important events, births and deaths.