"Quatorze Juillet" (Fourteenth of July in French) is Bastille Day, the French national holiday celebrating the Fête de la Fédération in 1790 during the French Revolution.

Events

• 1223 - Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II of France.
• 1698 - The Darien scheme begins with five ships, bearing about 1,200 people, departing Leith for the Isthmus of Panama.
• 1769 - The de Portolá Expedition establishes a base in California, and sets out to find the Port of Monterey (now Monterey, California).
• 1771 - Foundation of the Mission San Antonio de Padua in modern California by the Franciscan friar Junípero Serra.
• 1789 - French Revolution: Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille and free seven prisoners.
• 1790 - French Revolution: Citizens of Paris celebrate the constitutional monarchy and national reconciliation in the Fête de la Fédération.
• 1791 - The Priestley Riots drive Joseph Priestley, a supporter of the French Revolution, out of Birmingham, England.
• 1798 - The Sedition Act becomes United States law making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government.
• 1865 - First ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper and party, four of whom died on the descent.
• 1902 - The Campanile in St Mark's Square, Venice collapses, also demolishing the loggetta.
• 1933 - Gleichschaltung: In Germany, all political parties are outlawed except the Nazi Party.
• 1943 - In Joplin, Missouri, George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument in honor of a African American.
• 1948 - Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party, is shot near to the Italian Parliament.
• 1958 - Iraqi Revolution: in Iraq the monarchy is overthrown by popular forces lead by Abdul Karim Kassem, who becomes the nation's new leader.
• 1965 - The Mariner 4 flyby of Mars takes the first close-up photos of another planet.
• 1969 - Football War: after Honduras loses a soccer game against El Salvador, rioting breaks out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers.
• 1969 - The United States $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills are officially withdrawn from circulation.
• 1992 - 386BSD is released by Lynne Jolitz and William Jolitz beginning the Open Source Operating System Revolution. Linus Torvalds release his Linux soon afterwards.
• 2002 - French President Jacques Chirac escapes an assassination attempt unscathed during Bastille Day celebrations.
• 2007 - Russia withdraws from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.

Births

• 1454 - Poliziano, Florentine humanist (d. 1494)
• 1602 - Jules Mazarin, French statesman and cardinal (d. 1661)
• 1608 - George Goring, Lord Goring, English royalist soldier (d. 1657)
• 1610 - Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1670)
• 1634 - Pasquier Quesnel, French Jansenist theologian (d. 1719)
• 1671 - Jacques D'Allonville, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1732)
• 1675 - Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French soldier (d. 1747)
• 1676 - Caspar Abel, German theologian, historian, and poet (d. 1763)
• 1696 - William Oldys, English antiquarian and bibliographer (d. 1761)
• 1721 - John Douglas, Scottish Anglican bishop and man of letters (d. 1807)
• 1743 - Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, Russian poet (d. 1816)
• 1785 - Mordecai Manuel Noah, American writer, journalist (d. 1851)
• 1801 - Johannes Peter Müller, German physiologist (d. 1858)
• 1816 - Arthur de Gobineau, French philosopher (d. 1882)
• 1829 - Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1896)
• 1834 - James McNeil Whistler, American painter (d. 1903)
• 1858 - Emmeline Pankhurst, English suffragette (d. 1928)
• 1859 - Willy Hess, German violinist (d. 1928)
• 1860 - Owen Wister, American author (d. 1938)
• 1862 - Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and graphic artist (d. 1918)
• 1865 - Arthur Capper, Newspaper publisher and politician (d. 1951)
• 1868 - Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist, writer, spy, and administrator (d. 1926)
• 1874 - Khedive Abbas II of Egypt (d. 1944)
• 1885 - King Sisavang Vong of Laos (d. 1959)
• 1891 - Alexander M. Volkov, Russian novelist and mathematician (d. 1977)
• 1893 - Clarence J. Brown, Newspaper publisher and politician (d. 1965)
• 1896 - Buenaventura Durruti, Spanish anarchist (d. 1936)
• 1898 - A. B. "Happy" Chandler, American politician and baseball commissioner (d. 1991)
• 1901 - Gerald Finzi, British composer (d. 1956)
• 1903 - Irving Stone, American writer (d. 1989)
• 1906 - Tom Carvel, Greek-born businessman and inventor (d. 1990)
• 1910 - William Hanna, American animator (d. 2001)
• 1911 - Terry-Thomas, British actor (d. 1990)
• 1912 - Northrop Frye, Canadian literary critic (d. 1991)
• 1912 - Woody Guthrie, American folk musician (d. 1967)
• 1913 - Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States (d. 2006)
• 1918 - Ingmar Bergman, Swedish film and theatre director (d. 2007)
• 1918 - Arthur Laurents, American playwright, novelist, and director
• 1919 - Lino Ventura, Italian-born actor (d. 1987)
• 1921 - Leon Garfield, English children's author (d. 1996)
• 1921 - Geoffrey Wilkinson, English chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1996)
• 1922 - Robin Olds, American World War II and Vietnam War ace fighter pilot (d. 2007)
• 1922 - Elfriede Rinkel, Nazi concentration camp guard
• 1923 - Dale Robertson, American actor
• 1923 - Willie Steele, American Olympic gold medalist (d. 1989)
• 1924 - James W. Black, Scottish pharmacologist, Nobel laureate
• 1926 - Harry Dean Stanton, American actor
• 1927 - John Chancellor, American television commentator (d. 1996)
• 1928 - Nancy Olson, American actress
• 1930 - Polly Bergen, American actress
• 1932 - Roosevelt Grier, American football player and actor
• 1933 - Robert Bourassa, Quebec politician (d. 1996)
• 1937 - Yoshiro Mori, Japanese politician
• 1938 - Jerry Rubin, American activist (d. 1994)
• 1939 - Karel Gott, Czech singer
• 1939 - Sid Haig, American actor
• 1939 - George E. Slusser, American scholar and writer
• 1940 - Susan Howatch, English author
• 1941 - Maulana Karenga, American author and activist
• 1941 - Andreas Khol, Austrian politician
• 1942 - Javier Solana, Spanish European Union foreign policy chief
• 1943 - Christopher Priest, English novelist
• 1944 - Billy McCool, American baseball player
• 1946 - Vincent Pastore, American actor
• 1946 - John Wood, Australian actor
• 1947 - Claudia Kennedy, U.S. Army officer
• 1947 - Navin Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius
• 1950 - Gwen Guthrie, American singer (d. 1999)
• 1951 - Erich Hallhuber, German actor (d. 2003)
• 1952 - Franklin Graham, American evangelist
• 1952 - Eric Laneuville, American director, Actor, Producer
• 1952 - Joel Silver, American film producer
• 1952 - Bob Casale, AKA Bob 2, American Musician (Devo)
• 1955 - L. Brent Bozell, American author and activist
• 1956 - Vladimir Kulich, Czech actor
• 1958 - Joe Keenan, American screenwriter, television producer and novelist.
• 1960 - Jane Lynch, American actress
• 1960 - Anna Bligh, Australian politician
• 1961 - Jackie Earle Haley, American actor
• 1962 - Jeff Olson, American musician
• 1963 - Phil Rosenthal, American newspaper columnist
• 1966 - Tanya Donelly, American musician (Belly)
• 1966 - Ellen Reid, Canadian musician (Crash Test Dummies)
• 1966 - Matthew Fox, American actor
• 1966 - Brian Selznick, American author and illustrator
• 1967 - Robin Ventura, American baseball player
• 1967 - Patrick J. Kennedy, politician
• 1968 - Kazushi Sakuraba, Japanese mixed martial artist/professional wrestler
• 1970 - Nina Siemaszko, American actress
• 1971 - Mark LoMonaco, American professional wrestler
• 1971 - Joey Styles, American wrestling commentator
• 1971 - Marie-Chantal Toupin, French Canadian singer
• 1972 - Deborah Mailman, Australian actress
• 1973 - Halil Mutlu, Bulgaria-born Turkish weightlifter
• 1973 - Adam Quinn, American bagpipe player
• 1973 - Candela Peña, Spanish actress
• 1974 - David Mitchell, English comedian and actor
• 1975 - Taboo, American rapper
• 1975 - Tim Hudson, American baseball player
• 1976 - Geraint Jones, English cricketer
• 1976 - Kirsten Sheridan, Irish film director and screenwriter
• 1977 - Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
• 1979 - Bernie Castro, Dominican baseball player
• 1979 - Axel Teichmann, German cross-country skier
• 1980 - George Smith, Australian Rugby player
• 1981 - Lee Mead, English actor
• 1981 - Yomi, Japanese vocalist (Nightmare)
• 1982 - Dmitry Chaplin, So You Think You Can Dance finalist
• 1983 - Wesley Dening, Australian TV personality
• 1984 - Chris Steele, Canadian musician, (Alexisonfire)
• 1987 - Adam Johnson, English footballer
• 1988 - James Vaughan, English footballer
• 1989 - Sean Flynn-Amir, American actor

Deaths

• 664 - Deusdedit of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 937 - Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria
• 1223 - King Philip II of France (b. 1165)
• 1575 - Richard Taverner, English Bible translator
• 1614 - Camillus de Lellis, Italian saint (b. 1550)
• 1671 - Méric Casaubon, English classical scholar (b. 1599)
• 1723 - Claude Fleury, French historian (b. 1640)
• 1742 - Richard Bentley, English classical scholar (b. 1662)
• 1766 - František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect (b. 1674)
• 1774 - James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley and Kilmaine, British field marshal (b. 1682)
• 1780 - Charles Batteux, French philosopher (b. 1713)
• 1789 - Jacques de Flesselles, French provost (assassinated) (b. 1721)
• 1789 - Bernard-René de Launay, governor of the Bastille, murdered during the Storming of the Bastille (b.1740)
• 1790 - Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (b. 1717)
• 1817 - Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, Swiss author (b. 1766)
• 1827 - Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist (b. 1788)
• 1834 - Edmond Charles Genêt, French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution (b. 1763)
• 1850 - August Neander, German theologian (b. 1789)
• 1876 - Thomas Hazlehurst, English Methodist chapel builder (b. 1816)
• 1881 - Billy the Kid, American outlaw (b. 1859?)
• 1904 - Paul Kruger, Boer resistance leader (b. 1824)
• 1907 - William Henry Perkin, English chemist and inventor (b. 1838)
• 1910 - Marius Petipa, French dancer and choreographer (b. 1818)
• 1917 - Octave Lapize, French cyclist (b. 1887)
• 1918 - Quentin Roosevelt, American Aviator, son of Theodore Roosevelt (b. 1897)
• 1925 - Pancho Villa, Filipino world boxing champion (b. 1901)
• 1939 - Alphonse Mucha, Czech painter, decorative artist (b. 1860)
• 1954 - Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
• 1954 - Jackie Saunders, American silent screen actress (b. 1892)
• 1965 - Adlai Stevenson, United States Presidential candidate (b. 1900)
• 1966 - Julie Manet, French painter (b. 1878)
• 1967 - Tudor Arghezi, Romanian writer (b. 1880)
• 1968 - Konstantin Georgiyevich Paustovsky, Russian writer (b. 1892)
• 1968 - Ilias Tsirimokos, Greek Prime Minister (b. 1907)
• 1974 - Carl Spaatz, American Air Force general (b. 1891)
• 1975 - Madan Mohan, Hindi Film's Melodious Music director (b. 1924)
• 1984 - Ernest Tidyman, American writer (b. 1928)
• 1989 - Frank Bell, British educator (b. 1916)
• 1993 - Léo Ferré, French singer and songwriter (b. 1916)
• 1994 - César Tovar, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (b. 1940)
• 1996 - Jeff Krosnoff, CART driver (b. 1964)
• 1998 - Richard McDonald, American fast food pioneer (b. 1909)
• 2000 - William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (b. 1920)
• 2000 - René Ríos Boettiger, Chilean cartoonist (b. 1911)
• 2000 - Meredith MacRae, American actress (b. 1944)
• 2002 - Joaquín Balaguer, President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1906)
• 2003 - Éva Janikovszky, Hungarian novelist (b. 1926)
• 2003 - François-Albert Angers, French Canadian economist (b. 1909)
• 2005 - Joe Harnell, American musician, composer and arranger (b. 1924)
• 2005 - Cicely Saunders, English Nurse, physician and writer (b. 1918)
• 2007 - John Ferguson Sr, former professional hockey player (b. 1938)
• 2008 - Henki Kolstad, Norwegian actor (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances

• France and all French dependencies - Bastille Day.
• Sweden - Birthday of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, an official flag day.
• Saint Idus
• Saint Libertus (d. 743)
• Saint Ulric (d. 1093)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada