July 14

Events

Pre-1600

982 – King Otto II and his Frankish army are defeated by the Muslim army of al-Qasim at Cape Colonna, Southern Italy.

1223 – Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II.

1420 – Battle of Vítkov Hill, decisive victory of Czech Hussite forces commanded by Jan Žižka against Crusade army led by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor.

1430 – Joan of Arc, taken by the Burgundians in May, is handed over to Pierre Cauchon, the bishop of Beauvais.

1456 – John Hunyadi and his forces defeat the Ottoman fleet on the Danube, allowing them to reinforce and supply the besieged city of Belgrade.

1596 – Anglo-Spanish War: English and Dutch troops sack the Spanish city of Cádiz before leaving the next day.

1601–1900

1769 – An expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá leaves its base in San Diego 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 – Storming of the Bastille in Paris. This event escalates the widespread discontent into the French Revolution. Bastille Day is still celebrated annually in France.

1790 – Inaugural Fête de la Fédération is held to celebrate the unity of the French people and the national reconciliation.

1791 – Beginning of Priestley Riots (to 17 July) in Birmingham targeting Joseph Priestley as a supporter of the French Revolution.

1798 – The Sedition Act of 1798 becomes law in the United States making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government.

1808 – The Finnish War: the Battle of Lapua is fought.

1853 – Opening of the first major US world's fair, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York City.

1865 – The first ascent of the Matterhorn is completed by Edward Whymper and his party, four of whom die on the descent.

1874 – The Chicago Fire of 1874 burns down 47 acres of the city, destroying 812 buildings, killing 20, and resulting in the fire insurance industry demanding municipal reforms from Chicago's city council.

1881 – American outlaw Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the Maxwell House at Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

1901–present

1902 – Peruvian explorer and farmer Agustín Lizárraga discovers Machu Picchu, the "Lost City of the Incas".

1902 – The Campanile in St Mark's Square, Venice collapses, also demolishing the loggetta.

1911 – Harry Atwood, an exhibition pilot for the Wright brothers, is greeted by president William Howard Taft after he lands his aeroplane on the South Lawn of the White House, having flown from Boston.

1915 – Beginning of the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence between Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca and the British official Henry McMahon concerning the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

1916 – World War I: Battle of Delville Wood begins as an action within the Battle of the Somme, lasting until 3 September 1916.

1933 – In a decree called the Gleichschaltung, Adolf Hitler abolishes all German political parties except the Nazis.

1933 – Nazi eugenics programme begins with the proclamation of the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring requiring the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who suffers from alleged genetic disorders.

1942 – In the Wardha session of Congress, the "Quit India" resolution is approved, authorising Mahatma Gandhi to campaign for India's independence from Britain.

1943 – In Diamond, Missouri, the George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument in honor of an African American.

1948 – Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party, is shot and wounded near the Italian Parliament.

1950 – Korean War: beginning of the Battle of Taejon.

Births

Pre-1600

926 – Murakami, emperor of Japan (died 967)

1410 – Arnold, Duke of Guelders, (died 1473)

1454 – Poliziano, Italian poet and scholar (died 1494)

1515 – Philip I, Duke of Pomerania (died 1560)

1601–1900

1602 – Cardinal Jules Mazarin, Italian-French cardinal and politician, chief minister of France from 5 December 1642 to 9 March 1661 (died 1661)

1608 – George Goring, Lord Goring, English general (died 1657)

1610 – Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (died 1670)

1634 – Pasquier Quesnel, French priest and theologian (died 1719)

1671 – Jacques d'Allonville, French astronomer and mathematician (died 1732)

1675 – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French general (died 1747)

1696 – William Oldys, English historian and author (died 1761)

1721 – John Douglas, Scottish bishop and scholar (died 1807)

1743 – Gavrila Derzhavin, Russian poet and politician (died 1816)

1755 – Michel de Beaupuy, French general (died 1796)

1785 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist, playwright, and diplomat (died 1851)

1801 – Johannes Peter Müller, German physiologist and anatomist (died 1858)

1816 – Arthur de Gobineau, French writer who founded Gobinism to promote development of racism (died 1882)

1825 – Georgiana Hill, English cookery book writer (died 1903)

1829 – Edward Benson, English archbishop (died 1896)

1901–present

1901 – Gerald Finzi, English composer and academic (died 1956)

1903 – Irving Stone, American author and educator (died 1989)

1907 – Chico Landi, Brazilian racing driver (died 1989)

1910 – William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, and actor, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (died 2001)

1911 – Pavel Prudnikau, Belarusian poet and author (died 2000)

1912 – Northrop Frye, Canadian literary critic (died 1991)

1912 – Woody Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1967)

1913 – Gerald Ford, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 38th President of the United States (died 2006)

1918 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (died 2008)

1918 – Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2007)

1918 – Arthur Laurents, American director, screenwriter, and playwright (died 2011)

1918 – Jay Wright Forrester, American computer engineer and systems scientist (died 2016)

1920 – Shankarrao Chavan, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Finance (died 2004)

1921 – Sixto Durán Ballén, American-Ecuadorian architect and politician, 48th President of Ecuador (died 2016)

Deaths

Pre-1600

664 – Eorcenberht, king of Kent

809 – Otomo no Otomaro, Japanese general and Shogun (born 731)

850 – Wei Fu, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty

937 – Arnulf I, duke of Bavaria

1223 – Philip II, king of France (born 1165)

1262 – Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester, English soldier (born 1222)

1486 – Margaret of Denmark, daughter of Christian I of Denmark (born 1456)

1526 – John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, English peer, landowner, and Lord Great Chamberlain of England (born 1499)

1575 – Richard Taverner, English translator (born 1505)

1601–1900

1614 – Camillus de Lellis, Italian priest and saint (born 1550)

1723 – Claude Fleury, French historian and author (born 1640)

1742 – Richard Bentley, English scholar and theologian (born 1662)

1774 – James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley, Irish field marshal (born 1682)

1780 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (born 1713)

1789 – Jacques de Flesselles, French politician (born 1721)

1789 – Bernard-René de Launay, French politician (born 1740)

1790 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (born 1717)

1809 – Nicodemus the Hagiorite, Greek monk and saint (born 1749)

1816 – Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan general (born 1750)

1817 – Germaine de Staël, French philosopher and author (born 1766)

1827 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist and engineer, reviver of wave theory of light, inventor of catadioptric lighthouse lens (born 1788)

1834 – Edmond-Charles Genêt, French-American diplomat (born 1763)

1840 – Sir George Pocock, 1st Baronet, English politician and peer (born 1765)

1850 – August Neander, German historian and theologian (born 1789)

1901–present

1904 – Paul Kruger, South African politician, 5th President of the South African Republic (born 1824)

1907 – William Henry Perkin, English chemist and academic (born 1838)

1910 – Marius Petipa, French dancer and choreographer (born 1818)

1917 – Octave Lapize, French cyclist (born 1887)

1918 – Quentin Roosevelt, American lieutenant and pilot (born 1897)

1936 – Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Indian-American author and scholar (born 1890)

1937 – Julius Meier, American businessman and politician, 20th Governor of Oregon (born 1874)

1939 – Alphonse Mucha, Czech painter and illustrator (born 1860)

1954 – Jacinto Benavente, Spanish author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1866)

1965 – Adlai Stevenson II, American soldier and politician, 5th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (born 1900)

1966 – Julie Manet, French painter and art collector (born 1878)

1967 – Tudor Arghezi, Romanian author and poet (born 1880)

1968 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian author and poet (born 1892)

1970 – Preston Foster, American actor (born 1900)

1974 – Carl Spaatz, American World War II general; commander of the Strategic Air Forces in Europe (born 1891)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

Blessed Angeline of Marsciano

Gaspar de Bono

Camillus of Lellis (Roman Catholic Church, except in the United States)

Deusdedit of Canterbury

Francis Solanus

Blessed Ghébrē-Michael

John Keble (Church of England)

Samson Occom (Episcopal Church (United States)

July 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Bastille Day (France and dependencies)

International Non-Binary People's Day

Republic Day (Iraq)

Victoria Day (Sweden). The birthday of Crown Princess Victoria is an official flag flying day in Sweden.

North Korean Defectors' Day (in South Korea)