Roger Federer born in Basel, Switzerland (1981), and Tennessee's military governor emancipates his own enslaved people (1863). Born on this day: Jimmy Wales, Roger Federer and P.A.M. Dirac. Died: Trajan, Olivia Newton-John and Patricia Neal.
29 events, 57 births and 69 deaths on this date.
Roger Federer, the Swiss tennis player who went on to win a record eight Wimbledon singles titles, was born on this day. He held the world No. 1 ranking for 310 weeks and won 20 major singles titles.
si.robi · CC BY-SA 2.0Andrew Johnson, then the state's military governor, freed the people he held in bondage at home in Greeneville, though the Emancipation Proclamation had not covered them. Tennessee now marks the day as Emancipation Day.
Edison was granted a patent for the mimeograph, a stencil-based copier that let offices produce many copies of a document quickly. It was one of more than a thousand patents he would eventually hold, and the mimeograph went on to be a common sight in schools and offices for decades.
The World Health Organization made its highest-level alarm call over the Ebola epidemic spreading through West Africa, which had begun in December 2013. The declaration was a signal to governments worldwide that the outbreak needed coordinated international action rather than being left to affected countries alone.
Jacques Balmat and Dr Michel-Gabriel Paccard reached the summit of Europe's highest mountain outside the Caucasus. Ownership of the summit has long been disputed between France and Italy.
Christian David · CC BY-SA 4.0
Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe began building Uraniborg, the first large observatory in Christian Europe, on an island he had been granted by King Frederick II. Its precise naked-eye measurements of the planets later helped astronomy become a modern science.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
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Jimmy Wales is an American-British internet entrepreneur best known for co-founding Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia written by volunteers. He also founded Fandom, a commercial service that hosts wikis for fan communities.
PhilipRomano · CC BY-SA 4.0
Swiss tennis player who won 20 men's singles majors, including a record eight at Wimbledon. He was ranked world No. 1 for 310 weeks and is regarded as one of the sport's greatest players.
si.robi · CC BY-SA 2.0
Dirac was a British physicist who helped found quantum mechanics and shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics. His 1928 equation linked quantum theory with special relativity and implied the existence of antimatter.
Nobel Foundation · Public domain
Roman emperor who ruled for nearly two decades and stretched the empire to its greatest territorial reach. He conquered Dacia and Nabataea, built the forum bearing his name, and earned from the Senate the title optimus princeps, meaning best ruler.
Unknown artist Unknown artist · Public domain
Olivia Newton-John was a British-Australian singer and actress best known for playing Sandy in the 1978 film Grease, alongside John Travolta. Her hits included the duet You're the One That I Want and the solo I Honestly Love You, which won a Grammy for Record of the Year.
Eva Rinaldi · CC BY-SA 2.0
American actress who won an Academy Award for Hud in 1963 and starred in The Day the Earth Stood Still. She was also a major stage and television performer, and her role in The Homecoming inspired the series The Waltons.
Twentieth Century Fox · Public domain
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