Tokugawa forces capture Osaka Castle (1615), and Henry Ford completes his first petrol-powered car, the Quadricycle (1896). Born on this day: Angelina Jolie, Aleksey Navalny and George III. Died: Giacomo Casanova, Reinhard Heydrich and Abdülaziz.
30 events, 40 births and 53 deaths on this date.
Forces loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu seized Osaka Castle, the stronghold of the Toyotomi family, during the siege. The fall ended the Toyotomi clan's challenge to Tokugawa rule, which lasted until 1868.
Kanō Tan'yū · Public domainFord's first petrol-engined car, the Quadricycle, was finished and ran well on its first trial. It was the first step towards the Ford Motor Company, which he founded in 1903.
Iran's Assembly of Experts chose Ali Khamenei to succeed Ruhollah Khomeini, who had died the previous day. Khomeini had led the 1979 revolution and was Iran's first supreme leader, so the succession marked the start of a new era for the Islamic Republic.
Confederate forces pulled out of Fort Pillow, a river fortification on the Mississippi, opening the route for Union troops to seize Memphis. The loss cut a key Confederate link on the river and left Memphis in Union hands.
Off West Africa, a group of American warships and a destroyer escort boarded the crippled U-505, the first enemy warship captured at sea by the US Navy since the War of 1812. The boarding party seized codebooks and Enigma materials that helped codebreakers across the Atlantic.
Charles VI gave the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon sole right to ripen cheese in the village's limestone caves. The privilege protected a local trade that still shapes how Roquefort is made today.
Attributed to Mazarine Master · Public domain
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American actress, filmmaker and humanitarian who won an Academy Award for Girl, Interrupted and became known for action roles such as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. She is also remembered for her long campaigning work on refugee and humanitarian causes.
Harald Krichel · CC BY-SA 4.0
Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner who founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation and exposed alleged graft among senior officials. He was jailed repeatedly and died in an Arctic prison colony in 2024.
Navalny's Team · CC BY 3.0
George III was King of Great Britain and Ireland for sixty years, presiding over the loss of the American colonies and the Napoleonic wars. He was also a keen collector of books, art and scientific instruments, and his library later formed part of the British Museum.
Allan Ramsay · Public domain
Venetian adventurer and writer remembered for Histoire de ma vie, his frank autobiography published after his death. It offers a candid picture of 18th-century European social life, written by a man who often posed as an aristocrat.
Francesco Giuseppe Casanova · Public domain
Heydrich, a senior SS and police chief, chaired the Wannsee Conference that formalised the plan to murder Europe's Jews. He died on this day in 1942 from wounds sustained in an assassination attempt in Prague.
Heinrich Hoffmann · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Ruler of the Ottoman Empire for fifteen years, Abdülaziz was the first sultan to tour Western Europe on diplomatic business. His ministers deposed him over economic mismanagement, and he was found dead days later, apparently by suicide.
Abdullah frères · Public domain
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