25 Tir 1396 | Sunday 16 July 2017

This day in four calendars

622 (1404 years ago) The Hijrah of Muhammad begins, marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
1790 (236 years ago) The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.
1809 (217 years ago) The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.
1861 (165 years ago) American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.
1948 (78 years ago) Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
1957 (69 years ago) KLM Flight 844 crashes off the Schouten Islands in present day Indonesia (then Netherlands New Guinea), killing 58 people.
1990 (36 years ago) The Luzon earthquake strikes the Philippines with an intensity of 7.7, affecting Benguet, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Aurora, Bataan, Zambales and Tarlac.
2009 (17 years ago) Teoh Beng Hock, an aide to a politician in Malaysia is found dead on the rooftop of a building adjacent to the offices of the Anti-Corruption Commission, sparking an inquest that gains nationwide attention.

1872 (154 years ago) Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (died 1928)
1896 (130 years ago) Trygve Lie, Norwegian trade union leader and politician, 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations (died 1968)
1907 (119 years ago) Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (died 1990)
1911 (115 years ago) Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (died 1995)
1968 (58 years ago) Larry Sanger, American philosopher and businessman, co-founded Wikipedia and Citizendium
1983 (43 years ago) Katrina Kaif, British Indian actress and model
1988 (38 years ago) Sergio Busquets, Spanish footballer
1989 (37 years ago) Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer

1216 (810 years ago) Pope Innocent III,
1557 (469 years ago) Anne of Cleves, Queen consort of England (born 1515)
1885 (141 years ago) Rosalía de Castro, Spanish poet (born 1837)
1985 (41 years ago) Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917)
1989 (37 years ago) Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor and manager (born 1908)
1994 (32 years ago) Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)
2003 (23 years ago) Celia Cruz, Cuban-American singer and actress (born 1925)
2023 (3 years ago) Jane Birkin, British model, actress, singer, and songwriter (born 1944)