Guulihii Kacaanka 21ka Oktoobar iyo Dhacdooyin Taariikhiya

Dhacdooyin taariikhi ah ayaa soo maray adduunyadan aynu ku noolnahay bisha Oktoobar 21 keedii, oo maanta oo kale ku beegan (21 Oct).  Midda ugu muhiimsan ee soo martay ummadda soomaaliyeedna waxay ahayd curashadii kacaanka barakaysnaa ee 21 Oktoobar 1969- kii. Kacaanaasi isaga ah, oo Jaalle Maxamad Siyaad Barre (Raxmatullah Calayhi) uu hogaaminayay.

Ka hor intaynaan u gudbin dhacdooyinkii adduunka soo maray taarrikhdan iyada ah oo kooban, waxa xusid mudan inaynu is xusiisino guulihii kacaankii barakaysna ee 21 ka Oktoobar 1969 Somaliya ku gaadhay.  Guulaha wax ku oolka ah ee laga dhaxlay kacaankii Siyaad Barre ayaa waxaynu kusoo koobaynaa inay ahaayeen.

Qorista Afka Hooye ee Soomaalilga; iyo Curashada Dalka Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland; iyo ardaydii wax ka bartay kuliiyadda macalin Jaalle Siyaad, sida  Madaxweyne  Daahir Rayaale Kaahin iyo wasiiradiisa sare  oo isla dalkaas Somaliland  maanta hogaamiya. Waa guulaha wax ku oolka ee aynu ku xusuusan doono kacaankii barakaysnaa iyo Marxuun Madaxweyne Maxamad Siyaad Barre (AUN).

Taariikh Nololeedkii Maxamad Siyaad Barre

Mohamed Siad Barre محمد سياد بري

 Siyaad Barre, Arabic: محمّد سياد بري‎) (b. 1919 – January 2, 1995) was the military dictator^[2][3] and President of Somalia from 1969 to 1991. During his rule, he styled himself as Jaalle Siyaad (“Comrade Siad”).^[4] At the time of independence in 1960, Somalia was touted in the West as the model of a rural democracy in Africa. However, clanism and extended family loyalties and conflicts were societal problems the civilian government failed to eradicate and eventually succumbed to itself. The new Barre-led military junta that came to power after the ensuing coup d’etat said it would adapt scientific socialism to the needs of Somalia. It drew heavily from the traditions of China. Volunteer labor harvested and planted crops, and built roads and hospitals. Almost all industry, banks, and businesses were nationalized. Cooperative farms were promoted. The government forbade clanism and stressed loyalty to the central authorities. An entirely new writing script for the Somali language was introduced. To spread the new language and the methods and message of the revolution, secondary schools were closed in 1974 and 25,000 students from fourteen to sixteen years of age were sent to rural areas to educate their nomadic relatives.^[5]

Early years

Barre was born into the Somali Marehan clan near Shilabo in the Ogaden (formerly part of Italian Somaliland), although he later claimed to have been born in Garbahaarreey to qualify for the Italian colonial police force.^[6] Before joining the police force, he had been an orphaned shepherd. Barre had no formal education but attended some military courses in Italy. He eventually became Vice Commander of Somalia’s Army when the country gained its independence in 1960. After spending time with Soviet officers in joint training exercises in the early 1960s, Barre became an advocate of Soviet-style Marxist government.

Seizure of power

In 1969, during the power vacuum that followed the assassination of Somalia’s second president, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, the military staged a coup on October 21, 1969 (the day after Shermarke’s funeral), and took over office. Barre was installed as president of the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC), the new government of Somalia. The SRC arrested members of the former government and banned political parties. The National Assembly was also abolished and the constitution suspended.^[7] The country was renamed the Somali Democratic Republic, and Barre became the spokesman and leader of the new revolutionary government. In 1971, he announced the regime’s intention to phase out military rule.

Barre’s first and second vice presidents, Jaama Ali Qoorsheel and Mahammad Ainanche, were both arrested and imprisoned in 1970 and 1971 for attempting to overthrow the SRC regime.

 Presidency

Styled the “Victorious Leader” (Guulwaadde), Siad Barre fostered the growth of a personality cult. Portraits of him in the company of Marx and Lenin lined the streets on public occasions.^[8] He advocated a form of scientific socialism based on the Qur’an and Marx, with heavy influences of Somali nationalism.

Language and anti-clanism

One of the first and principal objectives of the revolutionary regime was the adoption of a standard Somali language (Af Soomaali). Shortly after coming to power, Barre introduced the Somali language as the official language of education, and selected the modified Latin script developed by the Somali linguist Shire Jama Ahmed as the nation’s standard orthography. From then on, all education in government schools had to be conducted in Somali, and in 1972, all government employees were ordered to learn to read and write Somali within six months. The reason given for this was to decrease a growing rift between those who spoke the colonial languages, and those who did not, as many of the high ranking positions in the former government were given to people who spoke either Italian or English.

Additionally, Barre also sought to eradicate the importance of clan (qabil) affiliation within government and civil society. The inevitable first question that Somalis asked one another when they met was, ‘What is your clan?’. When this was considered anathema to the purpose of a modern state, Somalis began to pointedly ask, ‘What is your ex-clan?’. Barre outlawed this question and a broad range of other activities classified as clanism. Informers reported qabilists to the government, leading to arrests and imprisonment.

On a more symbolic level Barre had repeated a number of times, ‘Whom do you know? is changed to: What do you know?’, and this incantation had become part of a popular street song.^[9]

Nationalism and Greater Somalia

Barre advocated the concept of a Greater Somalia (Soomaaliweyn), which refers to those regions in the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis reside and have historically represented the predominant population. Greater Somalia thus encompasses Somalia, Djibouti, the Ogaden and the North Eastern Province (the latter two of which are currently administered by Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively) i.e. the almost exclusively Somali-inhabited regions of the Horn of Africa.^[10][11][12]

In July 1977, the Ogaden War broke out after the government sought to incorporate the various Somali-inhabited territories of the region into a Greater Somalia. The Somali national army invaded the Ogaden and was successful at first, capturing most of the territory. The invasion reached an abrupt end with the Soviet Union’s shift of support to Ethiopia, followed by almost the entire communist world siding with the latter. The Soviets halted its previous supplies to Barre’s regime and increased the distribution of aid, weapons, and training to the Ethiopian government, and also brought in around 15,000 Cuban troops to assist the Ethiopian regime. In 1978, the Somali troops were ultimately pushed out of the Ogaden.

Foreign relations

Control of Somalia was of great interest to both the Soviet Union and the United States due to the country’s strategic location at the mouth of the Red Sea. After the Soviets broke with Barre in the late 1970s, he subsequently expelled all Soviet advisers, tore up his friendship treaty with the Soviet Union, and switched allegiance to the West. The United States stepped in and until 1989, was a strong supporter of the Barre government for whom it provided approximately US$100 million per year in economic and military aid.

On October 17 and October 18, 1977, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) group hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 to Mogadishu, Somalia, holding 86 hostages. West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and Barre negotiated a deal to allow a GSG 9 anti-terrorist unit into Mogadishu to free the hostages.

 Domestic programs

Pre-1991 poster of Barre in Mogadishu

During the first five years Barre’s government set up several cooperative farms and factories of mass production such as mills, sugar cane processing facilities in Jowhar and Afgooye, and a meat processing house in Kismayo.

Another public project initiated by the government was the Shalanbood Sandune Stoppage. Every weekend agricultural and environmental engineers along with common citizens volunteered to plant trees, shrubs and push back sand dunes which had been creeping into farming lands of the Lower Shabeelle.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1974 and 1975, a major drought referred to as the Abaartii Dabadheer (“The Lingering Drought”) occurred in the northern regions of Somalia. The Soviet Union, which at the time maintained strategic relations with the Barre government, airlifted some 90,000 people from the devastated regions of Hobyo and Caynaba. New settlements of small villages were created in the Lower Jubba and Middle Jubba regions. These new settlements were known as the Danwadaagaha or “Collective Settlements”. The transplanted families were introduced to farming and fishing, a change from their traditional pastoralist lifestyle of livestock herding. Other such resettlement programs were also introduced as part of Barre’s effort to undercut clan solidarity by dispersing nomads and moving them away from clan-controlled land.

 Economic policies

As part of Barre’s socialist policies, major industries and farms were nationalized, including banks, insurance companies and oil distribution farms.

By the mid- to late-1970s, public discontent with the Barre regime was increasing, largely due to corruption among government officials as well as poor economic performance. The Ogaden War had also weakened the Somali army substantially and military spending had crippled the economy. Foreign debt increased faster than export earnings, and by the end of the decade, Somalia’s debt of 4 billion shillings equaled the earnings from seventy-five years’ worth of banana exports.^[8]

By 1978, manufactured goods exports were almost nonexistent, and with the lost support of the Soviet Union the Barre government signed a structural adjustment agreement with the IMF during the early 1980s. This included the abolishment of some government monopolies and increased public investment. This and a second agreement were both canceled by the mid-1980s as the Somali army refused to accept a proposed 60 percent cut in military spending. New agreements were made with the Paris Club, the International Development Association and the IMF during the second half of the 1980s. This ultimately failed to improve the economy which deteriorated rapidly in 1989 and 1990, and resulted in nationwide commodity shortages.

 Human rights abuse

Part of Barre’s time in power was characterized by oppressive dictatorial rule, including the persecution, jailing and torture of political opponents and dissidents. The United Nations Development Program claimed that “The 21-year regime of Siyad Barre had one of the worst human rights records in Africa.” ^[13] The Africa Watch Committee wrote in a report that “Both the urban population and nomads living in the countryside [were] subjected to summary killings, arbitrary arrest, detention in squalid conditions, torture, rape, crippling constraints on freedom of movement and expression and a pattern of psychological intimidation.” ^[14] Amnesty International went on to report that torture methods committed by Barre’s National Security Service (NSS) included executions and “beatings while tied in a contorted position, electric shocks, rape of woman prisoners, simulated executions and death threats.” ^[15]

In September 1970, the government introduced the National Security Law No. 54, which granted the NSS the power to arrest and detain indefinitely those who expressed critical views of the government, without ever being brought to trial. It further gave the NSS the power to arrest without a warrant anyone suspected of a crime involving “national security”. Article 1 of the law prohibited “acts against the independence, unity or security of the State”, and capital punishment was mandatory for anyone convicted of such acts.^[16]

From the late 1970s, and onwards Barre faced a shrinking popularity and increased domestic resistance. In response, Barre’s elite unit, the Red Berets (Duub Cas), and the paramilitary unit called the Victory Pioneers carried out systematic terror against the Majeerteen, the Hawiye, and the Isaaq clans.^[17] The Red Berets systematically smashed water reservoirs to deny water to the Majeerteen and Isaaq clans and their herds. More than 2,000 members of the Majeerteen clan died of thirst, and an estimated 5,000 Isaaq were killed by the government. Members of the Victory Pioneers also raped large numbers of Majeerteen and Isaaq women, and more than 300,000 Isaaq members fled to Ethiopia.^[18][19]

Rebellion and ouster

The Barre administration was haunted by various clan-based rebel groups. In the northern part of the country, members of the Isaaq clan felt politically marginalized by Barre’s government. The Isaaq clan consequently developed a rebel group named the Somali National Movement (SNM), who were morally and financially supported by Ethiopia. Also in the north, there developed a rebel group called the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), which was led by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and consisted of several former army officers opposed to Barre’s regime. To combat this and other such groups, the government made many raids against the north. However, by the late 1980s, rival factional groups began to make substantial territorial gains, especially in the northern Somaliland region. These groups received weapons from Ethiopia in the hopes of overthrowing Barre’s government, which eventually led to the Somali civil war.

By 1991, factions led by warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his rebel group, the United Somali Congress (USC), invaded Mogadishu. Aidid fought against government forces, and Barre was finally overthrown on the evening of 26 January 1991. He was succeeded in office by Ali Mahdi Muhammad, a businessman of the Hawiye Abgaal clan until November 1991. Though internationally recognized, Ali Mahdi’s government never managed to exert political or military control over the majority of the country. Ali Mahdi and Aidid’s personal clan-based militias eventually wound up fighting over control of the country in the wake of Barre’s ouster.

 Death

After leaving Mogadishu in January 1991, Barre temporarily remained in the southwestern Gedo region of the country, which was the power base of his Marehan clan. From there, he launched a military campaign to return to power. He twice attempted to retake Mogadishu, but in May 1991 was overwhelmed by General Muhammed Farrah Aidid’s army, and was forced into exile.

Barre initially moved to Nairobi, Kenya, but opposition groups with a presence there protested his arrival and support of him by the Kenyan government. In response to the pressure and hostilities, he moved two weeks later to Nigeria. Barre died on January 2, 1995 in Lagos from a heart attack. His remains were buried in the Garbahaarreey district of the Gedo region in Somalia.

 Quotes

• “In our Revolution we believe that we have broken the chain of a consumer economy based on imports, and we are free to decide our destiny. And in order to realize the interests of the Somali people, their achievement of a better life, the full development of their potentialities and the fulfillment of their aspirations, we solemnly declare Somalia to be a Socialist State.”^[20]

– Siad Barre proclaims Somalia a socialist state, October 20, 1970

• “When I came to Mogadishu…[t]here was one road built by the Italians. If you try to force me to stand down, I will leave the city as I found it. I came to power with a gun; only the gun can make me go.”^[21]

• “Some of the colonizers do understand and quickly retreat, while some, because they are stupid, continue colonizing others, increasing the suffering, deaths, injuries, defeat and humiliation. The people colonized by Abyssinia will be free. Eritrea will be free, and they cannot refuse to let them be free. Western Somalia will be free, and they cannot refuse to grant it freedom. The numerous Abo will be free because this is history, and no one can prevent the sunshine from reaching us.”^[22]

• “I did not come to power to divide Somali but to unite them, and I will never deviate from this path. I shall respect a Somali individual as long as he deserves respect, but if he turns away from the correct path, then that is not my business.”^[22]

• “We should teach the foreigners and colonialists that Somalia cannot be led by other people and that the traitors who fled the country will never lead Somalia.”^[22]

• “There was no choice. I would like to state clearly the reason for the take over of the country by Armed Forces. I want our people to know that everything is going on as usual and that no problems have arisen as a result of the Revolution. The entire country is in the hands of the National Army and the Police Force? Intervention by Armed Forces was inevitable. It was no longer possible to ignore the evil things like corruption, bribery, nepotism, and theft of public funds, injustice and disrespect to our religion and the laws of the country. The laws were thrust aside and people did whatever they wanted. No group or family can live happily if they do not respect their laws and regulations. There will be no development or any sort of progress for a nation, if the laws of the country are forgotten? The corruption has culminated in the assassination of prominent leaders of the country. Somalia was on the point of collapse, not economically and politically alone, but disaster threatened historically and nationally as well. If we look back on recent events in the country, we will see how a peaceful lands was changing to violence. Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, the late President, was assassinated by simple soldier who did not know him and who had no quarrel with him. We will not give a chance to wrong doers and law breakers.
  We will abolish bribery, nepotism and tribalism. Tribalism was the only way in which foreigners got their chance of dividing our people. We will close all roads used by colonialists to enter our country and into our affairs. We will build up a great Somali nation, strongly united and welded together to live in peace. We will make respect the Islamic religion, if necessary, by all the force and strength we have. We will make Somalia a respected country in its internal and external policies. I would like to ask all Somalis to come out and build their nation, a strong nation, to use all their efforts, energy, wealth and brains in developing their country. At all costs avoid begging. The Imperialists, who always want to see people in hunger, disease and ignorance, will oppose us in order that we may beg them. They will spread many types of lies to try to misinterpret our noble aims and objectives. They will try to persuade the world, and even other African States, to believe their lies. Apart from these lies, they will call us many evil names. They are at present collecting arms, money and many other necessary things for them to work against us. We are very happy and thankful to see the unity of the Armed Forces and the Somali population. The nation has given us true support for which we are very grateful. Nothing will harm us if we go on supporting each other for the sake of our country and nation. Lets us join hands in crushing the enemy of our land.”^[23]

 References

 Bibliography

• Glickman, Harvey (ed.) (1992), Political Leaders of Contemporary Africa South of the Sahara, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-26781-2 .

 Notes

1. ^ Obituary: Siad Barre
2. ^ George James “Somalia’s Overthrown Dictator, Mohammed Siad Barre, Is Dead” New York Times (1/3/1995)
3. ^ Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada “The Horn of Africa: Somalis in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya” UNHCR (1/2/1991)
4. ^ Jaalle also translates as “Mister”
5. ^ Yiorgos Apostolopoulos. The Sociology of Tourism. pp. 41. 
6. ^ David D. Laitin and Said S. Samatar, Somalia: Nation in Search of a State (Boulder: Westview Press 1987), p. 79
7. ^ Metz, Helen C. (ed.) (1992), “Coup d’Etat“, Somalia: A Country Study, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress .
8. ^ ^{a b} Metz, Helen C. (ed.) (1992), “Siad Barre and Scientific Socialism“, Somalia: A Country Study, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress .
9. ^ Laitin, David D.. Politics, Language, and Thought. pp. 89. 
10. ^ The 1994 national census was delayed in the Somali Region until 1997. FDRE States: Basic Information – Somalia, Population (accessed 12 March 2006)
11. ^ Francis Vallat, First report on succession of states in respect of treaties: International Law Commission twenty-sixth session 6 May-26 July 1974, (United Nations: 1974), p.20
12. ^ Africa Watch Committee, Kenya: Taking Liberties, (Yale University Press: 1991), p.269
13. ^ UNDP, Human Development Report 2001-Somalia, (New York: 2001), p. 42
14. ^ Africa Watch Committee, Somalia: A Government at War with its Own People, (New York: 1990), p. 9
15. ^ Amnesty International, Torture in the Eighties, (Bristol, England: Pitman Press, 1984), p. 127.
16. ^ National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) Committee on Human Rights & Institute of Medicine (U.S.) Committee on Health and Human Rights, Scientists and human rights in Somalia: report of a delegation, (Washington D.C.: National Academy Press, 1988), p. 16.
17. ^ Metz, Helen C. (ed.) (1992), “Siad Barre’s Repressive Measures“, Somalia: A Country Study, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress .
18. ^ Metz, Helen C. (ed.) (1992), “Persecution of the Majeerteen“, Somalia: A Country Study, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress .
19. ^ Metz, Helen C. (ed.) (1992), “Oppression of the Isaaq“, Somalia: A Country Study, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress .
20. ^ Metz, Helen C. (ed.) (1992), “Scientific Socialism, 1970–1975“, Somalia: A Country Study, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress .
21. ^ Abdullahi, Mohamed Diriye (2001), Culture and customs of Somalia, p. 41
22. ^ ^{a b c} Mogadiscio Domestic Service in Somali, 0448 GMT 1 May 1978
23. ^ Mohamed Siad Barre, My country and my people;: The collected speeches of Major-General Mohamed Siad Barre, President, the Supreme Revolutionary Council, Somali Democratic Republic

 External links

Official sites

• Mohamed Siad Barre official biographical website
• “Preserving American Security Ties to Somalia”, by Michael Johns, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, December 26, 1989.

• 1512 – Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.
• 1520 – Ferdinand Magellan discovers a strait now known as Strait of Magellan.
• 1600 – Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara, which marks the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate, who in effect rule Japan until the mid-nineteenth century.
• 1774 – First display of the word “Liberty” on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts and which was in defiance of British rule in Colonial America.
• 1797 – In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.
• 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet led by Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain under Admiral Villeneuve. It signalled the virtual end of French maritime power and left Britain navally unchallenged until the twentieth century.
• 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to the Grand Army of Napoleon at Ulm, reaping Napoleon over 30,000 prisoners and inflicting 10,000 casualties on the losers. Ulm was considered to be one of Napoleon’s finest hours.
• 1816 – The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by the Rev Hutchings. It is the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia.
• 1824 – Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.
• 1854 – Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to the Crimean War.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Ball’s Bluff – Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, is killed in the fighting.
• 1867 – Manifest Destiny: Medicine Lodge Treaty – Near Medicine Lodge, Kansas a landmark treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate a reservation in western Oklahoma.
• 1879 – Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13½ hours before burning out).
• 1892 – Opening ceremonies for the World’s Columbian Exposition were held in Chicago, though because construction was behind schedule, the exposition did not open until May 1, 1893.
• 1895 – The Republic of Formosa collapses as Japanese forces invade.
• 1902 – In the United States, a five month strike by United Mine Workers ends.
• 1912 – During the First Balkan War, Kardzhali was liberated by Bulgarian forces, led by Gen. Delov
• 1916 – First World War: Romanian Campaign – Cobadin position was taken by Central Powers after an assault by combined Bulgarian, German and Turkish forces
• 1921 – President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting President against lynching in the deep south.
• 1944 – The first kamikaze attack: HMAS Australia was hit by a Japanese plane carrying a 200 kg (441 pound) bomb off Leyte Island, as the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.
• 1945 – Women’s suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.
• 1945 – Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón married actress Evita.
• 1959 – In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
• 1959 – US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA.
• 1965 – Comet Ikeya-Seki approaches perihelion, passing 450,000 kilometers from the sun.
• 1966 – Aberfan disaster: A coal tip falls on the village of Aberfan in Wales, killing 144 people, mostly schoolchildren.
• 1967 – Vietnam War: More than 100,000 war protesters gather in Washington, DC. A peaceful rally at the Lincoln Memorial is followed by a march to The Pentagon and clashes with soldiers and United States Marshals protecting the facility (event lasts until October 23; 683 people were arrested). Similar demonstrations occurred simultaneously in Japan and Western Europe.
• 1969 – A coup d’état in Somalia brings Siad Barre to power.
• 1973 – John Paul Getty III‘s ear is cut off by his kidnappers and sent to a newspaper in Rome; it doesn’t arrive until November 8.
• 1973 – Fred Dryer of the then Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.
• 1977 – The European Patent Institute is founded.
• 1978 – Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
• 1983 – The metre is defined at the seventeenth General Conference on Weights and Measures in terms of the speed of light as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
• 1986 – In Lebanon, pro-Iranian kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he was released in August 1991).
• 1990 – The first Apple Day, is held in Covent Garden, London.
• 1994 – North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea and the United States sign an agreement that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.
• 1994 – In Seoul, 32 people are killed when the Seongsu Bridge collapses.
• 1995 – Dayton Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 2001 – “United We Stand” benefit concert for September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks victims, held at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. Event organized and headlined by Michael Jackson, also featuring pop stars Aerosmith, Mariah Carey, The Backstreet Boys, and others.
• 2003 – Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in its discovery by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz.

Births

• 1449 – George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III (d. 1478)
• 1527 – Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French cardinal (d. 1578)
• 1581 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (d. 1641)
• 1650 – Jean Bart, French admiral (d. 1702)
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• 1675 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (d. 1710)
• 1687 – Nicolaus I Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1759)
• 1712 – Sir James Steuart, British economist (d. 1780)
• 1725 – Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy, Austrian field marshal (d. 1801)
• 1757 – Pierre Augereau, Marshal of France and duc de Castiglione (d. 1816)
• 1762 – Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch statesman (d. 1818)
• 1772 – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, British poet (d. 1834)
• 1775 – Giuseppe Baini, Italian composer (d. 1844)
• 1790 – Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer (d. 1869)
• 1821 – Eduard Heine, German mathematician (d. 1881)
• 1833 – Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize (d. 1896)
• 1845 – Will Carleton, American poet (d. 1912)
• 1847 – Giuseppe Giacosa, Italian writer (d. 1906)
• 1851 – George Ulyett, English cricketer (d. 1898)
• 1886 – Eugene Burton Ely, American aviation pioneer (d. 1911)
• 1894 – Rampo Edogawa, Japanese author and critic (d. 1965)
• 1895 – Edna Purviance, American actress (d. 1958)
• 1898 – Eduard Pütsep, Estonian wresler and Olympic medalist (d. 1960)
• 1904 – Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet (d. 1967)
• 1906 – Lillian Asplund, last American Titanic survivor (d. 2006)
• 1907 – Nikos Engonopoulos, Greek painter and poet (d. 1985)
• 1907 – Jules Chevalier, French priest (b. 1824)
• 1912 – Sir Georg Solti, Hungarian conductor (d. 1997)
• 1912 – Alfredo Pián, Argentine racing driver (d. 1990)
• 1914 – Martin Gardner, American mathematician and writer
• 1917 – Dizzy Gillespie, American musician (d. 1993)
• 1921 – Sir Malcolm Arnold, British composer (d. 2006)
• 1922 – Liliane de Bettencourt, heir to L’Oreal
• 1924 – Celia Cruz, Cuban singer, Queen of Salsa. (d. 2003)
• 1924 – Joyce Randolph, American actress
• 1925 – Louis J. Robichaud, Canadian premier of New Brunswick (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Fritz Wintersteller, Austrian mountaineer who made the first ascent of Broad Peak
• 1928 – Whitey Ford, American baseball player
• 1929 – Ursula K. Le Guin, American author
• 1930 – Ivan Stepanovich Silayev, Last prime minister of the Soviet Union
• 1931 – Vivian Pickles, English actress.
• 1938 – Carl Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2001)
• 1940 – Geoff Boycott, English cricketer
• 1940 – Manfred Mann, English musician
• 1940 – Frances FitzGerald, American journalist and author
• 1941 – Steve Cropper, American musician
• 1942 – Elvin Bishop, American musician
• 1942 – Judy Sheindlin, American judge (“Judge Judy“)
• 1942 – Allan Grice, Australian racing driver
• 1943 – Tariq Ali, Pakistani author and historian
• 1945 – Everett McGill, American actor
• 1946 – Jim Hill, American sportscaster
• 1946 – Lux Interior, American singer (The Cramps)
• 1946 – Lee Loughnane, American musician
• 1948 – Shaye Cohen, Historian and Professor at Harvard University
• 1948 – Tom Everett, American actor
• 1949 – Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1971)
• 1949 – Mike Keenan, Canadian ice hockey coach
• 1949 – Benjamin Netanyahu, 9th Prime Minister of Israel
• 1950 – Ronald McNair, American astronaut (d. 1986)
• 1952 – Trevor Chappell, Australian cricketer
• 1952 – Patti Davis, American actress and novelist
• 1952 – Allen Hoey, American poet and novelist
• 1952 – Brent Mydland, American keyboardist (Grateful Dead) (d. 1990)
• 1953 – Keith Green, American musician (d. 1982)
• 1953 – Peter Mandelson, British politician
• 1953 – Charlotte Caffey, American musician (The Go-Go’s)
• 1954 – Brian Tobin, Canadian premier of Newfoundland
• 1955 – Rich Mullins, American musician (d. 1997)
• 1956 – Carrie Fisher, American actress and writer
• 1957 – Julian Cope, English musician and writer
• 1957 – Wolfgang Ketterle, German physicist, Nobel laureate
• 1957 – Steve Lukather, American musician
• 1959 – George Bell, Dominican baseball player
• 1959 – Tony Ganios, American Actor
• 1959 – Rose McDowall, Scottish musician
• 1959 – Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
• 1962 – David Campese, Australian rugby union footballer
• 1964 – Jon Carin, American musician (Pink Floyd, The Who)
• 1965 – Ion Andoni Goikoetxea, Spanish footballer
• 1967 – Paul Ince, English footballer
• 1968 – Melora Walters, American actress
• 1969 – Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, crown prince of Bahrain
• 1969 – Mo Lewis, American football player
• 1969 – Michael Hancock, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1970 – Louis Koo, Hong Kong actor.
• 1971 – Damien Martyn, Australian cricketer
• 1971 – Jade Jagger, Socialite and Jewellery Designer
• 1971 – Nick Oliveri, American musician
• 1971 – Paul Norman Telfer, Scottish footballer
• 1972 – Felicity Andersen, Australian actress
• 1972 – Saffron Burrows, English actress
• 1972 – Masakazu Morita, seiyu and actor
• 1972 – Matthew Friedberger, American musician (The Fiery Furnaces)
• 1972 – Evhen Tsybulenko, Ukrainian professor of international law
• 1973 – Lera Auerbach, Russian composer
• 1973 – Charlie Lowell, American Musician
• 1975 – Toby Hall, American baseball player
• 1975 – Henrique Hilário, Portuguese footballer
• 1976 – Jeremy Miller, American TV actor
• 1976 – Lavinia Miloşovici, Romanian gymnast
• 1976 – Josh Ritter, American musician
• 1976 – Mélanie Turgeon, French Canadian alpine skier
• 1978 – Will Estes, American actor
• 1978 – Joey Harrington, American football player
• 1979 – Khalil Greene, American baseball player
• 1979 – Gabe Gross, American baseball player
• 1980 – Kim Kardashian, American socialite
• 1980 – Brian Pittman, American musician (Relient K)
• 1981 – Nemanja Vidić, Serbian footballer
• 1982 – James White, American basketball player
• 1982 – Matt Dallas, American Actor
• 1983 – Zack Greinke, American baseball player
• 1983 – Ninette Tayeb, Israeli singer
• 1983 – Andy Marté, Dominican baseball player
• 1984 – Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, French Canadian short track speed skater
• 1984 – Kenny Cooper, American soccer player
• 1984 – Marvin Mitchell, American football player
• 1984 – Kieran Richardson, English footballer
• 1986 – Chibuzor Chilaka, English footballer
• 1986 – Alex Kew, British actor
• 1986 – Natalee Holloway,U.S teen,disappeared in Aruba (d.2005)
• 1986 – Christopher Uckermann, Actor, and singer in the Latin pop group RBD
• 1990 – Ricky Rubio, Spanish basketball player

Deaths

• 1125 – Cosmas of Prague, Bohemian writer
• 1204 – Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester, English nobleman
• 1221 – Alix of Thouars, Duchess of Brittany (b. 1201)
• 1266 – Birger jarl, Swedish statesman (b. 1210)
• 1422 – King Charles VI of France (b. 1368)
• 1500 – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (b. 1442)
• 1505 – Paul Scriptoris, German mathematician
• 1558 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian scholar (b. 1484)
• 1600 – Toda Katsushige, Japanese warlord (b. 1557)
• 1623 – William Wade, English statesman and diplomat (b. 1546)
• 1662 – Henry Lawes, English composer (b. 1595)
• 1687 – Sir Edmund Waller, English poet (b. 1606)
• 1765 – Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Italian painter and architect (b. 1691)
• 1775 – Peyton Randolph, American president of the Continental Congress (b. 1721)
• 1777 – Samuel Foote, English dramatist and actor (b. 1720)
• 1805 – Horatio Nelson, British admiral (b. 1758)
• 1872 – Jacques Babinet, French physicist (b. 1794)
• 1873 – Johann Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet (b. 1807)
• 1896 – James Henry Greathead, British engineer (b. 1844)
• 1904 – Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and writer (b. 1877)
• 1931 – Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian writer (b. 1862)
• 1940 – William G. Conley, Governor of West Virginia (b. 1866)
• 1944 – Alois Kayser, German missionary to Nauru (b. 1877)
• 1963 – Józef Franczak, last cursed soldier – anticommunist underground in Poland(b. 1918)
• 1965 – Bill Black, American musician (b. 1926)
• 1969 – Jack Kerouac, American novelist (b. 1922)
• 1969 – Waclaw Sierpinski, Polish mathematician (b. 1882)
• 1973 – Nasif Estéfano, Argentine racing driver (b. 1932)
• 1975 – Charles Reidpath, American athlete (b. 1887)
• 1978 – Anastas Mikoyan, Soviet politician (b. 1895)
• 1980 – Hans Asperger, Austrian psychologist (b. 1906)
• 1984 – François Truffaut, French film director (b. 1932)
• 1986 – Lionel Murphy, Australian politician and judge (b. 1922)
• 1989 – Jean Image, Hungarian-born French animator (b. 1910)
• 1990 – Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1921)
• 1992 – Jim Garrison, American attorney (b. 1921)
• 1995 – Shannon Hoon, American singer (Blind Melon) (b. 1967)
• 1995 – Jesús Blasco, Spanish comic book author (b. 1919)
• 1995 – Maxene Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (b. 1916)
• 1998 – Francis W. Sargent, 64^th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Fred Berry, American actor (b. 1951)
• 2003 – Luis A. Ferré, Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1940)
• 2003 – Louise Day Hicks, American politician (b. 1916)
• 2003 – Elliott Smith, American musician (b. 1969)
• 2005 – Tara Correa-McMullen, American actress (b. 1989)
• 2006 – Sandy West, American musician (The Runaways) (b. 1959)
• 2007 – Paul Fox, English musician and singer (The Ruts) (b. 1951)

Holidays and observances

• Apple Day
• R.C. saints – Saint Ursula; Saint Hilarion; John of Bridlington
• Republic of China – Overseas Chinese Day
• Trafalgar Day — celebrated throughout much of the British Empire in the 19th and early 20th Century.
• French Republican Calendar – Tonneau (Barrel) Day, thirtieth day in the Month of Vendémiaire