- 1555: death of Joanna of Castile, mother of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1794: birth of Germinal Pierre Dandelin, French-Dutch-Belgian mathematician and engineer
- 1831: birth of Constantin Meunier, sculptor
- 1893: a massive general strike breaks out in Belgium over the issue of restricted voting rights
- 2003: marriage of Prince Laurent of Belgium to Claire Coombs
- 2006: Joe Van Holsbeeck is murdered in broad daylight at the Central Station in Brussels for his iPod