- 1477: death of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy, ruler over most of the current Belgian territory
- 1614: birth of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
- 1806: birth of André Henri Constant van Hasselt, poet
- 1949: birth of Anne-Marie Lizin, politician, president of the Senate as of 2006
- 1997: death of André Franquin, comics artist best known for Spirou et Fantasio, Gaston Lagaffe and the Marsupilami
- 2005: Libération journalist Florence Aubenas is taken hostage in Iraq