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June 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

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  • 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded.
  • 1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.
  • 1556 – The thirteen Stratford Martyrs are burned at the stake near London for their Protestant beliefs.
  • 1743 – In the Battle of Dettingen, George II becomes the last reigning British monarch to participate in a battle.
  • 1760 – Anglo-Cherokee War: Cherokee warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Echoee near present-day Otto, North Carolina.
  • 1806 – British forces take Buenos Aires during the first of the British invasions of the River Plate.
  • 1844 – Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are killed by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Confederate forces defeat Union forces during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Atlanta Campaign.
  • 1869 – The Republic of Ezo on the island of Hokkaido ends after being defeated by Japanese Imperial troops.
  • 1895 – The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
  • 1898 – The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia.
  • 1905 – During the Russo-Japanese War, sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian battleship Potemkin.
  • 1908 – A group of Vietnamese tirailleurs conducts a failed attempt to poison the entire French army’s garrison in the Hanoi Citadel with the aim to make way for Hoàng Hoa Thám’s rebel army to capture Hanoi.
  • 1923 – Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH.4B biplane.
  • 1927 – Prime Minister of Japan Tanaka Giichi convenes an eleven-day conference to discuss Japan’s strategy in China. The Tanaka Memorial, a forged plan for world domination, is later claimed to be a secret report leaked from this conference.
  • 1941 – Romanian authorities launch one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history in the city of Iași, resulting in the murder of at least 13,266 Jews.
  • 1941 – World War II: German troops capture the city of Białystok during Operation Barbarossa.
  • 1946 – In the Canadian Citizenship Act, the Parliament of Canada establishes the definition of Canadian citizenship.
  • 1950 – The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War.
  • 1954 – The Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, the Soviet Union’s first nuclear power station, opens in Obninsk, near Moscow.
  • 1954 – The FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match between Hungary and Brazil, highly anticipated to be exciting, instead turns violent, with three players ejected and further fighting continuing after the game.
  • 1957 – Hurricane Audrey makes landfall near the Texas–Louisiana border, killing over 400 people, mainly in and around Cameron, Louisiana.
  • 1973 – The President of Uruguay Juan María Bordaberry dissolves Parliament and establishes a dictatorship.
  • 1974 – U.S. president Richard Nixon visits the Soviet Union.
  • 1976 – Air France Flight 139 (Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris) is hijacked en route to Paris by the PLO and redirected to Entebbe, Uganda.
  • 1977 – France grants independence to Djibouti.
  • 1980 – The ‘Ustica massacre’: Itavia Flight 870 crashes in the sea while en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, killing all 81 on board.
  • 1981 – The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issues its “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China”, laying the blame for the Cultural Revolution on Mao Zedong.
  • 1982 – Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the final research and development flight mission, STS-4.
  • 1988 – The Gare de Lyon rail accident in Paris, France, kills 56 people.
  • 1991 – Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft starting the Ten-Day War.
  • 1994 – Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult release sarin gas in Matsumoto, Japan. Seven people are killed, 660 injured.
  • 2007 – Tony Blair resigns as British Prime Minister, a position he had held since 1997. His Chancellor, Gordon Brown succeeds him.
  • 2007 – The Brazilian Military Police invades the favelas of Complexo do Alemão in an episode which is remembered as the Complexo do Alemão massacre.
  • 2008 – In a highly scrutinized election President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe is re-elected in a landslide after his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai had withdrawn a week earlier, citing violence against his party’s supporters.
  • 2013 – NASA launches the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun.
  • 2014 – At least fourteen people are killed when a Gas Authority of India Limited pipeline explodes in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India.
  • 2015 – Formosa Fun Coast fire: A dust fire occurs at a recreational water park in Taiwan, killing 15 people and injuring 497 others, 199 critically.
  • 2017 – A series of powerful cyberattacks using the Petya malware target websites of Ukrainian organizations and counterparts with Ukrainian connections around the globe.

Births on June 27

  • 850 – Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya, Aghlabid emir (d. 902)
  • 1350 – Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1425)
  • 1430 – Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, Lancastrian leader (d. 1475)
  • 1462 – Louis XII, king of France (d. 1515)
  • 1464 – Ernst II of Saxony, Archbishop of Magdeburg (1476–1513) (d. 1513)
  • 1497 – Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1546)
  • 1550 – Charles IX, king of France (d. 1574)
  • 1596 – Maximilian, Prince of Dietrichstein (d. 1655)
  • 1696 – William Pepperrell, American merchant and soldier (d. 1759)
  • 1717 – Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier, French botanist and physicist (d. 1799)
  • 1767 – Alexis Bouvard, French astronomer and academic (d. 1843)
  • 1805 – Napoléon Coste, French guitarist and composer (d. 1883)
  • 1806 – Augustus De Morgan, English mathematician and logician (d. 1871)
  • 1812 – Anna Cabot Lowell Quincy Waterston, American writer (d. 1899)
  • 1817 – Louise von François, German author (d. 1893)
  • 1828 – Bryan O’Loghlen, Irish-Australian politician, 13th Premier of Victoria (d. 1905)
  • 1838 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1894)
  • 1838 – Paul Mauser, German weapon designer, designed the Gewehr 98 (d. 1914)
  • 1846 – Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish politician (d. 1891)
  • 1850 – Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1919)
  • 1850 – Lafcadio Hearn, Greek-Japanese historian and author (d. 1904)
  • 1862 – May Irwin, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 1938)
  • 1865 – John Monash, Australian engineer and general (d. 1931)
  • 1869 – Kate Carew, American illustrator and journalist (d. 1961)
  • 1869 – Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-Canadian philosopher and activist (d. 1940)
  • 1869 – Hans Spemann, German embryologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
  • 1870 – Frank Rattray Lillie, American zoologist and embryologist (d. 1947)
  • 1872 – Heber Doust Curtis, American astronomer (d. 1942)
  • 1872 – Paul Laurence Dunbar, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1906)
  • 1880 – Helen Keller, American author, academic, and activist (d. 1968)
  • 1882 – Eduard Spranger, German philosopher and academic (d. 1963)
  • 1884 – Gaston Bachelard, French philosopher and poet (d. 1962)
  • 1885 – Pierre Montet, French historian and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1885 – Guilhermina Suggia, Portuguese cellist (d. 1950)
  • 1886 – Charlie Macartney, Australian cricketer and soldier (d. 1958)
  • 1888 – Lewis Bernstein Namier, Polish-English historian and academic (d. 1960)
  • 1888 – Antoinette Perry, American actress and director (d. 1946)
  • 1892 – Paul Colin, French illustrator (d. 1985)
  • 1899 – Juan Trippe, American businessman, founded Pan American World Airways (d. 1981)
  • 1900 – Dixie Brown, British boxer (d. 1957)
  • 1901 – Merle Tuve, American geophysicist and academic (d. 1982)
  • 1905 – Armand Mondou, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1976)
  • 1906 – Catherine Cookson, English author and philanthropist (d. 1998)
  • 1906 – Vernon Watkins, Welsh-American poet and painter (d. 1967)
  • 1907 – John McIntire, American actor (d. 1991)
  • 1908 – João Guimarães Rosa, Brazilian physician and author (d. 1967)
  • 1911 – Marion M. Magruder, American Marine officer, commander of the VMF(N)-533 squadron. (d. 1997)
  • 1912 – E. R. Braithwaite, Guyanese novelist, writer, teacher, and diplomat (d. 2016)
  • 1913 – Elton Britt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
  • 1913 – Philip Guston, American painter and academic (d. 1980)
  • 1913 – Willie Mosconi, American pool player (d. 1993)
  • 1914 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist, co-founded the Inland Waterways Association (d. 1981)
  • 1914 – Helena Benitez, Filipina academic and administrator (d. 2016)
  • 1914 – Margaret Ekpo, Nigerian women’s rights activist, social mobilizer and politician (d. 2006)
  • 1914 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (d. 1988)
  • 1915 – Grace Lee Boggs, American philosopher, author, and activist (d. 2015)
  • 1915 – Aideu Handique, Indian actress (d. 2002)
  • 1915 – John Alexander Moore, American zoologist and academic (d. 2002)
  • 1916 – Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist (d. 1998)
  • 1918 – Adolph Kiefer, American swimmer (d. 2017)
  • 1919 – M. Carl Holman, American author, educator, poet, and playwright (d. 1988)
  • 1919 – Amala Shankar, Indian danseuse
  • 1920 – Fernando Riera, Chilean football player and manager (d. 2010)
  • 1921 – Muriel Pavlow, English actress (d. 2019)
  • 1922 – George Walker, American composer (d. 2018)
  • 1923 – Jacques Berthier, French organist and composer (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Elmo Hope, American pianist and composer (d. 1967)
  • 1924 – Bob Appleyard, English cricketer and businessman (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Leonard Lerman, American geneticist and biologist (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Doc Pomus, American singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
  • 1925 – Wayne Terwilliger, American second baseman, coach, and manager
  • 1927 – Bob Keeshan, American actor and producer (d. 2004)
  • 1928 – James Lincoln Collier, American journalist and author
  • 1928 – Rudy Perpich, American dentist and politician, 34th Governor of Minnesota (d. 1995)
  • 1929 – Dick the Bruiser, American football player and wrestler (d. 1991)
  • 1929 – Peter Maas, American journalist and author (d. 2001)
  • 1930 – Ross Perot, American businessman and politician (d. 2019)
  • 1931 – Charles Bronfman, Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist
  • 1931 – Martinus J. G. Veltman, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1932 – Eddie Kasko, American baseball player and manager (d. 2020)
  • 1932 – Anna Moffo, American operatic soprano (d. 2006)
  • 1932 – Hugh Wood, English composer
  • 1936 – Lucille Clifton, American author and poet (d. 2010)
  • 1936 – Shirley Anne Field, English actress
  • 1937 – Joseph P. Allen, American physicist and astronaut
  • 1937 – Otto Herrigel, Namibian lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1937 – Kirkpatrick Sale, American author and scholar
  • 1938 – Bruce Babbitt, American lawyer and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Interior
  • 1938 – David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, Scottish lieutenant and judge
  • 1938 – Konrad Kujau, German illustrator (d. 2000)
  • 1939 – R. D. Burman, Indian singer-songwriter (d. 1994)
  • 1939 – Neil Hawke, Australian cricketer and footballer (d. 2000)
  • 1940 – Ian Lang, Baron Lang of Monkton, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1941 – Bill Baxley, American lawyer and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama
  • 1941 – James P. Hogan, English-Irish author (d. 2010)
  • 1941 – Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
  • 1942 – Bruce Johnston, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1942 – Frank Mills, Canadian pianist and composer
  • 1942 – Danny Schechter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1943 – Ravi Batra, Indian-American economist and academic
  • 1944 – Angela King, English environmentalist and author, co-founded Common Ground
  • 1944 – Patrick Sercu, Belgian cyclist (d. 2019)
  • 1945 – Joey Covington, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1945 – Norma Kamali, American fashion designer
  • 1945 – Ragnar Søderlind, Norwegian composer
  • 1948 – Camile Baudoin, American guitarist
  • 1949 – Vera Wang, American fashion designer
  • 1951 – Ulf Andersson, Swedish chess player
  • 1951 – Julia Duffy, American actress
  • 1951 – Gilson Lavis, English drummer and portrait artist
  • 1951 – Mary McAleese, Irish academic and politician, 8th President of Ireland
  • 1952 – Madan Bhandari, Nepalese politician (d. 1993)
  • 1953 – Igor Gräzin, Estonian academic and politician
  • 1953 – Alice McDermott, American novelist
  • 1954 – Richard Ibbotson, English admiral
  • 1955 – Isabelle Adjani, French actress
  • 1956 – Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player and politician
  • 1957 – Gabriella Dorio, Italian runner
  • 1958 – Lisa Germano, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1958 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
  • 1959 – Dan Jurgens, American author and illustrator
  • 1959 – Lorrie Morgan, American singer
  • 1960 – Craig Hodges, American basketball player and coach
  • 1960 – Robert King, English harpsichordist and conductor
  • 1960 – Jeremy Swift, English actor
  • 1962 – Michael Ball, English actor and singer
  • 1962 – Sunanda Pushkar, India-born Canadian businesswoman (d. 2014)
  • 1963 – Wendy Alexander, Scottish politician, Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning
  • 1963 – Johnny Benson Jr., American race car driver
  • 1964 – Stephan Brenninkmeijer, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Chuck Person, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Simon Sebag Montefiore, English journalist, historian, and author
  • 1965 – S. Manikavasagam, Malaysian politician and social activist
  • 1965 – Óscar Vega, Spanish boxer
  • 1966 – J.J. Abrams, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Jörg Bergen, German footballer and manager
  • 1966 – Jeff Conine, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Aigars Kalvītis, Latvian politician, businessman, and former Prime Minister of Latvia
  • 1967 – Sylvie Fréchette, Canadian swimmer and coach
  • 1967 – George Hamilton, Northern Irish police officer
  • 1967 – Vasiliy Kaptyukh, Belarusian discus thrower
  • 1967 – Phil Kearns, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1968 – Kelly Ayotte, American lawyer and politician, New Hampshire Attorney General
  • 1969 – Viktor Petrenko, Ukrainian figure skater
  • 1970 – Régine Cavagnoud, French skier (d. 2001)
  • 1970 – John Eales, Australian rugby player and businessman
  • 1970 – Jim Edmonds, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Jo Frost, English nanny, television personality, and author
  • 1971 – Serginho, Brazilian footballer
  • 1972 – Dawud Wharnsby, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1973 – Abbath Doom Occulta, Norwegian musician
  • 1973 – Simon Archer, English badminton player
  • 1974 – Christian Kane, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1974 – Christopher O’Neill, English-American businessman
  • 1975 – Ace Darling, American wrestler
  • 1975 – Bianca Del Rio, American drag queen & comedian
  • 1975 – Sarah Evanetz, Canadian swimmer
  • 1975 – Tobey Maguire, American actor
  • 1975 – Daryle Ward, American baseball player
  • 1976 – Johnny Estrada, American baseball player
  • 1976 – Leigh Nash, American singer-songwriter
  • 1977 – Arkadiusz Radomski, Polish footballer
  • 1978 – Apparat, German musician
  • 1980 – Hugo Campagnaro, Argentinian footballer
  • 1980 – Jennifer Goodridge, American keyboard player
  • 1980 – Alexander Peya, Austrian tennis player
  • 1980 – Kevin Pietersen, South African-English cricketer
  • 1980 – Craig Terrill, American football player
  • 1981 – Andrew Embley, Australian footballer
  • 1983 – Jim Johnson, American baseball player
  • 1983 – Dale Steyn, South African cricketer
  • 1983 – Nikola Rakočević, Serbian actor
  • 1984 – Khloé Kardashian, American model, businesswoman, and radio host
  • 1984 – D.J. King, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Jose Holebas, German-Greek footballer
  • 1984 – Gökhan Inler, Swiss footballer
  • 1985 – James Hook, Welsh rugby player
  • 1985 – Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russian tennis player
  • 1985 – Nico Rosberg, German race car driver
  • 1986 – Sam Claflin, British actor
  • 1986 – Drake Bell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1986 – Bryan Fletcher, American skier
  • 1986 – LaShawn Merritt, American sprinter
  • 1987 – India de Beaufort, English actress
  • 1987 – Ed Westwick, English actor
  • 1988 – Stefani Bismpikou, Greek gymnast
  • 1988 – Matthew Spiranovic, Australian footballer
  • 1988 – Kate Ziegler, American swimmer
  • 1989 – Hana Birnerová, Czech tennis player
  • 1989 – Matthew Lewis, English actor
  • 1992 – Ahn So-hee, South Korean singer and actress
  • 1992 – Karthika Nair, Indian film actress
  • 1993 – Johanna Talihärm, Estonian biathlete
  • 1993 – Alberto Campbell-Staines, Australian athlete
  • 1994 – Anita Husarić, Bosnian tennis player
  • 1995 – Monté Morris, American basketball player

Deaths on June 27

  • 992 – Conan I of Rennes, Duke of Brittany
  • 1162 – Odo II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1118)
  • 1194 – King Sancho VI of Navarre (b. 1132)
  • 1296 – Floris V, Count of Holland (b. 1254)
  • 1458 – Alfonso V of Aragon (b. 1396)
  • 1497 – Michael An Gof, rebel leader
  • 1497 – Thomas Flamank, rebel leader
  • 1574 – Giorgio Vasari, Italian historian, painter, and architect (b. 1511)
  • 1601 – Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys (b. 1525)
  • 1603 – Jan Dymitr Solikowski, Polish archbishop (b. 1539)
  • 1627 – John Hayward, English historian, journalist, and politician (b. 1564)
  • 1636 – Date Masamune, Japanese strongman (b. 1567)
  • 1654 – Johannes Valentinus Andreae, German theologian (b. 1586)
  • 1655 – Eleonora Gonzaga, Holy Roman Empress (b. 1598)
  • 1672 – Roger Twysden, English historian and politician (b. 1597)
  • 1720 – Guillaume Amfrye de Chaulieu, French poet and author (b. 1639)
  • 1794 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (b. 1711)
  • 1794 – Philippe de Noailles, French general (b. 1715)
  • 1827 – Johann Gottfried Eichhorn, German theologian and academic (b. 1754)
  • 1829 – James Smithson, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1765)
  • 1831 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1776)
  • 1839 – Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire (b. 1780)
  • 1844 – Hyrum Smith, American religious leader (b. 1800)
  • 1844 – Joseph Smith, American religious leader, founded the Latter Day Saint movement (b. 1805)
  • 1878 – Sidney Breese, American jurist and politician (b. 1800)
  • 1894 – Giorgio Costantino Schinas, Maltese architect and civil engineer (b. 1834)
  • 1896 – John Berryman, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1825)
  • 1905 – Harold Mahony, Scottish-Irish tennis player (b. 1867)
  • 1907 – Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American educator, co-founded Radcliffe College (b. 1822)
  • 1911 – Victor Surridge, English motorcycle racer (b. 1882)
  • 1912 – George Bonnor, Australian cricketer (b. 1855)
  • 1917 – Karl Allmenröder, German soldier and pilot (b. 1896)
  • 1919 – Peter Sturholdt, American boxer (b. 1885)
  • 1920 – Adolphe-Basile Routhier, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1839)
  • 1934 – Francesco Buhagiar, Maltese politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1876)
  • 1935 – Eugene Augustin Lauste, French-American inventor (b. 1857)
  • 1944 – Milan Hodža, Czech journalist and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (b. 1878)
  • 1946 – Wanda Gág, American author and illustrator (b. 1893)
  • 1949 – Frank Smythe, English botanist and mountaineer (b. 1900)
  • 1950 – Milada Horáková, Czech politician, victim of judicial murder (b. 1901)
  • 1952 – Max Dehn, German-American mathematician and academic (b. 1878)
  • 1957 – Hermann Buhl, Austrian soldier and mountaineer (b. 1924)
  • 1960 – Lottie Dod, English tennis player, golfer, and archer (b. 1871)
  • 1962 – Paul Viiding, Estonian author, poet, and critic (b. 1904)
  • 1967 – Jaan Lattik, Estonian pastor and politician, 9th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia (b. 1878)
  • 1970 – Daniel Kinsey, American hurdler and scholar (b. 1902)
  • 1975 – G.I. Taylor, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1886)
  • 1986 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player and referee (b. 1905)
  • 1987 – Billy Snedden, Australian lawyer and politician, 17th Attorney-General for Australia (b. 1926)
  • 1989 – A. J. Ayer, English philosopher and academic (b. 1910)
  • 1991 – Milton Subotsky, American-English screenwriter and producer (b. 1921)
  • 1996 – Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer (b. 1909)
  • 1998 – Gilles Rocheleau, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1935)
  • 1999 – Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, 169th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
  • 2000 – Pierre Pflimlin, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1907)
  • 2001 – Tove Jansson, Finnish author, illustrator, and painter (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Jack Lemmon, American actor (b. 1925)
  • 2001 – Joan Sims, English actress (b. 1930)
  • 2002 – John Entwistle, English singer-songwriter, bass guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
  • 2002 – Robert L. J. Long, American admiral (b. 1920)
  • 2003 – David Newman, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1937)
  • 2004 – George Patton IV, American general (b. 1923)
  • 2004 – Darrell Russell, American race car driver (b. 1968)
  • 2005 – Shelby Foote, American historian and author (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Ray Holmes, English lieutenant and pilot (b. 1914)
  • 2005 – John T. Walton, American businessman, co-founded the Children’s Scholarship Fund (b. 1946)
  • 2006 – Ángel Maturino Reséndiz, Mexican serial killer (b. 1959)
  • 2007 – William Hutt, Canadian actor (b. 1920)
  • 2008 – Sam Manekshaw, Indian field marshal (b. 1914)
  • 2009 – Gale Storm, American actress (b. 1922)
  • 2010 – Corey Allen, American film and television actor, writer, director, and producer (b. 1934)
  • 2011 – Mike Doyle, English footballer (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Stan Cox, English runner (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Rosemary Dobson, Australian poet and illustrator (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (b. 1964)
  • 2013 – Ian Scott, English-New Zealand painter (b. 1945)
  • 2014 – Edmond Blanchard, Canadian jurist and politician (b. 1954)
  • 2014 – Allen Grossman, American poet, critic, and academic (b. 1932)
  • 2014 – Leslie Manigat, Haitian educator and politician, 43rd President of Haiti (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Violet Milstead, Canadian World War II aviator and bush pilot (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Rachid Solh, Lebanese politician, 48th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Zvi Elpeleg, Polish-Israeli diplomat, author, and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Knut Helle, Norwegian historian and professor (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Chris Squire, English musician (bass guitarist), singer and songwriter, member of the rock band Yes (b. 1948)
  • 2016 – Bud Spencer, Italian swimmer, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
  • 2017 – Peter L. Berger, Austrian sociologist (b. 1929)
  • 2018 – Joe Jackson, American manager, father of Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson (b. 1928)
  • 2018 – Liz Jackson, Australian journalist and former barrister (b. 1951)
  • 2018 – William McBridge, Australian obstetrician (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on June 27

  • Christian feast day:
    • Arialdo
    • Crescens, one of the Seventy disciples
    • Cyril of Alexandria (Coptic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church)
    • Ladislaus I of Hungary
    • Our Lady of Perpetual Help
    • Sampson the Hospitable
    • Zoilus
    • June 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Canadian Multiculturalism Day (Canada)
  • Commemoration Day for the Victims of the Communist Regime (Czech Republic)
  • Day of Turkmen Workers of Culture and Art (Turkmenistan)
  • Helen Keller Day (United States)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Djibouti from France in 1977.
  • Mixed Race Day (Brazil)
  • National HIV Testing Day (United States)
  • National PTSD Awareness Day (United States)
  • Seven Sleepers’ Day or Siebenschläfertag (Germany)
  • Unity Day (Tajikistan)

June 11- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 1184 BC – Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes.
  • 173 – Marcomannic Wars: The Roman army in Moravia is encircled by the Quadi, who have broken the peace treaty (171). In a violent thunderstorm emperor Marcus Aurelius defeats and subdues them in the so-called “miracle of the rain”.
  • 631 – Emperor Taizong of Tang sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to seek the release of Chinese prisoners captured during the transition from Sui to Tang.
  • 786 – A Hasanid Alid uprising in Mecca is crushed by the Abbasids at the Battle of Fakhkh.
  • 980 – Vladimir the Great consolidates the Kievan realm from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. He is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus’.
  • 1011 – Lombard Revolt: Greek citizens of Bari rise up against the Lombard rebels led by Melus and deliver the city to Basil Mesardonites, Byzantine governor (catepan) of the Catepanate of Italy.
  • 1118 – Roger of Salerno, Prince of Antioch, captures Azaz from the Seljuk Turks.
  • 1157 – Albert I of Brandenburg, also called The Bear (Ger: Albrecht der Bär), becomes the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Germany and the first margrave.
  • 1345 – The megas doux Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, is lynched by political prisoners.
  • 1429 – Hundred Years’ War: Start of the Battle of Jargeau.
  • 1488 – Battle of Sauchieburn: Fought between rebel Lords and James III of Scotland, resulting in the death of the king.
  • 1509 – Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon.
  • 1594 – Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paved way to the stabilization of the rule of the Principalía (an elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines).
  • 1748 – Denmark adopts the characteristic Nordic Cross flag later taken up by all other Scandinavian countries.
  • 1770 – British explorer Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
  • 1775 – The American Revolutionary War’s first naval engagement, the Battle of Machias, results in the capture of a small British naval vessel.
  • 1776 – The Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.
  • 1788 – Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
  • 1805 – A fire consumes large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.
  • 1825 – The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.
  • 1837 – The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between Yankees and Irish.
  • 1865 – The Naval Battle of the Riachuelo is fought on the rivulet Riachuelo (Argentina), between the Paraguayan Navy on one side and the Brazilian Navy on the other. The Brazilian victory was crucial for the later success of the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina) in the Paraguayan War.
  • 1892 – The Limelight Department, one of the world’s first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
  • 1895 – Paris–Bordeaux–Paris, sometimes called the first automobile race in history or the “first motor race”, takes place.
  • 1898 – The Hundred Days’ Reform, a planned movement to reform social, political, and educational institutions in China, is started by the Guangxu Emperor, but is suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days. (The failed reform led to the abolition of the Imperial examination in 1905.)
  • 1901 – The boundaries of the Colony of New Zealand are extended by the UK to include the Cook Islands.
  • 1903 – A group of Serbian officers stormed the royal palace and assassinated King Alexander Obrenović and his wife, Queen Draga.
  • 1917 – King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father, Constantine I, abdicates under pressure from allied armies occupying Athens.
  • 1919 – Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown.
  • 1920 – During the U.S. Republican National Convention in Chicago, U.S. Republican Party leaders gathered in a room at the Blackstone Hotel to come to a consensus on their candidate for the U.S. presidential election, leading the Associated Press to coin the political phrase “smoke-filled room”.
  • 1935 – Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States at Alpine, New Jersey.
  • 1936 – The London International Surrealist Exhibition opens.
  • 1937 – Great Purge: The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin executes eight army leaders.
  • 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.
  • 1940 – World War II: The Siege of Malta begins with a series of Italian air raids.
  • 1942 – World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
  • 1942 – Free French Forces retreat from Bir Hakeim after having successfully delayed the Axis advance.
  • 1944 – USS Missouri, the last battleship built by the United States Navy and future site of the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, is commissioned.
  • 1955 – Eighty-three spectators are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the deadliest ever accident in motorsports.
  • 1956 – Start of Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that target minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province. The total number of deaths is reportedly 150.
  • 1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.
  • 1963 – American Civil Rights Movement: Governor of Alabama George Wallace defiantly stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending that school. Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, they are able to register.
  • 1963 – Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.
  • 1963 – John F. Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would revolutionize American society by guaranteeing equal access to public facilities, ending segregation in education, and guaranteeing federal protection for voting rights.
  • 1964 – World War II veteran Walter Seifert attacks an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.
  • 1968 – Lloyd J. Old identified the first cell surface antigens that could differentiate among different cell types.
  • 1970 – After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first women to do so.
  • 1971 – The U.S. Government forcibly removes the last holdouts to the Native American Occupation of Alcatraz, ending 19 months of control.
  • 1978 – Altaf Hussain founds the student political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (APMSO) in Karachi University.
  • 1981 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake at Golbaf, Iran, kills at least 2,000.
  • 1987 – Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant are elected as the first black MPs in Great Britain.
  • 1998 – Compaq Computer pays US$9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in the largest high-tech acquisition.
  • 2001 – Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
  • 2002 – Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
  • 2004 – Cassini–Huygens makes its closest flyby of the Saturn moon Phoebe.
  • 2007 – Mudslides in Chittagong, Bangladesh, kill 130 people.
  • 2008 – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes a historic official apology to Canada’s First Nations in regard to abuses at a Canadian Indian residential school.
  • 2008 – The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is launched into orbit.
  • 2010 – The first African FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa.
  • 2012 – More than 80 people die in a landslide triggered by two earthquakes in Afghanistan; an entire village is buried.
  • 2013 – Greece’s public broadcaster ERT is shut down by then-prime minister Antonis Samaras. It reopened exactly two years later by then-prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
  • 2018 – 3 World Trade Center officially opens.

Births on June 11

  • 1403 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (d. 1427)
  • 1431 – Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (d. 1456)
  • 1456 – Anne Neville, Princess of Wales and Queen of England (d. 1485)
  • 1540 – Barnabe Googe, English poet and translator (d. 1594)
  • 1555 – Lodovico Zacconi, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1627)
  • 1572 – Ben Jonson, English poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1637)
  • 1585 – Evert Horn, Swedish soldier (d. 1615)
  • 1588 – George Wither, English poet (d. 1667)
  • 1620 – John Moore, English businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of London (d. 1702)
  • 1655 – Antonio Cifrondi, Italian painter (d. 1730)
  • 1662 – Tokugawa Ienobu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1712)
  • 1672 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (d. 1749)
  • 1690 – Giovanni Antonio Giay, Italian composer (d. 1764)
  • 1696 – James Francis Edward Keith, Scottish-Prussian field marshal (d. 1758)
  • 1697 – Francesco Antonio Vallotti, Italian organist and composer (d. 1780)
  • 1704 – Carlos Seixas, Portuguese harpsichord player and composer (d. 1742)
  • 1709 – Joachim Martin Falbe, German painter (d. 1782)
  • 1712 – Benjamin Ingham, American missionary (d. 1772)
  • 1723 – Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (d. 1788)
  • 1726 – Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (d. 1746)
  • 1741 – Joseph Warren, American physician and general (d. 1775)
  • 1776 – John Constable, English painter and academic (d. 1837)
  • 1797 – José Trinidad Reyes, Honduran philosopher and theorist (d. 1855)
  • 1807 – James F. Schenck, American admiral (d. 1882)
  • 1815 – Julia Margaret Cameron, Indian-Sri Lankan photographer (d. 1879)
  • 1818 – Alexander Bain, Scottish philosopher and academic (d. 1903)
  • 1829 – Edward Braddon, English-Australian politician, 18th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1904)
  • 1832 – Lucy Pickens, American wife of Francis Wilkinson Pickens (d. 1899)
  • 1842 – Carl von Linde, German engineer and academic (d. 1934)
  • 1846 – William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (d. 1920)
  • 1847 – Millicent Fawcett, English academic and activist (d. 1929)
  • 1861 – Alexander Peacock, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Victoria (d. 1933)
  • 1864 – Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)
  • 1867 – Charles Fabry, French physicist and academic (d. 1945)
  • 1871 – Stjepan Radić, Croatian lawyer and politician (d. 1928)
  • 1876 – Alfred L. Kroeber, American-French anthropologist and ethnologist (d. 1960)
  • 1877 – Renée Vivien, English-French poet and author (d. 1909)
  • 1879 – Roger Bresnahan, American baseball player and manager (d. 1944)
  • 1880 – Jeannette Rankin, American social worker and politician (d. 1973)
  • 1881 – Spiros Xenos, Greek-Swedish painter (d. 1963)
  • 1881 – Mordecai Kaplan, Lithuanian rabbi, founded Reconstructionist Judaism (d. 1983)
  • 1888 – Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian-American anarchist and convicted criminal (d. 1927)
  • 1889 – Hugo Wieslander, Swedish decathlete (d. 1976)
  • 1894 – Kiichiro Toyoda, Japanese businessman, founded Toyota (d. 1952)
  • 1895 – Nikolai Bulganin, Soviet politician (d. 1975)
  • 1897 – Ram Prasad Bismil, Indian activist, founded the Hindustan Republican Association (d. 1927)
  • 1897 – Reg Latta, Australian rugby league player (d. 1970)
  • 1899 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese novelist and short story writer Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
  • 1901 – Cap Fear, Canadian football player and rower (d. 1978)
  • 1901 – Benny Wearing, Australian rugby league player (d. 1968)
  • 1902 – Eric Fraser, British illustrator and graphic designer (d. 1983)
  • 1903 – Ernie Nevers, American football player and coach (d. 1976)
  • 1908 – Karl Hein, German hammer thrower (d. 1982)
  • 1908 – Francisco Marto, Portuguese saint (d. 1919)
  • 1909 – Natascha Artin Brunswick, German-American mathematician and photographer (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – Carmine Coppola, American flute player and composer (d. 1991)
  • 1910 – Jacques Cousteau, French biologist, author, and inventor, co-developed the aqua-lung (d. 1997)
  • 1912 – James Algar, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
  • 1912 – William Baziotes, American painter and academic (d. 1963)
  • 1912 – Mohammad Hassan Ganji, Iranian meteorologist and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1913 – Vince Lombardi, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 1970)
  • 1913 – Risë Stevens, American soprano and actress (d. 2013)
  • 1914 – Jan Hendrik van den Berg, Dutch psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1915 – Magda Gabor, Hungarian-American actress (d. 1997)
  • 1915 – Nicholas Metropolis, American mathematician and physicist (d. 1999)
  • 1917 – Joseph B. Wirthlin, American businessman and religious leader (d. 2008)
  • 1918 – Ruth Aarons, American table tennis player and manager (d. 1980)
  • 1919 – Suleiman Mousa, Jordanian historian and author (d. 2008)
  • 1919 – Richard Todd, Irish-English actor (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Shelly Manne, American drummer, composer, and bandleader (d. 1984)
  • 1920 – Hazel Scott, Trinidadian-American singer, actress, and pianist (d. 1981)
  • 1920 – Keith Seaman, Australian lawyer and politician, 29th Governor of South Australia (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Jean Sutherland Boggs, Peruvian-Canadian historian, academic, and civil servant (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Michael Cacoyannis, Greek Cypriot director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1925 – Johnny Esaw, Canadian sportscaster (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – William Styron, American novelist and essayist (d. 2006)
  • 1926 – Carlisle Floyd, American composer and educator
  • 1927 – Beryl Grey, English ballerina
  • 1927 – John W. O’Malley, American Catholic historian, academic and Jesuit priest
  • 1927 – Kit Pedler, English parapsychologist and author (d. 1981)
  • 1928 – Queen Fabiola of Belgium (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Ayhan Şahenk, Turkish businessman (d. 2001)
  • 1930 – Charles Rangel, American soldier, lawyer, and politician
  • 1932 – Athol Fugard, South African-American actor, director, and playwright
  • 1932 – Tim Sainsbury, English businessman and politician, Minister of State for Trade
  • 1933 – Gene Wilder, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1937 – Chad Everett, American actor and director (d. 2012)
  • 1937 – Robin Warren, Australian pathologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1939 – Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, English cricketer and journalist (d. 2017)
  • 1939 – Jackie Stewart, Scottish race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1942 – Parris Glendening, American politician, 59th Governor of Maryland
  • 1943 – Henry Hill, American mobster (d. 2012)
  • 1945 – Adrienne Barbeau, American actress
  • 1947 – Richard Palmer-James, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1948 – Dave Cash, American baseball player and coach
  • 1948 – Lalu Prasad Yadav, Indian politician, 20th Chief Minister of Bihar
  • 1949 – Frank Beard, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1950 – Lynsey de Paul, English singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, cartoonist and actress (d. 2014)
  • 1950 – Graham Russell, English-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Matthew Engel, English journalist and author
  • 1951 – Yasumasa Morimura, Japanese painter and photographer
  • 1952 – Yekaterina Podkopayeva, Russian runner
  • 1952 – Donnie Van Zant, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1953 – Steve Bassam, Baron Bassam of Brighton, English politician
  • 1953 – José Bové, French farmer and politician
  • 1953 – Barbara Minty, American model
  • 1954 – John Dyson, Australian cricketer
  • 1954 – Johnny Neel, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1955 – Yuriy Sedykh, Ukrainian hammer thrower
  • 1955 – Duncan Steel, English-Australian astronomer and author
  • 1956 – Joe Montana, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Simon Plouffe, Canadian mathematician and academic
  • 1956 – Arthur Porter, Canadian physician and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1956 – Jamaaladeen Tacuma, American bass player and bandleader
  • 1958 – Barry Adamson, English singer and bass player
  • 1959 – Hugh Laurie, English actor and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Mehmet Oz, American surgeon, author, and television host
  • 1962 – Mano Menezes, Brazilian footballer and coach
  • 1963 – Gioia Bruno, American singer-songwriter
  • 1963 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler and sportscaster (d. 2000)
  • 1964 – Jean Alesi, French race car driver
  • 1964 – Kim Gallagher, American runner (d. 2002)
  • 1965 – Georgios Bartzokas, Greek former professional basketball player
  • 1965 – Gavin Hill, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1966 – Bruce Robison, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Graeme Bachop, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1967 – João Garcia, Portuguese mountaineer
  • 1968 – Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein
  • 1968 – Manoa Thompson, Fijian rugby player
  • 1969 – Peter Dinklage, American actor and producer
  • 1969 – Bryan Fogarty, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
  • 1969 – Olaf Kapagiannidis, German footballer
  • 1971 – Vladimir Gaidamașciuc, Moldovan footballer
  • 1971 – Liz Kendall, British politician
  • 1971 – Mark Richardson, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1971 – Kenjiro Tsuda, Japanese voice actor
  • 1972 – Stephen Kearney, New Zealand rugby league player and coach
  • 1973 – José Manuel Abundis, Mexican footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Fragiskos Alvertis, Greek basketball player, coach, and manager
  • 1976 – Reiko Tosa, Japanese runner
  • 1977 – Geoff Ogilvy, Australian golfer
  • 1978 – Joshua Jackson, Canadian-American actor
  • 1978 – Daryl Tuffey, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1979 – Ali Boussaboun, Moroccan-Dutch footballer
  • 1979 – Amy Duggan, Australian footballer and sportscaster
  • 1980 – Yhency Brazoban, Dominican baseball player
  • 1981 – Emiliano Moretti, Italian footballer
  • 1981 – Kristo Tohver, Estonian footballer and referee
  • 1982 – Vanessa Boslak, French pole vaulter
  • 1982 – Jacques Freitag, South African high jumper
  • 1982 – Joey Graham, American basketball player
  • 1982 – Stephen Graham, American basketball player
  • 1982 – Reni Maitua, Australian rugby league player
  • 1982 – Eldar Rønning, Norwegian skier
  • 1982 – Diana Taurasi, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Chuck Hayes, American basketball player
  • 1983 – José Reyes, Dominican baseball player
  • 1984 – Andy Lee, Irish boxer
  • 1984 – Vágner Love, Brazilian footballer
  • 1985 – Tim Hoogland, German footballer
  • 1986 – Sebastian Bayer, German long jumper
  • 1986 – Shia LaBeouf, American actor
  • 1987 – Marsel İlhan, Turkish tennis player
  • 1987 – Didrik Solli-Tangen, Norwegian singer
  • 1988 – Jesús Fernández Collado, Spanish footballer
  • 1988 – Yui Aragaki, Japanese actress, voice actress, singer-songwriter, model, radio host
  • 1989 – Maya Moore, American basketball player
  • 1990 – Christophe Lemaitre, French sprinter
  • 1991 – Daniel Howell, English internet celebrity
  • 1993 – Brittany Boyd, American basketball player
  • 1994 – Ivana Baquero, Spanish actress
  • 1996 – Ayaka Sasaki, Japanese singer
  • 1998 – Charlie Tahan, American actor
  • 1999 – Eartha Cumings, Scottish footballer

Deaths on June 11

  • 323 BC – Alexander the Great, Macedonian king (b. 356 BC)
  • 573 – Emilian of Cogolla, Iberic saint (b. 472)
  • 840 – Junna, emperor of Japan (b. 785)
  • 884 – Shi Jingsi, general of the Tang Dynasty
  • 888 – Rimbert, archbishop of Bremen (b. 830)
  • 1183 – Henry the Young King of England (b. 1155)
  • 1216 – Henry of Flanders, emperor of the Latin Empire (b. c. 1174)
  • 1248 – Adachi Kagemori, Japanese samurai
  • 1253 – Amadeus IV, count of Savoy (b. 1197)
  • 1298 – Yolanda of Poland (b. 1235)
  • 1323 – Bérenger Fredoli, French lawyer and bishop (b. 1250)
  • 1345 – Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire
  • 1347 – Bartholomew of San Concordio, Italian Dominican canonist and man of letters (b. 1260)
  • 1446 – Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick (b. 1425)
  • 1479 – John of Sahagun, hermit and saint (b. 1419)
  • 1488 – James III of Scotland (b. 1451)
  • 1557 – John III of Portugal (b. 1502)
  • 1560 – Mary of Guise, queen of James V of Scotland (b. 1515)
  • 1683 – Nikita Pustosvyat, a leader of the Russian Old Believers, beheaded (b. unknown)
  • 1695 – André Félibien, French historian and author (b. 1619)
  • 1712 – Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme (b. 1654)
  • 1727 – George I of Great Britain (b. 1660)
  • 1748 – Felice Torelli, Italian painter (b. 1667)
  • 1796 – Samuel Whitbread, English brewer and politician, founded the Whitbread Company (b. 1720)
  • 1847 – John Franklin, English admiral and politician (b. 1786)
  • 1852 – Karl Bryullov, Russian painter (b. 1799)
  • 1859 – Klemens von Metternich, German-Austrian politician, 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire (b. 1773)
  • 1879 – William, Prince of Orange (b. 1840)
  • 1882 – Louis Désiré Maigret, French bishop (b. 1804)
  • 1885 – Matías Ramos Mejía, Argentinian colonel (b. 1810)
  • 1897 – Henry Ayers, English-Australian politician, 8th Premier of South Australia (b. 1821)
  • 1903 – Nikolai Bugaev, Russian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1837)
  • 1903 – Alexander I of Serbia (b. 1876)
  • 1903 – Draga Mašin, Serbian wife of Alexander I of Serbia (b. 1864)
  • 1911 – James Curtis Hepburn, American physician and missionary (b. 1815)
  • 1913 – Mahmud Shevket Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 279th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1856)
  • 1914 – Adolphus Frederick V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1848)
  • 1920 – William F. Halsey, Sr., American captain (b. 1853)
  • 1924 – Théodore Dubois, French organist, composer, and educator (b. 1837)
  • 1927 – William Attewell, English cricketer (b. 1861)
  • 1934 – Lev Vygotsky, Belarusian-Russian psychologist and theorist (b. 1896)
  • 1936 – Robert E. Howard, American author and poet (b. 1906)
  • 1937 – R. J. Mitchell, English engineer, designed the Supermarine Spitfire (b. 1895)
  • 1941 – Daniel Carter Beard, American author and illustrator, founded the Boy Scouts of America (b. 1850)
  • 1955 – Pierre Levegh, French race car driver (b. 1905)
  • 1962 – Chhabi Biswas, Indian actor and director (b. 1900)
  • 1963 – Thích Quảng Đức, Vietnamese monk and martyr (b. 1897)
  • 1965 – Paul B. Coremans, Belgian chemist and academic (b. 1908)
  • 1965 – José Mendes Cabeçadas, Portuguese admiral and politician, 9th President of Portugal (b. 1883)
  • 1970 – Frank Laubach, American missionary and mystic (b. 1884)
  • 1974 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Brazilian general and politician, 16th President of Brazil (b. 1883)
  • 1974 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher and author (b. 1898)
  • 1976 – Jim Konstanty, American baseball player (b. 1917)
  • 1979 – Alice Dalgliesh, Trinidadian-American author and publisher (b. 1893)
  • 1979 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
  • 1983 – Ghanshyam Das Birla, Indian businessman and politician (b. 1894)
  • 1984 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (b. 1922)
  • 1986 – Chesley Bonestell, American painter and illustrator (b. 1888)
  • 1991 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (b. 1925)
  • 1993 – Ray Sharkey, American actor (b. 1952)
  • 1994 – A. Thurairajah, Sri Lankan engineer and academic (b. 1934)
  • 1995 – Rodel Naval, Filipino singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1953)
  • 1996 – George Hees, Canadian politician (b. 1910)
  • 1996 – Brigitte Helm, German-Swiss actress (b. 1908)
  • 1998 – Catherine Cookson, English author (b. 1906)
  • 1999 – DeForest Kelley, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2001 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (b. 1968)
  • 2001 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer and actress (b. 1923)
  • 2003 – David Brinkley, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
  • 2004 – Egon von Fürstenberg, Swiss fashion designer (b. 1946)
  • 2005 – Vasco Gonçalves, Portuguese general and politician, 103rd Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1922)
  • 2005 – Anne-Marie Alonzo, Canadian playwright, poet, novelist, critic and publisher (b. 1951)
  • 2006 – Neroli Fairhall, New Zealand archer (b. 1944)
  • 2006 – Bruce Shand, English soldier (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Imre Friedmann, American biologist and academic (b. 1921)
  • 2007 – Mala Powers, American actress (b. 1931)
  • 2008 – Ove Andersson, Swedish race car driver (b. 1938)
  • 2008 – Võ Văn Kiệt, Vietnamese soldier and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1922)
  • 2011 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist and engineer (b. 1947)
  • 2011 – Seth Putnam, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1968)
  • 2012 – Ann Rutherford, Canadian-American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer and engineer (b. 1952)
  • 2013 – Miller Barber, American golfer (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Carl W. Bauer, American lawyer and politician (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Robert Fogel, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – James Grimsley, Jr., American general (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Rory Morrison, English journalist (b. 1964)
  • 2013 – Kristiāns Pelšs, Latvian ice hockey player (b. 1992)
  • 2013 – Vidya Charan Shukla, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Ruby Dee, American actress (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Spanish conductor and composer (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Susan B. Horwitz, American computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1955)
  • 2014 – Mipham Chokyi Lodro, Tibetan lama and educator (b. 1952)
  • 2014 – Benjamin Mophatlane, South African businessman (b. 1973)
  • 2014 – Carlton Sherwood, American soldier and journalist (b. 1947)
  • 2015 – Jim Ed Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Ornette Coleman, American saxophonist, violinist, trumpet player, and composer (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Ian McKechnie, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1941)
  • 2015 – Ron Moody, English actor and singer (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Dusty Rhodes, American wrestler (b. 1945)
  • 2016 – Rudi Altig, German track and road racing cyclist (b. 1937)
  • 2020 – Stella Pevsner, children’s author (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances on June 11

  • American Evacuation Day (Libya)
  • Brazilian Navy commemorative day (Brazil)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Barnabas the Apostle
    • Bartholomew the Apostle (Eastern Christianity)
    • Blessed Ignatius Maloyan (Armenian Catholic Church)
    • Paula Frassinetti
    • Riagail of Bangor
    • June 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Davis Day (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada)
  • Kamehameha Day (Hawaii, United States)
  • Student Day (Honduras)

June 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 1257 – Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights.
  • 1283 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles of Salerno.
  • 1288 – The Battle of Worringen ends the War of the Limburg Succession, with John I, Duke of Brabant, being one of the more important victors.
  • 1610 – The masque Tethys’ Festival is performed at Whitehall Palace to celebrate the investiture of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.
  • 1644 – The Qing dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor take Beijing during the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
  • 1798 – The Battle of New Ross: The attempt to spread the United Irish Rebellion into Munster is defeated.
  • 1817 – The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched.
  • 1829 – HMS Pickle captures the armed slave ship Voladora off the coast of Cuba.
  • 1832 – The June Rebellion breaks out in Paris in an attempt to overthrow the monarchy of Louis Philippe.
  • 1837 – Houston is incorporated by the Republic of Texas.
  • 1849 – Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy by the signing of a new constitution.
  • 1851 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper.
  • 1862 – As the Treaty of Saigon is signed, ceding parts of southern Vietnam to France, the guerrilla leader Trương Định decides to defy Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.
  • 1873 – Sultan Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar closes the great slave market under the terms of a treaty with Great Britain.
  • 1883 – The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris.
  • 1888 – The Rio de la Plata earthquake takes place.
  • 1893 – The trial of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her father and step-mother begins in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
  • 1900 – Second Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria.
  • 1915 – Denmark amends its constitution to allow women’s suffrage.
  • 1916 – Louis Brandeis is sworn in as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court; he is the first American Jew to hold such a position.
  • 1916 – World War I: The Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire breaks out.
  • 1917 – World War I: Conscription begins in the United States as “Army registration day”.
  • 1940 – World War II: After a brief lull in the Battle of France, the Germans renew the offensive against the remaining French divisions south of the River Somme in Operation Fall Rot (“Case Red”).
  • 1941 – World War II: Four thousand Chongqing residents are asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the Bombing of Chongqing.
  • 1942 – World War II: The United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
  • 1944 – World War II: More than 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
  • 1945 – The Allied Control Council, the military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power.
  • 1946 – A fire in the La Salle Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, kills 61 people.
  • 1947 – Cold War: Marshall Plan: In a speech at Harvard University, the United States Secretary of State George Marshall calls for economic aid to war-torn Europe.
  • 1949 – Thailand elects Orapin Chaiyakan, the first female member of Thailand’s Parliament.
  • 1956 – Elvis Presley introduces his new single, “Hound Dog”, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
  • 1959 – The first government of Singapore is sworn in.
  • 1963 – The British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, resigns in a sex scandal known as the “Profumo affair”.
  • 1963 – Movement of 15 Khordad: Protests against the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In several cities, masses of angry demonstrators are confronted by tanks and paratroopers.
  • 1964 – DSV Alvin is commissioned.
  • 1967 – The Six-Day War begins: Israel launches surprise strikes against Egyptian air-fields in response to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces on the Israeli border.
  • 1968 – Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.
  • 1975 – The Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six-Day War.
  • 1975 – The United Kingdom holds its first country-wide referendum on membership of the European Economic Community (EEC).
  • 1976 – The Teton Dam in Idaho, United States, collapses.
  • 1981 – The “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that five people in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, in what turns out to be the first recognized cases of AIDS.
  • 1983 – More than 100 people are killed when the Russian river cruise ship Aleksandr Suvorov collides with a girder of the Ulyanovsk Railway Bridge. The collision caused a freight train to derail, further damaging the vessel yet the ship remained afloat and was eventually restored and returned to service.
  • 1984 – Operation Blue Star: Under orders from India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, the Indian Army begins an invasion of the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion.
  • 1989 – The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
  • 1993 – Portions of the Holbeck Hall Hotel in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK, fall into the sea following a landslide.
  • 1995 – The Bose–Einstein condensate is first created.
  • 1997 – The Second Republic of the Congo Civil War begins.
  • 1998 – A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan, that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants. The strike lasts seven weeks.
  • 2000 – The Six-Day War in Kisangani begins in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between Ugandan and Rwandan forces. A large part of the city is destroyed.
  • 2001 – Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper-Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm causes $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the second costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.
  • 2003 – A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50 °C (122 °F) in the region.
  • 2004 – Noël Mamère, Mayor of Bègles, celebrates marriage for two men for the first time in France.
  • 2006 – Serbia declares independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
  • 2009 – After 65 straight days of civil disobedience, at least 31 people are killed in clashes between security forces and indigenous people near Bagua, Peru.
  • 2013 – A building collapse in Philadelphia kills six and wounds 14 other people.
  • 2015 – An earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.0 struck Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia killing 18 people, including hikers and mountain guides on Mount Kinabalu, after mass landslides that occurred during the earthquake. This is the strongest earthquake to strike Malaysia since 1975.
  • 2017 – Montenegro becomes the 29th member of the NATO.
  • 2017 – Six Arab countries—Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates—cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region.

Births on June 5

  • 1341 – Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, son of King Edward III of England and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1402)
  • 1412 – Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, Italian ruler (d. 1478)
  • 1493 – Justus Jonas, German priest and academic (d. 1555)
  • 1523 – Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1573)
  • 1554 – Benedetto Giustiniani, Italian clergyman (d. 1621)
  • 1587 – Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, English colonial administrator and admiral (d. 1658)
  • 1596 – Peter Wtewael, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1660)
  • 1640 – Pu Songling, Chinese author (d. 1715)
  • 1646 – Elena Cornaro Piscopia, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1684)
  • 1660 – Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (d. 1744)
  • 1757 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (d. 1808)
  • 1760 – Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (d. 1852)
  • 1771 – Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover (d. 1851)
  • 1781 – Christian Lobeck, German scholar and academic (d. 1860)
  • 1801 – William Scamp, English architect and engineer (d. 1872)
  • 1819 – John Couch Adams, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1892)
  • 1830 – Carmine Crocco, Italian soldier (d. 1905)
  • 1850 – Pat Garrett, American sheriff (d. 1908)
  • 1862 – Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1930)
  • 1868 – James Connolly, Scottish-born Irish rebel leader (d. 1916)
  • 1870 – Bernard de Pourtalès, Swiss captain and sailor (d. 1935)
  • 1876 – Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (d. 1957)
  • 1877 – Willard Miller, Canadian-American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1959)
  • 1878 – Pancho Villa, Mexican general and politician, Governor of Chihuahua (d. 1923)
  • 1879 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1985)
  • 1883 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1946)
  • 1884 – Ralph Benatzky, Czech-Swiss composer (d. 1957)
  • 1884 – Ivy Compton-Burnett, English author (d. 1969)
  • 1884 – Frederick Lorz, American runner (d. 1914)
  • 1892 – Jaan Kikkas, Estonian weightlifter (d. 1944)
  • 1894 – Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian-English publisher and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1895 – William Boyd, American actor and producer (d. 1972)
  • 1895 – William Roberts, English soldier and painter (d. 1980)
  • 1898 – Salvatore Ferragamo, Italian shoe designer, founded Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. (d. 1960)
  • 1898 – Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet, playwright, and director (d. 1936)
  • 1899 – Otis Barton, American diver, engineer, and actor, designed the bathysphere (d. 1992)
  • 1899 – Theippan Maung Wa, Burmese writer (d. 1942)
  • 1900 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Arthur Powell Davies, American minister, author, and activist (d. 1957)
  • 1905 – Wayne Boring, American illustrator (d. 1987)
  • 1912 – Dean Amadon, American ornithologist and author (d. 2003)
  • 1912 – Eric Hollies, English cricketer (d. 1981)
  • 1913 – Conrad Marca-Relli, American-Italian painter and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – Beatrice de Cardi, English archaeologist and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1916 – Sid Barnes, Australian cricketer (d. 1973)
  • 1916 – Eddie Joost, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1919 – Richard Scarry, American-Swiss author and illustrator (d. 1994)
  • 1920 – Marion Motley, American football player and coach (d. 1999)
  • 1920 – Cornelius Ryan, Irish-American journalist and author (d. 1974)
  • 1922 – Paul Couvret, Dutch-Australian soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Sheila Sim, English actress (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Jorge Daponte, Argentinian racing driver (d. 1963)
  • 1923 – Roger Lebel, Canadian actor (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Daniel Pinkham, American organist and composer (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Lou Brissie, American baseball player and scout (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Art Donovan, American football player and radio host (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Bill Hayes, American actor and singer
  • 1926 – Paul Soros, Hungarian-American engineer and businessman (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Robert Lansing, American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1928 – Umberto Maglioli, Italian racing driver (d. 1999)
  • 1928 – Tony Richardson, English-American director and producer (d. 1991)
  • 1930 – Alifa Rifaat, Egyptian author (d. 1996)
  • 1931 – Yves Blais, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1998)
  • 1931 – Jacques Demy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
  • 1931 – Jerzy Prokopiuk, Polish anthropologist and philosopher
  • 1932 – Christy Brown, Irish painter and author (d. 1981)
  • 1932 – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded the 99 Cents Only Stores (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Bata Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Vilhjálmur Einarsson, Icelandic triple jumper, painter, and educator (d. 2019)
  • 1934 – Bill Moyers, American journalist, 13th White House Press Secretary
  • 1937 – Hélène Cixous, French author, poet, and critic
  • 1938 – Moira Anderson, Scottish singer
  • 1938 – Karin Balzer, German hurdler (d. 2019)
  • 1938 – Roy Higgins, Australian jockey (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Joe Clark, Canadian journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Canada
  • 1939 – Margaret Drabble, English novelist, biographer, and critic
  • 1941 – Martha Argerich, Argentinian pianist
  • 1941 – Erasmo Carlos, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1941 – Spalding Gray, American writer, actor, and monologist (d. 2004)
  • 1941 – Robert Kraft, American businessman, founded The Kraft Group
  • 1941 – Jeff Rooker, Baron Rooker, English academic and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
  • 1941 – Gudrun Sjödén, Swedish designer
  • 1942 – Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatoguinean lieutenant and politician, 2nd President of Equatorial Guinea
  • 1943 – Abraham Viruthakulangara, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India (d. 2018)
  • 1944 – Whitfield Diffie, American cryptographer and academic
  • 1945 – John Carlos, American runner and football player
  • 1945 – André Lacroix, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1946 – John Du Cann, English guitarist (d. 2001)
  • 1946 – Bob Grant, Australian rugby league player
  • 1946 – Patrick Head, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Williams F1
  • 1946 – Wanderléa, Brazilian singer and television host
  • 1947 – Laurie Anderson, American singer-songwriter and violinist
  • 1947 – Tom Evans, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1983)
  • 1947 – David Hare, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
  • 1947 – Freddie Stone, American singer, guitarist, and pastor
  • 1949 – Ken Follett, Welsh author
  • 1949 – Elizabeth Gloster, English lawyer and judge
  • 1949 – Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee, Scottish politician
  • 1950 – Ronnie Dyson, American singer and actor (d. 1990)
  • 1950 – Abraham Sarmiento, Jr., Filipino journalist and activist (d. 1977)
  • 1951 – Suze Orman, American financial adviser, author, and television host
  • 1952 – Pierre Bruneau, Canadian journalist and news anchor
  • 1952 – Carole Fredericks, American singer (d. 2001)
  • 1952 – Nicko McBrain, English drummer and songwriter
  • 1953 – Kathleen Kennedy, American film producer, co-founded Amblin Entertainment
  • 1954 – Alberto Malesani, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1954 – Phil Neale, English cricketer, coach, and manager
  • 1954 – Nancy Stafford, American model and actress
  • 1955 – Edino Nazareth Filho, Brazilian footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Richard Butler, English singer-songwriter
  • 1956 – Kenny G, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1957 – Charles Nolan, American fashion designer (d. 2011)
  • 1958 – Avigdor Lieberman, Moldavian-Israeli soldier and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
  • 1958 – Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, Comorian businessman and politician, President of Comoros
  • 1959 – Mark Ella, Australian rugby player
  • 1959 – Werner Schildhauer, German runner
  • 1960 – Boris Dugan, Estonian footballer and coach
  • 1960 – Claire Fox, English author and academic
  • 1961 – Anke Behmer, German heptathlete
  • 1961 – Mary Kay Bergman, American voice actress (d. 1999)
  • 1961 – Anthony Burger, American singer and pianist (d. 2006)
  • 1961 – Aldo Costa, Italian engineer
  • 1961 – Ramesh Krishnan, Indian tennis player and coach
  • 1962 – Jeff Garlin, American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Tõnis Lukas, Estonian historian and politician, 34th Estonian Minister of Education
  • 1964 – Lisa Cholodenko, American director and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Karl Sanders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Michael E. Brown, American astronomer and author
  • 1965 – Sandrine Piau, French soprano
  • 1965 – Alfie Turcotte, American ice hockey player
  • 1967 – Matt Bullard, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Joe DeLoach, American sprinter
  • 1967 – Ray Lankford, American baseball player
  • 1967 – Ron Livingston, American actor
  • 1968 – Ed Vaizey, English lawyer and politician, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
  • 1969 – Brian McKnight, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1970 – Martin Gélinas, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1971 – Susan Lynch, Northern Irish actress
  • 1971 – Alex Mooney, American politician
  • 1971 – Takaya Tsubobayashi, Japanese racing driver
  • 1971 – Mark Wahlberg, American model, actor, producer, and rapper
  • 1972 – Yogi Adityanath, Indian priest and politician
  • 1972 – Paweł Kotla, Polish conductor and academic
  • 1973 – Lamon Brewster, American boxer
  • 1973 – Gella Vandecaveye, Belgian martial artist
  • 1974 – Mervyn Dillon, Trinidadian cricketer
  • 1974 – Scott Draper, Australian tennis player and golfer
  • 1974 – Russ Ortiz, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuanian-American basketball player
  • 1975 – Duncan Patterson, English drummer and keyboard player
  • 1975 – Sandra Stals, Belgian runner
  • 1976 – Giannis Giannoulis, Canadian basketball player
  • 1976 – Torry Holt, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Liza Weil, American actress
  • 1978 – Fernando Meira, Portuguese footballer
  • 1979 – Stefanos Kotsolis, Greek footballer
  • 1979 – Matthew Scarlett, Australian footballer
  • 1979 – Pete Wentz, American singer-songwriter, bass player, actor, and fashion designer
  • 1979 – Jason White, American race car driver
  • 1980 – Mike Fisher, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Antonio García, Spanish racing driver
  • 1981 – Serhat Akın, Turkish footballer
  • 1981 – Sébastien Lefebvre, Canadian singer and guitarist
  • 1982 – Ryan Dallas Cook, American trombonist (d. 2005)
  • 1983 – Marques Colston, American football player
  • 1984 – Robert Barbieri, Canadian-Italian rugby player
  • 1984 – Eric Traoré, Senegalese footballer
  • 1985 – Jeremy Abbott, American figure skater
  • 1985 – Ekaterina Bychkova, Russian tennis player
  • 1986 – Dave Bolland, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Vernon Gholston, American football player
  • 1987 – Marcus Thornton, American basketball player
  • 1988 – Alessandro Salvi, Italian footballer
  • 1989 – Cam Atkinson, American ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Megumi Nakajima, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1990 – Radko Gudas, Czech ice hockey defenceman
  • 1991 – Sören Bertram, German footballer
  • 1992 – Joazhiño Arroe, Peruvian footballer
  • 1992 – Emily Seebohm, Australian swimmer
  • 1993 – Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Samoan-New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1995 – Troye Sivan, South African–born Australian singer-songwriter, actor, and YouTuber
  • 1995 – Ross Wilson, English table tennis player
  • 1997 – Sam Darnold, American football player
  • 1998 – Yulia Lipnitskaya, Russian figure skater

Deaths on June 5

  • 301 – Sima Lun, Chinese emperor (b. 249)
  • 535 – Epiphanius, patriarch of Constantinople
  • 567 – Theodosius I, patriarch of Alexandria
  • 708 – Jacob of Edessa, Syrian bishop (b. 640)
  • 754 – Eoban, bishop of Utrecht
  • 754 – Boniface, English missionary and martyr (b. 675)
  • 879 – Ya’qub ibn al-Layth, Persian emir (b. 840)
  • 928 – Louis the Blind, king of Provence
  • 1017 – Sanjō, emperor of Japan (b. 976)
  • 1118 – Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Norman nobleman and politician (b. 1049)
  • 1296 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1245)
  • 1310 – Amalric, prince of Tyre
  • 1316 – Louis X, king of France (b. 1289)
  • 1383 – Dmitry of Suzdal, Russian grand prince (b. 1324)
  • 1400 – Frederick I, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
  • 1424 – Braccio da Montone, Italian nobleman (b. 1368)
  • 1434 – Yuri IV, Russian grand prince (b. 1374)
  • 1443 – Ferdinand, Portuguese prince (b. 1402)
  • 1445 – Leonel Power, English composer
  • 1530 – Mercurino Gattinara, Italian statesman and jurist (b. 1465)
  • 1568 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont (b. 1522)
  • 1625 – Orlando Gibbons, English organist and composer (b. 1583)
  • 1667 – Francesco Sforza Pallavicino, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1607)
  • 1716 – Roger Cotes, English mathematician and academic (b. 1682)
  • 1722 – Johann Kuhnau, German organist and composer (b. 1660)
  • 1738 – Isaac de Beausobre, French pastor and theologian (b. 1659)
  • 1740 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, English politician and courtier (b. 1671)
  • 1791 – Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-Canadian general and politician, 22nd Governor of Quebec (b. 1718)
  • 1816 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (b. 1741)
  • 1825 – Odysseas Androutsos, Greek soldier (b. 1788)
  • 1826 – Carl Maria von Weber, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1786)
  • 1866 – John McDouall Stuart, Scottish explorer and surveyor (b. 1815)
  • 1899 – Antonio Luna, Filipino general (b. 1866)
  • 1900 – Stephen Crane, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1871)
  • 1906 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher and author (b. 1842)
  • 1910 – O. Henry, American short story writer (b. 1862)
  • 1913 – Chris von der Ahe, German-American businessman (b. 1851)
  • 1916 – Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Irish-born British field marshal and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1850)
  • 1920 – Rhoda Broughton, Welsh-English author (b. 1840)
  • 1921 – Will Crooks, English trade unionist and politician (b. 1852)
  • 1921 – Georges Feydeau, French playwright (b. 1862)
  • 1930 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (b. 1880)
  • 1930 – Pascin, Bulgarian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1885)
  • 1934 – Emily Dobson, Australian philanthropist (b. 1842)
  • 1934 – William Holman, English-Australian politician, 19th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1871)
  • 1947 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish-American actor and director (b. 1884)
  • 1967 – Arthur Biram, Israeli philologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1878)
  • 1967 – Harry Brown, Australian public servant (b. 1878)
  • 1993 – Conway Twitty, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
  • 1996 – Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, Indian poet and scholar (b. 1933)
  • 1997 – J. Anthony Lukas, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
  • 1998 – Jeanette Nolan, American actress (b. 1911)
  • 1998 – Sam Yorty, American soldier and politician, 37th Mayor of Los Angeles (b. 1909)
  • 1999 – Mel Tormé, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
  • 2000 – Don Liddle, American baseball player (b. 1925)
  • 2002 – Dee Dee Ramone, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1951)
  • 2003 – Jürgen Möllemann, German soldier and politician, 10th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (b. 1945)
  • 2003 – Manuel Rosenthal, French composer and conductor (b. 1904)
  • 2004 – Iona Brown, English violinist and conductor (b. 1941)
  • 2004 – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (b. 1911)
  • 2005 – Adolfo Aguilar Zínser, Mexican scholar and politician (b. 1949)
  • 2006 – Frederick Franck, Dutch-American painter, sculptor, and author (b. 1909)
  • 2006 – Edward L. Moyers, American businessman (b. 1928)
  • 2009 – Jeff Hanson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1978)
  • 2012 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Hal Keller, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Mihai Pătrașcu, Romanian-American computer scientist (b. 1982)
  • 2012 – Charlie Sutton, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Stanisław Nagy, Polish cardinal (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Irish republican activist and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Michel Ostyn, Belgian physiologist and physician (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, Iraqi commander (b. 1971)
  • 2014 – Don Davis, American songwriter and producer (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Reiulf Steen, Norwegian journalist and politician, Norwegian Minister of Transport and Communications (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Tariq Aziz, Iraqi journalist and politician, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1936)
  • 2015 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (b. 1938)
  • 2015 – Richard Johnson, English actor (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Roger Vergé, French chef and author (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Jerome Bruner, American psychologist (b. 1915)
  • 2017 – Andy Cunningham, English actor (b. 1950)
  • 2017 – Cheick Tioté, Ivorian footballer (b. 1986)
  • 2018 – Kate Spade, American fashion designer (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances on June 5

  • Arbor Day (New Zealand)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Boniface (Roman Catholic Church)
    • Dorotheus of Tyre
    • Genesius, Count of Clermont
    • Blessed Meinwerk
    • June 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Denmark)
  • Father’s Day (Denmark)
  • Feast of Núr, the first day of the fifth month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) (only if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz falls on March 21)
  • Indian Arrival Day (Suriname)
  • Khordad Movement Anniversary (Iran) (Only if March equinox falls on March 20)
  • Liberation Day (Seychelles)
  • President’s Day (Equatorial Guinea)
  • Reclamation Day (Azerbaijan)
  • World Day Against Speciesism (International)
  • World Environment Day (International)

May 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 495 BC – A newly constructed temple in honour of the god Mercury was dedicated in ancient Rome on the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine hills. To spite the senate and the consuls, the people awarded the dedication to a senior military officer, Marcus Laetorius.
  • 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
  • 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. He is found hanging in his residence at Vienne.
  • 589 – King Authari marries Theodelinda, daughter of the Bavarian duke Garibald I. A Catholic, she has great influence among the Lombard nobility.
  • 908 – The three-year-old Constantine VII, the son of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire by Patriarch Euthymius I at Constantinople.
  • 1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
  • 1525 – Insurgent peasants led by Anabaptist pastor Thomas Müntzer were defeated at the Battle of Frankenhausen, ending the German Peasants’ War in the Holy Roman Empire.
  • 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest; she is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury.
  • 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, her third husband.
  • 1618 – Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).
  • 1648 – The Peace of Münster is ratified, by which Spain acknowledges Dutch sovereignty.
  • 1718 – James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world’s first machine gun.
  • 1776 – American Revolution: The Fifth Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.
  • 1791 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre proposes the Self-denying Ordinance.
  • 1792 – War of the First Coalition: France declares war on Kingdom of Sardinia.
  • 1793 – Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for “about 360 meters”, at a height of 5–6 meters, during one of the first attempted manned flights.
  • 1796 – War of the First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph.
  • 1800 – King George III of the United Kingdom survives an assassination attempt by James Hadfield, who is later acquitted by reason of insanity.
  • 1817 – Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
  • 1836 – Francis Baily observes “Baily’s beads” during an annular eclipse.
  • 1849 – The Sicilian revolution of 1848 is finally extinguished.
  • 1850 – The Bloody Island massacre takes place in Lake County, California, in which a large number of Pomo Indians are slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry.
  • 1850 – The Arana–Southern Treaty is ratified, ending “the existing differences” between Great Britain and Argentina.
  • 1851 – The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier.
  • 1858 – Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
  • 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia: Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.
  • 1867 – Canadian Bank of Commerce opens for business in Toronto, Ontario. The bank would later merge with Imperial Bank of Canada to become what is CIBC in 1961.
  • 1869 – Women’s suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association.
  • 1891 – Pope Leo XIII defends workers’ rights and property rights in the encyclical Rerum novarum, the beginning of modern Catholic social teaching.
  • 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian minelayer Amur lays a minefield about 15 miles off Port Arthur and sinks Japan’s battleships Hatsuse, 15,000 tons, with 496 crew and Yashima.
  • 1905 – Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres (0.45 km2), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off.
  • 1911 – In Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up.
  • 1911 – More than 300 Chinese immigrants are killed in the Torreón massacre when the forces of the Mexican Revolution led by Emilio Madero take the city of Torreón from the Federales.
  • 1914 – During a poker game at the Gaiety Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois, comedian Art Fisher nicknames Chicko, Harpo, Groucho, and Gummo Marx.
  • 1919 – The Winnipeg general strike begins. By 11:00, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job.
  • 1919 – Greek occupation of Smyrna. During the occupation, the Greek army kills or wounds 350 Turks; those responsible are punished by Greek commander Aristides Stergiades.
  • 1925 – Al-Insaniyyah, the first Arabic communist newspaper, is founded.
  • 1928 – Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse premieres in his first cartoon, “Plane Crazy”.
  • 1929 – A fire at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio kills 123.
  • 1932 – In an attempted coup d’état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is assassinated.
  • 1933 – All military aviation organizations within or under the control of the RLM of Germany were officially merged in a covert manner to form its Wehrmacht military’s air arm, the Luftwaffe.
  • 1934 – Kārlis Ulmanis establishes an authoritarian government in Latvia.
  • 1940 – USS Sailfish is recommissioned. It was originally the USS Squalus.
  • 1940 – World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation.
  • 1940 – Richard and Maurice McDonald open the first McDonald’s restaurant.
  • 1941 – First flight of the Gloster E.28/39 the first British and Allied jet aircraft.
  • 1941 – Joe DiMaggio begins a 56-game hitting streak.
  • 1942 – World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
  • 1943 – Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International).
  • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish in Europe is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia.
  • 1948 – Following the expiration of The British Mandate for Palestine, the Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
  • 1957 – At Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean, Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple.
  • 1958 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
  • 1960 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4.
  • 1963 – Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone.
  • 1966 – After a policy dispute, Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam’s ruling junta launches a military attack on the forces of General Tôn Thất Đính, forcing him to abandon his command.
  • 1969 – People’s Park: California Governor Ronald Reagan has an impromptu student park owned by the University of California at Berkeley fenced off from student anti-war protestors, sparking a riot.
  • 1970 – President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army generals.
  • 1970 – Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green are killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests.
  • 1972 – The Ryukyu Islands, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control.
  • 1972 – In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to become president.
  • 1974 – Ma’alot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school; a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren.
  • 1976 – Aeroflot Flight 1802 crashes in Viktorovka, Chernihiv Raion, killing all 52 people on board.
  • 1987 – The Soviet Union launches the Polyus prototype orbital weapons platform. It fails to reach orbit.
  • 1988 – Soviet–Afghan War: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins to withdraw 115,000 troops from Afghanistan.
  • 1991 – Édith Cresson becomes France’s first female Prime Minister.
  • 1997 – The United States government acknowledges the existence of the “Secret War” in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other “Secret War” veterans.
  • 1997 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-84 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
  • 2004 – Arsenal F.C. go an entire league campaign unbeaten in the English Premier League, joining Preston North End F.C with the right to claim the title “The Invincibles”.
  • 2008 – California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state’s own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional.
  • 2010 – Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo.
  • 2013 – An upsurge in violence in Iraq leaves more than 389 people dead over three days.

Births on May 15

  • 1397 – Sejong the Great, Korean king (d. 1450)
  • 1531 – Maria of Austria, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (d. 1581)
  • 1565 – Hendrick de Keyser, Dutch sculptor and architect (d. 1621)
  • 1567 – Claudio Monteverdi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1643)
  • 1655 – Pope Innocent XIII (d. 1724)
  • 1608 – René Goupil, French-American missionary and saint (d. 1642)
  • 1633 – Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, French noble (d. 1707)
  • 1645 – George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, British judge (d. 1689)
  • 1689 – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (d. 1762)
  • 1720 – Maximilian Hell, Hungarian priest and astronomer (d. 1792)
  • 1749 – Levi Lincoln Sr., American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Attorney General (d. 1820)
  • 1759 – Maria Theresia von Paradis, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1824)
  • 1770 – Ezekiel Hart, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1843)
  • 1773 – Klemens von Metternich, German-Austrian politician, 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire (d. 1859)
  • 1786 – Dimitris Plapoutas, Greek general and politician (d. 1864)
  • 1803 – Juan Almonte, son of José María Morelos, was a Mexican soldier and diplomat who served as a regent in the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (d. 1869)
  • 1805 – Samuel Carter, Early English railway solicitor and MP (d. 1878)
  • 1808 – Michael William Balfe, Irish composer and conductor (d. 1870)
  • 1817 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher and author (d. 1905)
  • 1841 – Clarence Dutton, American commander and geologist (d. 1912)
  • 1845 – Élie Metchnikoff, Russian zoologist (d. 1916)
  • 1848 – Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1926)
  • 1854 – Ioannis Psycharis, Ukrainian-French philologist and author (d. 1929)
  • 1856 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (d. 1919)
  • 1856 – Matthias Zurbriggen, Swiss mountaineer (d. 1917)
  • 1857 – Williamina Fleming, Scottish-American astronomer and academic (d. 1911)
  • 1859 – Pierre Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
  • 1862 – Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian author and playwright (d. 1931)
  • 1863 – Frank Hornby, English businessman and politician, invented Meccano (d. 1936)
  • 1869 – Paul Probst, Swiss target shooter (d. 1945)
  • 1869 – John Storey, Australian politician, 20th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1921)
  • 1882 – Walter White, Scottish international footballer (d. 1950)
  • 1890 – Katherine Anne Porter, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist (d. 1980)
  • 1891 – Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist and playwright (d. 1940)
  • 1891 – Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist and academic (d. 1971)
  • 1892 – Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral (d. 1977)
  • 1892 – Jimmy Wilde, Welsh boxer (d. 1969)
  • 1893 – José Nepomuceno, Filipino filmmaker, founder of Philippine cinema (d. 1959)
  • 1894 – Feg Murray, American hurdler and cartoonist (d. 1973)
  • 1895 – Prescott Bush, American captain, banker, and politician (d. 1972)
  • 1895 – William D. Byron, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1941)
  • 1898 – Arletty, French model, actress, and singer (d. 1992)
  • 1899 – Jean Étienne Valluy, French general (d. 1970)
  • 1900 – Ida Rhodes, American mathematician, pioneer in computer programming (d. 1986)
  • 1901 – Xavier Herbert, Australian author (d. 1984)
  • 1901 – Luis Monti, Argentinian-Italian footballer and manager (d. 1983)
  • 1902 – Richard J. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1976)
  • 1902 – Sigizmund Levanevsky, Soviet aircraft pilot of Polish origin (d. 1937)
  • 1903 – Maria Reiche, German mathematician and archaeologist (d. 1998)
  • 1904 – Clifton Fadiman, American game show host and author (d. 1999)
  • 1905 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1905 – Albert Dubout, French cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor (d. 1976)
  • 1905 – Abraham Zapruder, American businessman and amateur photographer, filmed the Zapruder film (d. 1970)
  • 1907 – Sukhdev Thapar, Indian activist (d. 1931)
  • 1909 – James Mason, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
  • 1909 – Clara Solovera, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1992)
  • 1910 – Constance Cummings, British-based American actress (d. 2005)
  • 1911 – Max Frisch, Swiss playwright and novelist (d. 1991)
  • 1911 – Herta Oberheuser, German physician (d. 1978)
  • 1912 – Arthur Berger, American composer and educator (d. 2003)
  • 1914 – Turk Broda, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1972)
  • 1914 – Angus MacLean, Canadian farmer and politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – Norrie Paramor, English composer, producer, and conductor (d. 1979)
  • 1915 – Hilda Bernstein, English-South African author and activist (d. 2006)
  • 1915 – Paul Samuelson, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
  • 1915 – Henrik Sandberg, Danish production manager and producer (d. 1993)
  • 1916 – Vera Gebuhr, Danish actress (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Eddy Arnold, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2008)
  • 1918 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (d. 2015)
  • 1918 – Joseph Wiseman, Canadian-American actor (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Michel Audiard, French director and screenwriter (d. 1985)
  • 1922 – Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Jakucho Setouchi, Japanese nun and author
  • 1923 – Richard Avedon, American sailor and photographer (d. 2004)
  • 1923 – John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – Maria Koepcke, German-Peruvian ornithologist and zoologist (d. 1971)
  • 1925 – Andrei Eshpai, Russian pianist and composer (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Mary F. Lyon, English geneticist and biologist (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Carl Sanders, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 74th Governor of Georgia (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Roy Stewart, Jamaican-English actor and stuntman (d. 2008)
  • 1926 – Clermont Pépin, Canadian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 2006)
  • 1926 – Anthony Shaffer, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1926 – Peter Shaffer, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1930 – Jasper Johns, American painter and sculptor
  • 1931 – Ken Venturi, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Don Bragg, American pole vaulter
  • 1935 – Ted Dexter, Italian-English cricketer
  • 1935 – Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
  • 1935 – Akihiro Miwa, Japanese singer, actor, director, composer, author and drag queen
  • 1936 – Anna Maria Alberghetti, Italian-American actress and singer
  • 1936 – Mart Laga, Estonian basketball player (d. 1977)
  • 1936 – Ralph Steadman, English painter and illustrator
  • 1936 – Paul Zindel, American playwright and novelist (d. 2003)
  • 1937 – Madeleine Albright, Czech-American politician and diplomat, 64th United States Secretary of State
  • 1937 – Karin Krog, Norwegian singer
  • 1937 – Trini Lopez, American singer, guitarist, and actor
  • 1938 – Mireille Darc, French actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1938 – Nancy Garden, American author (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Dorothy Shirley, English high jumper and educator
  • 1940 – Roger Ailes, American businessman (d. 2017)
  • 1940 – Lainie Kazan, American actress and singer
  • 1940 – Don Nelson, American basketball player and coach
  • 1941 – Jaxon, American illustrator and publisher, co-founded the Rip Off Press (d. 2006)
  • 1942 – Lois Johnson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1942 – Jusuf Kalla, Indonesian businessman and politician, 10th Vice President of Indonesia
  • 1942 – Doug Lowe, Australian politician, 35th Premier of Tasmania
  • 1942 – K. T. Oslin, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1943 – Paul Bégin, Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1943 – Freddie Perren, American songwriter, producer, and conductor (d. 2004)
  • 1944 – Bill Alter, American police officer and politician
  • 1944 – Ulrich Beck, German sociologist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Michael Dexter, English hematologist and academic
  • 1945 – Jerry Quarry, American boxer (d. 1999)
  • 1946 – Thadeus Nguyễn Văn Lý, Vietnamese priest and activist
  • 1947 – Graeham Goble, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
  • 1948 – Kate Bornstein, American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist
  • 1948 – Yutaka Enatsu, Japanese baseball player
  • 1948 – Brian Eno, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
  • 1948 – Kathleen Sebelius, American politician, 44th Governor of Kansas
  • 1949 – Frank L. Culbertson Jr., American captain, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1949 – Robert S.J. Sparks, English geologist and academic
  • 1950 – Jim Bacon, Australian politician, 41st Premier of Tasmania (d. 2004)
  • 1950 – Jim Simons, American golfer (d. 2005)
  • 1951 – Dennis Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1951 – Chris Ham, English political scientist and academic
  • 1951 – Frank Wilczek, American mathematician and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1952 – Chazz Palminteri, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1953 – George Brett, American baseball player and coach
  • 1953 – Athene Donald, English physicist and academic
  • 1953 – Mike Oldfield, English-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1954 – Diana Liverman, English-American geographer and academic
  • 1954 – Caroline Thomson, English journalist and broadcaster
  • 1955 – Mohamed Brahmi, Tunisian politician (d. 2013)
  • 1955 – Lia Vissi, Cypriot singer-songwriter and politician
  • 1956 – Andreas Loverdos, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Labour
  • 1956 – Dan Patrick, American television anchor and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Kevin Greenaugh, American nuclear engineer
  • 1957 – Meg Gardiner, American-English author and academic
  • 1957 – Juan José Ibarretxe, Spanish politician
  • 1957 – Kevin Von Erich, American football player and wrestler
  • 1958 – Jason Graae, American musical theater actor
  • 1958 – Ruth Marcus, American journalist
  • 1958 – Ron Simmons, American football player and wrestler
  • 1959 – Khaosai Galaxy, Thai boxer and politician
  • 1959 – Luis Pérez-Sala, Spanish race car driver
  • 1959 – Beverly Jo Scott, American-Belgian singer-songwriter
  • 1960 – Rhonda Burchmore, Australian actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1960 – Rob Bowman, American director and producer
  • 1960 – R. Kuhaneswaran, Sri Lankan politician
  • 1960 – Rimas Kurtinaitis, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
  • 1961 – Giselle Fernández, Mexican-American television journalist.
  • 1962 – Lisa Curry, Australian swimmer
  • 1963 – Gavin Nebbeling, South African footballer
  • 1964 – Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Danish lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Denmark
  • 1965 – André Abujamra, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Scott Tronc, Australian rugby league player
  • 1966 – Jiří Němec, Czech footballer
  • 1967 – Simen Agdestein, Norwegian chess grandmaster and football player
  • 1967 – Laura Hillenbrand, American journalist and author
  • 1967 – John Smoltz, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Madhuri Dixit, Indian actress
  • 1968 – Cecilia Malmström, Swedish academic and politician, 15th European Commissioner for Trade
  • 1968 – Sophie Raworth, English journalist and broadcaster
  • 1969 – Hideki Irabu, Japanese-American baseball player (d. 2011)
  • 1969 – Emmitt Smith, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Frank de Boer, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Ronald de Boer, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Desmond Howard, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Alison Jackson, English photographer, director, and screenwriter
  • 1970 – Rod Smith, American football player
  • 1970 – Ben Wallace, English captain and politician
  • 1971 – Karin Lušnic, Slovenian tennis player
  • 1972 – Danny Alexander, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1972 – David Charvet, French actor and singer
  • 1974 – Vasilis Kikilias, Greek basketball player and politician
  • 1974 – Matthew Sadler, English chess player and author
  • 1974 – Marko Tredup, German footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Ahmet Zappa, American musician and writer
  • 1975 – Ray Lewis, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Ales Michalevic, Belarusian lawyer and politician
  • 1976 – Torraye Braggs, American basketball player
  • 1976 – Mark Kennedy, Irish footballer
  • 1976 – Jacek Krzynówek, Polish footballer
  • 1976 – Ryan Leaf, American football player and coach
  • 1976 – Anže Logar, Slovenian politician
  • 1976 – Tyler Walker, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Amy Chow, American gymnast and pediatrician
  • 1978 – Dwayne De Rosario, Canadian soccer player
  • 1978 – Edu, Brazilian footballer
  • 1978 – David Krumholtz, American actor
  • 1979 – Adolfo Bautista, Mexican footballer
  • 1979 – Daniel Caines, English sprinter
  • 1979 – Chris Masoe, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1979 – Ryan Max Riley, American skier
  • 1979 – Robert Royal, American football player
  • 1979 – Dominic Scott, Irish guitarist
  • 1980 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Patrice Evra, French footballer
  • 1981 – Paul Konchesky, English international footballer
  • 1981 – Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player
  • 1981 – Zara Phillips, English equestrian
  • 1981 – Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress and singer
  • 1982 – Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican sprinter
  • 1982 – Segundo Castillo, Ecuadorian footballer
  • 1982 – Rafael Pérez, Dominican baseball player
  • 1982 – Layal Abboud, Lebanese singer
  • 1984 – Jeff Deslauriers, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Sérgio Jimenez, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1984 – Samantha Noble, Australian actress
  • 1984 – Beau Scott, Australian rugby league player
  • 1984 – Mr Probz, Dutch singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
  • 1985 – Cristiane, Brazilian footballer
  • 1985 – Tania Cagnotto, Italian diver
  • 1985 – Laura Harvey, English football coach
  • 1985 – Tathagata Mukherjee, Indian actor
  • 1985 – Denis Onyango, Ugandan goalkeeper
  • 1985 – Justine Robbeson, South African javelin thrower
  • 1986 – Thomas Brown, American football player
  • 1986 – Matías Fernández, Chilean footballer
  • 1986 – Adam Moffat, Scottish footballer
  • 1987 – David Adams, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Michael Brantley, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Brian Dozier, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Mark Fayne, American ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Ersan İlyasova, Turkish basketball player
  • 1987 – Leonardo Mayer, Argentinian tennis player
  • 1987 – Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player
  • 1988 – Indrek Kajupank, Estonian basketball player
  • 1988 – Scott Laird, English footballer
  • 1989 – Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, French footballer
  • 1990 – Jordan Eberle, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Lee Jong-hyun, Korean guitarist
  • 1990 – Stella Maxwell, New Zealand model
  • 1993 – Jeremy Hawkins, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1993 – Tomáš Kalas, Czech international footballer
  • 1996 – Birdy, English singer-songwriter
  • 1997 – Ousmane Dembélé, French footballer

Deaths on May 15

  • 392 – Valentinian II, Roman emperor (b. 371)
  • 558 – Hilary of Galeata, Christian monk (b. 476)
  • 884 – Narinus I, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 830)
  • 913 – Hatto I, German archbishop (b. 850)
  • 926 – Zhuang Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 885)
  • 973 – Byrhthelm, bishop of Wells
  • 1036 – Go-Ichijō, emperor of Japan (b. 1008)
  • 1157 – Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1099)
  • 1175 – Mleh, prince of Armenia
  • 1174 – Nur ad-Din, Seljuk emir of Syria (b. 1118)
  • 1268 – Peter II, count of Savoy (b. 1203)
  • 1461 – Domenico Veneziano, Italian painter (b. c. 1410)
  • 1464 – Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset (b. 1436)
  • 1470 – Charles VIII, king of Sweden (b. 1409)
  • 1585 – Niwa Nagahide, Japanese samurai (b. 1535)
  • 1609 – Giovanni Croce, Italian composer and educator (b. 1557)
  • 1615 – Henry Bromley, English politician (b. 1560)
  • 1634 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (b. 1585)
  • 1698 – Marie Champmeslé, French actress (b. 1642)
  • 1699 – Sir Edward Petre, 3rd Baronet, English politician (b. 1631)
  • 1700 – John Hale, American minister (b. 1636)
  • 1740 – Ephraim Chambers, English publisher (b. 1680)
  • 1773 – Alban Butler, English priest and hagiographer (b. 1710)
  • 1845 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, Head of State of Costa Rica (b. 1800)
  • 1879 – Gottfried Semper, German architect and educator, designed the Semper Opera House (b. 1803)
  • 1886 – Emily Dickinson, American poet and author (b. 1830)
  • 1914 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (b. 1863)
  • 1919 – Hasan Tahsin, Turkish journalist (b. 1888)
  • 1924 – Paul-Henri-Benjamin d’Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
  • 1926 – Joseph James Fletcher, Australian biologist (b. 1850)
  • 1928 – Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (b. 1845)
  • 1935 – Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian-Russian painter and theoretician (b. 1878)
  • 1937 – Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1864)
  • 1945 – Kenneth J. Alford, English soldier, bandmaster, and composer (b. 1881)
  • 1945 – Charles Williams, English author, poet, and critic (b. 1886)
  • 1948 – Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-American priest, founded Boys Town (b. 1886)
  • 1954 – William March, American soldier and author (b. 1893)
  • 1956 – Austin Osman Spare, English painter and magician (b. 1886)
  • 1957 – Keith Andrews, American race car driver (b. 1920)
  • 1957 – Dick Irvin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1892)
  • 1963 – John Aglionby, English-born Bishop of Accra and soldier (b. 1884)
  • 1964 – Vladko Maček, Croatian lawyer and politician (b. 1879)
  • 1965 – Pio Pion, Italian businessman (b. 1887)
  • 1967 – Edward Hopper, American painter (b. 1882)
  • 1967 – Italo Mus, Italian painter (b. 1892)
  • 1969 – Joe Malone, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1890)
  • 1971 – Tyrone Guthrie, English director, producer, and playwright (b. 1900)
  • 1978 – Robert Menzies, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
  • 1980 – Gordon Prange, American historian and author (b. 1910)
  • 1982 – Gordon Smiley, American race car driver (b. 1946)
  • 1984 – Francis Schaeffer, American pastor, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1912)
  • 1985 – Jackie Curtis, American actress and writer (b. 1947)
  • 1986 – Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
  • 1986 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (b. 1915)
  • 1989 – Johnny Green, American composer and conductor (b. 1908)
  • 1989 – Luc Lacourcière, Canadian ethnographer and author (b. 1910)
  • 1991 – Andreas Floer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1956)
  • 1991 – Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Malian ethnologist and author (b. 1901)
  • 1991 – Fritz Riess, German race car driver (b. 1922)
  • 1993 – Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, Sudanese poet and diplomat (b. 1933)
  • 1994 – Gilbert Roland, American actor (b. 1905)
  • 1995 – Eric Porter, English actor (b. 1928)
  • 1996 – Charles B. Fulton, American lawyer and judge (b. 1910)
  • 1998 – Earl Manigault, American basketball player (b. 1944)
  • 1998 – Naim Talu, Turkish economist, banker, politician, 15th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1919)
  • 2003 – June Carter Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (b. 1929)
  • 2006 – Nizar Abdul Zahra, Iraqi footballer (b. 1961)
  • 2007 – Jerry Falwell, American pastor, founded Liberty University (b. 1933)
  • 2008 – Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1956)
  • 2008 – Alexander Courage, American composer and conductor (b. 1919)
  • 2008 – Will Elder, American illustrator (b. 1921)
  • 2009 – Bud Tingwell, Australian actor, director, and producer (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (b. 1964)
  • 2010 – Besian Idrizaj, Austrian footballer (b. 1987)
  • 2010 – Loris Kessel, Swiss race car driver (b. 1950)
  • 2012 – Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist and essayist (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Arno Lustiger, German historian and author (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Zakaria Mohieddin, Egyptian soldier and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Henrique Rosa, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1946)
  • 2014 – Jean-Luc Dehaene, French-Belgian politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1940)
  • 2014 – Noribumi Suzuki, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Elisabeth Bing, German-American physical therapist and author (b. 1914)
  • 2015 – Jackie Brookner, American sculptor and educator (b. 1945)
  • 2015 – Garo Yepremian, Cypriot-American football player (b. 1944)
  • 2020 – Fred Willard, American actor, comedian, and writer (b. 1933)[19]

Holidays and observances on May 15

  • Aoi Matsuri (Kyoto)
  • Army Day (Slovenia)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Achillius of Larissa
    • Athanasius of Alexandria (Coptic Church)
    • Dymphna
    • Hallvard Vebjørnsson (Roman Catholic Church)
    • Hesychius of Cazorla
    • Hilary of Galeata
    • Isidore the Laborer, celebrated with festivals in various countries, the beginning of bullfighting season in Madrid.
    • Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (Roman Catholic Church)
    • Peter, Andrew, Paul, and Denise (Roman Catholic Church)
    • Reticius (Roman Catholic Church)
    • Sophia of Rome (Roman Catholic church)
    • May 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constituent Assembly Day (Lithuania)
  • Earliest date on which Armed Forces Day (United States) can fall, while May 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Saturday of May.
  • Independence Day (Paraguay), celebrates the independence of Paraguay from Spain in 1811. Celebrations for the anniversary of the independence begin on Flag Day, May 14.
  • International Conscientious Objectors Day
  • International Day of Families (International)
  • La Corsa dei Ceri begins on the eve of the feast day of Saint Ubaldo. (Gubbio)
  • Mother’s Day (Paraguay)
  • Nakba Day (Palestinian communities)
  • Peace Officers Memorial Day (United States)
  • Republic Day (Lithuania)
  • Teachers’ Day (Colombia, Mexico and South Korea)

May 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 475 BC – Roman consul Publius Valerius Poplicola celebrates a Roman triumph for his victory over Veii and the Sabines.
  • 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor.
  • 524 – King Sigismund of Burgundy is executed at Orléans after an eight-year reign and is succeeded by his brother Godomar.
  • 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
  • 1169 – Norman mercenaries land at Bannow Bay in Leinster, marking the beginning of the Norman invasion of Ireland.
  • 1328 – Wars of Scottish Independence end: By the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, England recognises Scotland as an independent state.
  • 1455 – Battle of Arkinholm, Royal forces end the Black Douglas hegemony in Scotland.
  • 1576 – Stephen Báthory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become co-rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
  • 1707 – The Act of Union joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain takes effect.
  • 1753 – Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
  • 1759 – Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain
  • 1776 – Establishment of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Upper Bavaria, by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt.
  • 1778 – American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
  • 1786 – In Vienna, Austria, Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro is performed for the first time.
  • 1794 – War of the Pyrenees: The Battle of Boulou ends, in which French forces defeat the Spanish and regain nearly all the land they lost to Spain in 1793.
  • 1820 – Execution of the Cato Street Conspirators, who plotted to kill the British Cabinet and Prime Minister Lord Liverpool.
  • 1840 – The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.
  • 1844 – Hong Kong Police Force, the world’s second modern police force and Asia’s first, is established.
  • 1846 – The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple.
  • 1851 – Queen Victoria opens The Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace in London.
  • 1856 – The Province of Isabela was created in the Philippines in honor of Queen Isabela II.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: The Union Army completes its capture of New Orleans.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
  • 1865 – The Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance.
  • 1866 – The Memphis Race Riots begin. In three days time, 46 blacks and two whites were killed. Reports of the atrocities influenced passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
  • 1875 – Alexandra Palace reopens after being burned down in a fire in 1873.
  • 1884 – The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions demands the eight-hour work day in the United States.
  • 1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States.
  • 1885 – The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opens for business.
  • 1886 – Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which May 1 is celebrated as International Workers’ Day in many countries.
  • 1893 – The World’s Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.
  • 1894 – Coxey’s Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.
  • 1898 – Spanish–American War: Battle of Manila Bay: The Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy after a seven-hour battle. Spain loses all seven of its ships, and 381 Spanish sailors die. There are no American vessel losses or combat deaths.
  • 1900 – The Scofield Mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
  • 1915 – The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her 202nd, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives.
  • 1919 – German troops enter Munich to suppress the Bavarian Soviet Republic.
  • 1925 – The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially founded. Today it is the largest trade union in the world, with 134 million members.
  • 1927 – The Union Labor Life Insurance Company is founded by the American Federation of Labor.
  • 1929 – The 7.2 Mw  Kopet Dag earthquake shakes the Iran–Turkmenistan border region with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing up to 3,800 and injuring 1,121.
  • 1930 – “Pluto” is officially proposed for the name of the newly-discovered dwarf planet Pluto by Vesto Slipher in the Lowell Observatory Observation Circular. The name quickly catches on.
  • 1931 – The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
  • 1941 – World War II: German forces launch a major attack during the siege of Tobruk.
  • 1944 – World War II: Two hundred Communist prisoners are shot by the Germans at Kaisariani, Athens in reprisal for the killing of General Franz Krech by partisans at Molaoi.
  • 1945 – World War II: A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has “fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany”. The Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, by order of Stalin.
  • 1945 – World War II: Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide in the Reich Garden outside the Führerbunker. Their children are also killed by having cyanide pills inserted into their mouths by their mother, Magda.
  • 1945 – World War II: Forces of the Soviet Red Army liberate Allied prisoners of war imprisoned at Stalag Luft I near Barth, Germany.
  • 1945 – World War II: Up to 2,500 people die in a mass suicide in Demmin following the advance of the Red Army.
  • 1945 – World War II: Yugoslav Partisans liberate Trieste.
  • 1946 – Start of three-year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians.
  • 1946 – The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy.
  • 1947 – Portella della Ginestra massacre against May Day celebrations in Sicily by the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano where 11 persons are killed and 33 wounded.
  • 1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
  • 1956 – A doctor in Japan reports an “epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system”, marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.
  • 1957 – Thirty-four people are killed when a Vickers Viking airliner crashes in Hampshire, England.
  • 1960 – Formation of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra; also known as “Maharashtra Day”.
  • 1960 – Cold War: U-2 incident: Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
  • 1961 – The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.
  • 1965 – Cross-Strait relations: Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China, takes place.
  • 1967 – Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu are married in Las Vegas.
  • 1970 – Vietnam War: Protests erupt following the announcement by Richard Nixon that the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces would attack Vietnamese communists in a Cambodian Campaign.
  • 1971 – Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service.
  • 1974 – The Argentine terrorist organization Montoneros is expelled from Plaza de Mayo by president Juan Perón.
  • 1977 – Thirty-six people are killed in Taksim Square, Istanbul, during the Labour Day celebrations.
  • 1978 – Japan’s Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
  • 1982 – Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands War.
  • 1983 – The Sydney Entertainment Centre is opened.
  • 1987 – Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
  • 1989 – Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
  • 1990 – The former Philippine Episcopal Church (supervised by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America) is granted full autonomy and raised to the status of an Autocephalous Anglican Province and renamed the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.
  • 1993 – Dingiri Banda Wijetunga became president of Sri Lanka automatically after killing of R Premadasa in LTTE bomb explosion.
  • 1994 – Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident whilst leading the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
  • 1995 – Croatian War of Independence: Croatian forces launch Operation Flash.
  • 1999 – The body of British climber George Mallory is found on Mount Everest, 75 years after his disappearance in 1924
  • 1999 – SpongeBob SquarePants premieres on Nickelodeon.
  • 2001 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares the existence of “a state of rebellion”, hours after thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor, Joseph Estrada, storm towards the presidential palace at the height of the EDSA III rebellion.
  • 2002 – OpenOffice.org released version 1.0, the first stable version of the software.
  • 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the “Mission Accomplished” speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended”.
  • 2004 – Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.
  • 2009 – Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden.
  • 2011 – Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.
  • 2019 – Naxalite attack in Gadchiroli district of India: Sixteen army soldiers, including a driver, killed in an IED blast. Naxals targeted an anti-Naxal operations team.

Births on May 1

  • 1218 – John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)
  • 1218 – Rudolf I of Germany (d. 1291)
  • 1285 – Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326)
  • 1326 – Rinchinbal Khan, Mongolian emperor (d. 1332)
  • 1488 – Sidonie of Bavaria, eldest daughter of Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich (d. 1505)
  • 1527 – Johannes Stadius, German astronomer, astrologer, mathematician (d. 1579)
  • 1545 – Franciscus Junius, French theologian (d. 1602)
  • 1579 – Wolphert Gerretse, Dutch-American farmer, co-founded New Netherland (d. 1662)
  • 1582 – Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)
  • 1585 – Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill, Belarusian saint (d. 1612)
  • 1591 – Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German missionary and astronomer (d. 1666)
  • 1594 – John Haynes, English-American politician, 1st Governor of the Colony of Connecticut (d. 1653)
  • 1602 – William Lilly, English astrologer (d. 1681)
  • 1672 – Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician (d. 1719)
  • 1730 – Joshua Rowley, English admiral (d. 1790)
  • 1735 – Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, Dutch admiral and philanthropist (d. 1819)
  • 1751 – Judith Sargent Murray, American poet and playwright (d. 1820)
  • 1764 – Benjamin Henry Latrobe, English-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1820)
  • 1769 – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Irish-English field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1852)
  • 1783 – Phoebe Hinsdale Brown, American hymnwriter (d. 1861)
  • 1803 – James Clarence Mangan, Irish poet and author (d. 1849)
  • 1821 – Henry Ayers, English-Australian politician, 8th Premier of South Australia (d. 1897)
  • 1824 – Alexander William Williamson, English chemist and academic (d. 1904)
  • 1825 – Johann Jakob Balmer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1898)
  • 1825 – George Inness, American painter and educator (d. 1894)
  • 1827 – Jules Breton, French painter (d. 1906)
  • 1829 – José de Alencar, Brazilian author and playwright (d. 1877)
  • 1829 – Frederick Sandys, English painter and illustrator (d. 1904)
  • 1830 – Guido Gezelle, Belgian priest and poet (d. 1899)
  • 1831 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (d. 1903)
  • 1847 – Henry Demarest Lloyd, American journalist and politician (d. 1903)
  • 1848 – Adelsteen Normann, Norwegian painter (d. 1919)
  • 1850 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (d. 1942)
  • 1851 – Laza Lazarević, Serbian psychiatrist and neurologist (d. 1891)
  • 1852 – Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman and professional scout (d. 1903)
  • 1852 – Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish neuroscientist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1934)
  • 1853 – Jacob Mikhailovich Gordin, Jewish Ukrainian-American journalist, actor, and playwright (d. 1909)
  • 1855 – Cecilia Beaux, American painter and academic (d. 1942)
  • 1857 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch art dealer (d. 1891)
  • 1859 – Jacqueline Comerre-Paton, French painter and sculptor (d. 1955)
  • 1862 – Marcel Prévost, French novelist and playwright (d. 1941)
  • 1864 – Anna Jarvis, American founder of Mother’s Day (d. 1948)
  • 1871 – Seakle Greijdanus, Dutch theologian and scholar (d. 1948)
  • 1871 – Emiliano Chamorro Vargas, President of Nicaragua (d. 1966)
  • 1872 – Hugo Alfvén, Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter (d. 1960)
  • 1872 – Sidónio Pais, Portuguese soldier and politician, 4th President of Portugal (d. 1918)
  • 1874 – Romaine Brooks, American-French painter and illustrator (d. 1970)
  • 1874 – Paul Van Asbroeck, Belgian target shooter (d. 1959)
  • 1875 – Dave Hall, American runner (d. 1972)
  • 1881 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest, palaeontologist, and philosopher (d. 1955)
  • 1884 – Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, English race car driver and politician (d. 1964)
  • 1885 – Clément Pansaers, Belgian poet (d. 1922)
  • 1885 – Ralph Stackpole, American sculptor and painter (d. 1973)
  • 1887 – Alan Cunningham, Anglo-Irish general and diplomat, High Commissioners for Palestine and Transjordan (d. 1983)
  • 1890 – Clelia Lollini, Italian physician (d. 1963 or 1964)
  • 1891 – Lillian Estelle Fisher, American historian of Spanish America (d. 1988)
  • 1895 – Nikolai Yezhov, Soviet secret police official, head of the NKVD (d. 1940)
  • 1895 – May Hollinworth, Australian theatre producer and director (d. 1968)
  • 1896 – Herbert Backe, German agronomist and politician (d. 1947)
  • 1896 – Mark W. Clark, American general (d. 1984)
  • 1896 – J. Lawton Collins, American general (d. 1987)
  • 1898 – Alfred Schmidt, Estonian weightlifter (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – Ignazio Silone, Italian journalist and politician (d. 1978)
  • 1900 – Aleksander Wat, Polish poet and writer (d. 1967)
  • 1901 – Sterling Allen Brown, American poet, academic, and critic (d. 1989)
  • 1901 – Heinz Eric Roemheld, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1985)
  • 1901 – Antal Szerb, Hungarian scholar and author (d. 1945)
  • 1905 – Henry Koster, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
  • 1906 – Horst Schumann, German SS officer and physician (d. 1983)
  • 1907 – Hayes Alvis, American bassist (d. 1972)
  • 1907 – Kate Smith, American singer and actress (d. 1986)
  • 1908 – Giovannino Guareschi, Italian journalist and author (d. 1968)
  • 1908 – Morris Kline, American mathematician and academic (d. 1992)
  • 1909 – Endel Puusepp, Estonian-Soviet military pilot and politician (d. 1996)
  • 1909 – Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1990)
  • 1910 – Behice Boran, Turkish sociologist and politician (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – Raya Dunayevskaya, Ukrainian-American philosopher and activist (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – Dirk Andries Flentrop, Dutch organ builder (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – J. Allen Hynek, American astronomer and ufologist (d. 1986)
  • 1910 – Nejdet Sançar, Turkish literature teacher (d. 1975)
  • 1911 – Wilfred Watson, English-Canadian poet, playwright and educator (d. 1998)
  • 1912 – Otto Kretschmer, German admiral (d. 1998)
  • 1913 – Louis Nye, American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Walter Susskind, Czech-English pianist, conductor, and educator (d. 1980)
  • 1914 – Jaap van der Poll, Dutch javelin thrower (d. 2010)
  • 1915 – Hanns Martin Schleyer, German businessman (d. 1977)
  • 1916 – Antoni Bazaniak, Polish sprint canoeist (d. 1979)
  • 1916 – Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor and producer (d. 2006)
  • 1917 – John Beradino, American baseball player and actor (d. 1996)
  • 1917 – Ulric Cross, Trinidadian navigator, judge, and diplomat (d. 2013)
  • 1917 – Danielle Darrieux, French actress and singer (d. 2017)
  • 1917 – Ahron Soloveichik, Russian rabbi and scholar (d. 2001)
  • 1918 – Gersh Budker, Ukrainian-Russian physicist and academic (d. 1977)
  • 1918 – Jack Paar, American comedian, author and talk show host (d. 2004)
  • 1919 – Manna Dey, Indian singer and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1919 – Mohammed Karim Lamrani, Moroccan businessman and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Morocco (d. 2018)
  • 1919 – Dan O’Herlihy, Irish-American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1921 – Vladimir Colin, Romanian journalist and author (d. 1991)
  • 1922 – Alastair Gillespie, Canadian scholar and politician (d. 2018)
  • 1923 – Joseph Heller, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1999)
  • 1923 – Antônio Maria Mucciolo, Italian-Brazilian archbishop (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – Marcel Rayman, Polish soldier (d. 1944)
  • 1924 – Evelyn Boyd Granville, American mathematician, computer scientist, and academic
  • 1924 – Karel Kachyňa, Czech director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1924 – Terry Southern, American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter (d. 1995)
  • 1925 – Chuck Bednarik, American lieutenant and football player (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Scott Carpenter, American commander, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Sardar Fazlul Karim, Bangladeshi philosopher, scholar, and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Peter Lax, Hungarian-American mathematician and academic
  • 1927 – Gary Bertini, Israeli conductor and composer (d. 2005)
  • 1927 – Laura Betti, Italian actress (d. 2004)
  • 1927 – Albert Zafy, Malagasy politician, 3rd President of Madagascar (d. 2017)
  • 1927 – Bernard Vukas, Yugoslav-Croatian footballer (d. 1983)
  • 1928 – Sonny James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Delfim Netto, Brazilian economist
  • 1929 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-English sociologist and politician (d. 2009)
  • 1929 – Sonny Ramadhin, Trinidadian cricketer
  • 1930 – Ollie Matson, American sprinter and football player (d. 2011)
  • 1930 – Richard Riordan, American lieutenant and politician, 39th Mayor of Los Angeles and publisher
  • 1930 – Little Walter Jacobs, American blues harp player and singer (d. 1968)
  • 1931 – Naim Attallah, Palestinian author
  • 1932 – Sandy Woodward, English admiral (d. 2013)
  • 1932 – Tabibar Rahman Sarder, Bangladeshi politician. (d. 2010)
  • 1934 – Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, Mexican politician
  • 1934 – Tang Chang, Thai artist (d. 1990)
  • 1934 – Shirley Horn, American singer and pianist (d. 2005)
  • 1934 – Phillip King, Tunisian-English sculptor
  • 1934 – John Meillon, Australian actor (d. 1989)
  • 1936 – Danièle Huillet, French filmmaker (d. 2006)
  • 1936 – Hans E. Wallman, Swedish director, producer, and composer (d. 2014)
  • 1937 – Una Stubbs, English actress and dancer
  • 1939 – Judy Collins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1939 – Wilhelmina Cooper, Dutch model (d. 1980)
  • 1939 – Victor Davies, Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor
  • 1943 – Vassal Gadoengin, Nauruan politician (d. 2004)
  • 1943 – Joe Walsh, Irish politician, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (d. 2014)
  • 1945 – Rita Coolidge, American singer-songwriter
  • 1945 – Carson Whitsett, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2007)
  • 1946 – Joanna Lumley, English actress, voice-over artist, author, and activist
  • 1946 – John Woo, Hong Kong director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1947 – Jacob Bekenstein, Mexican-born Israeli-American theoretical physicist (d. 2015)
  • 1947 – Sergio Infante, Chilean-Swedish poet and author
  • 1948 – Györgyi Balogh, Hungarian sprinter
  • 1948 – Patricia Hill Collins, American sociologist and scholar
  • 1949 – Jim Clench, Canadian bass player (d. 2010)
  • 1949 – Tim Hodgkinson, English saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer
  • 1949 – Paul Teutul, Sr., American motorcycle designer, co-founded Orange County Choppers
  • 1950 – Dann Florek, American actor and director
  • 1950 – Danny McGrain, Scottish footballer and coach
  • 1951 – Gordon Greenidge, Barbadian cricketer and coach
  • 1951 – Geoff Lees, English race car driver
  • 1951 – Sally Mann, American photographer
  • 1952 – Richard Blundell, English economist and academic
  • 1952 – Kim Lewison, English lawyer and judge
  • 1952 – Peter Smith, Malaysian-born English academic and judge
  • 1953 – Glen Ballard, American songwriter and producer
  • 1954 – Ray Parker, Jr., American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1954 – Joel Rosenberg, Canadian-American author and activist (d. 2011)
  • 1955 – Alex Cunningham, Scottish politician
  • 1955 – Martin O’Donnell, American composer
  • 1955 – Ray Searage, American baseball player and coach
  • 1956 – Catherine Frot, French actress
  • 1956 – Phil Foglio, American illustrator
  • 1957 – Rick Darling, Australian cricketer
  • 1957 – Uberto Pasolini, Italian banker, director, and producer
  • 1959 – Yasmina Reza, French actress and playwright
  • 1959 – Lawrence Seeff, South African cricketer and basket weaver
  • 1960 – Steve Cauthen, American jockey and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Sultan Günal-Gezer, Dutch politician
  • 1961 – Clint Malarchuk, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1961 – Marilyn Milian, American judge
  • 1961 – Vasiliy Sidorenko, Russian hammer thrower
  • 1962 – Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress
  • 1962 – Ted Sundquist, American football player, coach, and manager
  • 1964 – Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater
  • 1966 – Olaf Thon, German footballer and manager
  • 1967 – Tim McGraw, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1968 – Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer and manager
  • 1968 – D’arcy Wretzky, American bass player and singer
  • 1969 – Wes Anderson, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1969 – Mary Lou McDonald, Irish politician
  • 1969 – Billy Owens, American basketball player
  • 1970 – Bernard Butler, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1971 – Ethan Albright, American football player
  • 1971 – Stuart Appleby, Australian golfer
  • 1971 – Kim Grant, South African tennis player
  • 1971 – Artur Kohutek, Polish hurdler and soldier
  • 1971 – Ajith Kumar, Indian film actor in Tamil cinema and race car driver
  • 1972 – Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Yemeni terrorist
  • 1972 – Julie Benz, American actress
  • 1972 – Yoon Hae-young, South Korean actress
  • 1973 – Peter Baah, English footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Mike Jesse, German footballer
  • 1973 – Curtis Martin, American football player
  • 1973 – Oliver Neuville, German footballer
  • 1975 – Austin Croshere, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003)
  • 1975 – Nina Hossain, English journalist
  • 1975 – Alexey Smertin, Russian international footballer
  • 1976 – Patricia Stokkers, Dutch swimmer
  • 1977 – Vera Lischka, Austrian swimmer and politician
  • 1978 – James Badge Dale, American actor
  • 1979 – Mauro Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
  • 1979 – Roman Lyashenko, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
  • 1980 – Marvin Cabrera, Mexican footballer
  • 1980 – Rob Davison, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1980 – Inês Henriques, Portuguese race walker
  • 1980 – Jan Heylen, Belgian race car driver
  • 1980 – Jay Reatard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
  • 1980 – Yuliya Tabakova, Russian athlete
  • 1981 – Manny Acosta, Panamanian baseball player
  • 1981 – Derek Asamoah, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1981 – Alexander Hleb, Belarusian footballer
  • 1981 – Wes Welker, American football player
  • 1982 – Beto, Portuguese footballer
  • 1982 – Jamie Dornan, Northern Irish model and actor
  • 1982 – Mark Farren, Irish footballer (d. 2016)
  • 1982 – Katya Zamolodchikova, American drag queen
  • 1982 – Tommy Robredo, Spanish tennis player
  • 1982 – Darijo Srna, Croatian footballer
  • 1983 – Alain Bernard, French swimmer
  • 1983 – Human Tornado, American wrestler
  • 1983 – Park Hae-jin, South Korean actor
  • 1984 – David Backes, American ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Mišo Brečko, Slovenian footballer
  • 1984 – Patrick Eaves, American ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Alexander Farnerud, Swedish footballer
  • 1984 – Farah Fath, American actress
  • 1984 – Keiichiro Koyama, Japanese singer and actor
  • 1984 – Víctor Montaño, Colombian footballer
  • 1984 – Mark Seaby, Australian footballer
  • 1985 – Shahriar Nafees, Bangladeshi cricketer
  • 1986 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1986 – Adam Casey, Australian footballer
  • 1986 – Cassie Jaye, American actress and film director
  • 1986 – Jesse Klaver, Dutch politician
  • 1986 – Lee Chang-min, South Korean singer
  • 1986 – Brent Stanton, Australian footballer
  • 1987 – Leonardo Bonucci, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Glen Coffee, American football player
  • 1987 – Iván DeJesús Jr., Puerto Rican baseball player
  • 1987 – Marcus Drum, Australian footballer
  • 1987 – Amir Johnson, American basketball player
  • 1987 – Ryan Mathews, American football player
  • 1987 – Saidi Ntibazonkiza, Burundian footballer
  • 1987 – Shahar Pe’er, Israeli tennis player
  • 1988 – Maria Balaba, Latvian figure skater
  • 1988 – Maxim Gustik, Belarusian freestyle skier
  • 1988 – Teodor Peterson, Swedish cross-country skier
  • 1989 – Alejandro Arribas, Spanish footballer
  • 1989 – Poļina Jeļizarova, Latvian runner
  • 1990 – Uriel Álvarez, Mexican footballer
  • 1990 – Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress
  • 1990 – Diego Contento, German footballer
  • 1990 – Scooter Gennett, American baseball player
  • 1991 – Marcus Stroman, American baseball player
  • 1991 – Daniel Talbot, British sprinter
  • 1992 – Trevor Philp, Canadian alpine skier
  • 1992 – Bradley Roby, American football player
  • 1993 – Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, French footballer
  • 1993 – Ifeoma Nwoye, Nigerian wrestler
  • 1994 – Wallace Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
  • 1995 – Collin Seedorf, Dutch footballer
  • 1996 – Christopher J. Alexis Jr., Grenadian road cyclist
  • 1996 – Daniel Saifiti, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
  • 1996 – Jacob Saifiti, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
  • 1996 – Michael Seaton, Jamaican footballer
  • 2004 – Charli D’Amelio, American social media influencer and dancer

Deaths on May 1

  • 408 – Arcadius, Byzantine emperor (b. 377)
  • 558 – Marcouf, missionary and saint
  • 908 – Wang Zongji, Chinese prince and pretender
  • 1118 – Matilda of Scotland (b. 1080)
  • 1171 – Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster (b. 1110)
  • 1187 – Roger de Moulins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller
  • 1255 – Walter de Gray, English prelate and statesman
  • 1277 – Stefan Uroš I of Serbia (b. 1223)
  • 1278 – William II of Villehardouin
  • 1308 – Albert I of Germany (b. 1255)
  • 1312 – Paul I Šubić of Bribir
  • 1539 – Isabella of Portugal (b. 1503)
  • 1555 – Pope Marcellus II (b. 1501)
  • 1572 – Pope Pius V (b. 1504)
  • 1668 – Frans Luycx, Flemish painter (b. 1604)
  • 1730 – François de Troy, French painter and engraver (b. 1645)
  • 1731 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer (b. 1677)
  • 1738 – Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English politician, First Lord of the Treasury (b. 1669)
  • 1772 – Gottfried Achenwall, Polish-German historian, economist, and jurist (b. 1719)
  • 1813 – Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French general (b. 1768)
  • 1838 – Antoine Louis Dugès, French obstetrician and naturalist (b. 1797)
  • 1856 – John Wilbur, American minister and theologian (b. 1774)
  • 1873 – David Livingstone, Scottish-English missionary and explorer (b. 1813)
  • 1899 – Ludwig Büchner, German physiologist and physician (b. 1824)
  • 1904 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer and academic (b. 1841)
  • 1913 – John Barclay Armstrong, American lieutenant (b. 1850)
  • 1920 – Princess Margaret of Connaught (b. 1882)
  • 1935 – Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (b. 1889)
  • 1943 – Johan Oscar Smith, Norwegian religious leader, founded the Brunstad Christian Church (b. 1871)
  • 1945 – Joseph Goebbels, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
  • 1945 – Magda Goebbels, German wife of Joseph Goebbels (b. 1901)
  • 1953 – Everett Shinn, American painter and illustrator (b. 1876)
  • 1956 – LeRoy Samse, American pole vaulter (b. 1883)
  • 1960 – Charles Holden, English architect, designed the Bristol Central Library (b. 1875)
  • 1963 – Lope K. Santos, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1879)
  • 1965 – Spike Jones, American singer and bandleader (b. 1911)
  • 1968 – Jack Adams, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1895)
  • 1968 – Harold Nicolson, English author and politician (b. 1886)
  • 1970 – Yi Un, Korean prince (b. 1897)
  • 1973 – Asger Jorn, Danish painter and sculptor (b. 1914)
  • 1976 – T. R. M. Howard, American surgeon and activist (b. 1908)
  • 1976 – Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet and politician (b. 1939)
  • 1978 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor (b. 1903)
  • 1982 – William Primrose, Scottish viola player and educator (b. 1903)
  • 1984 – Jüri Lossmann, Estonian-Swedish runner (b. 1891)
  • 1985 – Denise Robins, English journalist and author (b. 1897)
  • 1986 – Hylda Baker, English comedian, actress and music hall performer (b. 1905)
  • 1986 – Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and producer (b. 1916)
  • 1988 – Ben Lexcen, Australian sailor and architect (b. 1936)
  • 1989 – Sally Kirkland, American journalist (b. 1912)
  • 1989 – V. M. Panchalingam, Sri Lankan civil servant (b. 1930)
  • 1989 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian farmer and politician (b. 1904)
  • 1990 – Sergio Franchi, Italian-American tenor and actor (b. 1926)
  • 1991 – Richard Thorpe, American director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
  • 1993 – Pierre Bérégovoy, French metallurgist and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1925)
  • 1993 – Ranasinghe Premadasa, Sri Lankan politician, 3rd President of Sri Lanka (b. 1924)
  • 1994 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1960)
  • 1995 – Antonio Salemme, Italian-American painter (b. 1892)
  • 1997 – Fernand Dumont, Canadian sociologist, philosopher, and poet (b. 1927)
  • 1998 – Eldridge Cleaver, American author and activist (b. 1935)
  • 2000 – Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder and actor (b. 1926)
  • 2002 – Ebrahim Al-Arrayedh, Indian poet and author (b. 1908)
  • 2003 – Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler and manager (b. 1960)
  • 2003 – Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (b. 1923)
  • 2005 – Kenneth Clark, American psychologist and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2008 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese judge and politician, 1st President of Malta (b. 1909)
  • 2008 – Philipp von Boeselager, German soldier and economist (b. 1917)
  • 2010 – Helen Wagner, American actress (b. 1918)
  • 2011 – Henry Cooper, English boxer (b. 1934)
  • 2011 – Ted Lowe, English sportscaster (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – James Kinley, Canadian engineer and politician, 29th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Mordechai Virshubski, German-Israeli lawyer and politician (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Chris Kelly, American rapper (b. 1978)
  • 2013 – Pierre Pleimelding, French footballer and manager (b. 1952)
  • 2014 – Adamu Atta, Nigerian lawyer and politician, 5th Governor of Kwara State (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Radhia Cousot, Tunisian-American computer scientist and academic (b. 1947)
  • 2014 – Assi Dayan, Israeli actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1945)
  • 2014 – Juan de Dios Castillo, Mexican footballer and coach (b. 1951)
  • 2015 – Geoff Duke, English-Manx motorcycle racer (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Vafa Guluzade, Azerbaijani political scientist, academic, and diplomat (b. 1940)
  • 2015 – María Elena Velasco, Mexican actress, singer, director, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
  • 2015 – Grace Lee Whitney, American actress (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances on May 1

  • Christian feast day:
    • Andeolus
    • Augustin Schoeffler, Jean-Louis Bonnard (part of Vietnamese Martyrs)
    • Benedict of Szkalka
    • Brioc
    • James the Less (Anglican Communion)
    • Joseph the Worker (Roman Catholic)
    • Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytsky (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
    • Marcouf
    • Philip the Apostle (Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church)
    • Richard Pampuri
    • Sigismund of Burgundy
    • Ultan
    • May 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in May. (Samoa)
  • Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in May. (Hong Kong, Hungary, Lithuania, Mozambique, Portugal, Spain, Romania)
  • Earliest day on which National Day of Prayer can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Thursday in May. (United States)
  • Earliest day on which World Asthma Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Tuesday in May. (International)
  • Armed Forces Day (Mauritania)
  • Constitution Day (Argentina, Latvia, Marshall Islands)
  • Commemoration of the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat following the foundation of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (India):
    • Maharashtra Day
  • International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day
  • Lei Day (Hawaii)
  • International Workers’ Day or Labour Day (International), and its related observances:
    • Earliest day on which Labour Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of May. (Barbados, Dominica)
    • Law Day (United States), formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States)
    • Loyalty Day, formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States)
  • May Day (beginning of Summer) observances in the Northern hemisphere (see April 30):
    • Beltane (Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans in the Northern hemisphere)
    • Earliest day on which Beltane can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in May. (Ireland, Scotland)
    • Calan Mai (Wales)
  • Samhain (Celtic neopagans and Wiccans in the Southern Hemisphere)

April 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • AD 73 – Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish–Roman War.
  • 1346 – Stefan Dušan, “the Mighty”, is crowned Emperor of the Serbs at Skopje, his empire occupying much of the Balkans.
  • 1520 – The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V.
  • 1582 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
  • 1746 – The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland.After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
  • 1780 – Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster.
  • 1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
  • 1818 – The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.
  • 1847 – Shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand Wars.
  • 1853 – The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane.
  • 1858 – The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is wound up.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: Battle at Lee’s Mills in Virginia.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: During the Vicksburg Campaign, gunboats commanded by acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter run downriver past Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg.
  • 1881 – In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
  • 1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
  • 1910 – The oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena still used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.
  • 1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
  • 1917 – Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland.
  • 1919 – Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of “prayer and fasting” in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier.
  • 1919 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.
  • 1922 – The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed.
  • 1925 – During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Nazi-affiliated Ustaše is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis powers after Operation 25 is effected.
  • 1943 – Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19.
  • 1944 – World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
  • 1945 – The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).
  • 1945 – More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.
  • 1947 – An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.
  • 1947 – Bernard Baruch first applies the term “Cold War” to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
  • 1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
  • 1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
  • 1972 – Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
  • 1990 – “Doctor Death”, Jack Kevorkian, participates in his first assisted suicide.
  • 2001 – India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.
  • 2003 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union.
  • 2007 – Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho guns down 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide.
  • 2012 – The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway.
  • 2012 – The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
  • 2013 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others.
  • 2013 – The 2013 Baga massacre is started when Boko Haram militants engage government soldiers in Baga.
  • 2014 – The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks near Jindo Island, killing 304 passengers and crew and leading to widespread criticism of the South Korean government, media, and shipping authorities.

Births on April 16

  • 1435 – Jan II the Mad, Duke of Żagań (1439–1449 and 1461–1468 and again in 1472) (d. 1504)
  • 1488 – Jungjong of Joseon (d. 1544)
  • 1495 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1557)
  • 1516 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (d. 1550)
  • 1569 – John Davies, English poet and lawyer (d. 1626)
  • 1635 – Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dutch painter (d. 1681)
  • 1646 – Jules Hardouin-Mansart, French architect, designed the Château de Dampierre and Grand Trianon (d. 1708)
  • 1660 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician and academic (d. 1753)
  • 1661 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician, First Lord of the Treasury (d. 1715)
  • 1682 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (d. 1744)
  • 1697 – Johann Gottlieb Görner, German organist and composer (d. 1778)
  • 1728 – Joseph Black, French-Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1799)
  • 1730 – Henry Clinton, English general and politician (d. 1795)
  • 1755 – Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)
  • 1786 – John Franklin, English admiral and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen’s Land (d. 1847)
  • 1800 – George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, English field marshal and politician (d. 1888)
  • 1808 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1864)
  • 1821 – Ford Madox Brown, French-English soldier and painter (d. 1893)
  • 1823 – Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1852)
  • 1826 – Sir James Corry, 1st Baronet, British politician (d. 1891)
  • 1827 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian poet and bookseller (d. 1879)
  • 1839 – Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, Italian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908)
  • 1834 – Charles Lennox Richardson, English merchant (d. 1862)
  • 1844 – Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
  • 1847 – Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (d. 1906)
  • 1848 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (d. 1919)
  • 1851 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (d. 1930)
  • 1864 – Rose Talbot Bullard, American medical doctor and professor (d. 1915)
  • 1865 – Harry Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
  • 1866 – José de Diego, Puerto Rican journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1918)
  • 1867 – Wilbur Wright, American inventor (d. 1912)
  • 1871 – John Millington Synge, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1909)
  • 1874 – Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (d. 1936)
  • 1878 – R. E. Foster, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1914)
  • 1882 – Seth Bingham, American organist and composer (d. 1972)
  • 1884 – Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, English cricketer, journalist, and politician (d. 1963)
  • 1885 – Leó Weiner, Hungarian composer and educator (d. 1960)
  • 1886 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek-American football player and javelin thrower (d. 1957)
  • 1886 – Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)
  • 1888 – Billy Minter, English footballer and manager (d. 1940)
  • 1889 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1977)
  • 1890 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (d. 1954)
  • 1890 – Gertrude Chandler Warner, American author and educator (d. 1979)
  • 1891 – Dorothy P. Lathrop, American author and illustrator (d. 1980)
  • 1892 – Howard Mumford Jones, American author, critic, and academic (d. 1980)
  • 1893 – Germaine Guèvremont, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1968)
  • 1893 – John Norton, American hurdler (d. 1979)
  • 1895 – Ove Arup, English-Danish engineer and businessman, founded Arup (d. 1988)
  • 1896 – Robert Henry Best, American journalist (d. 1952)
  • 1896 – Árpád Weisz, Hungarian footballer (d. 1944)
  • 1899 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist and academic (d. 1988)
  • 1900 – Polly Adler, Russian-American madam and author (d. 1962)
  • 1903 – Paul Waner, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
  • 1904 – Fifi D’Orsay, Canadian-American vaudevillian, actress, and singer (d. 1983)
  • 1905 – Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
  • 1907 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Bombardier Inc. (d. 1964)
  • 1907 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (d. 1947)
  • 1908 – Ellis Marsalis, Sr., American businessman and activist (d. 2004)
  • 1908 – Ray Ventura, French jazz bandleader (d. 1979)
  • 1910 – Berton Roueché, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
  • 1911 – Guy Burgess, English-Russian spy (d. 1963)
  • 1913 – Les Tremayne, English actor (d. 2003)
  • 1914 – John Hodiak, American actor (d. 1955)
  • 1915 – Robert Speck, Canadian politician, 1st Mayor of Mississauga (d. 1972)
  • 1916 – Behçet Necatigil, Turkish author, poet, and translator (d. 1979)
  • 1917 – Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, 18th Duchess of Medinaceli (d. 2013)
  • 1917 – Barry Nelson, American actor (d. 2007)
  • 1918 – Dick Gibson, English racing driver (d. 2010)
  • 1918 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese-American monk and author (d. 1995)
  • 1918 – Juozas Kazickas, Lithuanian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Spike Milligan, Irish actor, comedian, and writer (d. 2002)
  • 1919 – Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
  • 1919 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (d. 2011)
  • 1919 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and National Museum of Anthropology (d. 2013)
  • 1919 – Thomas Willmore, English geometer and academic (d. 2005)
  • 1920 – Ananda Dassanayake, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2012)
  • 1920 – Prince George Valdemar of Denmark (d. 1986)
  • 1921 – Arlin M. Adams, American lawyer and judge (d. 2015)
  • 1921 – Wolfgang Leonhard, German historian and author (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1922 – Kingsley Amis, English novelist, poet, and critic (d. 1995)
  • 1922 – John Christopher, English author (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Lawrence N. Guarino, American colonel (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Leo Tindemans, Belgian politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Warren Barker, American composer (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Arch A. Moore Jr., American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 28th Governor of West Virginia (d. 2015)
  • 1924 – John Harvey-Jones, English academic and businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1924 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (d. 1994)
  • 1924 – Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist (d. 1976)
  • 1924 – Madanjeet Singh, Indian diplomat, author, and philanthropist (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – Pierre Fabre, French pharmacist, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Edie Adams, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
  • 1927 – Pope Benedict XVI
  • 1927 – Rolf Schult, German actor (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Dick Lane, American football player and soldier (d. 2002)
  • 1929 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (d. 1969)
  • 1929 – Ralph Slatyer, Australian biologist and ecologist (d. 2012)
  • 1929 – Ed Townsend, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1930 – Doug Beasy, Australian footballer and educator (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Herbie Mann, American flute player and composer (d. 2003)
  • 1932 – Maury Meyers, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Marcos Alonso Imaz, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – Joan Bakewell, English journalist and author
  • 1933 – Perry Botkin Jr., American composer, arranger and musician
  • 1933 – Vera Krepkina, Russian long jumper
  • 1933 – Ike Pappas, American journalist and actor (d. 2008)
  • 1934 – Vince Hill, English singer-songwriter
  • 1934 – Robert Stigwood, Australian producer and manager (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Barrie Unsworth, Australian politician, 36th Premier of New South Wales
  • 1934 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (d. 2012)
  • 1935 – Marcel Carrière, Canadian director and screenwriter
  • 1935 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet and author (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Lennart Risberg, Swedish boxer (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Dominique Venner, French journalist and historian (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Bobby Vinton, American singer
  • 1936 – Vadim Kuzmin, Russian physicist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1937 – Gert Potgieter, South African hurdler and coach
  • 1938 – Rich Rollins, American baseball player
  • 1938 – Gordon Wilson, Scottish lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
  • 1939 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
  • 1939 – Dusty Springfield, English singer and record producer (d. 1999)
  • 1940 – Benoît Bouchard, Canadian academic and politician, 18th Canadian Minister of Transport
  • 1940 – David Holford, Barbadian cricketer
  • 1940 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
  • 1940 – Joan Snyder, American painter
  • 1940 – Thomas Stonor, 7th Baron Camoys, English banker and politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom
  • 1941 – Allan Segal, American director and producer (d. 2012)
  • 1942 – Jim Lonborg, American baseball pitcher
  • 1942 – Sir Frank Williams, English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team
  • 1943 – Lonesome Dave Peverett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2000)
  • 1943 – Petro Tyschtschenko, Austrian-German businessman
  • 1943 – John Watkins, Australian cricketer
  • 1945 – Tom Allen, American lawyer and politician
  • 1946 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
  • 1946 – Ernst Bakker, Dutch politician (d. 2014)
  • 1946 – Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (d. 2015)
  • 1946 – R. Carlos Nakai, American flute player
  • 1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach
  • 1947 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1948 – Reg Alcock, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Canadian President of the Treasury Board (d. 2011)
  • 1950 – David Graf, American actor (d. 2001)
  • 1950 – Colleen Hewett, Australian singer and actress
  • 1951 – Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian author and photographer
  • 1951 – David Nutt, English psychiatrist and academic
  • 1952 – Bill Belichick, American football player and coach
  • 1952 – Michel Blanc, French actor and director
  • 1952 – Esther Roth-Shahamorov, Israeli sprinter and hurdler
  • 1952 – Billy West, American voice actor, singer-songwriter, and comedian
  • 1953 – Peter Garrett, Australian singer-songwriter and politician
  • 1953 – Jay O. Sanders, American actor
  • 1954 – Ellen Barkin, American actress
  • 1954 – John Bowe, Australian racing driver
  • 1954 – Mike Zuke, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1955 – Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager
  • 1955 – Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
  • 1956 – David M. Brown, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
  • 1956 – T Lavitz, American keyboard player, composer, and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1956 – Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
  • 1957 – Patricia De Martelaere, Belgian philosopher, author, and academic (d. 2009)
  • 1958 – Tim Flach, English photographer and director
  • 1958 – Ulf Wakenius, Swedish guitarist
  • 1959 – Alison Ramsay, English-Scottish field hockey player and lawyer
  • 1960 – Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
  • 1960 – Rafael Benítez, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1960 – Pierre Littbarski, German footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Jarbom Gamlin, Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (d. 2014)
  • 1961 – Linda Ruth Williams, British film studies academic
  • 1962 – Anna Dello Russo, Italian journalist
  • 1962 – Douglas Elmendorf, American economist and politician
  • 1962 – Ian MacKaye, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1963 – Saleem Malik, Pakistani cricketer
  • 1963 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer
  • 1964 – David Kohan, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1964 – Dave Pirner, American singer, songwriter and producer
  • 1964 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish pianist (d. 2008)
  • 1965 – Yves-François Blanchet, Canadian politician
  • 1965 – Jon Cryer, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Martin Lawrence, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Jarle Vespestad, Norwegian drummer
  • 1966 – Jeff Varner, American newscaster and reality television personality
  • 1968 – Vickie Guerrero, American wrestler and manager
  • 1968 – Rüdiger Stenzel, German runner
  • 1969 – Patrik Järbyn, Swedish skier
  • 1969 – Fernando Viña, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Dero Goi, German singer-songwriter and drummer
  • 1970 – Walt Williams, American basketball player
  • 1971 – Cameron Blades, Australian rugby player
  • 1971 – Selena, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer (d. 1995)
  • 1971 – Seigo Yamamoto, Japanese racing driver
  • 1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Belarusian tennis player
  • 1972 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish-American tennis player
  • 1972 – Tracy K. Smith, American poet and educator
  • 1973 – Akon, Senegalese-American singer, rapper and songwriter
  • 1973 – Charlotta Sörenstam, Swedish golfer
  • 1973 – Teddy Cobeña, Spanish-Ecuadorian expressionist and representational sculptor
  • 1975 – Keon Clark, American basketball player
  • 1976 – Lukas Haas, American actor and musician
  • 1976 – Kelli O’Hara, American actress and singer
  • 1977 – Freddie Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
  • 1979 – Christijan Albers, Dutch racing driver
  • 1979 – Lars Börgeling, German pole vaulter
  • 1979 – Daniel Browne, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1981 – Anestis Agritis, Greek footballer
  • 1981 – Maya Dunietz, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1981 – Matthieu Proulx, Canadian football player
  • 1982 – Gina Carano, American mixed martial artist and actress
  • 1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player
  • 1982 – Jonathan Vilma, American football player
  • 1983 – Marié Digby, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
  • 1983 – Cat Osterman, American softball player
  • 1984 – Teddy Blass, American composer and producer
  • 1984 – Claire Foy, English actress
  • 1984 – Tucker Fredricks, American speed skater
  • 1984 – Paweł Kieszek, Polish footballer
  • 1984 – Kerron Stewart, Jamaican sprinter
  • 1985 – Luol Deng, Sudanese-English basketball player
  • 1985 – Brendon Leonard, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1985 – Benjamín Rojas, Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1985 – Taye Taiwo, Nigerian footballer
  • 1986 – Paul di Resta, Scottish racing driver
  • 1986 – Shinji Okazaki, Japanese footballer
  • 1986 – Peter Regin, Danish ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Epke Zonderland, Dutch gymnast
  • 1987 – Cenk Akyol, Turkish basketball player
  • 1987 – Aaron Lennon, English international footballer
  • 1988 – Kyle Okposo, American ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Reggie Jackson, American basketball player
  • 1990 – Vangelis Mantzaris, Greek basketball player
  • 1990 – Tony McQuay, American sprinter
  • 1990 – Travis Shaw, American baseball player
  • 1991 – Nolan Arenado, American baseball player
  • 1991 – Kim Kyung-jung, South Korean footballer
  • 1993 – Mirai Nagasu, American figure skater
  • 1993 – Chance the Rapper, American rapper
  • 1994 – Albert Almora, American baseball player
  • 1994 – Will Fuller, American football player
  • 2002 – Sadie Sink, American actress

Deaths on April 16

  • AD 69 – Otho, Roman emperor (b. AD 32)
  • 665 – Fructuosus of Braga, French archbishop and saint
  • 1090 – Sikelgaita, duchess of Apulia (b. c. 1040)
  • 1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev (b. 1050)
  • 1118 – Adelaide del Vasto, regent of Sicily, mother of Roger II of Sicily, queen of Baldwin I of Jerusalem
  • 1198 – Frederick I, Duke of Austria (b. 1175)
  • 1234 – Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (b. 1191)
  • 1375 – John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English nobleman and soldier (b. 1347)
  • 1496 – Charles II, Duke of Savoy (b. 1489)
  • 1587 – Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (b. 1497)
  • 1640 – Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (b. 1579)
  • 1645 – Tobias Hume, Scottish soldier, viol player, and composer (b. 1569)
  • 1687 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English poet and politician, Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire (b. 1628)
  • 1689 – Aphra Behn, English author and playwright (b. 1640)
  • 1742 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet and translator (b. 1672)
  • 1756 – Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (b. 1677)
  • 1783 – Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer and educator (b. 1719)
  • 1788 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (b. 1707)
  • 1828 – Francisco Goya, Spanish-French painter and illustrator (b. 1746)
  • 1846 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (b. 1763)
  • 1850 – Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (b. 1761)
  • 1859 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1805)
  • 1879 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (b. 1844)
  • 1888 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist and chemist (b. 1845)
  • 1899 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino journalist and activist (b. 1875)
  • 1904 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (b. 1888)
  • 1904 – Samuel Smiles, Scottish-English author (b. 1812)
  • 1914 – George William Hill, American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1838)
  • 1915 – Nelson W. Aldrich, American businessman and politician (b. 1841)
  • 1925 – Stefan Nerezov, Bulgarian general (b. 1867)
  • 1928 – Henry Birks, Canadian businessman, founded Henry Birks and Sons (b. 1840)
  • 1928 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrestler (b. 1900)
  • 1930 – José Carlos Mariátegui, Peruvian journalist, philosopher, and activist (b. 1894)
  • 1935 – Panait Istrati, Romanian journalist and author (b. 1884)
  • 1937 – Jay Johnson Morrow, American military engineer and politician, 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (b. 1870)
  • 1938 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and manager (b. 1874)
  • 1941 – Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, English economist and civil servant (b. 1880)
  • 1942 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1878)
  • 1942 – Denis St. George Daly, Irish polo player (b. 1862)
  • 1946 – Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver and engineer (b. 1884)
  • 1947 – Rudolf Höss, German SS officer (b. 1900)
  • 1950 – Eduard Oja, Estonian composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1905)
  • 1950 – Anders Peter Nielsen, Danish target shooter (b. 1867)
  • 1955 – David Kirkwood, Scottish engineer and politician (b. 1872)
  • 1958 – Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist and academic (b. 1920)
  • 1960 – Mihály Fekete, Hungarian actor, screenwriter and film director (b. 1884)
  • 1961 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist and academic (b. 1912)
  • 1965 – Francis Balfour, English soldier and colonial administrator (b. 1884)
  • 1965 – Sydney Chaplin, English actor, comedian, brother of Charlie Chaplin (b. 1885)
  • 1966 – Eric Lambert, Australian author (b. 1918)
  • 1968 – Fay Bainter, American actress (b. 1893)
  • 1968 – Edna Ferber, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1885)
  • 1969 – Hem Vejakorn, Thai illustrator and painter (b. 1904)
  • 1970 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (b. 1892)
  • 1970 – Péter Veres, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Defence (b. 1897)
  • 1972 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
  • 1972 – Frank O’Connor, Australian public servant (b. 1894)
  • 1973 – István Kertész, Hungarian conductor and educator (b. 1929)
  • 1978 – Lucius D. Clay, American officer and military governor in occupied Germany (b. 1898)
  • 1980 – Morris Stoloff, American composer (b. 1898)
  • 1985 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
  • 1988 – Khalil al-Wazir, Palestinian commander, founded Fatah (b. 1935)
  • 1988 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist (b. 1954)
  • 1989 – Jocko Conlan, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1899)
  • 1989 – Kaoru Ishikawa Japanese author and educator (b. 1915)
  • 1989 – Miles Lawrence, English cricketer (b. 1940)
  • 1989 – Hakkı Yeten, Turkish footballer and manager (b. 1910)
  • 1991 – David Lean, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
  • 1992 – Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)
  • 1992 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian spy and activist (b. 1915)
  • 1992 – Andy Russell, American singer and actor (b. 1919)
  • 1994 – Paul-Émilien Dalpé, Canadian labor unionist (b. 1919)
  • 1994 – Ralph Ellison, American novelist and critic (b. 1913)
  • 1996 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (b. 1917)
  • 1996 – Stavros Niarchos, Greek-Swiss businessman (b. 1909)
  • 1997 – Esmeralda Arboleda Cadavid, Colombian politician (b. 1921)
  • 1997 – Roland Topor, French actor, director, and painter (b. 1938)
  • 1998 – Alberto Calderón, Argentinian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1920)
  • 1998 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
  • 1998 – Marie-Louise Meilleur, Canadian super-centenarian (b. 1880)
  • 1999 – Skip Spence, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1946)
  • 2001 – Robert Osterloh, American actor (b. 1918)
  • 2001 – Michael Ritchie, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
  • 2001 – Alec Stock, English footballer and manager (b. 1917)
  • 2002 – Billy Ayre, English footballer and manager (b. 1952)
  • 2002 – Ruth Fertel, American businesswoman, founded Ruth’s Chris Steak House (b. 1927)
  • 2002 – Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
  • 2003 – Graham Jarvis, Canadian actor (b. 1930)
  • 2003 – Graham Stuart Thomas, English horticulturalist and author (b. 1909)
  • 2005 – Kay Walsh, English actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
  • 2007 – Frank Bateson, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1909)
  • 2007 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1962)
  • 2007 – Maria Lenk, Brazilian swimmer (b. 1915)
  • 2007 – Chandrabose Suthaharan, Sri Lankan journalist
  • 2008 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
  • 2010 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general and convicted war criminal (b. 1949)
  • 2010 – Daryl Gates, American police officer, created the D.A.R.E. Program (b. 1926)
  • 2011 – Gerry Alexander, Jamaican cricketer and veterinarian (b. 1928)
  • 2011 – Allan Blakeney, Canadian scholar and politician, 10th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1925)
  • 2011 – Sol Saks, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Sári Barabás, Hungarian soprano (b. 1914)
  • 2012 – Marian Biskup, Polish author and academic (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Alan Hacker, English clarinet player and conductor (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – George Kunda, Zambian lawyer and politician, 11th Vice-President of Zambia (b. 1956)
  • 2012 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (b. 1913)
  • 2012 – Carlo Petrini, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1948)
  • 2013 – Charles Bruzon, Gibraltarian politician (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Ali Kafi, Algerian colonel and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – Siegfried Ludwig, Austrian politician, 18th Governor of Lower Austria (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Pentti Lund, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1909)
  • 2013 – Pat Summerall, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and National Museum of Anthropology (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Gyude Bryant, Liberian businessman and politician (b. 1949)
  • 2014 – Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Ernst Florian Winter, Austrian-American historian and political scientist (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Valery Belousov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1948)
  • 2015 – Attaphol Buspakom, Thai footballer and manager (b. 1962)
  • 2015 – Oles Buzina, Ukrainian journalist and author (b. 1969)
  • 2015 – Stanislav Gross, Czech lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (b. 1969)
  • 2016 – Charlie Hodge, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1933)
  • 2018 – Harry Anderson, American actor and magician (b. 1952)
  • 2018 – Jim Caine, British jazz pianist (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances on April 16

  • Christian feast day:
    • Benedict Joseph Labre
    • Bernadette Soubirous
    • Drogo
    • Fructuosus of Braga
    • Isabella Gilmore (Church of England)
    • Martyrs of Zaragoza
    • Molly Brant (Konwatsijayenni) (Anglican Church of Canada, Episcopal Church)
    • Turibius of Astorga
    • April 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Birthday of José de Diego (Puerto Rico, United States)
  • Birthday of Queen Margrethe II (Denmark)
  • Emancipation Day (Washington, D.C., United States)
  • Foursquare Day (International observance)
  • Memorial Day for the Victims of the Holocaust (Hungary)
  • National Healthcare Decisions Day (United States)
  • Remembrance of Chemical Attack on Balisan and Sheikh Wasan (Iraqi Kurdistan)
  • World Voice Day

April 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated. He is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
  • 632 – King Charibert II is assassinated at Blaye (Gironde), along with his infant son Chilperic.
  • 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-‘Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.
  • 1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin.
  • 1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated.
  • 1149 – Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.
  • 1232 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their siege on Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty.
  • 1271 – In Syria, sultan Baibars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers.
  • 1665 – English colonial patents are granted for the establishment of the Monmouth Tract, for what would eventually become Monmouth County in northeastern New Jersey.
  • 1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, is dedicated.
  • 1740 – War of Jenkins’ Ear: Three British ships capture the Spanish third-rate Princesa, taken into service as HMS Princess.
  • 1808 – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore is promoted to an archdiocese, with the founding of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (now Louisville) by Pope Pius VII.
  • 1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.
  • 1832 – Black Hawk War: Around three-hundred United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield: Union forces are thwarted by the Confederate army at Mansfield, Louisiana.
  • 1866 – Italy and Prussia ally against the Austrian Empire.
  • 1886 – William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
  • 1895 – In Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.
  • 1904 – The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.
  • 1904 – Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
  • 1906 – Auguste Deter, the first person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, dies.
  • 1908 – H. H. Asquith of the Liberal Party takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, succeeding Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
  • 1908 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School.
  • 1911 – Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovers superconductivity.
  • 1913 – The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, becomes law.
  • 1916 – In Corona, California, race car driver Bob Burman crashes, killing three (including himself), and badly injuring five spectators.
  • 1918 – World War I: Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell war bonds on the streets of New York City’s financial district.
  • 1924 – Sharia courts are abolished in Turkey, as part of Atatürk’s Reforms.
  • 1929 – Indian independence movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to court arrest.
  • 1935 – The Works Progress Administration is formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 becomes law.
  • 1942 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad: Soviet forces open a much-needed railway link to Leningrad.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Japanese take Bataan in the Philippines.
  • 1943 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.
  • 1943 – Otto and Elise Hampel are executed in Berlin for their anti-Nazi activities.
  • 1945 – World War II: After an air raid accidentally destroys a train carrying about 4,000 Nazi concentration camp internees in Prussian Hanover, the survivors are massacred by Nazis.
  • 1946 – Électricité de France, the world’s largest utility company, is formed as a result of the nationalisation of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors.
  • 1950 – India and Pakistan sign the Liaquat–Nehru Pact.
  • 1952 – U.S. President Harry Truman calls for the seizure of all domestic steel mills in an attempt to prevent the 1952 steel strike.
  • 1953 – Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by British Kenya’s rulers.
  • 1954 – A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
  • 1954 – South African Airways Flight 201 A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.
  • 1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
  • 1959 – The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.
  • 1960 – The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.
  • 1961 – A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian Gulf kills 238.
  • 1964 – The Gemini 1 test flight is conducted.
  • 1968 – BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after takeoff. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.
  • 1970 – Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. Forty-six children are killed.
  • 1974 – At Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run to surpass Babe Ruth’s 39-year-old record.
  • 1975 – Frank Robinson manages the Cleveland Indians in his first game as major league baseball’s first African American manager.
  • 1987 – Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns amid controversy over racially charged remarks he had made while on Nightline.
  • 1992 – Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.
  • 1993 – The Republic of North Macedonia joins the United Nations.
  • 1999 – Haryana Gana Parishad, a political party in the Indian state of Haryana, merges with the Indian National Congress.
  • 2004 – War in Darfur: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.
  • 2006 – Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Shedden, Elgin County, Ontario. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos Motorcycle Club.
  • 2008 – The construction of the world’s first skyscraper to integrate wind turbines is completed in Bahrain.
  • 2013 – The Islamic State of Iraq enters the Syrian Civil War and begins by declaring a merger with the Al-Nusra Front under the name Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham.

Births on April 8

  • 1320 – Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367)
  • 1408 – Jadwiga of Lithuania, Polish princess (d. 1431)
  • 1435 – John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford, English noble (d. 1461)
  • 1533 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (d. 1604)
  • 1536 – Barbara of Hesse (d. 1597)
  • 1541 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician and archaeologist (d. 1593)
  • 1580 – William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, English noble, courtier and patron of the arts (d. 1630)
  • 1596 – Juan van der Hamen, Spanish artist (d. 1631)
  • 1605 – Philip IV of Spain (d. 1665)
  • 1605 – Mary Stuart, English-Scottish princess (d. 1607)
  • 1641 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1704)
  • 1692 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1770)
  • 1726 – Lewis Morris, American judge and politician (d. 1798)
  • 1732 – David Rittenhouse, American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1796)
  • 1761 – William Joseph Chaminade, French priest, founded the Society of Mary (d. 1850)
  • 1770 – John Thomas Campbell, Irish-Australian banker and politician (d. 1830)
  • 1798 – Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and author (d. 1857)
  • 1818 – Christian IX of Denmark (d. 1906)
  • 1818 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (d. 1892)
  • 1826 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier (d. 1890)
  • 1827 – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican ophthalmologist, journalist, and politician (d. 1898)
  • 1842 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American author and educator (d. 1933)
  • 1859 – Edmund Husserl, German Jewish-Austrian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1938)
  • 1864 – Carlos Deltour, French rower and rugby player (d. 1920)
  • 1867 – Allen Butler Talcott, American painter and educator (d. 1908)
  • 1869 – Harvey Cushing, American surgeon and academic (d. 1939)
  • 1871 – Clarence Hudson White, American photographer and educator (d. 1925)
  • 1874 – Manuel Díaz, Cuban fencer (d. 1929)
  • 1874 – Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
  • 1875 – Albert I of Belgium (d. 1934)
  • 1882 (O.S. 27 March) – Dmytro Doroshenko, Lithuanian-Ukrainian historian and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Prime Minister of Ukraine (d. 1951)
  • 1883 – R. P. Keigwin, English cricketer and academic (d. 1972)
  • 1883 – Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia (d. 1936)
  • 1885 – Dimitrios Levidis, Greek-French soldier, composer, and educator (d. 1951)
  • 1886 – Margaret Ayer Barnes, American author and playwright (d. 1967)
  • 1888 – Dennis Chávez, American journalist and politician (d. 1962)
  • 1889 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (d. 1983)
  • 1892 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (d. 1970)
  • 1892 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded United Artists (d. 1979)
  • 1896 – Yip Harburg, American composer (d. 1981)
  • 1900 – Marie Byles, Australian solicitor (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Andrew Irvine, English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1924)
  • 1902 – Maria Maksakova Sr., Russian soprano (d. 1974)
  • 1904 – John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
  • 1904 – Hirsch Jacobs, American horse trainer (d. 1970)
  • 1905 – Joachim Büchner, German sprinter and graphic designer (d. 1978)
  • 1905 – Helen Joseph, English-South African activist (d. 1992)
  • 1905 – Erwin Keller, German field hockey player (d. 1971)
  • 1906 – Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor and educator (d. 1974)
  • 1908 – Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
  • 1909 – John Fante, American author and screenwriter (d. 1983)
  • 1910 – George Musso, American football player and police officer (d. 2000)
  • 1911 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
  • 1911 – Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and academic (d. 1995)
  • 1912 – Alois Brunner, Austrian-German SS officer (d. 2001 or 2010)
  • 1912 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian-American figure skater and actress (d. 1969)
  • 1914 – María Félix, Yaqui/Basque-Mexican actress (d. 2002)
  • 1915 – Ivan Supek, Croatian physicist, philosopher and writer (d. 2007)
  • 1917 – Winifred Asprey, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2007)
  • 1917 – Lloyd Bott, Australian public servant (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Hubertus Ernst, Dutch bishop (d. 2017)
  • 1917 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer (d. 1988)
  • 1918 – Betty Ford, American wife of Gerald Ford, 40th First Lady of the United States (d. 2011)
  • 1918 – Glendon Swarthout, American author and academic (d. 1992)
  • 1919 – Ian Smith, Zimbabwean lieutenant and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Rhodesia (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Franco Corelli, Italian tenor and actor (d. 2003)
  • 1921 – Jan Novák, Czech composer (d. 1984)
  • 1921 – Herman van Raalte, Dutch footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Carmen McRae, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – George Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
  • 1923 – Edward Mulhare, Irish-American actor (d. 1997)
  • 1924 – Frédéric Back, German-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English general and historian (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Kumar Gandharva, Hindustani classical singer (d. 1992)
  • 1924 – Sara Northrup Hollister, American occultist (d. 1997)
  • 1926 – Henry N. Cobb, American architect and academic, co-founded Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (d. 2020)
  • 1926 – Shecky Greene, American actor
  • 1926 – Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian and academic
  • 1927 – Tilly Armstrong, English author (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Ollie Mitchell, American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Fred Ebb, American lyricist (d. 2004)
  • 1929 – Jacques Brel, Belgian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1978)
  • 1929 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian and author (d. 1996)
  • 1930 – Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (d. 2010)
  • 1931 – John Gavin, American actor and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Mexico (d. 2018)
  • 1932 – Iskandar of Johor (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – James Lockhart, American scholar of colonial Latin America, especially Nahua peoples (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect, designed the Nakagin Capsule Tower and Singapore Flyer (d. 2007)
  • 1935 – Oscar Zeta Acosta, American lawyer and politician (d. 1974)
  • 1935 – Albert Bustamante, American soldier, educator, and politician
  • 1937 – Tony Barton, English footballer, outside right and manager (d. 1993)
  • 1937 – Seymour Hersh, American journalist and author
  • 1937 – Momo Kapor, Serbian author and painter (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Kofi Annan, Ghanaian economist and diplomat, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – John Hamm, Canadian physician and politician, 25th Premier of Nova Scotia
  • 1938 – Mary W. Gray, American mathematician, statistician, and lawyer
  • 1939 – John Arbuthnott, Scottish microbiologist and academic
  • 1939 – Trina Schart Hyman, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
  • 1940 – John Havlicek, American basketball player (d. 2019)
  • 1941 – J. J. Jackson, American soul/R&B singer, songwriter, and arranger
  • 1941 – Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer
  • 1942 – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Northern Irish politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics (d. 2006)
  • 1942 – Roger Chapman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1942 – Douglas Trumbull, American director, producer, and special effects artist
  • 1943 – Michael Bennett, American dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 1987)
  • 1943 – Miller Farr, American football player
  • 1943 – James Herbert, English author and illustrator (d. 2013)
  • 1943 – Chris Orr, English painter and illustrator
  • 1944 – Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor (d. 2017)
  • 1944 – Odd Nerdrum, Swedish-Norwegian painter and illustrator
  • 1945 – Derrick Walker, Scottish businessman
  • 1945 – Jang Yong, South Korean actor
  • 1946 – Catfish Hunter, American baseball player (d. 1999)
  • 1946 – Tim Thomerson, American actor and producer
  • 1947 – Tom DeLay, American lawyer and politician
  • 1947 – Steve Howe, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1947 – Robert Kiyosaki, American businessman, co-founded Cashflow Technologies
  • 1947 – Pascal Lamy, French businessman and politician, European Commissioner for Trade
  • 1947 – Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter, and producer (d. 2008)
  • 1948 – Barbara Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, Scottish academic and politician
  • 1949 – K. C. Kamalasabayson, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 39th Attorney General of Sri Lanka (d. 2007)
  • 1949 – John Madden, English director and producer
  • 1949 – Brenda Russell, African-American-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1949 – John Scott, English sociologist and academic
  • 1950 – Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer and coach
  • 1951 – Gerd Andres, German politician
  • 1951 – Geir Haarde, Icelandic economist, journalist, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Iceland
  • 1951 – Mel Schacher, American bass player
  • 1951 – Joan Sebastian, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2015)
  • 1952 – Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician (d. 2004)
  • 1954 – Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Princess Lalla Amina of Morocco (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – G.V. Loganathan, Indian-American engineer and academic (d. 2007)
  • 1955 – Ricky Bell, American football player (d. 1984)
  • 1955 – Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer
  • 1955 – Ron Johnson, American businessman and politician
  • 1955 – Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist, essayist and poet
  • 1955 – David Wu, Taiwanese-American lawyer and politician
  • 1956 – Michael Benton, Scottish-English paleontologist and academic
  • 1956 – Christine Boisson, French actress
  • 1956 – Roman Dragoun, Czech singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1956 – Jim Piddock, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Fred Smerlas, American football player and radio host
  • 1958 – Detlef Bruckhoff, German footballer
  • 1958 – Tom Petranoff, American javelin thrower and coach
  • 1959 – Alain Bondue, French cyclist
  • 1960 – John Schneider, American actor and country singer
  • 1961 – Richard Hatch, American reality contestant
  • 1961 – Brian McDermott, English footballer and manager
  • 1962 – Paddy Lowe, English engineer
  • 1962 – Izzy Stradlin, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1963 – Tine Asmundsen, Norwegian bassist
  • 1963 – Julian Lennon, English singer-songwriter
  • 1963 – Terry Porter, American basketball player and coach
  • 1963 – Donita Sparks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1963 – Alec Stewart, English cricketer
  • 1963 – Seth Tobias, American businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1964 – Biz Markie, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1964 – John McGinlay, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Steven Blaney, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Public Safety
  • 1965 – Michael Jones, New Zealand rugby player and coach
  • 1966 – Iveta Bartošová, Czech singer and actress (d. 2014)
  • 1966 – Mark Blundell, English race car driver
  • 1966 – Andy Currier, English rugby league player
  • 1966 – Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand-Australian television host (d. 2014)
  • 1966 – Dalton Grant, English high jumper
  • 1966 – Mazinho, Brazilian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1966 – Harri Rovanperä, Finnish race car driver
  • 1966 – Evripidis Stylianidis, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for the Interior
  • 1966 – Robin Wright, American actress, director, producer
  • 1967 – Kenny Benjamin, Antiguan cricketer
  • 1968 – Patricia Arquette, French-Canadian Russian/Polish Jewish-American actress and director
  • 1968 – Patricia Girard, French runner and hurdler
  • 1968 – Tracy Grammer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – Darren Jessee, American singer-songwriter and drummer
  • 1972 – Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1972 – Sergei Magnitsky, Russian lawyer and accountant (d. 2009)
  • 1973 – Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer
  • 1973 – Emma Caulfield, American actress
  • 1974 – Toutai Kefu, Tongan-Australian rugby player
  • 1974 – Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian-American author and educator
  • 1975 – Anouk, Dutch singer
  • 1975 – Francesco Flachi, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Timo Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1975 – Funda Arar, Turkish singer
  • 1977 – Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress
  • 1977 – Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist and author (d. 2008)
  • 1977 – Mark Spencer, American computer programmer and engineer
  • 1978 – Daigo, Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, and voice actor
  • 1978 – Bernt Haas, Austrian-Swiss footballer
  • 1978 – Rachel Roberts, Canadian model and actress
  • 1978 – Jocelyn Robichaud, Canadian tennis player and coach
  • 1978 – Evans Rutto, Kenyan runner
  • 1979 – Alexi Laiho, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1979 – Amit Trivedi, Indian singer-songwriter
  • 1980 – Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer
  • 1980 – Katee Sackhoff, American actress
  • 1980 – Mariko Seyama, Japanese announcer, photographer, and model
  • 1981 – Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer
  • 1981 – Ofer Shechter, Israeli model, actor, and screenwriter
  • 1982 – Gennady Golovkin, Kazakhstani boxer
  • 1982 – Brett White, Australian rugby league player
  • 1983 – Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova, Russian runner
  • 1984 – Michelle Donelan, British politician
  • 1984 – Ezra Koenig, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1984 – Pablo Portillo, Mexican singer and actor
  • 1984 – Taran Noah Smith, American actor
  • 1985 – Patrick Schliwa, German rugby player
  • 1985 – Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopian runner
  • 1986 – Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer
  • 1986 – Félix Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
  • 1987 – Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer
  • 1987 – Jeremy Hellickson, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Sam Rapira, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1988 – Jenni Asserholt, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Kim Myung-sung, South Korean baseball player
  • 1990 – Kim Jong-hyun, South Korean singer (d. 2017)
  • 1993 – Viktor Arvidsson, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1993 – Zac Santo, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Josh Chudleigh, Australian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Cedi Osman, Turkish professional basketball player
  • 1997 – Saygrace, Australian singer and songwriter
  • 1997 – Arno Verschueren, Belgian professional football player

Deaths on April 8

  • 217 – Caracalla, Roman emperor (b. 188)
  • 622 – Shōtoku, Japanese prince (b. 572)
  • 632 – Charibert II, Frankish king (b. 607)
  • 894 – Adalelm, Frankish nobleman
  • 944 – Wang Yanxi, Chinese emperor
  • 956 – Gilbert, Frankish nobleman
  • 967 – Mu’izz al-Dawla, Buyid emir (b. 915)
  • 1143 – John II Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1087)
  • 1150 – Gertrude of Babenberg , duchess of Bohemia (b. 1118)
  • 1321 – Thomas of Tolentino, Italian-Franciscan missionary (b. c. 1255)
  • 1338 – Stephen Gravesend, bishop of London
  • 1364 – John II, French king (b. 1319)
  • 1450 – Sejong the Great, Korean king (b. 1397)
  • 1461 – Georg von Peuerbach, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1423)
  • 1492 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian ruler (b. 1449)
  • 1551 – Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)
  • 1586 – Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran theologian and reformer (b. 1522)
  • 1608 – Magdalen Dacre, English noble (b. 1538)
  • 1612 – Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (b. 1575)
  • 1691 – Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect, designed the Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto (b. 1611)
  • 1697 – Niels Juel, Norwegian-Danish admiral (b. 1629)
  • 1704 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (b. 1624)
  • 1704 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English colonel and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1641)
  • 1709 – Wolfgang Dietrich of Castell-Remlingen, German nobleman (b. 1641)
  • 1725 – John Wise, American minister (b. 1652)
  • 1735 – Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian prince (b. 1676)
  • 1848 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (b. 1797)
  • 1860 – István Széchenyi, Hungarian statesman and reformer (b.1791)
  • 1861 – Elisha Otis, American businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company (b. 1811)
  • 1870 – Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (b. 1802)
  • 1894 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1838)
  • 1906 – Auguste Deter, German woman, first person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (b. 1850)
  • 1919 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist, academic, and politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (b. 1848)
  • 1920 – Charles Griffes, American pianist and composer (b. 1884)
  • 1931 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish poet Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
  • 1936 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
  • 1936 – Božena Benešová, Czech poet and novelist (b. 1873)
  • 1941 – Marcel Prévost, French novelist and playwright (b. 1862)
  • 1942 – Kostas Skarvelis, Greek guitarist and composer (b. 1880)
  • 1947 – Olaf Frydenlund, Norwegian target shooter (b. 1862)
  • 1950 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish dancer and choreographer (b. 1890)
  • 1959 – Marios Makrionitis, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Athens (b. 1913)
  • 1961 – Joseph Carrodus, Australian public servant (b. 1885)
  • 1962 – Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1892)
  • 1965 – Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (b. 1886)
  • 1969 – Zinaida Aksentyeva, Ukrainian astronomer (b. 1900)
  • 1973 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1881)
  • 1974 – James Charles McGuigan, Canadian cardinal (b. 1894)
  • 1979 – Breece D’J Pancake, American short story writer (b. 1952)
  • 1981 – Omar Bradley, American general (b. 1893)
  • 1983 – Isamu Kosugi, Japanese actor and director (b. 1904)
  • 1984 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1894)
  • 1985 – John Frederick Coots, American pianist and composer (b. 1897)
  • 1990 – Ryan White, American activist, inspired the Ryan White Care Act (b. 1971)
  • 1991 – Per Ohlin, Swedish musician (b. 1969)
  • 1992 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
  • 1993 – Marian Anderson, American operatic singer (b. 1897)
  • 1994 – François Rozet, French-Canadian actor (b. 1899)
  • 1996 – Ben Johnson, American actor and stuntman (b. 1918)
  • 1996 – León Klimovsky, Argentinian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
  • 1996 – Mick Young, Australian politician (b. 1936)
  • 1997 – Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1947)
  • 2000 – František Šťastný, Czech motorcycle racer (b. 1927)
  • 2000 – Claire Trevor, American actress (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – María Félix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
  • 2002 – Harvey Quaytman, American painter (b. 1937)
  • 2004 – Werner Schumacher, German actor (b. 1921)
  • 2005 – Onna White, Canadian choreographer and dancer (b. 1922)
  • 2006 – Gerard Reve, Dutch author and poet (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Sol LeWitt, American painter and sculptor (b. 1928)
  • 2008 – Kazuo Shiraga, Japanese painter (b. 1924)
  • 2009 – Richard de Mille, American Scientologist, author, investigative journalist, and psychologist (b. 1922)
  • 2009 – Piotr Morawski, Polish mountaineer (b. 1976)
  • 2010 – Malcolm McLaren, English singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Teddy Scholten, Dutch singer (b. 1926)
  • 2011 – Hedda Sterne, Romanian-American painter and photographer (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Blair Kiel, American football player and coach (b. 1961)
  • 2012 – Jack Tramiel, Polish-American businessman, founded Commodore International (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Janusz K. Zawodny, Polish-American soldier, historian, and political scientist (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Mikhail Beketov, Russian journalist (b. 1958)
  • 2013 – Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Sara Montiel, Spanish-Mexican actress and singer (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – José Luis Sampedro, Spanish economist and author (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Margaret Thatcher, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Emmanuel III Delly, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Ivan Mercep, New Zealand architect, designed the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Jayakanthan, Indian journalist and author (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Rayson Huang, Hong Kong chemist and academic (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Sergei Lashchenko, Ukrainian kick-boxer (b. 1987)
  • 2015 – David Laventhol, American journalist and publisher (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Jean-Claude Turcotte, Canadian cardinal (b. 1936)

Holidays and observances on April 8

  • Buddha’s Birthday, also known as Hana Matsuri, “Flower Festival” (Japan)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Anne Ayres (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Constantina
    • Julie Billiart of Namur
    • Perpetuus
    • Walter of Pontoise
    • William Augustus Muhlenberg (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • April 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Fast and Prayer Day can fall, while April 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Friday in April (Liberia)
  • International Romani Day

April 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sights land in what is now the United States state of Florida.
  • 1755 – Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India.
  • 1792 – The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
  • 1800 – Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
  • 1800 – The Treaty of Constantinople establishes the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: The British capture the Danish fleet.
  • 1851 – Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia.
  • 1885 – Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine.
  • 1900 – The United States Congress passes the Foraker Act, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
  • 1902 – Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Marie Palace, Saint Petersburg.
  • 1902 – “Electric Theatre”, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.
  • 1911 – The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country’s first national census.
  • 1912 – The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials.
  • 1917 – World War I: United States President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
  • 1921 – The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established.
  • 1930 – After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
  • 1956 – As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.
  • 1964 – The Soviet Union launches Zond 1.
  • 1972 – Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
  • 1973 – Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
  • 1975 – Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
  • 1976 – Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.
  • 1979 – A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock.
  • 1980 – United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
  • 1982 – Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
  • 1986 – Alabama governor George Wallace, a former segregationist, best known for the “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door”, announces that he will not seek a fifth four-year term and will retire from public life upon the end of his term in January 1987.
  • 1989 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
  • 1989 – ASUS corporation is founded.
  • 1991 – Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm (who had resigned) as Premier of British Columbia.
  • 1992 – In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
  • 1992 – Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • 2002 – Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians had retreated.
  • 2004 – Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid; the attack is thwarted.
  • 2006 – Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed.
  • 2012 – A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured.
  • 2014 – A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured.
  • 2015 – Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others.
  • 2015 – Four men steal items worth up to £200 million from an underground safe deposit facility in London’s Hatton Garden area in what has been called the “largest burglary in English legal history.”

Births on April 2

  • 742 – Charlemagne, Frankish king (d. 814)
  • 1473 – John Corvinus, Hungarian noble (d. 1504)
  • 1545 – Elisabeth of Valois (d. 1568)
  • 1565 – Cornelis de Houtman, Dutch explorer (d. 1599)
  • 1586 – Pietro Della Valle, Italian traveler (d. 1652)
  • 1602 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Franciscan abbess (d. 1665)
  • 1618 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1663)
  • 1647 – Maria Sibylla Merian, German-Dutch botanist and illustrator (d. 1717)
  • 1653 – Prince George of Denmark (d. 1708)
  • 1696 – Francesca Cuzzoni, Italian operatic soprano (d. 1778)
  • 1719 – Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (d. 1803)
  • 1725 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian explorer and author (d. 1798)
  • 1788 – Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet and author (d. 1862)
  • 1788 – Wilhelmine Reichard, German balloonist (d. 1848)
  • 1789 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (d. 1871)
  • 1792 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (d. 1840)
  • 1798 – August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and academic (d. 1874)
  • 1805 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1875)
  • 1814 – Henry L. Benning, American general and judge (d. 1875)
  • 1814 – Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor (d. 1879)
  • 1827 – William Holman Hunt, English soldier and painter (d. 1910)
  • 1835 – Jacob Nash Victor, American engineer (d. 1907)
  • 1838 – Léon Gambetta, French lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of France (d. 1882)
  • 1840 – Émile Zola, French novelist, playwright, journalist (d. 1902)
  • 1841 – Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III (d. 1926)
  • 1842 – Dominic Savio, Italian Catholic saint, adolescent student of Saint John Bosco (d. 1857)
  • 1861 – Iván Persa, Slovenian priest and author (d. 1935)
  • 1862 – Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
  • 1869 – Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (d. 1928)
  • 1875 – Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founded Chrysler (d. 1940)
  • 1875 – William Donne, English cricketer and captain (d. 1942)
  • 1884 – J. C. Squire, English poet, author, and historian (d. 1958)
  • 1891 – Jack Buchanan, Scottish entertainer (d. 1957)
  • 1891 – Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor, and poet (d. 1976)
  • 1891 – Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Indian nationalist and anti-colonial activist from Goa (d. 1958)
  • 1896 – Johnny Golden, American golfer (d. 1936)
  • 1898 – Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Indian poet, actor and politician (d. 1990)
  • 1898 – Chiungtze C. Tsen, Chinese mathematician (d. 1940)
  • 1900 – Roberto Arlt, Argentinian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1942)
  • 1900 – Anis Fuleihan, Cypriot-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1970)
  • 1900 – Alfred Strange, English footballer (d. 1978)
  • 1902 – Jan Tschichold, German-Swiss graphic designer and typographer (d. 1974)
  • 1903 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1987)
  • 1906 – Alphonse-Marie Parent, Canadian priest and educator (d. 1970)
  • 1907 – Harald Andersson, American-Swedish discus thrower (d. 1985)
  • 1907 – Luke Appling, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
  • 1908 – Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1980)
  • 1910 – Chico Xavier, Brazilian spiritual medium (d. 2002)
  • 1914 – Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)
  • 1919 – Delfo Cabrera, Argentinian runner and soldier (d. 1981)
  • 1920 – Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and civil servant (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Jack Stokes, English animator and director (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Jack Webb, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
  • 1922 – John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – Gloria Henry, American actress
  • 1923 – Johnny Paton, Scottish footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – G. Spencer-Brown, English mathematician, psychologist, and author (d. 2016)
  • 1924 – Bobby Ávila, Mexican baseball player (d. 2004)
  • 1925 – George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish author and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1925 – Hans Rosenthal, German radio and television host (d. 1987)
  • 1926 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (d. 2006)
  • 1927 – Carmen Basilio, American boxer and soldier (d. 2012)
  • 1927 – Howard Callaway, American soldier and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Army (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Rita Gam, American actress (d. 2016)
  • 1927 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Kenneth Tynan, English author and critic (d. 1980)
  • 1928 – Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal (d. 1996)
  • 1928 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (d. 1991)
  • 1928 – Roy Masters, English-American radio host
  • 1928 – David Robinson, Northern Irish horticulturist and academic (d. 2004)
  • 1929 – Ed Dorn, American poet and educator (d. 1999)
  • 1930 – Roddy Maude-Roxby, English actor
  • 1931 – Vladimir Kuznetsov, Russian javelin thrower (d. 1986)
  • 1932 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (d. 2015)
  • 1933 – György Konrád, Hungarian sociologist and author
  • 1934 – Paul Cohen, American mathematician and theorist (d. 2007)
  • 1934 – Brian Glover, English wrestler and actor (d. 1997)
  • 1934 – Carl Kasell, American journalist and game show host (d. 2018)
  • 1934 – Richard Portman, American sound engineer (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Dovid Shmidel, Austrian-born Israeli rabbi
  • 1936 – Shaul Ladany, Serbian-Israeli race walker and engineer
  • 1937 – Dick Radatz, American baseball player (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – John Larsson, Swedish 17th General of The Salvation Army
  • 1938 – Booker Little, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1961)
  • 1938 – Al Weis, American baseball player
  • 1939 – Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
  • 1939 – Anthony Lake, American academic and diplomat, 18th United States National Security Advisor
  • 1939 – Lise Thibault, Canadian journalist and politician, 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
  • 1940 – Donald Jackson, Canadian figure skater and coach
  • 1940 – Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer (d. 1981)
  • 1940 – Penelope Keith, English actress
  • 1941 – Dr. Demento, American radio host
  • 1941 – Sonny Throckmorton, American country singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2016)
  • 1942 – Roshan Seth, Indian-English actor
  • 1943 – Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce, South African-English admiral and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
  • 1943 – Caterina Bueno, Italian singer (d. 2007)
  • 1943 – Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (d. 2017)
  • 1943 – Antonio Sabàto, Sr., Italian actor
  • 1944 – Bill Malinchak, American football player
  • 1945 – Jürgen Drews, German singer-songwriter
  • 1945 – Guy Fréquelin, French race car driver
  • 1945 – Linda Hunt, American actress
  • 1945 – Reggie Smith, American baseball player and coach
  • 1945 – Don Sutton, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1945 – Anne Waldman, American poet
  • 1946 – Richard Collinge, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1946 – David Heyes, English politician
  • 1946 – Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (d. 2014)
  • 1946 – Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist and songwriter (d. 1997)
  • 1947 – Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer-songwriter
  • 1947 – Tua Forsström, Finnish writer
  • 1947 – Emmylou Harris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1947 – Camille Paglia, American author and critic
  • 1948 – Roald Als, Danish author and illustrator
  • 1948 – Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (d. 2012)
  • 1948 – Daniel Okrent, American journalist and author
  • 1948 – Joan D. Vinge, American author
  • 1949 – Paul Gambaccini, American-English radio and television host
  • 1949 – Bernd Müller, German footballer
  • 1949 – Pamela Reed, American actress
  • 1949 – David Robinson, American drummer
  • 1950 – Lynn Westmoreland, American politician
  • 1951 – Ayako Okamoto, Japanese golfer
  • 1952 – Lennart Fagerlund, Swedish cyclist
  • 1952 – Will Hoy, English race car driver (d. 2002)
  • 1952 – Leon Wilkeson, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1953 – Jim Allister, Northern Irish lawyer and politician
  • 1953 – Rosemary Bryant Mariner, 20th and 21st-century U.S. Navy aviator
  • 1953 – Malika Oufkir, Moroccan Berber writer
  • 1953 – Debralee Scott, American actress (d. 2005)
  • 1953 – James Vance, American author and playwright (d. 2017)
  • 1954 – Gregory Abbott, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1954 – Donald Petrie, American actor and director
  • 1955 – Michael Stone, Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary
  • 1957 – Caroline Dean, English biologist and academic
  • 1957 – Hank Steinbrenner, American businessman, co-owner of the New York Yankees
  • 1958 – Stefano Bettarello, Italian rugby player
  • 1958 – Larry Drew, American basketball player and coach
  • 1959 – Gelindo Bordin, Italian runner
  • 1959 – David Frankel, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1959 – Juha Kankkunen, Finnish race car driver
  • 1959 – Yves Lavandier, French director and producer
  • 1959 – Badou Ezzaki, Moroccan footballer and manager
  • 1960 – Linford Christie, Jamaican-English sprinter
  • 1960 – Brad Jones, Australian race car driver
  • 1960 – Pascale Nadeau, Canadian journalist
  • 1961 – Buddy Jewell, American singer-songwriter
  • 1961 – Christopher Meloni, American actor
  • 1961 – Keren Woodward, English singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Pierre Carles, French director and producer
  • 1962 – Billy Dean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Clark Gregg, American actor
  • 1963 – Karl Beattie, English director and producer
  • 1963 – Mike Gascoyne, English engineer
  • 1964 – Pete Incaviglia, American baseball player and coach
  • 1964 – Jonathon Sharkey, American wrestler
  • 1965 – Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (d. 2012)
  • 1966 – Bill Romanowski, American football player and actor
  • 1966 – Teddy Sheringham, English international footballer, striker and coach
  • 1967 – Greg Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Phil Demmel, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1969 – Ajay Devgan, Indian actor, director, and producer
  • 1971 – Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto, Brazilian footballer
  • 1971 – Jason Lewry, English cricketer
  • 1971 – Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1972 – Remo D’Souza, Indian choreographer and dancer
  • 1972 – Calvin Davis, American sprinter and hurdler
  • 1972 – Zane Lamprey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Dmitry Lipartov, Russian footballer
  • 1973 – Roselyn Sánchez, Puerto Rican-American actress
  • 1973 – Aleksejs Semjonovs, Latvian footballer
  • 1974 – Tayfun Korkut, Turkish football manager and former player
  • 1975 – Randy Livingston, American basketball player
  • 1975 – Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski, German rower
  • 1976 – Andreas Anastasopoulos, Greek shot putter
  • 1976 – Rory Sabbatini, South African golfer
  • 1976 – Pattie Mallette, Canadian author and film producer
  • 1977 – Per Elofsson, Swedish skier
  • 1977 – Michael Fassbender, German-Irish actor and producer
  • 1977 – Hanno Pevkur, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice
  • 1978 – Scott Lynch, American author
  • 1978 – Ethan Smith, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1979 – Jesse Carmichael, American keyboard player
  • 1980 – Avi Benedi, Israeli singer and songwriter
  • 1980 – Adam Fleming, Scottish journalist
  • 1980 – Gavin Heffernan, Canadian director and screenwriter
  • 1980 – Ricky Hendrick, American race car driver (d. 2004)
  • 1980 – Wairangi Koopu, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1980 – Carlos Salcido, Mexican international footballer, defender
  • 1981 – Michael Clarke, Australian cricketer
  • 1981 – Kapil Sharma, Indian stand-up comedian, television presenter and actor
  • 1982 – Marco Amelia, Italian footballer
  • 1982 – Jeremy Bloom, American football player and skier
  • 1982 – Jack Evans, American wrestler
  • 1982 – David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player
  • 1983 – Yung Joc, American rapper
  • 1983 – Maksym Mazuryk, Ukrainian pole vaulter
  • 1984 – Engin Atsür, Turkish basketball player
  • 1984 – Nóra Barta, Hungarian diver
  • 1984 – Jérémy Morel, French footballer
  • 1985 – Thom Evans, Zimbabwean-Scottish rugby player
  • 1985 – Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater
  • 1986 – Ibrahim Afellay, Dutch footballer
  • 1986 – Andris Biedriņš, Latvian basketball player
  • 1986 – Lee DeWyze, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1987 – Pablo Aguilar, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1987 – Marc Pugh, English footballer
  • 1988 – Jesse Plemons, American actor
  • 1990 – Yevgeniya Kanayeva, Russian gymnast
  • 1990 – Miralem Pjanić, Bosnian footballer
  • 1991 – Quavo, American rapper
  • 1993 – Keshorn Walcott, Trinidadian javelin thrower
  • 1997 – Dillon Bassett, American race car driver
  • 1997 – Abdelhak Nouri, Dutch footballer

Deaths on April 2

  • 670 – Hasan ibn Ali the second Shia Imam (b. 624)
  • 870 – Æbbe the Younger, Frankish abbess
  • 872 – Muflih al-Turki, Turkish general
  • 968 – Yuan Dezhao, Chinese chancellor (b. 891)
  • 991 – Bardas Skleros, Byzantine general
  • 1118 – Baldwin I, king of Jerusalem
  • 1244 – Henrik Harpestræng, Danish botanical and medical author
  • 1272 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English husband of Sanchia of Provence (b. 1209)
  • 1335 – Henry of Bohemia (b. 1265)
  • 1412 – Ruy González de Clavijo, Spanish explorer and author
  • 1416 – Ferdinand I, king of Aragon (b. 1379)
  • 1502 – Arthur, prince of Wales (b. 1486)
  • 1507 – Francis of Paola, Italian friar and saint, founded the Order of the Minims (b. 1416)
  • 1511 – Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe, German nobleman (b. 1428)
  • 1640 – Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet (b. 1595)
  • 1657 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1608)
  • 1657 – Jean-Jacques Olier, French priest, founded the Society of Saint-Sulpice (b. 1608)
  • 1672 – Pedro Calungsod, Filipino missionary and saint (b. 1654)
  • 1672 – Diego Luis de San Vitores, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1627)
  • 1720 – Joseph Dudley, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1647)
  • 1742 – James Douglas, Scottish physician and anatomist (b. 1675)
  • 1747 – Johann Jacob Dillenius, German-English botanist and mycologist (b. 1684)
  • 1754 – Thomas Carte, English historian and author (b. 1686)
  • 1787 – Thomas Gage, English general and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1719)
  • 1791 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French journalist and politician (b. 1749)
  • 1801 – Thomas Dadford, Jr., English engineer (b. 1761)
  • 1803 – Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, Scottish judge and politician (b. 1721)
  • 1817 – Johann Heinrich Jung, German author and academic (b. 1740)
  • 1827 – Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus, German physician and educator (b. 1776)
  • 1845 – Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician (b. 1763)
  • 1865 – A. P. Hill, American general (b. 1825)
  • 1872 – Samuel Morse, American painter and academic, invented the Morse code (b. 1791)
  • 1891 – Albert Pike, American lawyer and general (b. 1809)
  • 1891 – Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Greek playwright and politician, 249th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1823)
  • 1894 – Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (b. 1803)
  • 1896 – Theodore Robinson, American painter and academic (b. 1852)
  • 1914 – Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
  • 1917 – Bryn Lewis, Welsh international rugby player (b.1891)
  • 1923 – Topal Osman, Turkish colonel (b. 1883)
  • 1928 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
  • 1930 – Zewditu I of Ethiopia (b. 1876)
  • 1933 – Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer (b. 1872)
  • 1936 – Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, French general (b. 1860)
  • 1942 – Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (b. 1862)
  • 1948 – Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (b. 1907)
  • 1953 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (b. 1885)
  • 1966 – C. S. Forester, English novelist (b. 1899)
  • 1972 – Franz Halder, German general (b. 1884)
  • 1972 – Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese martial artist and educator (b. 1887)
  • 1974 – Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France (b. 1911)
  • 1977 – Walter Wolf, German academic and politician (b. 1907)
  • 1987 – Buddy Rich, American drummer, songwriter, and bandleader (b. 1917)
  • 1989 – Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer (b. 1939)
  • 1992 – Juanito, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1954)
  • 1992 – Jan van Aartsen, Dutch politician (b. 1909)
  • 1994 – Betty Furness, American actress, consumer advocate, game show panelist, television journalist and television personality (b. 1916)
  • 1994 – Marc Fitch, British historian and philanthropist (b. 1908)
  • 1995 – Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
  • 1997 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese director and producer (b. 1910)
  • 1998 – Rob Pilatus, American-German singer-songwriter (b. 1965)
  • 2001 – Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor and painter (b. 1920)
  • 2002 – Levi Celerio, Filipino composer and songwriter (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – John R. Pierce, American engineer and author (b. 1910)
  • 2003 – Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
  • 2004 – John Argyris, Greek computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1913)
  • 2005 – Lillian O’Donnell, American crime novelist (b. 1926)
  • 2005 – Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)
  • 2006 – Lloyd Searwar, Guyanese anthologist and diplomat (b. 1925)
  • 2007 – Henry L. Giclas, American astronomer and academic (b. 1910)
  • 2008 – Yakup Satar, Turkish World War I veteran(b. 1898)
  • 2009 – Albert Sanschagrin, Canadian bishop (b. 1911)
  • 2009 – Bud Shank, American saxophonist and flute player (b. 1926)
  • 2010 – Chris Kanyon, American wrestler (b. 1970)
  • 2011 – John C. Haas, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Jesús Aguilarte, Venezuelan captain and politician (b. 1959)
  • 2012 – Elizabeth Catlett, American-Mexican sculptor and illustrator (b. 1915)
  • 2012 – Mauricio Lasansky, American graphic designer and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2013 – Fred, French author and illustrator (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Jesús Franco, Spanish director, screenwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Milo O’Shea, Irish-American actor (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Glyn Jones, South African actor and screenwriter (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Urs Widmer, Swiss author and playwright (b. 1938)
  • 2015 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
  • 2015 – Robert H. Schuller, American pastor and author (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician, Governor of Limburg (b. 1954)
  • 2016 – Gallieno Ferri, Italian comic book artist and illustrator (b. 1929)
  • 2016 – Robert Abajyan, Armenian sergeant (b. 1996)

Holidays and observances on April 2

  • Christian feast day:
    • Abundius of Como
    • Amphianus of Lycia
    • Æbbe the Younger
    • Bronach of Glen-Seichis (Irish martyrology)
    • Francis of Paola
    • Francisco Coll Guitart
    • Henry Budd (Anglican Church of Canada)
    • Nicetius of Lyon
    • Pedro Calungsod
    • Theodosia of Tyre
    • Urban of Langres
    • April 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • International Children’s Book Day (International)
  • Thai Heritage Conservation Day (Thailand)
  • Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day (Belarus)
  • World Autism Awareness Day (International)

March 20- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by

Typically the March equinox falls on March 20, marking the vernal point in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal point in the Southern Hemisphere.

  • 235 – Maximinus Thrax is proclaimed emperor.
  • 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
  • 1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
  • 1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish noblemen are publicly beheaded in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599).
  • 1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established.
  • 1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
  • 1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
  • 1815 – After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.
  • 1848 – German revolutions of 1848–49: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
  • 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published.
  • 1854 – The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin, US.
  • 1861 – An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
  • 1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
  • 1888 – The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.
  • 1890 – Prime Minister of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II.
  • 1896 – With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
  • 1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
  • 1915 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
  • 1921 – The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland.
  • 1922 – The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
  • 1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso’s first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
  • 1933 – Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
  • 1942 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: “I came out of Bataan and I shall return”.
  • 1948 – With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
  • 1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
  • 1952 – The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan.
  • 1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
  • 1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
  • 1972 – The Troubles: The first Provisional IRA car bombing in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
  • 1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
  • 1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
  • 1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
  • 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
  • 1990 – Ferdinand Marcos’s widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
  • 1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland.
  • 1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and wounding over 6,200 people.
  • 1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US.
  • 2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff’s deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
  • 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries (the UK, Australia and Poland) begin military operations in Iraq.
  • 2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
  • 2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
  • 2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.
  • 2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day.

Births on March 20

  • 43 BC – Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17)
  • 1253 – Magadu, renamed Wareru, founder of Ramanya Kingdom, renamed Hanthawady Kingdom of Pegu (b. a commoner; d. on a Saturday in January 1307)
  • 1319 – Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. 1348)
  • 1469 – Cecily of York (d. 1507)
  • 1477 – Jerome Emser, German theologian and scholar (d. 1527)
  • 1479 – Ippolito d’Este, Italian cardinal (d. 1520)
  • 1502 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (d. 1575)
  • 1532 – Juan de Ribera, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1611)
  • 1612 – Anne Bradstreet, Puritan American poet (d. 1672)
  • 1615 – Dara Shikoh, Indian prince (d. 1659)
  • 1639 – Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian diplomat, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1709)
  • 1725 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1789)
  • 1737 – Rama I, Thai king (d. 1809)
  • 1771 – Heinrich Clauren, German author (d. 1854)
  • 1796 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (d. 1862)
  • 1799 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet and author (d. 1839)
  • 1800 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, President of Costa Rica (d. 1845)
  • 1805 – Thomas Cooper, British poet (d. 1892)
  • 1811 – Napoleon II, French emperor (d. 1832)
  • 1811 – George Caleb Bingham, American painter and politician, State Treasurer of Missouri (d. 1879)
  • 1821 – Ned Buntline, American journalist, author, and publisher (d. 1886)
  • 1824 – Theodor von Heuglin, German explorer and ornithologist (d. 1876)
  • 1828 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian poet, playwright, and director (d. 1906)
  • 1831 – Patrick Jennings, Northern Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1897)
  • 1831 – Solomon L. Spink, American lawyer and politician (d. 1881)
  • 1834 – Charles William Eliot, American mathematician and academic (d. 1926)
  • 1836 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1886)
  • 1836 – Edward Poynter, English painter, illustrator, and curator (d. 1919)
  • 1840 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (d. 1894)
  • 1851 – Ismail Gasprinski, Ukrainian educator, publisher, and politician (d. 1914)
  • 1856 – John Lavery, Irish painter (d. 1941)
  • 1856 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American tennis player and engineer (d. 1915)
  • 1870 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
  • 1874 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet and activist (d. 1945)
  • 1876 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1927)
  • 1879 – Maud Menten, Canadian physician and biochemist (d. 1960)
  • 1882 – René Coty, French lawyer and politician, 17th President of France (d. 1962)
  • 1882 – Harold Weber, American golfer (d. 1933)
  • 1884 – Philipp Frank, Austrian-American physicist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1966)
  • 1884 – John Jensen, Australian public servant (d. 1970)
  • 1885 – Vernon Ransford, Australian cricketer (d. 1958)
  • 1888 – Amanda Clement, American baseball player, umpire, and educator (d. 1971)
  • 1890 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American tenor and actor (d. 1973)
  • 1894 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (d. 1974)
  • 1895 – Fredric Wertham, German-American psychologist and author (d. 1981)
  • 1898 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian artist (d. 1954)
  • 1900 – Amelia Chopitea Villa, Bolivia’s first female physician (d. 1942)
  • 1903 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (d. 1979)
  • 1904 – B. F. Skinner, American psychologist and author (d. 1990)
  • 1905 – Jean Galia, French rugby player and boxer (d. 1949)
  • 1906 – Abraham Beame, American accountant and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (d. 2001)
  • 1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader (d. 1975)
  • 1907 – Hugh MacLennan, Canadian author and educator (d. 1990)
  • 1908 – Michael Redgrave, English actor and director (d. 1985)
  • 1910 – Erwin Blask, German hammer thrower (d. 1999)
  • 1911 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican lawyer and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
  • 1912 – Ralph Hauenstein, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
  • 1913 – Nikolai Stepulov, Russian-Estonian boxer (d. 1968)
  • 1914 – Wendell Corey, American actor and politician (d. 1968)
  • 1915 – Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian judge and politician, 8th President of Austria (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist and composer (d. 1997)
  • 1915 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1973)
  • 1916 – Pierre Messmer, French lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
  • 1917 – Vera Lynn, English singer, songwriter and actress (d. 2020)
  • 1917 – Yigael Yadin, Israeli archaeologist, general, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1984)
  • 1918 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (d. 1984)
  • 1918 – Donald Featherstone, English soldier and author (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Marian McPartland, English-American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Bernd Alois Zimmermann, German composer (d. 1970)
  • 1919 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter ace (d. 1983)
  • 1920 – Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France (d. 1997)
  • 1920 – Rosemary Timperley, English author and screenwriter (d. 1988)
  • 1921 – Usmar Ismail, Indonesian filmmaker (d. 1971)
  • 1921 – Dušan Pirjevec, Slovenian historian and philosopher (d. 1977)
  • 1921 – Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (d. 1970)
  • 1922 – Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2017)
  • 1922 – Ray Goulding, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1990)
  • 1922 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2020)
  • 1923 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
  • 1925 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer, 12th White House Counsel (d. 1999)
  • 1927 – John Joubert, South African-English composer and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Jerome Biffle, American long jumper and coach (d. 2002)
  • 1928 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and engineer (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Fred Rogers, American television host and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1929 – William Andrew MacKay, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
  • 1929 – Germán Robles, Spanish-Mexican actor and director (d. 2015)
  • 1930 – S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (d. 1998)
  • 1931 – Hal Linden, American actor, singer, and director
  • 1931 – Rein Raamat, Estonian director and screenwriter
  • 1933 – Lateef Adegbite, Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – George Altman, American baseball player
  • 1933 – Ian Walsh, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1934 – Willie Brown, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Mayor of San Francisco
  • 1934 – David Malouf, Australian author and playwright
  • 1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor and director (d. 1996)
  • 1935 – Bettye Washington Greene, American chemist (d. 1995)
  • 1936 – Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jamaican singer, songwriter, music producer, and inventor
  • 1936 – Mark Saville, Baron Saville of Newdigate, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
  • 1937 – Lois Lowry, American author
  • 1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2008)
  • 1938 – Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician and academic
  • 1939 – Gerald Curran, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Don Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1939 – Walter Jakob Gehring, Swiss biologist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Brian Mulroney, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Canada
  • 1940 – Stathis Chaitas, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1940 – Mary Ellen Mark, American photographer and journalist (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Giampiero Moretti, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded the Momo company (d. 2012)
  • 1941 – Pat Corrales, American baseball player and manager
  • 1941 – Kenji Kimihara, Japanese runner
  • 1943 – Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
  • 1943 – Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings (d. 2015)
  • 1943 – Paul Junger Witt, American director and producer (d. 2018)
  • 1944 – John Cameron, English composer and conductor
  • 1944 – Camille Cosby, American author, producer, and philanthropist
  • 1944 – Alan Harper, English-Irish archbishop
  • 1945 – Henry Bartholomay, American soldier and pilot (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
  • 1945 – Pat Riley, American basketball player and coach
  • 1945 – Tim Yeo, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
  • 1946 – Douglas B. Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1946 – Malcolm Simmons, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
  • 1947 – John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1948 – John de Lancie, American actor
  • 1948 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1948 – Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1949 – Marcia Ball, American blues singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1949 – Richard Dowden, English journalist and educator
  • 1950 – William Hurt, American actor
  • 1950 – Carl Palmer, English drummer, percussionist, and songwriter
  • 1951 – Jimmie Vaughan, American blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1952 – Geoff Brabham, Australian race car driver
  • 1952 – David Greenaway, English economist and academic
  • 1953 – Phil Judd, New Zealand singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter
  • 1954 – Mike Francesa, American radio talk show host and television commentator
  • 1954 – Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
  • 1954 – Paul Mirabella, American baseball player
  • 1955 – Nina Kiriki Hoffman, American author
  • 1955 – Ian Moss, Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter
  • 1955 – Mariya Takeuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1956 – Catherine Ashton, English politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
  • 1956 – Anne Donahue, American lawyer and politician
  • 1956 – Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director
  • 1957 – Vanessa Bell Calloway, American actress
  • 1957 – David Foster, Australian woodchopper
  • 1957 – Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Theresa Russell, American actress
  • 1957 – Chris Wedge, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor
  • 1958 – Holly Hunter, American actress and producer
  • 1958 – Rickey Jackson, American football player
  • 1958 – Joe Reaiche, Australian rugby player
  • 1959 – Dave Beasant, English footballer and coach
  • 1959 – Mary Roach, American author
  • 1959 – Sting, American wrestler
  • 1959 – Peter Truscott, Baron Truscott, British Labour Party politician and peer
  • 1960 – Norm Magnusson, American painter and sculptor
  • 1960 – Norbert Pohlmann, German computer scientist and academic
  • 1960 – Yuri Shargin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
  • 1961 – Ingrid Arndt-Brauer, German politician
  • 1961 – Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Sara Wheeler, English author and journalist
  • 1962 – Stephen Sommers, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1963 – Paul Annacone, American tennis player and coach
  • 1963 – Kathy Ireland, American model, actress, and furniture designer
  • 1963 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (d. 2007)
  • 1963 – David Thewlis, English-French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer-songwriter
  • 1965 – William Dalrymple, Scottish historian and author
  • 1967 – Xavier Beauvois, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player
  • 1968 – Carlos Almeida, Cape Verdean runner
  • 1968 – A. J. Jacobs, American journalist and author
  • 1968 – Paul Merson, English footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Ultra Naté, American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, and promoter
  • 1969 – Yvette Cooper, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
  • 1969 – Fabien Galthie, French rugby player
  • 1970 – Edoardo Ballerini, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1970 – Josephine Medina, Filipino Paralympic table tennis player
  • 1970 – sj Miller, American academic, public speaker, and social justice activist
  • 1970 – Michael Rapaport, American actor, podcast host, and director
  • 1971 – Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
  • 1971 – Touré, American journalist and author
  • 1972 – Chilly Gonzales, Canadian-German singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
  • 1972 – Alex Kapranos, English-Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1972 – Greg Searle, English rower
  • 1972 – Marco Sejna, German footballer
  • 1972 – Cristel Vahtra, Estonian skier
  • 1973 – Nicky Boje, South African cricketer
  • 1973 – Natalya Khrushcheleva, Russian runner
  • 1973 – Talal Khalifa Aljeri, Kuwaiti businessman
  • 1974 – Carsten Ramelow, German footballer
  • 1975 – Ramin Bahrani, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1975 – Isolde Kostner, Italian skier
  • 1976 – Chester Bennington, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2017)
  • 1978 – Kevin Betsy, English born Seychelles international footballer, midfielder and manager
  • 1978 – Brent Sherwin, Australian rugby league player
  • 1979 – Shinnosuke Abe, Japanese baseball player
  • 1979 – Freema Agyeman, English actress
  • 1979 – Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1980 – Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
  • 1980 – Robertas Javtokas, Lithuanian basketball player
  • 1981 – Ian Murray, Scottish footballer
  • 1981 – Carl Webb, Australian rugby league player
  • 1982 – Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1982 – Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
  • 1982 – José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
  • 1983 – Carolina Padrón, Venezuelan journalist
  • 1983 – Jenni Vartiainen, Finnish singer
  • 1984 – Vikram Banerjee, English cricketer
  • 1984 – Christy Carlson Romano, American actress and singer
  • 1984 – Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
  • 1985 – Morgan Amalfitano, French footballer
  • 1985 – Ronnie Brewer, American basketball player
  • 1985 – Nicolas Lombaerts, Belgian footballer
  • 1986 – Dean Geyer, South African-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1986 – Julián Magallanes, Argentinian footballer
  • 1986 – Ruby Rose, Australian actress and model
  • 1986 – Román Torres, Panamanian footballer
  • 1987 – Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian footballer
  • 1987 – Jô, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
  • 1989 – Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi Cricketer
  • 1990 – Blake Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
  • 1990 – Marcos Rojo, Argentine footballer
  • 1991 – Mattia Destro, Italian footballer
  • 1991 – Michał Kucharczyk, Polish footballer
  • 1991 – Ethan Lowe, Australian rugby league player
  • 1993 – Sloane Stephens, American tennis player
  • 1995 – Jack Bird, Australian rugby league player

Deaths on March 20

  • 687 – Cuthbert, Northumbrian (English) monk, bishop, and saint (b. 634)
  • 703 – Wulfram, archbishop of Sens
  • 842 – Alfonso II, king of Asturias (Spain) (b. 759)
  • 851 – Ebbo, archbishop of Reims
  • 1181 – Taira no Kiyomori, Japanese general (b. 1118)
  • 1191 – Pope Clement III (b. 1130)
  • 1239 – Hermann von Salza, German knight and diplomat (b. 1179)
  • 1302 – Ralph Walpole, Bishop of Norwich
  • 1336 – Maurice Csák, Hungarian Dominican friar (b. 1270)
  • 1351 – Muhammad bin Tughluq, Sultan of Delhi
  • 1390 – Alexios III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1338)
  • 1413 – Henry IV of England (b. 1367)
  • 1440 – Sigismund I of Lithuania
  • 1475 – Georges Chastellain, Burgundian chronicler and poet
  • 1549 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, English general and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1508)
  • 1568 – Albert, Duke of Prussia (b. 1490)
  • 1619 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1557)
  • 1673 – Augustyn Kordecki, Polish monk (b. 1603)
  • 1688 – Maria of Orange-Nassau, Dutch princess (b. 1642)
  • 1730 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (b. 1692)
  • 1746 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter and academic (b. 1656)
  • 1780 – Benjamin Truman, English brewer and businessman (b. 1699)
  • 1793 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish judge and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1705)
  • 1835 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (b. 1794)
  • 1849 – James Justinian Morier, Turkish-English author and diplomat (b. 1780)
  • 1855 – Joseph Aspdin, English businessman (b. 1788)
  • 1865 – Yamanami Keisuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1833)
  • 1874 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (b. 1810)
  • 1878 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (b. 1814)
  • 1894 – Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian lawyer, journalist and politician (b. 1802)
  • 1897 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1821)
  • 1899 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and author (b. 1822)
  • 1909 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian historian and businessman (b. 1842)
  • 1918 – Lewis A. Grant, American general and lawyer (b. 1828)
  • 1925 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (b. 1859)
  • 1929 – Ferdinand Foch, French field marshal (b. 1851)
  • 1930 – Arthur F. Andrews, American cyclist (b. 1876)
  • 1931 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
  • 1933 – Giuseppe Zangara, Italian-American assassin of Anton Cermak (b. 1900; executed)
  • 1940 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
  • 1945 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (b. 1883)
  • 1946 – Amadeus William Grabau, American-Chinese geologist, paleontologist, and academic (b. 1870)
  • 1947 – Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and director (b. 1884)
  • 1952 – Hjalmar Väre, Finnish cyclist (b. 1892)
  • 1958 – Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian merchant, journalist, and politician (b. 1915)
  • 1964 – Brendan Behan, Irish republican and playwright (b. 1923)
  • 1965 – Daniel Frank, American long jumper (b. 1882)
  • 1966 – Johnny Morrison, American baseball player (b. 1895)
  • 1968 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (b. 1889)
  • 1969 – Henri Longchambon, French politician (b. 1896)
  • 1971 – Falih Rıfkı Atay, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1894)
  • 1972 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (b. 1921)
  • 1974 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (b. 1911)
  • 1977 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1909)
  • 1977 – Terukuni Manzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 38th Yokozuna (b. 1919)
  • 1978 – Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (b. 1895)
  • 1981 – Gerry Bertier, American football player (b. 1953)
  • 1983 – Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1891)
  • 1990 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1907)
  • 1990 – Lev Yashin, Russian footballer (b. 1929)
  • 1992 – Georges Delerue, French composer (b. 1925)
  • 1993 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
  • 1994 – Lewis Grizzard, American writer and humorist (b. 1946)
  • 1997 – V. S. Pritchett, English short story writer, essayist, and critic (b. 1900)
  • 1999 – Patrick Heron, British painter (b. 1920)
  • 2000 – Gene Eugene, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1961)
  • 2001 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (b. 1949)
  • 2004 – Juliana of the Netherlands (b. 1909)
  • 2004 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Armand Lohikoski, American-Finnish director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
  • 2007 – Raynald Fréchette, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1933)
  • 2007 – Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraqi politician, Vice President of Iraq (b. 1938)
  • 2007 – Hawa Yakubu, Ghanaian politician (b. 1948)
  • 2010 – Ai, American poet and academic (b. 1947)
  • 2010 – Girija Prasad Koirala, Indian-Nepalese politician, 30th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1924)
  • 2010 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Johnny Pearson, English pianist, conductor, and composer (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (b. 1955)
  • 2012 – Noboru Ishiguro, Japanese animator and director (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Polish-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Jim Stynes, Irish-Australian footballer (b. 1966)
  • 2013 – James Herbert, English author (b. 1943)
  • 2013 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, 19th President of Bangladesh (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (b. 1934)
  • 2014 – Hilderaldo Bellini, Brazilian footballer (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Tonie Nathan, American politician (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (b. 1915)
  • 2015 – Eva Burrows, Australian 13th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1922)
  • 2017 – David Rockefeller, American billionaire and philanthropist (b. 1915)
  • 2018 – C. K. Mann, a Ghanaian Highlife musician and producer (b. 1936)
  • 2019 – Mary Warnock, English philosopher & writer (b. 1924)
  • 2020 – Kenny Rogers, American singer (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances on March 20

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alexandra
    • Blessed John of Parma
    • Clement of Ireland
    • Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
    • Herbert of Derwentwater
    • John of Nepomuk
    • Józef Bilczewski
    • María Josefa Sancho de Guerra
    • Martin of Braga
    • Michele Carcano
    • Wulfram
    • March 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest date for the vernal equinox in the Northern hemisphere:
    • Bahá’í Naw-Rúz, started at sunset on March 20. The end of the 19-day sunrise-to-sunset fast. (Bahá’í Faith)
    • Chunfen (China)
    • Earth Equinox Day
    • International Astrology Day
    • New Year (Thelema)
    • Nowruz (Persian, Gilaki, Kurdish, Zoroastrians, and other Iranian people and countries with an Iranian influence)
    • Ostara in the northern hemisphere, Mabon in the southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year)
    • Shunbun no Hi (Japan)
    • Sun-Earth Day (United States)
    • Vernal Equinox Day/Kōreisai (Japan)
    • World Storytelling Day
  • Earliest day on which Good Friday can fall, while April 23 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Easter. (Christianity)
  • Great American Meatout (United States)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tunisia from France in 1956.
  • International Day of Happiness (United Nations)
  • International Francophonie Day (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie), and its related observances:
    • UN French Language Day (United Nations)
  • National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
  • World Sparrow Day

January 21- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
  • 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
  • 1535 – Following the Affair of the Placards, the French king leads an anti-Protestant procession through Paris.
  • 1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
  • 1749 – The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona is destroyed by fire, as a result of a torch being left behind in the box of a nobleman after a performance. It is rebuilt in 1754.
  • 1774 – Abdul Hamid I becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
  • 1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown, is printed in Boston.
  • 1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.
  • 1854 – The RMS Tayleur sinks off Lambay Island on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia with great loss of life.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
  • 1893 – The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
  • 1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
  • 1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
  • 1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.
  • 1919 – A revolutionary Irish parliament is founded and declares the independence of the Irish Republic. One of the first engagements of the Irish War of Independence takes place.
  • 1925 – Albania declares itself a republic.
  • 1931 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
  • 1941 – Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania the day before, members of the Iron Guard engaged in a rebellion and pogrom killing 125 Jews.
  • 1948 – The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Québec Flag Day.
  • 1950 – American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
  • 1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
  • 1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
  • 1960 – Avianca Flight 671 crashes at Montego Bay, Jamaica airport, killing 37 people.
  • 1960 – A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.
  • 1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh: One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
  • 1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
  • 1971 – The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
  • 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
  • 1980 – Iran Air Flight 291 crashes in the Alborz Mountains while on approach to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 128 people.
  • 1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
  • 1985 – Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crashes near Reno–Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada, killing 70 people.
  • 1997 – The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
  • 1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
  • 2000 – Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutiérrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.
  • 2003 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
  • 2004 – NASA’s MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
  • 2005 – In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government’s new taxes erupts into riots.
  • 2009 – Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.
  • 2011 – Anti government demonstrations take place in Tirana, Albania. Five people lose their lives from gunshots, allegedly fired from armed police protecting the Prime Minister’s office. To date, no one has been held accountable for the deaths.
  • 2017 – Over 400 cities across America and 160+ countries worldwide participate in a large-scale women’s march, on Donald Trump’s first full day as President of the United States.
  • 2018 – Rocket Lab’s Electron becomes the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric pump-fed engine and deploys three CubeSats.

Births on January 21

  • 1264 – Alexander, Prince of Scotland (d. 1284)
  • 1277 – Galeazzo I Visconti, lord of Milan
  • 1338 – Charles V of France (d. 1380)
  • 1493 – Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (d. 1556)
  • 1598 – Matsudaira Tadamasa, Japanese samurai and daimyō (d. 1645)
  • 1612 – Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz, count of Nassau-Dietz (d. 1640)
  • 1636 – Melchiorre Cafà, Maltese Baroque sculptor (baptised; d. 1667)
  • 1655 – Antonio Molinari, Italian painter (d. 1704)
  • 1659 – Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch painter (d. 1722)
  • 1675 – Duchess Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg, Margravine of Baden-Baden (d. 1733)
  • 1714 – Anna Morandi Manzolini, Spanish anatomist (d. 1774)
  • 1717 – Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, Spanish military officer and governor of Cuba (d. 1779)
  • 1721 – James Murray, Scottish-English general and politician, Governor of Minorca (d. 1794)
  • 1724 – Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, French rococo painter (d. 1805)
  • 1732 – Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (d. 1797)
  • 1738 – Ethan Allen, American general (d. 1789)
  • 1741 – Chaim of Volozhin, Orthodox rabbi (d. 1821)
  • 1763 – Augustin Robespierre, younger brother of French Revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (d. 1794)
  • 1775 – Manuel Garcia, Spanish opera singer and composer (d. 1832)
  • 1784 – Peter De Wint, English painter (d. 1849)
  • 1788 – William Henry Smyth, Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist
  • 1796 – Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, consort of George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1880)
  • 1797 – Joseph Méry, French author and journalist (d. 1866)
  • 1800 – Theodor Fliedner, German Lutheran minister (d. 1864)
  • 1801 – John Batman, Australian entrepreneur and explorer (d. 1839)
  • 1804 – Moritz von Schwind, Austrian painter (d. 1871)
  • 1808 – Juan Crisóstomo Torrico, 16th President of Peru (d. 1875)
  • 1810 – Pierre Louis Charles de Failly, French general (d. 1892)
  • 1811 – James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, British statesman (d. 1885)
  • 1813 – John C. Frémont, American general, explorer, and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (d. 1890)
  • 1813 – Giuseppe Montanelli, Italian statesman and author (d. 1862)
  • 1814 – Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, German bibliographer and historian (d. 1885)
  • 1815 – Horace Wells, American dentist (d. 1848)
  • 1820 – Joseph Wolf, German ornithologist and illustrator (d. 1899)
  • 1820 – Egide Walschaerts, Belgian mechanical engineer (d. 1901)
  • 1824 – Stonewall Jackson, American general (d. 1863)
  • 1827 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1900)
  • 1829 – Oscar II of Sweden (d. 1907)
  • 1839 – Caterina Volpicelli, Italian Roman Catholic nun (d. 1894)
  • 1840 – Sophia Jex-Blake, English physician and feminist (d. 1912)
  • 1841 – Édouard Schuré, French philosopher and author (d. 1929)
  • 1843 – Émile Levassor, French engineer (d. 1897)
  • 1845 – Harriet Backer, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
  • 1846 – Pieter Hendrik Schoute, Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1923)
  • 1846 – Albert Lavignac, French music scholar (d. 1916)
  • 1847 – Joseph Achille Le Bel, French chemist (d. 1930)
  • 1848 – Henri Duparc, French soldier and composer (d. 1933)
  • 1851 – Giuseppe Allamano, Italian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1926)
  • 1854 – Karl Julius Beloch, German classical and economic historian (d. 1929)
  • 1854 – Eusapia Palladino, Italian Spiritualist (d. 1918)
  • 1855 – Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1874)
  • 1860 – Karl Staaff, Swedish lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
  • 1864 – Israel Zangwill, British author (d. 1926)
  • 1865 – Heinrich Albers-Schonberg, German gynecologist and radiologist (d. 1921)
  • 1867 – Ludwig Thoma, German paramedic and author (d. 1921)
  • 1867 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (d. 1965)
  • 1868 – Felix Hoffmann, German chemist (d. 1946)
  • 1869 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian Mystic (d. 1916)
  • 1871 – Olga Preobrajenska, Russian ballerina (d. 1962)
  • 1873 – Arturo Labriola, Italian revolutionary syndicalist (d. 1959)
  • 1874 – René-Louis Baire, French mathematician (d. 1932)
  • 1875 – Paul E. Kahle, German orientalist (d. 1964)
  • 1877 – Baldassarre Negroni, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1948)
  • 1878 – Vahan Tekeyan, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1948)
  • 1879 – Joseph Roffo, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (d. 1933)
  • 1880 – George Van Biesbroeck, Belgian–American astronomer (d. 1974)
  • 1881 – Ernst Fast, Swedish runner (d. 1959)
  • 1881 – André Godard, French archaeologist, architect and historian (d. 1965)
  • 1881 – Ivan Ribar, Yugoslav politician (d. 1968)
  • 1882 – Pavel Florensky, Russian mathematician and theologian (d. 1937)
  • 1882 – Francis Gailey, Australian-American swimmer (d. 1972)
  • 1883 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet and educator (d. 1929)
  • 1883 – Mathias Hynes, British tug of war competitor (d. 1926)
  • 1885 – Duncan Grant, British painter and designer (d. 1978)
  • 1885 – Umberto Nobile, Italian engineer and explorer (d. 1978)
  • 1885 – Harold A. Wilson, English runner (d. 1932)
  • 1886 – John M. Stahl, American director and producer (d. 1950)
  • 1887 – Wolfgang Köhler, German psychologist and phenomenologist (d. 1967)
  • 1887 – Ernest Holmes, American New Thought writer (d. 1960)
  • 1887 – Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1926)
  • 1889 – Pitirim Sorokin, American sociologist and political activist (d. 1968)
  • 1891 – Albert Battel, German Army lieutenant and lawyer (d. 1952)
  • 1891 – Francisco Lázaro, Portuguese marathon runner (d. 1912)
  • 1895 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer, founded Balenciaga (d. 1972)
  • 1895 – Daniel Chalonge, French astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1977)
  • 1895 – Noe Itō, Japanese anarchist, author and feminist (d. 1923)
  • 1896 – Guy Gilpatric, American pilot and journalist (d. 1950)
  • 1896 – Paula Hitler, younger sister of Adolf Hitler (d. 1960)
  • 1896 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (d. 1973)
  • 1896 – Masa Perttilä, Finnish wrestler (d. 1968)
  • 1897 – René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
  • 1898 – Rudolph Maté, Polish-Hungarian-American cinematographer, producer and director (d. 1964)
  • 1898 – Ahmad Shah Qajar, Shah of Persia (d. 1930)
  • 1898 – Eduard Zintl, German chemist (d. 1941)
  • 1899 – John Bodkin Adams, British general practitioner and convict (d. 1983)
  • 1899 – Gyula Mándi, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1969)
  • 1899 – Edith Tolkien, wife and muse of J. R. R. Tolkien (d. 1971)
  • 1899 – Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian-American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
  • 1900 – Elof Ahrle, Swedish actor and director (d. 1965)
  • 1900 – Anselm Franz, Austrian engineer (d. 1994)
  • 1900 – Bernhard Rensch, German evolutionary biologist (d. 1990)
  • 1900 – Fernando Quiroga Palacios, Spanish Cardinal (d. 1971)
  • 1901 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1978)
  • 1903 – William Lyon, American film editor (d. 1974)
  • 1903 – Raymond Suvigny, French weightlifter (d. 1945)
  • 1904 – Puck van Heel, Dutch footballer (d. 1984)
  • 1904 – John Porter, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1997)
  • 1905 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer, founded Christian Dior S.A. (d. 1957)
  • 1905 – Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (d. 1978)
  • 1906 – Leo Halle, Dutch footballer (d. 1992)
  • 1906 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (d. 2007)
  • 1907 – Carlo Cavagnoli, Italian boxer (d. 1991)
  • 1907 – Jānis Mendriks, Latvian Catholic priest (d. 1953)
  • 1909 – Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer and conductor (d. 2004)
  • 1909 – Teofilo Spasojević, Serbian footballer (d. 1970)
  • 1910 – Hideo Shinojima, Japanese footballer (d. 1975)
  • 1910 – Albert Rosellini, American lawyer and politician, 15th Governor of Washington (d. 2011)
  • 1910 – Rosa Kellner, German athlete (d. 1984)
  • 1910 – Károly Takács, Hungarian shooter (d. 1976)
  • 1911 – Dick Garrard, Australian wrestler (d. 2003)
  • 1911 – Lee Yoo-hyung, Korean footballer and manager (d. 2003)
  • 1912 – Konrad Emil Bloch, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – André Lichnerowicz, French mathematician (d. 1998)
  • 1915 – Orazio Mariani, Italian sprinter (d. 1981)
  • 1916 – Pietro Rava, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Zypora Spaisman, Polish midwife; American and Yiddish-language actress; producer of the Yiddish stage (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Erling Persson, H&M founder (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Jimmy Hagan, English footballer (d. 1998)
  • 1918 – Richard Winters, American soldier (d. 2011)
  • 1918 – Antonio Janigro, Italian cellist and conductor (d. 1989)
  • 1919 – Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (d. 2016)
  • 1920 – Errol Barrow, first Prime Minister of Barbados (d. 1987)
  • 1921 – Lincoln Alexander, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1922 – Paul Scofield, English actor (d. 2008)
  • 1922 – Predrag Vranicki, Croatian Marxist Humanist, and member of the Praxis school in the 1960s in Yugoslavia (d. 2002)
  • 1923 – Lola Flores, Spanish singer, dancer, and actress (d. 1995)
  • 1923 – Alberto de Mendoza, Argentine actor (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Pahiño, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1924 – Benny Hill, English actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
  • 1925 – Charles Aidman, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1925 – Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-English author (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
  • 1926 – Clive Donner, British director (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (d. 1980)
  • 1926 – Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder (d. 2000)
  • 1926 – Roger Taillibert, French architect (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Robert J. White, American neurosurgeon (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Rudolf Kraus, German footballer (d. 2003)
  • 1928 – Gene Sharp, American political scientist and academic, founded the Albert Einstein Institution (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Reynaldo Bignone, Argentinian general and politician, 41st President of Argentina (d. 2018)
  • 1929 – Radley Metzger, American filmmaker (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Mainza Chona, Zambian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zambia (d. 2001)
  • 1931 – Yoshiko Kuga, Japanese actress
  • 1933 – Habib Thiam, Senegalese politician (d. 2017)
  • 1933 – Tony Marchi, English footballer, wing half
  • 1934 – Audrey Dalton, Irish actress
  • 1934 – Antonio Karmany, Spanish cyclist
  • 1934 – Alfonso Portugal, Mexican footballer (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Ann Wedgeworth, American actress (d. 2017)
  • 1936 – Dick Davies, American basketball player (d. 2012)
  • 1937 – Judit Ágoston-Mendelényi, Hungarian fencer (d. 2013)
  • 1937 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria, the youngest son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
  • 1938 – Sandy Barr, American wrestler and referee (d. 2007)
  • 1938 – Romano Fogli, Italian footballer
  • 1938 – Wolfman Jack, American radio host (d. 1995)
  • 1938 – Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
  • 1939 – Paul Genevay, French sprinter
  • 1939 – Friedel Lutz, German footballer
  • 1939 – Steve Paxton, American dancer and choreographer
  • 1939 – Viacheslav Platonov, Russian volleyball player and coach (d. 2005)
  • 1940 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer and sportscaster
  • 1940 – Patrick Robinson, British novelist
  • 1941 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (d. 2013)
  • 1941 – Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor and conductor
  • 1941 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
  • 1941 – Mike Medavoy, Chinese-American film producer, co-founded Orion Pictures
  • 1941 – Ivan Putski, Polish-American wrestler and bodybuilder
  • 1941 – Elaine Showalter, American author and critic
  • 1942 – Freddy Breck, German singer, producer, and news anchor (d. 2008)
  • 1942 – Eugène Camara, Prime Minister of Guinea (d. 2019)
  • 1942 – Han Pil-hwa, North Korean speed skater
  • 1942 – Mac Davis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1942 – Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1942 – Michael G. Wilson, American producer and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Zdravko Hebel, Croatian water polo player (d. 2017)
  • 1943 – Arnar Jónsson, Icelandic actor
  • 1943 – Alfons Peeters, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
  • 1943 – Kenzo Yokoyama, Japanese footballer
  • 1944 – Uto Ughi, Italian violinist
  • 1945 – Pete Kircher, English drummer
  • 1945 – Martin Shaw, English actor and producer
  • 1946 – Ichiro Hosotani, Japanese footballer
  • 1946 – Nella Martinetti, Swiss singer (d. 2011)
  • 1946 – Tomás Pineda, El Salvadoran footballer
  • 1946 – Miguel Reina, Spanish footballer
  • 1947 – Jill Eikenberry, American actress
  • 1947 – Andrzej Bachleda, Polish former alpine skier
  • 1947 – Dorian M. Goldfeld, American mathematician
  • 1947 – Pye Hastings, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1947 – Michel Jonasz, French singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1947 – Joseph Nicolosi, American clinical psychologist (d. 2017)
  • 1947 – Giuseppe Savoldi, Italian footballer
  • 1947 – Roberto Zywica, Argentine footballer
  • 1948 – Zygmunt Kukla, Polish footballer (d. 2016)
  • 1948 – Hugo Tocalli, Argentine footballer
  • 1949 – Trương Tấn Sang, Vietnamese politician and 7th President of Vietnam
  • 1949 – Clifford Ray, American basketball coach and player
  • 1950 – Marion Becker, German javelin thrower
  • 1950 – Gary Locke, American politician and diplomat, 36th United States Secretary of Commerce
  • 1950 – José Marín, Spanish racewalker
  • 1950 – Billy Ocean, Trinidadian-English singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – Agnes van Ardenne, Dutch politician and diplomat, Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation
  • 1951 – Eric Holder, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 82nd United States Attorney General
  • 1952 – Marco Camenisch, Swiss activist and murderer
  • 1952 – Werner Grissmann, Austrian alpine skier
  • 1952 – Mikhail Umansky, Russian chess player (d. 2010)
  • 1953 – Paul Allen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Microsoft (d. 2018)
  • 1953 – Felipe Yáñez, Spanish cyclist
  • 1954 – Thomas de Maizière, German politician of the Christian Democratic Union
  • 1954 – Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkinabé director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
  • 1954 – Phil Thompson, English footballer and coach
  • 1955 – Peter Fleming, American tennis player
  • 1955 – Jeff Koons, American painter and sculptor
  • 1955 – Nello Musumeci, Italian politician and President of Sicily
  • 1956 – Robby Benson, American actor and director
  • 1956 – Geena Davis, American actress and producer
  • 1958 – Matt Salmon, American politician
  • 1958 – Hussein Saeed, Iraqi footballer
  • 1958 – Sergei Walter, Ukrainian politician (d. 2015)
  • 1958 – Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
  • 1959 – Sergei Alifirenko, Russian pistol shooter
  • 1959 – Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1960 – Sidney Lowe, American basketball player
  • 1960 – Mike Terrana, American hard rock and heavy metal drummer
  • 1961 – Kevin Cramer, American politician
  • 1961 – Cornelia Pröll, Austrian alpine skier
  • 1961 – Ivo Pukanić Croatian journalist (d. 2008)
  • 1961 – Gary Shaw, English footballer
  • 1961 – Piotr Ugrumov, Russian cyclist
  • 1962 – Tyler Cowen, American economist and academic
  • 1962 – Isabelle Nanty, French actress, director and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Gabriele Pin, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1962 – Zoran Thaler, Slovenian politician
  • 1962 – Erik Verlinde, Dutch theoretical physicist
  • 1962 – Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
  • 1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-American basketball player
  • 1963 – Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player and coach
  • 1964 – Andreas Bauer, German ski jumper
  • 1964 – Tony Dolan, English musician and actor
  • 1964 – Gérald Passi, French footballer
  • 1964 – Ricardo Serna, Spanish footballer
  • 1964 – Aleksandar Šoštar, Serbian water polo player
  • 1964 – Danny Wallace, English footballer
  • 1965 – Robert Del Naja, British artist, musician and singer
  • 1965 – Jam Master Jay, American DJ, rapper, and producer (d. 2002)
  • 1965 – Masahiro Wada, Japanese footballer
  • 1967 – Artashes Minasian, Armenian chess player
  • 1967 – Alfred Jermaniš, Slovenian footballer
  • 1967 – Gorō Miyazaki, Japanese film director and landscaper
  • 1968 – Dmitry Fomin, Soviet and Russian volleyball player
  • 1968 – Ilya Smirin, Israeli chess Grandmaster
  • 1968 – Artur Dmitriev, Soviet and Russian ice skater
  • 1968 – Sébastien Lifshitz, French director
  • 1968 – Charlotte Ross, American actress
  • 1969 – John Ducey, American actor
  • 1969 – Eduard Hämäläinen, Finnish-Belarusian decathlete
  • 1969 – Karina Lombard, French-American actress and singer
  • 1969 – Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese comic artist
  • 1970 – Alen Bokšić, former Croatian footballer
  • 1970 – Marina Foïs, French actress
  • 1970 – Ken Leung, American actor
  • 1970 – Oren Peli, Israeli-American director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Uni Arge, Faroese footballer and entertainer
  • 1971 – Rafael Berges, Spanish footballer
  • 1971 – Doug Edwards, American basketball player
  • 1971 – Dmitri Khlestov, Russian footballer
  • 1971 – Dylan Kussman, American actor
  • 1971 – Sergey Klevchenya, Russian speed skater
  • 1971 – Doug Weight, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1972 – Billel Dziri, Algerian footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Rick Falkvinge, Swedish businessman and politician
  • 1972 – Sead Kapetanović, Bosnian footballer
  • 1972 – Yasunori Mitsuda, Japanese composer and producer
  • 1972 – Cat Power, American singer, musician and actress
  • 1972 – Shawn Rojeski, American curler
  • 1972 – Sabina Valbusa, Italian cross-country skier
  • 1973 – Rob Hayles, English cyclist
  • 1973 – Chris Kilmore, American musician and DJ
  • 1973 – Edvinas Krungolcas, Lithuanian modern pentathlete
  • 1973 – Flavio Maestri, Peruvian footballer
  • 1974 – Malena Alterio, Spanish actress
  • 1974 – Maxwell Atoms, American animator, screenwriter and voice actor
  • 1974 – Kim Dotcom, German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist
  • 1974 – Arthémon Hatungimana, Burundian middle distance runner
  • 1974 – Vincent Laresca, American actor
  • 1974 – Ulrich Le Pen, French footballer
  • 1974 – Marco Zanotti, Italian cyclist
  • 1975 – Nicky Butt, English footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Casey FitzRandolph, American speedskater
  • 1975 – Yuji Ide, Japanese race car driver
  • 1975 – Ito, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1975 – Willem Korsten, Dutch footballer, left winger
  • 1975 – Jason Moran, American jazz pianist, composer and educator
  • 1975 – Florin Șerban, Romanian director
  • 1975 – Alyaksandr Yermakovich, Belarusian footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Aivaras Abromavičius, Lithuanian-Ukrainian banker and politician; 15th Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development
  • 1976 – Raivis Belohvoščiks, Latvian cyclist
  • 1976 – Emma Bunton, English singer
  • 1976 – Lars Eidinger, German actor
  • 1976 – Giorgio Frezzolini, Italian footballer
  • 1976 – Igors Stepanovs, Latvian footballer
  • 1977 – Hussein Abdulghani, Saudi Arabian footballer
  • 1977 – Bradley Carnell, South African footballer
  • 1977 – John DeSantis, Canadian actor
  • 1977 – Kirsten Klose, German hammer thrower
  • 1977 – Denis Lunghi, Italian cyclist
  • 1977 – Ulrike Maisch, German runner
  • 1977 – Phil Neville, English footballer and manager
  • 1977 – Michael Ruffin, American basketball player
  • 1977 – Jerry Trainor, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1978 – Faris Al-Sultan, German triathlete
  • 1978 – Peter von Allmen, Swiss cross-country skier
  • 1978 – Hernán Rodrigo López, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1978 – Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Quinton Jacobs, Namibian footballer
  • 1979 – Byung-hyun Kim, South Korean baseball player
  • 1979 – Spider Loc, American rapper and actor
  • 1979 – Melendi, Spanish singer
  • 1979 – Brian O’Driscoll, Irish rugby player
  • 1979 – Sebastian Schindzielorz, German footballer
  • 1980 – Troy Dumais, American diver
  • 1980 – Karsten Forsterling, Australian rower
  • 1980 – Dave Kitson, English footballer and manager
  • 1980 – Lee Kyung-won, South Korean badminton player
  • 1980 – Kevin McKenna, Canadian soccer player
  • 1980 – Nana Mizuki, Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress
  • 1980 – Alexander Os, former Norwegian biathlete
  • 1980 – Xavier Pons, Spanish rally diver
  • 1980 – Mari Possa, El Salvadoran pornographic actress
  • 1980 – Bratislav Ristić, Serbian footballer
  • 1981 – Gillian Chung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1981 – Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
  • 1981 – Roberto Guana Italian footballer
  • 1981 – Wu Hanxiong, Chinese fencer
  • 1981 – Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Andy Lee, South Korean singer and actor
  • 1981 – Izabella Miko, Polish actress, dancer, and producer
  • 1981 – Shawn Redhage, American-Australian basketball player
  • 1981 – Michel Teló, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Jung Ryeo-won, South Korean actress
  • 1981 – David F. Sandberg, Swedish filmmaker
  • 1982 – Richard José Blanco, Venezuelan footballer
  • 1982 – Adriano Ferreira Martins, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Nicolas Mahut, French tennis player
  • 1982 – Sarah Ourahmoune, French boxer
  • 1982 – Simon Rolfes, German footballer
  • 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
  • 1983 – Alex Acker, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Monique Adamczak, Australian tennis player
  • 1983 – Victor Leandro Bagy, Brazilian footballer
  • 1983 – Ranko Despotović, Serbian footballer
  • 1983 – Svetlana Khodchenkova, Russian actress
  • 1983 – Marieke van den Ham, Dutch water polo player
  • 1983 – Billy Mwanza, Zambian footballer
  • 1983 – Maryse Ouellet, French-Canadian wrestler
  • 1983 – Álvaro Quirós, Spanish golfer
  • 1983 – Francesca Segat, Italian swimmer
  • 1983 – Moritz Volz, German footballer, right back, football pundit and scout
  • 1983 – Kelly VanderBeek, Canadian alpine skier
  • 1984 – Leonardo Burián, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1984 – Luke Grimes, American actor
  • 1984 – Amy Hastings, American track and fielder
  • 1984 – Alex Koslov, Moldovan-American wrestler
  • 1984 – Dejan Milovanović, Serbian footballer
  • 1984 – Wes Morgan, Jamaican footballer
  • 1984 – Haloti Ngata, American footballer
  • 1985 – Markus Berger, Austrian footballer
  • 1985 – Artur Beterbiev, Russian boxer
  • 1985 – Aura Dione, Danish singer and songwriter
  • 1985 – Nick Gehlfuss, American actor
  • 1985 – Salvatore Giunta, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient
  • 1985 – Yumi Hara, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1985 – Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model and actress
  • 1985 – Rodrigo San Miguel, Spanish basketball player
  • 1985 – Ri Se-gwang, North Korean artistic gymnast
  • 1985 – Dmitri Sokolov, Russian basketball player
  • 1985 – Ryan Suter, American ice hockey player
  • 1986 – César Arzo, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Edson Barboza, Brazilian mixed martial artist
  • 1986 – João Gomes Júnior, Brazilian swimmer
  • 1986 – Javi López, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Gina Mambrú, volleyball player from Dominican Republic
  • 1986 – Jonathan Quick, American ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Mike Taylor, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Óscar Vílchez, Peruvian footballer
  • 1986 – Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian actor
  • 1987 – Ioannis Athanasoulas, Greek basketball player
  • 1987 – Andrei Cojocari, Moldovan footballer
  • 1987 – Alexander Dercho, German footballer
  • 1987 – Aida Hadzialic, Swedish politician
  • 1987 – Shaun Keeling, South African rower
  • 1987 – Augustine Kiprono Choge, Kenyan runner
  • 1987 – Kevin Kratz, German footballer
  • 1987 – Danny Munyao, Zambian footballer
  • 1987 – Henrico Drost, Dutch footballer
  • 1987 – Darren Helm, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Will Johnson, Canadian footballer
  • 1987 – Mulopo Kudimbana, Congolese footballer
  • 1987 – Nyasha Mushekwi, Zimbabwean footballer
  • 1987 – Dominik Roels, German cyclist
  • 1987 – Maša Zec Peškirič, Slovenian tennis player
  • 1987 – Ikumi Yoshimatsu, Japanese actress
  • 1988 – Glaiza de Castro, Filipino actress and singer
  • 1988 – Ashton Eaton, American decathlete
  • 1988 – Rolands Freimanis, Latvian basketball player
  • 1988 – Vanessa Hessler, Italian-American model and actress
  • 1988 – Aleksandar Lazevski, Macedonian footballer
  • 1988 – Ángel Mena, Ecuadorian footballer
  • 1988 – Valérie Tétreault, Canadian tennis player
  • 1988 – Pieter Timmers, Belgian swimmer
  • 1988 – Nemanja Tomić, Serbian footballer
  • 1988 – Ben Turner, English footballer
  • 1989 – Doğuş Balbay, Turkish basketball player
  • 1989 – Kayla Banwarth, American indoor volleyball player
  • 1989 – Férébory Doré, Congolese footballer
  • 1989 – Sergey Fesikov, Russian swimmer
  • 1989 – Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Armenian footballer
  • 1989 – Matteo Pelucchi, Italian cyclist
  • 1989 – Zhang Shuai, Chinese tennis player
  • 1990 – Arash Afshin, Iranian footballer
  • 1990 – Diogo Amado, Portuguese footballer
  • 1990 – Andriy Bohdanov, Ukrainian footballer
  • 1990 – Kelly Rohrbach, American model and actress
  • 1990 – André Martins, Portuguese footballer
  • 1990 – Knowledge Musona, Zimbabwean footballer
  • 1990 – Jacob Smith, American actor
  • 1990 – Doni Tata Pradita, Indonesian motorcycle racer
  • 1991 – Ali Al-Busaidi, Omani footballer
  • 1991 – Javier Calvo, Spanish actor and director
  • 1991 – Mohammad Ghadir, Arab-Israeli footballer
  • 1991 – Jan Hirt, Czech cyclist
  • 1991 – Mateusz Mika, Polish volleyball player
  • 1991 – Alfredo Ortuño, Spanish footballer
  • 1991 – Marta Pagnini, Italian gymnast
  • 1991 – Craig Roberts, Welsh actor and director
  • 1991 – Luis Alfonso Rodríguez, Mexican footballer
  • 1992 – Verónica Cepede Royg, Paraguayan tennis player
  • 1992 – Sven Erik Bystrøm, Norwegian cyclist
  • 1992 – James Duckworth, Australian tennis player
  • 1992 – Kwame Karikari, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1992 – Nicolás Mezquida, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1992 – Roland Szolnoki, Hungarian footballer
  • 1993 – Clément Mignon, French swimmer
  • 1993 – Muralha, Brazilian footballer
  • 1993 – Chiara Pierobon, Italian cyclist (d. 2015)
  • 1994 – Amin Affane, Swedish footballer
  • 1994 – Laura Robson, Australian-English tennis player
  • 1994 – Kang Seung-yoon, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1994 – Nils Allen “Booboo” Stewart Jr., American actor
  • 1994 – Lim Kim, South Korean singer and actress
  • 1995 – Yulia Belorukova, Russian cross-country skier
  • 1995 – Nguyễn Công Phượng, Vietnamese footballer
  • 1995 – Marine Johannes, French basketball player
  • 1995 – Alanna Kennedy, Australian footballer player
  • 1996 – Marco Asensio, Spanish footballer
  • 1996 – Aldo Kalulu, French footballer
  • 1996 – Cristian Pavón, Argentine footballer
  • 1997 – Jeremy Shada, American actor, musician and singer
  • 1998 – Borna Sosa, Croatian footballer
  • 1999 – Rubina Ali, Indian actress
  • 2003 – Natalie Garcia, rhythmic gymnast
  • 2004 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, 2nd in line for the Norwegian throne

Deaths on January 21

  • 420 – Yazdegerd I, king of the Sassanid Empire
  • 496 – Epiphanius of Pavia, Italian bishop and saint (b. 438)
  • 917 – Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (b. 880)
  • 918 – Liu Zhijun, Chinese general
  • 939 – Yang Pu, Chinese emperor (b. 900)
  • 942 – An Chongrong, Chinese general (Five Dynasties)
  • 945 – Yang Tan, Chinese general and governor
  • 1118 – Pope Paschal II (b. 1050)
  • 1203 – Agnes II, Abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1139)
  • 1320 – Árni Helgason, Icelandic bishop (b. c. 1260)
  • 1527 – Juan de Grijalva, Spanish explorer (b. 1489)
  • 1546 – Azai Sukemasa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1491)
  • 1609 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French historian and scholar (b. 1540)
  • 1638 – Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (b. 1570)
  • 1670 – Claude Duval, French highwayman (b. 1643)
  • 1683 – Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1621)
  • 1699 – Obadiah Walker, English historian and academic (b. 1616)
  • 1706 – Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (b. 1649)
  • 1710 – Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic and critic (b. 1638)
  • 1722 – Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1661)
  • 1731 – Ignjat Đurđević, Croatian poet and translator (b. 1675)
  • 1773 – Alexis Piron, French playwright and author (b. 1689)
  • 1774 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1717)
  • 1775 – Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel (b. 1742)
  • 1789 – Baron d’Holbach, French-German philosopher and author (b. 1723)
  • 1793 – Louis XVI of France (b. 1754)
  • 1795 – Samuel Wallis, English navigator and explorer (b. 1728)
  • 1809 – Josiah Hornblower, American engineer and politician (b. 1729)
  • 1814 – Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French botanist and author (b. 1737)
  • 1823 – Cayetano José Rodríguez, Argentinian cleric, journalist, and poet (b. 1761)
  • 1831 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (b. 1781)
  • 1851 – Albert Lortzing, German actor and composer (b. 1801)
  • 1862 – Božena Němcová, Austrian-Czech author and poet (b. 1820)
  • 1870 – Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and author (b. 1812)
  • 1872 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian playwright and poet (b. 1791)
  • 1881 – Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
  • 1891 – Calixa Lavallée, Canadian-American lieutenant and composer (b. 1842)
  • 1901 – Elisha Gray, American engineer, co-founded Western Electric (b. 1835)
  • 1914 – Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter and illustrator (b. 1857)
  • 1918 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (b. 1857)
  • 1919 – Gojong of Korea (b. 1852)
  • 1919 – Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 277th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1839)
  • 1924 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1926 – Camillo Golgi, Italian physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
  • 1928 – George Washington Goethals, American general and engineer (b. 1858)
  • 1931 – Felix Blumenfeld, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1863)
  • 1932 – Lytton Strachey, English writer and critic (b. 1880)
  • 1933 – George Moore, Irish author, poet, and critic (b. 1852)
  • 1937 – Marie Prevost, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1898)
  • 1938 – Georges Méliès, French actor, director, and producer (b. 1861)
  • 1945 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian soldier and engineer (b. 1886)
  • 1948 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer and educator (b. 1876)
  • 1950 – George Orwell, British novelist, essayist, and critic (b. 1903)
  • 1955 – Archie Hahn, German-American runner and coach (b. 1880)
  • 1956 – Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (b. 1883)
  • 1959 – Cecil B. DeMille, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1881)
  • 1959 – Frances Gertrude McGill, pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist (b. 1882)
  • 1959 – Carl Switzer, American child actor and hunting guide (b. 1927)
  • 1960 – Matt Moore, Irish-American actor and director (b. 1888)
  • 1961 – Blaise Cendrars, Swiss author and poet (b. 1887)
  • 1963 – Acharya Shivpujan Sahay, Indian author, poet, and academic (b. 1893)
  • 1963 – Spiros Xenos, Greek-Swedish painter (b. 1881)
  • 1965 – Gwynne Evans, American swimmer and water polo player (b. 1880)
  • 1967 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
  • 1968 – Will Lang, Jr., American journalist (b. 1914)
  • 1977 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet and journalist (b. 1906)
  • 1978 – Freda Utley, English scholar and author (b. 1898)
  • 1983 – Lamar Williams, American bass player (b. 1949)
  • 1984 – Giannis Skarimpas, Greek playwright and poet (b. 1893)
  • 1984 – Jackie Wilson, American singer (b. 1934)
  • 1985 – James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
  • 1985 – Eddie Graham, American wrestler and promoter (b. 1930)
  • 1987 – Charles Goodell, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1926)
  • 1988 – Vincent Lingiari, Australian Aboriginal rights activist (b. 1919)
  • 1989 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (b. 1922)
  • 1989 – Billy Tipton, American pianist and saxophonist (b. 1914)
  • 1993 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1903)
  • 1994 – Bassel al-Assad, Son of the former President of the Syrian Arab Republic Hafez al-Assad (b. 1962)
  • 1998 – Jack Lord, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1920)
  • 1999 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)
  • 2002 – Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
  • 2003 – Paul Haines, American-Canadian poet and songwriter (b. 1933)
  • 2003 – Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian author and playwright (b. 1929)
  • 2005 – Theun de Vries, Dutch author and poet (b. 1907)
  • 2005 – John L. Hess, American journalist and critic (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Kaljo Raid, Estonian cellist, composer, and pastor (b. 1921)
  • 2006 – Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo journalist and politician, 1st President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
  • 2009 – Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician and diplomat (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Paul Quarrington, Canadian author, playwright, guitarist, and composer (b. 1953)
  • 2011 – Theoni V. Aldredge, Greek-American costume designer (b. 1922)
  • 2011 – Dennis Oppenheim, American sculptor and photographer (b. 1938)
  • 2011 – E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1958)
  • 2013 – Ahmet Mete Işıkara, Turkish geophysicist and academic (b. 1941)
  • 2013 – Chumpol Silpa-archa, Thai academic and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Michael Winner, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1935)
  • 2015 – Marcus Borg, American scholar, theologian, and author (b. 1942)
  • 2015 – Leon Brittan, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (b. 1946)
  • 2016 – Bill Johnson, American skier (b. 1960)
  • 2016 – Mrinalini Sarabhai, a 1992-Padma Bhushan award winner Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. (b. 1918)
  • 2019 – Kaye Ballard, American actress (b. 1925)
  • 2019 – Henri, Count of Paris, Head of the House of Orléans (b. 1933)
  • 2019 – Emiliano Sala, Argentine footballer (b. 1990)
  • 2019 – Harris Wofford, American politician, author and civil rights activist (b. 1926)
  • 2020 – Terry Jones, Welsh actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
  • 2020 – Morgan Wootten, American high school basketball coach (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances on January 21

  • Babinden (Bulgaria, Serbia)
  • Birthday of Princess Ingrid Alexandra (Norway)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Agnes
    • Demiana (Coptic Church)
    • Fructuosus
    • John Yi Yun-il (one of The Korean Martyrs)
    • Meinrad of Einsiedeln
    • January 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Errol Barrow Day (Barbados)
  • Flag Day (Quebec)
  • Grandmother’s Day (Poland)
  • Lady of Altagracia Day (Dominican Republic)
  • Lincoln Alexander Day (Canada)