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June 26 in History
- 4 AD – Augustus adopts Tiberius.
- 221 – Roman emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir and receives the title of Caesar.
- 363 – Roman emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sasanian Empire.
- 684 – Pope Benedict II is chosen.
- 699 – En no Ozuno, a Japanese mystic and apothecary who will later be regarded as the founder of a folk religion Shugendō, is banished to Izu Ōshima.
- 1243 – Mongols defeat the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Köse Dağ.
- 1295 – Przemysł II crowned king of Poland, following Ducal period. The white eagle is added to the Polish coat of arms.
- 1407 – Ulrich von Jungingen becomes Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.
- 1409 – Western Schism: The Roman Catholic Church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon.
- 1460 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Edward, Earl of March, land in England with a rebel army and march on London.
- 1483 – Richard III becomes King of England.
- 1522 – Ottomans begin the second Siege of Rhodes.
- 1541 – Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego de Almagro the younger. Almagro is later caught and executed.
- 1579 – Livonian campaign of Stephen Báthory begins.
- 1718 – Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, Peter the Great’s son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.
- 1723 – After a siege and bombardment by cannon, Baku surrenders to the Russians.
- 1740 – A combined force of Spanish, free blacks and allied Indians defeat a British garrison at the Siege of Fort Mose near St. Augustine during the War of Jenkins’ Ear.
- 1794 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Fleurus marked the first successful military use of aircraft.
- 1830 – William IV becomes king of Britain and Hanover.
- 1843 – Treaty of Nanking comes into effect, Hong Kong Island is ceded to the British “in perpetuity”.
- 1848 – End of the June Days Uprising in Paris.
- 1857 – The first investiture of the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London.
- 1870 – The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.
- 1886 – Henri Moissan isolated elemental Fluorine for the first time.
- 1889 – Bangui is founded by Albert Dolisie and Alfred Uzac in what was then the upper reaches of the French Congo.
- 1906 – The first Grand Prix motor race is held at Le Mans.
- 1909 – The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity.
- 1917 – World War I: The American Expeditionary Forces begin to arrive in France. They will first enter combat four months later.
- 1918 – World War I: Allied forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord defeat Imperial German forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince in the Battle of Belleau Wood.
- 1924 – The American occupation of the Dominican Republic ends after eight years.
- 1927 – The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island.
- 1934 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.
- 1936 – Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.
- 1940 – World War II: Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.
- 1941 – World War II: Soviet planes bomb Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia), giving Hungary the impetus to declare war the next day.
- 1942 – The first flight of the Grumman F6F Hellcat.
- 1944 – World War II: San Marino, a neutral state, is mistakenly bombed by the RAF based on faulty information, leading to 35 civilian deaths.
- 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Osuchy in Osuchy, Poland, one of the largest battles between Nazi Germany and Polish resistance forces, ends with the defeat of the latter.
- 1945 – The United Nations Charter is signed by 50 Allied nations in San Francisco, California.
- 1948 – Cold War: The first supply flights are made in response to the Berlin Blockade.
- 1948 – William Shockley files the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.
- 1948 – Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery is published in The New Yorker magazine.
- 1952 – The Pan-Malayan Labour Party is founded in Malaya, as a union of statewide labour parties.
- 1953 – Lavrentiy Beria, head of MVD, is arrested by Nikita Khrushchev and other members of the Politburo.
- 1955 – The South African Congress Alliance adopts the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.
- 1959 – Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson becomes world champion of heavy weight boxing, by defeating American Floyd Patterson on technical knockout after two minutes and three seconds in the third round at Yankee Stadium.
- 1960 – The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland.
- 1960 – Madagascar gains its independence from France.
- 1963 – Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.
- 1967 – Karol Wojtyła (later John Paul II) made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.
- 1974 – The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
- 1975 – Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.
- 1977 – Elvis Presley held his final concert in Indianapolis, Indiana at Market Square Arena.
- 1978 – Air Canada Flight 189, flying to Toronto, overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of the 107 passengers on board perish.
- 1991 – Yugoslav Wars: The Yugoslav People’s Army begins the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.
- 1995 – Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani deposes his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a bloodless coup d’état.
- 1997 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
- 2000 – The Human Genome Project announces the completion of a “rough draft” sequence.
- 2003 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
- 2006 – Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.
- 2007 – Pope Benedict XVI reinstates the traditional laws of papal election in which a successful candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes.
- 2008 – A suicide bomber dressed as an Iraqi policeman detonates an explosive vest, killing 25 people.
- 2012 – The Waldo Canyon fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs burning 347 homes in a matter of hours and killing two people.
- 2013 – Riots in China’s Xinjiang region kill at least 36 people and injure 21 others.
- 2013 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
- 2015 – Five different terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia, Somalia, Kuwait, and Syria occurred on what was dubbed Bloody Friday by international media. Upwards of 750 people were either killed or injured in these uncoordinated attacks.
- 2015 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Births on June 26
- 12 BC – Agrippa Postumus, Roman son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder (d. 14)
- 1399 – John, Count of Angoulême (d. 1467)
- 1575 – Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (d. 1612)
- 1581 – San Pedro Claver, Spanish Jesuit saint (d. 1654)
- 1600 – Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, Spanish-born bishop and viceroy of New Spain (d. 1659)
- 1681 – Hedvig Sophia of Sweden (d. 1708)
- 1689 – Edward Holyoke, American pastor and academic (d. 1769)
- 1694 – Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1768)
- 1699 – Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin, French businesswoman (d. 1777)
- 1702 – Philip Doddridge, English hymn-writer and educator (d. 1751)
- 1703 – Thomas Clap, American minister and academic (d. 1767)
- 1726 – Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia (d. 1796)
- 1730 – Charles Messier, French astronomer and academic (d. 1817)
- 1764 – Jan Paweł Łuszczewski, Polish politician (d. 1812)
- 1796 – Jan Paweł Lelewel, Polish painter and engineer (d. 1847)
- 1798 – Wolfgang Menzel, German poet and critic (d. 1873)
- 1817 – Branwell Brontë, English painter and poet (d. 1848)
- 1819 – Abner Doubleday, American general (d. 1893)
- 1821 – Bartolomé Mitre, Argentinian soldier, journalist, and politician, 6th President of Argentina (d. 1906)
- 1824 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-Scottish physicist and engineer (d. 1907)
- 1835 – Thomas W. Knox, American journalist and author (d. 1896)
- 1839 – Sam Watkins, American soldier and author (d. 1901)
- 1852 – Daoud Corm, Lebanese painter (d. 1930)
- 1854 – Robert Laird Borden, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1937)
- 1865 – Bernard Berenson, Lithuanian-American historian and author (d. 1959)
- 1866 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English archaeologist and banker (d. 1923)
- 1869 – Martin Andersen Nexø, Danish journalist and author (d. 1954)
- 1878 – Leopold Löwenheim, German mathematician and logician (d. 1957)
- 1880 – Mitchell Lewis, American actor (d. 1956)
- 1881 – Ya’akov Cohen, Israeli linguist, poet, and playwright (d. 1960)
- 1892 – Pearl S. Buck, American novelist, essayist, short story writer Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1893 – Dorothy Fuldheim, American journalist and news anchor(d. 1989)
- 1895 – George Hainsworth, Canadian ice hockey player and politician (d. 1950)
- 1898 – Willy Messerschmitt, German engineer and businessman (d. 1978)
- 1898 – Chesty Puller, US general (d. 1971)
- 1899 – Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1918)
- 1901 – Stuart Symington, American lieutenant and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Air Force (d. 1988)
- 1902 – Hugues Cuénod, Swiss tenor and educator (d. 2010)
- 1903 – Big Bill Broonzy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1958)
- 1904 – Frank Scott Hogg, Canadian astronomer and academic (d. 1951)
- 1904 – Peter Lorre, Slovak-American actor and singer (d. 1964)
- 1905 – Lynd Ward, American author and illustrator (d. 1985)
- 1906 – Alberto Rabagliati, Italian singer (d. 1974)
- 1906 – Viktor Schreckengost, American sculptor and educator (d. 2008)
- 1907 – Debs Garms, American baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1908 – Salvador Allende, Chilean physician and politician, 29th President of Chile (d. 1973)
- 1909 – Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-American talent manager (d. 1997)
- 1909 – Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator, director, and producer (d. 1985)
- 1911 – Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American golfer and basketball player (d. 1956)
- 1911 – Bronisław Żurakowski, Polish pilot and engineer (d. 2009)
- 1913 – Aimé Césaire, French poet, author, and politician (d. 2008)
- 1913 – Maurice Wilkes, English computer scientist and physicist (d. 2010)
- 1914 – Laurie Lee, English author and poet (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, European royalty (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Paul Castellano, American gangster (d. 1985)
- 1915 – George Haigh, English professional footballer (d. 2019)
- 1915 – Charlotte Zolotow, American author and poet (d. 2013)
- 1916 – Virginia Satir, American psychotherapist and author (d. 1988)
- 1916 – Giuseppe Taddei, Italian actor and singer (d. 2010)
- 1917 – Idriz Ajeti, Albanian albanologist (d. 2019)
- 1918 – Leo Rosner, Polish-born Austrian Jewish musician (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Raleigh Rhodes, American combat fighter pilot (d. 2007)
- 1918 – J. B. Fuqua, American entrepreneur and philanthropist (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Richard Neustadt, American political scientist and academic (d. 2003)
- 1919 – Jimmy Newberry, American pitcher (d. 1983)
- 1919 – George Athan Billias, American historian (d. 2018)
- 1919 – Donald M. Ashton, English art director (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Jean-Pierre Roy, Canadian-American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Violette Szabo, French-British secret agent (d. 1945)
- 1921 – Robert Everett, American computer scientist (d. 2018)
- 1922 – Walter Farley, American author (d. 1989)
- 1922 – Eleanor Parker, American actress (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Enzo Apicella, English artist, cartoonist, designer, and restaurateur (d. 2018)
- 1923 – Franz-Paul Decker, German conductor (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Ed Bearss, American veteran of World War II
- 1924 – Kostas Axelos, Greek-French philosopher and author (d. 2010)
- 1924 – James W. McCord Jr., CIA officer (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Pavel Belyayev, Russian soldier, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1970)
- 1925 – Wolfgang Unzicker, German chess player (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Jean Frydman, French resistant and businessman
- 1926 – Kenny Baker, American fiddler (d.2011)
- 1926 – Mahendra Bhatnagar, Indian poet
- 1926 – Fernando Mönckeberg Barros, Chilean surgeon
- 1926 – Dinu Zamfirescu, Romanian politician
- 1927 – Robert Kroetsch, Canadian author and poet (d. 2011)
- 1928 – Jacob Druckman, American composer and academic (d. 1996)
- 1928 – Yoshiro Nakamatsu, Japanese inventor
- 1928 – Bill Sheffield, American politician; 5th Governor of Alaska
- 1928 – Samuel Belzberg, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2018)
- 1929 – June Bronhill, Australian soprano and actress (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Fred Bruemmer, Latvian-Canadian photographer and author (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Milton Glaser, American illustrator and graphic designer
- 1930 – Jackie Fargo, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Wolfgang Schwanitz, East German secret police
- 1931 – Colin Wilson, English philosopher and author (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Robert Colbert, American actor
- 1932 – Dame Marguerite Pindling, Bahamian politician; Governor-General of the Bahamas
- 1932 – Don Valentine, American venture capitalist (d. 2019)
- 1933 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Gene Green, American baseball player (d. 1981)
- 1933 – David Winnick, English politician
- 1934 – Dave Grusin, American pianist and composer
- 1934 – Toru Goto, Japanese swimmer
- 1935 – Carlo Facetti, Italian race car driver
- 1935 – Sandro Riminucci, Italian basketball player
- 1935 – Dwight York, American singer
- 1936 – Benjamin Adekunle, Nigerian general (d. 2014)
- 1936 – Hal Greer, American basketball player (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Robert Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart, Scottish politician (d. 2020)
- 1936 – Edith Pearlman, American short story writer
- 1936 – Jean-Claude Turcotte, Canadian cardinal (d. 2015)
- 1936 – Nancy Willard, American author and poet (d. 2017)
- 1937 – Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Reggie Workman, American bassist and composer
- 1938 – Neil Abercrombie, American sociologist and politician, 7th Governor of Hawaii
- 1938 – Billy Davis Jr., American pop-soul singer
- 1938 – Gerald North, American climatologist and academic
- 1939 – Chuck Robb, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 64th Governor of Virginia
- 1939 – Zainuddin Maidin, Malaysian politician (d. 2018)
- 1941 – Yves Beauchemin, Canadian author and academic
- 1942 – J.J. Dillon, American wrestler and manager
- 1942 – Gilberto Gil, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and politician, Brazilian Minister of Culture
- 1943 – Georgie Fame, English singer, pianist, and keyboard player
- 1943 – Warren Farrell, American author and educator
- 1944 – Gennady Zyuganov, Russian colonel and politician
- 1946 – Candace Pert, American neuroscientist and pharmacologist (d. 2013)
- 1949 – Fredric Brandt, American dermatologist and author (d. 2015)
- 1949 – Adrian Gurvitz, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1949 – Mary Styles Harris, American biologist and geneticist
- 1951 – Gary Gilmour, Australian cricketer and manager (d. 2014)
- 1952 – Gordon McQueen, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1952 – Olive Morris, Jamaican-English civil rights activist (d. 1979)
- 1954 – Luis Arconada, Spanish footballer
- 1955 – Mick Jones, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1955 – Gedde Watanabe, American actor
- 1956 – Chris Isaak, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1956 – Catherine Samba-Panza, interim president of the Central African Republic
- 1956 – Patrick Mercer, English colonel and politician
- 1957 – Al Hunter Ashton, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2007)
- 1957 – Philippe Couillard, Canadian surgeon and politician, 31st Premier of Quebec
- 1957 – Patty Smyth, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1959 – Mark McKinney, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1960 – Mark Durkan, Irish politician
- 1961 – Greg LeMond, American cyclist
- 1961 – Terri Nunn, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1962 – Jerome Kersey, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1963 – Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russian-Swiss businessman and philanthropist
- 1963 – Mark McClellan, American economist and politician
- 1963 – Harriet Wheeler, English singer-songwriter
- 1964 – Tommi Mäkinen, Finnish race car driver
- 1966 – Dany Boon, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Kirk McLean, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1966 – Jürgen Reil, American drummer
- 1967 – Inha Babakova, Ukrainian high jumper
- 1967 – Olivier Dahan, French director and screenwriter
- 1968 – Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, Icelandic lecturer and politician, 6th President of Iceland
- 1968 – Paolo Maldini, Italian footballer
- 1968 – Shannon Sharpe, American football player and sportscaster
- 1969 – Colin Greenwood, English bass player and songwriter
- 1969 – Ingrid Lempereur, Belgian swimmer
- 1969 – Geir Moen, Norwegian sprinter
- 1969 – Mike Myers, American baseball player
- 1970 – Paul Thomas Anderson, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1970 – Paul Bitok, Kenyan runner
- 1970 – Irv Gotti, American record producer, co-founded Murder Inc Records
- 1970 – Sean Hayes, American actor
- 1970 – Adam Ndlovu, Zimbabwean footballer
- 1970 – Chris O’Donnell, American actor
- 1970 – Nick Offerman, American actor
- 1971 – Max Biaggi, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1972 – Jai Taurima, Australian long jumper and police officer
- 1973 – Gretchen Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1974 – Derek Jeter, American baseball player
- 1974 – Jason Kendall, American baseball player
- 1975 – Chris Armstrong, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Terry Skiverton, English footballer and manager
- 1976 – Ed Jovanovski, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976 – Pommie Mbangwa, Zimbabwean cricketer and sportscaster
- 1976 – Chad Pennington, American football player and sportscaster
- 1976 – Dave Rubin, American political commentator
- 1977 – Quincy Lewis, American basketball player
- 1979 – Ryō Fukuda, Japanese race car driver
- 1979 – Walter Herrmann, Argentinian basketball player
- 1979 – Ryan Tedder, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1980 – Hamílton Hênio Ferreira Calheiros, Togolese footballer
- 1980 – Michael Jackson, English footballer
- 1980 – Jason Schwartzman, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
- 1980 – Chris Shelton, American baseball player
- 1980 – Michael Vick, American football player
- 1981 – Natalya Antyukh, Russian sprinter and hurdler
- 1981 – Paolo Cannavaro, Italian footballer
- 1981 – Kanako Kondō, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1981 – Takashi Toritani, Japanese baseball player
- 1982 – Zuzana Kučová, Slovak tennis player
- 1983 – Vinícius Rodrigues Almeida, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Nick Compton, South African-English cricketer
- 1983 – Toyonoshima Daiki, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1983 – Felipe Melo, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Antonio Rosati, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Indila, French singer
- 1984 – José Juan Barea, Puerto Rican-American basketball player
- 1984 – Yankuba Ceesay, Gambian footballer
- 1984 – Elijah Dukes, American baseball player
- 1984 – Raymond Felton, American basketball player
- 1984 – Priscah Jeptoo, Kenyan runner
- 1984 – Jūlija Tepliha, Latvian figure skater
- 1984 – Deron Williams, American basketball player
- 1984 – Preslava, Bulgarian singer
- 1985 – Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Tibetan spiritual leader, 17th Karmapa Lama
- 1986 – Duvier Riascos, Colombian footballer
- 1987 – Carlos Iaconelli, Brazilian race car driver
- 1987 – Samir Nasri, French footballer
- 1988 – Oliver Stang, German footballer
- 1990 – Belaynesh Oljira, Ethiopian runner
- 1990 – Igor Subbotin, Estonian footballer
- 1991 – Houssem Chemali, French footballer
- 1991 – Diego Falcinelli, Italian footballer
- 1991 – Dustin Martin, Australian rules footballer
- 1992 – Joel Campbell, Costa Rican footballer
- 1992 – Rudy Gobert, French basketball player
- 1992 – Jennette McCurdy, American actress and singer-songwriter
- 1993 – Ariana Grande, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1994 – Hollie Arnold, English javelin thrower
- 1994 – Leonard Carow, German actor
- 1997 – Baek Ye-rin, South Korean singer
- 1997 – Callum Taylor, English cricketer
- 2002 – Chandler Smith, American racing driver
- 2009 – Yesha Camile, Filipino child actress
Deaths on June 26
- 116 BC – Ptolemy VIII, king of Egypt
- 363 – Julian the Apostate, Roman emperor (b. 332)
- 405 – Vigilius, bishop of Trent (b. 353)
- 822 – Saichō, Japanese Buddhist monk (b. 767)
- 969 – George El Mozahem, Egyptian martyr (b. 940)
- 985 – Ramiro III, king of León
- 1090 – Jaromír, bishop of Prague
- 1095 – Robert, bishop of Hereford
- 1265 – Anne of Bohemia, duchess of Silesia (b. 1203 or 1204)
- 1274 – Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian scientist and writer (b. 1201)
- 1487 – John Argyropoulos, Byzantine philosopher and scholar (b. 1415)
- 1541 – Francisco Pizarro, Spanish explorer and politician, Governor of New Castile (b. c. 1471)
- 1574 – Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, captain of the Scottish Guard of Henry II of France (b. 1530)
- 1688 – Ralph Cudworth, English philosopher and academic (b. 1617)
- 1752 – Giulio Alberoni, Spanish cardinal (b. 1664)
- 1757 – Maximilian Ulysses Browne, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705)
- 1784 – Caesar Rodney, American lawyer and politician, 4th Governor of Delaware (b. 1728)
- 1793 – James Dickey, Irish revolutionary (b. 1776)
- 1793 – Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist (b. 1720)
- 1795 – Johannes Jährig, German linguist and translator (b. 1747)
- 1808 – Ludwik Tyszkiewicz, Polish poet and politician (b. 1748)
- 1810 – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor, co-invented the hot air balloon (b. 1740)
- 1830 – George IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1762)
- 1836 – Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French soldier and composer (b. 1760)
- 1856 – Max Stirner, German philosopher and author (b. 1806)
- 1870 – Armand Barbès, French lawyer and politician (b. 1809)
- 1878 – Mercedes of Orléans (b. 1860)
- 1879 – Richard H. Anderson, American general (b. 1821)
- 1883 – Edward Sabine, Irish-English astronomer, geophysicist, and ornithologist (b. 1788)
- 1918 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and author (b. 1843)
- 1922 – Albert I, Prince of Monaco (b. 1848)
- 1927 – Armand Guillaumin, French painter (b. 1841)
- 1932 – Adelaide Ames, American astronomer and academic (b. 1900)
- 1932 – William Murray McPherson, Australian politician, 31st Premier of Victoria (b. 1865)
- 1938 – James Weldon Johnson, American poet, lawyer and politician (b. 1871)
- 1938 – Daria Pratt, American golfer (b. 1859)
- 1939 – Ford Madox Ford, English novelist, poet, and critic (b. 1873)
- 1943 – Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
- 1945 – Emil Hácha, Czech lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1872)
- 1946 – Max Kögel, German SS officer (b. 1895)
- 1946 – Yōsuke Matsuoka, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1880)
- 1947 – R. B. Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1870)
- 1949 – Kim Koo, South Korean educator and politician, 13th President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (b. 1876)
- 1955 – Engelbert Zaschka, German engineer (b. 1895)
- 1956 – Clifford Brown, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1930)
- 1956 – Richie Powell, American pianist (b. 1931)
- 1957 – Alfred Döblin, Polish-German physician and author (b. 1878)
- 1957 – Malcolm Lowry, English novelist and poet (b. 1909)
- 1958 – George Orton, Canadian runner and hurdler (b. 1873)
- 1958 – Andrija Štampar, Croatian physician and scholar (b. 1888)
- 1964 – Léo Dandurand, American-Canadian businessman (b. 1889)
- 1967 – Françoise Dorléac, French actress and singer (b. 1942)
- 1975 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint (b. 1902)
- 1979 – Akwasi Afrifa, Ghanaian soldier and politician, 3rd Head of State of Ghana (b. 1936)
- 1989 – Howard Charles Green, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Public Works (b. 1895)
- 1990 – Anni Blomqvist, Finnish author (b. 1909)
- 1992 – Buddy Rogers, American wrestler (b. 1921)
- 1993 – Roy Campanella, American baseball player and coach (b. 1921)
- 1993 – William H. Riker, American political scientist and academic (b. 1920)
- 1994 – Jahanara Imam, Bangladeshi author and activist (b. 1929)
- 1996 – Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist (b. 1958)
- 1996 – Necmettin Hacıeminoğlu, Turkish linguist and academic (b. 1932)
- 1997 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (b. 1913)
- 1998 – Hacı Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
- 2002 – Jay Berwanger, American football player (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Arnold Brown, English-Canadian 11th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1913)
- 2003 – Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroon footballer (b. 1975)
- 2003 – Denis Thatcher, English soldier and businessman (b. 1915)
- 2003 – Strom Thurmond, American general, lawyer, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (b. 1902)
- 2004 – Ott Arder, Estonian poet and translator (b. 1950)
- 2004 – Yash Johar, Indian film producer, founded Dharma Productions (b. 1929)
- 2004 – Naomi Shemer, Israeli singer-songwriter (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (b. 1938)
- 2005 – Richard Whiteley, English journalist and game show host (b. 1943)
- 2006 – Tommy Wonder, Dutch magician (b. 1953)
- 2007 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Joey Sadler, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Algirdas Brazauskas, Lithuanian engineer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Harald Keres, Estonian physicist and academic (b. 1912)
- 2011 – Edith Fellows, American actress (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach (b. 1948)
- 2012 – Sverker Åström, Swedish diplomat, Swedish Permanent Representative to the United Nations (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Pat Cummings, American basketball player (b. 1956)
- 2012 – Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Mario O’Hara, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
- 2012 – Doris Singleton, American actress (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Risley C. Triche, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Henrik Otto Donner, Finnish trumpet player and composer (b. 1939)
- 2013 – Edward Huggins Johnstone, Brazilian-American sergeant and judge (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Byron Looper, American politician (b. 1964)
- 2013 – Justin Miller, American baseball player (b. 1977)
- 2013 – Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Howard Baker, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 12th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Bill Frank, American-Canadian football player (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Rollin King, American businessman, co-founded Southwest Airlines (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Bob Mischak, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Julius Rudel, Austrian-American conductor (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Mary Rodgers, American composer and author (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Yevgeny Primakov, Ukrainian-Russian journalist and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Chris Thompson, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1952)
Holidays and observances on June 26
- Day of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan
- Christian feast day:
- Anthelm of Belley
- David the Dendrite
- Hermogius
- Isabel Florence Hapgood (Episcopal Church)
- Jeremiah (Lutheran)
- John and Paul
- José María Robles Hurtado (one of Saints of the Cristero War)
- Josemaría Escrivá
- Mar Abhai (Syriac Orthodox Church)
- Pelagius of Córdoba
- Vigilius of Trent
- June 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Flag Day (Romania)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Madagascar from France in 1960. (Madagascar)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of British Somaliland from the British in 1960. (Somalia)
- International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (International)
- International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (International)
- Ratcatcher’s Day (Hamelin, Germany)
- Sunthorn Phu Day (Thailand)
- World Refrigeration Day (International)
-
May 31 in History
- 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.
- 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus’ and Cumans.
- 1293 – Mongol invasion of Java was a punitive expedition against King Kertanegara of Singhasari, who had refused to pay tribute to the Yuan and maimed one of its ministers. However, it ended with failure for the Mongols. Regarded as establish City of Surabaya
- 1578 – King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France.
- 1669 – Citing poor eyesight as a reason, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.
- 1775 – American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolves are adopted in the Province of North Carolina.
- 1790 – Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- 1790 – The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
- 1795 – French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
- 1805 – French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock.
- 1813 – In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.
- 1859 – The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: The Army of Northern Virginia engages the Army of the Potomac.
- 1879 – Gilmore’s Garden in New York City is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
- 1884 – The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim the protection of Queen Victoria.
- 1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam fails and sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
- 1902 – Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
- 1909 – The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convenes for the first time.
- 1910 – The South Africa Act comes into force, establishing the Union of South Africa.
- 1911 – The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- 1911 – The President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.
- 1916 – World War I: Battle of Jutland: The British Grand Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.
- 1921 – The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300.
- 1935 – A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan killing 40,000.
- 1941 – Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns ‘Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
- 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
- 1947 – Ferenc Nagy, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, resigns from office after blackmail from the Hungarian Communist Party accusing him of being part of a plot against the state. This grants the Communists effective control of the Hungarian government.
- 1961 – The South African Constitution of 1961 becomes effective, thus creating the Republic of South Africa, which remains outside the Commonwealth of Nations until 1 June 1994, when South Africa is returned to Commonwealth membership.
- 1961 – In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.
- 1962 – The West Indies Federation dissolves.
- 1970 – The 7.9 Mw Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794–70,000 were killed and 50,000 were injured.
- 1971 – In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.
- 1973 – The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.
- 1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.
- 1985 – United States–Canada tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
- 1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations’ UNAVEM II mission.
- 2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was “Deep Throat”.
- 2008 – Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7 m/s) 9.72 seconds
- 2010 – Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish citizens on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray.
- 2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.
- 2013 – A record breaking 2.6 mile wide tornado strikes El Reno, Oklahoma, United States, causing eight fatalities and over 150 injuries.
- 2017 – A car bomb explodes in a crowded intersection in Kabul near the German embassy during rush hour, killing over 90 and injuring 463.
- 2017 – U.S. President Donald Trump tweets the word “covfefe” and quickly becomes a worldwide viral phenomenon.
- 2019 – A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured.
Births on May 31
- 1443 (or 1441) – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (d. 1509)
- 1462 – Philipp II, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1504)
- 1469 – Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
- 1535 – Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
- 1556 – Jerzy Radziwiłł, Catholic cardinal (d. 1600)
- 1577 – Nur Jahan, Empress consort of the Mughal Empire (d. 1645)
- 1613 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
- 1640 – Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland (d. 1673)
- 1641 – Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem (d. 1707)
- 1725 – Ahilyabai Holkar, Queen of the Malwa Kingdom under the Maratha Empire (d. 1795)
- 1732 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (d. 1812)
- 1753 – Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French lawyer and politician (d. 1793)
- 1754 – Andrea Appiani, Italian painter and educator (d. 1817)
- 1773 – Ludwig Tieck, German poet, author, and critic (d. 1853)
- 1801 – Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist and scholar (d. 1887)
- 1815 – Adye Douglas, English-Australian cricketer and politician, 15th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1906)
- 1818 – John Albion Andrew, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1867)
- 1819 – Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (d. 1892)
- 1827 – Kusumoto Ine, first Japanese female doctor of Western medicine (d. 1903)
- 1835 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese commander (d. 1869)
- 1838 – Henry Sidgwick, English economist and philosopher (d. 1900)
- 1842 – John Cox Bray, Australian politician, 15th Premier of South Australia (d. 1894)
- 1847 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Canadian-Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (d. 1924)
- 1852 – Francisco Moreno, Argentinian explorer and academic (d. 1919)
- 1852 – Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist, invented the Petri dish (d. 1921)
- 1857 – Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
- 1858 – Graham Wallas, English socialist, social psychologist, and educationalist (d. 1932)
- 1860 – Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
- 1863 – Francis Younghusband, Indian-English captain and explorer (d. 1942)
- 1866 – John Ringling, American entrepreneur; one of the founders of the Ringling Brothers Circus (d. 1936)
- 1875 – Rosa May Billinghurst, British suffragette and women’s rights activist (d.1953)
- 1879 – Frances Alda, New Zealand-Australian soprano (d. 1952)
- 1882 – Sándor Festetics, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of War (d. 1956)
- 1883 – Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician, 2nd President of Finland (d. 1942)
- 1885 – Robert Richards, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of South Australia (d. 1967)
- 1887 – Saint-John Perse, French poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- 1892 – Michel Kikoine, Belarusian-French painter (d. 1968)
- 1892 – Erich Neumann, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1951)
- 1892 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian poet and author (d. 1968)
- 1892 – Gregor Strasser, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1934)
- 1894 – Fred Allen, American comedian, radio host, game show panelist, and author (d. 1956)
- 1898 – Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (d. 1993)
- 1900 – Lucile Godbold, American Olympic athlete (d. 1981)
- 1901 – Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
- 1908 – Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1909 – Art Coulter, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2000)
- 1911 – Maurice Allais, French economist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1912 – Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer and educator (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997)
- 1918 – Robert Osterloh, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Lloyd Quarterman, African American chemist (d. 1982)
- 1919 – Robie Macauley, American editor, novelist and critic (d. 1995)
- 1921 – Edna Doré, English actress (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Andrew Grima, Anglo-Italian jewellery designer (d. 2007)
- 1921 – Howard Reig, American radio and television announcer (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Alida Valli, Austrian-Italian actress and singer (d. 2006)
- 1922 – Denholm Elliott, English-Spanish actor (d. 1992)
- 1923 – Ellsworth Kelly, American painter and sculptor (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
- 1925 – Julian Beck, American actor and director (d. 1986)
- 1927 – James Eberle, English admiral (d. 2018)
- 1927 – Michael Sandberg, Baron Sandberg, English lieutenant and banker (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Pankaj Roy, Indian cricketer (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, musician, and producer
- 1931 – John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Shirley Verrett, American soprano and actress (d. 2010)
- 1932 – Ed Lincoln, Brazilian pianist, bassist, and composer (d. 2012)
- 1932 – Jay Miner, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 1994)
- 1933 – Henry B. Eyring, American religious leader, educator, and author
- 1934 – Jim Hutton, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1935 – Jim Bolger, New Zealand businessman and politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1938 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
- 1938 – John Prescott, British sailor and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1938 – Peter Yarrow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1939 – Terry Waite, English humanitarian and author
- 1940 – Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Ukrainian hammer thrower and coach
- 1940 – Augie Meyers, American musician and singer-songwriter
- 1940 – Gilbert Shelton, American illustrator
- 1941 – June Clark, Welsh nurse and educator
- 1941 – Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 – William Nordhaus, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1943 – Sharon Gless, American actress
- 1943 – Joe Namath, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
- 1945 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
- 1945 – Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian academic and politician, 4th President of Côte d’Ivoire
- 1945 – Bernard Goldberg, American journalist and author
- 1946 – Ted Baehr, American publisher and critic
- 1946 – Steve Bucknor, Jamaican cricketer and umpire
- 1946 – Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician, and diplomat (d. 2009)
- 1946 – Debbie Moore, English model and businesswoman
- 1947 – Junior Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1947 – Gabriele Hinzmann, German discus thrower
- 1948 – Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1948 – John Bonham, English musician, songwriter and drummer (d. 1980)
- 1948 – Martin Hannett, English bass player, guitarist, and record producer (d. 1991)
- 1948 – Duncan Hunter, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician
- 1949 – Tom Berenger, American actor, film producer and television writer
- 1950 – Jean Chalopin, French director, producer, and screenwriter, founded DIC Entertainment
- 1950 – Gregory Harrison, American actor
- 1950 – Edgar Savisaar, Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior
- 1951 – Karl-Hans Riehm, German hammer thrower
- 1952 – Karl Bartos, German singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1953 – Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Finnish actor and screenwriter
- 1954 – Thomas Mavros, Greek footballer
- 1954 – Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (d. 2000)
- 1955 – Tommy Emmanuel, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1955 – Susie Essman, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
- 1956 – Fritz Hilpert, German drummer and composer
- 1956 – John Young, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1957 – Jim Craig, American ice hockey player
- 1959 – Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver (d. 2014)
- 1959 – Phil Wilson, English politician
- 1960 – Greg Adams, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman
- 1960 – Chris Elliott, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
- 1960 – Peter Winterbottom, English rugby player
- 1961 – Ray Cote, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961 – Justin Madden, Australian footballer and politician
- 1961 – Lea Thompson, American actress, director, and producer
- 1962 – Corey Hart, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1963 – David Leigh, holder of the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry at the University of Manchester
- 1963 – Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician, 38th Prime Minister of Hungary
- 1963 – Wesley Willis, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2003)
- 1964 – Leonard Asper, Canadian lawyer and businessman
- 1964 – Stéphane Caristan, French hurdler and coach
- 1964 – Yukio Edano, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
- 1964 – Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, American rapper and producer
- 1965 – Brooke Shields, American model, actress, and producer
- 1966 – Roshan Mahanama, Sri Lankan cricketer and referee
- 1967 – Phil Keoghan, New Zealand television host and producer
- 1967 – Kenny Lofton, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1971 – Arun Luthra, Indo-Anglo-American saxophonist, konnakol artist, composer, and arranger
- 1972 – Christian McBride, American bassist and record producer
- 1972 – Archie Panjabi, Indo-British actress
- 1972 – Frode Estil, Norwegian skier
- 1972 – Antti Niemi, Finnish international footballer, goalkeeper and coach
- 1972 – Dave Roberts, American baseball player and coach
- 1974 – Hiroiki Ariyoshi, Japanese comedian and singer
- 1974 – Chad Campbell, American golfer
- 1975 – Mac Suzuki, Japanese baseball player
- 1976 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
- 1976 – Matt Harpring, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1977 – Theodoros Baev, Bulgarian-Greek volleyball player
- 1977 – Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer
- 1977 – Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
- 1977 – Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
- 1977 – Petr Tenkrát, Czech ice hockey player
- 1979 – Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer
- 1981 – Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
- 1981 – Daniele Bonera, Italian footballer
- 1981 – Jake Peavy, American baseball player
- 1981 – Marlies Schild, Austrian skier
- 1984 – Andrew Bailey, American baseball player
- 1984 – Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer
- 1984 – Nate Robinson, American basketball player
- 1985 – Jordy Nelson, American football player
- 1986 – Robert Gesink, Dutch cyclist
- 1989 – Marco Reus, German footballer
- 1990 – Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1992 – Michaël Bournival, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Laura Ikauniece, Latvian heptathlete
- 1996 – Normani Korde, American singer
- 1998 – Santino Ferrucci, American race car driver
Deaths on May 31
- 455 – Petronius Maximus, Roman emperor (b. 396)
- 930 – Liu Hua, princess of Southern Han (b. 896)
- 960 – Fujiwara no Morosuke, Japanese statesman (b. 909)
- 1076 – Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, English politician (b. 1050)
- 1089 – Sigwin von Are, archbishop of Cologne
- 1162 – Géza II, king of Hungary (b. 1130)
- 1321 – Birger, king of Sweden (b. 1280)
- 1326 – Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (b. 1271)
- 1329 – Albertino Mussato, Italian statesman and writer (b. 1261)
- 1349 – Thomas Wake, English politician (b. 1297)
- 1370 – Vitalis of Assisi, Italian hermit and monk (b. 1295)
- 1408 – Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1358)
- 1410 – Martin of Aragon, Spanish king (b. 1356)
- 1504 – Engelbert II of Nassau (b. 1451)
- 1558 – Philip Hoby, English general and diplomat (b. 1505)
- 1567 – Guido de Bres, Belgian pastor and theologian (b. 1522)
- 1594 – Tintoretto, Italian painter and educator (b. 1518)
- 1601 – Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (b. 1547)
- 1640 – Zeynab Begum, Safavid princess (date of birth unknown)
- 1665 – Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (b. 1597)
- 1680 – Joachim Neander, German theologian and educator (b. 1650)
- 1740 – Frederick William I of Prussia (b. 1688)
- 1747 – Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1686)
- 1809 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1732)
- 1809 – Jean Lannes, French general (b. 1769)
- 1831 – Samuel Bentham, English architect and engineer (b. 1757)
- 1832 – Évariste Galois, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1811)
- 1837 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor, comedian and dancer, (b. 1779)
- 1846 – Philip Marheineke, German pastor and philosopher (b. 1780)
- 1847 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister and economist (b. 1780)
- 1848 – Eugénie de Guérin, French author (b. 1805)
- 1899 – Stefanos Koumanoudis, Greek archaeologist, teacher and writer (b. 1818)
- 1908 – Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian author, poet, and politician (b. 1839)
- 1909 – Thomas Price, Welsh-Australian politician, 24th Premier of South Australia (b. 1852)
- 1910 – Elizabeth Blackwell, English-American physician and educator (b. 1821)
- 1931 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (b. 1866)
- 1931 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (b. 1864)
- 1945 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (b. 1904)
- 1954 – Antonis Benakis, Greek art collector and philanthropist, founded the Benaki Museum (b. 1873)
- 1957 – Stefanos Sarafis, Greek general and politician (b. 1890)
- 1957 – Leopold Staff, Polish poet and academic (b. 1878)
- 1960 – Willem Elsschot, Flemish author and poet (b. 1882)
- 1960 – Walther Funk, German economist, journalist, and politician, German Minister of Economics (b. 1890)
- 1962 – Henry F. Ashurst, American lawyer and politician (b. 1874)
- 1967 – Billy Strayhorn, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
- 1970 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1929)
- 1976 – Jacques Monod, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
- 1977 – William Castle, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1914)
- 1978 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
- 1981 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist and journalist (b. 1914)
- 1982 – Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer and explorer (b. 1930)
- 1983 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer and lieutenant (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer and author (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Jane Frank, American painter and sculptor (b. 1918)
- 1986 – James Rainwater, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- 1987 – John Abraham, Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1937)
- 1989 – Owen Lattimore, American author and academic (b. 1900)
- 1989 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and historian (b. 1901)
- 1993 – Honey Tree Evil Eye, or, Spud Mackenzie, a Bull Terrier, dies of kidney failure.
- 1994 – Uzay Heparı, Turkish actor, producer, and composer (b. 1969)
- 1994 – Herva Nelli, Italian-American soprano (b. 1909)
- 1995 – Stanley Elkin, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1930)
- 1996 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author (b. 1920)
- 1998 – Charles Van Acker, Belgian-American race car driver (b. 1912)
- 2000 – Petar Mladenov, Bulgarian diplomat, 1st President of Bulgaria (b. 1936)
- 2000 – Tito Puente, American jazz musician (b. 1923)
- 2000 – A. Jeyaratnam Wilson, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (b. 1928)
- 2001 – Arlene Francis, American actress, talk show host, game show panelist, and television personality (b. 1907)
- 2002 – Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (b. 1929)
- 2004 – Aiyathurai Nadesan, Sri Lankan journalist (b. 1954)
- 2004 – Robert Quine, American guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2004 – Étienne Roda-Gil, French screenwriter and composer (b. 1941)
- 2006 – Miguel Ortiz Berrocal, Spanish sculptor (b. 1933)
- 2006 – Raymond Davis, Jr., American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
- 2009 – Danny La Rue, Irish-British drag queen performer and singer (b. 1927)
- 2009 – George Tiller, American physician (b. 1941)
- 2010 – Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor and painter (b. 1911)
- 2010 – Brian Duffy, English photographer and producer (b. 1933)
- 2010 – William A. Fraker, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1923)
- 2010 – Rubén Juárez, Argentinian singer-songwriter and bandoneón player (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Merata Mita, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
- 2011 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (b. 1919)
- 2011 – Jonas Bevacqua, American fashion designer, co-founded the Lifted Research Group (b. 1977)
- 2011 – Derek Hodge, Virgin Islander lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Hans Keilson, German-Dutch psychoanalyst and author (b. 1909)
- 2011 – John Martin, English admiral and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey (b. 1918)
- 2011 – Andy Robustelli, American football player and manager (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Christopher Challis, English cinematographer (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Randall B. Kester, American lawyer and judge (b. 1916)
- 2012 – Paul Pietsch, German racing driver and publisher (b. 1911)
- 2012 – Orlando Woolridge, American basketball player and coach (b. 1959)
- 2013 – Gerald E. Brown, American physicist and academic (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Frederic Lindsay, Scottish author and educator (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Miguel Méndez, American author and poet (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Tim Samaras, American engineer and storm chaser (b. 1957)
- 2013 – Jairo Mora Sandoval, Costa Rican environmentalist (b. 1987)
- 2013 – Jean Stapleton, American actress (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Marilyn Beck, American journalist (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1952)
- 2014 – Hoss Ellington, American race car driver (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Martha Hyer, American actress (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Lewis Katz, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, English author (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Gladys Taylor, Canadian author and publisher (b. 1917)
- 2016 – Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (1976–2016) (b. 1947)
- 2016 – Jan Crouch, American televangelist, co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Carla Lane, English television writer (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Rupert Neudeck, German journalist and humanitarian (b. 1939)
Holidays and observances on May 31
- Anniversary of Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Brunei)
- Christian feast day:
- Camilla Battista da Varano
- Hermias
- Petronella
- Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)
- May 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- The beginning of Gawai Dayak (Dayaks in Sarawak, Malaysia and West Kalimantan, Indonesia)
- World No Tobacco Day (International)
-
April 25 in History
- 404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.
- 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire.
- 799 – After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection.
- 1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094.
- 1607 – Eighty Years’ War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
- 1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
- 1707 – A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
- 1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
- 1792 – “La Marseillaise” (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
- 1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire.
- 1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.
- 1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
- 1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal’s English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
- 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks’ Mills.
- 1882 – French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry.
- 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
- 1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
- 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
- 1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.
- 1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class “A” League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
- 1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
- 1940 – Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands is approved by the British occupation government.
- 1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
- 1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two.
- 1945 – Liberation Day (Italy): The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini is captured after trying to escape. This day was set as a public holiday to celebrate the Liberation of Italy.
- 1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.
- 1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland’s soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland.
- 1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong.
- 1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” describing the double helix structure of DNA.
- 1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
- 1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
- 1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
- 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
- 1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government.
- 1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
- 1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
- 1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
- 1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
- 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto’s orbit.
- 1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
- 1988 – In Israel, John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
- 1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position.
- 2001 – Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.
- 2004 – The March for Women’s Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion.
- 2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
- 2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
- 2007 – Boris Yeltsin’s funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
- 2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.
Births on April 25
- 1214 – Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
- 1228 – Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
- 1284 – Edward II of England (d. 1327)
- 1287 – Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1330)
- 1502 – Georg Major, German theologian and academic (d. 1574)
- 1529 – Francesco Patrizi, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1597)
- 1599 – Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (d. 1658)
- 1621 – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, English soldier and politician (d. 1679)
- 1666 – Johann Heinrich Buttstett, German organist and composer (d. 1727)
- 1694 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (d. 1753)
- 1710 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer and author (d. 1776)
- 1723 – Giovanni Marco Rutini, Italian composer (d. 1797)
- 1725 – Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, English admiral and politician (d. 1786)
- 1767 – Nicolas Oudinot, French general (d. 1847)
- 1770 – Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist and academic (d. 1850)
- 1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1857)
- 1843 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
- 1849 – Felix Klein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1925)
- 1850 – Luise Adolpha Le Beau, German composer and educator (d. 1927)
- 1851 – Leopoldo Alas, Spanish author, critic, and academic (d. 1901)
- 1854 – Charles Sumner Tainter, American engineer and inventor (d. 1940)
- 1862 – Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, English ornithologist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1933)
- 1868 – John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (d. 1910)
- 1871 – Lorne Currie, French-English sailor (d. 1926)
- 1872 – C. B. Fry, English cricketer, footballer, educator, and politician (d. 1956)
- 1873 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (d. 1956)
- 1873 – Howard Garis, American author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily series of children’s stories (d. 1962)
- 1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian businessman and inventor, developed Marconi’s law, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
- 1874 – Ernest Webb, English-Canadian race walker (d. 1937)
- 1876 – Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician (d. 1958)
- 1878 – William Merz, American gymnast and triathlete (d. 1946)
- 1882 – Fred McLeod, Scottish golfer (d. 1976)
- 1887 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and critic (d. 1936)
- 1892 – Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (d. 1980)
- 1896 – Fred Haney, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1977)
- 1897 – Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (d. 1965)
- 1900 – Gladwyn Jebb, English politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1996)
- 1900 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-Swiss-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- 1902 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (d. 1964)
- 1902 – Mary Miles Minter, American actress (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1987)
- 1905 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player and referee (d. 1986)
- 1906 – William J. Brennan Jr., American colonel and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
- 1909 – William Pereira, American architect, designed the Transamerica Pyramid (d. 1985)
- 1910 – Arapeta Awatere, New Zealand interpreter, military leader, politician, and murderer (d. 1976)
- 1911 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1912 – Earl Bostic, African-American saxophonist (d. 1965)
- 1913 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (d. 1944)
- 1914 – Ross Lockridge Jr., American author and academic (d. 1948)
- 1915 – Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
- 1916 – Jerry Barber, American golfer (d. 1994)
- 1917 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
- 1917 – Jean Lucas, French racing driver (d. 2003)
- 1918 – Graham Payn, South African-born English actor and singer (d. 2005)
- 1918 – Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French-American astronomer and academic (d. 1995)
- 1918 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish-American soprano and actress (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Finn Helgesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2011)
- 1921 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter and sculptor (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Francis Graham-Smith, English astronomer and academic
- 1923 – Melissa Hayden, Canadian ballerina (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Albert King, African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1992)
- 1924 – Ingemar Johansson, Swedish race walker (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Franco Mannino, Italian pianist, composer, director, and playwright (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Tony Christopher, Baron Christopher, English trade union leader and businessman
- 1925 – Sammy Drechsel, German comedian and journalist (d. 1986)
- 1925 – Louis O’Neil, Canadian academic and politician (d. 2018)
- 1926 – Johnny Craig, American author and illustrator (d. 2001)
- 1926 – Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (d. 2008)
- 1926 – Patricia Castell, Argentine actress (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Albert Uderzo, French author and illustrator (d. 2020)
- 1928 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper, shot putter, and discus thrower (d. 2019)
- 1930 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Godfrey Milton-Thompson, English admiral and surgeon (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Peter Schulz, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Hamburg (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1980)
- 1931 – David Shepherd, English painter and author (d. 2017)
- 1932 – Nikolai Kardashev, Russian astrophysicist (d. 2019)
- 1932 – Meadowlark Lemon, African-American basketball player and minister (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower and politician (d. 1998)
- 1933 – Jerry Leiber, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
- 1933 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (d. 1992)
- 1934 – Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1935 – Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter (d. 1960)
- 1935 – Reinier Kreijermaat, Dutch footballer (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Henck Arron, Surinamese banker and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (d. 2000)
- 1938 – Roger Boisjoly, American aerodynamicist and engineer (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Ton Schulten, Dutch painter and graphic designer
- 1939 – Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian footballer and manager
- 1939 – Michael Llewellyn-Smith, English academic and diplomat
- 1939 – Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, English historian and academic
- 1939 – Veronica Sutherland, English academic and British diplomat
- 1940 – Al Pacino, American actor and director
- 1941 – Bertrand Tavernier, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1942 – Jon Kyl, American lawyer and politician
- 1943 – Tony Christie, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1944 – Len Goodman, English dancer
- 1944 – Mike Kogel, German singer-songwriter
- 1944 – Stephen Nickell, English economist and academic
- 1944 – Bruce Ponder, English geneticist and cancer researcher
- 1945 – Stu Cook, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
- 1945 – Richard C. Hoagland, American theorist and author
- 1945 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
- 1946 – Talia Shire, American actress
- 1946 – Peter Sutherland, Irish lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Ireland
- 1946 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian colonel, lawyer, and politician
- 1947 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2016)
- 1947 – Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
- 1948 – Mike Selvey, English cricketer and sportscaster
- 1948 – Yu Shyi-kun, Taiwanese politician, 39th Premier of the Republic of China
- 1949 – Vicente Pernía, Argentinian footballer and race car driver
- 1949 – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician, French Minister of Finance
- 1949 – James Fenton, English poet, journalist and literary critic
- 1950 – Donnell Deeny, Northern Irish lawyer and judge
- 1950 – Steve Ferrone, English drummer
- 1950 – Peter Hintze, German politician (d. 2016)
- 1950 – Valentyna Kozyr, Ukrainian high jumper
- 1951 – Ian McCartney, Scottish politician, Minister of State for Trade
- 1952 – Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
- 1952 – Vladislav Tretiak, Russian ice hockey player and coach
- 1952 – Jacques Santini, French footballer and coach
- 1953 – Ron Clements, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
- 1953 – Gary Cosier, Australian cricketer
- 1953 – Anthony Venables, English economist, author, and academic
- 1954 – Melvin Burgess, English author
- 1954 – Randy Cross, American football player and sportscaster
- 1954 – Róisín Shortall, Irish educator and politician
- 1955 – Américo Gallego, Argentinian footballer and coach
- 1955 – Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor and singer
- 1955 – Zev Siegl, American businessman, co-founded Starbucks
- 1956 – Dominique Blanc, French actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1956 – Abdalla Uba Adamu, Nigerian professor, media scholar
- 1957 – Theo de Rooij, Dutch cyclist and manager
- 1958 – Fish, Scottish singer-songwriter
- 1958 – Misha Glenny, British journalist
- 1959 – Paul Madden, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to Australia
- 1959 – Daniel Kash, Canadian actor and director
- 1959 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player (d. 2016)
- 1960 – Paul Baloff, American singer (d. 2002)
- 1960 – Robert Peston, English journalist
- 1960 – Bruce Redman, Australian director, producer, and critic
- 1961 – Dinesh D’Souza, Indian-American journalist and author
- 1961 – Miran Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper
- 1962 – Foeke Booy, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1963 – Joy Covey, American businesswoman (d. 2013)
- 1963 – Dave Martin, English footballer
- 1963 – David Moyes, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1963 – Bernd Müller, German footballer and manager
- 1963 – Paul Wassif, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 – Hank Azaria, American actor, voice artist, comedian and producer
- 1964 – Andy Bell, English singer-songwriter
- 1965 – Eric Avery, American bass player and songwriter
- 1965 – Mark Bryant, American basketball player and coach
- 1965 – John Henson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2014)
- 1966 – Diego Domínguez, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
- 1966 – Femke Halsema, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician
- 1966 – Darren Holmes, American baseball player and coach
- 1966 – Erik Pappas, American baseball player and coach
- 1967 – Angel Martino, American swimmer
- 1968 – Vitaliy Kyrylenko, Ukrainian long jumper
- 1968 – Thomas Strunz, German footballer
- 1969 – Joe Buck, American sportscaster
- 1969 – Martin Koolhoven, Dutch director and screenwriter
- 1969 – Jon Olsen, American swimmer
- 1969 – Darren Woodson, American football player and sportscaster
- 1969 – Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer
- 1970 – Jason Lee, American skateboarder, actor, comedian and producer
- 1971 – Sara Baras, Spanish dancer
- 1971 – Brad Clontz, American baseball player
- 1973 – Carlota Castrejana, Spanish triple jumper
- 1973 – Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer
- 1973 – Barbara Rittner, German tennis player
- 1975 – Jacque Jones, American baseball player and coach
- 1976 – Gilberto da Silva Melo, Brazilian footballer
- 1976 – Tim Duncan, American basketball player
- 1976 – Breyton Paulse, South African rugby player
- 1976 – Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player and coach
- 1977 – Constantinos Christoforou, Cypriot singer-songwriter
- 1977 – Ilias Kotsios, Greek footballer
- 1977 – Marguerite Moreau, American actress and producer
- 1977 – Matthew West, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1978 – Matt Walker, English swimmer
- 1980 – Ben Johnston, Scottish drummer and songwriter
- 1980 – James Johnston, Scottish bass player and songwriter
- 1980 – Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor and television host
- 1980 – Bruce Martin, New Zealand cricketer
- 1980 – Kazuhito Tadano, Japanese baseball player
- 1980 – Alejandro Valverde, Spanish cyclist
- 1981 – Dwone Hicks, American football player
- 1981 – Felipe Massa, Brazilian racing driver
- 1981 – John McFall, English sprinter
- 1981 – Anja Pärson, Swedish skier
- 1982 – Brian Barton, American baseball player
- 1982 – Monty Panesar, English cricketer
- 1982 – Marco Russo, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Johnathan Thurston, Australian rugby league player
- 1983 – DeAngelo Williams, American football player
- 1984 – Robert Andino, American baseball player
- 1984 – Isaac Kiprono Songok, Kenyan runner
- 1985 – Giedo van der Garde, Dutch racing driver
- 1986 – Alexei Emelin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Thin Seng Hon, Cambodian Paralympic athlete
- 1986 – Gwen Jorgensen, American triathlete
- 1986 – Claudia Rath, German heptathlete
- 1987 – Razak Boukari, Togolese footballer
- 1987 – Jay Park, American-South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1987 – Johann Smith, American soccer player
- 1988 – James Sheppard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Canadian skier
- 1989 – Michael van Gerwen, Dutch darts player
- 1989 – Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, one of the highest-ranking spiritual leaders in Tibet
- 1990 – Jean-Éric Vergne, French racing driver
- 1990 – Taylor Walker, Australian footballer
- 1991 – Alex Shibutani, American ice dancer
- 1993 – Alex Bowman, American race car driver
- 1993 – Daniel Norris, American baseball player
- 1994 – Omar McLeod, Jamaican hurdler
- 1995 – Lewis Baker, English footballer
- 1996 – Mack Horton, Australian swimmer
- 1997 – Julius Ertlthaler, Austrian footballer
Deaths on April 25
- 501 – Rusticus, saint and archbishop of Lyon (b. 455)
- 775 – Smbat VII Bagratuni, Armenian prince
- 775 – Mushegh VI Mamikonian, Armenian prince
- 908 – Zhang Wenwei, Chinese chancellor
- 1074 – Herman I, Margrave of Baden
- 1077 – Géza I of Hungary (b. 1040)
- 1185 – Emperor Antoku of Japan (b. 1178)
- 1217 – Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia
- 1228 – Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem (b. 1212)
- 1243 – Boniface of Valperga, Bishop of Aosta
- 1264 – Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, medieval English nobleman; Earl of Winchester (b. 1195)
- 1295 – Sancho IV of Castile (b. 1258)
- 1342 – Pope Benedict XII (b. 1285)
- 1397 – Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, English nobleman
- 1472 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian author, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)
- 1516 – John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
- 1566 – Louise Labé, French poet and author (b. 1520)
- 1566 – Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France (b. 1499)
- 1595 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet and songwriter (b. 1544)
- 1605 – Naresuan, Siamese King of Ayutthaya Kingdom (b. c. 1555)
- 1644 – Chongzhen Emperor of China (b. 1611)
- 1660 – Henry Hammond, English cleric and theologian (b. 1605)
- 1690 – David Teniers the Younger, Flemish painter and educator (b. 1610)
- 1744 – Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (b. 1701)
- 1770 – Jean-Antoine Nollet, French minister, physicist, and academic (b. 1700)
- 1800 – William Cowper, English poet (b. 1731)
- 1840 – Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1781)
- 1873 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1783)
- 1875 – 12th Dalai Lama (b. 1857)
- 1878 – Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
- 1890 – Crowfoot, Canadian tribal chief (b. 1830)
- 1891 – Nathaniel Woodard, English priest and educator (b. 1811)
- 1892 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (b. 1840)
- 1892 – Karl von Ditmar, Estonian-German geologist and explorer (b. 1822)
- 1906 – John Knowles Paine, American composer and educator (b. 1839)
- 1911 – Emilio Salgari, Italian journalist and author (b. 1862)
- 1913 – Joseph-Alfred Archambeault, Canadian bishop (b. 1859)
- 1915 – Frederick W. Seward, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1830)
- 1919 – Augustus D. Juilliard, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1836)
- 1923 – Louis-Olivier Taillon, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Premier of Quebec (b. 1840)
- 1928 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian general (b. 1878)
- 1941 – Salih Bozok, Turkish commander and politician (b. 1881)
- 1943 – Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian director, producer, and playwright (b. 1858)
- 1944 – George Herriman, American cartoonist (b. 1880)
- 1944 – Tony Mullane, Irish-American baseball player (b. 1859)
- 1944 – William Stephens, American engineer and politician, 24th Governor of California (b. 1859)
- 1945 – Huldreich Georg Früh, Swiss composer (b. 1903)
- 1961 – Robert Garrett, American discus thrower and shot putter (b. 1875)
- 1970 – Anita Louise, American actress (b. 1915)
- 1972 – George Sanders, English actor (b. 1906)
- 1973 – Olga Grey, Hungarian-American actress (b. 1896)
- 1974 – Gustavo R. Vincenti, Maltese architect and developer (b. 1888)
- 1975 – Mike Brant, Israeli singer and songwriter (b.1947)
- 1976 – Carol Reed, English director and producer (b. 1906)
- 1976 – Markus Reiner, Israeli engineer and educator (b. 1886)
- 1982 – John Cody, American cardinal (b. 1907)
- 1983 – William S. Bowdern, American priest and author (b. 1897)
- 1988 – Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
- 1988 – Clifford D. Simak, American journalist and author (b. 1904)
- 1990 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (b. 1923)
- 1992 – Yutaka Ozaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1965)
- 1995 – Art Fleming, American game show host (b. 1925)
- 1995 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
- 1995 – Lev Shankovsky, Ukrainian military historian (b. 1903)
- 1996 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer and director (b. 1920)
- 1998 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (b. 1910)
- 1999 – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, Irish journalist and author (b. 1914)
- 1999 – Roger Troutman, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1951)
- 2000 – Lucien Le Cam, French mathematician and statistician (b. 1924)
- 2000 – David Merrick, American director and producer (b. 1911)
- 2001 – Michele Alboreto, Italian racing driver (b. 1956)
- 2002 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (b. 1971)
- 2003 – Samson Kitur, Kenyan runner (b. 1966)
- 2004 – Thom Gunn, English-American poet and academic (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Jim Barker, American politician (b. 1935)
- 2005 – Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk and educator (b. 1908)
- 2006 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1916)
- 2006 – Peter Law, Welsh politician and independent member of parliament (b. 1948)
- 2007 – Alan Ball Jr., English footballer and manager (b. 1945)
- 2007 – Arthur Milton, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1928)
- 2007 – Bobby Pickett, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Humphrey Lyttelton, English trumpet player, composer, and radio host (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Bea Arthur, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
- 2010 – Dorothy Provine, American actress and singer (b. 1935)
- 2010 – Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (b. 1928)
- 2011 – Poly Styrene, British musician (b. 1957)
- 2012 – Gerry Bahen, Australian footballer (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Denny Jones, American rancher and politician (b. 1910)
- 2012 – Moscelyne Larkin, American ballerina and educator (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Louis le Brocquy, Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Brian Adam, Scottish biochemist and politician (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Jacob Avshalomov, American composer and conductor (b. 1919)
- 2013 – György Berencsi, Hungarian virologist and academic (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Rick Camp, American baseball player (b. 1953)
- 2014 – Dan Heap, Canadian priest and politician (b. 1925)
- 2014 – William Judson Holloway Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and judge (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Earl Morrall, American football player and coach (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Tito Vilanova, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1968)
- 2014 – Stefanie Zweig, German journalist and author (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Jim Fanning, American-Canadian baseball player and manager (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Matthias Kuhle, German geographer and academic (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Don Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and novelist (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Mike Phillips, American basketball player (b. 1956)
- 2016 – Tom Lewis, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of New South Wales (b. 1922)
- 2018 – Madeeha Gauhar, Pakistani actress, playwright and director of social theater, and women’s rights activist (b. 1956)
- 2019 – John Havlicek, American basketball player (b. 1940)
Holidays and observances on April 25
- Anniversary of the First Cabinet of Kurdish Government (Iraqi Kurdistan)
- Anzac Day (Australia, New Zealand)
- Arbor Day (Germany)
- Christian feast day:
- Giovanni Battista Piamarta
- Major Rogation (Western Christianity)
- Mark the Evangelist
- Maughold
- Philo and Agathopodes
- Anianus of Alexandria
- April 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- DNA Day
- Flag Day (Faroe Islands)
- Freedom Day (Portugal)
- Liberation Day (Italy)
- Liberation Day (South Georgia)
- Military Foundation Day (North Korea)
- Parental Alienation Awareness Day
- Red Hat Society Day
- Sinai Liberation Day (Egypt)
- World Malaria Day
-
April 3 in History
- 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich’aak K’ahk’ assumes the crown of Calakmul.
- 801 – King Louis the Pious captures Barcelona from the Moors after a siege of several months.
- 1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- 1077 – The first Parliament of Friuli is created.
- 1559 – The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis treaty is signed, ending the Italian Wars.
- 1860 – The first successful United States Pony Express run from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, begins.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
- 1882 – American Old West: Robert Ford kills Jesse James.
- 1885 – Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for his engine design.
- 1888 – The first of eleven unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurs.
- 1895 – The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
- 1922 – Joseph Stalin becomes the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- 1933 – First flight over Mount Everest, by the British Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale, and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston.
- 1936 – Bruno Richard Hauptmann is executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the baby son of pilot Charles Lindbergh.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces begin an assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.
- 1946 – Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.
- 1948 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
- 1948 – In Jeju Province, South Korea, a civil-war-like period of violence and human rights abuses begins, known as the Jeju uprising.
- 1955 – The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg’s book Howl against obscenity charges.
- 1956 – Hudsonville–Standale tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado.
- 1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. He was assassinated the next day.
- 1969 – Vietnam War: United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to “Vietnamize” the war effort.
- 1973 – Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the first handheld mobile phone call to Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs.
- 1974 – The 1974 Super Outbreak occurs, the second biggest tornado outbreak in recorded history (after the 2011 Super Outbreak). The death toll is 315, with nearly 5,500 injured.
- 1975 – Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.
- 1980 – US Congress restores a federal trust relationship with the 501 members of the Shvwits, Kanosh, Koosharem, and the Indian Peaks and Cedar City bands of the Paiute people of Utah.
- 1981 – The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.
- 1989 – The US Supreme Court upholds the jurisdictional rights of tribal courts under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 in Mississippi Choctaw Band v. Holyfield.
- 1996 – Suspected “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski is captured at his Montana cabin in the United States.
- 1997 – The Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
- 2000 – United States v. Microsoft Corp.: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust law by keeping “an oppressive thumb” on its competitors.
- 2004 – Islamic terrorists involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves.
- 2007 – Conventional-Train World Speed Record: A French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line sets an official new world speed record.
- 2008 – ATA Airlines, once one of the ten largest U.S. passenger airlines and largest charter airline, files for bankruptcy for the second time in five years and ceases all operations.
- 2008 – Texas law enforcement cordons off the FLDS’s YFZ Ranch. Eventually, 533 women and children will be taken into state custody.
- 2009 – Jiverly Antares Wong opens fire at the American Civic Association immigration center in Binghamton, New York, killing thirteen and wounding four before committing suicide.
- 2010 – Apple Inc. released the first generation iPad, a tablet computer.
- 2013 – More than 50 people die in floods resulting from record-breaking rainfall in La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 2016 – The Panama Papers, a leak of legal documents, reveals information on 214,488 offshore companies.
- 2017 – A bomb explodes in the St Petersburg metro system, killing 14 and injuring several more people.
- 2018 – YouTube headquarters shooting.
Births on April 3
- 1016 – Xing Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1055)
- 1151 – Igor Svyatoslavich, Russian prince (d. 1202)
- 1438 – John III of Egmont, Dutch nobleman (d. 1516)
- 1529 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1581)
- 1540 – Maria de’ Medici, Italian noblewoman, the eldest daughter of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. (d. 1557)
- 1593 – George Herbert, English poet (d. 1633)
- 1639 – Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (d. 1682)
- 1643 – Charles V, duke of Lorraine (d. 1690)
- 1682 – Valentin Rathgeber, German organist and composer (d. 1750)
- 1693 – George Edwards, English ornithologist and entomologist (d. 1773)
- 1715 – William Watson, English physician, physicist, and botanist (d. 1787)
- 1764 – John Abernethy, English surgeon and anatomist (d. 1831)
- 1769 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian politician and diplomat (d. 1835)
- 1770 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (d. 1843)
- 1778 – Pierre Bretonneau, French doctor who performed the first successful tracheotomy (d. 1862)
- 1781 – Swaminarayan, Indian religious leader (d. 1830)
- 1782 – Alexander Macomb, American general (d. 1841)
- 1783 – Washington Irving, American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian (d. 1859)
- 1791 – Anne Lister, English diarist, mountaineer, and traveller (d.1840)
- 1798 – Charles Wilkes, American admiral, geographer, and explorer (d.1877)
- 1807 – Mary Carpenter, English educational and social reformer (d. 1877)
- 1814 – Lorenzo Snow, American religious leader, 5th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1901)
- 1822 – Edward Everett Hale, American minister, historian, and author (d. 1909)
- 1823 – George Derby, American lieutenant and journalist (d. 1861)
- 1823 – William M. Tweed, American politician (d. 1878)
- 1826 – Cyrus K. Holliday, American businessman (d. 1900)
- 1837 – John Burroughs, American botanist and author (d. 1921)
- 1842 – Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel (d. 1864)
- 1848 – Arturo Prat, Chilean lawyer and captain (d. 1879)
- 1858 – Jacob Gaudaur, Canadian rower (d. 1937)
- 1860 – Frederik van Eeden, Dutch psychiatrist and author (d. 1932)
- 1864 – Emil Kellenberger, Swiss target shooter (d. 1943)
- 1875 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
- 1876 – Margaret Anglin, Canadian actress, director, and producer (d. 1958)
- 1876 – Tomáš Baťa, Czech businessman, founded Bata Shoes (d. 1932)
- 1880 – Otto Weininger, Jewish-Austrian philosopher and author (d. 1903)
- 1881 – Alcide De Gasperi, Italian journalist and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1954)
- 1882 – Philippe Desranleau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1952)
- 1883 – Ikki Kita, Japanese philosopher and author (d. 1937)
- 1885 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
- 1885 – Bud Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 1954)
- 1885 – Marie-Victorin Kirouac, Canadian botanist and academic (d. 1944)
- 1885 – St John Philby, English colonial and explorer (d. 1960)
- 1886 – Dooley Wilson, American actor and singer (d. 1953)
- 1887 – Ōtori Tanigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 24th Yokozuna (d. 1956)
- 1887 – Nishizō Tsukahara, Japanese admiral (d. 1966)
- 1888 – Neville Cardus, English author and critic (d. 1975)
- 1888 – Thomas C. Kinkaid, American admiral (d. 1972)
- 1889 – Grigoraș Dinicu, Romanian violinist and composer (d. 1949)
- 1893 – Leslie Howard, English actor (d. 1943)
- 1895 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian-American composer and educator (d. 1968)
- 1895 – Zez Confrey, American pianist and composer (d. 1971)
- 1897 – Joe Kirkwood Sr., Australian golfer (d. 1970)
- 1897 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek general (d. 1989)
- 1898 – David Jack, English footballer and manager (d. 1958)
- 1898 – George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1981)
- 1898 – Henry Luce, American publisher, co-founded Time Magazine (d. 1967)
- 1900 – Camille Chamoun, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Lebanon (d. 1987)
- 1900 – Albert Walsh, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1958)
- 1903 – Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Indian social reformer and freedom fighter (d. 1988)
- 1904 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor and stuntman (d. 1999)
- 1904 – Sally Rand, American dancer (d. 1979)
- 1904 – Russel Wright, American furniture designer (d. 1976)
- 1905 – Robert Sink, American general (d. 1965)
- 1909 – Stanislaw Ulam, Polish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1984)
- 1910 – Ted Hook, Australian public servant (d. 1990)
- 1911 – Nanette Bordeaux, Canadian-American actress (d. 1956)
- 1911 – Michael Woodruff, English-Scottish surgeon and academic (d. 2001)
- 1911 – Stanisława Walasiewicz, Polish-American runner (d. 1980)
- 1912 – Dorothy Eden, New Zealand-English author (d. 1982)
- 1912 – Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek physician and politician (d. 1963)
- 1913 – Per Borten, Norwegian politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (d. 2005)
- 1914 – Ray Getliffe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
- 1914 – Sam Manekshaw, Indian field marshal (d. 2008)
- 1915 – Piet de Jong, Dutch politician and naval officer, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2016)
- 1915 – İhsan Doğramacı, Turkish physician and academic (d. 2010)
- 1916 – Herb Caen, American journalist and author (d. 1997)
- 1916 – Cliff Gladwin, English cricketer (d. 1988)
- 1916 – Louis Guglielmi, Catalan composer (d. 1991)
- 1918 – Mary Anderson, American actress (d. 2014)
- 1918 – Louis Applebaum, Canadian composer and conductor (d. 2000)
- 1919 – Ervin Drake, American songwriter and composer (d. 2015)
- 1919 – Clairette Oddera, French-Canadian actress and singer (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Stan Freeman, American composer and conductor (d. 2001)
- 1920 – Yoshibayama Junnosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 43rd Yokozuna (d. 1977)
- 1921 – Robert Karvelas, American actor (d. 1991)
- 1921 – Jan Sterling, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Yevhen Bulanchyk, Ukrainian hurdler (d. 1996)
- 1922 – Doris Day, American singer and actress (d. 2019)
- 1923 – Daniel Hoffman, American poet and academic (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Marlon Brando, American actor and director (d. 2004)
- 1924 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (d. 1945)
- 1925 – Tony Benn, English pilot and politician, Secretary of State for Industry (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Alex Grammas, American baseball player, manager, and coach (d. 2019)
- 1926 – Gus Grissom, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1967)
- 1927 – Wesley A. Brown, American general and engineer (d. 2012)
- 1928 – Don Gibson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
- 1928 – Emmett Johns, Canadian priest, founded Dans la Rue (d. 2018)
- 1928 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Jennifer Paterson, English chef and television personality (d. 1999)
- 1929 – Fazlur Rahman Khan, Bangladeshi engineer and architect, co-designed the Willis Tower and John Hancock Center (d. 1982)
- 1929 – Poul Schlüter, Danish lawyer and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Denmark
- 1930 – Lawton Chiles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Governor of Florida (d. 1998)
- 1930 – Helmut Kohl, German politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 2017)
- 1930 – Mario Benjamín Menéndez, Argentinian general and politician (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Wally Moon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2018)
- 1931 – William Bast, American screenwriter and author (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Bob Dornan, American politician
- 1933 – Rod Funseth, American golfer (d. 1985)
- 1934 – Pamela Allen, New Zealand children’s writer and illustrator
- 1934 – Jane Goodall, English primatologist and anthropologist
- 1934 – Jim Parker, American football player (d. 2005)
- 1936 – Jimmy McGriff, American organist and bandleader (d. 2008)
- 1936 – Harold Vick, American saxophonist and flute player (d. 1987)
- 1938 – Jeff Barry, American singer-songwriter, and producer
- 1938 – Phil Rodgers, American golfer (d. 2018)
- 1939 – François de Roubaix, French composer (d. 1975)
- 1939 – Hawk Taylor, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
- 1939 – Paul Craig Roberts, American economist and politician
- 1941 – Jan Berry, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
- 1941 – Philippé Wynne, American soul singer (d. 1984)
- 1942 – Marsha Mason, American actress
- 1942 – Wayne Newton, American singer
- 1942 – Billy Joe Royal, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
- 1943 – Mario Lavista, Mexican composer
- 1943 – Jonathan Lynn, English actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1943 – Richard Manuel, Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1986)
- 1943 – Hikaru Saeki, Japanese admiral, the first female star officer of the Japan Self-Defense Forces
- 1944 – Peter Colman, Australian biologist and academic
- 1944 – Tony Orlando, American singer
- 1945 – Doon Arbus, American author and journalist
- 1945 – Bernie Parent, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1945 – Catherine Spaak, French actress
- 1946 – Nicholas Jones, English actor
- 1946 – Dee Murray, English bass player (d. 1992)
- 1946 – Hanna Suchocka, Polish lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Poland
- 1947 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Arlette Cousture, Canadian author and screenwriter
- 1948 – Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Dutch academic, politician, and diplomat, 11th Secretary General of NATO
- 1948 – Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, German footballer
- 1948 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexican economist and politician, 53rd President of Mexico
- 1949 – Lyle Alzado, American football player and actor (d. 1992)
- 1949 – A. C. Grayling, English philosopher and academic
- 1949 – Richard Thompson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1950 – Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Sri Lankan cricketer and economist
- 1951 – Brendan Barber, English trade union leader
- 1951 – Annette Dolphin, British academician and educator
- 1951 – Mitch Woods, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1952 – Mike Moore, American lawyer and politician
- 1953 – Sandra Boynton, American author and illustrator
- 1953 – Wakanohana Kanji II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 56th Yokozuna
- 1953 – James Smith, American boxer
- 1953 – Craig Taubman, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1954 – Elisabetta Brusa, Italian composer
- 1954 – K. Krishnasamy, Indian physician and politician
- 1956 – Kalle Kulbok, Estonian politician
- 1956 – Boris Miljković, Serbian director and producer
- 1956 – Miguel Bosé, Spanish musician and actor
- 1956 – Ray Combs, American game show host (d. 1996)
- 1958 – Alec Baldwin, American actor, comedian, producer and television host
- 1958 – Adam Gussow, American scholar, musician, and memoirist
- 1958 – Francesca Woodman, Jewish-American photographer (d. 1981)
- 1959 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor and activist
- 1960 – Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Dutch singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1961 – Tim Crews, American baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1961 – Eddie Murphy, American actor and comedian
- 1962 – Dave Miley, American baseball player and manager
- 1962 – Mike Ness, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1962 – Jaya Prada, Indian actress and politician
- 1963 – Les Davidson, Australian rugby league player
- 1963 – Ricky Nixon, Australian footballer and manager
- 1963 – Criss Oliva, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1993)
- 1964 – Marco Ballotta, Italian footballer and manager
- 1964 – Nigel Farage, English politician
- 1964 – Claire Perry, English banker and politician
- 1964 – Bjarne Riis, Danish cyclist and manager
- 1964 – Andy Robinson, English rugby player and coach
- 1964 – Jay Weatherill, Australian politician, 45th Premier of South Australia
- 1965 – Nazia Hassan, Pakistani pop singer-songwriter, lawyer and social activist (d. 2000)
- 1966 – John de Vries, Australian race car driver
- 1967 – Cat Cora, American chef and author
- 1967 – Pervis Ellison, American basketball player
- 1967 – Brent Gilchrist, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1967 – Cristi Puiu, Romanian director and screenwriter
- 1967 – Mark Skaife, Australian race car driver and sportscaster
- 1968 – Sebastian Bach, Bahamian-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
- 1968 – Charlotte Coleman, English actress (d. 2001)
- 1968 – Jamie Hewlett, English director and performer
- 1968 – Tomoaki Kanemoto, Japanese baseball player
- 1969 – Rodney Hampton, American football player
- 1969 – Peter Matera, Australian footballer and coach
- 1969 – Ben Mendelsohn, Australian actor
- 1969 – Lance Storm, Canadian wrestler and trainer
- 1971 – Vitālijs Astafjevs, Latvian footballer and manager
- 1971 – Emmanuel Collard, French race car driver
- 1971 – Picabo Street, American skier
- 1972 – Jennie Garth, American actress and director
- 1972 – Catherine McCormack, English actress
- 1972 – Sandrine Testud, French tennis player
- 1973 – Nilesh Kulkarni, Indian cricketer
- 1973 – Adam Scott, American actor
- 1974 – Marcus Brown, American basketball player
- 1974 – Drew Shirley, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1974 – Lee Williams, Welsh model and actor
- 1975 – Shawn Bates, American ice hockey player
- 1975 – Michael Olowokandi, Nigerian-American basketball player
- 1975 – Aries Spears, American comedian and actor
- 1975 – Yoshinobu Takahashi, Japanese baseball player
- 1975 – Koji Uehara, Japanese baseball player
- 1976 – Nicolas Escudé, French tennis player
- 1978 – Matthew Goode, English actor
- 1978 – Tommy Haas, German-American tennis player
- 1978 – John Smit, South African rugby player
- 1979 – Simon Black, Australian footballer and coach
- 1980 – Andrei Lodis, Belarusian footballer
- 1980 – Megan Rohrer, American pastor and transgender activist
- 1981 – Aaron Bertram, American trumpet player
- 1981 – DeShawn Stevenson, American basketball player
- 1982 – Jared Allen, American football player
- 1982 – Iain Fyfe, Australian footballer
- 1982 – Cobie Smulders, Canadian actress
- 1983 – Ben Foster, English footballer
- 1983 – Stephen Weiss, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Jonathan Blondel, Belgian footballer
- 1984 – Maxi López, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Jari-Matti Latvala, Finnish race car driver
- 1985 – Leona Lewis, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1986 – Amanda Bynes, American actress
- 1986 – Stephanie Cox, American soccer player
- 1986 – Annalisa Cucinotta, Italian cyclist
- 1986 – Sergio Sánchez Ortega, Spanish footballer
- 1987 – Rachel Bloom, American actress, writer, and producer
- 1987 – Jay Bruce, American baseball player
- 1987 – Yileen Gordon, Australian rugby league player
- 1987 – Jason Kipnis, American baseball player
- 1987 – Martyn Rooney, English sprinter
- 1987 – Julie Sokolow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1988 – Kam Chancellor, American football player
- 1988 – Brandon Graham, American football player
- 1988 – Peter Hartley, English footballer
- 1988 – Tim Krul, Dutch footballer
- 1989 – Romain Alessandrini, French footballer
- 1989 – Israel Folau, Australian rugby player and footballer
- 1989 – Joel Romelo, Australian rugby league player
- 1989 – Thisara Perera, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1990 – Karim Ansarifard, Iranian footballer
- 1990 – Madison Brengle, American tennis player
- 1990 – Sotiris Ninis, Greek footballer
- 1990 – Natasha Negovanlis, Canadian actress and singer
- 1991 – Hayley Kiyoko, American actress and singer
- 1992 – Simone Benedetti, Italian footballer
- 1992 – Yuliya Yefimova, Russian swimmer
- 1993 – Pape Moussa Konaté, Senegalese footballer
- 1994 – Kodi Nikorima, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1996 – Mayo Hibi, Japanese tennis player
- 1997 – Gabriel Jesus, Brazilian footballer
- 1998 – Paris Jackson, American actress, model and singer
Deaths on April 3
- 963 – William III, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 915)
- 1153 – al-Adil ibn al-Sallar, vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate
- 1171 – Philip of Milly, seventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1120)
- 1203 – Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (b. 1187)
- 1253 – Saint Richard of Chichester
- 1287 – Pope Honorius IV (b. 1210)
- 1325 – Nizamuddin Auliya, Sufi saint (b. 1238)
- 1350 – Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1295)
- 1538 – Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (b. 1480)
- 1545 – Antonio de Guevara, Spanish chronicler and moralist (b. 1481)
- 1606 – Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1563)
- 1630 – Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey, English noble (b. c. 1593)
- 1680 – Shivaji, Indian emperor, founded the Maratha Empire (b. 1630)
- 1682 – Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Spanish painter and educator (b. 1618)
- 1691 – Jean Petitot, French-Swiss painter (b. 1608)
- 1695 – Melchior d’Hondecoeter, Dutch painter (b. 1636)
- 1717 – Jacques Ozanam, French mathematician and academic (b. 1640)
- 1728 – James Anderson, Scottish lawyer and historian (b. 1662)
- 1792 – George Pocock, English admiral (b. 1706)
- 1804 – Jędrzej Kitowicz, Polish priest, historian, and author (b. 1727)
- 1827 – Ernst Chladni, German physicist and academic (b. 1756)
- 1838 – François Carlo Antommarchi, French physician and author (b. 1780)
- 1844 – Edward Bigge, English cleric, 1st Archdeacon of Lindisfarne (b. 1807)
- 1846 – William Braine, English soldier and explorer (b. 1814)
- 1849 – Juliusz Słowacki, Polish-French poet and playwright (b. 1809)
- 1868 – Franz Berwald, Swedish composer and surgeon (b. 1796)
- 1882 – Jesse James, American criminal and outlaw (b. 1847)
- 1897 – Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (b. 1833)
- 1901 – Richard D’Oyly Carte, English composer and talent agent (b. 1844)
- 1902 – Esther Hobart Morris, American lawyer and judge (b. 1814)
- 1930 – Emma Albani, Canadian-English operatic soprano (b. 1847)
- 1936 – Richard Hauptmann, German-American murderer (b. 1899)
- 1941 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna (b. 1877)
- 1941 – Pál Teleki, Hungarian academic and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1879)
- 1943 – Conrad Veidt, German actor, director, and producer (b. 1893)
- 1946 – Masaharu Homma, Japanese general (b. 1887)
- 1950 – Kurt Weill, German-American composer and pianist (b. 1900)
- 1950 – Carter G. Woodson, American historian, author, and journalist, founded Black History Month (b. 1875)
- 1951 – Henrik Visnapuu, Estonian poet and playwright (b. 1890)
- 1952 – Miina Sillanpää, Finnish minister and politician (b. 1866)
- 1957 – Ned Sparks, Canadian-American actor (b. 1883)
- 1958 – Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (b. 1891)
- 1962 – Manolis Kalomiris, Greek composer and educator (b. 1883)
- 1970 – Avigdor Hameiri, Israeli author (b. 1890)
- 1971 – Joseph Valachi, American gangster (b. 1904)
- 1972 – Ferde Grofé, American pianist and composer (b. 1892)
- 1975 – Mary Ure, Scottish-English actress (b. 1933)
- 1976 – David M. Dennison, American physicist and academic (b. 1900)
- 1976 – Claude-Henri Grignon, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1894)
- 1978 – Ray Noble, English bandleader, composer, and actor (b. 1903)
- 1978 – Winston Sharples, American composer (b. 1909)
- 1981 – Juan Trippe, American businessman, founded Pan American World Airways (b. 1899)
- 1982 – Warren Oates, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1983 – Jimmy Bloomfield, English footballer and manager (b. 1934)
- 1986 – Peter Pears, English tenor and educator (b. 1910)
- 1987 – Tom Sestak, American football player (b. 1936)
- 1988 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (b. 1907)
- 1990 – Sarah Vaughan, American singer (b. 1924)
- 1991 – Charles Goren, American bridge player and author (b. 1901)
- 1991 – Graham Greene, English novelist, playwright, and critic (b. 1904)
- 1993 – Pinky Lee, American television host (b. 1907)
- 1994 – Frank Wells, American businessman (b. 1932)
- 1995 – Alfred J. Billes, Canadian businessman, co-founded Canadian Tire (b. 1902)
- 1996 – Ron Brown, American captain and politician, 30th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1941)
- 1998 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
- 1999 – Lionel Bart, English composer (b. 1930)
- 1999 – Geoffrey Walsh, Canadian general (b. 1909)
- 2000 – Terence McKenna, American botanist and philosopher (b. 1946)
- 2000 – Dina Abramowicz, Librarian and YIVO and Yiddish language expert (b. 1909)
- 2005 – François Gérin, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Nina Wang, Chinese businesswoman (b. 1937)
- 2008 – Hrvoje Ćustić, Croatian footballer (b. 1983)
- 2012 – Mingote, Spanish cartoonist and journalist (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Richard Descoings, French civil servant (b. 1958)
- 2012 – Govind Narain, Indian politician, 8th Governor of Karnataka (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Chief Jay Strongbow, American wrestler (b. 1928)
- 2012 – José María Zárraga, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Mariví Bilbao, Spanish actress (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-American author and screenwriter (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Régine Deforges, French author, playwright, and director (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Fred Kida, American illustrator (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Prince Michael of Prussia (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Jovan Pavlović, Serbian metropolitan (b. 1936)
- 2014 – Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith, American guitarist, fiddler, and composer (b. 1921)
- 2015 – Sarah Brady, American activist and author (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Bob Burns, American drummer and songwriter (b. 1950)
- 2015 – Shmuel Wosner, Austrian-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1913)
- 2016 – Cesare Maldini, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Joe Medicine Crow, American anthropologist, historian, and author (b. 1913)
- 2016 – Koji Wada, Japanese singer and songwriter (b. 1974)
- 2017 – Kishori Amonkar, Indian Classical Vocalist (b. 1931)
Holidays and observances on April 3
- Christian feast day:
- Agape, Chionia, and Irene
- Burgundofara
- Luigi Scrosoppi
- Richard of Chichester
- April 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)