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July 10 in History
- 138 – Emperor Hadrian dies of heart failure at Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.
- 645 – Isshi Incident: Prince Naka-no-Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari assassinate Soga no Iruka during a coup d’état at the imperial palace.
- 988 – The Norse King Glúniairn recognises Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, High King of Ireland, and agrees to pay taxes and accept Brehon Law; the event is considered to be the founding of the city of Dublin.
- 1086 – King Canute IV of Denmark is killed by rebellious peasants.
- 1212 – The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground.
- 1460 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, defeats the king’s Lancastrian forces and takes King Henry VI prisoner in the Battle of Northampton.
- 1499 – The Portuguese explorer Nicolau Coelho returns to Lisbon after discovering the sea route to India as a companion of Vasco da Gama.
- 1512 – The Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre commences with the capture of Goizueta.
- 1519 – Zhu Chenhao declares the Ming dynasty’s Zhengde Emperor a usurper, beginning the Prince of Ning rebellion, and leads his army north in an attempt to capture Nanjing.
- 1553 – Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England.
- 1584 – William I of Orange is assassinated in his home in Delft, Holland, by Balthasar Gérard.
- 1645 – English Civil War: The Battle of Langport takes place.
- 1778 – American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.
- 1789 – Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta.
- 1806 – The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company.
- 1832 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States.
- 1850 – U.S. President Millard Fillmore is sworn in, a day after becoming president upon Zachary Taylor’s death.
- 1869 – Gävle, Sweden, is largely destroyed in a fire; 80% of its 10,000 residents are left homeless.
- 1877 – The then-villa of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, formally receives its city charter from the Royal Crown of Spain.
- 1882 – War of the Pacific: Chile suffers its last military defeat in the Battle of La Concepción when a garrison of 77 men is annihilated by a 1,300-strong Peruvian force, many of them armed with spears.
- 1883 – War of the Pacific: Chileans led by Alejandro Gorostiaga defeat Andrés Avelino Cáceres’s Peruvuan army at the Battle of Huamachuco, hastening the end of the war.
- 1890 – Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state.
- 1921 – Belfast’s Bloody Sunday: Sixteen people are killed and 161 houses destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- 1925 – Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called “Monkey Trial” begins of John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
- 1927 – Kevin O’Higgins TD, Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State is assassinated by the IRA.
- 1938 – Howard Hughes begins a 91-hour airplane flight around the world that will set a new record.
- 1940 – World War II: The Vichy government is established in France.
- 1940 – World War II: Six days before Adolf Hitler issues his Directive 16 to the combined Wehrmacht armed forces for Operation Sea Lion, the Kanalkampf shipping attacks against British maritime convoys begin, in the leadup to initiating the Battle of Britain.
- 1941 – Jedwabne pogrom: Massacre of Polish Jews living in and near the village of Jedwabne.
- 1942 – World War II: An American pilot spots a downed, intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island (the “Akutan Zero”) that the US Navy uses to learn the aircraft’s flight characteristics.
- 1943 – World War II: Operation Husky begins in Sicily.
- 1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah is recommended as the first Governor-General of Pakistan by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee.
- 1951 – Korean War: Armistice negotiations begin at Kaesong.
- 1962 – Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.
- 1966 – The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. As many as 60,000 people attend.
- 1973 – The Bahamas gain full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1976 – Four mercenaries (one American and three British) are executed in Angola following the Luanda Trial.
- 1978 – ABC World News Tonight premieres on ABC.
- 1978 – President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania is ousted in a bloodless coup d’état.
- 1985 – The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira.
- 1985 – An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes near Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union), killing all 200 people on board in the USSR’s worst-ever airline disaster.
- 1991 – The South African cricket team is readmitted into the International Cricket Council following the end of Apartheid.
- 1991 – Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia.
- 1992 – In Miami, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations.
- 1997 – In London, scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the “out of Africa theory” of human evolution, placing an “African Eve” at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
- 1997 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, a member of Partido Popular (Spain), is kidnapped (and later murdered) in the Basque city of Ermua by ETA members, sparking widespread protests.
- 1998 – Catholic Church sexual abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Rudolph Kos, a former priest.
- 1999 – In women’s association football, the United States defeated China in a penalty shoot-out at the Rose Bowl near Los Angeles to win the final match of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The final was watched by 90,185 spectators, which set a new world record for attendance at a women’s sporting event.
- 2000 – EADS, the world’s second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA.
- 2002 – At a Sotheby’s auction, Peter Paul Rubens’s painting The Massacre of the Innocents is sold for £49.5 million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson.
- 2005 – Hurricane Dennis slams into the Florida Panhandle, causing billions of dollars in damage.
- 2007 – Erden Eruç begins the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
- 2008 – Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all war-crimes charges by a United Nations Tribunal.
- 2011 – Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in Volga near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, causing 122 deaths.
- 2017 – Iraqi Civil War: Mosul is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
- 2019 – The last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico. The last of 5,961 “Special Edition” cars will be exhibited in a museum.
Births on July 10
- 1419 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (d. 1471)
- 1451 – James III of Scotland (d. 1488)
- 1501 – Cho Shik, Korean poet and scholar (d. 1572)
- 1509 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (d. 1564)
- 1515 – Francisco de Toledo, Viceroy of Peru (d. 1582)
- 1517 – Odet de Coligny, French cardinal (d. 1571)
- 1533 – Antonio Possevino, Italian diplomat (d. 1611)
- 1592 – Pierre d’Hozier, French genealogist and historian (d. 1660)
- 1614 – Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, Irish-English politician (d. 1686)
- 1625 – Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer (d. 1703)
- 1638 – David Teniers III, Flemish painter (d. 1685)
- 1666 – John Ernest Grabe, German theologian and academic (d. 1711)
- 1682 – Roger Cotes, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1716)
- 1723 – William Blackstone, English lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1780)
- 1724 – Eva Ekeblad, Swedish noble and agronomist (d. 1786)
- 1752 – St. George Tucker, United States federal judge (d. 1827)
- 1792 – George M. Dallas, American lawyer and politician, 11th Vice President of the United States (d. 1864)
- 1802 – Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (d. 1871)
- 1804 – Emma Smith, American religious leader (d. 1879)
- 1809 – Friedrich August von Quenstedt, German geologist and palaeontologist (d. 1889)
- 1823 – Louis-Napoléon Casault, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1908)
- 1830 – Camille Pissarro, Danish-French painter (d. 1903)
- 1832 – Alvan Graham Clark, American astronomer (d. 1897)
- 1835 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (d. 1880)
- 1839 – Adolphus Busch, German brewer, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (d. 1913)
- 1856 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist and engineer (d. 1943)
- 1864 – Austin Chapman, Australian businessman and politician, 4th Australian Minister for Defence (d. 1926)
- 1867 – Prince Maximilian of Baden (d. 1929)
- 1871 – Marcel Proust, French novelist, critic, and essayist (d. 1922)
- 1874 – Sergey Konenkov, Russian sculptor (d. 1971)
- 1875 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (d. 1955)
- 1875 – Dezső Pattantyús-Ábrahám, Hungarian politician (d. 1973)
- 1877 – Ernst Bresslau, German zoologist (d. 1935)
- 1878 – Otto Freundlich, German painter and sculptor (d. 1943)
- 1882 – Ima Hogg, American society leader, philanthropist, patron and collector of the arts (d. 1975)
- 1883 – Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (d. 1948)
- 1883 – Hugo Raudsepp, Estonian playwright and politician (d. 1952)
- 1888 – Giorgio de Chirico, Greek-Italian painter and set designer (d. 1978)
- 1888 – Toyohiko Kagawa, Japanese evangelist, author, and activist (d. 1960)
- 1891 – Edith Quimby, American medical researcher and physicist (d. 1982)
- 1894 – Jimmy McHugh, American composer (d. 1969)
- 1895 – Carl Orff, German composer and educator (d. 1982)
- 1896 – Thérèse Casgrain, Canadian politician (d. 1981)
- 1897 – Legs Diamond, American gangster (d. 1931)
- 1897 – Karl Plagge, German general and engineer (d. 1957)
- 1898 – Renée Björling, Swedish actress (d. 1975)
- 1899 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1936)
- 1899 – Heiri Suter, Swiss cyclist (d. 1978)
- 1900 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (d. 1993)
- 1900 – Sampson Sievers, Russian monk and mystic (d. 1979)
- 1902 – Kurt Alder, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- 1902 – Nicolás Guillén, Cuban poet, journalist, and activist (d. 1989)
- 1903 – Werner Best, German SS officer and jurist (d. 1989)
- 1903 – John Wyndham, English soldier and author (d. 1969)
- 1904 – Lili Damita, French-American actress (d. 1994)
- 1905 – Mildred Benson, American journalist and author (d. 2002)
- 1905 – Thomas Gomez, American actor (d. 1971)
- 1905 – Wolfram Sievers, German physician (d. 1948)
- 1907 – Blind Boy Fuller, American singer and guitarist (d. 1941)
- 1909 – Donald Sinclair, English lieutenant and businessman (d. 1981)
- 1911 – Terry-Thomas, English comedian and character actor (d. 1990)
- 1911 – Cootie Williams, American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1985)
- 1913 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1985)
- 1914 – Joe Shuster, Canadian-American illustrator, co-created Superman (d. 1992)
- 1914 – Rempo Urip, Indonesian film director
- 1916 – Judith Jasmin, Canadian journalist (d. 1972)
- 1917 – Hugh Alexander, American baseball player and scout (d. 2000)
- 1917 – Reg Smythe, English cartoonist (d. 1998)
- 1918 – James Aldridge, Australian-English journalist and author (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Chuck Stevens, American baseball player (d. 2018)
- 1918 – Frank L. Lambert, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Occidental College (d. 2018)
- 1918 – Fred Wacker, American race driver and engineer (d. 1998)
- 1919 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (d. 2009)
- 1919 – Ian Wallace, English actor and singer (d. 2009)
- 1920 – David Brinkley, American journalist (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
- 1920 – Cyril Grant, English footballer (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the Smiley (d. 2001)
- 1921 – Jeff Donnell, American actress (d. 1988)
- 1921 – John K. Singlaub, U.S Army Major General
- 1921 – Eunice Kennedy Shriver, American activist, co-founded the Special Olympics (d. 2009)
- 1922 – Jean Kerr, American author and playwright (d. 2003)
- 1922 – Herb McKenley, Jamaican sprinter (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Jake LaMotta, American boxer and actor (d. 2017)
- 1923 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer and actress (d. 2001)
- 1923 – John Bradley, American soldier (d. 1994)
- 1923 – Suzanne Cloutier, Canadian actress and producer (d. 2003)
- 1923 – G. A. Kulkarni, Indian author and academic (d. 1987)
- 1924 – Johnny Bach, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
- 1924 – Bobo Brazil, American wrestler (d. 1998)
- 1925 – Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian physician and politician, 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia
- 1925 – Ernest Bertrand Boland, American Roman Catholic bishop
- 1926 – Carleton Carpenter, American actor, magician, songwriter, and novelist
- 1926 – Fred Gwynne, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1927 – Grigory Barenblatt, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2018)
- 1927 – David Dinkins, American soldier and politician, 106th Mayor of New York City
- 1927 – William Smithers, American actor
- 1928 – Don Bolles, American investigative reporter (d. 1976)
- 1928 – Bernard Buffet, French painter and illustrator (d. 1999)
- 1928 – Alejandro de Tomaso, Argentinian-Italian race car driver and businessman, founded De Tomaso (d. 2003)
- 1928 – Moshe Greenberg, American-Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 2010)
- 1928 – John Glenn, American baseball player
- 1929 – Winnie Ewing, Scottish lawyer and politician
- 1929 – George Clayton Johnson, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Moe Norman, Canadian golfer (d. 2004)
- 1929 – José Vicente Rangel, Venezuelan politician; 21st Vice President of Venezuela
- 1930 – Bruce Boa, Canadian actor (d. 2004)
- 1930 – Janette Sherman, American physician, author, and pioneer in occupational and environmental health (d. 2019)
- 1930 – Josephine Veasey, English soprano and actress
- 1931 – Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
- 1931 – Jerry Herman, American composer and songwriter (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Julian May, American author (d. 2017)
- 1931 – Alice Munro, Canadian short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1932 – Carlo Maria Abate, Italian race car driver (d. 2019)
- 1932 – Neile Adams, Filipino-American actress, singer and dancer
- 1932 – Manfred Preußger, German athlete
- 1933 – Jumpin’ Gene Simmons, American rockabilly singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
- 1933 – C.K. Yang, Taiwanese decathlete and pole vaulter (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Marshall Brodien, American actor (d. 2019)
- 1934 – Jerry Nelson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2012)
- 1935 – Tura Satana, American actress and dancer (d. 2011)
- 1935 – Wilson Tuckey, Australian politician
- 1935 – Margaret McEntee, American Catholic religious sister and educator
- 1935 – Wilson Whineray, New Zealand rugby player and businessman (d. 2012)
- 1936 – Herbert Boyer, American businessman, co-founded Genentech
- 1936 – Tunne Kelam, Estonian journalist and politician
- 1937 – Edwards Barham, American farmer and politician (d. 2014)
- 1937 – Gun Svensson, Swedish politician
- 1938 – Paul Andreu, French architect (d. 2018)
- 1938 – Lee Morgan, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1972)
- 1939 – Phil Kelly, Irish-English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1939 – Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, Turkish political scientist, journalist and educator (d. 1999)
- 1939 – Mavis Staples, American singer
- 1940 – Meghnad Desai, Baron Desai, Indian-English economist and politician
- 1940 – Helen Donath, American soprano and actress
- 1940 – Brian Priestley, English pianist and composer
- 1940 – Keith Stackpole, Australian cricketer
- 1941 – Jake Eberts, Canadian film producer (d. 2012)
- 1941 – David G. Hartwell, American anthologist, author, and critic (d. 2016)
- 1941 – Robert Pine, American actor and director
- 1941 – Ian Whitcomb, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1942 – Ronnie James Dio, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
- 1942 – Pyotr Klimuk, Belarusian general, pilot, and astronaut
- 1942 – Sixto Rodriguez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1942 – Lopo do Nascimento, Angolan politician; 1st Prime Minister of Angola
- 1943 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and journalist (d. 1993)
- 1943 – Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, Zambian politician
- 1943 – Jerry Miller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1944 – Mick Grant, English motorcycle racer
- 1944 – Norman Hammond, English archaeologist and academic
- 1945 – Ron Glass, American actor (d. 2016)
- 1945 – Hal McRae, American baseball player and manager
- 1945 – John Motson, English sportscaster
- 1945 – Jean-Marie Poiré, French director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1945 – Virginia Wade, English tennis player and sportscaster
- 1946 – Jean-Pierre Jarier, French racing driver
- 1946 – Chin Han, Taiwanese actor
- 1947 – Arlo Guthrie, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1948 – Ronnie Cutrone, American painter (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Chico Resch, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1948 – Natalya Sedykh, Russian figure skater, ballet dancer, actor
- 1949 – Anna Czerwińska, Polish mountaineer and author
- 1949 – Sunil Gavaskar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
- 1949 – Greg Kihn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1949 – John Whitehead, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
- 1950 – Tony Baldry, English colonel, lawyer, and politician, British Minister of State for Agriculture
- 1950 – Prokopis Pavlopoulos, President of Greece, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for the Interior
- 1951 – Cheryl Wheeler, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Rajnath Singh, Indian Politician and Union Home Minister of India
- 1952 – Kim Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1952 – Peter van Heemst, Dutch politician
- 1953 – Rik Emmett, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1953 – Zoogz Rift, American musician and wrestler (d. 2011)
- 1954 – Tommy Bowden, American football player and coach
- 1954 – Andre Dawson, American baseball player
- 1954 – Neil Tennant, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1955 – Nic Dakin, English educator and politician
- 1955 – Geoff Gerard, Australian rugby league player
- 1956 – Tom McClintock, American lawyer and politician
- 1956 – K. Rajagopal, Malaysian football manager
- 1957 – Derry Grehan, Canadian rock guitarist and songwriter
- 1958 – Béla Fleck, American banjo player and songwriter
- 1958 – Fiona Shaw, Irish actress and director
- 1959 – Ellen Kuras, American director and cinematographer
- 1959 – Sandy West, American singer-songwriter and drummer (d. 2006)
- 1961 – Jacky Cheung, Hong Kong singer and film actor
- 1961 – Marc Riley, English guitarist (The Fall), radio DJ
- 1963 – Ian Lougher, Welsh motorcycle racer
- 1964 – Martin Laurendeau, Canadian tennis player and coach
- 1964 – Urban Meyer, American football player and coach
- 1964 – Wilfried Peeters, Belgian cyclist
- 1965 – Scott McCarron, American golfer
- 1965 – Ken Mellons, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1966 – Clive Efford, English politician
- 1966 – Johnny Grunge, American wrestler (d. 2006)
- 1966 – Christian Stangl, Austrian skier and mountaineer
- 1966 – Anna Bråkenhielm, Swedish business executive
- 1967 – Tom Meents, American professional monster truck driver
- 1967 – Rebekah Del Rio, American singer-songwriter
- 1967 – Gillian Tett, English journalist and author
- 1967 – Ikki Sawamura, Japanese model, actor and television presenter
- 1967 – John Yoo, South Korean-American lawyer, author, and educator
- 1969 – Marty Cordova, American baseball player
- 1969 – Gale Harold, American actor
- 1970 – Gary LeVox, American singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Jason Orange, English singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1970 – John Simm, English actor
- 1971 – Adam Foote, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1971 – Gregory Goodridge, Barbadian footballer and coach
- 1972 – Peter Serafinowicz, English actor
- 1972 – Sofía Vergara, Colombian-American actress and producer
- 1972 – Tilo Wolff, German-Swiss singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1974 – Imelda May, Irish singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
- 1975 – Andrew Firestone, American businessman
- 1975 – Brendan Gaughan, American race car driver
- 1975 – Alain Nasreddine, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1975 – Stefán Karl Stefánsson, Icelandic actor (d. 2018)
- 1975 – Richard Westbrook, English race car driver
- 1976 – Edmílson, Brazilian footballer
- 1976 – Elijah Blue Allman, American singer and guitarist
- 1976 – Ludovic Giuly, French footballer
- 1976 – Adrian Grenier, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1976 – Brendon Lade, Australian footballer and coach
- 1976 – Lars Ricken, German footballer
- 1977 – Chiwetel Ejiofor, English actor
- 1979 – Mvondo Atangana, Cameroon footballer
- 1979 – Gong Yoo, Korean actor
- 1980 – Alejandro Millán, Mexican singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1980 – Adam Petty, American race car driver (d. 2000)
- 1980 – Claudia Leitte, Brazilian singer-songwriter
- 1980 – James Rolfe, American actor, director, and producer
- 1980 – Jessica Simpson, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer
- 1981 – Aleksandar Tunchev, Bulgarian footballer
- 1982 – Alex Arrowsmith, American guitarist and producer
- 1982 – Juliya Chernetsky, Ukrainian-American television host
- 1982 – Sebastian Mila, Polish footballer
- 1982 – Jeffrey Walker, Australian actor and director
- 1983 – Giuseppe De Feudis, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Matthew Egan, Australian footballer
- 1983 – Gabi, Spanish footballer
- 1983 – Kim Hee-chul, Korean entertainer
- 1983 – Joelson José Inácio, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Doug Kramer, Filipino basketball player
- 1983 – Anthony Watmough, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Nikolaos Mitrou, Greek footballer
- 1985 – Park Chu-young, South Korean footballer
- 1985 – B. J. Crombeen, American ice hockey player
- 1985 – Mario Gómez, German footballer
- 1988 – Antonio Brown, American football player
- 1988 – Heather Hemmens, American actress, director, and producer
- 1988 – Sarah Walker, New Zealand BMX rider
- 1990 – Adam Reynolds, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Trent Richardson, American footballer
- 1990 – Chiyonokuni Toshiki, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1991 – Daishōmaru Shōgo, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1999 – April Ivy, Portuguese composer and singer
- 2001 – Isabela Moner, American actress
Deaths on July 10
- 138 – Hadrian, Roman emperor (b. 76)
- 645 – Soga no Iruka, Japanese politician
- 649 – Tai Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 598)
- 772 – Amalberga of Temse, Frankish noblewoman
- 831 – Zubaidah bint Ja`far, Abbasid Princess
- 983 – Benedict VII, pope of the Catholic Church
- 994 – Leopold I, margrave of Austria
- 1086 – Canute IV, king of Denmark (b. 1043)
- 1103 – Eric I, king of Denmark (b. 1060)
- 1290 – Ladislaus IV, king of Hungaria (b. 1262)
- 1460 – Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English commander and politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1402)
- 1460 – John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, English nobleman (b. c. 1413)
- 1461 – Thomas, king of Bosnia (b. 1411)
- 1473 – James II, king of Cyprus
- 1480 – René of Anjou, French nobleman (b. 1400)
- 1510 – Catherine Cornaro, queen of Cyprus (b. 1454)
- 1576 – Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo, Italian noble (b. 1553)
- 1559 – Henry II, king of France (b. 1519)
- 1584 – William I, Dutch nobleman (b. 1533)
- 1590 – Charles II, archduke of Austria (b. 1540)
- 1594 – Paolo Bellasio, Italian organist and composer (b. 1554)
- 1603 – Joan Terès i Borrull, Spanish archbishop and academic (b. 1538)
- 1621 – Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, French commander (b. 1571)
- 1653 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (b. 1600)
- 1680 – Louis Moréri, French priest and scholar (b. 1643)
- 1683 – François Eudes de Mézeray, French historian and author (b. 1610)
- 1686 – John Fell, English bishop and academic (b. 1625)
- 1776 – Richard Peters, English lawyer and minister (b. 1704)
- 1794 – Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny, French general (b. 1754)
- 1806 – George Stubbs, English painter and academic (b. 1724)
- 1851 – Louis Daguerre, French photographer and physicist, invented the daguerreotype (b. 1787)
- 1863 – Clement Clarke Moore, American author and educator (b. 1779)
- 1881 – Georg Hermann Nicolai, German architect and academic (b. 1812)
- 1884 – Paul Morphy, American chess player (b. 1837)
- 1908 – Phoebe Knapp, American organist and composer (b. 1839)
- 1915 – Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Dutch painter (b. 1831)
- 1920 – John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, British admiral (b. 1841)
- 1929 – Ève Lavallière, French actress (b. 1866)
- 1941 – Jelly Roll Morton, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1890)
- 1941 – Huntley Wright, English actor (b. 1868)
- 1950 – Richard Maury, American-Argentinian engineer (b. 1882)
- 1952 – Rued Langgaard, Danish organist and composer (b. 1893)
- 1954 – Calogero Vizzini, Italian mob boss (b. 1877)
- 1956 – Joe Giard, American baseball player (b. 1898)
- 1960 – Sæbjørn Buttedahl, Norwegian actor and sculptor (b. 1876)
- 1962 – Yehuda Leib Maimon, Israeli rabbi and politician (b. 1875)
- 1963 – Teddy Wakelam, English rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1893)
- 1970 – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic academic and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1908)
- 1971 – Laurent Dauthuille, French boxer (b. 1924)
- 1972 – Lovie Austin, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1887)
- 1978 – John D. Rockefeller III, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Asia Society (b. 1906)
- 1979 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (b. 1894)
- 1980 – Joseph Krumgold, American author and screenwriter (b. 1908)
- 1985 – Fernando Pereira, Dutch photographer (b. 1950)
- 1986 – Tadeusz Piotrowski, Polish mountaineer and author (b. 1940)
- 1987 – John Hammond, American record producer, critic, and activist (b. 1910)
- 1989 – Mel Blanc, American voice actor (b. 1908)
- 1993 – Ruth Krauss, American author and poet (b. 1901)
- 1993 – Sam Rolfe, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1924)
- 1995 – Mehmet Ali Aybar, Turkish lawyer and politician (b. 1908)
- 1996 – Eno Raud, Estonian author (b. 1928)
- 2000 – Vakkom Majeed, Indian journalist and politician (b. 1909)
- 2002 – Jean-Pierre Côté, Canadian politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1926)
- 2002 – Evangelos Florakis, Greek general (b. 1943)
- 2002 – Laurence Janifer, American author (b. 1933)
- 2003 – Winston Graham, English author (b. 1908)
- 2003 – Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, German-English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1902)
- 2004 – Pati Behrs, Russian-American ballerina and actress (b. 1922)
- 2005 – A. J. Quinnell, English author (b. 1940)
- 2006 – Shamil Basayev, Chechen terrorist rebel leader (b. 1965)
- 2007 – Doug Marlette, American cartoonist and author (b. 1949)
- 2008 – Hiroaki Aoki, Japanese-American wrestler and businessman, founded Benihana (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Mike Souchak, American golfer (b. 1927)
- 2011 – Pierrette Alarie, Canadian soprano and educator (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Roland Petit, French dancer and choreographer (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Dolphy, Filipino actor, singer, and producer (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Peter Kyros, American lawyer and politician (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Berthe Meijer, German-Dutch journalist and author (b. 1938)
- 2012 – Fritz Langanke, German lieutenant (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Viktor Suslin, Russian-German composer (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Philip Caldwell, American businessman (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Józef Gara, Polish poet and linguist (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Concha García Campoy, Spanish journalist (b. 1958)
- 2013 – Caroline Duby Glassman, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Ku Ok-hee, South Korean golfer (b. 1956)
- 2013 – Gokulananda Mahapatra, Indian author and academic (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Robert C. Broomfield, American lawyer and judge (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Juozas Kazickas, Lithuanian-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Paul G. Risser, American ecologist and academic (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Zohra Sehgal, Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1912)
- 2014 – Gloria Schweigerdt, American baseball player (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Roger Rees, Welsh-American actor and director (b. 1944)
- 2015 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Jon Vickers, Canadian tenor (b. 1926)
- 2016 – Katharina Focke, German politician (b. 1922)
- 2018 – Henry Morgenthau III, American author and television producer (b. 1917)
- 2020 – Lara van Ruijven, Dutch short track speed skater (b. 1992)
Holidays and observances on July 10
- Armed Forces Day (Mauritania)
- Christian feast day:
- Amalberga of Maubeuge
- Canute IV of Denmark
- Rufina and Secunda
- Seven Brothers
- Victoria, Anatolia, and Audax
- July 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence Day (Bahamas), celebrates the independence of the Bahamas from the United Kingdom in 1973.
- Nikola Tesla Day
- Statehood Day (Wyoming)
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June 12 in History
- 910 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors.
- 1240 – At the instigation of Louis IX of France, an inter-faith debate, known as the Disputation of Paris, starts between a Christian monk and four rabbis.
- 1381 – Peasants’ Revolt: In England, rebels assemble at Blackheath, just outside London.
- 1418 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Parisians slaughter Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and his suspected sympathizers, along with all prisoners, foreign bankers, and students and faculty of the College of Navarre.
- 1429 – Hundred Years’ War: On the second day of the Battle of Jargeau, Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
- 1550 – The city of Helsinki, Finland (belonging to Sweden at the time) is founded by King Gustav I of Sweden.
- 1653 – First Anglo-Dutch War: The Battle of the Gabbard begins, lasting until the following day.
- 1665 – Thomas Willett is appointed the first mayor of New York City.
- 1758 – French and Indian War: Siege of Louisbourg: James Wolfe’s attack at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, commences
- 1772 – French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne and 25 of his men killed by Māori in New Zealand.
- 1775 – American Revolution: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged.
- 1776 – The Virginia Declaration of Rights is adopted.
- 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battle of Ballynahinch.
- 1817 – The earliest form of bicycle, the dandy horse, is driven by Karl von Drais.
- 1821 – Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Isma’il Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of that Sudanese kingdom.
- 1830 – Beginning of the Invasion of Algiers: Thiry-four thousand French soldiers land 27 kilometers west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch.
- 1864 – American Civil War, Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: Ulysses S. Grant gives the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee a victory when he pulls his Union troops from their position at Cold Harbor, Virginia and moves south.
- 1898 – Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines’ independence from Spain.
- 1899 – New Richmond tornado: The eighth deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200.
- 1914 – Massacre of Phocaea: Turkish irregulars slaughter 50 to 100 Greeks and expel thousands of others in an ethnic cleansing operation in the Ottoman Empire.
- 1921 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky orders the use of chemical weapons against the Tambov Rebellion, bringing an end to the peasant uprising.
- 1935 – A ceasefire is negotiated between Bolivia and Paraguay, ending the Chaco War.
- 1939 – Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures’ Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor.
- 1939 – The Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, New York.
- 1940 – World War II: Thirteen thousand British and French troops surrender to Major General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux.
- 1942 – Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday.
- 1943 – The Holocaust: Germany liquidates the Jewish Ghetto in Brzeżany, Poland (now Berezhany, Ukraine). Around 1,180 Jews are led to the city’s old Jewish graveyard and shot.
- 1944 – World War II: Operation Overlord: American paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division secure the town of Carentan, Normandy, France.
- 1954 – Pope Pius XII canonises Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old at the time of his death, as a saint, making him at the time the youngest unmartyred saint in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2017, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged ten and nine at the time of their deaths, are declared saints.
- 1963 – NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers is murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith during the civil rights movement.
- 1964 – Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.
- 1967 – The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.
- 1975 – India, Judge Jagmohanlal Sinha of the city of Allahabad ruled that India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had used corrupt practices to win her seat in the Indian Parliament, and that she should be banned from holding any public office. Mrs. Gandhi sent word that she refused to resign.
- 1979 – Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.
- 1987 – The Central African Republic’s former emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13-year rule.
- 1987 – Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
- 1988 – Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 46, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81, crashes short of the runway at Libertador General José de San Martín Airport, killing all 22 people on board.
- 1990 – Russia Day: The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty.
- 1991 – Russians first democratically elected Boris Yeltsin as the President of Russia.
- 1991 – Kokkadichcholai massacre: The Sri Lankan Army massacres 152 minority Tamil civilians in the village of Kokkadichcholai near the eastern province town of Batticaloa.
- 1993 – An election takes place in Nigeria and is won by Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. Its results are later annulled by the military Government of Ibrahim Babangida.
- 1994 – Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman are murdered outside Simpson’s home in Los Angeles. Her estranged husband, O.J. Simpson is later charged with the murders, but is acquitted by a jury.
- 1997 – Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London.
- 1999 – Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins when a NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force (KFor) enters the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 2009 – Analog television stations (excluding low-powered stations) switch to digital television following the DTV Delay Act.
- 2009 – A disputed presidential election in Iran leads to wide-ranging local and international protests.
- 2016 – Forty-nine civilians are killed and 58 others injured in an attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida; the gunman, Omar Mateen, is killed in a gunfight with police.
- 2017 – American student Otto Warmbier returns home in a coma after spending 17 months in a North Korean prison and dies a week later.
- 2018 – United States President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea held the first meeting between leaders of their two countries in Singapore.
Births on June 12
- 950 – Reizei, Japanese emperor (d. 1011)
- 1107 – Gao Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1187)
- 1161 – Constance, Duchess of Brittany (d. 1201)
- 1519 – Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1574)
- 1561 – Anna of Württemberg, German princess (d. 1616)
- 1564 – John Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg (d. 1633)
- 1573 – Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex, soldier (d. 1629)
- 1577 – Paul Guldin, Swiss astronomer and mathematician (d. 1643)
- 1580 – Adriaen van Stalbemt, Flemish painter (d. 1662)
- 1653 – Maria Amalia of Courland, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1711)
- 1686 – Marie-Catherine Homassel Hecquet, French writer (d. 1764)
- 1711 – Louis Legrand, French priest and theologian (d. 1780)
- 1760 – Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai, French author, playwright, journalist, and politician (d. 1797)
- 1771 – Patrick Gass, American sergeant (Lewis and Clark Expedition) and author (d. 1870)
- 1775 – Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (d. 1851)
- 1777 – Robert Clark, American physician and politician (d. 1837)
- 1795 – John Marston, American sailor (d. 1885)
- 1798 – Samuel Cooper, American general (d. 1876)
- 1800 – Samuel Wright Mardis, American politician (d. 1836)
- 1802 – Harriet Martineau, English sociologist and author (d. 1876)
- 1806 – John A. Roebling, German-American engineer, designed the Brooklyn Bridge (d. 1869)
- 1807 – Ante Kuzmanić, Croatian physician and journalist (d. 1879)
- 1812 – Edmond Hébert, French geologist and academic (d. 1890)
- 1819 – Charles Kingsley, English priest, historian, and author (d. 1875)
- 1827 – Johanna Spyri, Swiss author, best known for Heidi (d. 1901)
- 1831 – Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (d. 1905)
- 1841 – Watson Fothergill, English architect, designed the Woodborough Road Baptist Church (d. 1928)
- 1843 – David Gill, Scottish-English astronomer and author (d. 1914)
- 1851 – Oliver Lodge, English physicist and academic (d. 1940)
- 1857 – Maurice Perrault, Canadian architect, engineer, and politician, 15th Mayor of Longueuil (d. 1909)
- 1858 – Harry Johnston, English botanist and explorer (d. 1927)
- 1858 – Henry Scott Tuke, English painter and photographer (d. 1929)
- 1861 – William Attewell, English cricketer and umpire (d. 1927)
- 1864 – Frank Chapman, American ornithologist, photographer, and author (d. 1945)
- 1877 – Thomas C. Hart, American admiral and politician (d. 1971)
- 1883 – Fernand Gonder, French pole vaulter (d. 1969)
- 1883 – Robert Lowie, Austrian-American anthropologist and academic (d. 1957)
- 1888 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1920)
- 1890 – Egon Schiele, Austrian soldier and painter (d. 1918)
- 1892 – Djuna Barnes, American novelist, journalist, and playwright (d. 1982)
- 1895 – Eugénie Brazier, French chef (d. 1977)
- 1897 – Anthony Eden, English soldier and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1977)
- 1899 – Fritz Albert Lipmann, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1899 – Weegee, Ukrainian-American photographer and journalist (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian lawyer and politician, Mayor of Ghent (d. 1973)
- 1905 – Ray Barbuti, American sprinter and football player (d. 1988)
- 1906 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet (d. 1977)
- 1908 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian broadcaster (d. 1988)
- 1908 – Marina Semyonova, Russian ballerina and educator (d. 2010)
- 1908 – Otto Skorzeny, German SS officer (d. 1975)
- 1910 – Bill Naughton, Irish-English playwright and author (d. 1992)
- 1912 – Bill Cowley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1993)
- 1912 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist and academic (d. 1961)
- 1913 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian general (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Desmond Piers, Canadian admiral (d. 2005)
- 1914 – William Lundigan, American actor (d. 1975)
- 1914 – Go Seigen, Chinese-Japanese Go player (d. 2014)
- 1915 – Priscilla Lane, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1915 – Christopher Mayhew, English soldier and politician (d. 1997)
- 1915 – David Rockefeller, American banker and businessman (d. 2017)
- 1916 – Irwin Allen, American director and producer (d. 1991)
- 1916 – Raúl Héctor Castro, Mexican-American politician and diplomat, 14th Governor of Arizona (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Samuel Z. Arkoff, American film producer (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Georgia Louise Harris Brown, American architect (d. 1999)
- 1918 – Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, Sri Lankan-Australian mathematician and academic (d. 2001)
- 1919 – Uta Hagen, German-American actress and educator (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Dave Berg, American soldier and cartoonist (d. 2002)
- 1920 – Peter Jones, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2000)
- 1921 – Luis García Berlanga, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Christopher Derrick, English author, critic, and academic (d. 2007)
- 1921 – James Archibald Houston, Canadian author and illustrator (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Margherita Hack, Italian astrophysicist and author (d. 2013)
- 1924 – George H. W. Bush, American lieutenant and politician, 41st President of the United States (d. 2018)
- 1924 – Grete Dollitz, German-American guitarist and radio host (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Vic Damone, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2018)
- 1928 – Petros Molyviatis, Greek politician and diplomat, Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
- 1928 – Richard M. Sherman, American composer and director
- 1929 – Brigid Brophy, English author and critic (d. 1995)
- 1929 – Anne Frank, German-Dutch diarist; victim of the Holocaust (d. 1945)
- 1929 – Jameel Jalibi, Pakistani linguist and academic
- 1929 – John McCluskey, Baron McCluskey, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Solicitor General for Scotland (d. 2017)
- 1930 – Jim Burke, Australian cricketer (d. 1979)
- 1930 – Donald Byrne, American chess player (d. 1976)
- 1930 – Innes Ireland, Scottish race car driver and engineer (d. 1993)
- 1930 – Jim Nabors, American actor and singer (d. 2017)
- 1931 – Trevanian, American author and scholar (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Rona Jaffe, American novelist (d. 2005)
- 1932 – Mimi Coertse, South African soprano and producer
- 1932 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (d. 2002)
- 1933 – Eddie Adams, American photographer and journalist (d. 2004)
- 1934 – John A. Alonzo, American actor and cinematographer (d. 2001)
- 1934 – Kevin Billington, English director and producer
- 1935 – Ian Craig, Australian cricketer (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Paul Kennedy, English lawyer and judge
- 1937 – Vladimir Arnold, Russian-French mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
- 1937 – Klaus Basikow, German footballer and manager (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Antal Festetics, Hungarian-Austrian biologist and zoologist
- 1937 – Chips Moman, American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Tom Oliver, English-Australian actor
- 1939 – Ron Lynch, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1939 – Frank McCloskey, American sergeant and politician (d. 2003)
- 1940 – Jacques Brassard, Canadian educator and politician
- 1941 – Marv Albert, American sportscaster
- 1941 – Chick Corea, American pianist and composer
- 1941 – Roy Harper, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1941 – Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Lucille Roybal-Allard, American politician
- 1942 – Len Barry, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1942 – Bert Sakmann, German physiologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1945 – Pat Jennings, Irish footballer and coach
- 1946 – Michel Bergeron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1946 – Bobby Gould, English footballer and manager
- 1946 – Catherine Bréchignac, French physicist and academic
- 1948 – Hans Binder, Austrian race car driver
- 1948 – Herbert Meyer, German footballer
- 1948 – Len Wein, American comic book writer and editor (d. 2017)
- 1949 – Jens Böhrnsen, German judge and politician
- 1949 – Marc Tardif, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1949 – John Wetton, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 2017)
- 1950 – Oğuz Abadan, Turkish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1950 – Michael Fabricant, English politician
- 1950 – Sonia Manzano, American actress of Puerto Rican descent, noted for playing Maria on Sesame Street
- 1950 – Bun E. Carlos, American drummer
- 1951 – Brad Delp, American musician and singer (d. 2007)
- 1951 – Andranik Margaryan, Armenian engineer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 2007)
- 1952 – Spencer Abraham, American academic and politician, 10th United States Secretary of Energy
- 1952 – Junior Brown, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1952 – Pete Farndon, English bass player and songwriter (d. 1983)
- 1953 – Rocky Burnette, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Tim Razzall, Baron Razzall, English lawyer and politician
- 1956 – Terry Alderman, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
- 1957 – Timothy Busfield, American actor, director, and producer
- 1957 – Javed Miandad, Pakistani cricketer and coach
- 1958 – Meredith Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1959 – John Linnell, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1959 – Scott Thompson, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1960 – Joe Kopicki, American basketball player and coach
- 1962 – Jordan Peterson, Canadian psychologist, professor and cultural critic
- 1963 – Philippe Bugalski, French race car driver (d. 2012)
- 1963 – Warwick Capper, Australian footballer, coach, and actor
- 1963 – Tim DeKay, American actor
- 1963 – Jerry Lynn, American wrestler
- 1964 – Derek Higgins, Irish race car driver
- 1964 – Kent Jones, American journalist
- 1964 – Paula Marshall, American actress
- 1964 – Peter Such, Scottish-born, English cricketer
- 1965 – Adrian Toole, Australian rugby league player
- 1965 – Gwen Torrence, American sprinter
- 1965 – Cathy Tyson, English actress
- 1966 – Marc Glanville, Australian rugby league player
- 1966 – Tom Misteli, Swiss cell biologist
- 1967 – Aivar Kuusmaa, Estonian basketball player and coach
- 1967 – Frances O’Connor, English-Australian actress
- 1968 – Scott Aldred, American baseball player and coach
- 1968 – Htay Kywe, Burmese activist
- 1968 – Bobby Sheehan, American bass player and songwriter (d. 1999)
- 1969 – Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian guitarist (d. 2007)
- 1969 – Héctor Garza, Mexican wrestler (d. 2013)
- 1969 – Mathieu Schneider, American ice hockey player
- 1969 – Heinz-Christian Strache, Austrian politician
- 1971 – Mark Henry, American weightlifter and wrestler
- 1971 – Ryan Klesko, American baseball player
- 1971 – Jérôme Romain, Caribbean-Dominican triple jumper and coach
- 1973 – Jason Caffey, American basketball player and coach
- 1973 – Darryl White, Australian footballer
- 1974 – Flávio Conceição, Brazilian footballer
- 1974 – Hideki Matsui, Japanese baseball player
- 1974 – Jason Mewes, American actor and producer
- 1974 – Kerry Kittles, American basketball player
- 1975 – Bryan Alvarez, American wrestler and journalist
- 1975 – Stéphanie Szostak, French-American actress
- 1976 – Antawn Jamison, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1976 – Ray Price, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1976 – Thomas Sørensen, Danish footballer
- 1977 – Wade Redden, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Kenny Wayne Shepherd, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Lewis Moody, English rugby player
- 1979 – Dallas Clark, American football player
- 1979 – Martine Dugrenier, Canadian wrestler
- 1979 – Diego Milito, Argentine footballer
- 1979 – Robyn, Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer
- 1979 – Earl Watson, American basketball player and coach
- 1980 – Marco Bortolami, Italian rugby player
- 1980 – Larry Foote, American football player
- 1980 – Ifet Taljević, German footballer
- 1981 – Raitis Grafs, Latvian basketball player
- 1981 – Paul Hasleby, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Adriana Lima, Brazilian model and actress
- 1982 – Ben Blackwell, American drummer
- 1982 – Diem Brown, German-American journalist and activist (d. 2014)
- 1982 – Jason David, American football player
- 1982 – Shailaja Pujari, Indian weightlifter
- 1982 – James Tomlinson, English cricketer
- 1983 – Bryan Habana, South African rugby player
- 1983 – Alexander Pipa, German rugby player
- 1983 – Christine Sinclair, Canadian soccer player
- 1984 – James Kwalia, Kenyan-Qatari runner
- 1984 – Bruno Soriano, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Blake Ross, American computer programmer, co-created Mozilla Firefox
- 1985 – Sam Thaiday, Australian rugby league player
- 1985 – Kendra Wilkinson, American model, actress, and author
- 1985 – Chris Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1986 – Salim Mehajer, Australian politician
- 1986 – Harry Taylor, Australian footballer
- 1987 – Seyi Ajirotutu, American football player
- 1987 – Antonio Barragán, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Artūrs Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
- 1988 – Eren Derdiyok, Swiss footballer
- 1988 – Mauricio Isla, Chilean footballer
- 1988 – Dave Melillo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1988 – Dakota Morton, Canadian actor and radio host
- 1989 – Emma Eliasson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1989 – Ibrahim Jeilan, Ethiopian runner
- 1990 – Jrue Holiday, American basketball player
- 1990 – Kevin López, Spanish runner
- 1990 – David Worrall, English footballer
- 1991 – Avisail García, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1992 – Philippe Coutinho, Brazilian footballer
Deaths on June 12
- 796 – Hisham I, Muslim emir (b. 757)
- 816 – Pope Leo III (b. 750)
- 918 – Æthelflæd, Mercian daughter of Alfred the Great (b. 870)
- 1020 – Lyfing, English archbishop (b. 999)
- 1036 – Tedald, Italian bishop (b. 990)
- 1144 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian theologian (b. 1075)
- 1152 – Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1114)
- 1266 – Henry II, Prince of Anhalt-Aschersleben (b. 1215)
- 1294 – John I of Brienne, Count of Eu
- 1418 – Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac (b. 1360)
- 1435 – John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, English commander (b. 1408)
- 1478 – Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (b. 1412)
- 1524 – Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, Spanish conquistador (b. 1465)
- 1560 – Ii Naomori, Japanese warrior (b. 1506)
- 1560 – Imagawa Yoshimoto, Japanese daimyō (b. 1519)
- 1565 – Adrianus Turnebus, French philologist and scholar (b. 1512)
- 1567 – Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, English politician, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1490)
- 1647 – Thomas Farnaby, English scholar and educator (b. 1575)
- 1668 – Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge, English politician (b. 1599)
- 1675 – Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy (b. 1634)
- 1734 – James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, French-English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (b. 1670)
- 1758 – Prince Augustus William of Prussia (b. 1722)
- 1772 – Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, French explorer (b. 1724)
- 1778 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (b. 1716)
- 1816 – Pierre Augereau, French general (b. 1757)
- 1818 – Egwale Seyon, Ethiopian emperor
- 1841 – Konstantinos Nikolopoulos, Greek composer, archaeologist, and philologist (b. 1786)
- 1900 – Lucretia Peabody Hale, American journalist and author (b. 1820)
- 1904 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach (b. 1836)
- 1912 – Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1822)
- 1917 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan-American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (b. 1853)
- 1932 – Theo Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1852)
- 1937 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Russian general (b. 1893)
- 1944 – Erich Marcks, German general (b. 1891)
- 1946 – Médéric Martin, Canadian politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1869)
- 1952 – Harry Lawson, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Victoria (b. 1875)
- 1957 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (The Dorsey Brothers and The California Ramblers) (b. 1904)
- 1962 – John Ireland, English composer and educator (b. 1879)
- 1963 – Medgar Evers, American soldier and activist (b. 1925)
- 1966 – Hermann Scherchen, German viola player and conductor (b. 1891)
- 1968 – Herbert Read, English poet and critic (b. 1893)
- 1969 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Ukrainian-Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1899)
- 1972 – Edmund Wilson, American critic, essayist, and editor (b. 1895)
- 1972 – Dinanath Gopal Tendulkar, Indian writer and documentary filmmaker (b. 1909)
- 1976 – Gopinath Kaviraj, Indian philosopher and scholar (b. 1887)
- 1978 – Guo Moruo, Chinese historian, author, and poet (b. 1892)
- 1978 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (b. 1912)
- 1980 – Billy Butlin, South African-English businessman, founded the Butlins Company (b. 1899)
- 1980 – Masayoshi Ōhira, Japanese politician, 68th Prime minister of Japan (b. 1910)
- 1980 – Milburn Stone, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1982 – Ian McKay, English sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1953)
- 1982 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian-German ethologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
- 1983 – Norma Shearer, Canadian-American actress (b. 1902)
- 1989 – Bruce Hamilton, Australian public servant (b. 1911)
- 1990 – Terence O’Neill, Baron O’Neill of the Maine, English captain and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (b. 1914)
- 1994 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Russian-French rabbi and author (b. 1902)
- 1995 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (b. 1920)
- 1995 – Pierre Russell, American basketball player (b. 1949)
- 1997 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1924)
- 1998 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and educator (b. 1924)
- 1998 – Theresa Merritt, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
- 1999 – J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1917)
- 2000 – Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1919)
- 2000 – Sandro Rosa do Nascimento, Brazilian criminal (b. 1978)
- 2002 – Bill Blass, American fashion designer, founded Bill Blass Limited (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Zena Sutherland, American reviewer of children’s literature (b. 1915)
- 2003 – Gregory Peck, American actor and political activist (b. 1916)
- 2005 – Scott Young, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1918)
- 2006 – Nicky Barr, Australian rugby player and fighter pilot (b. 1915)
- 2006 – György Ligeti, Romanian-Hungarian composer and educator (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian businessman and art collector (b. 1923)
- 2008 – Miroslav Dvořák, Czech ice hockey player (b. 1951)
- 2008 – Derek Tapscott, Welsh footballer and manager (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Al Williamson, American illustrator (b. 1931)
- 2011 – René Audet, Canadian bishop (b. 1920)
- 2011 – Carl Gardner, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Hector Bianciotti, Argentinian-French journalist and author (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Henry Hill, American mobster (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Margarete Mitscherlich-Nielsen, Danish-German psychoanalyst and author (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Elinor Ostrom, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Pahiño, Spanish footballer (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Frank Walker, Australian judge and politician, 41st Attorney General of New South Wales (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Teresita Barajuen, Spanish nun (b. 1908)
- 2013 – Jason Leffler, American race car driver (b. 1975)
- 2013 – Joseph A. Unanue, American sergeant and businessman (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Nabil Hemani, Algerian footballer (b. 1979)
- 2014 – Dan Jacobson, South African-English author and critic (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Frank Schirrmacher, German journalist (b. 1959)
- 2015 – Fernando Brant, Brazilian journalist, poet, and composer (b. 1946)
- 2015 – Frederick Pei Li, Chinese-American physician and academic (b. 1940)
- 2015 – Patrick Lennox Tierney, American historian and academic (b. 1914)
- 2016 – Omar Mateen, American mass murderer (b. 1986)
- 2016 – George Voinovich, American politician (b. 1936)
- 2016 – Janet Waldo, American actress and voice artist (b. 1920)
Holidays and observances on June 12
- Chaco Armistice Day (Paraguay)
- Christian feast day:
- 108 Martyrs of World War II
- Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor and Nazarius
- Blessed Hildegard Burjan
- Enmegahbowh (Episcopal Church)
- Eskil
- First Ecumenical Council (Lutheran)
- Gaspar Bertoni
- John of Sahagún
- Onuphrius
- Pope Leo III
- Ternan
- June 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Dia dos Namorados (Brazil)
- Helsinki Day (Finland)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Philippines from Spain in 1898.
- June 12 Commemoration (Lagos State)
- Loving Day (United States)
- Russia Day (Russia)
- World Day Against Child Labour, and its related observances:
-
May 26 in History
- 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
- 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire takes place. The Sasanids defeat the Armenians militarily but guarantee them freedom to openly practice Christianity.
- 946 – King Edmund I of England is murdered by a thief whom he personally attacks while celebrating St Augustine’s Mass Day.
- 961 – King Otto I elects his 6-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda.
- 1135 – Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in León Cathedral as Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all of Spain).
- 1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 23,000.
- 1328 – William of Ockham, the Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena, and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
- 1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
- 1573 – The Battle of Haarlemmermeer, a naval engagement in the Dutch War of Independence.
- 1637 – Pequot War: A combined English and Mohegan force under John Mason attacks a village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Pequots.
- 1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo.
- 1736 – The Battle of Ackia was fought near the present site of Tupelo, Mississippi. British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the then-Chickasaw village of Ackia.
- 1770 – The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
- 1783 – A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated the end of fighting in the American Revolution.
- 1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
- 1821 – Establishment of the Peloponnesian Senate by the Greek rebels.
- 1822 – One hundred sixteen people die in the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway’s history.
- 1857 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
- 1864 – Montana is organized as a United States territory.
- 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
- 1868 – The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal by one vote.
- 1869 – Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- 1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
- 1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.
- 1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
- 1897 – Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
- 1897 – The original manuscript of William Bradford’s history, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1900 – Thousand Days’ War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
- 1908 – The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
- 1917 – Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon.
- 1918 – The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
- 1923 – The first 24 Hours of Le Mans was held and has since been run annually in June.
- 1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
- 1936 – In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for ten hours.
- 1937 – Walter Reuther and members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) clashed with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Complex complex in Dearborn, Michigan, during the Battle of the Overpass.
- 1938 – In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
- 1940 – World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
- 1940 – World War II: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
- 1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
- 1966 – British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana.
- 1967 – The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
- 1968 – H-dagurinn in Iceland: Traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight
- 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
- 1970 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
- 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army slaughters at least 71 Hindus in Burunga, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
- 1972 – The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
- 1981 – Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
- 1981 – An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
- 1983 – The 7.8 Mw Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.
- 1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.
- 1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.
- 1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes in the Phu Toei National Park in Thailand, killing all 223 people on board.
- 1998 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in New Jersey v. New York that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
- 1998 – The first “National Sorry Day” was held in Australia, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
- 2002 – The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
- 2004 – United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
- 2008 – Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.
Births on May 26
- 1264 – Koreyasu, Japanese prince and shōgun (d. 1326)
- 1478 – Clement VII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1534)
- 1562 – James III, margrave of Baden-Hachberg (d. 1590)
- 1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1603)
- 1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, Dutch-French painter (d. 1674)
- 1623 – William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687)
- 1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (d. 1722)
- 1667 – Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (d. 1754)
- 1669 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (d. 1722)
- 1700 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (d. 1760)
- 1799 – August Kopisch, German poet and painter (d. 1853)
- 1822 – Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic, founded the Académie Goncourt (d. 1896)
- 1863 – Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917)
- 1865 – Robert W. Chambers, American author and illustrator (d. 1933)
- 1867 – Mary of Teck, English-born queen consort of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)
- 1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
- 1876 – Percy Perrin, English cricketer (d. 1945)
- 1880 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)
- 1881 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (d. 1955)
- 1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer, actress, dancer, and pianist (d. 1946)
- 1886 – Al Jolson, American singer and actor (d. 1950)
- 1887 – Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963)
- 1893 – Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)
- 1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer and journalist (d. 1965)
- 1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor and singer (d. 1971)
- 1898 – Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
- 1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)
- 1899 – Antonio Barrette, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)
- 1899 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (d. 1997)
- 1900 – Karin Juel, Swedish singer, actor, and writer (d. 1976)
- 1904 – George Formby, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1961)
- 1904 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1983)
- 1904 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist and educator (d. 2002)
- 1907 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (d. 2006)
- 1907 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1979)
- 1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)
- 1908 – Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, Vietnamese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1976)
- 1909 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician, 48th President of Mexico (d. 1969)
- 1910 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist, boxer, and gymnast (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1992)
- 1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1989)
- 1912 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980)
- 1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
- 1913 – Pierre Daninos, French author (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Karin Ekelund, Swedish actress (d. 1976)
- 1913 – Josef Manger, German weightlifter (d. 1991)
- 1914 – Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
- 1915 – Vernon Alley, American bassist (d. 2004)
- 1915 – Antonia Forest, English author (d. 2003)
- 1916 – Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1972)
- 1919 – Rubén González, Cuban pianist (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Jack Cheetham, South African cricketer (d. 1980)
- 1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
- 1922 – Troy Smith, American businessman, founded Sonic Drive-In (d. 2009)
- 1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Roy Dotrice, English actor (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Carmen Montejo, Cuban-Mexican actress (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017)
- 1926 – Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
- 1927 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, author, and assisted suicide activist (d. 2011)
- 1929 – J. F. Ade Ajayi, Nigerian historian and academic (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Ernie Carroll, Australian television personality and producer
- 1929 – Hans Freeman, Australian bioinorganic chemist and protein crystallographer (d. 2008)
- 1929 – John Jackson, English lawyer and businessman
- 1929 – Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998)
- 1930 – Karim Emami, Indian-Iranian lexicographer and critic (d. 2005)
- 1933 – Edward Whittemore, American soldier and author (d. 1995)
- 1935 – Eero Loone, Estonian philosopher and academic
- 1936 – David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician
- 1937 – Manorama, Indian actress and singer (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Paul E. Patton, American politician, 59th Governor of Kentucky
- 1938 – William Bolcom, American pianist and composer
- 1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian author and playwright
- 1938 – K. Bikram Singh, Indian director and producer (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano and actress
- 1939 – Brent Musburger, American sportscaster
- 1939 – Herb Trimpe, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Canadian academic and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
- 1940 – Levon Helm, American singer-songwriter, drummer, producer, and actor (d. 2012)
- 1941 – Aldrich Ames, American CIA officer and criminal
- 1941 – Jim Dobbin, Scottish microbiologist and politician (d. 2014)
- 1941 – Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player and sportscaster
- 1941 – Imants Kalniņš, Latvian composer
- 1943 – Erica Terpstra, Dutch swimmer, journalist, and politician
- 1944 – Phil Edmonston, American-Canadian journalist and politician
- 1944 – Jan Kinder, Norwegian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Sam Posey, American race car driver and journalist
- 1945 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian lawyer and politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Alistair MacDuff, English lawyer and judge
- 1945 – Garry Peterson, Canadian-American drummer
- 1946 – Neshka Robeva, Bulgarian gymnast and coach
- 1946 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1993)
- 1947 – Carol O’Connell, American author and painter
- 1947 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricketer
- 1948 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter
- 1949 – Jeremy Corbyn, British journalist and politician
- 1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer, developed the first wiki
- 1949 – Pam Grier, American actress
- 1949 – Anne McGuire, Scottish educator and politician
- 1949 – Philip Michael Thomas, American actor
- 1949 – Hank Williams Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and businessman
- 1951 – Lou van den Dries, Dutch mathematician
- 1951 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut, founded Sally Ride Science (d. 2012)
- 1951 – Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Irish educator and politician
- 1952 – David Meece, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1953 – Kay Hagan, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
- 1953 – Don McAllister, English footballer and manager
- 1953 – Michael Portillo, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
- 1953 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (d. 2012)
- 1954 – Alan Hollinghurst, English novelist, poet, short story writer, and translator
- 1954 – Denis Lebel, Canadian businessman and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Transport
- 1955 – Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese-American chef
- 1955 – Paul Stoddart, Australian businessman
- 1955 – Wesley Walker, American football player and educator
- 1956 – Neil Parish, English politician
- 1956 – Fiona Shackleton, English lawyer
- 1957 – Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1957 – François Legault, Canadian businessman and politician
- 1957 – Roberto Ravaglia, Italian race car driver
- 1958 – Ronnie Black, American golfer
- 1958 – Arto Bryggare, Finnish hurdler and politician
- 1958 – Margaret Colin, American actress
- 1959 – Ole Bornedal, Danish actor, director, and producer
- 1960 – Doug Hutchison, American actor
- 1960 – Dean Lukin, Australian weightlifter
- 1960 – Masahiro Matsunaga, Japanese race car driver
- 1960 – Rob Murphy, American baseball player
- 1960 – Romas Ubartas, Lithuanian discus thrower
- 1961 – Steve Pate, American golfer
- 1961 – Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1962 – Black, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
- 1962 – Genie Francis, Canadian-American actress
- 1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Simon Armitage, English poet, playwright and novelist
- 1963 – Claude Legault, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1963 – Mary Nightingale, English journalist
- 1963 – Jamie Spence, English golfer
- 1964 – Caitlín R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author
- 1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor
- 1964 – Argiris Pedoulakis, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1965 – Hazel Irvine, Scottish sportscaster and journalist
- 1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
- 1966 – Zola Budd, South African runner
- 1967 – Philip Treacy, Irish milliner, hat designer
- 1967 – Mika Yamamoto, Japanese journalist (d. 2012)
- 1968 – Fernando León de Aranoa, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
- 1968 – Steve Sedgley, English footballer and manager
- 1969 – John Baird, Canadian politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1969 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete and coach
- 1969 – Dominic Mohan, English journalist
- 1970 – Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese illustrator
- 1971 – Zaher Andary, Lebanese footballer
- 1971 – Matt Stone, American actor, animator, screenwriter, producer, and composer
- 1973 – Naomi Harris, Canadian-American photographer
- 1974 – Lars Frölander, Swedish swimmer
- 1975 – Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1976 – Paul Collingwood, English cricketer and coach
- 1976 – Stephen Curry, Australian comedian and actor
- 1976 – Kenny Florian, American mixed martial artist and sportscaster
- 1976 – Justin Pierre, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1977 – Nikos Chatzivrettas, Greek basketball player
- 1977 – Raina Telgemeier, American author and cartoonist
- 1977 – Luca Toni, Italian footballer
- 1977 – Misaki Ito, Japanese actress and model
- 1978 – Phil Elvrum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Fabio Firmani, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Dan Parks, Australian-Scottish rugby player
- 1979 – Amanda Bauer, American astronomer and academic
- 1979 – Natalya Nazarova, Russian sprinter
- 1979 – Elisabeth Harnois, American actress
- 1979 – Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player
- 1980 – Louis-Jean Cormier, Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1981 – Robert Copeland, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Anthony Ervin, American swimmer
- 1981 – Jason Manford, English actor, screenwriter, and television host
- 1981 – Isaac Slade, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1981 – Ben Zobrist, American baseball player
- 1982 – Sten Lassmann, Estonian pianist
- 1982 – Hasan Kabze, Turkish footballer
- 1983 – Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer
- 1983 – Henry Holland, English fashion designer
- 1983 – Nathan Merritt, Australian rugby league player
- 1985 – Monika Christodoulou, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1985 – Ashley Vincent, English footballer
- 1986 – Michel Tornéus, Swedish long jumper
- 1987 – Olcay Şahan, Turkish footballer
- 1987 – Josh Thomas, Australian comedian and actor
- 1988 – Andrea Catellani, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Will Chambers, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
- 1988 – Dani Samuels, Australian discus thrower
- 1988 – Joel Selwood, Australian footballer
- 1988 – Damian Williams, American football player
- 1989 – Paula Findlay, Canadian triathlete
- 1991 – Ah Young, South Korean singer and actress
- 1992 – Curtis Rona, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1993 – Jason Adesanya, Belgian footballer
- 1993 – Dan Sarginson, Australian-English rugby league player
- 1993 – Katerine Savard, Canadian swimmer
- 1993 – Jimmy Vesey, American ice hockey player
- 1996 – Lara Goodall, South African cricketer
Deaths on May 26
- 604 – Augustine of Canterbury, Benedictine monk and archbishop
- 735 – Bede, English monk, historian, and theologian
- 818 – Ali al-Ridha, Saudi Arabian 8th of The Twelve Imams
- 926 – Yuan Xingqin, Chinese general and governor
- 946 – Edmund I, king of England (b. 921)
- 1035 – Berenguer Ramon I, Spanish nobleman (b. 1005)
- 1055 – Adalbert, margrave of Austria
- 1250 – Peter I, duke of Brittany
- 1339 – Aldona Ona, queen of Poland
- 1362 – Louis I, king of Naples (b. 1320)
- 1421 – Mehmed I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1389)
- 1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1447)
- 1536 – Francesco Berni, Italian poet (b. 1498)
- 1552 – Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)
- 1648 – Vincent Voiture, French poet and author (b. 1597)
- 1653 – Robert Filmer, English theorist and author (b. 1588)
- 1679 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636)
- 1685 – Charles II, German elector palatine (b. 1651)
- 1703 – Samuel Pepys, English politician (b. 1633)
- 1742 – Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1672)
- 1746 – Thomas Southerne, Irish playwright (b. 1660)
- 1762 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher and academic (b. 1714)
- 1799 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish linguist, biologist, and judge (b. 1714)
- 1818 – Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian field marshal and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1761)
- 1818 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and guerrilla leader (b. 1785)
- 1824 – Capel Lofft, English lawyer (b. 1751)
- 1840 – Sidney Smith, English admiral and politician (b. 1764)
- 1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist and academic (b. 1824)
- 1883 – Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian ruler (b. 1808)
- 1902 – Almon Brown Strowger, American soldier and inventor (b. 1839)
- 1904 – Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French physician and neurologist (b. 1857)
- 1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader, founded the Ahmadiyya movement (b. 1835)
- 1914 – Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer, and reformer (b. 1849)
- 1924 – Victor Herbert, Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor, founded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (b. 1859)
- 1926 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (b. 1904)
- 1933 – Horatio Bottomley, English financier, journalist, and politician (b. 1860)
- 1933 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1897)
- 1939 – Charles Horace Mayo, American physician, co-founded Mayo Clinic (b. 1865)
- 1943 – Edsel Ford, American businessman (b. 1893)
- 1943 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist, composer, and educator (b. 1864)
- 1944 – Christian Wirth, German SS officer (b. 1885)
- 1948 – Torsten Bergström, Swedish actor and director (b. 1896)
- 1951 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (b. 1880)
- 1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (b. 1900)
- 1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918)
- 1956 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (b. 1902)
- 1959 – Philip Kassel, American gymnast (b. 1876)
- 1966 – Elizabeth Dilling, American author and activist (b. 1894)
- 1969 – Paul Hawkins, Australian race car driver (b. 1937)
- 1969 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer, co-founded the Lockheed Corporation (b. 1889)
- 1974 – Silvio Moser, Swiss race car driver (b. 1941)
- 1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher and academic (b. 1889)
- 1978 – Cybele Andrianou, Greek actress (b. 1887)
- 1979 – George Brent, Irish-American actor (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (b. 1936)
- 1989 – Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
- 1994 – Sonny Sharrock, American guitarist (b. 1940)
- 1995 – Friz Freleng, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1906)
- 1997 – Ralph Horween, American football player and coach (b. 1896)
- 1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor and philanthropist (b. 1906)
- 1999 – Waldo Semon, American chemist and engineer (b. 1898)
- 2001 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian race car driver (b. 1937)
- 2001 – Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934)
- 2001 – Moven Mahachi, Zimbabwean soldier and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Defence (b. 1952)
- 2001 – Dona Massin, Canadian actress and choreographer (b. 1917)
- 2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American journalist and author (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Nikolai Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)
- 2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
- 2005 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist and educator (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Leslie Smith, English businessman, co-founded Lesney Products (b. 1918)
- 2006 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963)
- 2006 – Kevin O’Flanagan, Irish footballer and physician (b. 1919)
- 2007 – Jack Edward Oliver, English illustrator (b. 1942)
- 2007 – Howard Porter, American basketball player (b. 1948)
- 2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
- 2008 – Zita Urbonaitė, Lithuanian cyclist (b. 1973)
- 2009 – Mihalis Papagiannakis, Greek journalist and politician (b. 1941)
- 2009 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (b. 1965)
- 2010 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television host (b. 1912)
- 2010 – Chris Moran, English air marshal and pilot (b. 1956)
- 2010 – Kieran Phelan, Irish politician (b. 1949)
- 2011 – Arisen Ahubudu, Sri Lankan scholar, author, and playwright (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Arthur Decabooter, Belgian cyclist (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Leo Dillon, American illustrator (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Stephen Healey, Welsh captain and footballer (b. 1982)
- 2012 – Hiroshi Miyazawa, Japanese politician (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Jim Unger, English-Canadian illustrator (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Ray Barnhart, American businessman and politician (b. 1928)
- 2013 – John Bierwirth, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Roberto Civita, Italian-Brazilian businessman (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (b. 1940)
- 2013 – Otto Muehl, Austrian painter (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Jack Vance, American author (b. 1916)
- 2014 – Baselios Thoma Didymos I, Indian metropolitan (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Miodrag Radulovacki, Serbian-American academic and neuropharmacologist (b. 1933)
- 2014 – William R. Roy, American physician, journalist, and politician (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Hooshang Seyhoun, Iranian-Canadian architect, sculptor, and painter (b. 1920)
- 2015 – Vicente Aranda, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Les Johnson, Australian politician and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Robert Kraft, American astronomer and academic (b. 1927)
- 2015 – João Lucas, Portuguese footballer (b. 1979)
- 2015 – Dayton Waller, American soldier and politician (b. 1925)
- 2016 – Hedy Epstein, German-born American human rights activist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American politician (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances on May 26
- Christian feast day:
- Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox)
- Lambert of Vence
- Peter Sanz (one of Martyr Saints of China)
- Philip Neri
- Pope Eleuterus
- Quadratus of Athens
- Zachary, Bishop of Vienne
- May 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence Day, commemorates the day of the First Republic in 1918 (Georgia)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966.
- Mother’s Day (Poland)
- National Paper Airplane Day (United States)
- National Sorry Day (Australia)
-
May 21 in History
- 293 – Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as Caesar to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy.
- 878 – Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine-month siege.
- 879 – Pope John VIII gives blessings to Branimir of Croatia and to the Croatian people, considered to be international recognition of the Croatian state.
- 996 – Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1349 – Dušan’s Code, the constitution of the Serbian Empire, is enacted by Dušan the Mighty.
- 1403 – Henry III of Castile sends Ruy González de Clavijo as ambassador to Timur to discuss the possibility of an alliance between Timur and Castile against the Ottoman Empire.
- 1554 – Queen Mary I grants a royal charter to Derby School, as a grammar school for boys in Derby, England.
- 1659 – In the Concert of The Hague, the Dutch Republic, the Commonwealth of England and the Kingdom of France set out their views on how the Second Northern War should end.
- 1660 – The Battle of Long Sault concludes after five days in which French colonial militia, with their Huron and Algonquin allies, are defeated by the Iroquois Confederacy.
- 1674 – The nobility elect John Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
- 1703 – Daniel Defoe is imprisoned on charges of seditious libel.
- 1725 – The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by Empress Catherine I. It would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky.
- 1758 – Ten-year-old Mary Campbell is abducted in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War. She is returned six and a half years later.
- 1792 – A lava dome collapses on Mount Unzen, near the city of Shimbara on the Japanese island of Kyūshū, creating a deadly tsunami that kills nearly 15,000 people.
- 1809 – The first day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling between the Austrian army led by Archduke Charles and the French army led by Napoleon I of France sees the French attack across the Danube held.
- 1851 – Slavery in Colombia is abolished.
- 1856 – Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The Union Army succeeds in closing off the last escape route from Port Hudson, Louisiana, in preparation for the coming siege.
- 1864 – Russia declares an end to the Russo-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated the Circassian Day of Mourning.
- 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
- 1864 – The Ionian Islands reunite with Greece.
- 1871 – French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting. By the close of “Bloody Week”, some 20,000 communards have been killed and 38,000 arrested.
- 1871 – Opening of the first rack railway in Europe, the Rigi Bahnen on Mount Rigi.
- 1879 – War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique (then belonging to Peru) battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique.
- 1881 – The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C.
- 1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal in the United Kingdom is officially opened by Queen Victoria, who later knights its designer Sir Edward Leader Williams.
- 1904 – The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris.
- 1911 – President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz and the revolutionary Francisco Madero sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez to put an end to the fighting between the forces of both men, concluding the initial phase of the Mexican Revolution.
- 1917 – The Imperial War Graves Commission is established through royal charter to mark, record, and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of the British Empire’s military forces.
- 1917 – The Great Atlanta fire of 1917 causes $5.5 million in damages, destroying some 300 acres including 2,000 homes, businesses and churches, displacing about 10,000 people but leading to only one fatality (due to heart attack).
- 1924 – University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a “thrill killing”.
- 1927 – Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1932 – Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1934 – Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens.
- 1936 – Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover’s severed genitals in her handbag. Her story soon becomes one of Japan’s most notorious scandals.
- 1937 – A Soviet station, North Pole-1, becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean.
- 1939 – The Canadian National War Memorial is unveiled by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
- 1946 – Physicist Louis Slotin is fatally irradiated in a criticality incident during an experiment with the demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- 1951 – The opening of the Ninth Street Show, otherwise known as the 9th Street Art Exhibition: A gathering of a number of notable artists, and the stepping-out of the post war New York avant-garde, collectively known as the New York School.
- 1961 – American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
- 1966 – The Ulster Volunteer Force declares war on the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.
- 1969 – Civil unrest in Rosario, Argentina, known as Rosariazo, following the death of a 15-year-old student.
- 1972 – Michelangelo’s Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, the mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth.
- 1976 – Twenty-nine people are killed in the Yuba City bus disaster in Martinez, California.
- 1979 – White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
- 1981 – The Italian government releases the membership list of Propaganda Due, an illegal pseudo-Masonic lodge that was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries.
- 1981 – Transamerica Corporation agrees to sell United Artists to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $380 million after the box office failure of the 1980 film Heaven’s Gate.
- 1982 – Falklands War: A British amphibious assault during Operation Sutton leads to the Battle of San Carlos.
- 1991 – Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras.
- 1991 – Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
- 1992 – After 30 seasons Johnny Carson hosted his penultimate episode and last featuring guests (Robin Williams and Bette Midler) of The Tonight Show.
- 1994 – The Democratic Republic of Yemen unsuccessfully attempts to secede from the Republic of Yemen; a war breaks out.
- 1996 – The ferry MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000.
- 1998 – In Miami, five abortion clinics are attacked by a butyric acid attacker.
- 1998 – President Suharto of Indonesia resigns following the killing of students from Trisakti University earlier that week by security forces and growing mass protests in Jakarta against his ongoing corrupt rule.
- 2001 – French Taubira law is enacted, officially recognizing the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
- 2003 – The 6.8 Mw Boumerdès earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). More than 2,200 people were killed and a moderate tsunami sank boats at the Balearic Islands.
- 2005 – The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey.
- 2006 – The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro; 55% of Montenegrins vote for independence.
- 2010 – JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, launches the solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS aboard an H-IIA rocket. The vessel would make a Venus flyby late in the year.
- 2011 – Radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on this date.
- 2012 – A bus accident near Himara, Albania kills 13 people and injures 21 others.
- 2012 – A suicide bombing kills more than 120 people in Sana’a, Yemen.
- 2017 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performed their final show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Births on May 21
- 1471 – Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (d. 1528)
- 1497 – Al-Hattab, Muslim jurist (d. 1547)
- 1527 – Philip II of Spain (d. 1598)
- 1653 – Eleonore of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1697)
- 1688 – Alexander Pope, English poet, essayist, and translator (d. 1744)
- 1755 – Alfred Moore, American lawyer and judge (d. 1810)
- 1756 – William Babington, Irish-born, English physician and mineralogist (d. 1833)
- 1763 – Joseph Fouché, French lawyer and politician (d. 1820)
- 1775 – Lucien Bonaparte, French soldier and politician (d. 1840)
- 1780 – Elizabeth Fry, English prison reformer, philanthropist and Quaker (d. 1845)
- 1790 – William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, English politician, Lord Chamberlain of the Household (d. 1858)
- 1792 – Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis, French mathematician and engineer (d. 1843)
- 1799 – Mary Anning, English paleontologist (d. 1847)
- 1801 – Princess Sophie of Sweden, Swedish princess (d. 1865)
- 1806 – Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, English duchess (d. 1868)
- 1808 – David de Jahacob Lopez Cardozo, Dutch Talmudist (d. 1890)
- 1827 – William P. Sprague, American banker and politician (d. 1899)
- 1828 – Rudolf Koller, Swiss painter (d. 1905)
- 1835 – František Chvostek, Czech-Austrian physician and academic (d. 1884)
- 1837 – Itagaki Taisuke, Japanese soldier and politician (d. 1919)
- 1843 – Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss lawyer and politician, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
- 1843 – Louis Renault, French jurist, educator, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1918)
- 1844 – Henri Rousseau, French painter (d. 1910)
- 1850 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian priest and volcanologist (d. 1914)
- 1851 – Léon Bourgeois, French police officer and politician, 64th Prime Minister of France, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1925)
- 1853 – Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac, French politician (d. 1905)
- 1856 – José Batlle y Ordóñez, Uruguayan journalist and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 1929)
- 1860 – Willem Einthoven, Indonesian-Dutch physician, physiologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
- 1861 – Abel Ayerza, Argentinian physician and academic (d. 1918)
- 1863 – Archduke Eugen of Austria (d. 1954)
- 1864 – Princess Stéphanie of Belgium (d. 1945)
- 1873 – Hans Berger, German neurologist and academic (d. 1941)
- 1878 – Glenn Curtiss, American cyclist and engineer (d. 1930)
- 1880 – Tudor Arghezi, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1967)
- 1884 – Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet and publisher (d. 1920)
- 1885 – Princess Sophie of Albania, (Princess Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg) (d. 1936)
- 1893 – Arthur Carr, English cricketer (d. 1963)
- 1893 – Giles Chippindall, Australian public servant (d. 1969)
- 1895 – Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexican general, president (1934–1940) and father of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (d. 1970)
- 1898 – Armand Hammer, American physician and businessman, founded Occidental Petroleum (d. 1990)
- 1898 – Charles Léon Hammes, Luxembourgian lawyer and judge (d. 1967)
- 1898 – Carl Johnson, American long jumper (d. 1932)
- 1898 – John McLaughlin, American painter and translator (d. 1976)
- 1901 – Regina M. Anderson, Multiracial playwright and librarian (d. 1993)
- 1901 – Horace Heidt, American pianist, bandleader, and radio host (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Sam Jaffe, American film producer and agent (d. 2000)
- 1901 – Suzanne Lilar, Belgian author and playwright (d. 1992)
- 1902 – Earl Averill, American baseball player (d. 1983)
- 1902 – Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-American architect and academic, designed the Ameritrust Tower (d. 1981)
- 1902 – Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1974)
- 1903 – Manly Wade Wellman, American author (d. 1986)
- 1904 – Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (d. 1981)
- 1904 – Fats Waller, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1943)
- 1907 – John C. Allen, American roller coaster designer (d. 1979)
- 1912 – Chen Dayu, Chinese painter and calligrapher (d. 2001)
- 1912 – John Curtis Gowan, American psychologist and academic (d. 1986)
- 1912 – Monty Stratton, American baseball player and coach (d. 1982)
- 1913 – Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist and composer (d. 1976)
- 1915 – Cathleen Cordell, American actress (d. 1997)
- 1915 – Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan, Indian Civil Service Officer and former Under Secretary-General of the UN (d. 2003)
- 1916 – Dennis Day, American singer and actor (d. 1988)
- 1916 – Tinus Osendarp, Dutch sprinter and police officer (d. 2002)
- 1916 – Harold Robbins, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
- 1917 – Raymond Burr, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1993)
- 1918 – Anthony Steel, English actor and singer (d. 2001)
- 1919 – George P. Mitchell, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Bill Barber, American tuba player and educator (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Forrest White, American businessman, co-founded the Music Man Company (d. 1994)
- 1921 – Sandy Douglas, English computer scientist and academic, designed OXO (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
- 1923 – Vernon Biever, American photographer (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Armand Borel, Swiss-American mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Ara Parseghian, American football player and coach (d. 2017)
- 1923 – Dorothy Hewett, Australian feminist poet, novelist and playwright (d. 2002)
- 1923 – Evelyn Ward, American actress (d. 2012)
- 1924 – Peggy Cass, American actress, comedian, and game show panelist (d. 1999)
- 1926 – Robert Creeley, American novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2005)
- 1927 – Kay Kendall, English actress and comedian (d. 1959)
- 1927 – Péter Zwack, Hungarian businessman and diplomat (d. 2012)
- 1928 – Tom Donahue, American radio host and producer (d. 1975)
- 1928 – Alice Drummond, American actress (d. 2016)
- 1929 – Larance Marable, American drummer (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Robert Welch, English silversmith and industrial designer (d. 2000)
- 1930 – Tommy Bryant, American bassist (d. 1982)
- 1930 – Keith Davis, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2019)
- 1930 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Inese Jaunzeme, Latvian javelin thrower and surgeon (d. 2011)
- 1932 – Leonidas Vasilikopoulos, Greek admiral and intelligence chief (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Maurice André, French trumpet player (d. 2012)
- 1933 – Yevgeny Minayev, Russian weightlifter (d. 1993)
- 1934 – Jocasta Innes, Chinese-English journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1934 – Bob Northern, American horn player and bandleader
- 1934 – Bengt I. Samuelsson, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1935 – Terry Lightfoot, English clarinet player and bandleader (d. 2013)
- 1936 – Günter Blobel, Polish-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
- 1938 – Lee “Shot” Williams, American singer (d. 2011)
- 1939 – Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboist, composer, and conductor
- 1940 – Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Martin Carthy, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1941 – Bobby Cox, American baseball player and manager
- 1941 – Ambrose Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, English photographer and politician
- 1941 – Ronald Isley, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1942 – David Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
- 1942 – John Konrads, Australian swimmer
- 1942 – Danny Ongais, American race car driver
- 1943 – Vincent Crane, English pianist and composer (d. 1989)
- 1943 – John Dalton, English bass player
- 1943 – Hilton Valentine, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1944 – Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar, Iranian-English academic and politician
- 1944 – Marcie Blane, American singer
- 1944 – Janet Dailey, American author and entrepreneur (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Mary Robinson, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th President of Ireland
- 1945 – Ernst Messerschmid, German physicist and astronaut
- 1945 – Richard Hatch, American actor, writer, and producer (d. 2017)
- 1946 – Allan McKeown, English-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
- 1946 – Wayne Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider and coach
- 1947 – Bill Champlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1947 – Linda Laubenstein, American physician and academic (d. 1992)
- 1947 – İlber Ortaylı, Turkish historian and academic
- 1948 – Elizabeth Buchan, English author and critic
- 1948 – Joe Camilleri, Maltese-Australian singer-songwriter and saxophonist
- 1948 – Jonathan Hyde, Australian-English actor
- 1948 – Denis MacShane, Scottish journalist and politician, UK Minister of State for Europe
- 1948 – Leo Sayer, English-Australian singer-songwriter and musician
- 1949 – Andrew Neil, Scottish journalist and academic
- 1949 – Denis O’Connor, British police officer
- 1949 – Rosalind Plowright, English soprano
- 1950 – Will Hutton, English economist and journalist
- 1951 – Al Franken, American actor, screenwriter, and politician
- 1951 – Adrian Hardiman, Irish lawyer and judge (d. 2016)
- 1952 – Mr. T, American actor and wrestler
- 1953 – Nora Aunor, Filipino actress and recording artist
- 1954 – D. B. S. Jeyaraj, Sri Lankan-Canadian journalist and blogger
- 1954 – Janice Karman, American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice actress
- 1954 – Marc Ribot, American guitarist and composer
- 1955 – Paul Barber, English field hockey player
- 1955 – Stan Lynch, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
- 1957 – James Bailey, American basketball player
- 1957 – Nadine Dorries, English nurse and politician
- 1957 – Judge Reinhold, American actor and producer
- 1957 – Renée Soutendijk, Dutch actress
- 1958 – Christian Audigier, French fashion designer (d. 2015)
- 1958 – Muffy Calder, Canadian-Scottish computer scientist and academic
- 1958 – Michael Crick, English journalist and author
- 1958 – Naeem Khan, Indian-American fashion designer
- 1958 – Jefery Levy, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1959 – Nick Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1959 – Abdulla Yameen, Maldivian politician, 6th President of the Maldives
- 1960 – Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
- 1960 – Kent Hrbek, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1960 – Mohanlal, Indian actor
- 1960 – Mark Ridgway, Australian cricketer
- 1960 – Vladimir Salnikov, Russian swimmer
- 1962 – David Crumb, American composer and educator
- 1963 – Richard Appel, American screenwriter and producer
- 1963 – Patrick Grant, American musician and producer
- 1963 – David Lonsdale, English actor
- 1964 – Pete Sandoval, Salvadoran-American drummer
- 1963 – Kevin Shields, American-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1963 – Dave Specter, American guitarist
- 1963 – Laurie Spina, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
- 1964 – Danny Bailey, English footballer and coach
- 1965 – Josh Richman, American actor and producer
- 1966 – Lisa Edelstein, American actress and playwright
- 1966 – Tatyana Ledovskaya, Belarusian hurdler
- 1967 – Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2007)
- 1968 – Ilmar Raag, Estonian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Matthias Ungemach, German-Australian rower
- 1968 – Julie Vega, Filipino actress and singer (d. 1985)
- 1969 – Pierluigi Brivio, Italian footballer
- 1969 – Georgiy Gongadze, Georgian-Ukrainian journalist and director (d. 2000)
- 1969 – Masayo Kurata, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1969 – George LeMieux, American lawyer and politician
- 1969 – Brian Statham, Rhodesian born English footballer, defender and manager
- 1970 – Brigita Bukovec, Slovenian hurdler
- 1970 – Dorsey Levens, American football player and sportscaster
- 1970 – Pauline Menczer, Australian surfer
- 1970 – Carl Veart, Australian footballer and coach
- 1972 – The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (d. 1997)
- 1973 – Stewart Cink, American golfer
- 1973 – Noel Fielding, English comedian, musician and television presenter
- 1974 – Brad Arthur, Australian rugby league coach
- 1974 – Fairuza Balk, American actress
- 1974 – Aditi Gowitrikar, Indian model, actress, and physician, Mrs. World 2001
- 1974 – Havoc, American rapper and producer
- 1975 – Anthony Mundine, Australian rugby league player and boxer
- 1976 – Stuart Bingham, English snooker player
- 1976 – Abderrahim Goumri, Moroccan runner (d. 2013)
- 1976 – Deron Miller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1977 – Quinton Fortune, South African international footballer midfielder and coach
- 1977 – Michael Fuß, German footballer
- 1977 – Ricky Williams, American football player and coach
- 1978 – Max B, American rapper and songwriter
- 1978 – Briana Banks, German-American porn actress and model
- 1978 – Jamaal Magloire, Canadian basketball player and coach
- 1979 – Damián Ariel Álvarez, Argentinian-Mexican footballer
- 1979 – Jamie Hepburn, Scottish politician, Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health
- 1979 – James Clancy Phelan, Australian author and academic
- 1979 – Scott Smith, American mixed martial artist
- 1979 – Sonja Vectomov, Czech musician/composer
- 1980 – Gotye, Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Craig Anderson, American ice hockey player
- 1981 – Edson Buddle, American soccer player
- 1981 – Josh Hamilton, American baseball player
- 1981 – Maximilian Mutzke, German singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Anna Rogowska, Polish pole vaulter
- 1983 – Līga Dekmeijere, Latvian tennis player
- 1983 – Deidson Araújo Maia, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Kaori Shimizu, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1984 – Brandon Fields, American football player
- 1984 – Sara Goller, German volleyball player
- 1984 – Syamsul Yusof, Malaysian actor, film director, scriptwriter, film producer, rapper and singer
- 1985 – Mutya Buena, English singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Alison Carroll, English gymnast, model, and actress
- 1985 – Mark Cavendish, Manx cyclist
- 1985 – Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (d. 2012)
- 1985 – Isa Guha, English cricketer
- 1985 – Lucie Hradecká, Czech tennis player
- 1985 – Kano, English rapper, producer, and actor
- 1985 – Dušan Kuciak, Slovak footballer
- 1985 – Heath L’Estrange, Australian rugby league player
- 1985 – Andrew Miller, American baseball player
- 1986 – Mario Mandžukić, Croatian footballer
- 1986 – Myra, American singer and actress
- 1986 – Eder Sánchez, Mexican race walker
- 1986 – Park Sojin, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1986 – Greg Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Beau Falloon, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Claire Cashmore, English Paralympic swimmer
- 1988 – Park Gyu-ri, South Korean singer
- 1988 – Jonny Howson, English footballer
- 1988 – Kaire Leibak, Estonian triple jumper
- 1989 – Emily Robins, New Zealand actress and singer
- 1989 – Hal Robson-Kanu, English footballer
- 1990 – Kierre Beckles, Barbadian athlete
- 1990 – Rene Krhin, Slovenian footballer
- 1991 – Guilherme, Brazilian footballer
- 1992 – Hutch Dano, American actor
- 1992 – Lisa Evans, Scottish footballer
- 1992 – Philipp Grüneberg, German footballer
- 1992 – Olivia Olson, American singer and actress
- 1993 – Grete Gaim, Estonian biathlete
- 1993 – Luke Garbutt, English footballer, left-back
- 1994 – Tom Daley, English diver
- 1995 – Katharina Andresen, Norwegian heiress and equestrian
- 1995 – Diego Loyzaga, Filipino actor
- 1996 – Josh Allen, American footballer
- 1996 – Indy de Vroome, Dutch tennis player
- 1996 – Karen Khachanov, Russian tennis player
- 1997 – Ivan De Santis, Italian footballer
- 1997 – Sisca Folkertsma, Dutch footballer
- 1997 – Viktoria Petryk, Ukrainian singer-songwriter
Deaths on May 21
- 252 – Sun Quan, Chinese emperor of Eastern Wu (b. 182)
- 954 – Feng Dao, Chinese prince and chancellor (b. 882)
- 987 – Louis V, king of West Francia (b. c. 966)
- 1075 – Richeza of Poland, queen of Hungary (b. 1013)
- 1086 – Wang Anshi, Chinese statesman and poet (b. 1021)
- 1237 – Olaf the Black, Manx son of Godred II Olafsson
- 1254 – Conrad IV, king of Germany (b. 1228)
- 1416 – Anna of Celje, queen consort of Poland (b. 1386)
- 1471 – Henry VI, king of England (b. 1421)
- 1481 – Christian I, king of Denmark (b. 1426)
- 1512 – Pandolfo Petrucci, Italian ruler (b. 1452)
- 1524 – Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, English soldier and politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1443)
- 1542 – Hernando de Soto, Spanish-American explorer (b. 1496)
- 1563 – Martynas Mažvydas, Lithuanian writer (b. 1510)
- 1607 – John Rainolds, English scholar and academic (b. 1549)
- 1619 – Hieronymus Fabricius, Italian anatomist (b. 1537)
- 1639 – Tommaso Campanella, Italian astrologer, theologian, and poet (b. 1568)
- 1647 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch poet and playwright (b. 1581)
- 1650 – James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, Scottish general and politician (b. 1612)
- 1664 – Elizabeth Poole, English settler, founded Taunton, Massachusetts (b. 1588)
- 1670 – Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer and physicist (b. 1586)
- 1686 – Otto von Guericke, German physicist and inventor of the Magdeburg Hemispheres (b. 1602)
- 1690 – John Eliot, English-American minister and missionary (b. 1604)
- 1719 – Pierre Poiret, French mystic and philosopher (b. 1646)
- 1724 – Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
- 1742 – Lars Roberg, Swedish physician and academic (b. 1664)
- 1762 – Alexander Joseph Sulkowski, Polish and Saxon general (b. 1695)
- 1771 – Christopher Smart, English actor, playwright, and poet (b. 1722)
- 1786 – Carl Wilhelm Scheele, German-Swedish chemist and pharmacist (b. 1742)
- 1790 – Thomas Warton, English poet and critic (b. 1728)
- 1810 – Chevalier d’Eon, French diplomat and spy (b. 1728)
- 1844 – Giuseppe Baini, Italian priest and composer (b. 1775)
- 1858 – José de la Riva Agüero, Peruvian soldier and politician, 1st President of Peru and 2nd President of North Peru (b. 1783)
- 1862 – John Drew, Irish-American actor and manager (b. 1827)
- 1879 – Arturo Prat, Chilean lawyer and commander (b. 1848)
- 1894 – Émile Henry, French anarchist (b. 1872)
- 1894 – August Kundt, German physicist and academic (b. 1839)
- 1895 – Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1819)
- 1901 – Joseph Olivier, French rugby player (b. 1874)
- 1911 – Williamina Fleming, Scottish-American astronomer and academic (b. 1857)
- 1915 – Leonid Gobyato, Russian general and engineer (b. 1875)
- 1919 – Evgraf Fedorov, Russian mathematician, crystallographer, and mineralogist (b. 1853)
- 1920 – Venustiano Carranza, Mexican politician, 54th President of Mexico (b. 1859)
- 1925 – Hidesaburō Ueno, Japanese agriculturalist, guardian of Hachikō (b. 1871)
- 1926 – Ronald Firbank, English-Italian author (b. 1886)
- 1929 – Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1847)
- 1932 – Marcel Boulenger, French fencer and author (b. 1873)
- 1935 – Jane Addams, American activist and author, co-founded Hull House, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
- 1935 – Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist and geneticist (b. 1848)
- 1940 – Billy Minter, English footballer and manager (b. 1888)
- 1949 – Klaus Mann, German-American novelist, playwright, and critic (b. 1906)
- 1952 – John Garfield, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1956 – Harry Bensley, English businessman and adventurer (b. 1877)
- 1957 – Alexander Vertinsky, Ukrainian-Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (b. 1889)
- 1964 – James Franck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
- 1965 – Marguerite Bise, French chef (b. 1898)
- 1965 – Geoffrey de Havilland, English pilot and engineer, designed the de Havilland Mosquito (b. 1882)
- 1968 – Doris Lloyd, English actress (b. 1896)
- 1970 – E. L. Grant Watson, English-Australian biologist and author (b. 1885)
- 1973 – Vaughn Monroe, American singer, trumpet player, bandleader, and actor (b. 1911)
- 1973 – Ivan Konev, Soviet Marshal and general (b. 1897)
- 1981 – Raymond McCreesh, PIRA volunteer (b. 1957)
- 1981 – Patsy O’Hara, INLA volunteer (b. 1957)
- 1983 – Kenneth Clark, English historian and author (b. 1903)
- 1984 – Ann Little, American actress (b. 1891)
- 1988 – Sammy Davis Sr., American actor and dancer (b. 1900)
- 1991 – Lino Brocka, Filipino director and screenwriter (b. 1939)
- 1991 – Rajiv Gandhi, Indian politician, 6th Prime Minister of India (b. 1944)
- 1995 – Les Aspin, American captain and politician, 18th United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1938)
- 1996 – Paul Delph, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1957)
- 1996 – Lash LaRue, American actor and producer (b. 1917)
- 1996 – Villem Raam, Estonian art historian, art critic and conservator (b. 1910)
- 1998 – Robert Gist, American actor and director (b. 1917)
- 2000 – Barbara Cartland, English author (b. 1901)
- 2000 – John Gielgud, English actor (b. 1904)
- 2000 – Mark R. Hughes, American businessman, founded Herbalife (b. 1956)
- 2002 – Niki de Saint Phalle, French-American sculptor and painter (b. 1930)
- 2003 – Alejandro de Tomaso, Argentinian-Italian race car driver and businessman, founded De Tomaso (b. 1928)
- 2003 – Frank D. White, American captain, banker, and politician, 41st Governor of Arkansas (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Deborah Berger, American outsider artist (b. 1956)
- 2005 – Stephen Elliott, American actor (b. 1918)
- 2005 – Howard Morris, American actor and director (b. 1919)
- 2006 – Spencer Clark, American race car driver (b. 1987)
- 2006 – Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, and author (b. 1909)
- 2006 – Cherd Songsri, Thai director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1931)
- 2006 – Billy Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Eddie Blazonczyk, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Otis Clark, American butler and preacher, survivor of the Tulsa race riot (b. 1903)
- 2012 – Constantine of Irinoupolis, Metropolitan of Irinoupolis and Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Roman Dumbadze, Georgian commander (b. 1964)
- 2012 – Douglas Rodríguez, Cuban boxer (b. 1950)
- 2012 – Bill Stewart, American football player and coach (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Alan Thorne, Australian anthropologist and academic (b. 1939)
- 2013 – Count Christian of Rosenborg, member of the Danish royal family (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Frank Comstock, American trombonist, composer, and conductor (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Cot Deal, American baseball player and coach (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Mohammad Khaled Hossain, Bangladeshi mountaineer (b. 1979)
- 2013 – Leonard Marsh, American businessman, co-founded Snapple (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Bob Thompson, American pianist and composer (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Dominique Venner, French journalist and historian (b. 1935)
- 2013 – David Voelker, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1953)
- 2014 – Tunku Annuar, Malaysian son of Badlishah of Kedah (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Evelyn Blackmon, American businesswoman and politician (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Johnny Gray, American baseball player (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Alireza Soleimani, Iranian wrestler (b. 1956)
- 2015 – Annarita Sidoti, Italian race walker (b. 1969)
- 2015 – Twinkle, English singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Jassem Al-Kharafi, Kuwaiti businessman and politician, 8th Kuwaiti Speaker of the National Assembly (b. 1940)
- 2015 – Fred Gladding, American baseball player and coach (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Louis Johnson, American bass player and producer (b. 1955)
- 2016 – Nick Menza, American drummer and songwriter (b. 1964)
- 2019 – Rik Kuypers, Belgian film director (b. 1925)
- 2019 – Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan writer (b. 1971)
- 2020 – Alan Merten, fifth President of George Mason University (b. 1941)
Holidays and observances on May 21
- Afro-Colombian Day (Colombia)
- Christian feast day:
- Arcangelo Tadini
- Blessed Adílio Daronch and Manuel Gómez González
- Blessed Franz Jägerstätter
- Earliest day on which Corpus Christi can fall, while June 24 is the latest; held on Thursday after Trinity Sunday (often locally moved to Sunday). (Roman Catholic Church)
- Emperor Constantine I
- Eugène de Mazenod
- Helena of Constantinople, also known as “Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal-to-the-Apostles.” (Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion)
- John Elliot (Episcopal Church)
- Saints of the Cristero War, including Christopher Magallanes
- May 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Circassian Day of Mourning (Circassians)
- Day of Patriots and Military (Hungary)
- Independence Day, celebrates the Montenegrin independence referendum in 2006, celebrated until the next day. (Montenegro)
- Navy Day (Chile)
- Saint Helena Day, celebrates the discovery of Saint Helena in 1502. (Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha)
- World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (International)
- International Tea Day (International)
-
May 6 in History
- 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
- 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
- 1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.
- 1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
- 1659 – English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.
- 1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
- 1757 – Battle of Prague: A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years’ War.
- 1757 – The end of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, and the end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757).
- 1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
- 1782 – Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
- 1801 – Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
- 1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
- 1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- 1857 – The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British in the lead up to the War of Indian Independence.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by the Army of Northern Virginia.
- 1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
- 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
- 1882 – The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
- 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
- 1906 – The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).
- 1910 – George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII.
- 1915 – Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.
- 1916 – Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs’ Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha.
- 1916 – Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tân is captured while calling upon the people to rise up against the French, and is later deposed and exiled to Réunion island.
- 1933 – The Deutsche Studentenschaft attacked Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books.
- 1935 – New Deal: Under the authority of the newly-enacted Federal Emergency Relief Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 7034 to create the Works Progress Administration.
- 1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
- 1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
- 1941 – At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
- 1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
- 1942 – World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
- 1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
- 1945 – World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
- 1949 – EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.
- 1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
- 1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
- 1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.
- 1972 – Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
- 1975 – During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
- 1976 – The 6.5 Mw Friuli earthquake affected Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 900–978 dead and 1,700–2,400 injured.
- 1983 – The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.
- 1984 – One hundred three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul.
- 1988 – All thirty-six passengers and crew were killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy.
- 1994 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
- 1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
- 1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank’s 300-year history.
- 1998 – Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his fifth career start.
- 1998 – Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac.
- 1999 – The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.
- 2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
- 2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio-interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.
- 2010 – In just 36 minutes, the Dow-Jones average plunged nearly 1000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash.
- 2013 – Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.
Births on May 6
- 973 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1024)
- 1464 – Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (d. 1512)
- 1493 – Girolamo Seripando, Italian theologian and cardinal (d. 1563)
- 1501 – Marcellus II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1555)
- 1574 – Innocent X, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1655)
- 1580 – Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (d. 1637)
- 1635 – Johann Joachim Becher, German physician and alchemist (d. 1682)
- 1668 – Alain-René Lesage, French author and playwright (d. 1747)
- 1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French cellist and composer (d. 1755)
- 1713 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (d. 1780)
- 1714 – Anton Raaff, German tenor (d. 1797)
- 1742 – Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor and physiologist (d. 1809)
- 1758 – André Masséna, French general (d. 1817)
- 1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
- 1769 – Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
- 1769 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (d. 1834)
- 1781 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (d. 1832)
- 1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
- 1800 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish general (d. 1881)
- 1827 – Hermann Raster, German-American journalist and politician (d. 1891)
- 1836 – Max Eyth, German engineer and author (d. 1906)
- 1843 – Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist and academic (d. 1918)
- 1848 – Henry Edward Armstrong, English chemist and academic (d. 1937)
- 1851 – Aristide Bruant, French singer and actor (d. 1925)
- 1856 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1939)
- 1856 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (d. 1920)
- 1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (d. 1931)
- 1868 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (d. 1927)
- 1869 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and central banker, 8th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (d. 1932)
- 1870 – Walter Rutherford, Scottish golfer (d. 1936)
- 1871 – Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
- 1871 – Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (d. 1914)
- 1872 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1934)
- 1872 – Djemal Pasha, Ottoman general (d. 1922)
- 1879 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
- 1879 – Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (d. 1929)
- 1880 – Winifred Brunton, English-South African painter and illustrator (d. 1959)
- 1880 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German-Swiss painter (d. 1938)
- 1883 – Alberto Collo, Italian actor (d. 1955)
- 1895 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and author (d. 1974)
- 1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian soldier and politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (d. 1946)
- 1895 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
- 1896 – Rolf Maximilian Sievert, Swedish physicist and academic (d. 1966)
- 1897 – Paul Alverdes, German author and poet (d. 1979)
- 1898 – Konrad Henlein, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1945)
- 1902 – Harry Golden, Ukrainian-American journalist and author (d. 1981)
- 1902 – Max Ophüls, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1957)
- 1903 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (d. 1977)
- 1904 – Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 1984)
- 1904 – Catherine Lacey, English actress (d. 1979)
- 1904 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
- 1905 – Philip N. Krasne, American lawyer and producer (d. 1999)
- 1906 – André Weil, French mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Weeb Ewbank, American football player and coach (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Guy des Cars, French journalist and author (d. 1993)
- 1913 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (d. 1989)
- 1913 – Stewart Granger, English-American actor (d. 1993)
- 1915 – Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1985)
- 1915 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1997)
- 1917 – Kal Mann, American songwriter (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and first president of the United Arab Emirates (d. 2004)
- 1919 – André Guelfi, French race car driver (d. 2016)
- 1920 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Fiji (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Marguerite Piazza, American soprano and actress (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Erich Fried, Austrian-German author, poet, and translator (d. 1988)
- 1922 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1999)
- 1923 – Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
- 1924 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Patricia Helen Kennedy, American socialite, activist, and author (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Denny Wright, English guitarist, composer, and producer (d. 1992)
- 1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Canadian politician, co-founded the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Rosemary Cramp, English archaeologist and academic
- 1929 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
- 1929 – John Taylor, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Willie Mays, American baseball player and coach
- 1931 – Louis Gambaccini, American government official (d. 2018)
- 1932 – Ahmet Haxhiu, Kosovan activist (d. 1994)
- 1932 – Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, English lieutenant and politician (d. 2020)
- 1934 – Richard Shelby, American lawyer and politician
- 1937 – Rubin Carter, American-Canadian boxer (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Jean Garon, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2014)
- 1939 – Eddie C. Campbell, American singer and guitarist (d. 2018)
- 1939 – Chet Allen, American child actor (d. 1984)
- 1942 – Ariel Dorfman, Argentinian author, playwright, and academic
- 1943 – Andreas Baader, German terrorist, co-founded the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
- 1943 – Milton William Cooper, American theorist and author (d. 2001)
- 1943 – Wolfgang Reinhardt, German pole vaulter (d. 2011)
- 1943 – James Turrell, American sculptor and illustrator
- 1944 – Anton Furst, English-American production designer and art director (d. 1991)
- 1944 – Masanori Murakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
- 1945 – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
- 1945 – Bob Seger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
- 1947 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher and author
- 1947 – Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist, founded Real Aikido (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2013)
- 1950 – Jeffery Deaver, American journalist and author
- 1951 – Samuel Doe, Liberian sergeant and politician, 21st President of Liberia (d. 1990)
- 1952 – Gerrit Zalm, Dutch economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- 1953 – Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl worker (d. 1986)
- 1953 – Tony Blair, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1953 – Michelle Courchesne, Canadian urban planner and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
- 1953 – Ülle Rajasalu, Estonian politician
- 1953 – Graeme Souness, Scottish international footballer and manager
- 1953 – Lynn Whitfield, American actress and producer
- 1954 – Tom Abernethy, American basketball player
- 1954 – Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician, 120th Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
- 1954 – Angela Hernández Nuñez, Dominican author and poet
- 1954 – Ain Lutsepp, Estonian actor and politician
- 1955 – Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Armagh
- 1955 – Tom Bergeron, American television host
- 1955 – John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
- 1956 – Lakis Lazopoulos, Greek actor and screenwriter
- 1956 – Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
- 1956 – Roland Wieser, German race walker and coach
- 1958 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (d. 2014)
- 1959 – Andreas Busse, German runner
- 1959 – Charles Hendry, English politician
- 1960 – Lyudmila Andonova, Bulgarian high jumper
- 1960 – Keith Dowding, English political scientist, philosopher, and academic
- 1960 – Roma Downey, Irish-American actress and producer
- 1960 – John Flansburgh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Aleksei Lotman, Estonian biologist and politician
- 1960 – Anne Parillaud, French actress
- 1961 – Oleksandr Apaychev, Ukrainian decathlete and coach
- 1961 – George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1961 – Tom Hunter, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
- 1961 – Gina Riley, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1961 – Frans Timmermans, Dutch politician and diplomat, First Vice President of the European Commission
- 1962 – Tom Brake, English politician
- 1962 – Brad Izzard, Australian rugby league player
- 1963 – Alessandra Ferri, Italian ballerina
- 1965 – Leslie Hope, Canadian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Worku Bikila, Ethiopian runner
- 1968 – Lætitia Sadier, French singer and keyboard player
- 1969 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1970 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
- 1970 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
- 1971 – Chris Shiflett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1972 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Naoko Takahashi, Japanese runner
- 1974 – Bernard Barmasai, Kenyan runner
- 1974 – Daniela Bártová, Czech pole vaulter and gymnast
- 1975 – Alan Richardson, English cricketer and coach
- 1976 – Dean Chandler, English footballer
- 1976 – Iván de la Peña, Spanish footballer
- 1977 – Christophe Brandt, Belgian cyclist
- 1977 – Marc Chouinard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1977 – Chantelle Newbery, Australian diver
- 1978 – John Abraham, American football player
- 1978 – Tony Estanguet, French slalom canoeist
- 1978 – Fredrick Federley, Swedish journalist and politician
- 1978 – Alexandr Fedorov, Russian bodybuilder
- 1979 – Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
- 1979 – Jan Erik Mikalsen, Norwegian composer
- 1979 – Jon Montgomery, Canadian skeleton racer and television host
- 1980 – Brooke Bennett, American swimmer
- 1980 – Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek professional basketball player
- 1980 – Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
- 1980 – Matthew Whiley, English cricketer
- 1982 – Jason Witten, American football player
- 1983 – Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Ingrid Jonach, Australian author
- 1983 – Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
- 1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama
- 1983 – Fredrik Sjöström, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1984 – Anton Babchuk, Ukrainian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Juan Pablo Carrizo, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
- 1986 – Goran Dragic, Slovenian basketball player
- 1987 – Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer
- 1987 – Meek Mill, American rapper
- 1987 – Adrienne Warren, American actress
- 1988 – Ryan Anderson, American basketball player
- 1988 – Dakota Kai, New Zealander profesional wrestler
- 1989 – Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player
- 1989 – Jesse Hughes, Canadian DJ and producer
- 1990 – José Altuve, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1992 – Brendan Gallagher, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Byun Baekhyun, South Korean musician and actor
- 1992 – Jonas Valančiūnas, Lithuanian professional basketball player
- 1993 – Gustavo Gómez, Paraguayan footballer
- 1994 – Mateo Kovačić, Austrian-Croatian footballer
- 1997 – Duncan Scott, Scottish swimmer
- 2019 – Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, British royal
Deaths on May 6
- 698 – Eadberht, bishop of Lindisfarne
- 850 – Ninmyō, Japanese emperor (b. 808)
- 932 – Qian Liu, Chinese warlord and king (b. 852)
- 988 – Dirk II, count of Frisia and Holland
- 1002 – Ealdwulf, Archbishop of York, Abbot of Peterborough and Bishop of Worcester
- 1187 – Ruben III, Prince of Armenia (b. 1145)
- 1236 – Roger of Wendover, Benedictine monk and chronicler
- 1471 – Edmund Beaufort, English commander (b. 1438)
- 1471 – Thomas Tresham, Speaker of the House of Commons
- 1475 – Dieric Bouts, Flemish painter (b. 1415)
- 1483 – Queen Jeonghui, Korean regent (b. 1418)
- 1502 – James Tyrrell, English knight (b. 1450)
- 1527 – Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne (b.1490)
- 1540 – Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (b. 1492)
- 1596 – Giaches de Wert, Flemish-Italian composer (b. 1535)
- 1631 – Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (b. 1570)
- 1638 – Cornelius Jansen, Dutch-French bishop and theologian (b. 1585)
- 1708 – François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop (b. 1623)
- 1757 – Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1683)
- 1757 – Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
- 1782 – Christine Kirch, German astronomer and academic (b. 1696)
- 1840 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (b. 1792)
- 1859 – Alexander von Humboldt, German geographer and explorer (b. 1769)
- 1862 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1817)
- 1877 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Swedish-Finnish poet and hymn-writer (b. 1804)
- 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke, Irish civil servant (b. 1829)
- 1882 – Lord Frederick Cavendish, British politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1836)
- 1902 – Bret Harte, American author and poet (b. 1836)
- 1905 – Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (b. 1831)
- 1907 – Emanuele Luigi Galizia, Maltese architect and civil engineer (b. 1830)
- 1910 – Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1841)
- 1919 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (b. 1856)
- 1939 – Konstantin Somov, Russian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1869)
- 1949 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian-French poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- 1951 – Élie Cartan, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1869)
- 1952 – Maria Montessori, Italian-Dutch physician and educator (b. 1870)
- 1959 – Maria Dulęba, Polish actress (b. 1881)
- 1959 – Ragnar Nurkse, Estonian-American economist and academic (b. 1907)
- 1961 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (b. 1895)
- 1963 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (b. 1881)
- 1963 – Ted Weems, American violinist, trombonist, and bandleader (b. 1901)
- 1963 – Monty Woolley, American raconteur, actor, and director (b. 1888)
- 1967 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (b. 1885)
- 1970 – Alexander Rodzyanko, Russian general (b. 1879)
- 1973 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (b. 1893)
- 1975 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1892)
- 1980 – María Luisa Bombal, Chilean writer (b. 1910)
- 1983 – Ezra Jack Keats, American author and illustrator (b. 1916)
- 1983 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (b. 1922)
- 1984 – Mary Cain, American journalist and politician (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Bonner Pink, English politician (b. 1912)
- 1987 – William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1913)
- 1989 – Earl Blaik, American football player and coach (b. 1897)
- 1990 – Charles Farrell, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1991 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (b. 1903)
- 1992 – Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress and singer (b. 1901)
- 1993 – Ann Todd, English actress and producer (b. 1909)
- 1995 – Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1956)
- 2000 – Gordon McClymont, Australian ecologist and academic (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1932)
- 2002 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (b. 1948)
- 2002 – Bjørn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (b. 1940)
- 2003 – Art Houtteman, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Virginia Capers, American actress and singer (b. 1925)
- 2004 – Philip Kapleau, American monk and educator (b. 1912)
- 2004 – Barney Kessel, American guitarist and composer (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Grant McLennan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
- 2006 – Lorne Saxberg, Canadian journalist (b. 1958)
- 2007 – Enéas Carneiro, Brazilian physician and politician (b. 1938)
- 2007 – Curtis Harrington, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2009 – Kevin Grubb, American race car driver (b. 1978)
- 2010 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
- 2012 – James R. Browning, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (b. 1918)
- 2012 – James Isaac, American director and producer (b. 1960)
- 2012 – Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and author (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Severo Aparicio Quispe, Peruvian bishop (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Michelangelo Spensieri, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Wil Albeda, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs (b. 1925)
- 2014 – William H. Dana, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Billy Harrell, American baseball player and scout (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Maria Lassnig, Austrian painter and academic (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (b. 1921)
- 2015 – Novera Ahmed, Bangladeshi sculptor (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Denise McCluggage, American race car driver and journalist (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Jim Wright, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Patrick Ekeng, Cameroonian footballer (b. 1990)
- 2016 – Reg Grundy, Australian businessman (b. 1923)
Holidays and observances on May 6
- Christian Feast Day:
- Dominic Savio
- Evodius of Antioch (Roman Catholic Church)
- François de Laval
- Gerard of Lunel
- Lucius of Cyrene
- Petronax of Monte Cassino
- St George’s Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church):
- Day of Bravery, also known as Gergyovden (Bulgaria)
- Đurđevdan (Gorani, Roma)
- Police Day (Georgia)
- Yuri’s Day in the Spring (Russian Orthodox Church)
- St John before the Latin Gate
- May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Military Spouse Day can fall, while May 12 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Mother’s Day (United States)
- International No Diet Day
- Martyrs’ Day (Gabon)
- Martyrs’ Day (Lebanon and Syria)
- Teachers’ Day (Jamaica)
- The first day of Hıdırellez (Turkey)
-
April 23 in History
- 215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
- 599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik’nal and sacking the city.
- 711 – Dagobert III succeeds his father King Childebert III as King of the Franks.
- 1014 – Battle of Clontarf: High King of Ireland Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.
- 1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as King of England.
- 1343 – St. George’s Night Uprising commences in the Duchy of Estonia.
- 1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St. George’s Day.
- 1516 – The Munich Reinheitsgebot (regarding the ingredients of beer) takes effect in all of Bavaria.
- 1521 – Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.
- 1635 – The first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston.
- 1655 – The Siege of Santo Domingo begins during the Anglo-Spanish War, and fails seven days later.
- 1660 – Treaty of Oliva is established between Sweden and Poland.
- 1661 – King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
- 1815 – The Second Serbian Uprising: A second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.
- 1879 – Fire burns down the second main building and dome of the University of Notre Dame, which prompts the construction of the third, and current, Main Building with its golden dome.
- 1914 – First baseball game at Wrigley Field, then known as Weeghman Park, in Chicago.
- 1918 – World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.
- 1920 – The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara. The assembly denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces the preparation of a temporary constitution.
- 1927 – Cardiff City defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, the only time it has been won by a team not based in England.
- 1935 – The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.
- 1940 – The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.
- 1941 – World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.
- 1942 – World War II: Baedeker Blitz: German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.
- 1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler’s designated successor, Hermann Göring, sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of the Third Reich. Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels advise Hitler that the telegram is treasonous.
- 1946 – Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
- 1949 – Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
- 1951 – Cold War: American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.
- 1961 – Algiers putsch by French generals.
- 1967 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1) a manned spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov is launched into orbit.
- 1968 – Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
- 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
- 1985 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
- 1990 – Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1993 – Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.
- 1993 – Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.
- 1999 – NATO bombs the headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia, as part of their aerial campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 2005 – The first ever YouTube video, titled “Me at the zoo”, was published by co-founder Jawed Karim.
- 2013 – At least 28 people are killed and more than 70 are injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq.
- 2018 – A vehicle-ramming attack kills 10 people and injures 16 in Toronto. A 25-year-old suspect, Alek Minassian, is arrested.
- 2019 – The 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse in Myanmar kills four miners and two rescuers.
Births on April 23
- 1141 (probable) – Malcolm IV of Scotland (d. 1165)
- 1185 – Afonso II of Portugal (d. 1223)
- 1408 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford (d. 1462)
- 1420 – George of Poděbrady, King of Bohemia (d. 1471)
- 1464 – Joan of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1505)
- 1464 – Robert Fayrfax, English Renaissance composer (d. 1521)
- 1484 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian physician and scholar (d. 1558)
- 1500 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian and academic (d. 1565)
- 1500 – Johann Stumpf, Swiss writer (d. 1576)
- 1512 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, Chancellor of the University of Oxford (d. 1580)
- 1516 – Georg Fabricius, German poet, historian, and archaeologist (d. 1571)
- 1598 – Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1653)
- 1621 – William Penn, English admiral and politician (d. 1670)
- 1628 – Johannes Hudde, Dutch mathematician and politician (d. 1704)
- 1661 – Issachar Berend Lehmann, German-Jewish banker, merchant and diplomat (d. 1730)
- 1715 – Johann Friedrich Doles, German composer and conductor (d. 1797)
- 1720 – Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi and author (d. 1797)
- 1744 – Princess Charlotte Amalie Wilhelmine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (d. 1770)
- 1748 – Félix Vicq-d’Azyr, French physician and anatomist (d. 1794)
- 1791 – James Buchanan, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 15th President of the United States (d. 1868)
- 1792 – Thomas Romney Robinson, Irish astronomer and physicist (d. 1882)
- 1794 – Wei Yuan, Chinese scholar and author (d. 1856)
- 1805 – Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher and academic (d. 1879)
- 1812 – Frederick Whitaker, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)
- 1813 – Stephen A. Douglas, American educator and politician, 7th Illinois Secretary of State (d. 1861)
- 1813 – Frédéric Ozanam, Italian-French historian and scholar (d. 1853)
- 1818 – James Anthony Froude, English historian, novelist, biographer and editor (d. 1894)
- 1819 – Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1901)
- 1853 – Winthrop M. Crane, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1920)
- 1856 – Granville Woods, American inventor and engineer (d. 1910)
- 1857 – Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
- 1858 – Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
- 1860 – Justinian Oxenham, Australian public servant (d. 1932)
- 1861 – Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, English field marshal and diplomat, British High Commissioner in Egypt (d. 1936)
- 1861 – John Peltz, American baseball player and manager (d. 1906)
- 1865 – Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (d. 1943)
- 1867 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- 1876 – Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian and author (d. 1925)
- 1880 – Michel Fokine, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1942)
- 1882 – Albert Coates, English composer and conductor (d. 1953)
- 1888 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967)
- 1889 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (d. 1942)
- 1893 – Frank Borzage, American actor and director (d. 1952)
- 1895 – Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author and director (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Folke Jansson, American general (d. 1965)
- 1897 – Lester B. Pearson, Canadian historian and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
- 1898 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (d. 1978)
- 1899 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1899 – Minoru Shirota, Japanese physician and microbiologist, invented Yakult (d. 1982)
- 1900 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1959)
- 1900 – Joseph Green, Polish-American actor and director (d. 1996)
- 1901 – E. B. Ford, English biologist and geneticist (d. 1988)
- 1902 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- 1903 – Guy Simonds, English-Canadian general (d. 1974)
- 1904 – Clifford Bricker, Canadian long-distance runner (d. 1980)
- 1904 – Louis Muhlstock, Polish-Canadian painter (d. 2001)
- 1904 – Duncan Renaldo, American actor (d. 1985)
- 1907 – Lee Miller, American model and photographer (d. 1977)
- 1907 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor, designed the Wotruba Church (d. 1975)
- 1908 – Myron Waldman, American animator and director (d. 2006)
- 1910 – Sheila Scott Macintyre, Scottish mathematician (d. 1960)
- 1910 – Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Ronald Neame, English-American director, cinematographer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1913 – Diosa Costello, Puerto Rican-American entertainer, producer and club owner (d. 2013)
- 1915 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer, academic, and businessman (d. 2000)
- 1916 – Yiannis Moralis, Greek painter and educator (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Sinah Estelle Kelley, American chemist (d. 1982)
- 1917 – Dorian Leigh, American model (d. 2008)
- 1917 – Tony Lupien, American baseball player and coach (d. 2004)
- 1918 – Maurice Druon, French author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
- 1919 – Oleg Penkovsky, Russian colonel (d. 1963)
- 1920 – Eric Grant Yarrow, 3rd Baronet, English businessman (d. 2018)
- 1921 – Judy Agnew, Second Lady of the United States (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Cleto Bellucci, Italian archbishop (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Janet Blair, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
- 1921 – Warren Spahn, American baseball player and coach (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Dolph Briscoe, American lieutenant and politician, 41st Governor of Texas (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Avram Davidson, American soldier and author (d. 1993)
- 1924 – Chuck Harmon, American baseball player and scout (d. 2019)
- 1924 – Bobby Rosengarden, American drummer and bandleader (d. 2007)
- 1926 – J.P. Donleavy, American-Irish novelist and playwright (d. 2017)
- 1926 – Rifaat el-Mahgoub, Egyptian politician (d. 1990)
- 1928 – Shirley Temple, American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat (d. 2014)
- 1929 – George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (d. 2020)
- 1932 – Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
- 1932 – Jim Fixx, American runner and author (d. 1984)
- 1933 – Annie Easley, American computer scientist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 2011)
- 1934 – George Canseco, Filipino composer and producer (d. 2004)
- 1936 – Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter (d. 1988)
- 1937 – Victoria Glendinning, English author and critic
- 1937 – David Mills, English cricketer (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Barry Shepherd, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
- 1939 – Jorge Fons, Mexican director and screenwriter
- 1939 – Bill Hagerty, English journalist
- 1939 – Lee Majors, American actor
- 1939 – Ray Peterson, American pop singer (d. 2005)
- 1940 – Michael Copps, American academic and politician
- 1940 – Dale Houston, American singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
- 1940 – Michael Kadosh, Israeli footballer and manager (d. 2014)
- 1941 – Jacqueline Boyer, French singer and actress
- 1941 – Arie den Hartog, Dutch road bicycle racer (d. 2018)
- 1941 – Paavo Lipponen, Finnish journalist and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Finland
- 1941 – Michael Lynne, American film producer, co-founded New Line Cinema
- 1941 – Ed Stewart, English radio and television host (d. 2016)
- 1941 – Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (d. 2016)
- 1942 – Sandra Dee, American model and actress (d. 2005)
- 1943 – Gail Goodrich, American basketball player and coach
- 1943 – Tony Esposito, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager
- 1943 – Frans Koppelaar, Dutch painter
- 1943 – Hervé Villechaize, French actor (d. 1993)
- 1944 – Jean-François Stévenin, French actor and director
- 1946 – Blair Brown, American actress
- 1946 – Carlton Sherwood, American soldier and journalist (d. 2014)
- 1947 – Robert Burgess, English sociologist and academic
- 1947 – Glenn Cornick, English bass player (d. 2014)
- 1947 – Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Irish civil rights leader and politician
- 1948 – Pascal Quignard, French author and screenwriter
- 1948 – Serge Thériault, Canadian actor
- 1949 – Paul Collier, English economist and academic
- 1949 – David Cross, English violinist
- 1949 – John Miles, British rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist
- 1950 – Rowley Leigh, English chef and journalist
- 1950 – Barbara McIlvaine Smith, Sac and Fox Nation Native American politician
- 1951 – Martin Bayerle, American treasure hunter
- 1952 – Narada Michael Walden, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer
- 1953 – James Russo, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1954 – Stephen Dalton, English air marshal
- 1954 – Michael Moore, American director, producer, and activist
- 1955 – Judy Davis, Australian actress
- 1955 – Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
- 1955 – Urmas Ott, Estonian journalist and author (d. 2008)
- 1957 – Neville Brody, English graphic designer, typographer, and art director
- 1957 – Jan Hooks, American actress and comedian (d. 2014)
- 1958 – Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic composer and producer
- 1958 – Ryan Walter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1959 – Unity Dow, Botswanan judge, author, and rights activist
- 1960 – Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
- 1960 – Steve Clark, English guitarist and songwriter (d. 1991)
- 1960 – Barry Douglas, Irish pianist and conductor
- 1960 – Léo Jaime, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1960 – Claude Julien, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1961 – George Lopez, American comedian, actor, and talk show host
- 1961 – Pierluigi Martini, Italian race car driver
- 1962 – John Hannah, Scottish actor and producer
- 1962 – Shaun Spiers, English businessman and politician
- 1963 – Paul Belmondo, French race car driver
- 1963 – Robby Naish, American windsurfer
- 1964 – Gianandrea Noseda, Italian pianist and conductor
- 1965 – Leni Robredo, Filipina human rights lawyer, 14th Vice President of the Philippines
- 1966 – Jörg Deisinger, German bass player
- 1966 – Matt Freeman, American bass player
- 1966 – Lembit Oll, Estonian chess Grandmaster (d. 1999)
- 1967 – Rheal Cormier, Canadian baseball player
- 1967 – Melina Kanakaredes, American actress
- 1968 – Bas Haring, Dutch philosopher, writer, television presenter and professor.
- 1968 – Ken McRae, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1968 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist, Oklahoma City bombing co-perpetrator (d. 2001)
- 1969 – Martín López-Zubero, American-Spanish swimmer and coach
- 1969 – Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast
- 1970 – Egemen Bağış, Turkish politician, 1st Minister of European Union Affairs
- 1970 – Dennis Culp, American singer-songwriter and trombonist
- 1970 – Andrew Gee, Australian rugby league player and manager
- 1970 – Hans Välimäki, Finnish chef and author
- 1970 – Tayfur Havutçu, Turkish international footballer and manager
- 1971 – Uli Herzner, German-American fashion designer
- 1972 – Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet and playwright
- 1972 – Peter Dench, English photographer and journalist
- 1972 – Amira Medunjanin, singer from Bosnia and Herzegovina
- 1973 – Patrick Poulin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 – Carlos Dengler, American bass player
- 1974 – Michael Kerr, New Zealand-German rugby player
- 1975 – Bobby Shaw, American football player
- 1976 – Aaron Dessner, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1977 – John Cena, American professional wrestler and actor
- 1977 – David Kidwell, New Zealand rugby league player and coach
- 1977 – Willie Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – John Oliver, English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1977 – Kal Penn, Indian-American actor
- 1977 – Bram Schmitz, Dutch cyclist
- 1977 – Lee Young-pyo, South Korean international footballer
- 1978 – Gezahegne Abera, Ethiopian runner
- 1979 – Barry Hawkins, English snooker player
- 1979 – Jaime King, American actress and model
- 1979 – Joanna Krupa, Polish-American model and television personality
- 1979 – Samppa Lajunen, Finnish skier
- 1982 – Tony Sunshine, American singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Leon Andreasen, Danish international footballer
- 1983 – Daniela Hantuchová, Slovak tennis player
- 1983 – Ian Henderson, English rugby league player
- 1984 – Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian chess player
- 1984 – Jesse Lee Soffer, American actor
- 1985 – Angel Locsin, Filipino actress, producer, and fashion designer
- 1986 – Sven Kramer, Dutch speed skater
- 1986 – Alysia Montaño, American runner
- 1986 – Rafael Fernandes, Brazilian baseball player
- 1987 – Michael Arroyo, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1987 – John Boye, Ghanaian footballer
- 1987 – Emily Fox, American basketball player
- 1988 – Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer
- 1988 – Alistair Brownlee, English triathlete
- 1988 – Signe Ronka, Canadian figure skater
- 1988 – Lenka Wienerová, Slovak tennis player
- 1989 – Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player
- 1990 – Rui Fonte, Portuguese footballer, winger
- 1990 – Dev Patel, English actor
- 1991 – Nathan Baker, English footballer
- 1991 – Caleb Johnson, American singer-songwriter
- 1991 – Paul Vaughan, Australian-Italian rugby league player
- 1994 – Patrick Olsen, Danish footballer
- 1994 – Song Kang, South Korean actor
- 1995 – Gigi Hadid, American fashion model and television personality
- 1997 – Zach Apple, American swimmer
Deaths on April 23
- 303 – Saint George, Roman soldier and martyr (b. 275)
- 711 – Childebert III, Frankish king (b. 670)
- 725 – Wihtred of Kent (b. 670)
- 871 – Æthelred of Wessex (b. 837)
- 915 – Yang Shihou, Chinese general
- 944 – Wichmann the Elder, Saxon nobleman
- 990 – Ekkehard II, Swiss monk and abbot
- 997 – Adalbert of Prague, Czech bishop, missionary, and saint (b. 956)
- 1014 – Brian Boru, Irish king (b. 941)
- 1014 – Domnall mac Eimín, Mormaer of Mar
- 1016 – Æthelred the Unready, English son of Edgar the Peaceful (b. 968)
- 1124 – Alexander I of Scotland (b. 1078)
- 1151 – Adeliza of Louvain (b. 1103)
- 1170 – Minamoto no Tametomo, Japanese samurai (b. 1139)
- 1196 – Béla III of Hungary (b. c.1148)
- 1200 – Zhu Xi, Chinese philosopher (b. 1130)
- 1217 – Inge II of Norway (b. 1185)
- 1262 – Aegidius of Assisi, companion of Saint Francis of Assisi
- 1307 – Joan of Acre (b. 1272)
- 1400 – Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford, English politician and nobleman (b. c. 1338)
- 1407 – Olivier de Clisson, French soldier (b. 1326)
- 1501 – Domenico della Rovere, Catholic cardinal (b. 1442)
- 1554 – Gaspara Stampa, Italian poet (b. 1523)
- 1605 – Boris Godunov, Russian ruler (b. 1551)
- 1616 – William Shakespeare, English playwright and poet (b. 1564)
- 1625 – Maurice, Prince of Orange (b. 1567)
- 1695 – Henry Vaughan, Welsh poet and author (b. 1621)
- 1702 – Margaret Fell, English religious leader, founded the Religious Society of Friends (b. 1614)
- 1781 – James Abercrombie, Scottish general and politician (b. 1706)
- 1784 – Solomon I of Imereti (b. 1735)
- 1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and author (b. 1741)
- 1794 – Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French lawyer and politician (b. 1721)
- 1827 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek general (b. 1780)
- 1839 – Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French admiral and explorer (b. 1768)
- 1850 – William Wordsworth, English poet and author (b. 1770)
- 1889 – Jules Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly, French author and critic (b. 1808)
- 1895 – Carl Ludwig, German physician and physiologist (b. 1815)
- 1905 – Gédéon Ouimet, Canadian politician, 2nd Premier of Quebec (b. 1823)
- 1907 – Alferd Packer, American prospector (b. 1842)
- 1915 – Rupert Brooke, English poet (b. 1887)
- 1936 – Teresa de la Parra, French-Venezuelan author (b. 1889)
- 1951 – Jules Berry, French actor and director (b. 1883)
- 1951 – Charles G. Dawes, American banker and politician, 30th Vice President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1959 – Bak Jungyang, Korean politician
- 1965 – George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (b. 1891)
- 1966 – George Ohsawa, Japanese founder of the Macrobiotic diet (b. 1893)
- 1981 – Josep Pla, Catalan journalist and author (b. 1897)
- 1983 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (b. 1908)
- 1984 – Red Garland, American pianist (b. 1923)
- 1985 – Sam Ervin, American lawyer and politician (b. 1896)
- 1985 – Frank Farrell, Australian rugby league player and policeman (b. 1916)
- 1986 – Harold Arlen, American composer (b. 1905)
- 1986 – Jim Laker, English cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1922)
- 1986 – Otto Preminger, Ukrainian-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1906)
- 1990 – Paulette Goddard, American actress (b. 1910)
- 1991 – Johnny Thunders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
- 1992 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
- 1992 – Tanka Prasad Acharya, Nepalese politician, 27th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1912)
- 1993 – Cesar Chavez, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers (b. 1927)
- 1995 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian farmer and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1895)
- 1995 – Howard Cosell, American lawyer and journalist (b. 1918)
- 1995 – Riho Lahi, Estonian journalist (b. 1904)
- 1995 – John C. Stennis, American lawyer and politician (b. 1904)
- 1996 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian general (b. 1913)
- 1996 – P. L. Travers, Australian-English author and actress (b. 1899)
- 1997 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1918)
- 1998 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek lawyer and politician, 172nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1907)
- 1998 – James Earl Ray, American assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1928)
- 1998 – Thanassis Skordalos, Greek singer-songwriter and lyra player (b. 1920)
- 2003 – Fernand Fonssagrives, French-American photographer (b. 1910)
- 2004 – Herman Veenstra, Dutch water polo player (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Joh Bjelke-Petersen, New Zealand-Australian politician, 31st Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Robert Farnon, Canadian-English trumpet player, composer and conductor (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Al Grassby, Australian journalist and politician (b. 1928)
- 2005 – John Mills, English actor (b. 1908)
- 2005 – Romano Scarpa, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1927)
- 2005 – Earl Wilson, American baseball player, coach and educator (b. 1934)
- 2006 – Phil Walden, American record producer and manager, co-founder of Capricorn Records (b. 1940)
- 2007 – Paul Erdman, Canadian-American economist and author (b. 1932)
- 2007 – David Halberstam, American journalist, historian and author (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Peter Randall, English sergeant (b. 1930)
- 2007 – Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (b. 1931)
- 2010 – Peter Porter, Australian-born British poet (b. 1929)
- 2011 – James Casey, English comedian, radio scriptwriter and producer (b. 1922)
- 2011 – Tom King, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1943)
- 2011 – Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, English businessman and politician (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Max van der Stoel, Dutch politician and Minister of State (b. 1924)
- 2011 – John Sullivan, English screenwriter and producer (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Lillemor Arvidsson, Swedish trade union leader and politician, 34th Governor of Gotland (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Billy Bryans, Canadian drummer, songwriter and producer (b. 1947)
- 2012 – Chris Ethridge, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1947)
- 2012 – Raymond Thorsteinsson, Canadian geologist and paleontologist (b. 1921)
- 2012 – LeRoy T. Walker, American football player and coach (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Bob Brozman, American guitarist (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Robert W. Edgar, American educator and politician (b. 1943)
- 2013 – Tony Grealish, English footballer (b. 1956)
- 2013 – Antonio Maccanico, Italian banker and politician (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Frank W. J. Olver, English-American mathematician and academic (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Kathryn Wasserman Davis, American philanthropist and scholar (b. 1907)
- 2014 – Benjamín Brea, Spanish-Venezuelan saxophonist, clarinet player, and conductor (b. 1946)
- 2014 – Michael Glawogger, Austrian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (b. 1959)
- 2014 – Jaap Havekotte, Dutch speed skater and producer of ice skates (b. 1912)
- 2014 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (b. 1911)
- 2014 – F. Michael Rogers, American general (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Mark Shand, English conservationist and author (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Patric Standford, English composer and educator (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Richard Corliss, American journalist and critic (b. 1944)
- 2015 – Ray Jackson, Australian activist (b. 1941)
- 2015 – Pierre Claude Nolin, Canadian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Canadian Senate (b. 1950)
- 2015 – Jim Steffen, American football player (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Francis Tsai, American author and illustrator (b. 1967)
- 2016 – Inge King, German-born Australian sculptor (b. 1915)
- 2016 – Banharn Silpa-archa, Thai politician, Prime Minister from 1995–1996 (b. 1932)
- 2019 – Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, American soprano singer and presenter (b.1983)
Holidays and observances on April 23
- Castile and León Day (Castile and León)
- Christian feast day:
- Adalbert of Prague
- Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilleus
- George
- Blessed Giles of Assisi
- Gerard of Toul
- Ibar of Beggerin (Meath)
- Toyohiko Kagawa (Episcopal and Lutheran Church)
- April 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which the first day of Children’s Day can fall, while April 29 is the latest; celebrated on the last Saturday of April. (Colombia)
- Independence Day (Conch Republic, Key West, Florida)
- International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day
- Khongjom Day (Manipur)
- National Sovereignty and Children’s Day (Turkey and Northern Cyprus)
- Navy Day (China)
- St George’s Day (England) and its related observances:
- Canada Book Day (Canada)
- La Diada de Sant Jordi (Catalonia, Spain)
- World Book Day
- UN English Language Day (United Nations)
-
April 11 in History
- 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
- 1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
- 1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: French forces led by Gaston de Foix win the Battle of Ravenna.
- 1544 – Italian War of 1542–46: A French army defeats Habsburg forces at the Battle of Ceresole, but fails to exploit its victory.
- 1689 – William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Great Britain.
- 1713 – War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne’s War): Treaty of Utrecht.
- 1727 – Premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion BWV 244b at the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig
- 1809 – An incomplete British victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Basque Roads results in the court-martial of James, Lord Gambier.
- 1814 – The Treaty of Fontainebleau ends the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon Bonaparte, and forces him to abdicate unconditionally for the first time.
- 1856 – Second Battle of Rivas: Juan Santamaría burns down the hostel where William Walker’s filibusters are holed up.
- 1868 – Former shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu surrenders Edo Castle to Imperial forces, marking the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.
- 1876 – The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized.
- 1881 – Spelman College is founded in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, an institute of higher education for African-American women.
- 1908 – SMS Blücher, the last armored cruiser to be built by the Imperial German Navy, is launched.
- 1909 – The city of Tel Aviv is founded.
- 1921 – Emir Abdullah establishes the first centralised government in the newly created British protectorate of Transjordan.
- 1945 – World War II: American forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp.
- 1951 – Korean War: President Harry Truman relieves General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of overall command in Korea.
- 1951 – The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.
- 1955 – The Air India Kashmir Princess is bombed and crashes in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang.
- 1957 – United Kingdom agrees to Singaporean self-rule.
- 1961 – The trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.
- 1963 – Pope John XXIII issues Pacem in terris, the first encyclical addressed to all Christians instead of only Catholics, and which described the conditions for world peace in human terms.
- 1964 – Brazilian Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco is elected President by the National Congress.
- 1965 – The Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965: Fifty-one tornadoes hit in six Midwestern states, killing 256 people.
- 1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
- 1968 – Assassination attempt on Rudi Dutschke, leader of the German student movement.
- 1970 – Apollo 13 is launched.
- 1976 – The Apple I is created.
- 1977 – London Transport’s Silver Jubilee AEC Routemaster buses are launched.
- 1979 – Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.
- 1981 – A massive riot in Brixton, south London results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries.
- 1986 – FBI Miami Shootout: A gun battle in broad daylight in Dade County, Florida between two bank/armored car robbers and pursuing FBI agents. During the firefight, FBI agents Jerry L. Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan were killed, while five other agents were wounded. As a result, the popular .40 S&W cartridge was developed.
- 1987 – The London Agreement is secretly signed between Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein of Jordan.
- 1990 – Customs officers in Middlesbrough, England, seize what they believe to be the barrel of a massive gun on a ship bound for Iraq.
- 1993 – Four hundred fifty prisoners rioted at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, and continued to do so for ten days, citing grievances related to prison conditions, as well as the forced vaccination of Nation of Islam prisoners (for tuberculosis) against their religious beliefs.
- 2001 – The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, China after a collision with a J-8 fighter, is released.
- 2002 – The Ghriba synagogue bombing by al-Qaeda kills 21 in Tunisia.
- 2002 – Over two hundred thousand people march in Caracas towards the Presidential palace to demand the resignation of President Hugo Chávez. Nineteen protesters are killed.
- 2006 – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces Iran’s claim to have successfully enriched uranium.
- 2007 – Algiers bombings: Two bombings in Algiers kill 33 people and wound a further 222 others.
- 2011 – An explosion in the Minsk Metro, Belarus kills 15 people and injures 204 others.
- 2012 – A pair of great earthquakes occur in the Wharton Basin west of Sumatra in Indonesia. The maximum Mercalli intensity of this strike-slip doublet earthquake was VII (Very strong). Ten were killed, twelve were injured, and a non-destructive tsunami was observed on the island of Nias.
- 2018 – An Ilyushin Il-76 which was owned and operated by the Algerian Air Force crashes near Boufarik, Algeria, killing 257.
Births on April 11
- 145 – Septimius Severus, Roman emperor (probable; d. 211)
- 1184 – William of Winchester, Lord of Lüneburg (d. 1213)
- 1348 – Andronikos IV Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (d. 1385)
- 1357 – John I of Portugal (d. 1433)
- 1370 – Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1428)
- 1374 – Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, heir to the throne of England (d. 1398)
- 1493 – George I, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1531)
- 1591 – Bartholomeus Strobel, Silezian painter (d. 1650)
- 1592 – John Eliot, English lawyer and politician (d. 1632)
- 1644 – Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1724)
- 1658 – James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish peer (d. 1712)
- 1683 – Jean-Joseph Mouret, French composer and conductor (d. 1738)
- 1715 – John Alcock, English organist and composer (d. 1806)
- 1721 – David Zeisberger, Czech-American clergyman and missionary (d. 1808)
- 1722 – Christopher Smart, English actor, playwright, and poet (d. 1771)
- 1749 – Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, French miniaturist and portrait painter (d. 1803)
- 1755 – James Parkinson, English surgeon, geologist, and paleontologist (d. 1824)
- 1770 – George Canning, Irish-English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1827)
- 1794 – Edward Everett, English-American educator and politician, 15th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1865)
- 1798 – Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1854)
- 1819 – Charles Hallé, German-English pianist and conductor (d. 1895)
- 1825 – Ferdinand Lassalle, German philosopher and jurist (d. 1864)
- 1827 – Jyotirao Phule, Indian scholar, philosopher, and activist (d. 1890)
- 1854 – Hugh Massie, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
- 1856 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1903)
- 1859 – Stefanos Thomopoulos, Greek historian and author (d. 1939)
- 1862 – William Wallace Campbell, American astronomer and academic (d. 1938)
- 1862 – Charles Evans Hughes, American lawyer and politician, 44th United States Secretary of State (d. 1948)
- 1864 – Johanna Elberskirchen, German author and activist (d. 1943)
- 1866 – Bernard O’Dowd, Australian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1953)
- 1867 – Mark Keppel, American educator (d. 1928)
- 1869 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor, designed the Nobel Peace Prize medal (d. 1943)
- 1871 – Gyula Kellner, Hungarian runner (d. 1940)
- 1873 – Edward Lawson, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1955)
- 1876 – Paul Henry, Irish painter (d. 1958)
- 1876 – Ivane Javakhishvili, Georgian historian and academic (d. 1940)
- 1879 – Bernhard Schmidt, Estonian-German astronomer and optician (d. 1935)
- 1887 – Jamini Roy, Indian painter (d. 1972)
- 1893 – Dean Acheson, American lawyer and politician, 51st United States Secretary of State (d. 1971)
- 1896 – Léo-Paul Desrosiers, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1967)
- 1899 – Percy Lavon Julian, African-American chemist and academic (d. 1975)
- 1900 – Sándor Márai, Hungarian journalist and author (d. 1989)
- 1903 – Misuzu Kaneko, Japanese poet (d. 1930)
- 1904 – K. L. Saigal, Indian singer and actor (d. 1947)
- 1905 – Attila József, Hungarian poet and educator (d. 1937)
- 1906 – Dale Messick, American author and illustrator (d. 2005)
- 1907 – Paul Douglas, American actor (d. 1959)
- 1908 – Jane Bolin, American lawyer and judge (d. 2007)
- 1908 – Masaru Ibuka, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Dan Maskell, English tennis player and sportscaster (d. 1992)
- 1908 – Leo Rosten, Polish-American author and academic (d. 1997)
- 1910 – António de Spínola, Portuguese general and politician, 14th President of Portugal (d. 1996)
- 1912 – John Levy, American bassist and businessman (d. 2012)
- 1913 – Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (d. 2006)
- 1914 – Norman McLaren, Scottish-Canadian animator, director, and producer (d. 1987)
- 1914 – Robert Stanfield, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician, 17th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2003)
- 1914 – Dorothy Lewis Bernstein, American mathematician (d. 1988)
- 1916 – Alberto Ginastera, Argentinian-Swiss pianist and composer (d. 1983)
- 1916 – Howard W. Koch, American director and producer (d. 2001)
- 1917 – David Westheimer, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 2005)
- 1918 – Richard Wainwright, English soldier and politician (d. 2003)
- 1919 – Raymond Carr, English historian and academic (d. 2015)
- 1920 – Emilio Colombo, Italian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2013)
- 1920 – William Royer, American soldier and politician (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Jim Hearn, American baseball player (d. 1998)
- 1921 – Jack Rayner, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Arved Viirlaid, Estonian-Canadian soldier and author (d. 2015)
- 1923 – George J. Maloof, Sr., American businessman (d. 1980)
- 1924 – Mohammad Naseem, Pakistani-English activist and politician (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Yuriy Lituyev, Russian hurdler and commander (d. 2000)
- 1925 – Viola Liuzzo, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
- 1925 – Viktor Masing, Estonian botanist and ecologist (d. 2001)
- 1925 – Pierre Péladeau, Canadian businessman, founded Quebecor (d. 1997)
- 1926 – David Manker Abshire, American commander and diplomat, United States Permanent Representative to NATO (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Victor Bouchard, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 2011)
- 1926 – Karl Rebane, Estonian physicist and academic (d. 2007)
- 1927 – Lokesh Chandra, Indian historian
- 1928 – Ethel Kennedy, American philanthropist
- 1928 – Edwin Pope, American journalist and author (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Tommy Tycho, Hungarian-Australian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Nicholas F. Brady, American businessman and politician, 68th United States Secretary of the Treasury
- 1930 – Walter Krüger, German javelin thrower (d. 2018)
- 1930 – Anton LaVey, American occultist, founded the Church of Satan (d. 1997)
- 1931 – Lewis Jones, Welsh rugby player and coach
- 1932 – Joel Grey, American actor, singer, and dancer
- 1933 – Tony Brown, American journalist and academic
- 1934 – Mark Strand, Canadian-born American poet, essayist, and translator (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Ron Pember, English actor, director and playwright
- 1935 – Richard Berry, American singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
- 1936 – Brian Noble, English bishop (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Jill Gascoine, English actress and author
- 1938 – Gerry Baker, American soccer player and manager (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Michael Deaver, American politician, Deputy White House Chief of Staff (d. 2007)
- 1938 – Reatha King, American chemist and businesswoman
- 1939 – Luther Johnson, American singer and guitarist
- 1939 – Louise Lasser, American actress
- 1940 – Col Firmin, Australian politician (d. 2013)
- 1940 – Thomas Harris, American author and screenwriter
- 1940 – Władysław Komar, Polish shot putter and actor (d. 1998)
- 1941 – Ellen Goodman, American journalist and author
- 1941 – Shirley Stelfox, English actress (d. 2015)
- 1942 – Anatoly Berezovoy, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2014)
- 1942 – Hattie Gossett, American writer
- 1942 – James Underwood, English pathologist and academic
- 1943 – John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich, English businessman and politician
- 1943 – Harley Race, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2019)
- 1944 – Peter Barfuß, German footballer
- 1944 – John Milius, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1945 – John Krebs, Baron Krebs, English zoologist and academic
- 1946 – Chris Burden, American sculptor, illustrator, and academic (d. 2015)
- 1946 – Bob Harris, English journalist and radio host
- 1947 – Lev Bulat, Ukrainian-Russian physicist and academic (d. 2016)
- 1947 – Uli Edel, German director and screenwriter
- 1947 – Frank Mantooth, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
- 1947 – Peter Riegert, American actor, screenwriter and film director
- 1947 – Michael T. Wright, English engineer and academic (d. 2015)
- 1949 – Bernd Eichinger, German director and producer (d. 2011)
- 1950 – Bill Irwin, American actor and clown
- 1951 – Paul Fox, English singer and guitarist (d. 2007)
- 1952 – Nancy Honeytree, American singer and guitarist
- 1952 – Indira Samarasekera, Sri Lankan engineer and academic
- 1952 – Peter Windsor, English-Australian journalist and sportscaster
- 1953 – Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian politician, 47th Prime Minister of Belgium
- 1953 – Andrew Wiles, English mathematician and academic
- 1954 – Abdullah Atalar, Turkish engineer and academic
- 1954 – Aleksandr Averin, Azerbaijani cyclist and coach
- 1954 – Francis Lickerish, English guitarist and composer
- 1954 – David Perrett, Scottish psychologist and academic
- 1954 – Ian Redmond, English biologist and conservationist
- 1954 – Willie Royster, American baseball player (d. 2015)
- 1955 – Kevin Brady, American lawyer and politician
- 1955 – Michael Callen, American singer-songwriter and AIDS activist (d. 1993)
- 1955 – Micheal Ray Richardson, American basketball player and coach
- 1958 – Stuart Adamson, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001)
- 1958 – Lyudmila Kondratyeva, Russian sprinter
- 1959 – Pierre Lacroix, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1959 – Ana María Polo, Cuban-American lawyer and judge
- 1959 – Zahid Maleque, Bangladeshi politician
- 1960 – Jeremy Clarkson, English journalist and television presenter
- 1961 – Vincent Gallo, American actor, director, producer, and musician
- 1961 – Doug Hopkins, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1993)
- 1961 – Nobuaki Kakuda, Japanese martial artist
- 1962 – Franck Ducheix, French fencer
- 1962 – Mark Lawson, English journalist and author
- 1963 – Billy Bowden, New Zealand cricketer and umpire
- 1963 – Waldemar Fornalik, Polish footballer and manager
- 1963 – Elizabeth Smylie, Australian tennis player
- 1964 – Steve Azar, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 – John Cryer, English journalist and politician
- 1964 – Johann Sebastian Paetsch, American cellist
- 1964 – Bret Saberhagen, American baseball player and coach
- 1964 – Patrick Sang, Kenyan runner
- 1966 – Steve Scarsone, American baseball player and manager
- 1966 – Shin Seung-hun, South Korean singer-songwriter
- 1966 – Lisa Stansfield, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1968 – Sergei Lukyanenko, Kazakh-Russian journalist and author
- 1969 – Cerys Matthews, Welsh singer-songwriter
- 1969 – Michael von Grünigen, Swiss skier
- 1970 – Trevor Linden, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1970 – Delroy Pearson, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1971 – John Leech, English politician
- 1971 – Oliver Riedel, German bass player
- 1972 – Balls Mahoney, American wrestler (d. 2016)
- 1972 – Allan Théo, French singer
- 1972 – Jason Varitek, American baseball player and manager
- 1973 – Jennifer Esposito, American actress
- 1973 – Olivier Magne, French rugby player
- 1974 – Àlex Corretja, Spanish tennis player and coach
- 1974 – Ashot Danielyan, Armenian weightlifter
- 1974 – David Jassy, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
- 1974 – Zöe Lucker, English actress
- 1974 – Tom Thacker, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1974 – Trot Nixon, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1975 – Olga Hostáková, Czech tennis player
- 1975 – Walid Soliman, Tunisian author and translator
- 1976 – Kelvim Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1977 – Ivonne Teichmann, German runner
- 1978 – Josh Hancock, American baseball player (d. 2007)
- 1979 – Malcolm Christie, English footballer
- 1979 – Sebastien Grainger, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1979 – Michel Riesen, Swiss ice hockey player
- 1979 – Josh Server, American actor
- 1980 – Keiji Tamada, Japanese footballer
- 1980 – Mark Teixeira, American baseball player
- 1981 – Alessandra Ambrosio, Brazilian model
- 1981 – Alexandre Burrows, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Veronica Pyke, Australian cricketer
- 1982 – Ian Bell, English cricketer
- 1982 – Peeter Kümmel, Estonian skier
- 1983 – Jennifer Heil, Canadian skier
- 1983 – Rubén Palazuelos, Spanish footballer
- 1983 – Nicky Pastorelli, Dutch race car driver
- 1984 – Kelli Garner, American actress
- 1984 – Nikola Karabatić, French handball player
- 1985 – Pablo Hernández Domínguez, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Will Minson, Australian footballer
- 1986 – Sarodj Bertin, Haitian model and human rights lawyer
- 1986 – Dai Greene, Welsh hurdler
- 1986 – Lena Schöneborn, German pentathlete
- 1987 – Joss Stone, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1987 – Lights, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1988 – Leland Irving, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Torrin Lawrence, American sprinter (d. 2014)
- 1989 – Zola Jesus, American singer
- 1990 – Dimitrios Anastasopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1990 – Thulani Serero, South African footballer
- 1991 – Thiago Alcântara, Spanish footballer
- 1991 – Brennan Poole, American racing driver
- 1996 – Dele Alli, English international footballer
- 1997 – Georgia Bohl, Australian swimmer
- 1997 – Miriam Kolodziejová, a Czech tennis player
Deaths on April 11
- 618 – Yang Guang, Chinese emperor of the Sui Dynasty (b. 569)
- 678 – Donus, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 610)
- 924 – Herman I, chancellor and archbishop of Cologne
- 1034 – Romanos III Argyros, Byzantine emperor (b. 968)
- 1077 – Anawrahta, king of Burma and founder of the Pagan Empire (b. 1014)
- 1079 – Stanislaus of Szczepanów, bishop of Kraków (b. 1030)
- 1165 – Stephen IV, king of Hungary and Croatia
- 1240 – Llywelyn the Great, Welsh prince (b. 1172)
- 1447 – Henry Beaufort, Cardinal, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1377)
- 1512 – Gaston de Foix, French military commander (b. 1489)
- 1554 – Thomas Wyatt the Younger, English rebel leader (b. 1521)
- 1587 – Thomas Bromley, English lord chancellor (b. 1530)
- 1609 – John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley, English noble (b. 1533)
- 1612 – Emanuel van Meteren, Flemish historian and author (b. 1535)
- 1612 – Edward Wightman, English minister and martyr (b. 1566)
- 1626 – Marino Ghetaldi, Ragusan mathematician and physicist (b. 1568)
- 1712 – Richard Simon, French priest and critic (b. 1638)
- 1723 – John Robinson, English bishop and diplomat (b. 1650)
- 1783 – Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Polish-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1718)
- 1798 – Karl Wilhelm Ramler, German poet and academic (b. 1725)
- 1856 – Juan Santamaría, Costa Rican soldier (b. 1831)
- 1861 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet and composer (b. 1824)
- 1873 – Edward Canby, American general (b. 1817)
- 1890 – David de Jahacob Lopez Cardozo, Dutch Talmudist (b. 1808)
- 1890 – Joseph Merrick, English man with severe deformities (b. 1862)
- 1894 – Constantin Lipsius, German architect and theorist (b. 1832)
- 1895 – Julius Lothar Meyer, German chemist (b. 1830)
- 1902 – Wade Hampton III, American general and politician, 77th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1818)
- 1903 – Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (b. 1878)
- 1906 – James Anthony Bailey, American businessman, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (b. 1847)
- 1906 – Francis Pharcellus Church, American journalist and publisher, co-founded Armed Forces Journal and The Galaxy Magazine (b. 1839)
- 1908 – Henry Bird, English chess player and author (b. 1829)
- 1916 – Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author (b. 1864)
- 1918 – Otto Wagner, Austrian architect and urban planner (b. 1841)
- 1926 – Luther Burbank, American botanist and academic (b. 1849)
- 1939 – Kurtdereli Mehmet, Turkish wrestler (b. 1864)
- 1953 – Kid Nichols, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
- 1954 – Paul Specht, American violinist and bandleader (b. 1895)
- 1958 – Konstantin Yuon, Russian painter and educator (b. 1875)
- 1960 – Rosa Grünberg, Swedish actress (b. 1878)
- 1962 – Ukichiro Nakaya, Japanese physicist and academic (b. 1900)
- 1962 – George Poage, American hurdler and educator (b. 1880)
- 1967 – Thomas Farrell, American general (b. 1891)
- 1967 – Donald Sangster, Jamaican lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1911)
- 1970 – Cathy O’Donnell, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1970 – John O’Hara, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1905)
- 1974 – Ernst Ziegler, German actor (b. 1894)
- 1977 – Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (b. 1900)
- 1977 – Phanishwar Nath ‘Renu’, Indian author and activist (b. 1921)
- 1980 – Ümit Kaftancıoğlu, Turkish journalist and producer (b. 1935)
- 1981 – Caroline Gordon, American author and critic (b. 1895)
- 1983 – Dolores del Río, Mexican actress (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Edgar V. Saks, Estonian historian and politician, Estonian Minister of Education (b. 1910)
- 1985 – Bunny Ahearne, Irish-born English businessman (b. 1900)
- 1985 – John Gilroy, English artist and illustrator (b. 1898)
- 1985 – Enver Hoxha, Albanian educator and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1908)
- 1987 – Erskine Caldwell, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1903)
- 1987 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (b. 1919)
- 1990 – Harold Ballard, Canadian businessman (b. 1903)
- 1991 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player and manager (b. 1915)
- 1991 – Bruno Hoffmann. German glass harp player (b. 1913)
- 1992 – James Brown, American actor and singer (b. 1920)
- 1992 – Eve Merriam, American author and poet (b. 1916)
- 1992 – Alejandro Obregón, Colombian painter, sculptor, and engraver (b. 1920)
- 1996 – Jessica Dubroff, American pilot (b. 1988)
- 1997 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (b. 1899)
- 1997 – Wang Xiaobo, contemporary Chinese novelist and essayist (b. 1952)
- 1999 – William H. Armstrong, American author and educator (b. 1911)
- 2000 – Diana Darvey, English actress, singer and dancer (b. 1945)
- 2001 – Harry Secombe, Welsh-English actor (b. 1921)
- 2003 – Cecil Howard Green, English-American geophysicist and businessman, founded Texas Instruments (b. 1900)
- 2005 – André François, Romanian-French cartoonist, painter, and sculptor (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Lucien Laurent, French footballer and coach (b. 1907)
- 2006 – June Pointer, American singer (b. 1953)
- 2006 – DeShaun Holton, American rapper and actor (b. 1973)
- 2007 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Loïc Leferme, French diver (b. 1970)
- 2007 – Janet McDonald, American lawyer and author (b. 1954)
- 2007 – Ronald Speirs, Scottish-American colonel (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1922)
- 2008 – Merlin German, American sergeant (b. 1985)
- 2009 – Gerda Gilboe, Danish actress and singer (b. 1914)
- 2009 – Vishnu Prabhakar, Indian author and playwright (b. 1912)
- 2009 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (b. 1927)
- 2010 – Julia Tsenova, Bulgarian pianist and composer (b. 1948)
- 2011 – Larry Sweeney, American wrestler and manager (b. 1981)
- 2012 – Ahmed Ben Bella, Algerian soldier and politician, 1st President of Algeria (b. 1916)
- 2012 – Roger Caron, Canadian criminal and author (b. 1938)
- 2012 – Tippy Dye, American basketball player and coach (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Hal McKusick, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and flute player (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Agustin Roman, American bishop (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Don Blackman, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1953)
- 2013 – Grady Hatton, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Thomas Hemsley, English actor and singer (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Hilary Koprowski, Polish-American virologist and immunologist (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Gilles Marchal, French singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
- 2013 – Maria Tallchief, American ballerina (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Clorindo Testa, Italian-Argentinian architect (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Jonathan Winters, American comedian, actor and screenwriter (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Rolf Brem, Swiss sculptor and illustrator (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Edna Doré, English actress (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Bill Henry, American baseball player (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Lou Hudson, American basketball player and sportscaster (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Myer S. Kripke, American rabbi and scholar (b. 1914)
- 2014 – Sergey Nepobedimy, Russian engineer (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
- 2015 – Jimmy Gunn, American football player (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Bangladeshi journalist and politician (b. 1952)
- 2015 – François Maspero, French journalist and author (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Hanut Singh, Indian general (b. 1933)
- 2015 – Tekena Tamuno, Nigerian historian and academic (b. 1932)
- 2017 – J. Geils, American singer and guitarist (b. 1946)
- 2017 – Mark Wainberg, Canadian researcher and HIV/AIDS activist (b. 1945)
- 2020 – John Horton Conway, English mathematician (b. 1937)
Holidays and observances on April 11
- Christian feast day:
- Antipas of Pergamum (Greek Orthodox Church)
- Gemma Galgani
- Godeberta
- Guthlac of Crowland
- George Selwyn (Anglicanism)
- Stanislaus of Szczepanów
- April 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Juan Santamaría Day, anniversary of his death in the Second Battle of Rivas. (Costa Rica)
- International Louie Louie Day
- World Parkinson’s Day
-
April 10 in History
- 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 837 – Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
- 1407 – Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title “Great Treasure Prince of Dharma”.
- 1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
- 1606 – The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
- 1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, comes into force in Great Britain.
- 1741 – War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia gains control of Silesia at the Battle of Mollwitz.
- 1809 – Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.
- 1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth’s climate for the next two years.
- 1816 – The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
- 1821 – Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.
- 1826 – The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town of Missolonghi begin leaving the town after a year’s siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.
- 1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
- 1864 – Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico.
- 1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
- 1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
- 1868 – At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two British/Indian troops die.
- 1872 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.
- 1875 – India: Arya Samaj is founded in Mumbai by Swami Dayananda Saraswati to propagate his goal of social reform.
- 1887 – On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America.
- 1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.
- 1916 – The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.
- 1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
- 1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
- 1938 – The 1938 German parliamentary election and referendum seeks approval for a single list of Nazi candidates and the recent annexation of Austria.
- 1939 – Alcoholics Anonymous, A.A.’s “Big Book”, is first published.
- 1941 – World War II: The Axis powers establish the Independent State of Croatia.
- 1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.
- 1957 – The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.
- 1963 – One hundred twenty-nine American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.
- 1968 – The TEV Wahine, a New Zealand ferry sinks in Wellington harbour due to a fierce storm – the strongest winds ever in Wellington. Out of the 734 people on board, fifty-three died.
- 1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
- 1971 – Ping-pong diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a week-long visit.
- 1972 – Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Sun Bin’s lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
- 1973 – Invicta International Airlines Flight 435 crashes in a snowstorm on approach to Basel, Switzerland, killing 108 people.
- 1979 – Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
- 1988 – The Ojhri Camp explosion kills or injures more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.
- 1991 – Italian ferry MS Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy, killing 140.
- 1991 – A rare tropical storm develops in the South Atlantic Ocean near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
- 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Northern Ireland.
- 2009 – President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces the abrogation of the constitution and assumes all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis.
- 2010 – Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and dozens of other senior officials and dignitaries.
- 2016 – The Paravur temple accident in which a devastating fire caused by the explosion of firecrackers stored for Vishu, kills more than one hundred people out of the thousands gathered for seventh day of Bhadrakali worship.
- 2016 – An earthquake of 6.6 magnitude strikes 39 km west-southwest of Ashkasham, shakes up India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Srinagar and Pakistan.
- 2019 – Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project announce the first ever image of a black hole, located in the centre of the M87 galaxy.
Births on April 10
- 401 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (d. 450)
- 1018 – Nizam al-Mulk, Persian scholar and vizier (d. 1092)
- 1472 – Margaret of York, English princess (d. 1472)
- 1480 – Philibert II, duke of Savoy (d. 1504)
- 1487 – William I, count of Nassau-Dillenburg (d. 1559)
- 1512 – James V, king of Scotland (d. 1542)
- 1579 – Augustus II, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1666)
- 1583 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and jurist (d. 1645)
- 1603 – Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark (d. 1647)
- 1651 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician, physicist, and physician (d. 1708)
- 1656 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, French-Canadian settler, founded Rimouski (d. 1718)
- 1704 – Benjamin Heath, English scholar and author (d. 1766)
- 1707 – Michel Corrette, French organist, composer, and author (d. 1795)
- 1713 – John Whitehurst, English geologist and clockmaker (d. 1788)
- 1755 – Samuel Hahnemann, German-French physician and academic (d. 1843)
- 1762 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1834)
- 1769 – Jean Lannes, French marshal (d. 1809)
- 1778 – William Hazlitt, English essayist and critic (d. 1830)
- 1794 – Matthew C. Perry, English-Scottish American commander (d. 1858)
- 1806 – Juliette Drouet, French actress (d. 1883)
- 1806 – Leonidas Polk, Scottish-American general and bishop (d. 1884)
- 1827 – Lew Wallace, American general, lawyer, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (d. 1905)
- 1829 – William Booth, English minister, founded The Salvation Army (d. 1912)
- 1847 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American journalist, publisher, and politician, founded Pulitzer, Inc. (d. 1911)
- 1864 – Eugen d’Albert, Scottish-German pianist and composer (d. 1932)
- 1865 – Jack Miner, American-Canadian farmer, hunter, and environmentalist (d. 1944)
- 1867 – George William Russell, Irish author, poet, and painter (d. 1935)
- 1868 – George Arliss, English actor and playwright (d. 1946)
- 1868 – Asriel Günzig, Moravian rabbi (d. 1931)
- 1873 – Kyösti Kallio, Finnish farmer, banker, and politician, 4th President of Finland (d. 1940)
- 1875 – George Clawley, English footballer (d. 1920)
- 1877 – Alfred Kubin, Austrian author and illustrator (d. 1959)
- 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
- 1879 – Coenraad Hiebendaal, Dutch rower and physician (d. 1921)
- 1880 – Frances Perkins, American sociologist, academic, and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1965)
- 1880 – Montague Summers, English clergyman and author (d. 1948)
- 1886 – Johnny Hayes, American runner and trainer (d. 1965)
- 1887 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentinian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1889 – Louis Rougier, French philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1982)
- 1891 – Frank Barson, English footballer and coach (d. 1968)
- 1893 – Otto Steinböck, Austrian zoologist (d. 1969)
- 1894 – Ben Nicholson, British painter (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Prafulla Chandra Sen, Indian accountant and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1990)
- 1900 – Arnold Orville Beckman, American chemist, inventor, and philanthropist (d. 2004)
- 1901 – Dhananjay Ramchandra Gadgil, Indian economist (d. 1971)
- 1903 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (d. 1970)
- 1906 – Steve Anderson, American hurdler (d. 1988)
- 1910 – Margaret Clapp, American scholar and academic (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Helenio Herrera, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and publisher, founded the Monthly Review (d. 2004)
- 1911 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs for France (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Boris Kidrič, Austrian-Slovenian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Slovenia (d. 1953)
- 1913 – Stefan Heym, German-American soldier and author (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Jack Badcock, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
- 1915 – Harry Morgan, American actor and director (d. 2011)
- 1915 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (d. 2014)
- 1916 – Lee Jung-seob, Korean painter (d. 1956)
- 1917 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1919 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Chuck Connors, American baseball player and actor (d. 1992)
- 1921 – Jake Warren, Canadian soldier and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Sheb Wooley, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Roger Gaillard, Haitian historian and author (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Jane Kean, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Floyd Simmons, American decathlete and actor (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Sid Tickridge, English footballer (d. 1997)
- 1923 – John Watkins, South African cricketer
- 1924 – Kenneth Noland, American soldier and painter (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Linda Goodman, American astrologer and author (d. 1995)
- 1925 – Angelo Poffo, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Jacques Castérède, French pianist and composer (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Junior Samples, American comedian (d. 1983)
- 1927 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican-American actress (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1929 – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1929 – Liz Sheridan, American actress
- 1929 – Max von Sydow, Swedish-French actor (d. 2020)
- 1930 – Claude Bolling, French pianist, composer, and actor
- 1930 – Dolores Huerta, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers
- 1931 – Kishori Amonkar, Indian classical vocalist (d. 2017)
- 1932 – Delphine Seyrig, Swiss/Alsatian French actress (d. 1990)
- 1932 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Rokusuke Ei, Japanese composer and author (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (d. 2013)
- 1934 – David Halberstam, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
- 1935 – John A. Bennett, American soldier (d. 1961)
- 1935 – Patrick Garland, English actor and director (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Peter Hollingworth, Australian bishop, 23rd Governor General of Australia
- 1936 – John Howell, English long jumper
- 1936 – John Madden, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1936 – Bobby Smith, American singer (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Bella Akhmadulina, Soviet and Russian poet, short story writer, and translator (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Don Meredith, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Claudio Magris, Italian scholar, author, and translator
- 1940 – Gloria Hunniford, British radio and television host
- 1941 – Harold Long, Canadian politician (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Paul Theroux, American novelist, short story writer, and travel writer
- 1942 – Nick Auf der Maur, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1998)
- 1942 – Ian Callaghan, English footballer
- 1942 – Stuart Dybek, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
- 1943 – Andrzej Badeński, Polish-German sprinter (d. 2008)
- 1943 – Margaret Pemberton, English author
- 1945 – Kevin Berry, Australian swimmer (d. 2006)
- 1946 – David Angell, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2001)
- 1946 – Bob Watson, American baseball player and manager
- 1946 – Adolf Winkelmann, German director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1947 – David A. Adler, American author and educator
- 1947 – Bunny Wailer, Jamaican singer-songwriter and drummer
- 1948 – Mel Blount, American football player
- 1949 – Daniel Mangeas, French banker and sportscaster
- 1949 – Eric Troyer, American singer-songwriter, keyboardist and guitarist
- 1950 – Ken Griffey, Sr., American baseball player and manager
- 1950 – Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (d. 1992)
- 1951 – David Helvarg, American journalist and activist
- 1952 – Narayan Rane, Indian politician, 16th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
- 1952 – Masashi Sada, Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and producer
- 1952 – Steven Seagal, American actor, producer, and martial artist
- 1953 – David Moorcroft, English runner and businessman
- 1953 – Pamela Wallin, Swedish-Canadian journalist, academic, and politician
- 1954 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Anne Lamott, American author and educator
- 1954 – Peter MacNicol, American actor
- 1954 – Juan Williams, Panamanian-American journalist and author
- 1955 – Lesley Garrett, English soprano and actress
- 1956 – Carol V. Robinson, English chemist and academic
- 1957 – Aliko Dangote, Nigerian businessman, founded Dangote Group
- 1957 – John M. Ford, American author and poet (d. 2006)
- 1957 – Steve Gustafson, Spanish-American bass player
- 1957 – Rosemary Hill, English historian and author
- 1958 – Bob Bell, Northern Irish engineer
- 1958 – Yefim Bronfman, Uzbek-American pianist
- 1958 – Brigitte Holzapfel, German high jumper
- 1959 – Babyface, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1959 – Yvan Loubier, Canadian economist and politician
- 1959 – Brian Setzer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Steve Bisciotti, American businessman, co-founded Allegis Group
- 1960 – Katrina Leskanich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Terry Teagle, American basketball player
- 1961 – Nicky Campbell, Scottish broadcaster and journalist
- 1961 – Joe Cole, American roadie and author (d. 1991)
- 1961 – Carole Goble, English computer scientist and academic
- 1961 – Mark Jones, American basketball player
- 1962 – Steve Tasker, American football player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Warren DeMartini, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1963 – Jeff Gray, American baseball player and coach
- 1963 – Doris Leuthard, Swiss lawyer and politician, 162nd President of the Swiss Confederation
- 1965 – Tim Alexander, American drummer and songwriter
- 1966 – Steve Claridge, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
- 1967 – Donald Dufresne, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1967 – David Rovics, American singer-songwriter
- 1968 – Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer and journalist (d. 1996)
- 1968 – Orlando Jones, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1969 – Steve Glasson, Australian lawn bowler
- 1969 – Ekaterini Koffa, Greek sprinter
- 1970 – Enrico Ciccone, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Leonard Doroftei, Romanian-Canadian boxer
- 1970 – Kenny Lattimore, American singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Q-Tip, American rapper, producer, and actor
- 1971 – Brad William Henke, American football player and actor
- 1971 – Indro Olumets, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1971 – Al Reyes, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1972 – Ian Harvey, Australian cricketer
- 1972 – Priit Kasesalu, Estonian computer programmer, co-created Skype
- 1972 – Gordon Buchanan, Scottish film maker
- 1973 – Guillaume Canet, French actor and director
- 1973 – Roberto Carlos, Brazilian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Aidan Moffat, Scottish singer-songwriter
- 1973 – Christopher Simmons, Canadian-American graphic designer, author, and academic
- 1974 – Eric Greitens, American soldier, author and politician
- 1974 – Petros Passalis, Greek footballer
- 1975 – Chris Carrabba, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Terrence Lewis, Indian dancer and choreographer
- 1975 – David Harbour, American actor
- 1976 – Clare Buckfield, English actress
- 1976 – Yoshino Kimura, Japanese actress and singer
- 1976 – Sara Renner, Canadian skier
- 1977 – Stephanie Sheh, Taiwanese-American voice actress, director, and producer
- 1978 – Sir Christus, Finnish guitarist
- 1979 – Iván Alonso, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 – Kenyon Coleman, American football player
- 1979 – Rachel Corrie, American author and activist (d. 2003)
- 1979 – Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
- 1979 – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, English singer-songwriter
- 1979 – Peter Kopteff, Finnish footballer
- 1980 – Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player and model
- 1980 – Charlie Hunnam, English actor
- 1980 – Shao Jiayi, Chinese footballer
- 1980 – Kasey Kahne, American race car driver
- 1980 – Bryce Soderberg, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1981 – Laura Bell Bundy, American actress and singer
- 1981 – Liz McClarnon, English singer and dancer
- 1981 – Michael Pitt, American actor, model and musician
- 1981 – Alexei Semenov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Andre Ethier, American baseball player
- 1982 – Chyler Leigh, American actress and singer
- 1983 – Jamie Chung, American actress
- 1983 – Andrew Dost, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1983 – Ryan Merriman, American actor
- 1983 – Hannes Sigurðsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1984 – Faustina Agolley, Australian television host
- 1984 – Jeremy Barrett, American figure skater
- 1984 – Mandy Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1984 – David Obua, Ugandan footballer
- 1984 – Damien Perquis, French-Polish footballer
- 1984 – Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Barkhad Abdi, Somali-American actor and director
- 1985 – Willo Flood, Irish footballer
- 1985 – Jesús Gámez, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Dion Phaneuf, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Olivia Borlée, Belgian sprinter
- 1986 – Fernando Gago, Argentine footballer
- 1986 – Corey Kluber, American baseball pitcher
- 1986 – Vincent Kompany, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Tore Reginiussen, Norwegian footballer
- 1987 – Shay Mitchell, Canadian actress and model
- 1987 – Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano
- 1988 – Chris Heston, American baseball pitcher
- 1988 – Kareem Jackson, American football player
- 1988 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor
- 1990 – Ben Amos, English footballer
- 1990 – Andile Jali, South African footballer
- 1990 – Ricky Leutele, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- 1990 – Maren Morris, American singer
- 1990 – Alex Pettyfer, English actor
- 1991 – AJ Michalka, American actress and singer
- 1992 – Jack Buchanan, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Sadio Mané, Senegalese footballer
- 1992 – Daisy Ridley, English actress
- 1993 – Sofia Carson, American singer and actress
- 1994 – Siobhan Hunter, Scottish footballer
- 1995 – Ian Nelson, American actor
- 1996 – Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australian tennis player
- 1996 – Audrey Whitby, American actress
- 1998 – Anna Pogorilaya, Russian figure skater
- 2001 – Ky Baldwin, Australian singer and actor
- 2001 – Noa Kirel, Israeli singer
Deaths on April 10
- 879 – Louis the Stammerer, king of West Francia (b. 846)
- 943 – Landulf I, prince of Benevento and Capua
- 948 – Hugh of Arles, king of Italy
- 1008 – Notker of Liège, French bishop (b. 940)
- 1216 – Eric X, king of Sweden (b. 1180)
- 1282 – Ahmad Fanakati, chief minister under Kublai Khan
- 1309 – Elisabeth von Rapperswil, Swiss countess (b. 1261)
- 1362 – Maud, English noblewoman (b. 1339)
- 1500 – Michael Tarchaniota Marullus, Greek scholar and poet
- 1533 – Frederick I, king of Denmark and Norway (b. 1471)
- 1545 – Costanzo Festa, Italian composer
- 1585 – Gregory XIII, Pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1502)
- 1598 – Jacopo Mazzoni, Italian philosopher (b. 1548)
- 1599 – Gabrielle d’Estrées, French mistress of Henry IV of France (b. 1571)
- 1601 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish soldier and poet (b. 1562)
- 1619 – Thomas Jones, English-Irish archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Ireland (b. 1550)
- 1640 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1578)
- 1644 – William Brewster, English official and pilgrim leader (b. 1566)
- 1646 – Santino Solari, Swiss architect and sculptor (b. 1576)
- 1667 – Jan Marek Marci, Czech physician and author (b. 1595)
- 1704 – William Egon of Fürstenberg, German cardinal (b. 1629)
- 1756 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer (b. 1661)
- 1760 – Jean Lebeuf, French historian and author (b. 1687)
- 1786 – John Byron, English admiral and politician, 24th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1723)
- 1806 – Horatio Gates, English-American general (b. 1727)
- 1813 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1736)
- 1823 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher and academic (b. 1757)
- 1871 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1789)
- 1904 – Isabella II, Spanish queen (b. 1830)
- 1909 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic (b. 1837)
- 1919 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general (b. 1879)
- 1920 – Moritz Cantor, German mathematician and historian (b. 1829)
- 1931 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (b. 1883)
- 1935 – Rosa Campbell Praed, Australian novelist (b. 1851)
- 1938 – King Oliver, American cornet player and bandleader (b. 1885)
- 1942 – Carl Schenstrøm, Danish actor and director (b. 1881)
- 1943 – Andreas Faehlmann, Estonian-German sailor and engineer (b. 1898)
- 1945 – Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch printer and typographer (b. 1882)
- 1947 – Charles Nordhoff, English-American lieutenant and author (b. 1887)
- 1950 – Fevzi Çakmak, Turkish field marshal and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1876)
- 1954 – Auguste Lumière, French director and producer (b. 1862)
- 1954 – Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1888)
- 1955 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1881)
- 1958 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (b. 1928)
- 1960 – André Berthomieu, French director and screenwriter (b. 1903)
- 1962 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1886)
- 1962 – Stuart Sutcliffe, Scottish artist and musician (b. 1940)
- 1965 – Lloyd Casner, American race car driver, founded Casner Motor Racing Division (b. 1928)
- 1965 – Linda Darnell, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1966 – Evelyn Waugh, English soldier, novelist, journalist and critic (b. 1903)
- 1968 – Gustavs Celmiņš, Latvian lieutenant and politician (b. 1899)
- 1969 – Harley Earl, American businessman (b. 1893)
- 1975 – Walker Evans, American photographer (b. 1903)
- 1975 – Marjorie Main, American actress (b. 1890)
- 1978 – Hjalmar Mäe, Estonian politician (b. 1901)
- 1979 – Nino Rota, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1911)
- 1980 – Kay Medford, American actress and singer (b. 1919)
- 1981 – Howard Thurman, American author, philosopher and civil rights activist (b. 1899)
- 1983 – Issam Sartawi, Palestinian activist (b. 1935)
- 1985 – Zisis Verros, Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle (b. 1880)
- 1986 – Linda Creed, American singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (b. 1955)
- 1991 – Martin Hannett, English guitarist and producer (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1992 – Sam Kinison, American comedian and actor (b. 1953)
- 1993 – Chris Hani, South African activist and politician (b. 1942)
- 1994 – Sam B. Hall, Jr., American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1924)
- 1995 – Morarji Desai, Indian politician, 4th Prime Minister of India (b. 1896)
- 1997 – Michael Dorris, American author and academic (b. 1945)
- 1998 – Seraphim of Athens, Greek archbishop (b. 1913)
- 1999 – Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, German-American biochemist and physician (b. 1910)
- 1999 – Jean Vander Pyl, American actress and voice artist (b. 1919)
- 2000 – Peter Jones, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2000 – Larry Linville, American actor (b. 1939)
- 2003 – Little Eva, American singer (b. 1943)
- 2004 – Jacek Kaczmarski, Polish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and poet (b. 1957)
- 2004 – Sakıp Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist, founded Sabancı Holding (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Scott Gottlieb, American drummer (b. 1970)
- 2005 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Al Lucas, American football player (b. 1978)
- 2005 – Wally Tax, Dutch singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 2007 – Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2007 – Dakota Staton, American singer (b. 1930)
- 2009 – Deborah Digges, American poet and educator (b. 1950)
- 2010 – Casualties in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash included:
- Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish soldier and politician, 6th President of the Republic of Poland (b. 1919)
- Maria Kaczyńska, Polish economist, First Lady of Poland (b. 1942)
- Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 4th President of Poland (b. 1949)
- Anna Walentynowicz, Ukrainian-Polish journalist and activist (b. 1929)
- 2010 – Dixie Carter, American actress and singer (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Raymond Aubrac, French engineer and activist (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Barbara Buchholz, German theremin player and composer (b. 1959)
- 2012 – Lili Chookasian, Armenian-American operatic singer (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Luis Aponte Martínez, Puerto Rican cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Akin Omoboriowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Lorenzo Antonetti, Italian cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Raymond Boudon, French sociologist and academic (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Binod Bihari Chowdhury, Bangladeshi activist (b. 1911)
- 2013 – Robert Edwards, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Olive Lewin, Jamaican anthropologist, musicologist, and author (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Gordon Thomas, English cyclist (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Angela Voigt, German long jumper (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Dominique Baudis, French journalist and politician (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Jim Flaherty, Canadian lawyer and politician, 37th Canadian Minister of Finance (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Richard Hoggart, English author and academic (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (b. 1946)
- 2015 – Richie Benaud, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Raúl Héctor Castro, Mexican-American politician and diplomat, 14th Governor of Arizona (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Judith Malina, German-American actress and director, co-founded The Living Theatre (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Rose Francine Rogombé, Gabonese lawyer and politician, President of Gabon (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Peter Walsh, Australian farmer and politician, 6th Australian Minister for Finance (b. 1935)
- 2016 – Howard Marks, Welsh cannabis smuggler, writer, and legalisation campaigner (b. 1945)
Holidays and observances on April 10
- Christian feast day:
- Fulbert of Chartres
- James, Azadanus and Abdicius
- Mikael Agricola (Lutheran)
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (Episcopal Church)
- William of Ockham (Anglicanism)
- William Law (Anglicanism)
- April 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Builder (Azerbaijan)
- Feast of the Third Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema)
- Siblings Day (International observance)
- World Homeopathy Day
-
April 6 in History
- 46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus.
- 402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia.
- 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids of Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur.
- 1320 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.
- 1327 – The poet Petrarch first sees his idealized love, Laura, in the church of Saint Clare in Avignon.
- 1385 – John, Master of the Order of Aviz, an illegitimate son of Peter I of Portugal, is made king John I of Portugal.
- 1453 – Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople (Istanbul), which falls on May 29.
- 1580 – One of the largest earthquakes recorded in the history of England, Flanders, or Northern France, takes place.
- 1652 – At the Cape of Good Hope, Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp that eventually becomes Cape Town.
- 1712 – The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 begins near Broadway.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Ships of the Continental Navy fail in their attempt to capture a Royal Navy dispatch boat.
- 1782 – King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Siam (modern day Thailand) establishes the Chakri dynasty.
- 1793 – During the French Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic.
- 1808 – John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company, that would eventually make him America’s first millionaire.
- 1812 – British forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington assault the fortress of Badajoz. This would be the turning point in the Peninsular War against Napoleon-led France.
- 1814 – Nominal beginning of the Bourbon Restoration; anniversary date that Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba.
- 1830 – Church of Christ, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement, is organized by Joseph Smith and others at either Fayette or Manchester, New York.
- 1841 – U.S. President John Tyler is sworn in, two days after having become President upon William Henry Harrison’s death.
- 1860 – The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, later renamed Community of Christ, is organized by Joseph Smith III and others at Amboy, Illinois.
- 1861 – First performance of Arthur Sullivan’s debut success, his suite of incidental music for The Tempest, leading to a career that included the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins: In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston.
- 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Sailor’s Creek: Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fights and loses its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia during the Appomattox Campaign.
- 1866 – The Grand Army of the Republic, an American patriotic organization composed of Union veterans of the American Civil War, is founded. It lasts until 1956.
- 1869 – Celluloid is patented.
- 1888 – Thomas Green Clemson dies, bequeathing his estate to the State of South Carolina to establish Clemson Agricultural College.
- 1893 – Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is dedicated by Wilford Woodruff.
- 1895 – Oscar Wilde is arrested in the Cadogan Hotel, London, after losing a libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry.
- 1896 – In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.
- 1909 – Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first people to reach the North Pole; Peary’s claim has been disputed because of failings in his navigational ability.
- 1911 – During the Battle of Deçiq, Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, leader of the Malësori Albanians, raises the Albanian flag in the town of Tuzi, Montenegro, for the first time after George Kastrioti (Skanderbeg).
- 1917 – World War I: The United States declares war on Germany (see President Woodrow Wilson’s address to Congress).
- 1926 – Varney Airlines makes its first commercial flight (Varney is the root company of United Airlines).
- 1929 – Huey P. Long, Governor of Louisiana, is impeached by the Louisiana House of Representatives.
- 1930 – At the end of the Salt March, Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, “With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire.”
- 1936 – Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: Another tornado from the same storm system as the Tupelo tornado hits Gainesville, Georgia, killing 203.
- 1941 – World War II: Nazi Germany launches Operation 25 (the invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece).
- 1945 – World War II: Sarajevo is liberated from German and Croatian forces by the Yugoslav Partisans.
- 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Slater’s Knoll on Bougainville comes to an end.
- 1947 – The first Tony Awards are presented for theatrical achievement.
- 1957 – Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis buys the Hellenic National Airlines (TAE) and founds Olympic Airlines.
- 1965 – Launch of Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit.
- 1968 – In Richmond, Indiana’s downtown district, a double explosion kills 41 and injures 150.
- 1968 – Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins the Liberal Leadership Election, and becomes Prime Minister of Canada soon after.
- 1970 – Newhall massacre: Four California Highway Patrol officers are killed in a shootout.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: Easter Offensive: American forces begin sustained air strikes and naval bombardments.
- 1973 – Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft.
- 1973 – The American League of Major League Baseball begins using the designated hitter.
- 1974 – The Swedish pop band ABBA wins the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Waterloo”, launching their international career.
- 1979 – Student protests break out in Nepal.
- 1984 – Members of Cameroon’s Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya.
- 1992 – The Bosnian War begins.
- 1994 – The Rwandan genocide begins when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down.
- 1997 – In Greene County, Tennessee, the Lillelid murders occurs when a group of young people abduct and kidnap a religious family before shooting them dead on a rural suburban road.
- 1998 – Nuclear weapons testing: Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of reaching India.
- 1998 – Travelers Group announces an agreement to undertake the $76 billion merger between Travelers and Citicorp, and the merger is completed on October 8, of that year, forming Citibank.
- 2004 – Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from office by impeachment.
- 2005 – Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day.
- 2008 – The 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activists.
- 2009 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L’Aquila, Italy, killing 307.
- 2010 – Maoist rebels kill 76 CRPF officers in Dantewada district, India.
- 2011 – In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, over 193 victims of Los Zetas were exhumed from several mass graves.
- 2012 – Azawad declares itself independent from the Republic of Mali.
- 2017 – U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria. Russia describes the strikes as an “aggression”, adding they significantly damage US-Russia ties.
- 2018 – A bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior ice hockey team collides with a semi-truck in Saskatchewan, Canada, killing 16 people and injuring 13 others.
Births on April 6
- 1135 – Maimonides, Jewish philosopher, Torah scholar, physician and astronomer (March 30 also proposed, d. 1204)
- 1342 – Infanta Maria, Marchioness of Tortosa
- 1483 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (d. 1520)
- 1573 – Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg, German noble (d. 1643)
- 1632 – Maria Leopoldine of Austria (d. 1649)
- 1651 – André Dacier, French scholar and academic (d. 1722)
- 1660 – Johann Kuhnau, German organist and composer (d. 1722)
- 1664 – Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician, Governor of Västerbotten County (d. 1742)
- 1671 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet and playwright (d. 1741)
- 1672 – André Cardinal Destouches, French composer (d. 1749)
- 1706 – Louis de Cahusac, French playwright and composer (d. 1759)
- 1708 – Johann Georg Reutter, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1772)
- 1725 – Pasquale Paoli, French soldier and politician (d. 1807)
- 1726 – Gerard Majella, Italian saint (d. 1755)
- 1741 – Nicolas Chamfort, French author and playwright (d. 1794)
- 1766 – Wilhelm von Kobell, German painter and educator (d. 1853)
- 1773 – James Mill, Scottish historian, economist, and philosopher (d. 1836)
- 1787 – Celestina Cordero, Puerto Rican educator (d. 1862)
- 1810 – Philip Henry Gosse, English biologist and academic (d. 1888)
- 1812 – Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and author (d. 1870)
- 1815 – Robert Volkmann, German organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1883)
- 1818 – Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Norwegian journalist and poet (d. 1870)
- 1820 – Nadar, French photographer, journalist, and author (d. 1910)
- 1823 – Joseph Medill, Canadian-American publisher and politician, 26th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1899)
- 1824 – George Waterhouse, English-New Zealand politician, 7th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1906)
- 1826 – Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (d. 1898)
- 1844 – William Lyne, Australian politician, 13th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1913)
- 1851 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (d. 1932)
- 1852 – Will Crooks, English trade unionist and politician (d. 1921)
- 1855 – Charles Huot, Canadian painter and illustrator (d. 1930)
- 1857 – Arthur Wesley Dow, American painter and photographer (d. 1922)
- 1860 – René Lalique, French sculptor and jewellery designer (d. 1945)
- 1861 – Stanislas de Guaita, French poet and author (d. 1897)
- 1864 – William Bate Hardy, English biologist and academic (d. 1934)
- 1866 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (d. 1931)
- 1869 – Levon Shant, Armenian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1951)
- 1878 – Erich Mühsam, German author, poet, and playwright (d. 1934)
- 1881 – Karl Staaf, Swedish pole vaulter and hammer thrower (d. 1953)
- 1884 – J. G. Parry-Thomas, Welsh race car driver and engineer (d. 1927)
- 1886 – Athenagoras I of Constantinople (d. 1972)
- 1886 – Walter Dandy, American physician and neurosurgeon (d. 1946)
- 1886 – Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, Indian ruler (d. 1967)
- 1888 – Hans Richter, Swiss painter, illustrator, and director (d. 1976)
- 1888 – Gerhard Ritter, German historian and academic (d. 1967)
- 1890 – Anthony Fokker, Dutch engineer and businessman, founded Fokker Aircraft Manufacturer (d. 1939)
- 1892 – Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American businessman, founded the Douglas Aircraft Company (d. 1981)
- 1892 – Lowell Thomas, American journalist and author (d. 1981)
- 1895 – Dudley Nichols, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1960)
- 1898 – Jeanne Hébuterne, French painter and author (d. 1920)
- 1900 – Leo Robin, American composer and songwriter (d. 1984)
- 1901 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian activist (d. 1925)
- 1902 – Julien Torma, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1933)
- 1903 – Mickey Cochrane, American baseball player and manager (d. 1962)
- 1903 – Harold Eugene Edgerton, American engineer and academic (d. 1990)
- 1904 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German lawyer, politician and Chancellor of Germany (d. 1988)
- 1904 – Erwin Komenda, Austrian car designer and engineer (d. 1966)
- 1908 – Marcel-Marie Desmarais, Canadian preacher, missionary, and author (d. 1994)
- 1909 – William M. Branham, American minister and theologian (d. 1965)
- 1909 – Hermann Lang, German race car driver (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Barys Kit, Belarusian-American rocket scientist (d. 2018)
- 1911 – Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1913 – Shannon Boyd-Bailey McCune, American geographer and academic (d. 1993)
- 1915 – Tadeusz Kantor, Polish director, painter, and set designer (d. 1990)
- 1916 – Phil Leeds, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1916 – Vincent Ellis McKelvey, American geologist and author (d. 1987)
- 1917 – Leonora Carrington, English-Mexican painter and author (d. 2011)
- 1918 – Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian general and politician, 56th President of Bolivia (d. 1982)
- 1919 – Georgios Mylonas, Greek politician, 11th Greek Minister of Culture (d. 1998)
- 1920 – Jack Cover, American pilot and physicist, invented the Taser gun (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1921 – Wilbur Thompson, American shot putter (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Gordon Chater, English-Australian comedian and actor (d. 1999)
- 1923 – Herb Thomas, American race car driver (d. 2000)
- 1926 – Sergio Franchi, Italian-American singer and actor (d. 1990)
- 1926 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (d. 2000)
- 1926 – Ian Paisley, Northern Irish evangelical minister and politician, 2nd First Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Randy Weston, American jazz pianist and composer (d. 2018)
- 1927 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer (d. 1996)
- 1928 – James Watson, American biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1929 – Willis Hall, English playwright and author (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Joi Lansing, American model, actress and nightclub singer (d. 1972)
- 1929 – André Previn, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Ram Dass, American author and educator (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Ivan Dixon, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2008)
- 1932 – Connie Broden, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Helmut Griem, German actor and director (d. 2004)
- 1933 – Roy Goode, English lawyer and academic
- 1933 – Tom C. Korologos, American journalist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Belgium
- 1933 – Eduardo Malapit, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of Kauai (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (d. 1996)
- 1934 – Anton Geesink, Dutch martial artist and wrestler (d. 2010)
- 1934 – Guy Peellaert, Belgian painter, illustrator, and photographer (d. 2008)
- 1935 – Douglas Hill, Canadian author and critic (d. 2007)
- 1936 – Helen Berman, Dutch-Israeli painter and illustrator
- 1936 – Jean-Pierre Changeux, French neuroscientist, biologist, and academic
- 1937 – Merle Haggard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Tom Veivers, Australian cricketer and politician
- 1937 – Billy Dee Williams, American actor, singer, and writer
- 1938 – Paul Daniels, English magician and television host (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Roy Thinnes, American television and film actor
- 1939 – André Ouellet, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1939 – John Sculley, American businessman, co-founded Zeta Interactive
- 1940 – Homero Aridjis, Mexican journalist, author, and poet
- 1940 – Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., Mexican-American actor and producer (d. 2011)
- 1941 – Christopher Allsopp, English economist and academic
- 1941 – Phil Austin, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1941 – Hans W. Geißendörfer, German director and producer
- 1941 – Don Prudhomme, American race car driver and manager
- 1941 – Gheorghe Zamfir, Romanian flute player and composer
- 1942 – Barry Levinson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1942 – Anita Pallenberg, Italian-English model, actress, and fashion designer (d. 2017)
- 1943 – Max Clifford, English journalist and publicist (d. 2017)
- 1943 – Roger Cook, New Zealand-English journalist and academic
- 1943 – Ian MacRae, New Zealand rugby player
- 1943 – Mitchell Melton, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Felicity Palmer, English operatic soprano
- 1945 – Rodney Bickerstaffe, English trade union leader (d. 2017)
- 1945 – Peter Hill, English journalist
- 1946 – Paul Beresford, New Zealand-English dentist and politician
- 1947 – John Ratzenberger, American actor and director
- 1947 – André Weinfeld, French-American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1947 – Mike Worboys, English mathematician and computer scientist
- 1949 – Alyson Bailes, English academic and diplomat (d. 2016)
- 1949 – Patrick Hernandez, French singer-songwriter
- 1949 – Ng Ser Miang, Singaporean athlete, entrepreneur and diplomat
- 1949 – Horst Ludwig Störmer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1950 – Claire Morissette, Canadian cycling activist (d. 2007)
- 1950 – Cleo Odzer, American anthropologist and author (d. 2001)
- 1951 – Bert Blyleven, Dutch-American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1951 – Jean-Marc Boivin, French skier, mountaineer, and pilot (d. 1990)
- 1951 – Pascal Rogé, French pianist
- 1951 – Phil Schaap, American jazz disc jockey and historian
- 1952 – Udo Dirkschneider, German singer-songwriter
- 1952 – Marilu Henner, Greek-Polish American actress and author
- 1952 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 1992)
- 1953 – Patrick Doyle, Scottish actor and composer
- 1953 – Christopher Franke, German-American drummer and songwriter
- 1955 – Rob Epstein, American director and producer
- 1955 – Michael Rooker, American actor, director, and producer
- 1955 – Cathy Jones, Canadian actress, comedian, and writer
- 1956 – Michele Bachmann, American lawyer and politician
- 1956 – Normand Corbeil, Canadian composer (d. 2013)
- 1956 – Mudassar Nazar, Pakistani cricketer
- 1956 – Lee Scott, English politician
- 1956 – Sebastian Spreng, Argentinian-American painter and journalist
- 1956 – Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer and coach
- 1957 – Giorgio Damilano, Italian race walker and coach
- 1957 – Maurizio Damilano, Italian race walker and coach
- 1957 – Jaroslava Maxová, Czech soprano and educator
- 1957 – Paolo Nespoli, Italian soldier, engineer, and astronaut
- 1958 – Graeme Base, Australian author and illustrator
- 1959 – Gail Shea, Canadian politician
- 1960 – Warren Haynes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Richard Loe, New Zealand rugby player
- 1960 – John Pizzarelli, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1961 – Rory Bremner, Scottish actor and screenwriter
- 1961 – Peter Jackson, English footballer and manager
- 1962 – Iris Häussler, German sculptor and academic
- 1962 – Marco Schällibaum, Swiss footballer, coach, and manager
- 1963 – Rafael Correa, Ecuadorian economist and politician, 54th President of Ecuador
- 1965 – Black Francis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1965 – Sterling Sharpe, American football player and sportscaster
- 1966 – Vince Flynn, American author (d. 2013)
- 1966 – Young Man Kang, South Korean-American director and producer
- 1967 – Julian Anderson, English composer and educator
- 1967 – Kathleen Barr, Canadian voice actress and singer
- 1967 – Tanya Byron, English psychologist and academic
- 1967 – Jonathan Firth, English actor
- 1968 – Archon Fung, American political scientist, author, and academic
- 1968 – Affonso Giaffone, Brazilian race car driver
- 1969 – Bret Boone, American baseball player and manager
- 1969 – Bison Dele, American basketball player (d. 2002)
- 1969 – Philipp Peter, Austrian race car driver
- 1969 – Paul Rudd, American actor
- 1969 – Spencer Wells, American geneticist and anthropologist
- 1970 – Olaf Kölzig, South African-German ice hockey player and coach
- 1970 – Roy Mayorga, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
- 1970 – Huang Xiaomin, Chinese swimmer
- 1972 – Anders Thomas Jensen, Danish director and screenwriter
- 1972 – Dickey Simpkins, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1973 – Donnie Edwards, American football player
- 1973 – Randall Godfrey, American football player
- 1973 – Rie Miyazawa, Japanese model and actress
- 1973 – Sun Wen, Chinese footballer
- 1975 – Zach Braff, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1975 – Hal Gill, American ice hockey player
- 1976 – Candace Cameron Bure, American actress and talk show panelist
- 1976 – James Fox, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1976 – Chris Hoke, American football player
- 1976 – Georg Hólm, Icelandic bass player
- 1976 – Hirotada Ototake, Japanese author and educator
- 1977 – Ville Nieminen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1977 – Andy Phillips, American baseball player and coach
- 1978 – Imani Coppola, American singer-songwriter and violinist
- 1978 – Robert Glasper, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1978 – Tim Hasselbeck, American football player and sportscaster
- 1978 – Myleene Klass, Austrian/Filipino-English singer, pianist, and model
- 1978 – Martín Méndez, Uruguayan bass player and songwriter
- 1978 – Blaine Neal, American baseball player
- 1978 – Igor Semshov, Russian footballer
- 1979 – Lord Frederick Windsor, English journalist and financier
- 1979 – Clay Travis, American sports journalist, blogger, and broadcaster
- 1980 – Tommi Evilä, Finnish long jumper
- 1980 – Tanja Poutiainen, Finnish skier
- 1980 – Antonio Thomas, American wrestler
- 1981 – Robert Earnshaw, Welsh footballer
- 1981 – Jeff Faine, American football player
- 1981 – Alex Suarez, American bass player
- 1982 – Travis Moen, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Spanish actor
- 1983 – Mehdi Ballouchy, Moroccan footballer
- 1983 – Jerome Kaino, New Zealand rugby player
- 1983 – Mitsuru Nagata, Japanese footballer
- 1983 – Remi Nicole, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1983 – James Wade, English darts player
- 1983 – Katie Weatherston, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Max Bemis, American singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Michaël Ciani, French footballer
- 1984 – Siboniso Gaxa, South African footballer
- 1984 – Diana Matheson, Canadian soccer player
- 1985 – Clarke MacArthur, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Frank Ongfiang, Cameroonian footballer
- 1985 – Sinqua Walls, American basketball player and actor
- 1986 – Nikolas Asprogenis, Cypriot footballer
- 1986 – Aaron Curry, American football player
- 1986 – Goeido Gotaro, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1986 – Ryota Moriwaki, Japanese footballer
- 1987 – Benjamin Corgnet, French footballer
- 1987 – Heidi Mount, American model
- 1987 – Juan Adriel Ochoa, Mexican footballer
- 1987 – Levi Porter, English footballer
- 1987 – Hilary Rhoda, American model
- 1988 – Jucilei, Brazilian footballer
- 1988 – Leigh Adams, Australian footballer
- 1988 – Daniele Gasparetto, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Carlton Mitchell, American football player
- 1988 – Fabrice Muamba, Congolese-English footballer
- 1988 – Ivonne Orsini, Puerto Rican-American model and television host, Miss World Puerto Rico 2008
- 1990 – Lachlan Coote, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Charlie McDermott, American actor
- 1990 – Andrei Veis, Estonian footballer
- 1992 – Ken, South Korean singer
- 1992 – Julie Ertz, American soccer player
- 1994 – Adrián Alonso, Mexican actor
- 1995 – Darya Lebesheva, Belarusian tennis player
- 1998 – Peyton List, American actress and model
Deaths on April 6
- 861 – Prudentius, bishop of Troyes
- 885 – Saint Methodius, Byzantine missionary and saint (b. 815)
- 887 – Pei Che, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
- 943 – Liu Churang, Chinese general and chief of staff (b. 881)
- 943 – Nasr II, ruler (amir) of the Samanid Empire (b. 906)
- 1147 – Frederick II, duke of Swabia (b. 1090)
- 1199 – Richard I, king of England (b. 1157)
- 1231 – William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
- 1250 – Guillaume de Sonnac, Grand Master of the Knights Templar
- 1252 – Peter of Verona, Italian priest and saint (b. 1206)
- 1340 – Basil, emperor of Trebizond (Turkey)
- 1362 – James I, count of La Marche (b. 1319)
- 1376 – Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wrocław (b. 1310)
- 1490 – Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490 (b. 1443)
- 1520 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (b. 1483)
- 1523 – Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1479)
- 1528 – Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (b. 1471)
- 1551 – Joachim Vadian, Swiss scholar and politician (b. 1484)
- 1571 – John Hamilton, Scottish archbishop and academic (b. 1512)
- 1590 – Francis Walsingham, English politician and diplomat, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1532)
- 1593 – Henry Barrowe, English Puritan and separatist (b. 1550)
- 1605 – John Stow, English historian and author (b. 1525)
- 1621 – Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (b. 1539)
- 1641 – Domenico Zampieri (Domenichino), Italian painter (b. 1581)
- 1655 – David Blondel, French minister, historian, and scholar (b. 1591)
- 1676 – John Winthrop the Younger, English politician, 1st Governor of Connecticut (b. 1606)
- 1686 – Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, Irish-English politician (b. 1614)
- 1707 – Willem van de Velde the Younger, Dutch-English painter (b. 1633)
- 1755 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and historian (b. 1690)
- 1790 – Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1719)
- 1825 – Vladimir Borovikovsky, Ukrainian-Russian painter and educator (b. 1757)
- 1829 – Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (b. 1802)
- 1833 – Adamantios Korais, Greek philosopher and scholar (b. 1748)
- 1838 – José Bonifácio de Andrada, Brazilian poet, academic, and politician (b. 1763)
- 1860 – James Kirke Paulding, American author and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1778)
- 1862 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (b. 1803)
- 1883 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, American merchant and politician, 3rd Mayor of Chicago (b. 1801)
- 1886 – William Edward Forster, English businessman, philanthropist, and politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1818)
- 1899 – Alvan Wentworth Chapman, American physician and botanist (b. 1809)
- 1906 – Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author, playwright, and politician, 6th County Governor of Møre og Romsdal (b. 1849)
- 1913 – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore (b. 1835)
- 1923 – Kabalega, King of Bunyoro (b.1853)
- 1927 – Florence Earle Coates, American poet (b. 1850)
- 1935 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet and playwright (b. 1869)
- 1944 – Rose O’Neill, American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer (b. 1874)
- 1947 – Herbert Backe, German agronomist and politician (b. 1896)
- 1950 – Louis Wilkins, American pole vaulter (b. 1882)
- 1953 – Idris Davies, Welsh poet and author (b. 1905)
- 1959 – Leo Aryeh Mayer, Polish-Israeli scholar and academic (b. 1895)
- 1961 – Jules Bordet, Belgian microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
- 1963 – Otto Struve, Ukrainian-American astronomer and academic (b. 1897)
- 1970 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (b. 1933)
- 1971 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian-American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1882)
- 1974 – Willem Marinus Dudok, Dutch architect (b. 1884)
- 1974 – Hudson Fysh, Australian pilot and businessman, co-founded Qantas Airways Limited (b. 1895)
- 1977 – Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (b. 1889)
- 1979 – Ivan Vasilyov, Bulgarian architect, designed the SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library (b. 1893)
- 1983 – Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, Indian General who served as the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1962 to 1966 and the Military Governor of Hyderabad State from 1948 to 1949. (b. 1908)
- 1992 – Isaac Asimov, American science fiction writer (b. 1920)
- 1994 – Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan banker and politician, 3rd President of Rwanda (b. 1937)
- 1994 – Cyprien Ntaryamira, Burundian politician, 5th President of Burundi (b. 1955)
- 1995 – Ioannis Alevras, Greek banker and politician, President of Greece (b. 1912)
- 1996 – Greer Garson, English-American actress (b. 1904)
- 1998 – Norbert Schmitz, German footballer (b. 1958)
- 1998 – Tammy Wynette, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
- 1999 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (b. 1908)
- 2000 – Habib Bourguiba, Tunisian politician, 1st President of Tunisia (b. 1903)
- 2001 – Charles Pettigrew, American singer-songwriter (b. 1963)
- 2003 – David Bloom, American journalist (b. 1963)
- 2003 – Anita Borg, American computer scientist and educator; founded Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (b. 1949)
- 2003 – Gerald Emmett Carter, Canadian cardinal (b. 1912)
- 2003 – Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian drummer, educator, and activist (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Lou Berberet, American baseball player (b. 1929)
- 2004 – Larisa Bogoraz, Russian linguist and activist (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Maggie Dixon, American basketball player and coach (b. 1977)
- 2006 – Francis L. Kellogg, American soldier and diplomat (b. 1917)
- 2006 – Stefanos Stratigos, Greek actor and director (b. 1926)
- 2007 – Luigi Comencini, Italian director and producer (b. 1916)
- 2009 – J. M. S. Careless, Canadian historian and academic (b. 1919)
- 2009 – Shawn Mackay, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1982)
- 2010 – Wilma Mankiller, American tribal leader (b. 1945)
- 2010 – Corin Redgrave, English actor (b. 1939)
- 2011 – Gerald Finnerman, American director and cinematographer (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Roland Guilbault, American admiral (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Thomas Kinkade, American painter and illustrator (b. 1958)
- 2012 – Fang Lizhi, Chinese astrophysicist and academic (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Sheila Scotter, Australian fashion designer and journalist (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Reed Whittemore, American poet and critic (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Hilda Bynoe, Grenadian physician and politician, 2nd Governor of Grenada (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Bill Guttridge, English footballer and manager (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Bigas Luna, Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1946)
- 2013 – Ottmar Schreiner, German lawyer and politician (b. 1946)
- 2014 – Mary Anderson, American actress (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Jacques Castérède, French pianist and composer (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Liv Dommersnes, Norwegian actress (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Mickey Rooney, American soldier, actor, and dancer (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Chuck Stone, American soldier, journalist, and academic (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Massimo Tamburini, Italian motorcycle designer, co-founded Bimota (b. 1943)
- 2015 – Giovanni Berlinguer, Italian lawyer and politician (b. 1924)
- 2015 – James Best, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter and conductor (b. 1918)
- 2015 – Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Merle Haggard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1937)
- 2017 – Don Rickles, American actor and comedian (b. 1926)
- 2019 – Michael O’Donnell, British physician, journalist, author and broadcaster (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances on April 6
- Chakri Day, commemorating the establishment of the Chakri dynasty. (Thailand)
- Christian feast day:
- Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach (Lutheran Church).
- Brychan
- Eutychius of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Marcellinus of Carthage
- Pope Celestine I (Catholic Church)
- Pope Sixtus I
- April 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- International Day of Sport for Development and Peace
- National Fisherman Day (Indonesia)
- New Beer’s Eve (United States)
- Tartan Day (United States & Canada)
-
April 5 in History
- 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
- 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his army.
- 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos is crowned Byzantine emperor at Constantinople, bringing the Komnenian dynasty to full power.
- 1242 – During the Battle on the Ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
- 1536 – Royal Entry of Charles V into Rome: The last Roman triumph.
- 1566 – Two hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrick van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Seventeen Provinces.
- 1609 – Daimyō (Lord) Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa.
- 1614 – In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
- 1621 – The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to England.
- 1710 – The Statute of Anne receives the royal assent establishing the Copyright law of the United Kingdom.
- 1722 – The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island.
- 1792 – United States President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States.
- 1795 – Peace of Basel between France and Prussia is made.
- 1818 – In the Battle of Maipú, Chile’s independence movement, led by Bernardo O’Higgins and José de San Martín, win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins.
- 1879 – Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
- 1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they call Linear B.
- 1904 – The first international rugby league match is played between England and an Other Nationalities team (Welsh and Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan, England.
- 1915 – Boxing challenger Jess Willard knocks out Jack Johnson in Havana, Cuba to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
- 1922 – The American Birth Control League, forerunner of Planned Parenthood, is incorporated.
- 1932 – Dominion of Newfoundland: Ten thousand rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
- 1933 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs two executive orders: 6101 to establish the Civilian Conservation Corps, and 6102 “forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates” by U.S. citizens.
- 1936 – Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado kills 233 in Tupelo, Mississippi.
- 1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid. Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
- 1943 – World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally cause more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1,300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. Their target was the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit.
- 1944 – World War II: Two hundred seventy inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by the Germans.
- 1945 – Cold War: Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito signs an agreement with the Soviet Union to allow “temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory”.
- 1946 – Soviet troops end their year-long occupation of the Danish island of Bornholm.
- 1946 – A Fleet Air Arm Vickers Wellington crashes into a residential area in Rabat, Malta during a training exercise, killing all 4 crew members and 16 civilians on the ground.
- 1949 – A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements in the United States.
- 1951 – Cold War: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for spying for the Soviet Union.
- 1956 – Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro declares himself at war with Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.
- 1956 – In Sri Lanka, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna win the general elections in a landslide and S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Ceylon.
- 1957 – In India, Communists win the first elections in united Kerala and E. M. S. Namboodiripad is sworn in as the first Chief Minister.
- 1958 – Ripple Rock, an underwater threat to navigation in the Seymour Narrows in Canada is destroyed in one of the largest non-nuclear controlled explosions of the time.
- 1969 – Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities.
- 1971 – In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches a revolt against the United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
- 1976 – In China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen Incident.
- 1977 – The US Supreme Court rules that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people’s reservation thereby destroyed the tribe’s jurisdictional authority over the area in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip.
- 1986 – Three people are killed in the bombing of the La Belle discotheque in West Berlin, Germany.
- 1991 – An ASA EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 aboard including Sen. John Tower and astronaut Sonny Carter.
- 1992 – Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolves the Peruvian congress by military force.
- 1992 – Peace protesters Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sučić are killed on the Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo, becoming the first casualties of the Bosnian War.
- 1998 – In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opens to traffic, becoming the longest bridge span in the world.
- 1999 – Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
- 2000 – UEFA Cup semi-final violence: Four Galatasaray fans are arrested for the stabbings to death of two Leeds United fans.
- 2009 – North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of Six-party talks.
- 2010 – Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.
Births on April 5
- 1170 – Isabella of Hainault (d. 1190)
- 1219 – Wonjong of Goryeo, 24th ruler of Goryeo (d. 1274)
- 1279 – Al-Nuwayri, Egyptian Muslim historian (d. 1333)
- 1288 – Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (d. 1336)
- 1315 – James III of Majorca (d. 1349)
- 1365 – William II, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1417)
- 1472 – Bianca Maria Sforza, Italian wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1510)
- 1521 – Francesco Laparelli, Italian architect (d. 1570)
- 1523 – Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer and diplomat (d. 1596)
- 1533 – Giulio della Rovere, Italian Catholic Cardinal (d. 1578)
- 1539 – George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1603)
- 1549 – Princess Elizabeth of Sweden, (d. 1597)
- 1568 – Pope Urban VIII (d. 1644)
- 1588 – Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d. 1679)
- 1591 – Frederick Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (d. 1634)
- 1595 – John Wilson, English composer and educator (d. 1674)
- 1604 – Charles IV (d. 1675)
- 1616 – Frederick, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1661)
- 1622 – Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1703)
- 1649 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (d. 1721)
- 1656 – Nikita Demidov, Russian industrialist (d. 1725)
- 1664 – Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine, French noblewoman and Princess of Epinoy (d. 1748)
- 1674 – Margravine Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg, (d. 1748)
- 1691 – Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (d. 1768)
- 1692 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (d. 1730)
- 1719 – Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish field marshal and politician, Lord Marshal of Sweden (d. 1794)
- 1726 – Benjamin Harrison V, American politician, planter and merchant (d. 1791)
- 1727 – Pasquale Anfossi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1797)
- 1729 – Frederick Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1809)
- 1730 – Jean Baptiste Seroux d’Agincourt, French archaeologist and historian (d. 1814)
- 1732 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French painter and etcher (d. 1806)
- 1735 – Franziskus Herzan von Harras, Czech Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1804)
- 1739 – Philemon Dickinson, American lawyer and politician (d. 1809)
- 1752 – Sébastien Érard, French instrument maker (d. 1831)
- 1761 – Sybil Ludington, American heroine of the American Revolutionary War (d. 1839)
- 1769 – Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1839)
- 1773 – José María Coppinger, governor of Spanish East Florida (d. 1844)
- 1773 – Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, (d. 1839)
- 1777 – Marie Jules César Savigny, French zoologist (d. 1851)
- 1782 – Wincenty Krasiński, Polish nobleman (d. 1858)
- 1784 – Louis Spohr, German violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1859)
- 1788 – Franz Pforr, German painter (d. 1812)
- 1793 – Casimir Delavigne, French poet and dramatist (d. 1843)
- 1793 – Felix de Muelenaere, Belgian politician (d. 1862)
- 1795 – Henry Havelock, British general (d. 1857)
- 1799 – Jacques Denys Choisy, Swiss clergyman and botanist (d. 1859)
- 1801 – Félix Dujardin, French biologist (d. 1860)
- 1801 – Vincenzo Gioberti, Italian philosopher, publicist and politician (d. 1852)
- 1804 – Matthias Jakob Schleiden, German botanist (d. 1881)
- 1809 – Karl Felix Halm, German scholar and critic (d. 1882)
- 1810 – Sir Henry Rawlinson, British East India Company army officer and politician (d. 1895)
- 1811 – Jules Dupré, French painter (d. 1889)
- 1814 – Felix Lichnowsky, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1848)
- 1822 – Émile Louis Victor de Laveleye, Belgian economist (d. 1892)
- 1827 – Joseph Lister, English surgeon and academic (d. 1912)
- 1832 – Jules Ferry, French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (d. 1893)
- 1834 – Prentice Mulford, American humorist and author (d. 1891)
- 1834 – Wilhelm Olbers Focke, German medical doctor and botanist (d. 1922)
- 1834 – Frank R. Stockton, American writer and humorist (d. 1902)
- 1835 – Vítězslav Hálek, Czech poet, writer, journalist, dramatist and theatre critic. (d. 1874)
- 1837 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic (d. 1909)
- 1839 – Robert Smalls, African-American ship’s pilot, sea captain, and politician (d. 1915)
- 1840 – Ghazaros Aghayan, Armenian historian and linguist (d. 1911)
- 1842 – Hans Hildebrand, Swedish archaeologist (d. 1913)
- 1845 – Friedrich Sigmund Merkel, German anatomist and histopathologist (d. 1919)
- 1845 – Jules Cambon, French diplomat (d. 1935)
- 1846 – Sigmund Exner, Austrian physiologist (d. 1926)
- 1846 – Henry Wellesley, British peer and politician (d. 1900)
- 1848 – Thure de Thulstrup, American illustrator (d. 1930)
- 1848 – Ulrich Wille, Swiss army general (d. 1925)
- 1850 – Enrico Mazzanti, Italian engineer and cartoonist (d. 1910)
- 1852 – Émile Billard, French sailor (d. 1930)
- 1852 – Walter W. Winans, American marksman and sculptor (d. 1920)
- 1852 – Franz Eckert, German composer and musician (d. 1916)
- 1856 – Booker T. Washington, African-American educator, essayist and historian (d. 1915)
- 1857 – Alexander of Battenberg (d. 1893)
- 1858 – Washington Atlee Burpee, Canadian businessman, founded Burpee Seeds (d. 1915)
- 1859 – Reinhold Seeberg, German theologian (d. 1935)
- 1860 – Harry S. Barlow, British tennis player (d. 1917)
- 1862 – Louis Ganne, French conductor (d. 1923)
- 1862 – Leo Stern, English cellist (d. 1904)
- 1863 – Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1950)
- 1867 – Ernest Lewis, British tennis player (d. 1930)
- 1869 – Sergey Chaplygin, Russian physicist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 1942)
- 1869 – Albert Roussel, French composer (d. 1937)
- 1870 – Motobu Chōki, Japanese karateka (d. 1944)
- 1871 – Stanisław Grabski, Polish economist and politician (d. 1949)
- 1872 – Samuel Cate Prescott, American microbiologist and chemist (d. 1962)
- 1873 – Joseph Rheden, Austrian astronomer (d. 1946)
- 1874 – Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, French Cardinal of the Catholic Church (d. 1949)
- 1874 – Manuel María Ponce Brousset, President of Peru (d. 1966)
- 1878 – Albert Champion, French cyclist (d. 1927)
- 1878 – Georg Misch, German philosopher (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Paul Weinstein, German high jumper (d. 1964)
- 1879 – Arthur Berriedale Keith, Scottish lawyer (d. 1944)
- 1879 – Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien, German naval officer and author (d. 1956)
- 1880 – Eric Carlberg, Swedish Army officer, diplomat, shooter, fencer and modern pentathlete (d. 1963)
- 1880 – Vilhelm Carlberg, Swedish Army officer and shooter (d. 1970)
- 1882 – Song Jiaoren, Chinese revolutionary (d. 1913)
- 1882 – Natalia Sedova, 2nd wife of Leon Trotsky (d. 1962)
- 1883 – Walter Huston, Canadian-American actor and singer (d. 1950)
- 1884 – Ion Inculeț, Bessarabian academic and politician, President of Moldova (d. 1940)
- 1885 – Dimitrie Cuclin, Romanian composer (d. 1978)
- 1886 – Gotthelf Bergsträsser, German linguist (d. 1933)
- 1886 – Frederick Lindemann, British physicist (d. 1957)
- 1886 – Gustavo Jiménez, Peruvian colonel and politician, 73rd President of Peru (d. 1933)
- 1887 – William Cowhig, British gymnast (d. 1964)
- 1889 – Vicente Ferreira Pastinha, Brazilian martial artist (d. 1981)
- 1890 – Karl Kirk, Danish gymnast (d. 1955)
- 1890 – William Moore, British track and field athlete (d. 1956)
- 1891 – Arnold Jackson, English runner, soldier, and lawyer (d. 1972)
- 1891 – Laura Vicuña, Chilean nun (d. 1904)
- 1892 – Raymond Bonney, American ice hockey player (d. 1964)
- 1893 – Frithjof Andersen, Norwegian wrestler (d. 1975)
- 1893 – Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (d. 1973)
- 1894 – Lawrence Dale Bell, American industrialist and founder of Bell Aircraft Corporation (d. 1956)
- 1894 – Hans Hüttig, German SS officer (d. 1980)
- 1894 – Carl Rudolf Florin, Swedish botanist (d. 1965)
- 1895 – Mike O’Dowd, American boxer (d. 1957)
- 1896 – Einar Lundborg, Swedish aviator (d. 1931)
- 1897 – Hans Schuberth, German politician (d. 1976)
- 1899 – Alfred Blalock, American surgeon and academic (d. 1964)
- 1900 – Herbert Bayer, Austrian-American graphic designer, painter, and photographer (d. 1985)
- 1900 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrestler (d. 1928)
- 1900 – Spencer Tracy, American actor (d. 1967)
- 1901 – Curt Bois, German actor (d. 1991)
- 1901 – Chester Bowles, American diplomat and ambassador (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1901 – Doggie Julian, American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach (d. 1967)
- 1902 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Russian-American rabbi (d. 1994)
- 1903 – Marion Aye, American actress (d. 1951)
- 1904 – Richard Eberhart, American poet and academic (d. 2005)
- 1906 – Albert Charles Smith, American botanist (d. 1999)
- 1906 – Fernando Germani, Italian organist (d. 1998)
- 1906 – Ted Morgan, New Zealand boxer (d. 1952)
- 1907 – Sanya Dharmasakti, Thai jurist (d. 2002)
- 1908 – Bette Davis, American actress (d. 1989)
- 1908 – Kurt Neumann, German director (d. 1958)
- 1908 – Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1986)
- 1908 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor and manager (d. 1989)
- 1909 – Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer, co-founded Eon Productions (d. 1996)
- 1909 – Giacomo Gentilomo, Italian film director and painter (d. 2001)
- 1909 – Károly Sós, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1991)
- 1909 – Erwin Wegner, German hurdler (d. 1945)
- 1910 – Sven Andersson, Swedish politician (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Oronzo Pugliese, Italian football manager (d. 1990)
- 1911 – Hedi Amara Nouira, Tunisian politician (d. 1993)
- 1911 – Johnny Revolta, American golfer (d. 1991)
- 1912 – Jehan Buhan, French fencer (d. 1999)
- 1912 – Habib Elghanian, Iranian businessman (d. 1979)
- 1912 – Antonio Ferri, Italian scientist (d. 1975)
- 1912 – Carlos Guastavino, Argentine composer (d. 2000)
- 1912 – Makar Honcharenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 1997)
- 1912 – John Le Mesurier, English actor (d. 1983)
- 1912 – István Örkény, Hungarian author and playwright (d. 1979)
- 1912 – Bill Roberts, English sprinter and soldier (d. 2001)
- 1913 – Antoni Clavé, Catalan artist (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Nicolas Grunitzky, 2nd President of Togo (d. 1969)
- 1913 – Ruth Smith, Faroese artist (d. 1958)
- 1914 – Felice Borel, Italian footballer (d. 1993)
- 1916 – Gregory Peck, American actor, political activist, and producer (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Robert Bloch, American author (d. 1994)
- 1917 – Frans Gommers, Belgian footballer (d. 1996)
- 1919 – Lester James Peries, Sri Lankan director, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2018)
- 1920 – Barend Biesheuvel, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2001)
- 1920 – Arthur Hailey, English-Canadian soldier and author (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Alfonso Thiele, Turkish-Italian race car driver (d. 1986)
- 1920 – John Willem Gran, Swedish bishop (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Christopher Hewett, English actor and theatre director (d. 2001)
- 1922 – Tom Finney, English footballer (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Harry Freedman, Polish-Canadian horn player, composer, and educator (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Andy Linden, American race car driver (d. 1987)
- 1922 – Gale Storm, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
- 1923 – Ernest Mandel, German-born Belgian Marxist economist, Trotskyist activist and theorist (d. 1995)
- 1923 – Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (d. 1995)
- 1923 – Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, Vietnamese general and politician, 5th President of South Vietnam (d. 2001)
- 1924 – Igor Borisov, Soviet rower (d. before 2005)
- 1925 – Janet Rowley, American human geneticist (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Pierre Nihant, Belgian cyclist (d. 1993)
- 1926 – Roger Corman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1926 – Liang Yusheng, Chinese writer (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Thanin Kraivichien, Thai lawyer and politician
- 1927 – Arne Hoel, Norwegian ski jumper (d. 2006)
- 1928 – Enzo Cannavale, Italian actor (d. 2011)
- 1928 – Tony Williams, American singer (d. 1992)
- 1929 – Hugo Claus, Belgian author, poet, and painter (d. 2008)
- 1929 – Ivar Giaever, Norwegian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1929 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor and producer (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Joe Meek, English songwriter and producer (d. 1967)
- 1929 – Mahmoud Mollaghasemi, Iranian wrestler
- 1930 – Mary Costa, American singer and actress
- 1930 – Pierre Lhomme, French director of photography (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Jack Clement, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Héctor Olivera, Argentine director, producer and screenwriter
- 1933 – Feridun Buğeker, Turkish footballer (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1933 – Barbara Holland, American author (d. 2010)
- 1933 – K. Kailasapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and academic (d. 1982)
- 1934 – John Carey, English author and critic
- 1934 – Roman Herzog, German lawyer and politician, 7th President of Germany (d. 2017)
- 1934 – Moise Safra, Brazilian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Banco Safra (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Stanley Turrentine, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2000)
- 1935 – Giovanni Cianfriglia, Italian actor
- 1935 – Peter Grant, English talent manager (d. 1995)
- 1935 – Donald Lynden-Bell, English astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Frank Schepke, German rower (d. 2017)
- 1936 – Ronnie Bucknum, American race car driver (d. 1992)
- 1936 – Glenn Jordan, American director and producer
- 1936 – Dragoljub Minić, Yugoslavian chess Grandmaster (d. 2005)
- 1937 – Joseph Lelyveld, American journalist and author
- 1937 – Jean-Pierre Petit, French scientist
- 1937 – Colin Powell, American general and politician, 65th United States Secretary of State
- 1937 – Andrzej Schinzel, Polish mathematician
- 1937 – Arie Selinger, Israeli volleyball player and manager
- 1937 – Juan Vicente Lezcano, Paraguayan footballer (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Colin Bland, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer (d. 2018)
- 1938 – Mal Colston, Australian educator and politician (d. 2003)
- 1938 – Nancy Holt, American sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Natalya Kustinskaya, Soviet actress (d. 2012)
- 1939 – Leka I, Crown Prince of Albania (d. 2011)
- 1939 – Crispian St. Peters, English singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas, Prime Minister of Yemen
- 1939 – Ronald White, American singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
- 1939 – David Winters, English-American actor, choreographer and producer (d. 2019)
- 1940 – Tommy Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1940 – Gilles Proulx, Canadian journalist, historian, and radio host
- 1941 – Michael Moriarty, American-Canadian actor
- 1941 – Dave Swarbrick, English singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 2016)
- 1942 – Allan Clarke, English singer-songwriter
- 1942 – Pascal Couchepin, Swiss politician
- 1942 – Juan Gisbert Sr., Spanish tennis player
- 1942 – Peter Greenaway, Welsh director and screenwriter
- 1943 – Dean Brown, Australian politician, 41st Premier of South Australia
- 1943 – Max Gail, American actor and director
- 1943 – Fighting Harada, Japanese boxer
- 1943 – Miet Smet, Belgian politician
- 1943 – Jean-Louis Tauran, French cardinal (d. 2018)
- 1944 – Willeke van Ammelrooy, Dutch actress and director
- 1944 – János Martonyi, Hungarian politician
- 1944 – Evan Parker, British musician
- 1944 – Douangchay Phichit, Laotian politician (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Willy Planckaert, Belgian cyclist
- 1944 – Pedro Rosselló, Puerto Rican physician and politician, 7th Governor of Puerto Rico
- 1944 – Peter T. King, American soldier, lawyer, and politician
- 1945 – Ove Bengtson, Swedish tennis player
- 1945 – Steve Carver, American director and producer
- 1945 – Cem Karaca, Turkish musician (d. 2004)
- 1945 – Tommy Smith, English footballer (d. 2019)
- 1946 – Jane Asher, English actress
- 1946 – Julio Ángel Fernández, Uruguayan astronomer
- 1946 – Björn Granath, Swedish actor (d. 2017)
- 1946 – Georgi Markov, Bulgarian Greco-Roman wrestler
- 1947 – Đurđica Bjedov, Yugoslav swimmer
- 1947 – Willy Chirino, Cuban-American musician
- 1947 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Filipino academic and politician, 14th President of the Philippines
- 1947 – Ramón Mifflin, Peruvian footballer
- 1947 – Virendra Sharma, Indian-English lawyer and politician
- 1948 – Pierre-Albert Chapuisat, Swiss footballer
- 1948 – Dave Holland, English drummer (d. 2018)
- 1948 – Roy McFarland, English footballer and manager
- 1949 – Stanley Dziedzic, American wrestler
- 1949 – Larry Franco, American film producer
- 1949 – Judith Resnik, Ukrainian-American engineer and astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1950 – Ann C. Crispin, American writer (d. 2013)
- 1950 – Franklin Chang Díaz, Costa Rican-Chinese American astronaut and physicist
- 1950 – Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
- 1950 – Toshiko Fujita, Japanese actress, singer and narrator (d. 2018)
- 1950 – Miki Manojlović, Serbian actor
- 1951 – Les Binks, Irish drummer and songwriter
- 1951 – Yevgeniy Gavrilenko, Belarusian hurdler
- 1951 – Nedim Gürsel, Turkish writer
- 1951 – Dean Kamen, American inventor and businessman, founded Segway Inc.
- 1951 – Dave McArtney, New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
- 1951 – Ubol Ratana, Thai Princess
- 1952 – Alfie Conn, Scottish international footballer, midfielder
- 1952 – John C. Dvorak, American author and editor
- 1952 – Sandy Mayer, American tennis player
- 1952 – Dennis Mortimer, English footballer
- 1952 – Mitch Pileggi, American actor
- 1953 – Frank Gaffney, American journalist and radio host
- 1953 – Keiko Han, Japanese actress
- 1953 – Tae Jin-ah, South Korean singer
- 1953 – Raleb Majadele, Israeli politician
- 1953 – Ian Swales, English accountant and politician
- 1954 – Guy Bertrand, Canadian linguist and radio host
- 1954 – Peter Case, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Mohamed Ben Mouza, Tunisian footballer
- 1954 – Stan Ridgway, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Yoshiichi Watanabe, Japanese footballer
- 1955 – Charlotte de Turckheim, French actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1955 – Ricardo Ferrero, Argentine footballer (d. 2015)
- 1955 – Christian Gourcuff, French footballer and manager
- 1955 – Anthony Horowitz, English author and screenwriter
- 1955 – Bernard Longley, English prelate
- 1955 – Akira Toriyama, Japanese illustrator
- 1955 – Takayoshi Yamano, Japanese footballer
- 1956 – Diamond Dallas Page, American wrestler and actor
- 1956 – Leonid Fedun, Russian businessman
- 1956 – Reid Ribble, American politician
- 1957 – Sebastian Adayanthrath, Indian bishop
- 1957 – Karin Roßley, German hurdler
- 1958 – Henrik Dettmann, Finnish basketball coach
- 1958 – Ryoichi Kawakatsu, Japanese footballer
- 1958 – Johan Kriek, South African-American tennis player
- 1958 – Daniel Schneidermann, French journalist
- 1958 – Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan lawyer and journalist (d. 2009)
- 1959 – Paul Chung, Hong Kong actor and host (d. 1989)
- 1960 – Asteris Koutoulas, Romanian-German record producer, manager, and author
- 1960 – Larry McCray, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Ian Redford, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
- 1960 – Hiromi Taniguchi, Japanese long-distance runner
- 1960 – Adnan Terzić, Bosnian politician
- 1961 – Andrea Arnold, English filmmaker and actress
- 1961 – Anna Caterina Antonacci, Italian soprano
- 1961 – Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Bahraini-Danish human rights activist
- 1961 – Lisa Zane, American actress and singer
- 1962 – Lana Clarkson, American actress and model (d. 2003)
- 1962 – Sara Danius, Swedish scholar of literature and aesthetics
- 1962 – Richard Gough, Swedish born Scottish international footballer
- 1962 – Arild Monsen, Norwegian cross-country skier
- 1962 – Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Russian businessman and politician, 1st President of Kalmykia
- 1963 – Arthur Adams, American comic book artist and writer
- 1964 – Neil Eckersley, British judoka
- 1964 – Vakhtang Iagorashvili, Soviet modern pentathlete
- 1964 – Levon Julfalakyan, Soviet Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler
- 1964 – Marius Lăcătuș, Romanian footballer and coach
- 1965 – Aykut Kocaman, Turkish footballer and manager
- 1965 – Lang Tzu-yun, Taiwanese actress
- 1965 – Elizabeth McIntyre, American freestyle skier
- 1965 – Svetlana Paramygina, Belarusian biathlete
- 1966 – Yoon Hyun, South Korean judoka
- 1966 – Mike McCready, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1967 – Troy Gentry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
- 1967 – Franck Silvestre, French footballer
- 1967 – Erland Johnsen, Norwegian footballer
- 1967 – Laima Zilporytė, Soviet cyclist
- 1968 – Paula Cole, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1969 – Dinos Angelidis, Greek basketball player
- 1969 – Viatcheslav Djavanian, Russian cyclist
- 1969 – Pontus Kåmark, Swedish footballer
- 1969 – Pavlo Khnykin, Ukrainian swimmer
- 1969 – Tomislav Piplica, Bosnian footballer and manager
- 1969 – Ravindra Prabhat, Indian writer and journalist
- 1970 – Soheil Ayari, French race car driver
- 1970 – Valérie Bonneton, French actress
- 1970 – Diamond D, American hip hop producer
- 1970 – Petar Genov, Bulgarian chess grandmaster
- 1970 – Thea Gill, Canadian actress
- 1970 – Miho Hatori, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Irina Timofeyeva, Russian long-distance runner
- 1971 – Dong Abay, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1971 – Austin Berry, Costa Rican footballer
- 1971 – Simona Cavallari, Italian actress
- 1971 – Victoria Hamilton, English actress
- 1971 – Nelson Parraguez, Chilean footballer
- 1971 – Kim Soo-nyung, South Korean archer
- 1972 – Krista Allen, American actress
- 1972 – Nima Arkani-Hamed, American-Canadian theoretical physicist
- 1972 – Tom Coronel, Dutch race car driver
- 1972 – Paul Okon, Australian footballer and manager
- 1972 – Yasuhiro Takemoto, Japanese animator and director (d. 2019)
- 1972 – Junko Takeuchi, Japanese actress
- 1973 – Élodie Bouchez, French-American actress
- 1973 – Lidia Trettel, Italian snowboarder
- 1973 – Pharrell Williams, American singer, songwriter and rapper
- 1974 – Sandra Bagarić, Croatian opera singer and actress
- 1974 – Julien Boutter, French tennis player
- 1974 – Katja Holanti, Finnish biathlete
- 1974 – Oleg Khodkov, Russian handball player
- 1974 – Ariel López, Argentine footballer
- 1974 – Lukas Ridgeston, Slovak actor and director
- 1974 – Vyacheslav Voronin, Russian high jumper
- 1975 – Sarah Baldock, English organist and conductor
- 1975 – John Hartson, Welsh footballer and coach
- 1975 – Juicy J, American rapper and producer
- 1975 – Serhiy Klymentiev, Ukrainian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Caitlin Moran, English journalist, author, and critic
- 1975 – Marcos Vales, Spanish footballer
- 1975 – Shammond Williams, American basketball player and coach
- 1976 – Luis de Agustini, Uruguayan footballer
- 1976 – Péter Biros, Hungarian water polo player
- 1976 – Sterling K. Brown, American actor
- 1976 – Aleksei Budõlin, Estonian judoka
- 1976 – Simone Inzaghi, Italian footballer
- 1976 – Fernando Morientes, Spanish footballer and coach
- 1976 – Natascha Ragosina, Russian boxer
- 1976 – Henrik Stenson, Swedish golfer
- 1976 – Valeria Straneo, Italian long-distance runner
- 1976 – Indrek Tobreluts, Estonian biathlete
- 1976 – Anouska van der Zee, Dutch cyclist
- 1977 – Jonathan Erlich, Israeli tennis player
- 1977 – Trevor Letowski, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1977 – Daniel Majstorović, Swedish footballer
- 1978 – Dwain Chambers, British track sprinter
- 1978 – Marcone Amaral Costa, Qatari footballer
- 1978 – Tarek El-Said, Egyptian footballer
- 1978 – Jairo Patiño, Colombian footballer
- 1978 – Sohyang, South Korean singer
- 1978 – Stephen Jackson, American basketball player
- 1978 – Arnaud Tournant, French cyclist
- 1978 – Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
- 1978 – Günther Weidlinger, Austrian long-distance runner
- 1979 – Vlada Avramov, Serbian footballer
- 1979 – Josh Boone, American screenwriter and director
- 1979 – Song Dae-nam, South Korean judoka
- 1979 – Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
- 1979 – Imany, French singer
- 1979 – Barel Mouko, Congolese footballer
- 1979 – Cesare Natali, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Mitsuo Ogasawara, Japanese footballer
- 1979 – Alexander Resch, German luger
- 1979 – Andrius Velička, Lithuanian footballer
- 1979 – Dante Wesley, American football player
- 1979 – Chen Yanqing, Chinese weightlifter
- 1980 – Matt Bonner, American basketball player
- 1980 – Alberta Brianti, Italian tennis player
- 1980 – Rafael Cavalcante, Brazilian mixed martial artist
- 1980 – David Chocarro, Argentinian baseball player and actor
- 1980 – Mike Glumac, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Mario Kasun, Croatian basketball player
- 1980 – Lee Jae-won, South Korean DJ and singer
- 1980 – Joris Mathijsen, Dutch footballer
- 1980 – Rasmus Quist Hansen, Danish rower
- 1980 – Odlanier Solís, Cuban boxer
- 1981 – Matthew Emmons, American rifle shooter
- 1981 – Michael A. Monsoor, American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
- 1981 – Mariqueen Maandig, Filipino-American musician and singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Daba Modibo Keïta, Malian taekwondo athlete
- 1981 – Marissa Nadler, American musician
- 1981 – Tom Riley, English actor and producer
- 1981 – Mompati Thuma, Botswana footballer
- 1981 – Pieter Weening, Dutch cyclist
- 1982 – Hayley Atwell, English-American actress
- 1982 – Matheus Coradini Vivian, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Thomas Hitzlsperger, German footballer
- 1982 – Kelly Pavlik, American boxer
- 1982 – Matt Pickens, American soccer player
- 1982 – Alexandre Prémat, French race car driver
- 1982 – Danylo Sapunov, Ukrainian-Kazakhstani triathlete
- 1982 – Hubert Schwab, Swiss cyclist
- 1982 – Marcel Seip, Dutch former footballer
- 1983 – Jaime Castrillón, Colombian footballer
- 1983 – Jorge Andrés Martínez, Uruguayan footballer
- 1983 – Brock Radunske, Canadian-South Korean ice hockey player
- 1983 – Yohann Sangaré, French basketball player
- 1983 – Cécile Storti, French cross-country skier
- 1983 – Shikha Uberoi, Indian-American tennis player
- 1984 – Marshall Allman, American actor
- 1984 – Aram Mp3, Armenian singer and comedian
- 1984 – Rune Brattsveen, Norwegian biathlete
- 1984 – Alexei Glukhov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Maartje Goderie, Dutch field hockey player
- 1984 – Darija Jurak, Croatian tennis player
- 1984 – Dejan Kelhar, Slovenian footballer
- 1984 – Dmitry Kozonchuk, Russian cyclist
- 1984 – Shin Min-a, South Korean actress
- 1984 – Jess Sum, Hong Kong actress
- 1984 – Peter Penz, Austrian luger
- 1984 – Samuele Preisig, Swiss footballer
- 1984 – Cristian Săpunaru, Romanian footballer
- 1984 – Fabio Vitaioli, San Marinese footballer
- 1984 – Kisho Yano, Japanese footballer
- 1984 – Saba Qamar, Pakistani actress-model
- 1985 – Daniel Congré, French footballer
- 1985 – Erwin l’Ami, Dutch chess player
- 1985 – Jolanda Keizer, Dutch heptathlete
- 1985 – Sergey Khachatryan, Armenian violinist
- 1985 – Linas Pilibaitis, Lithuanian footballer
- 1985 – Jan Smeets, Dutch chess grandmaster
- 1985 – Kristof Vandewalle, Belgian cyclist
- 1986 – Anna Sophia Berglund, American model and actress
- 1986 – Anzor Boltukayev, Chechen wrestler
- 1986 – Diego Chará, Colombian footballer
- 1986 – Charlotte Flair, American wrestler, author and actress
- 1986 – Róbert Kasza, Hungarian Modern pentathlete
- 1986 – Eetu Muinonen, Finnish footballer
- 1986 – Manuel Ruz, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Albert Selimov, Azerbaijani boxer
- 1987 – Max Grün, German footballer
- 1987 – Balázs Hárai, Hungarian water polo player
- 1987 – Anton Kokorin, Russian sprint athlete
- 1987 – Fyodor Kudryashov, Russian footballer
- 1987 – Etiënne Reijnen, Dutch footballer
- 1988 – Gerson Acevedo, Chilean footballer
- 1988 – Teresa Almeida, Angolan handball player
- 1988 – Quade Cooper, New Zealand rugby player and boxer
- 1988 – Jonathan Davies, Welsh rugby union player
- 1988 – Gevorg Ghazaryan, Armenian footballer
- 1988 – Alisha Glass, American ex-indoor volleyball player
- 1988 – Vurğun Hüseynov, Azerbaijani footballer
- 1988 – Matthias Jaissle, German footballer and manager
- 1988 – Jon Kwang-ik, North Korean footballer
- 1988 – Christopher Papamichalopoulos, Cypriot skier
- 1988 – Zack Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Pape Sy, French basketball player
- 1988 – Alexey Volkov, Russian biathlete
- 1989 – Kader Amadou, Nigerien footballer
- 1989 – Yémi Apithy, Beninese fencer
- 1989 – Liemarvin Bonevacia, Dutch sprinter
- 1989 – Freddie Fox, English actor
- 1989 – Emre Güral, Turkish footballer
- 1989 – Justin Holiday, American basketball player
- 1989 – Rachel Homan, Canadian curler
- 1989 – Lily James, English actress
- 1989 – Trevor Marsicano, American speed skater
- 1989 – Jonathan Rossini, Swiss footballer
- 1989 – Kiki Sukezane, Japanese actress
- 1989 – Sosuke Takatani, Japanese wrestler
- 1990 – Alex Cuthbert, Welsh rugby player
- 1990 – Amer Said Al-Shatri, Omani footballer
- 1990 – Fredy Hinestroza, Colombian footballer
- 1990 – Chen Huijia, Chinese swimmer
- 1990 – Haruma Miura, Japanese actor and singer
- 1990 – Ismaeel Mohammad, Qatari footballer
- 1990 – Iryna Pamialova, Belarusian canoeist
- 1990 – Jakub Sedláček, Czech ice hockey player
- 1990 – Sercan Yıldırım, Turkish footballer
- 1990 – Género Zeefuik, Dutch footballer
- 1991 – Yassine Bounou, Moroccan footballer
- 1991 – Nathaniel Clyne, English footballer
- 1991 – Adriano Grimaldi, Italian-German footballer
- 1991 – Joël Mall, Swiss footballer
- 1991 – Guilherme dos Santos Torres, Brazilian footballer
- 1992 – Emmalyn Estrada, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1992 – Shintaro Kurumaya, Japanese footballer
- 1992 – Kaveh Rezaei, Iranian footballer
- 1992 – Dmytro Ryzhuk, Ukrainian footballer
- 1993 – Andreas Bouchalakis, Greek footballer
- 1993 – Maya DiRado, American swimmer
- 1993 – Laura Feiersinger, Austrian footballer
- 1993 – Scottie Wilbekin, American-born naturalized Turkish basketball player
- 1994 – Mateusz Bieniek, Polish volleyball player
- 1994 – Edem Rjaïbi, Tunisian footballer
- 1994 – Richard Sánchez, Mexican footballer
- 1995 – Viliame Kikau, Fijian rugby league player
- 1995 – Sei Muroya, Japanese footballer
- 1995 – Gleb Rassadkin, Belarusian footballer
- 1995 – Sebastian Starke Hedlund, Swedish footballer
- 1996 – Nicolas Beer, Danish race car driver
- 1996 – Raouf Benguit, Algerian footballer
- 1997 – Borja Mayoral, Spanish footballer
- 1998 – Jeremy Olson
- 1999 – Andrea Buwalda
- 2000 – Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Indian actor
- 2001 – Thylane Blondeau, French model and actress
Deaths on April 5
- 517 – Timothy I, Byzantine patriarch
- 582 – Eutychius, Byzantine patriarch
- 584 – Ruadán of Lorrha, Irish abbot
- 828 – Nikephoros I, Byzantine patriarch
- 902 – Al-Mu’tadid, Abbasid caliph
- 1168 – Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1104)
- 1183 – Ramon Berenguer III, Spanish count of Cerdanya and Provence
- 1205 – Isabella I of Jerusalem, queen regent of Jerusalem (b. 1172)
- 1258 – Juliana of Liège, Belgian canoness and saint
- 1308 – Ivan Kőszegi, Hungarian baron and oligarch
- 1325 – Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron of Monthermer and Earl of Gloucester (b. c.1270)
- 1419 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1350)
- 1431 – Bernard I, margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1364)
- 1512 – Lazzaro Bastiani, Italian painter (b. 1429)
- 1534 – Jan Matthys, Dutch anabaptist reformer
- 1594 – Catherine of Palma, Spanish nun (b. 1533)
- 1617 – Alonso Lobo, Spanish composer (b. 1555)
- 1626 – Anna Koltovskaya, Russian tsarina
- 1673 – François Caron, Belgian-French explorer and politician, 8th Governor of Formosa (b. 1600)
- 1674 – George Frederick, prince of Nassau-Siegen (b. 1606)
- 1679 – Anne Geneviève de Bourbon, French princess (b. 1619)
- 1684 – William Brouncker, English mathematician (b. 1620)
- 1684 – Karl Eusebius, prince of Liechtenstein (b. 1611)
- 1693 – Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, French noblewoman (b. 1627)
- 1693 – Philip William August, German nobleman (b. 1668)
- 1695 – George Savile, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1633)
- 1697 – Charles XI, king of Sweden (b. 1655)
- 1704 – Christian Ulrich I, German nobleman and Duke of Württemberg-Oels (b. 1652)
- 1708 – Christian Heinrich, German prince and member of the House of Hohenzollern (b. 1661)
- 1709 – Roger de Piles, French painter, engraver, art critic and diplomat (b. 1635)
- 1712 – Jan Luyken, Dutch poet, illustrator and engraver (b. 1649)
- 1717 – Jean Jouvenet, French painter (b. 1647)
- 1723 – Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Austrian architect, sculptor and historian (b. 1656)
- 1735 – William Derham, English minister and philosopher (b. 1657)
- 1751 – Frederick I, prince consort and king of Sweden (b. 1676)
- 1765 – Edward Young, English poet and author (b. 1683)
- 1767 – Princess Charlotte Wilhelmine of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, German princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1685)
- 1768 – Egidio Forcellini, Italian philologist (b. 1688)
- 1769 – Marc-Antoine Laugier, Jesuit priest (b. 1713)
- 1794 – Georges Danton, French lawyer and politician, French Minister of Justice (b. 1759)
- 1794 – François Chabot, French politician (b. 1756)
- 1794 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1760)
- 1794 – Fabre d’Églantine, French actor, dramatist, poet and politician (b. 1750)
- 1794 – Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles, French judge and politician (b. 1759)
- 1794 – Pierre Philippeaux, French lawyer (b. 1754)
- 1794 – François Joseph Westermann, French general (b. 1751)
- 1799 – Johann Christoph Gatterer, German historian (b. 1727)
- 1804 – Jean-Charles Pichegru, French general (b. 1761)
- 1808 – Johann Georg Wille, German engraver (b. 1715)
- 1830 – Richard Chenevix, Irish chemist and playwright (b. 1774)
- 1831 – Pierre Léonard Vander Linden, Belgian entomologist (b. 1797)
- 1842 – Shah Shujah Durrani, 5th Emir of Afghanistan (b. 1785)
- 1852 – Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, (b. 1800)
- 1861 – Ferdinand Joachimsthal, German mathematician (b. 1818)
- 1862 – Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Dutch artist (b. 1803)
- 1865 – Manfredo Fanti, Italian general (b. 1806)
- 1866 – Thomas Hodgkin, British physician (b. 1798)
- 1868 – Karel Purkyně, Czech painter (b. 1834)
- 1871 – Paolo Savi, Italian geologist and ornithologist (b. 1798)
- 1872 – Paul-Auguste-Ernest Laugier, French astronomer (b. 1812)
- 1873 – Milivoje Blaznavac, Serbian soldier and politician (b. 1824)
- 1882 – Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play, (b. 1806)
- 1888 – Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
- 1891 – Johann Hermann Bauer, (b. 1861)
- 1900 – Joseph Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (b. 1822)
- 1900 – Osman Nuri Pasha, Ottoman field marshal and the hero of the Siege of Plevna in 1877 (b. 1832)
- 1901 – Angelo Messedaglia, Italian social scientist and statistician (b. 1820)
- 1902 – Hans Ernst August Buchner, German bacteriologist (b. 1850)
- 1904 – Ernst Leopold, 4th Prince of Leiningen (b. 1830)
- 1904 – Frances Power Cobbe, Irish writer (b. 1822)
- 1906 – Eastman Johnson, American painter (b. 1824)
- 1914 – Bernard Borggreve, German forestry scientist (b. 1836)
- 1916 – Maksim Kovalevsky, Russian sociologist (b. 1851)
- 1918 – George Tupou II, King of Tonga (b. 1874)
- 1918 – Paul Vidal de La Blache, French geographer (b. 1845)
- 1920 – Laurent Marqueste, French sculptor (b. 1848)
- 1921 – Alphons Diepenbrock, Dutch composer (b. 1862)
- 1921 – Sophie Elkan, Swedish-Jewish writer and translator (b. 1853)
- 1923 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English archaeologist and businessman (b. 1866)
- 1924 – Victor Hensen, German zoologist (b. 1835)
- 1928 – Roy Kilner, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1890)
- 1928 – Viktor Oliva, Czech painter and illustrator (b. 1861)
- 1929 – Francis Aidan Gasquet, English Benedictine monk (b. 1846)
- 1929 – Ludwig von Sybel, German archeologist (b. 1846)
- 1932 – María Blanchard, Spanish painter (b. 1881)
- 1933 – Earl Derr Biggers, American novelist and playwright (b. 1884)
- 1933 – Hjalmar Mellin, Finnish mathematician and functional theorist (b. 1854)
- 1934 – Salvatore Di Giacomo, Italian poet, playwright, songwriter and fascist intellectual (b. 1860)
- 1934 – Jiro Sato, Japanese tennis player (b. 1908)
- 1935 – Achille Locatelli, Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1856)
- 1935 – Emil Młynarski, Polish conductor, violinist, composer, and pedagogue (b. 1870)
- 1935 – Franz von Vecsey, Hungarian violinist and composer (b. 1893)
- 1936 – Chandler Egan, American golfer and architect (b. 1884)
- 1937 – Gustav Adolf Deissmann, (b. 1866)
- 1937 – José Benlliure y Gil, Spanish painter (b. 1858)
- 1938 – Helena Westermarck, Finnish artist and writer (b. 1857)
- 1938 – Verner Lehtimäki, Finnish revolutionary (b. 1890)
- 1940 – Charles Freer Andrews, English-Indian priest, missionary, and educator (b. 1871)
- 1940 – Robert Maillart, Swiss civil engineer (b. 1872)
- 1940 – Jay O’Brien, American bobsledder (b. 1883)
- 1940 – Song Zheyuan, Chinese general (b. 1885)
- 1941 – Parvin E’tesami, Persian poet (b. 1907)
- 1941 – Nigel Gresley, Scottish-English engineer (b. 1876)
- 1941 – Franciszek Kleeberg, Polish general (b. 1888)
- 1945 – Heinrich Borgmann, German officer (b. 1912)
- 1945 – Karl-Otto Koch, German SS officer (b. 1897)
- 1946 – Vincent Youmans, American composer and producer (b. 1898)
- 1947 – Bernhard Pankok, German painter, artist and architect (b. 1872)
- 1947 – Elis Strömgren, Swedish-Danish astronomer (b. 1870)
- 1948 – Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, American socialite and philanthropist (b. 1874)
- 1949 – Erich Zeigner, Prime Minister of Saxony (b. 1886)
- 1950 – Hiroshi Yoshida, Japanese painter (b. 1876)
- 1952 – Agnes Morton, British tennis player (b.
- 1954 – Princess Märtha of Sweden, (b. 1901)
- 1954 – Claude Delvincourt, French pianist and composer (b. 1888)
- 1956 – William Titt, British gymnast (b. 1881)
- 1958 – Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, (b. 1884)
- 1958 – Ásgrímur Jónsson, Icelandic painter (b. 1876)
- 1958 – Isidora Sekulić, Serbian writer (b. 1877)
- 1961 – Nikolai Kryukov, Russian composer (b. 1908)
- 1962 – Boo Kullberg, Swedish gymnast (b. 1889)
- 1963 – Jacobus Oud, Dutch architect (b. 1890)
- 1964 – James Chapin, American ornithologist (b. 1889)
- 1964 – Aloïse Corbaz, Swiss artist (b. 1886)
- 1964 – Douglas MacArthur, American general (b. 1880)
- 1965 – Pedro Sernagiotto, Italian-Brazilian footballer (b. 1908)
- 1965 – Sándor Szalay, Hungarian figure skater (b. 1893)
- 1967 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (b. 1891)
- 1967 – Johan Falkberget, Norwegian author (b. 1879)
- 1967 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
- 1967 – Herbert Johnston, British runner (b. 1902)
- 1968 – Félix Couchoro, Togolese writer (b. 1900)
- 1968 – Lajos Csordás, Hungarian footballer
- 1968 – Giuseppe Paris, Italian gymnast (b. 1895)
- 1969 – Alberto Bonucci, Italian actor and director (b. 1918)
- 1969 – Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan novelist and politician (b. 1917)
- 1969 – Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian SS officer (b. 1903)
- 1970 – Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist (b. 1877)
- 1970 – Alfred Sturtevant, American geneticist and academic (b. 1891)
- 1970 – Karl von Spreti, German diplomat (b. 1907)
- 1971 – José Cubiles, Spanish pianist and conductor (b. 1894)
- 1972 – Brian Donlevy, American actor and producer (b. 1901)
- 1973 – David Murray, British race car driver (b. 1909)
- 1973 – Isabel Jewell, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
- 1973 – Alla Tarasova, Russian ballerina (b. l898)
- 1974 – Bino Bini, Italian fencer (b. 1900)
- 1974 – A. Y. Jackson, Canadian painter (b. 1882)
- 1975 – Tell Berna, American middle and long-distance runner (b. 1891)
- 1975 – Victor Marijnen, Dutch politician (b. 1917)
- 1975 – Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese general and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1887)
- 1975 – Harold Osborn, American track and fielder (b. 1899)
- 1976 – Howard Hughes, American pilot, engineer, and director (b. 1905)
- 1976 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian surgeon and academic (b. 1891)
- 1976 – Harry Wyld, British cyclist (b. 1900)
- 1977 – Carlos Prío Socarrás, President of Cuba, (b. 1903)
- 1977 – Yuri Zavadsky, Russian actor and director (b. 1894)
- 1981 – Émile Hanse, Belgian footballer (b. 1892)
- 1981 – Bob Hite, American singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
- 1981 – Pinchus Kremegne, French artist (b. 1890)
- 1982 – Abe Fortas, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1910)
- 1984 – Hans Lunding, Danish military officer (b. 1899)
- 1984 – Giuseppe Tucci, Italian scholar of oriental cultures (b. 1894)
- 1986 – Manly Wade Wellman, American writer (b. 1903)
- 1987 – Leabua Jonathan, 2nd Prime Minister of Lesotho (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Alf Kjellin, Swedish actor and director (b. 1920)
- 1989 – Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (b. 1895)
- 1989 – Karel Zeman, Czech director, artist, production designer and animator (b. 1910)
- 1991 – Sonny Carter, American soccer player, physician, and astronaut (b. 1947)
- 1991 – Jay Miller, American basketball player (b. 1943)
- 1991 – Jiří Mucha, Czech journalist, writer and screenwriter (b. 1915)
- 1991 – William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L’Isle (b. 1909)
- 1991 – John Tower, American soldier, academic, and politician (b. 1925)
- 1992 – Takeshi Inoue, Japanese footballer (b. 1928)
- 1992 – Molly Picon, American actress (b. 1898)
- 1992 – Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam’s Club (b. 1918)
- 1993 – Divya Bharti, Indian actress (b. 1974)
- 1994 – Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1967)
- 1995 – Nicolaas Cortlever, Dutch chess player (b. 1915)
- 1995 – Emilio Greco, Italian sculptor and engraver (b. 1913)
- 1995 – Christian Pineau, French Resistance fighter (b. 1904)
- 1996 – Charlene Holt, American actress (b. 1928)
- 1997 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
- 1998 – Frederick Charles Frank, British theoretical physicist (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Cozy Powell, English drummer (b. 1947)
- 1999 – Giulio Einaudi, Italian book publisher (b. 1912)
- 2000 – Heinrich Müller, Austrian footballer (b. 1909)
- 2000 – Lee Petty, American race car driver (b. 1914)
- 2001 – Aldo Olivieri, Italian footballer (b. 1910)
- 2002 – Layne Staley, American singer-songwriter (b. 1967)
- 2002 – Kim Won-gyun, North Korean composer and politician (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Keizo Morishita, Japanese painter (b. 1944)
- 2004 – Fernand Goyvaerts, Belgian footballer (b. 1938)
- 2004 – Sławomir Rawicz, Polish lieutenant (b. 1915)
- 2004 – Heiner Zieschang, German mathematician and academic (b. 1936)
- 2005 – Saul Bellow, Canadian-American novelist, essayist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Robert Borg, American military officer and equestrian (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Chung Nam-sik, South Korean footballer (b. 1917)
- 2006 – Allan Kaprow, American painter and educator (b. 1927)
- 2006 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
- 2006 – Yevgeny Seredin, Russian swimmer (b. 1958)
- 2006 – Pasquale Macchi, Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Maria Gripe, Swedish journalist and author (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Leela Majumdar, Indian author and academic (b. 1908)
- 2007 – Werner Maser, German historian and journalist (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (b. 1956)
- 2007 – Thomas Stoltz Harvey, American pathologist (b. 1912)
- 2008 – Charlton Heston, American actor, director, and political activist (b. 1923)
- 2009 – I. J. Good, British mathematician (b. 1916)
- 2010 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Soviet cosmonaut and engineer (b. 1935)
- 2011 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician and geneticist (b. 1925)
- 2011 – Ange-Félix Patassé, Central African politician (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, German designer (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Pedro Bartolomé Benoit, Dominican Republican politician military officer
- 2012 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Barney McKenna, Irish musician (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawian economist and politician, 3rd President of Malawi (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Regina Bianchi, Italian actress (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Piero de Palma, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Alan Davie, Scottish saxophonist and painter (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Mariano Díaz, Spanish cyclist (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (b. 1927)
- 2014 – John Pinette, American comedian (b. 1964)
- 2014 – José Wilker, Brazilian actor, director, and producer (b. 1947)
- 2015 – Fredric Brandt, American dermatologist and author (b. 1949)
- 2015 – Juan Carlos Cáceres, Argentinian singer and pianist (b. 1936)
- 2016 – Koço Kasapoğlu, Turkish footballer (b. 1936)
- 2017 – Attilio Benfatto, Italian cyclist (b. 1943)
- 2017 – Arthur Bisguier, American chess Grandmaster (b. 1929)
- 2017 – Paul G. Comba, Italian-American computer scientist and astronomer (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Makoto Ōoka, Japanese poet and literary critic (b. 1931)
- 2017 – Paul O’Neill, American rock composer and producer (b. 1956)
- 2017 – Tim Parnell, British race car driver (b. 1932)
- 2017 – Memè Perlini, Italian actor and director (b. 1947)
- 2017 – Atanase Sciotnic, Romanian sprint canoeist (b. 1942)
- 2017 – Ilkka Sinisalo, Finnish ice hockey player (b. 1958)
- 2018 – Isao Takahata, Japanese director (b. 1935)
- 2019 – Sydney Brenner, South African biologist (b. 1927)[16]
Holidays and observances on April 5
- Christian feast day:
- Albert of Montecorvino
- Derfel Gadarn
- Æthelburh of Kent
- Gerald of Sauve-Majeure
- Juliana of Liège
- Maria Crescentia Höss
- Blessed Mariano de la Mata
- Pandita Mary Ramabai (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Ruadhán of Lorrha
- Vincent Ferrer
- April 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Cold Food Festival, held on April 4 if it is a leap year (China); and its related observances:
- Earliest day on which Sham el-Nessim can fall, while May 9 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after the Orthodox Easter (Egypt)
- Children’s Day (Palestinian territories)
- Sikmogil (South Korea)
- National Maritime Day is observed in India, in commemoration of the first voyage of SS Loyalty of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd. in 1919.