1523

  • May 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.
    • 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.
    • 1274 – In France, the Second Council of Lyon opens to regulate the election of the Pope.
    • 1487 – The Siege of Málaga commences during the Spanish Reconquista.
    • 1544 – The Burning of Edinburgh by an English army is the first action of the Rough Wooing.
    • 1664 – Louis XIV of France begins construction of the Palace of Versailles.
    • 1685 – Battle of Vrtijeljka between rebels and Ottoman forces.
    • 1697 – Stockholm’s royal castle (dating back to medieval times) is destroyed by fire. It is replaced in the 18th century by the current Royal Palace.
    • 1718 – The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.
    • 1763 – Pontiac’s War begins with Pontiac’s attempt to seize Fort Detroit from the British.
    • 1794 – French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.
    • 1824 – World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer’s supervision.
    • 1832 – Greece’s independence is recognized by the Treaty of London.
    • 1840 – The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
    • 1846 – The Cambridge Chronicle, America’s oldest surviving weekly newspaper, is published for the first time in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.
    • 1864 – The world’s oldest surviving clipper ship, the City of Adelaide is launched by William Pile, Hay and Co. in Sunderland, England, for transporting passengers and goods between Britain and Australia.
    • 1895 – In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector—a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.
    • 1915 – World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many former pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.
    • 1915 – The Republic of China accedes to 13 of the 21 Demands, extending the Empire of Japan‘s control over Manchuria and the Chinese economy.
    • 1920 – Kiev Offensive: Polish troops led by Józef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force capture Kiev only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.
    • 1920 – Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.
    • 1920 – Morecambe Football Club was founded during a meeting at the West View Hotel on the town’s promenade.
    • 1930 – The 7.1 Mw  Salmas earthquake shakes northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Up to three-thousand people were killed.
    • 1931 – The stand-off between criminal Francis Crowley and 300 members of the New York Police Department takes place in his fifth-floor apartment on West 91st Street, New York City.
    • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco’s forces.
    • 1940 – World War II: The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.
    • 1942 – World War II: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō; the battle marks the first time in naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
    • 1945 – World War II: Last German U boat attack of the war, two freighters are sunk off the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
    • 1945 – World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany’s participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.
    • 1946 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded
    • 1948 – The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.
    • 1952 – The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer.
    • 1954 – Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat and a Viet Minh victory (the battle began on March 13).
    • 1960 – Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.
    • 1976 – The Honda Accord is officially launched.
    • 1986 – Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.
    • 1992 – Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.
    • 1992 – Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, STS-49.
    • 1992 – Three employees at a McDonald’s Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery. It is the first “fast-food murder” in Canada.
    • 1994 – Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.
    • 1998 – Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.
    • 1999 – Pope John Paul II travels to Romania, becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
    • 1999 – Kosovo War: Three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft apparently inadvertently bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.
    • 1999 – In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.
    • 2000 – Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.
    • 2002 – An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 crashes on approach to Tunis–Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.
    • 2002 – A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
    • 2004 – American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamic militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.

    Births on May 7

    • Before 160 – Julia Maesa, Roman noblewoman (d. 224)
    • 1488 – John III of the Palatinate, archbishop of Regensburg (d. 1538)
    • 1530 – Louis, Prince of Condé (d. 1569)
    • 1553 – Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (d. 1618)
    • 1605 – Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (d. 1681)
    • 1643 – Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American politician, 10th Mayor of New York City (d. 1700)
    • 1700 – Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian physician (d. 1772)
    • 1701 – Carl Heinrich Graun, German tenor and composer (d. 1759)
    • 1711 – David Hume, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1776)
    • 1724 – Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, French-Austrian field marshal (d. 1797)
    • 1740 – Nikolai Arkharov, Russian police officer and general (d. 1814)
    • 1748 – Olympe de Gouges, French playwright and philosopher (d. 1793)
    • 1763 – Józef Poniatowski, Polish general (d. 1813)
    • 1767 – Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (d. 1820)
    • 1774 – William Bainbridge, American commodore (d. 1833)
    • 1787 – Jacques Viger, Canadian archaeologist and politician, 1st mayor of Montreal (d. 1858)
    • 1812 – Robert Browning, English poet and playwright (d. 1889)
    • 1833 – Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (d. 1897)
    • 1836 – Joseph Gurney Cannon, American lawyer and politician, 40th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1926)
    • 1837 – Karl Mauch, German geographer and explorer (d. 1875)
    • 1840 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer and educator (d. 1893)
    • 1845 – Mary Eliza Mahoney, American nurse and activist (d. 1926)
    • 1847 – Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)
    • 1857 – William A. MacCorkle, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of West Virginia (d. 1930)
    • 1860 – Tom Norman, English businessman (d. 1930)
    • 1861 – Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
    • 1867 – Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1925)
    • 1875 – Bill Hoyt, American pole vaulter (d. 1951)
    • 1880 – Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Bharat Ratna awardee (d. 1972)
    • 1881 – George E. Wiley, American cyclist (d. 1954)
    • 1882 – Willem Elsschot, Belgian author and poet (d. 1960)
    • 1885 – George “Gabby” Hayes, American actor (d. 1969)
    • 1889 – Viktor Puskar, Estonian colonel (d. 1943)
    • 1891 – Harry McShane, Scottish engineer and activist (d. 1988)
    • 1892 – Archibald MacLeish, American poet, playwright, and lawyer (d. 1982)
    • 1892 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (d. 1980)
    • 1893 – Frank J. Selke, Canadian ice hockey coach and manager (d. 1985)
    • 1896 – Kathleen McKane Godfree, English tennis and badminton player (d. 1992)
    • 1899 – Alfred Gerrard, English sculptor and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1901 – Gary Cooper, American actor (d. 1961)
    • 1903 – Jimmy Ball, Canadian sprinter (d. 1988)
    • 1904 – Kurt Weitzmann, German-American historian and author (d. 1993)
    • 1906 – Eric Krenz, American discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1931)
    • 1909 – Edwin H. Land, American scientist and inventor, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (d. 1991)
    • 1909 – Dorothy Sunrise Lorentino, Native American teacher (d. 2005)
    • 1911 – Ishirō Honda, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
    • 1911 – Rıfat Ilgaz, Turkish author, poet, and educator (d. 1993)
    • 1912 – Pannalal Patel, Indian author (d. 1989)
    • 1913 – John Spencer Hardy, American general (d. 2012)
    • 1913 – Simon Ramo, American physicist and engineer (d. 2016)
    • 1914 – Arthur Snelling, English civil servant and diplomat. British Ambassador to South Africa (d. 1996)
    • 1916 – Huw Wheldon, Welsh-English broadcaster (d. 1986)
    • 1916 – W. B. Young, Scottish rugby player and physician (d. 2013)
    • 1917 – Domenico Bartolucci, Italian cardinal and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1917 – Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (d. 2020)
    • 1917 – David Tomlinson, English actor (d. 2000)
    • 1919 – Eva Perón, Argentinian actress, 25th First Lady of Argentina (d. 1952)
    • 1920 – Rendra Karno, Indonesian actor (d. 1985)
    • 1921 – Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs, English historian and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1921 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer and author (d. 1985)
    • 1922 – Darren McGavin, American actor and director (d. 2006)
    • 1922 – Joe O’Donnell, American photographer and journalist (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Anne Baxter, American actress (d. 1985)
    • 1923 – Jim Lowe, American singer-songwriter, disc jockey, and radio host (d. 2016)
    • 1923 – Bülent Ulusu, Turkish admiral and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Albert Band, French-American director and producer (d. 2002)
    • 1925 – Lauri Vaska, Estonian-American chemist and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Dick Williams, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2011)
    • 1930 – Totie Fields, American comedian and author (d. 1978)
    • 1930 – Babe Parilli, American football player and coach (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – John Smith, Baron Kirkhill, English politician
    • 1931 – Teresa Brewer, American singer (d. 2007)
    • 1931 – Gene Wolfe, American author (d. 2019)
    • 1932 – Jordi Bonet, Spanish-Canadian painter and sculptor (d. 1979)
    • 1932 – Alan Cuthbert, English pharmacologist and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Pete Domenici, American lawyer and politician, 37th Mayor of Albuquerque (d. 2017)
    • 1932 – Derek Taylor, English journalist and author (d. 1997)
    • 1933 – Johnny Unitas, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2002)
    • 1935 – Avraham Heffner, Israeli actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1935 – Michael Hopkins, English architect
    • 1936 – Robin Hanbury-Tenison, English explorer and author
    • 1936 – Tony O’Reilly, Irish rugby player and businessman
    • 1936 – Jimmy Ruffin, American soul singer (d. 2014)
    • 1937 – Eddie Clayton, English footballer
    • 1937 – Claude Raymond, Canadian baseball player and coach
    • 1939 – Sidney Altman, Canadian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1939 – Ruggero Deodato, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1939 – Ruud Lubbers, Dutch economist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2018)
    • 1939 – Johnny Maestro, American pop/doo-wop singer (d. 2010)
    • 1939 – Clive Soley, Baron Soley, English politician
    • 1940 – Angela Carter, English novelist and short story writer (d. 1992)
    • 1940 – Dave Chambers, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1941 – Lawrence Collins, Baron Collins of Mapesbury, English lawyer and judge
    • 1943 – Terry Allen, American singer and painter
    • 1943 – Harvey Andrews, English singer-songwriter and poet
    • 1943 – John Bannon, Australian academic and politician, 39th Premier of South Australia (d. 2015)
    • 1943 – Peter Carey, Australian novelist and short story writer
    • 1945 – Christy Moore, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1945 – Robin Strasser, American actress
    • 1946 – Thelma Houston, American R&B/disco singer and actress
    • 1946 – Marv Hubbard, American football player (d. 2015)
    • 1946 – Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer
    • 1946 – Michael Rosen, English author and poet
    • 1946 – Brian Turner, English chef and television host
    • 1949 – Kathy Ahern, American golfer (d. 1996)
    • 1949 – Deborah Butterfield, American sculptor
    • 1950 – John Dowling Coates, Australian lawyer, sports administrator and businessman
    • 1950 – Randall “Tex” Cobb, American boxer and actor
    • 1950 – Tim Russert, American television journalist and lawyer (d. 2008)
    • 1953 – Pat McInally, American football player and coach
    • 1953 – Ian McKay, English sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1982)
    • 1954 – Philippe Geluck, Belgian cartoonist
    • 1954 – Joanna Haigh, English meteorologist and physicist
    • 1954 – Amy Heckerling, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Clément Gignac, Canadian politician
    • 1955 – Ben Poquette, American basketball player
    • 1955 – Axel Zwingenberger, German pianist and songwriter
    • 1956 – Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch jurist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
    • 1956 – Anne Dudley, English pianist and composer
    • 1956 – Nicholas Hytner, English director and producer
    • 1956 – Jean Lapierre, Canadian talk show host and politician
    • 1956 – Calum MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician
    • 1957 – Kristina M. Johnson, American business executive, engineer, academic and government official
    • 1958 – Mikhail Biryukov, Russian footballer and manager
    • 1958 – Mark G. Kuzyk, American physicist and academic
    • 1958 – Anne Marie Rafferty, English nurse and academic
    • 1959 – Michael E. Knight, American actor
    • 1959 – Tony Sealy, English footballer, forward and manager
    • 1959 – Heiki Valk, Estonian archeologist and academic
    • 1960 – Adam Bernstein, American director and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham, Iraqi-English surgeon and academic
    • 1960 – Almudena Grandes, Spanish author
    • 1961 – Hans-Peter Bartels, German politician
    • 1961 – Sue Black, Scottish anthropologist and academic
    • 1961 – Ivar Must, Estonian composer and producer
    • 1962 – Tony Campbell, American basketball player and coach
    • 1962 – Judith Donath, American computer scientist and academic
    • 1963 – Johnny Lee Middleton, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1964 – Ronnie Harmon, American football player
    • 1964 – Denis Mandarino, Brazilian guitarist, composer, and painter
    • 1964 – Leslie O’Neal, American football player
    • 1965 – Reuben Davis, American football player
    • 1965 – Owen Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1999)
    • 1965 – Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Huang Zhihong, Chinese shot putter
    • 1967 – Martin Bryant, Australian mass murderer
    • 1967 – Adam Price, Danish chef and screenwriter
    • 1967 – Joe Rice, American colonel and politician
    • 1968 – Traci Lords, American actress and singer
    • 1968 – Lisa Raitt, Canadian lawyer and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Transport
    • 1969 – Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1969 – Jun Falkenstein, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Katerina Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player
    • 1971 – Reidar Horghagen, Norwegian drummer
    • 1971 – Dave Karpa, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1971 – Thomas Piketty, French economist
    • 1972 – Peter Dubovský, Czech-Slovak footballer (d. 2000)
    • 1972 – Frank Trigg, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
    • 1973 – Kristian Lundin, Swedish songwriter and producer
    • 1973 – Paolo Savoldelli, Italian cyclist
    • 1974 – Ian Pearce, English footballer and assistant manager
    • 1973 – Lawrence Johnson, American pole vaulter
    • 1975 – Ashley Cowan, English cricketer
    • 1976 – Calvin Booth, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Berke Hatipoğlu, Turkish guitarist and songwriter
    • 1976 – Stacey Jones, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1976 – Andrea Lo Cicero, Italian rugby player
    • 1976 – Michael P. Murphy, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2005)
    • 1976 – Ayelet Shaked, Israeli Minister of Justice (2015-2019)
    • 1977 – Elton Flatley, Australian rugby player
    • 1978 – Stian Arnesen, Norwegian guitarist, drummer, and songwriter
    • 1978 – James Carter, American hurdler
    • 1978 – Shawn Marion, American basketball player
    • 1979 – Katie Douglas, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Phionah Atuhebwe, Ugandan vaccinologist and immunization expert
    • 1984 – James Loney, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Alex Smith, American football player
    • 1984 – Kevin Owens, Canadian wrestler
    • 1985 – Jarrad Hickey, Australian rugby league player
    • 1985 – Drew Neitzel, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Matt Helders, English drummer
    • 1987 – Asami Konno, Japanese singer
    • 1987 – Michael Maidens, English footballer (d. 2007)
    • 1987 – Mark Reynolds, Scottish footballer
    • 1987 – David Schlemko, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Eino Puri, Estonian footballer
    • 1988 – Sander Puri, Estonian footballer
    • 1989 – Earl Thomas, American football player
    • 1995 – Seko Fofana, French born Ivorian international footballer
    • 1997 – Daria Kasatkina, Russian tennis player
    • 1998 – Jesse Puljujärvi, Finnish ice hockey player

    Deaths on May 7

    • 721 – John of Beverley, bishop of York
    • 833 – Ibn Hisham, Egyptian Muslim historian
    • 973 – Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 912)
    • 1014 – Bagrat III, 1st King of Georgia (b. 960)
    • 1092 – Remigius de Fécamp, English monk and bishop
    • 1166 – William I of Sicily
    • 1202 – Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey
    • 1205 – Ladislaus III of Hungary (b. 1201)
    • 1234 – Otto I, Duke of Merania (b. c. 1180)
    • 1243 – Hugh d’Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel
    • 1427 – Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, English priest (b. 1352)
    • 1494 – Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1471)
    • 1523 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight (b. 1481)
    • 1539 – Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (b. 1466)
    • 1617 – David Fabricius, German astronomer and theologian (b. 1564)
    • 1667 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (b. 1616)
    • 1682 – Feodor III of Russia (b. 1661)
    • 1685 – Bajo Pivljanin (b. 1630)
    • 1718 – Mary of Modena (b. 1658)
    • 1793 – Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1722)
    • 1800 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (b. 1728)
    • 1805 – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English general and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1737)
    • 1815 – Jabez Bowen, American colonel and politician, 45th Deputy Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1739)
    • 1825 – Antonio Salieri, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1750)
    • 1840 – Caspar David Friedrich, German painter and educator (b. 1774)
    • 1868 – Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1778)
    • 1872 – Alexander Loyd, American carpenter and politician, 4th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
    • 1876 – William Buell Sprague, American clergyman, historian, and author (b. 1795)
    • 1887 – C. F. W. Walther, German-American religious leader and theologian (b. 1811)
    • 1896 – H. H. Holmes, American serial killer (b. 1861)
    • 1902 – Agostino Roscelli, Italian priest and saint (b. 1818)
    • 1917 – Albert Ball, English fighter pilot (b. 1896)
    • 1922 – Max Wagenknecht, German pianist and composer (b. 1857)
    • 1924 – Alluri Sitarama Raju, Indian activist (b. 1897/1898)
    • 1925 – William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, English businessman and politician (b. 1851)
    • 1937 – Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain and author (b. 1886)
    • 1938 – Octavian Goga, Romanian politician, former Prime Minister (b. 1881)
    • 1940 – George Lansbury, English journalist and politician (b. 1859)
    • 1941 – James George Frazer, Scottish-English anthropologist and academic (b. 1854)
    • 1942 – Felix Weingartner, Croatian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1863)
    • 1943 – Fethi Okyar, Turkish colonel and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1880)
    • 1946 – Herbert Macaulay, Nigerian journalist and politician (b. 1864)
    • 1951 – Warner Baxter, American actor (b. 1889)
    • 1967 – Margaret Larkin, American writer and poet (b. 1899)
    • 1958 – Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (b. 1880)
    • 1976 – Alison Uttley, English children’s book writer (b. 1884)
    • 1978 – Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (b. 1915)
    • 1986 – Haldun Taner, Turkish playwright and author (b. 1915)
    • 1987 – Colin Blakely, Northern Irish actor (b. 1930)
    • 1987 – Paul Popham, American soldier and activist, co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis (b. 1941)
    • 1990 – Sam Tambimuttu, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
    • 1994 – Clement Greenberg, American art critic (b. 1909)
    • 1995 – Ray McKinley, American drummer, singer, and bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra) (b. 1910)
    • 1998 – Allan McLeod Cormack, South African-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1924)
    • 1998 – Eddie Rabbitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2000 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American captain, actor, and producer (b. 1909)
    • 2001 – Jacques de Bourbon-Busset, French author and politician (b. 1912)
    • 2004 – Waldemar Milewicz, Polish journalist (b. 1956)
    • 2005 – Tristan Egolf, American author and activist (b. 1971)
    • 2005 – Peter Rodino, American captain and politician (b. 1909)
    • 2005 – Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1980)
    • 2006 – Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (b. 1943)
    • 2006 – Joan C. Edwards, American singer and philanthropist (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Isabella Blow, English magazine editor (b. 1958)
    • 2007 – Diego Corrales, American boxer (b. 1977)
    • 2007 – Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader, founded the Nation of Yahweh (b. 1935)
    • 2009 – David Mellor, English designer (b. 1930)
    • 2009 – Danny Ozark, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1923)
    • 2011 – Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (b. 1957)
    • 2011 – Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1924)
    • 2011 – Big George, English songwriter, producer, and radio host (b. 1957)
    • 2012 – Sammy Barr, Scottish trade union leader (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Ferenc Bartha, Hungarian economist and politician (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Dennis E. Fitch, American captain and pilot (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Ferruccio Mazzola, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – George Sauer, Jr., American football player (b. 1943)
    • 2014 – Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (b. 1943)
    • 2014 – Dick Welteroth, American baseball player (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Frank DiPascali, American businessman (b. 1956)
    • 2015 – John Dixon, Australian-American author, and illustrator (b. 1929)

    Holidays and observances on May 7

    • Christian feast day:
      • Agathius of Byzantium
      • Agostino Roscelli
      • Pope Benedict II
      • Flavia Domitilla
      • Gisela of Hungary
      • Harriet Starr Cannon (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • John of Beverley
      • Rose Venerini
      • Stanislaus (Roman Martyrology)
      • May 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Defender of the Fatherland Day (Kazakhstan)
    • Dien Bien Phu Victory Day (Vietnam)
    • Radio Day, commemorating the work of Alexander Popov (Russia, Bulgaria)

  • April 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 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 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 753 BC – Romulus founds Rome (traditional date).
    • 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.
    • 900 – The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (the earliest known written document found in what is now the Philippines): the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom of Tondo, as represented by the Honourable Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pailah, pardons from all debt the Honourable Namwaran and his relations.
    • 1092 – The Diocese of Pisa is elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Urban II
    • 1506 – The three-day Lisbon Massacre comes to an end with the slaughter of over 1,900 suspected Jews by Portuguese Catholics.
    • 1509 – Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.
    • 1526 – The last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.
    • 1615 – The Wignacourt Aqueduct is inaugurated in Malta.
    • 1782 – The city of Rattanakosin, now known internationally as Bangkok, is founded on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
    • 1789 – George Washington’s reception at Trenton is hosted by the Ladies of Trenton as he journeys to New York City for his first inauguration.
    • 1792 – Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil’s independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.
    • 1802 – Twelve thousand Wahhabis under Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad, invaded city of Karbala, killed over three thousand inhabitants, and sacked the city.
    • 1806 – Action of 21 April 1806: A French frigate escapes British forces off the coast of South Africa.
    • 1809 – Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl.
    • 1821 – Benderli Ali Pasha arrives in Constantinople as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire; he remains in power for only nine days before being sent into exile.
    • 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
    • 1856 – Australian labour movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day.
    • 1894 – Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.
    • 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.
    • 1914 – Ypiranga incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the U.S. Navy near Veracruz.
    • 1918 – World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as “The Red Baron”, is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.
    • 1926 – Al-Baqi cemetery, former site of the mausoleum of four Shi’a Imams, is leveled to the ground by Wahhabis.
    • 1934 – The “Surgeon’s Photograph”, the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1999, it is revealed to be a hoax).
    • 1945 – World War II: Soviet forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.
    • 1948 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 relating to Kashmir conflict is adopted.
    • 1952 – Secretary’s Day (now Administrative Professionals’ Day) is first celebrated.
    • 1958 – United Airlines Flight 736 collides into a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada.
    • 1960 – Brasília, Brazil’s capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.
    • 1962 – The Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World’s Fair in the United States since World War II.
    • 1963 – The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Bahá’í Faith.
    • 1964 – A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, 2.1 pounds (0.95 kg) of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.
    • 1965 – The 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair opens for its second and final season.
    • 1966 – Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.
    • 1967 – A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d’état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.
    • 1975 – Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
    • 1977 – Annie opens on Broadway.
    • 1982 – Baseball: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher to record 300 saves.
    • 1985 – The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege.
    • 1987 – The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.
    • 1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
    • 1993 – The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis García Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution.
    • 2004 – Five suicide car bombers target police stations in and around Basra, killing 74 people and wounding 160.
    • 2010 – The controversial Kharkiv Pact (Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas Treaty) is signed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev; it was unilaterally terminated by Russia on March 31, 2014.
    • 2012 – Two trains are involved in a head-on collision near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, injuring 116 people.
    • 2014 – The American city of Flint, Michigan switches its water source to the Flint River, beginning the ongoing Flint water crisis which has caused lead poisoning in up to 12,000 people, and 15 deaths from Legionnaires disease, ultimately leading to criminal indictments against 15 people, five of whom have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
    • 2019 – Eight bombs explode at churches, hotels, and other locations in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday; more than 200 people are killed.

    Births on April 21

    • 1132 – Sancho VI, king of Navarre (d. 1194)
    • 1488 – Ulrich von Hutten, German religious reformer (d. 1523)
    • 1523 – Marco Antonio Bragadin, Venetian lawyer and military officer (d. 1571)
    • 1555 – Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter and etcher (d. 1619)
    • 1619 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch founder of Cape Town (d. 1677)
    • 1630 – Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten, Dutch-English painter (d. 1700)
    • 1631 – Francesco Maidalchini, Catholic cardinal (d. 1700)
    • 1642 – Simon de la Loubère, French mathematician, poet, and diplomat (d. 1729)
    • 1651 – Joseph Vaz, Sri Lankan priest, missionary, and saint (d. 1711)
    • 1652 – Michel Rolle, French mathematician and academic (d. 1719)
    • 1671 – John Law, Scottish economist (d. 1729)
    • 1673 – Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1742)
    • 1713 – Louis de Noailles, French general (d. 1793)
    • 1730 – Antonín Kammel, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1788)
    • 1752 – Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait, French engineer, hydrographer, and politician, French Minister of Marine and the Colonies (d. 1807)
    • 1752 – Humphry Repton, English gardener and author (d. 1818)
    • 1774 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1862)
    • 1775 – Alexander Anderson, Scottish-American illustrator and engraver (d. 1870)
    • 1790 – Manuel Blanco Encalada, Spanish-Chilean admiral and politician, 1st President of Chile (d. 1876)
    • 1810 – John Putnam Chapin, American politician, 10th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1864)
    • 1811 – Alson Sherman, American merchant and politician, 8th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1903)
    • 1814 – Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, English art collector and philanthropist (d. 1906)
    • 1816 – Charlotte Brontë, Cornish-English novelist and poet (d. 1855)
    • 1837 – Fredrik Bajer, Danish lieutenant and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1922)
    • 1838 – John Muir, Scottish-American environmentalist and author (d. 1914)
    • 1851 – Charles Barrois, French geologist and palaeontologist (d. 1939)
    • 1854 – William Stang, German-American bishop (d. 1907)
    • 1864 – Max Weber, German economist and sociologist (d. 1920)
    • 1868 – Alfred Henry Maurer, American painter (d. 1932)
    • 1870 – Edwin Stanton Porter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1941)
    • 1874 – Vincent Scotto, French actor and composer (d. 1952)
    • 1882 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
    • 1885 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (d. 1967)
    • 1887 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball manager (d. 1978)
    • 1889 – Marcel Boussac, French businessman (d. 1980)
    • 1889 – Paul Karrer, Russian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
    • 1889 – Efrem Zimbalist, Sr., Russian-American violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1985)
    • 1892 – Freddie Dixon, English motorcycle racer and racing driver (d. 1956)
    • 1893 – Romeo Bertini, Italian runner (d. 1973)
    • 1898 – Maurice Wilson, English soldier, pilot, and mountaineer (d. 1934)
    • 1899 – Randall Thompson, American composer and academic (d. 1984)
    • 1903 – Luis Saslavsky, Argentinian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1995)
    • 1904 – Jean Hélion, French painter (d. 1987)
    • 1904 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (d. 1945)
    • 1905 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (d. 1996)
    • 1911 – Ivan Combe, American businessman, developed Clearasil (d. 2000)
    • 1911 – Kemal Satır, Turkish physician and politician (d. 1991)
    • 1912 – Eve Arnold, Russian-American photojournalist (d. 2012)
    • 1912 – Marcel Camus, French director and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1913 – Norman Parkinson, English photographer (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – Angelo Savoldi, Italian-American wrestler and promoter, co-founded International World Class Championship Wrestling (d. 2013)
    • 1915 – Garrett Hardin, American ecologist, author, and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1915 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican-American actor (d. 2001)
    • 1916 – Estella B. Diggs, American businesswoman and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Eddy Christiani, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
    • 1919 – Don Cornell, American singer (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – Roger Doucet, Canadian tenor (d. 1981)
    • 1919 – Licio Gelli, Italian financer (d. 2015)
    • 1920 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (d. 1991)
    • 1922 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist and screenwriter (d. 1987)
    • 1922 – Allan Watkins, Welsh-English cricketer (d. 2011)
    • 1923 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (d. 2009)
    • 1924 – Ira Louvin, American singer-songwriter and mandolin player (d. 1965)
    • 1925 – Anthony Mason, Australian soldier and judge, 9th Chief Justice of Australia
    • 1925 – John Swinton of Kimmerghame, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire (d. 2018)
    • 1926 – Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and her other realms
    • 1926 – Arthur Rowley, English footballer, manager and cricketer (d. 2002)
    • 1927 – Ahmed Arif, Turkish poet and author (d. 1991)
    • 1928 – Jack Evans, Welsh-Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1996)
    • 1930 – Hilda Hilst, Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (d. 2004)
    • 1930 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (d. 1989)
    • 1930 – Dieter Roth, German-Swiss illustrator and sculptor (d. 1998)
    • 1930 – Jack Taylor, English footballer and referee (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Morgan Wootten, American high school basketball coach (d. 2020)
    • 1932 – Slide Hampton, African-American trombonist and composer
    • 1932 – Elaine May, American actress, comedian, director, and screenwriter
    • 1932 – Angela Mortimer, English tennis player
    • 1933 – Edelmiro Amante, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Easley Blackwood, Jr., American pianist, composer, and educator
    • 1933 – Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi patriarch (d. 2014)
    • 1935 – Charles Grodin, American actor and talk show host
    • 1935 – Thomas Kean, American academic and politician, 48th Governor of New Jersey
    • 1936 – James Dobson, American evangelist, psychologist, and author, founded Focus on the Family
    • 1936 – Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2009)
    • 1937 – Gary Peters, American baseball player
    • 1937 – Ben Zinn, Israeli-born American academic and former international soccer player
    • 1939 – John McCabe, English pianist and composer (d. 2015)
    • 1939 – Sister Helen Prejean, American nun, activist, and author
    • 1939 – Reni Santoni, American actor
    • 1940 – Jacques Caron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1940 – Souleymane Cissé, Malian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1941 – David L. Boren, American lawyer and politician, 21st Governor of Oklahoma
    • 1942 – Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand politician, 33rd Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1945 – Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Indian cricketer and umpire
    • 1945 – Mark Wainberg, Canadian researcher and HIV/AIDS activist (d. 2017)
    • 1945 – Diana Darvey, English actress, singer and dancer (d. 2000)
    • 1947 – Al Bumbry, American baseball player
    • 1947 – Iggy Pop, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1947 – John Weider, English bass player
    • 1948 – Gary Condit, American businessman and politician
    • 1948 – Paul Davis, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2008)
    • 1948 – Josef Flammer, Swiss ophthalmologist
    • 1948 – Dieter Fromm, German runner
    • 1949 – Patti LuPone, American actress and singer
    • 1950 – Shivaji Satam, Indian actor
    • 1951 – Tony Danza, American actor and producer
    • 1951 – Michael Freedman, American mathematician and academic
    • 1951 – Bob Varsha, American sportscaster
    • 1951 – Steve Vickers, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1952 – Gerald Early, American author and academic
    • 1952 – Cheryl Gillan, British businesswoman and politician, Secretary of State for Wales
    • 1953 – John Brumby, Australian politician, 45th Premier of Victoria
    • 1954 – Ebiet G. Ade, Indonesian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1954 – James Morrison, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Murathan Mungan, Turkish author, poet, and playwright
    • 1955 – Doug Soetaert, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1956 – Peter Kosminsky, English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Phillip Longman, German-American demographer and journalist
    • 1957 – Hervé Le Tellier, French linguist and author
    • 1957 – Jesse Orosco, American baseball player
    • 1957 – Herbert Wetterauer, German painter, sculptor, and author
    • 1958 – Andie MacDowell, American model, actress, and producer
    • 1958 – Yoshito Usui, Japanese illustrator (d. 2009)
    • 1958 – Michael Zarnock, American author
    • 1959 – Tim Jacobus, American illustrator and painter
    • 1959 – Olga Kuragina, Russian pentathlete
    • 1959 – Arno Pijpers, Dutch footballer and coach
    • 1959 – Robert Smith, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1960 – Michel Goulet, Canadian ice hockey player and scout
    • 1960 – Julius Korir, Kenyan runner
    • 1961 – Cathy Cavadini, American voice actress
    • 1961 – Carey Hayes, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Chad Hayes, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – Neale Marmon, English-German footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1961 – David Servan-Schreiber, French physician, neuroscientist, and author (d. 2011)
    • 1962 – Les Lancaster, American baseball player and coach
    • 1962 – Craig Robinson, American basketball player and coach
    • 1962 – Aavo Sarap, Estonian footballer and coach
    • 1963 – Ken Caminiti, American baseball player (d. 2004)
    • 1963 – Roy Dupuis, Canadian actor
    • 1963 – John Cameron Mitchell, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1964 – Alex Baumann, Czech-Canadian swimmer
    • 1964 – Ludmila Engquist, Russian-Swedish hurdler
    • 1965 – Ed Belfour, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1965 – Karen Foster, American model and actress
    • 1965 – Gary Grant, American basketball player
    • 1965 – Thomas Helmer, German footballer
    • 1965 – Fiona Kelleghan, American academic, critic and librarian
    • 1967 – Emilio Valle, Cuban hurdler
    • 1968 – Peter van Vossen, Dutch footballer and coach
    • 1969 – John Kibowen, Kenyan runner
    • 1969 – Toby Stephens, English actor
    • 1970 – Jeff Anderson, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Glen Hansard, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1970 – Rob Riggle, American actor and comedian
    • 1970 – Nicole Sullivan, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Axl Rotten, American wrestler (d. 2016)
    • 1971 – Michael Turner, American author and illustrator (d. 2008)
    • 1972 – Richard Chelimo, Kenyan runner (d. 2001)
    • 1972 – Gwendal Peizerat, French ice dancer
    • 1973 – Steve Backshall, English naturalist, writer, and television presenter
    • 1973 – Jonathan Nsenga, Belgian hurdler and coach
    • 1974 – Maksim Gruznov, Estonian footballer
    • 1974 – Orlando Jordan, American wrestler
    • 1974 – David Peachey, Australian rugby league player
    • 1975 – Danyon Loader, New Zealand swimmer
    • 1976 – Rommel Adducul, Filipino basketball player
    • 1976 – Petero Civoniceva, Fijian-Australian rugby league player
    • 1977 – Gyula Koi, Hungarian scholar and educator
    • 1977 – Jamie Salé, Canadian figure skater
    • 1978 – Jacob Burns, Australian footballer
    • 1978 – Jukka Nevalainen, Finnish drummer
    • 1978 – Yuliya Pechonkina, Russian hurdler
    • 1979 – Virginie Basselot, French chef
    • 1979 – Tobias Linderoth, French-Swedish footballer and coach
    • 1979 – James McAvoy, Scottish actor
    • 1980 – Jeff Keppinger, American baseball player
    • 1980 – Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – Tony Romo, American football player
    • 1981 – Mads Junker, Danish footballer
    • 1982 – Khalif Barnes, American football player
    • 1982 – Micheal Luck, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Carnell Williams, American football player
    • 1983 – Paweł Brożek, Polish footballer
    • 1983 – Marco Donadel, Italian footballer
    • 1983 – Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (d. 2020)
    • 1984 – Shayna Fox, American voice actress
    • 1986 – Audra Cohen, American tennis player
    • 1986 – Alexander Edler, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Rodney Stuckey, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Mirko Valdifiori, Italian footballer
    • 1987 – Nadif Chowdhury, Bangladeshi cricketer
    • 1987 – Eric Devendorf, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Leroy George, Dutch footballer
    • 1987 – Anastasia Prikhodko, Ukrainian singer
    • 1988 – Ricky Berens, American swimmer
    • 1988 – Jencarlos Canela, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1988 – Pedro Mosquera, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Adam Rooney, Irish footballer
    • 1989 – Tatyana McFadden, Russian-American sprinter and skier
    • 1989 – Carlos Muñoz, Chilean footballer
    • 1990 – Aleksandar Prijović, Swiss-born Serbian footballer
    • 1992 – Isco, Spanish footballer
    • 1992 – Rene Santos, Brazilian footballer
    • 1992 – Joc Pederson, American baseball player
    • 1994 – Mitchell Weiser, German footballer

    Deaths on April 21

    • 234 – Emperor Xian of Han, Chinese emperor (b. 181)
    • 586 – Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths
    • 847 – Odgar, Frankish archbishop of Mainz
    • 866 – Bardas, de facto regent of the Byzantine Empire
    • 941 – Bajkam, de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate
    • 1073 – Pope Alexander II
    • 1109 – Anselm of Canterbury, Italian-English archbishop and saint (b. 1033)
    • 1136 – Stephen, Count of Tréguier Breton noblemen (b. c. 1058/62)
    • 1142 – Peter Abelard, French philosopher and theologian (b. 1079)
    • 1213 – Maria of Montpellier, Lady of Montpellier, Queen of Aragon (b. 1182)
    • 1329 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1282)
    • 1400 – John Wittlebury, English politician (b. 1333)
    • 1509 – Henry VII of England (b. 1457)
    • 1557 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1495)
    • 1574 – Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1519)
    • 1591 – Sen no Rikyū, Japanese exponent of the tea ceremony (b. 1522)
    • 1650 – Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, Japanese samurai (b. 1607)
    • 1668 – Jan Boeckhorst, Flemish painter (b. c. 1604)
    • 1699 – Jean Racine, French playwright and poet (b. 1639)
    • 1719 – Philippe de La Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (b. 1640)
    • 1720 – Antoine Hamilton, Irish-French soldier and author (b. 1646)
    • 1722 – Robert Beverley, Jr., English historian and author (b. 1673)
    • 1736 – Prince Eugene of Savoy (b. 1663)
    • 1740 – Thomas Tickell, English poet and author (b. 1685)
    • 1758 – Francesco Zerafa, Maltese architect (b. 1679)
    • 1815 – Joseph Winston, American soldier and politician (b. 1746)
    • 1825 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician and academic (b. 1765)
    • 1852 – Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (b. 1787)
    • 1863 – Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Baronet, Irish politician (b. 1782)
    • 1900 – Vikramatji Khimojiraj, Indian ruler (b. 1819)
    • 1910 – Mark Twain, American novelist, humorist, and critic (b. 1835)
    • 1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot (b. 1892)
    • 1924 – Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b. 1858)
    • 1930 – Robert Bridges, English poet and author (b. 1844)
    • 1932 – Friedrich Gustav Piffl, Bohemian cardinal (b. 1864)
    • 1938 – Muhammad Iqbal, Indian-Pakistani philosopher and poet (b. 1877)
    • 1941 – Fritz Manteuffel, German gymnast (b. 1875)
    • 1945 – Walter Model, German field marshal (b. 1891)
    • 1946 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist and philosopher (b. 1883)
    • 1948 – Aldo Leopold, American ecologist and author (b. 1887)
    • 1952 – Leslie Banks, American actor, director and producer (b. 1890)
    • 1954 – Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (b. 1897)
    • 1956 – Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1895)
    • 1965 – Edward Victor Appleton, English-Scottish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
    • 1971 – François Duvalier, Haitian physician and politician, 40th President of Haiti (b. 1907)
    • 1973 – Arthur Fadden, Australian accountant and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
    • 1973 – Kemal Tahir, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1910)
    • 1974 – Chic Harley, American football player (b. 1894)
    • 1977 – Gummo Marx, American vaudevillian and talent agent (b. 1893)
    • 1978 – Sandy Denny, English singer-songwriter (b.1947)
    • 1978 – Thomas Wyatt Turner, American biologist and academic (b. 1877)
    • 1980 – Alexander Oparin, Russian biochemist and academic (b. 1894)
    • 1980 – Sohrab Sepehri, Iranian poet and painter (b. 1928)
    • 1983 – Walter Slezak, Austrian-American actor and singer (b. 1902)
    • 1984 – Marcel Janco, Romanian-Israeli artist (b. 1895)
    • 1984 – Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian engineer and mountaineer (b. 1943)
    • 1985 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer, created the monokini (b. 1922)
    • 1985 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian banker and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (b. 1910)
    • 1986 – Marjorie Eaton, American painter and actress (b. 1901)
    • 1986 – Salah Jahin, Egyptian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1930)
    • 1987 – Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1906)
    • 1989 – James Kirkwood, Jr., American actor, playwright, and author (b. 1924)
    • 1990 – Erté, Russian-French illustrator (b. 1892)
    • 1991 – Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor (b. 1909)
    • 1996 – Zora Arkus-Duntov, Belgian-born American engineer and race car driver (b. 1909)
    • 1996 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Chechen general and politician, 1st President of Ichkeria (b. 1944)
    • 1996 – Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1925)
    • 1996 – Jimmy Snyder, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
    • 1998 – Jean-François Lyotard, French sociologist and philosopher (b. 1924)
    • 1999 – Buddy Rogers, American actor (b. 1904)
    • 2003 – Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and activist (b. 1933)
    • 2004 – Mary McGrory, American journalist (b. 1918)
    • 2005 – Gerry Marshall, English race car driver and journalist (b. 1941)
    • 2006 – Johnny Checketts, New Zealand commander and pilot (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – T. K. Ramakrishnan, Indian politician (b. 1922)
    • 2006 – Telê Santana, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1931)
    • 2007 – Lobby Loyde, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1941)
    • 2009 – Vivian Maier, American photographer (b. 1926)
    • 2010 – Gustav Lorentzen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)
    • 2010 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish businessman, seventh President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1920)
    • 2010 – Kanagaratnam Sriskandan, Sri Lankan-English engineer and civil servant (b. 1930)
    • 2011 – Catharina Halkes, Dutch theologian and academic (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Doris Betts, American author and academic (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – Charles Colson, American lawyer and activist, founded Prison Fellowship (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Albert Falco, French captain and diver (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Charles Higham, English-American author and poet (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Jerry Toppazzini, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Chrissy Amphlett, Australian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1959)
    • 2013 – Shakuntala Devi, Indian mathematician and astrologer (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor, author, and educator (b. 1905)
    • 2013 – Gordon D. Gayle, American general and historian (b. 1917)
    • 2014 – Herb Gray, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Janet Gray Hayes, American politician, 60th Mayor of San Jose (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (b. 1936)
    • 2014 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician, co-founded the National League for Democracy (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – M. H. Abrams, American author, critic, and academic (b. 1912)
    • 2015 – Steve Byrnes, American sportscaster and producer (b. 1959)
    • 2015 – John Moshoeu, South African footballer and manager (b. 1965)
    • 2015 – Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, Indian politician, Governor of Assam (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Sydney Valpy Radley-Walters, Canadian general (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Betsy von Furstenberg, German-American actress (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Prince, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (b. 1958)
    • 2017 – Ugo Ehiogu, English footballer (b. 1972)
    • 2018 – Verne Troyer, American actor (b. 1969)
    • 2018 – Nabi Tajima, Japanese supercentenarian, oldest Japanese and Asian person ever, last verified person born in the 19th century (b. 1900)
    • 2019 – Polly Higgins, Scottish barrister, author and environmental lobbyist, (b. 1968)

    Holidays and observances April 21

    • Christian feast day:
      • Abdecalas
      • Anastasius Sinaita
      • Anselm of Canterbury
      • Beuno
      • Conrad of Parzham
      • Holy Infant of Good Health
      • Shemon Bar Sabbae
      • Wolbodo
      • April 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Civil Service Day (India)
    • Grounation Day (Rastafari movement)
    • Heroic Defense of Veracruz (Mexico)
    • Kang Pan-sok’s Birthday (North Korea)
    • Kartini Day (Indonesia)
    • Local Self Government Day (Russia)
    • National Tea Day (United Kingdom)
    • National Tree Planting Day (Kenya)
    • San Jacinto Day (Texas)
    • Queen’s Official Birthday (Falkland Islands)
    • Tiradentes’ Day (Brazil)
    • Vietnam Book Day (Vietnam)

  • April 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

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

    • 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.

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

    • 1309 – Pope Clement V imposes excommunication and interdiction on Venice, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse with Venice, which had seized on Ferrara, a papal fiefdom.
    • 1329 – Pope John XXII issues his In Agro Dominico condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical.
    • 1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León reaches the northern end of The Bahamas on his first voyage to Florida.
    • 1625 – Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France.
    • 1782 – Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
    • 1794 – The United States Government establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
    • 1809 – Peninsular War: A combined Franco-Polish force defeats the Spanish in the Battle of Ciudad Real.
    • 1814 – War of 1812: In central Alabama, U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
    • 1836 – Texas Revolution: On the orders of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican army massacres 342 Texas POWs at Goliad, Texas.
    • 1866 – President of the United States of America Andrew Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866. His veto is overridden by Congress and the bill passes into law on April 9.
    • 1871 – The first international rugby football match, when Scotland defeats England in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place.
    • 1884 – A mob in Cincinnati, Ohio, attacks members of a jury which had returned a verdict of manslaughter in what was seen as a clear case of murder; over the next few days the mob would riot and eventually destroy the courthouse.
    • 1886 – Geronimo, Apache warrior, surrenders to the U.S. Army, ending the main phase of the Apache Wars.
    • 1899 – Emilio Aguinaldo leads Filipino forces for the only time during the Philippine–American War at the Battle of Marilao River.
    • 1915 – Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States is put in quarantine for the second time, where she would remain for the rest of her life.
    • 1918 – The National Council of Bessarabia proclaims union with the Kingdom of Romania.
    • 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Taierzhuang begins, resulting several weeks later in the war’s first major Chinese victory over Japan.
    • 1941 – World War II: Yugoslav Air Force officers topple the pro-Axis government in a bloodless coup.
    • 1943 – World War II: Battle of the Komandorski Islands: In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.
    • 1945 – World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan’s ports and waterways begins. Argentina declares war on the Axis Powers.
    • 1958 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.
    • 1964 – The Good Friday earthquake, the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes Southcentral Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.
    • 1975 – Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.
    • 1977 – Tenerife airport disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am). Sixty-one survived on the Pan Am flight. This is the deadliest aviation accident in history.
    • 1980 – The Norwegian oil platform Alexander L. Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
    • 1980 – Silver Thursday: A steep fall in silver prices, resulting from the Hunt Brothers attempting to corner the market in silver, leads to panic on commodity and futures exchanges.
    • 1981 – The Solidarity movement in Poland stages a warning strike, in which at least 12 million Poles walk off their jobs for four hours.
    • 1986 – A car bomb explodes outside Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, Australia, killing one police officer and injuring 21 people.
    • 1990 – The United States begins broadcasting anti-Castro propaganda to Cuba on TV Martí.
    • 1993 – Jiang Zemin is appointed President of the People’s Republic of China.
    • 1993 – Italian former minister and Christian Democracy leader Giulio Andreotti is accused of mafia allegiance by the tribunal of Palermo.
    • 1998 – The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.
    • 1999 – Kosovo War: An American Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk is shot down by a Yugoslav SAM, the first and only Nighthawk to be lost in combat.
    • 2000 – A Phillips Petroleum plant explosion in Pasadena, Texas kills one person and injures 71 others.
    • 2002 – Passover massacre: A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people at a Passover seder in Netanya, Israel.
    • 2002 – Nanterre massacre: In Nanterre, France, a gunman opens fire at the end of a town council meeting, resulting in the deaths of eight councilors; 19 other people are injured.
    • 2004 – HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander-class frigate, is sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall, the first of its kind in Europe.
    • 2009 – The dam forming Situ Gintung, an artificial lake in Indonesia, fails, killing at least 99 people.
    • 2014 – Philippines signs a peace accord with the largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, ending decades of conflict.
    • 2015 – Al-Shabab militants attack and temporarily occupy a Mogadishu hotel leaving at least 20 people dead.
    • 2016 – A suicide blast in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Lahore claims over 70 lives and leaves almost 300 others injured. The target of the bombing are Christians celebrating Easter.
    • 2020 – North Macedonia becomes the 30th member of NATO.

    Births on March 27

    • 972 – Robert II, king of France (d. 1031)
    • 1401 – Albert III, duke of Bavaria (d. 1460)
    • 1416 – Francis of Paola, Italian friar and saint, founded Order of the Minims (d. 1507)
    • 1546 – Johannes Piscator, German theologian (d. 1625)
    • 1627 – Stephen Fox, English politician (d. 1716)
    • 1676 – Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian prince (b. 1676)
    • 1679 – Domenico Lalli, Italian poet and librettist (d. 1741)
    • 1681 – Joaquín Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish-Italian cardinal (d. 1760)
    • 1702 – Johann Ernst Eberlin, German organist and composer (d. 1762)
    • 1710 – Joseph Abaco, Belgian cellist and composer (d. 1805)
    • 1712 – Claude Bourgelat, French surgeon and author (d. 1779)
    • 1714 – Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, Italian historian and theologian (d. 1795)
    • 1724 – Jane Colden, American botanist and author (d. 1766)
    • 1745 – Lindley Murray, American-English Quaker and grammarian (d. 1826)
    • 1746 – Michael Bruce, Scottish poet and composer (d. 1767)
    • 1746 – Carlo Buonaparte, Corsican-French lawyer and politician (d. 1785)
    • 1765 – Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (d. 1841)
    • 1781 – Alexander Vostokov, Estonian-Russian philologist and academic (d. 1864)
    • 1784 – Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, Hungarian philologist, orientalist, and author (d. 1842)
    • 1785 – Louis XVII of France (d. 1795)
    • 1797 – Alfred de Vigny, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1863)
    • 1801 – Alexander Barrow, American lawyer and politician (d. 1846)
    • 1802 – Charles-Mathias Simons, German-Luxembourger jurist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1874)
    • 1809 – Georges-Eugène Haussmann, French engineer, urban planner, and politician (d. 1891)
    • 1811 – Edward William Cooke, English painter and illustrator (d. 1880)
    • 1814 – Charles Mackay, Scottish journalist, anthologist, and author (d. 1889)
    • 1820 – Edward Augustus Inglefield, English admiral and explorer (d. 1894)
    • 1822 – Henri Murger, French novelist and poet (d. 1861)
    • 1824 – Virginia Minor, American women’s suffrage activist (d. 1894)
    • 1839 – John Ballance, Irish-New Zealand journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1893)
    • 1843 – George Frederick Leycester Marshall, English colonel and entomologist (d. 1934)
    • 1844 – Adolphus Greely, American general and explorer, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1935)
    • 1845 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1923)
    • 1845 – Jakob Sverdrup, Norwegian bishop and politician, Norwegian Minister of Education and Church Affairs (d. 1899)
    • 1847 – Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
    • 1851 – Ruperto Chapí, Spanish composer, co-founded Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (d. 1909)
    • 1851 – Vincent d’Indy, French composer and educator (d. 1931)
    • 1852 – Jan van Beers, Belgian painter and illustrator (d. 1927)
    • 1854 – Giovanni Battista Grassi, Italian physician, zoologist, and entomologist (d. 1925)
    • 1855 – William Libbey, American target shooter, colonel, mountaineer, geographer, geologist, and archaeologist (d. 1927)
    • 1857 – Karl Pearson, English mathematician, eugenicist, and academic (d. 1936)
    • 1859 – George Giffen, Australian cricketer and footballer (d. 1927)
    • 1860 – Frank Frost Abbott, American-Swiss scholar and academic (d. 1924)
    • 1862 – Jelena Dimitrijević, Serbian short story writer, novelist, poet, traveller, social worker, feminist and polyglot (d. 1945)
    • 1862 – Arturo Berutti, Argentinian composer (d. 1938)
    • 1863 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, founded Rolls-Royce Limited (d. 1933)
    • 1866 – John Allan, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Victoria (d. 1936)
    • 1868 – Patty Hill, American songwriter and educator (d. 1946)
    • 1869 – James McNeill, Irish politician, 2nd Governor-General of the Irish Free State (d. 1938)
    • 1869 – J. R. Clynes, English trade unionist and politician, Home Secretary (d. 1949)
    • 1871 – Heinrich Mann, German author and poet (d. 1950)
    • 1871 – Joseph G. Morrison, American captain and Nazarene minister (d. 1939)
    • 1871 – Piet Aalberse, Dutch politician, Minister of Labour (d. 1948)
    • 1875 – Albert Marquet, French painter (d. 1947)
    • 1877 – Oscar Grégoire, Belgian water polo player and swimmer (d. 1947)
    • 1878 – Kathleen Scott, British sculptor (d. 1947)
    • 1879 – Sándor Garbai, Hungarian politician, 19th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1947)
    • 1879 – Miller Huggins, American baseball player and manager (d. 1929)
    • 1879 – Edward Steichen, Luxembourger-American painter and photographer (d. 1973)
    • 1881 – Arkady Averchenko, Russian playwright and satirist (d. 1925)
    • 1882 – Thomas Graham Brown, Scottish mountaineer and physiologist (d. 1965)
    • 1883 – Marie Under, Estonian author and poet (d. 1980)
    • 1884 – Gordon Thomson, English rower and lieutenant (d. 1953)
    • 1885 – Julio Lozano Díaz, Honduran accountant and politician, 40th President of Honduras (d. 1957)
    • 1885 – Reginald Fletcher, 1st Baron Winster, English navy officer and politician, Secretary of State for Transport (d. 1961)
    • 1886 – Sergey Kirov, Russian politician (d. 1934)
    • 1886 – Wladimir Burliuk, Ukrainian painter and illustrator (d. 1917)
    • 1886 – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German-American architect, designed IBM Plaza and Seagram Building (d. 1969)
    • 1887 – Väinö Siikaniemi, Finnish javelin thrower, poet, and translator (d. 1932)
    • 1888 – George Alfred Lawrence Hearne, English-South African cricketer (d. 1978)
    • 1889 – Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, Egyptian-Turkish journalist, author, and politician (d. 1974)
    • 1889 – Leonard Mociulschi, Romanian general (d. 1979)
    • 1890 – Harald Julin, Swedish swimmer and water polo player (d. 1967)
    • 1890 – Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, Scottish admiral (d. 1974)
    • 1891 – Lajos Zilahy, Hungarian novelist and playwright (d. 1974)
    • 1891 – Klawdziy Duzh-Dushewski, Belarusian-Lithuanian architect, journalist, and diplomat, created the Flag of Belarus (d. 1959)
    • 1892 – Ferde Grofé, American pianist and composer (d. 1972)
    • 1892 – Thorne Smith, American author (d. 1934)
    • 1893 – Karl Mannheim, Hungarian-English sociologist and academic (d. 1947)
    • 1893 – G. Lloyd Spencer, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1981)
    • 1893 – George Beranger, Australian-American actor and director (d. 1973)
    • 1894 – René Fonck, French colonel and pilot (d. 1953)
    • 1895 – Roland Leighton, English soldier and poet (d. 1915)
    • 1897 – Douglas Hartree, English mathematician and physicist (d. 1958)
    • 1897 – Fred Keating, American magician, stage and film actor (d. 1961)
    • 1899 – Francis Ponge, French poet and author (d. 1988)
    • 1899 – Herbert Arthur Stuart, German-Swiss physicist and academic (d. 1974)
    • 1899 – Gloria Swanson, American actress and producer (d. 1983)
    • 1901 – Carl Barks, American illustrator and screenwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1901 – Erich Ollenhauer, German politician (d. 1963)
    • 1901 – Eisaku Satō, Japanese politician, 61st Prime Minister of Japan, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
    • 1901 – Kenneth Slessor, Australian journalist and poet (d. 1971)
    • 1902 – Sidney Buchman, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1975)
    • 1902 – Charles Lang, American cinematographer (d. 1998)
    • 1903 – Xavier Villaurrutia, Mexican poet and playwright (d. 1950)
    • 1905 – Leroy Carr, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1935)
    • 1905 – Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff, German general (d. 1980)
    • 1905 – Elsie MacGill, Canadian-American author and engineer (d. 1980)
    • 1906 – Pee Wee Russell, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 1969)
    • 1909 – Golo Mann, German historian and author (d. 1994)
    • 1909 – Ben Webster, American saxophonist (d. 1973)
    • 1909 – Valery Marakou, Belarusian poet and translator (d. 1937)
    • 1910 – Ai Qing, Chinese poet and author (d. 1996)
    • 1911 – Veronika Tushnova, Russian poet and physician (d. 1965)
    • 1912 – James Callaghan, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Theodor Dannecker, German SS officer (d. 1945)
    • 1914 – Richard Denning, American actor (d. 1998)
    • 1914 – Budd Schulberg, American author, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2009)
    • 1915 – Robert Lockwood, Jr., American guitarist (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – Cyrus Vance, American lawyer and politician, 57th United States Secretary of State (d. 2002)
    • 1920 – Colin Rowe, English-American architect, theorist and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Phil Chess, Czech-American record producer, co-founded Chess Records (d. 2016)
    • 1921 – Moacir Barbosa Nascimento, Brazilian footballer and coach (d. 2000)
    • 1921 – Harold Nicholas, American actor and dancer (d. 2000)
    • 1922 – Dick King-Smith, English author (d. 2011)
    • 1922 – Stefan Wul, French author and surgeon (d. 2003)
    • 1922 – Jules Olitski, Ukrainian-American painter, printmaker, and sculptor (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Shūsaku Endō, Japanese author (d. 1996)
    • 1923 – Louis Simpson, Jamaican-American poet, translator, and academic (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Sarah Vaughan, American singer (d. 1990)
    • 1924 – Ian Black, Scottish international footballer, goalkeeper and lawn bowls player (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Margaret K. Butler, American mathematician and computer programmer (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Frank O’Hara, American writer (d. 1966)
    • 1927 – Sylvia Anderson, English voice actress, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2016)
    • 1927 – Anthony Lewis, American journalist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor (d. 2007)
    • 1928 – Jean Dotto, French cyclist (d. 2000)
    • 1929 – Anne Ramsey, American actress (d. 1988)
    • 1929 – Reg Evans, Australian actor (d. 2009)
    • 1930 – Daniel Spoerri, Romanian-Swiss photographer, writer and artist
    • 1931 – David Janssen, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1980)
    • 1932 – Junior Parker, American singer and harmonica player (d. 1971)
    • 1932 – Bailey Olter, Micronesian politician, 3rd President of the Federated States of Micronesia (d. 1999)
    • 1933 – Lê Văn Hưng, South Vietnamese Brigadier general (d. 1975)
    • 1934 – István Csurka, Hungarian journalist, author, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1935 – Stanley Rother, American Roman Catholic priest and missionary (d. 1981)
    • 1935 – Julian Glover, English actor
    • 1936 – Malcolm Goldstein, American violinist and composer
    • 1937 – Alan Hawkshaw, English keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1939 – Jay Kim, South Korean-American engineer and politician
    • 1939 – Cale Yarborough, American race car driver and businessman
    • 1940 – Sandro Munari, Italian race car driver
    • 1940 – Austin Pendleton, American actor, director, and playwright
    • 1941 – Ivan Gašparovič, Slovak lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Slovakia
    • 1941 – Liese Prokop, Austrian pentathlete and politician, Austrian Minister of the Interior (d. 2006)
    • 1942 – Michael Jackson, English journalist and author (d. 2007)
    • 1942 – John Sulston, English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
    • 1942 – Michael York, English actor
    • 1943 – Mike Curtis, American football player and coach (d. 2020)
    • 1944 – Jesse Brown, American marine and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (d. 2002)
    • 1944 – Bryan Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1946 – Michael Aris, Cuban-English author and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1947 – Oliver Friggieri, Maltese author, critic, poet and philosopher
    • 1947 – Brian Jones, English balloonist and pilot
    • 1947 – Walt Mossberg, American journalist
    • 1948 – Jens-Peter Bonde, Danish lawyer and politician
    • 1950 – Tony Banks, English keyboardist and songwriter
    • 1950 – Petros Efthymiou, Greek academic and politician, Greek Minister of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs
    • 1950 – Maria Ewing, African-American soprano
    • 1950 – Chris Stewart, English musician and author
    • 1950 – Terry Yorath, Welsh international footballer, Midfielder and international manager
    • 1951 – Andrei Kozyrev, Belgian-Russian politician and diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Russia
    • 1952 – Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austrian skier
    • 1952 – Maria Schneider, French actress (d. 2011)
    • 1953 – Herman Ponsteen, Dutch cyclist
    • 1954 – Gerard Batten, English lawyer and politician
    • 1955 – Patrick McCabe, Irish writer
    • 1955 – Mariano Rajoy, Spanish lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
    • 1955 – Susan Neiman, Jewish American-German philosopher and author
    • 1956 – Leung Kwok-hung, Hong Kong activist and politician
    • 1956 – Thomas Wassberg, Swedish cross country skier
    • 1957 – Kostas Vasilakakis, Greek footballer and manager
    • 1957 – Stephen Dillane, English actor
    • 1958 – Didier de Radiguès, Belgian race car driver and motorcycle racer
    • 1959 – Andrew Farriss, Australian rock musician and multi-instrumentalist
    • 1960 – Hans Pflügler, German footballer
    • 1960 – Renato Russo, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
    • 1961 – Ellery Hanley, English rugby league player and coach
    • 1961 – Tony Rominger, Swiss professional cyclist
    • 1962 – Jann Arden, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1962 – Brett French, Australian rugby league player
    • 1962 – Rob Hollink, Dutch poker player
    • 1962 – John O’Farrell, English journalist and author
    • 1962 – Brad Wright, American-Spanish basketball player
    • 1962 – Kevin J. Anderson, American science fiction writer
    • 1963 – Cory Blackwell, American basketball player
    • 1963 – Randall Cunningham, American football player, coach, and pastor
    • 1963 – Filippos Sachinidis, Greek-Canadian economist and politician
    • 1963 – Gary Stevens, English-Australian footballer and physiotherapist
    • 1963 – Quentin Tarantino, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor
    • 1963 – Xuxa, Brazilian actress, singer, businesswoman and television presenter
    • 1965 – Gregor Foitek, Swiss race car driver
    • 1966 – Žarko Paspalj, Serbian basketball player
    • 1967 – Talisa Soto, American actress
    • 1968 – Irina Belova, Russian heptathlete
    • 1969 – Gianluigi Lentini, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Pauley Perrette, American actress
    • 1970 – Leila Pahlavi, Princess of Iran (d. 2001)
    • 1970 – Derek Aucoin, Canadian baseball player
    • 1970 – Mariah Carey, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1970 – Brent Fitz, Canadian-American multi-instrumentalist and recording artist
    • 1970 – Jarrod McCracken, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1970 – Elizabeth Mitchell, American actress
    • 1970 – Uwe Rosenberg, German game designer, created Bohnanza
    • 1971 – David Coulthard, Scottish race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Nathan Fillion, Canadian actor
    • 1972 – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Surinamese-Dutch footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1972 – Charlie Haas, American professional wrestler
    • 1973 – Roger Telemachus, South African cricketer
    • 1974 – Marek Citko, Polish footballer and manager
    • 1974 – George Koumantarakis, Greek-South African footballer
    • 1974 – Gaizka Mendieta, Spanish footballer
    • 1975 – Andrew Blowers, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1975 – Kim Felton, Australian golfer
    • 1975 – Jeff Palmer, American gay porn actor and singer-songwriter
    • 1975 – Fergie, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
    • 1975 – Christian Fiedler, German footballer and manager
    • 1976 – Roberta Anastase, Romanian politician, 57th President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania
    • 1976 – Danny Fortson, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Adrian Anca, Romanian footballer
    • 1977 – Vítor Meira, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1978 – Gabriel Paraschiv, Romanian footballer
    • 1978 – Marius Bakken, Norwegian runner
    • 1978 – Amélie Cocheteux, French tennis player
    • 1979 – Tom Palmer, English rugby union player
    • 1979 – Mohsen Moeini, Iranian author and director
    • 1979 – Imran Tahir, Pakistani-South African cricketer
    • 1979 – Jennifer Wilson, Zimbabwean-South African field hockey player
    • 1980 – Sean Ryan, American football player
    • 1980 – Michaela Paštiková, Czech tennis player
    • 1980 – Maksim Shevchenko, Kazakhstani footballer
    • 1981 – Terry McFlynn, Irish footballer
    • 1981 – Akhil Kumar, Indian boxer
    • 1981 – Jukka Keskisalo, Finnish runner
    • 1981 – Hilda Kibet, Kenyan runner
    • 1982 – Shawn Beveney, Guyanese footballer
    • 1983 – Yuliya Golubchikova, Russian pole vaulter
    • 1983 – Vasily Koshechkin, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Román Martínez, Argentinian footballer
    • 1984 – Adam Ashley-Cooper, Australian rugby player
    • 1984 – Ben Franks, Australian-born New Zealand rugby player
    • 1984 – Brett Holman, Australian footballer
    • 1985 – Dustin Byfuglien, American ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Danny Vukovic, Australian footballer
    • 1986 – Manuel Neuer, German footballer
    • 1987 – Jefferson Bernárdez, Honduran footballer
    • 1987 – Samuel Francis, Nigerian-Qatari sprinter
    • 1987 – Polina Gagarina, Russian singer-songwriter
    • 1987 – Buster Posey, American baseball player
    • 1988 – Jessie J, English singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Atsuto Uchida, Japanese footballer
    • 1988 – Brenda Song, American actress
    • 1988 – Mauro Goicoechea, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1988 – Holliday Grainger, English actress
    • 1989 – Matt Harvey, American baseball player
    • 1989 – Camilla Lees, New Zealand netball player
    • 1990 – Erdin Demir, Swedish-Turkish footballer
    • 1990 – Ben Hunt, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Nicolas Nkoulou, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1990 – Luca Zuffi, Swiss footballer
    • 1990 – Kimbra, New Zealand musician
    • 1990 – Brodha V, Indian Rapper and Music Producer
    • 1992 – Marc Muniesa, Spanish footballer
    • 1995 – Bill Tuiloma, New Zealand footballer

    Deaths on March 27

    • 710 – Rupert of Salzburg, Austrian bishop and saint (b. 660)
    • 853 – Haymo of Halberstadt, German bishop and author (b. 778)
    • 913 – Du Xiao, chancellor of Later Liang
    • 913 – Zhang empress of Later Liang
    • 916 – Alduin I, Frankish nobleman
    • 965 – Arnulf I, Count of Flanders (born c. 890)
    • 973 – Hermann Billung, Frankish lieutenant (b. 900)
    • 1045 – Ali ibn Ahmad al-Jarjara’i, Fatimid vizier
    • 1184 – Giorgi III, King of Georgia
    • 1248 – Maud Marshal, English countess (b. 1192)
    • 1350 – Alfonso XI of Castile (b. 1312)
    • 1378 – Pope Gregory XI (b. 1336)
    • 1462 – Vasily II of Moscow (b. 1415)
    • 1472 – Janus Pannonius, Hungarian bishop and poet (b. 1434)
    • 1482 – Mary of Burgundy, Sovereign Duchess regnant of Burgundy, married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1457)
    • 1564 – Lütfi Pasha, Turkish historian and politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1488)
    • 1572 – Girolamo Maggi, Italian polymath (b. c. 1523)
    • 1598 – Theodor de Bry, Belgian-German engraver, goldsmith, and publisher (b. 1528)
    • 1613 – Sigismund Báthory (b. 1573)
    • 1615 – Margaret of Valois (b. 1553)
    • 1621 – Benedetto Giustiniani, Italian cardinal (b. 1554)
    • 1624 – Ulrik of Denmark, Danish prince-bishop (b. 1578)
    • 1625 – James VI and I of the United Kingdom (b. 1566)
    • 1635 – Robert Naunton, English politician (b. 1563)
    • 1676 – Bernardino de Rebolledo, Spanish poet, soldier, and diplomat (b. 1597)
    • 1679 – Abraham Mignon, Dutch painter (b. 1640)
    • 1697 – Simon Bradstreet, English businessman and politician, 20th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1603)
    • 1729 – Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1679)
    • 1757 – Johann Stamitz, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1717)
    • 1770 – Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (b. 1696)
    • 1848 – Gabriel Bibron, French zoologist and herpetologist (b. 1805)
    • 1849 – Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford, Irish-Canadian politician, 35th Governor General of Canada (b. 1776)
    • 1850 – Wilhelm Beer, Prussian astronomer and banker (b. 1797)
    • 1864 – Jean-Jacques Ampère, French philologist and academic (b. 1800)
    • 1869 – James Harper, American publisher and politician, 65th Mayor of New York City (b. 1795)
    • 1875 – Juan Crisóstomo Torrico, Peruvian soldier and politician, President of Peru (b. 1808)
    • 1875 – Edgar Quinet, French historian and academic (b. 1803)
    • 1878 – George Gilbert Scott, English architect, designed the Albert Memorial and St Mary’s Cathedral (b. 1811)
    • 1886 – Henry Taylor, English poet and playwright (b. 1800)
    • 1889 – John Bright, English politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1811)
    • 1890 – Carl Jacob Löwig, German chemist and academic (b. 1803)
    • 1898 – Syed Ahmad Khan, Indian philosopher and activist (b. 1817)
    • 1900 – Joseph A. Campbell, American businessman, founded the Campbell Soup Company (b. 1817)
    • 1910 – Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, Swiss-American ichthyologist, zoologist, and engineer (b. 1835)
    • 1913 – Richard Montgomery Gano, American minister, physician, and general (b. 1830)
    • 1918 – Henry Adams, American journalist, historian, and author (b. 1838)
    • 1918 – Martin Sheridan, Irish-American discus thrower and jumper (b. 1881)
    • 1921 – Harry Barron, English general and politician, 16th Governor of Western Australia (b. 1847)
    • 1922 – Nikolay Sokolov, Russian composer and educator (b. 1859)
    • 1923 – James Dewar, Scottish chemist and physicist (b. 1842)
    • 1925 – Carl Neumann, German mathematician and academic (b. 1832)
    • 1926 – Kick Kelly, American baseball player, manager, and umpire (b. 1856)
    • 1926 – Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1887)
    • 1927 – Joe Start, American baseball player and manager (b. 1842)
    • 1927 – Klaus Berntsen, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1844)
    • 1928 – Leslie Stuart, English organist and composer (b. 1863)
    • 1931 – Arnold Bennett, English author and playwright (b. 1867)
    • 1934 – Francis William Reitz, South African lawyer and politician, 5th State President of the Orange Free State (b. 1844)
    • 1938 – William Stern, German-American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1871)
    • 1940 – Michael Joseph Savage, Australian-New Zealand politician, 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1872)
    • 1942 – Julio González, Catalan sculptor and painter (b. 1876)
    • 1943 – George Monckton-Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway, English politician, 5th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1882)
    • 1945 – Vincent Hugo Bendix, American engineer and businessman, founded Bendix Corporation (b. 1881)
    • 1945 – Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1866)
    • 1946 – Karl Groos, German psychologist and philosopher (b. 1861)
    • 1949 – Elisheva Bikhovski, Israeli-Russian poet (b. 1888)
    • 1952 – Kiichiro Toyoda, Japanese businessman, founded Toyota (b. 1894)
    • 1956 – Évariste Lévi-Provençal, French orientalist and historian (b. 1894)
    • 1958 – Leon C. Phillips, American lawyer and politician, 11th Governor of Oklahoma (b. 1890)
    • 1960 – Gregorio Marañón, Spanish physician, philosopher, and author (b. 1887)
    • 1967 – Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
    • 1968 – Yuri Gagarin, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1934)
    • 1968 – Vladimir Seryogin, Russian soldier and pilot (b. 1922)
    • 1973 – Mikhail Kalatozov, Georgian-Russian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (b. 1903)
    • 1974 – Eduardo Santos, Colombian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 15th President of Colombia (b. 1888)
    • 1975 – Arthur Bliss, English conductor and composer (b. 1891)
    • 1976 – Georg August Zinn, German lawyer and politician, Minister President of Hesse (b. 1901)
    • 1977 – Shirley Graham Du Bois, American author, playwright, and composer (b. 1896)
    • 1977 – Diana Hyland, American actress (b. 1936)
    • 1977 – Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Dutch airline pilot (b. 1927)
    • 1978 – Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded the White Spot (b. 1902)
    • 1978 – Kunwar Digvijay Singh, Indian field hockey (b. 1922)
    • 1978 – Sverre Farstad, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1920)
    • 1980 – Steve Fisher, American author and screenwriter (b. 1912)
    • 1981 – Jakob Ackeret, Swiss engineer and academic (b. 1898)
    • 1982 – Fazlur Khan, Bangladeshi-American engineer and architect, designed the John Hancock Center and Willis Tower (b. 1929)
    • 1987 – William Bowers, American journalist and screenwriter (b. 1916)
    • 1988 – Charles Willeford, American author, poet, and critic (b. 1919)
    • 1989 – May Allison, American actress (b. 1890)
    • 1989 – Malcolm Cowley, American novelist, poet, and literary critic (b. 1898)
    • 1990 – Percy Beard, American hurdler and coach (b. 1908)
    • 1991 – Aldo Ray, American actor (b. 1926)
    • 1992 – Colin Gibson, English footballer (b. 1923)
    • 1992 – Lang Hancock, Australian businessman (b. 1909)
    • 1992 – James E. Webb, American colonel and politician, 16th Under Secretary of State (b. 1906)
    • 1993 – Kamal Hassan Ali, Egyptian general and politician, Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1921)
    • 1993 – Paul László, Hungarian-American architect and interior designer (b. 1900)
    • 1994 – Elisabeth Schmid, German archaeologist and osteologist (b. 1912)
    • 1994 – Lawrence Wetherby, American lawyer and politician, 48th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1908)
    • 1995 – René Allio, French director and screenwriter (b. 1924)
    • 1997 – Lane Dwinell, American businessman and politician, 69th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1906)
    • 1997 – Ella Maillart, Swiss skier, sailor, field hockey player, and photographer (b. 1903)
    • 1998 – David McClelland, American psychologist and academic (b. 1917)
    • 1999 – Michael Aris, Cuban-English author and academic (b. 1946)
    • 2000 – George Allen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1914)
    • 2000 – Ian Dury, English singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1942)
    • 2002 – Milton Berle, American comedian and actor (b. 1908)
    • 2002 – Dudley Moore, English actor (b. 1935)
    • 2002 – Billy Wilder, Austrian-born American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
    • 2003 – Edwin Carr, New Zealand composer and educator (b. 1926)
    • 2004 – Robert Merle, French author (b. 1909)
    • 2005 – Wilfred Gordon Bigelow, Canadian soldier and surgeon (b. 1913)
    • 2006 – Dan Curtis, American director and producer (b. 1928)
    • 2006 – Stanisław Lem, Ukrainian-Polish author (b. 1921)
    • 2006 – Rudolf Vrba, Czech Holocaust survivor and educator (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Neil Williams, English cricketer (b. 1962)
    • 2007 – Nancy Adams, New Zealand botanist and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – Jean-Marie Balestre, French businessman (b. 1921)
    • 2009 – Irving R. Levine, American journalist and author (b. 1922)
    • 2010 – Dick Giordano, American illustrator (b. 1932)
    • 2011 – Clement Arrindell, Nevisian judge and politician, 1st Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis (b. 1931)
    • 2011 – Farley Granger, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist and feminist (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Yvonne Brill, Canadian-American scientist and engineer (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Fay Kanin, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1917)
    • 2014 – Richard N. Frye, American scholar and academic (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – James R. Schlesinger, American economist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Defense and first United States Secretary of Energy (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Johnny Helms, American trumpet player, bandleader, and educator (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – T. Sailo, Indian soldier and politician, 2nd Chief Minister of Mizoram (b. 1922)
    • 2016 – Mother Angelica, American Roman Catholic religious leader and media personality (b. 1923)

    Holidays and observances on March 27

    • Christian feast day:
      • Alexander, a Pannonian soldier, martyred in 3rd century.
      • Amador of Portugal
      • Augusta of Treviso
      • Charles Henry Brent (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh
      • John of Egypt
      • Philetus
      • Romulus of Nîmes, a Benedictine abbot, martyred c. 730.
      • Rupert of Salzburg
      • Zanitas and Lazarus of Persia
      • March 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Armed Forces Day (Myanmar)
    • International whisk(e)y day
    • World Theatre Day (International)

  • March 17- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
    • 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of eighteen, following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius.
    • 455 – Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire; he forces Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of his predecessor, Valentinian III, to marry him.
    • 1001 – The Raja of Butuan in what is now the Philippines sends a tributary mission to the Song dynasty.
    • 1337 – Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
    • 1452 – The Battle of Los Alporchones is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the Emirate of Granada and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Castile and Murcia resulting in a Christian victory.
    • 1560 – Fort Coligny on Villegagnon Island in Rio de Janeiro is attacked and destroyed during the Portuguese campaign against France Antarctique.
    • 1677 – The Siege of Valenciennes, during the Franco-Dutch War, ends with France’s taking of the city.
    • 1776 – American Revolution: The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
    • 1780 – American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence”.
    • 1805 – The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King of Italy.
    • 1824 – The Anglo-Dutch Treaty is signed in London, dividing the Malay archipelago. As a result, the Malay Peninsula is dominated by the British, while Sumatra and Java and surrounding areas are dominated by the Dutch.
    • 1842 – The Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed.
    • 1852 – Annibale De Gasparis discovers in Naples the asteroid Psyche from the north dome of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte
    • 1860 – The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand Wars.
    • 1861 – The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
    • 1891 – SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.
    • 1921 – The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.
    • 1939 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins.
    • 1941 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
    • 1942 – Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
    • 1945 – The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture.
    • 1947 – First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
    • 1948 – Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.
    • 1950 – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name “californium”.
    • 1957 – A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
    • 1958 – The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite.
    • 1960 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
    • 1963 – Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.
    • 1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
    • 1968 – As a result of nerve gas testing by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.
    • 1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
    • 1973 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
    • 1979 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
    • 1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree.
    • 1988 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
    • 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.
    • 1992 – Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.
    • 1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
    • 2000 – Five hundred and thirty members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead.
    • 2003 – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
    • 2004 – Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. Thirty-five Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Serbia are destroyed.

    Births on March 17

    • 763 – Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph (d. 809)
    • 1231 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
    • 1473 – James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
    • 1523 – Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Catholic cardinal (d. 1584)
    • 1537 – Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese daimyō (d. 1598)
    • 1611 – Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, Swedish field marshal (d. 1662)
    • 1665 – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichord player and composer (d. 1729)
    • 1676 – Thomas Boston, Scottish philosopher and theologian (d. 1732)
    • 1686 – Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French painter and engraver (d. 1755)
    • 1725 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (d. 1806)
    • 1777 – Patrick Brontë, Irish-English priest and author (d. 1861)
    • 1777 – Roger B. Taney, American politician and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1864)
    • 1780 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister, economist, and educator (d. 1847)
    • 1781 – Ebenezer Elliott, English poet and educator (d. 1849)
    • 1804 – Jim Bridger, American fur trader and explorer (d. 1881)
    • 1806 – Norbert Rillieux, African American inventor and chemical engineer (d. 1894)
    • 1820 – Jean Ingelow, English poet and author (d. 1897)
    • 1834 – Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (d. 1900)
    • 1839 – Josef Rheinberger, Liechtensteiner-German organist and composer (d. 1901)
    • 1846 – Kate Greenaway, English author and illustrator (d. 1901)
    • 1849 – Charles F. Brush, American businessman and philanthropist, co-invented the Arc lamp (d. 1929)
    • 1849 – Cornelia Clapp, American marine biologist (d. 1934)
    • 1856 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
    • 1862 – Silvio Gesell, Belgian merchant and economist (d. 1930)
    • 1864 – Joseph Baptista, Indian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1930)
    • 1866 – Pierce Butler, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1939)
    • 1867 – Patrice Contamine de Latour, Spanish poet (d. 1926)
    • 1877 – Edith New, British militant suffragette (d. 1951)
    • 1877 – Otto Gross, Austrian-German psychoanalyst and philosopher (d. 1920)
    • 1880 – Patrick Hastings, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1952)
    • 1880 – Lawrence Oates, English lieutenant and explorer (d. 1912)
    • 1881 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
    • 1884 – Alcide Nunez, American clarinet player (d. 1934)
    • 1885 – Ralph Rose, American track and field athlete (d. 1913)
    • 1886 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (d. 1974)
    • 1888 – Paul Ramadier, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1961)
    • 1889 – Harry Clarke, Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator (d. 1931)
    • 1891 – Ross McLarty, Australian politician, 17th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1962)
    • 1892 – Sayed Darwish, Egyptian singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1923)
    • 1894 – Paul Green, American playwright and academic (d. 1981)
    • 1895 – Lloyd Rees, Australian painter (d. 1988)
    • 1901 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (d. 1970)
    • 1902 – Bobby Jones, American golfer and lawyer (d. 1971)
    • 1904 – Chaim Gross, Austrian-American sculptor and educator (d. 1991)
    • 1906 – Brigitte Helm, German-Swiss actress (d. 1996)
    • 1907 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1991)
    • 1907 – Takeo Miki, Japanese politician, 41st Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1988)
    • 1910 – Sonny Werblin, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1991)
    • 1912 – Bayard Rustin, American activist (d. 1987)
    • 1914 – Sammy Baugh, American football player and coach (d. 2008)
    • 1915 – Robert S. Arbib Jr., American ornithologist, writer and conservationist (d. 1987)
    • 1915 – Ray Ellington, English drummer and bandleader (d. 1985)
    • 1915 – Bill Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host (d. 1965)
    • 1920 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
    • 1921 – Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician, 12th Israeli Minister of Communications (d. 2009)
    • 1922 – Patrick Suppes, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Stephen Dodgson, English composer and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian actor (d. 2015)
    • 1926 – Siegfried Lenz, Polish-German author and playwright (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Betty Allen, American soprano and educator (d. 2009)
    • 1928 – William John McKeag, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2007)
    • 1930 – Paul Horn, American-Canadian flute player and saxophonist (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1991)
    • 1931 – Patricia Breslin, American actress (d. 2011)
    • 1931 – David Peakall, English-American chemist and toxicologist (d. 2001)
    • 1933 – Myrlie Evers-Williams, American journalist and activist
    • 1933 – Penelope Lively, English author
    • 1935 – Fred T. Mackenzie, American biologist and academic
    • 1935 – Adam Wade, American singer, drummer, and actor
    • 1936 – Ida Kleijnen, Dutch chef (d. 2019)
    • 1936 – Ladislav Kupkovič, Slovakian composer and conductor (d. 2016)
    • 1936 – Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1937 – Galina Samsova, Russian ballerina
    • 1938 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
    • 1938 – Keith O’Brien, Northern Ireland-born Scottish cleric, theologian, and cardinal (d. 2018)
    • 1938 – Zola Taylor, American singer (d. 2007)
    • 1939 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
    • 1939 – Bill Graham, Canadian academic and politician, 4th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1939 – Robin Knox-Johnston, English sailor and first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe
    • 1939 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1940 – Mark White, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Texas (d. 2017)
    • 1941 – Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese soldier and politician
    • 1941 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
    • 1941 – Max Stafford-Clark, English director and academic
    • 1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer and rapist (d. 1994)
    • 1943 – Jeff Banks, Welsh fashion designer
    • 1943 – Andrew Brook, Canadian philosopher, author, and academic
    • 1944 – Pattie Boyd, English model, author, and photographer
    • 1944 – Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
    • 1944 – John Sebastian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1945 – Michael Hayden, American general, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
    • 1947 – Dennis Bond, English footballer, midfielder
    • 1947 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-American songwriter and producer
    • 1948 – William Gibson, American-Canadian author and screenwriter
    • 1948 – Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1949 – Pat Rice, Irish footballer and coach
    • 1949 – Stuart Rose, English businessman
    • 1951 – Scott Gorham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor and producer
    • 1952 – Barry Horne, English activist (d. 2001)
    • 1953 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino activist (d. 2001)
    • 1953 – Chuck Muncie, American football player (d. 2013)
    • 1954 – Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
    • 1955 – Cynthia McKinney, American activist and politician
    • 1955 – Paul Overstreet, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1955 – Gary Sinise, American actor, director, and bass player
    • 1956 – Patrick McDonnell, American author and illustrator
    • 1956 – Rory McGrath, British comedian, television personality, and writer
    • 1957 – Michael Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 2003)
    • 1958 – Christian Clemenson, American actor
    • 1959 – Danny Ainge, American baseball and basketball player
    • 1959 – Paul Black, American singer-songwriter and drummer
    • 1960 – Arye Gross, American actor
    • 1960 – Vicki Lewis, American actress and singer
    • 1961 – Sam Bowie, American basketball player
    • 1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2006)
    • 1961 – Casey Siemaszko, American actor
    • 1962 – Carsten Almqvist, Swedish business executive
    • 1962 – Ank Bijleveld, Dutch politician
    • 1962 – Janet Gardner, American singer and guitarist
    • 1962 – Clare Grogan, Scottish singer and actress
    • 1962 – Rob Sitch, Australian actor, director, and producer
    • 1963 – Roger Harper, Guyanese cricketer and coach
    • 1964 – Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1964 – Lee Dixon, English footballer and journalist
    • 1964 – Rob Lowe, American actor and producer
    • 1964 – Jacques Songo’o, Cameroonian footballer and coach
    • 1965 – Andrew Hudson, South African cricketer
    • 1966 – Andrew Rosindell, English journalist and politician
    • 1967 – Jason Alchin, Australian rugby league player
    • 1967 – Billy Corgan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and producer
    • 1967 – Barry Minkow, American pastor and businessman
    • 1968 – Eri Nitta, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1968 – Mathew St. Patrick, American actor and producer
    • 1969 – Edgar Grospiron, French skier
    • 1969 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founded own eponymous brand (d. 2010)
    • 1970 – Patrick Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1970 – Gene Ween, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1971 – Bill Mueller, American baseball player and coach
    • 1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1972 – Torquil Campbell, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1972 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player
    • 1973 – Rico Blanco, Filipino singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
    • 1973 – Caroline Corr, Irish singer and drummer
    • 1973 – Vance Wilson, American baseball player and manager
    • 1974 – Mark Dolan, English comedian and television host
    • 1975 – Justin Hawkins, English singer-songwriter
    • 1975 – Puneeth Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer
    • 1975 – Test, Canadian-American wrestler (d. 2009)
    • 1975 – Natalie Zea, American actress
    • 1976 – Scott Downs, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2009)
    • 1976 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1977 – Tamar Braxton, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1978 – Zachery Kouwe, American journalist
    • 1979 – Stormy Daniels, born Stephanie Gregory, American adult film actress
    • 1979 – Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and fashion designer
    • 1979 – Samoa Joe, American professional wrestler
    • 1980 – Danny Califf, American soccer player
    • 1980 – Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Pakistani tennis player
    • 1981 – Aaron Baddeley, American-Australian golfer
    • 1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer
    • 1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Nicky Jam, American-Puerto-Rican singer and songwriter
    • 1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
    • 1983 – James Heath, English golfer
    • 1983 – Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
    • 1983 – Attila Vajda, Hungarian sprint canoeist
    • 1984 – Ryan Rottman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1985 – Tuğba Karademir, Turkish-Canadian figure skater
    • 1986 – Chris Davis, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Edin Džeko, Bosnian footballer
    • 1986 – Miles Kane, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1986 – Silke Spiegelburg, German pole vaulter
    • 1987 – Federico Fazio, Argentinian international footballer, centre backland rugby league player
    • 1987 – Ryan Parent, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Emmanuel Sanders, American football player
    • 1988 – Rasmus Elm, Swedish footballer
    • 1988 – Fraser Forster, English footballer
    • 1988 – Grimes, Canadian artist, musician and music video director
    • 1988 – Ryan White, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Shinji Kagawa, Japanese footballer
    • 1990 – Hozier, Irish singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1990 – Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player
    • 1991 – Jack De Belin, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Patrick Cantlay, American golfer
    • 1992 – John Boyega, English actor
    • 1993 – Matteo Bianchetti, Italian footballer
    • 1994 – Dean Britt, Australian rugby league player
    • 1995 – Ashley Taylor, Australian rugby league player
    • 1997 – Katie Ledecky, American swimmer

    Deaths on March 17

    • 45 BC – Titus Labienus, Roman general (b. 100 BC)
    • 45 BC – Publius Attius Varus, Roman governor of Africa
    • 180 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
    • 624 – Amr ibn Hishām, Arab polytheist
    • 659 – Gertrude of Nivelles, Frankish abbess
    • 836 – Haito, bishop of Basel
    • 905 – Li Yu, Prince of De, prince and emperor of the Tang Dynasty
    • 1008 – Kazan, emperor of Japan (b. 968)
    • 1040 – Harold Harefoot, king of England
    • 1058 – Lulach, king of Scotland
    • 1199 – Jocelin of Glasgow, Scottish monk and bishop (b. 1130)
    • 1267 – Pierre de Montreuil, French architect
    • 1270 – Philip of Montfort, French knight and nobleman
    • 1272 – Go-Saga, emperor of Japan (b. 1220)
    • 1361 – An-Nasir Hasan, Mamluk sultan of Egypt
    • 1394 – Louis of Enghien, French nobleman
    • 1406 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian sociologist, historian, and scholar (b. 1332)
    • 1425 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1407)
    • 1516 – Giuliano de’ Medici, Italian nobleman (b. 1479)
    • 1527 – Rana Sanga, Indian ruler (b. 1482)
    • 1565 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian and academic (b. 1500)
    • 1611 – Sophia of Sweden, duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1547)
    • 1620 – John Sarkander, Polish-Moravian priest and saint (b. 1576)
    • 1640 – Philip Massinger, English playwright (b. 1583)
    • 1649 – Gabriel Lalemant, French missionary and saint (b. 1610)
    • 1663 – Jerome Weston, 2nd Earl of Portland, English diplomat (b. 1605)
    • 1680 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French author (b. 1613)
    • 1704 – Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch soldier and engineer (b. 1641)
    • 1715 – Gilbert Burnet, Scottish bishop and historian (b. 1643)
    • 1741 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet and playwright (b. 1671)
    • 1764 – George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer and politician (b. 1695)
    • 1782 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (b. 1700)
    • 1828 – James Edward Smith, English botanist and entomologist (b. 1759)
    • 1829 – Sophia Albertina, princess-abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1753)
    • 1830 – Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French general and politician (b. 1764)
    • 1846 – Friedrich Bessel, German astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1784)
    • 1849 – William II, Dutch sovereign prince and king (b. 1792)
    • 1853 – Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist and mathematician (b. 1803)
    • 1871 – Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (b. 1802)
    • 1875 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1832)
    • 1893 – Jules Ferry, French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (b. 1832)
    • 1917 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
    • 1926 – Aleksei Brusilov, Georgian-Russian general (b. 1853)
    • 1937 – Austen Chamberlain, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1863)
    • 1940 – Philomène Belliveau, Canadian artist (b. 1854)
    • 1946 – Dai Li, Chinese general (b. 1897)
    • 1949 – Aleksandra Ekster, Russian-French painter and set designer (b. 1882)
    • 1956 – Fred Allen, American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and author (b. 1894)
    • 1956 – Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
    • 1957 – Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino captain and politician, 7th President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
    • 1958 – John Pius Boland, Irish tennis player and politician (b. 1870)
    • 1958 – Bertha De Vriese, Belgian physician (b. 1877)
    • 1961 – Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (b. 1860)
    • 1965 – Amos Alonzo Stagg, American football player and coach (b. 1862)
    • 1974 – Louis Kahn, American architect and academic, designed Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (b. 1901)
    • 1976 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
    • 1981 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
    • 1983 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1983 – Louisa E. Rhine, American botanist and parapsychologist (b. 1891)
    • 1986 – Clarence D. Lester, African-American fighter pilot (b.1923)
    • 1990 – Capucine, French model and actress (b. 1928)
    • 1992 – Grace Stafford, American actress (b. 1903)
    • 1993 – Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
    • 1994 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish-English actress and director (b. 1925)
    • 1996 – René Clément, French director and screenwriter (b. 1913)
    • 1996 – Terry Stafford, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
    • 1997 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1957)
    • 1999 – Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer (b. 1921)
    • 1999 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French activist (b. 1905)
    • 2002 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress and producer (b. 1911)
    • 2002 – Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (b. 1917)
    • 2002 – Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, American television broadcaster and producer (b. 1908)
    • 2005 – Royce Frith, Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat, Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (b. 1923)
    • 2005 – George F. Kennan, American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (b. 1904)
    • 2005 – Andre Norton, American author (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (b. 1913)
    • 2006 – Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1913)
    • 2006 – İstemihan Taviloğlu, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1945)
    • 2007 – John Backus, American mathematician and computer scientist, designed Fortran (b. 1924)
    • 2007 – Roger Bennett, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1959)
    • 2008 – Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (b. 1939)
    • 2009 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian television host and politician (b. 1937)
    • 2010 – Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1950)
    • 2010 – Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (b. 1920)
    • 2011 – Michael Gough, English actor (b. 1916)
    • 2011 – Ferlin Husky, American country music singer (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Margaret Whitlam, Australian swimmer and author (b. 1919)
    • 2013 – William B. Caldwell III, American general (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Lawrence Fuchs, American scholar and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – A.B.C. Whipple, American journalist and historian (b. 1918)
    • 2014 – Marek Galiński, Polish cyclist (b. 1974)
    • 2014 – Joseph Kerman, American musicologist and critic (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Rachel Lambert Mellon, American gardener, philanthropist, art collector and political patron (b. 1910)
    • 2015 – Frank Perris, Canadian motorcycle racer (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Meir Dagan, Israeli general (b. 1945)
    • 2016 – Zoltán Kamondi, Hungarian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1960)
    • 2018 – Mike MacDonald, Canadian comedian (b. 1954)
    • 2018 – Phan Văn Khải, the fifth Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1933)

    Holidays and observances on March 17

    • Children’s Day (Bangladesh)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Alexius of Rome (Eastern Church)
      • Gertrude of Nivelles
      • John Sarkander
      • Joseph of Arimathea (Western Church)
      • Patrick of Ireland
      • March 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Evacuation Day (Suffolk County, Massachusetts)
    • Saint Patrick’s Day, a public holiday in Ireland, Montserrat and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, widely celebrated in the English-speaking world and to a lesser degree in other parts of the world.

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

    • 363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
    • 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama.
    • 1279 – The Livonian Order is defeated in the Battle of Aizkraukle by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
    • 1496 – King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorising them to explore unknown lands.
    • 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus’s book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres is added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.
    • 1766 – Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
    • 1770 – Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, are fatally shot by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence) five years later.
    • 1811 – Peninsular War: A French force under the command of Marshal Victor is routed while trying to prevent an Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese army from lifting the Siege of Cádiz in the Battle of Barrosa.
    • 1824 – First Anglo-Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
    • 1836 – Samuel Colt patents the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.
    • 1850 – The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened.
    • 1860 – Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.
    • 1868 – Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito, receives its premiere performance at La Scala.
    • 1872 – George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
    • 1906 – Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors.
    • 1912 – Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
    • 1931 – The British Raj: Gandhi–Irwin Pact is signed.
    • 1933 – Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party receives 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, which allows the Nazis to later pass the Enabling Act and establish a dictatorship.
    • 1936 – First flight of K5054, the first prototype Supermarine Spitfire advanced monoplane fighter aircraft in the United Kingdom.
    • 1940 – Six high-ranking members of Soviet politburo, including Joseph Stalin, sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, in what will become known as the Katyn massacre.
    • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces capture Batavia, capital of Dutch East Indies, which is left undefended after the withdrawal of the KNIL garrison and Australian Blackforce battalion to Buitenzorg and Bandung.
    • 1943 – First Flight of the Gloster Meteor, Britain’s first combat jet aircraft.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Red Army begins the Uman–Botoșani Offensive in the western Ukrainian SSR.
    • 1946 – Cold War: Winston Churchill coins the phrase “Iron Curtain” in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.
    • 1953 – Joseph Stalin, the longest serving leader of the Soviet Union, dies at his Volynskoe dacha in Moscow after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage four days earlier.
    • 1960 – Indonesian President Sukarno dismissed the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), 1955 democratically elected parliament, and replaced with DPR-GR, the parliament of his own selected members.
    • 1963 – American country music stars Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and their pilot Randy Hughes are killed in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee.
    • 1965 – March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.
    • 1966 – BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707 aircraft, breaks apart in mid-air due to clear-air turbulence and crashes into Mount Fuji, Japan, killing all 124 people on board.
    • 1970 – The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
    • 1974 – Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
    • 1978 – The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
    • 1979 – Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the German-American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by “off the scale” gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
    • 1981 – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and would go on to sell over 1​1⁄2 million units around the world.
    • 1982 – Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus.
    • 2003 – In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing.
    • 2012 – Tropical Storm Irina kills over 75 as it passes through Madagascar.

    Births on March 5

    • 1133 – Henry II of England (d. 1189)
    • 1224 – Saint Kinga of Poland (d. 1292)
    • 1324 – David II of Scotland (d. 1371)
    • 1326 – Louis I of Hungary (d. 1382)
    • 1340 – Cansignorio della Scala, Lord of Verona (d. 1375)
    • 1451 – William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English Earl (d. 1491)
    • 1512 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher (d. 1594)
    • 1523 – Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, Spanish cardinal (d. 1600)
    • 1527 – Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1603)
    • 1539 – Christoph Pezel, German theologian (d. 1604)
    • 1563 – John Coke, English civil servant and politician (d. 1644)
    • 1575 – William Oughtred, English minister and mathematician (d. 1660)
    • 1585 – John George I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1656)
    • 1585 – Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (d. 1638)
    • 1637 – Jan van der Heyden, Dutch painter and engineer (d. 1712)
    • 1658 – Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, French explorer and politician, 3rd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (d. 1730)
    • 1693 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian and scholar (d. 1754)
    • 1696 – Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (d. 1770)
    • 1703 – Vasily Trediakovsky, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1768)
    • 1713 – Edward Cornwallis, English general and politician, Governor of Gibraltar (d. 1776)
    • 1713 – Frederick Cornwallis, English archbishop (d. 1783)
    • 1723 – Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
    • 1733 – Vincenzo Galeotti, Italian-Danish dancer and choreographer (d. 1816)
    • 1739 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel and physician (d. 1819)
    • 1748 – Jonas Carlsson Dryander, Swedish botanist and biologist (d. 1810)
    • 1748 – William Shield, English violinist and composer (d. 1829)
    • 1750 – Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard d’Ansse de Villoison, French scholar and academic (d. 1805)
    • 1751 – Jan Křtitel Kuchař, Czech organist, composer, and educator (d. 1829)
    • 1774 – Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, Danish organist and composer (d. 1842)
    • 1779 – Benjamin Gompertz, English mathematician and statistician (d. 1865)
    • 1785 – Carlo Odescalchi, Italian cardinal (d. 1841)
    • 1794 – Jacques Babinet, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (d. 1872)
    • 1794 – Robert Cooper Grier, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1870)
    • 1814 – Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian and academic (d. 1889)
    • 1800 – Georg Friedrich Daumer, German poet and philosopher (d. 1875)
    • 1815 – John Wentworth, American journalist and politician, 19th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1888)
    • 1817 – Austen Henry Layard, English archaeologist, academic, and politician, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (d. 1894)
    • 1830 – Étienne-Jules Marey, French physiologist and chronophotographer (d. 1904)
    • 1830 – Charles Wyville Thomson, Scottish historian and zoologist (d. 1882)
    • 1834 – Félix de Blochausen, Luxembourgian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1915)
    • 1834 – Marietta Piccolomini, Italian soprano (d. 1899)
    • 1853 – Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (d. 1911)
    • 1862 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (d. 1934)
    • 1867 – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 14th Premier of Quebec (d. 1952)
    • 1869 – Michael von Faulhaber, German cardinal (d. 1952)
    • 1870 – Frank Norris, American journalist and author (d. 1902)
    • 1870 – Evgeny Paton, French-Ukrainian engineer (d. 1953)
    • 1871 – Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-Russian economist and philosopher (d. 1919)
    • 1871 – Konstantinos Pallis, Greek general and politician, Minister Governor-General of Macedonia (d. 1941)
    • 1873 – Olav Bjaaland, Norwegian skier and explorer (d. 1961)
    • 1874 – Henry Travers, English-American actor (d. 1965)
    • 1875 – Harry Lawson, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Victoria (d. 1952)
    • 1876 – Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, English lawyer and politician, 8th Lord Chief Justice of England (d. 1947)
    • 1876 – Elisabeth Moore, American tennis player (d. 1959)
    • 1879 – William Beveridge, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic (d. 1963)
    • 1879 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (d. 1943)
    • 1880 – Sergei Natanovich Bernstein, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1968)
    • 1882 – Dora Marsden, English author and activist (d. 1960)
    • 1883 – Pauline Sperry, American mathematician (d. 1967)
    • 1885 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (d. 1969)
    • 1886 – Dong Biwu, Chinese judge and politician, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1975)
    • 1886 – Freddie Welsh, Welsh boxer (d. 1927)
    • 1887 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist and composer (d. 1959)
    • 1894 – Henry Daniell, English-American actor (d. 1963)
    • 1898 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1976)
    • 1898 – Misao Okawa, Japanese super-centenarian (d. 2015)
    • 1900 – Lilli Jahn, Jewish German doctor (d. 1944)
    • 1900 – Johanna Langefeld, German guard and supervisor of three Nazi concentration camps (d. 1974)
    • 1901 – Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg (d. 1971)
    • 1901 – Julian Przyboś, Polish poet, essayist and translator (d. 1970)
    • 1904 – Karl Rahner, German priest and theologian (d. 1984)
    • 1905 – László Benedek, Hungarian-American director and cinematographer (d. 1992)
    • 1908 – Fritz Fischer, German historian and author (d. 1999)
    • 1908 – Irving Fiske, American author and playwright (d. 1990)
    • 1908 – Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
    • 1910 – Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman, founded Nissin Foods (d. 2007)
    • 1910 – Ennio Flaiano, Italian author, screenwriter, and critic (d. 1972)
    • 1912 – Jack Marshall, New Zealand colonel, lawyer, and politician, 28th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1988)
    • 1915 – Henry Hicks, Canadian academic and politician, 16th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 1990)
    • 1915 – Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician and academic (d. 2002)
    • 1918 – Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2017)
    • 1918 – Red Storey, Canadian football player, referee, and sportscaster (d. 2006)
    • 1918 – James Tobin, American economist and academic (d. 2002)
    • 1920 – José Aboulker, Algerian surgeon and activist (d. 2009)
    • 1920 – Virginia Christine, American actress (d. 1996)
    • 1920 – Rachel Gurney, English actress (d. 2001)
    • 1920 – Wang Zengqi, Chinese writer (d. 1997)
    • 1921 – Elmer Valo, American baseball player and coach (d. 1998)
    • 1922 – James Noble, American actor (d. 2016)
    • 1922 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1975)
    • 1923 – Juan A. Rivero, Puerto Rican biologist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Laurence Tisch, American businessman, co-founded the Loews Corporation (d. 2003)
    • 1924 – Roger Marche, French footballer (d. 1997)
    • 1927 – Jack Cassidy, American actor and singer (d. 1976)
    • 1927 – Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, Scottish businessman and politician
    • 1928 – J. Hillis Miller, American academic and critic
    • 1929 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish race car driver (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – J. B. Lenoir, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1967)
    • 1930 – John Ashley, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (d. 2008)
    • 1930 – Del Crandall, American baseball player and manager
    • 1931 – Fred, French author and illustrator (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Barry Tuckwell, Australian horn player and educator (d. 2020)
    • 1932 – Paul Sand, American actor
    • 1933 – Walter Kasper, German cardinal and theologian
    • 1934 – Daniel Kahneman, Israeli-American economist and psychologist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1935 – Letizia Battaglia, Italian photographer and journalist
    • 1935 – Philip K. Chapman, Australian-American astronaut and engineer
    • 1936 – Canaan Banana, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st President of Zimbabwe (d. 2003)
    • 1936 – Dale Douglass, American golfer
    • 1936 – Dean Stockwell, American actor
    • 1937 – Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian general and politician, 5th President of Nigeria
    • 1938 – Paul Evans, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1938 – Lynn Margulis, American biologist and academic (d. 2011)
    • 1938 – Fred Williamson, American football player, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1939 – Samantha Eggar, English actress
    • 1939 – Tony Rundle, Australian politician, 40th Premier of Tasmania
    • 1939 – Benyamin Sueb, Indonesian actor and comedian (d. 1995)
    • 1939 – Peter Woodcock, Canadian serial killer (d. 2010)
    • 1939 – Pierre Wynants, Belgian chef
    • 1940 – Tom Butler, English bishop
    • 1940 – Ken Irvine, Australian rugby league player (d. 1990)
    • 1940 – Graham McRae, New Zealand race car driver
    • 1940 – Sepp Piontek, German footballer and manager
    • 1941 – Des Wilson, New Zealand-English businessman and activist
    • 1942 – Felipe González, Spanish lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
    • 1942 – Mike Resnick, American author and editor (d. 2020)
    • 1942 – David Watkins, Welsh rugby player
    • 1943 – Lucio Battisti, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
    • 1944 – Peter Brandes, Danish painter and sculptor
    • 1944 – Roy Gutman, American journalist and author
    • 1945 – Wilf Tranter, English footballer
    • 1946 – Richard Bell, Canadian pianist (d. 2007)
    • 1946 – Guerrino Boatto, Italian illustrator and painter (d. 2018)
    • 1946 – Graham Hawkins, English footballer and manager (d. 2016)
    • 1946 – Murray Head, English actor and singer
    • 1947 – Clodagh Rodgers, Northern Irish singer and actress
    • 1947 – Kent Tekulve, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1948 – Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1984)
    • 1948 – Eddy Grant, Guyanese-British singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1948 – Richard Hickox, English conductor and scholar (d. 2008)
    • 1948 – Elaine Paige, English singer and actress
    • 1948 – Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1949 – Bernard Arnault, French businessman, philanthropist, and art collector
    • 1949 – Franz Josef Jung, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence
    • 1949 – Tom Russell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – Rodney Hogg, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1952 – Petar Borota, Serbian footballer and coach (d. 2010)
    • 1952 – Mike Squires, American baseball player and scout
    • 1953 – Katarina Frostenson, Swedish poet and author
    • 1953 – Michael J. Sandel, American philosopher and academic
    • 1953 – Tokyo Sexwale, South African businessman and politician, 1st Premier of Gauteng
    • 1954 – Marsha Warfield, American actress
    • 1954 – João Lourenço, Angolan president
    • 1955 – Penn Jillette, American magician, actor, and author
    • 1956 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1956 – Christopher Snowden, English engineer and academic
    • 1957 – Mark E. Smith, English singer, songwriter and musician (d. 2018)
    • 1957 – Ray Suarez, American journalist and author
    • 1958 – Volodymyr Bezsonov, Ukrainian footballer and manager
    • 1958 – Bob Forward, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Andy Gibb, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1988)
    • 1959 – Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 1999)
    • 1960 – Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson, English businessman and politician, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology
    • 1963 – Joel Osteen, American pastor, author, and television host
    • 1964 – Bertrand Cantat, French singer-songwriter
    • 1964 – Gerald Vanenburg, Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1965 – José Semedo, Portuguese footballer and coach
    • 1966 – Oh Eun-sun, South Korean mountaineer
    • 1966 – Bob Halkidis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1966 – Michael Irvin, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
    • 1966 – Aasif Mandvi, Indian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Zachery Stevens, American singer-songwriter
    • 1968 – Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian businessman and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Hungary
    • 1968 – Theresa Villiers, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
    • 1969 – Paul Blackthorne, English actor and producer
    • 1969 – Danny King, English author and playwright
    • 1969 – Moussa Saïb, Algerian footballer and manager
    • 1969 – M.C. Solaar, Afro-French rapper
    • 1970 – Mike Brown, American basketball player and coach
    • 1970 – John Frusciante, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1970 – Yuu Watase, Japanese illustrator
    • 1971 – Greg Berry, English footballer and coach
    • 1971 – Jeffrey Hammonds, American baseball player and scout
    • 1971 – Yuri Lowenthal, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Filip Meirhaeghe, Belgian cyclist
    • 1971 – Mark Protheroe, Australian rugby league player
    • 1973 – Yannis Anastasiou, Greek footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Nelly Arcan, Canadian author (d. 2009)
    • 1973 – Juan Esnáider, Argentinian footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Ryan Franklin, American baseball player
    • 1973 – Nicole Pratt, Australian tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1973 – Špela Pretnar, Slovenian skier
    • 1974 – Kevin Connolly, American actor and director
    • 1974 – Jens Jeremies, German footballer
    • 1974 – Eva Mendes, American model and actress
    • 1975 – Luciano Burti, Brazilian race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Sasho Petrovski, Australian footballer
    • 1975 – Chris Silverwood, English cricketer and coach
    • 1976 – Neil Jackson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1976 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
    • 1976 – Paul Konerko, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Norm Maxwell, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1977 – Taismary Agüero, Cuban-Italian volleyball player
    • 1978 – Jared Crouch, Australian footballer
    • 1978 – Mike Hessman, American baseball player and coach
    • 1978 – Kimberly McCullough, American actress, singer, and dancer
    • 1978 – Carlos Ochoa, Mexican footballer
    • 1979 – Martin Axenrot, Swedish drummer
    • 1979 – Lee Mears, English rugby player
    • 1980 – Shay Carl, American businessman, co-founded Maker Studios
    • 1981 – Barret Jackman, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Dan Carter, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1982 – Philipp Haastrup, German footballer
    • 1983 – Édgar Dueñas, Mexican footballer
    • 1984 – Branko Cvetković, Serbian basketball player
    • 1984 – Guillaume Hoarau, French footballer
    • 1985 – David Marshall, Scottish footballer
    • 1985 – Brad Mills, American baseball player
    • 1985 – Kenichi Matsuyama, Japanese actor
    • 1986 – Alexandre Barthe, French footballer
    • 1986 – Matty Fryatt, English footballer
    • 1987 – Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player
    • 1987 – Chris Cohen, English footballer
    • 1988 – Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaïba, Algerian footballer
    • 1990 – Danny Drinkwater, English footballer
    • 1990  – Mason Plumlee, American basketball player
    • 1990 – Alex Smithies, English footballer
    • 1991 – Ramiro Funes Mori, Argentinian footballer
    • 1991 – Daniil Trifonov, Russian pianist and composer
    • 1993 – El Hadji Ba, French footballer
    • 1993 – Joshua Coyne, American violinist and composer
    • 1993 – Harry Maguire, English footballer
    • 1994 – Daria Gavrilova, Russian-Australian tennis player
    • 1994 – Kyle Schwarber, American baseball player
    • 1996 – Taylor Hill, American model
    • 1996 – Emmanuel Mudiay, Congolese basketball player
    • 1997 – Milena Venega, Cuban rower
    • 1998 – Bo Bichette, American baseball player
    • 1999 – Madison Beer, American singer, songwriter and producer.
    • 2007 – Roman Griffin Davis, British actor, second youngest Golden Globe recipient.

    Deaths on March 5

    • 254 – Pope Lucius I (b. 200)
    • 824 – Suppo I, Frankish nobleman
    • 1239 – Hermann Balk, German knight
    • 1410 – Matthew of Kraków, Polish reformer (b. 1335)
    • 1417 – Manuel III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1364)
    • 1534 – Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter and educator (b. 1489)
    • 1539 – Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese admiral and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1487)
    • 1599 – Guido Panciroli, Italian historian and jurist (b. 1523)
    • 1611 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1533)
    • 1622 – Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1569)
    • 1695 – Henry Wharton, English writer and librarian (b. 1664)
    • 1726 – Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1655)
    • 1770 – Crispus Attucks, American slave (b. 1723)
    • 1778 – Thomas Arne, English composer and educator (b. 1710)
    • 1815 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologist (b. 1734)
    • 1827 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (b. 1749)
    • 1827 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1745)
    • 1829 – John Adams, English sailor and mutineer (b. 1766)
    • 1849 – David Scott, Scottish historical painter (b. 1806)
    • 1876 – Marie d’Agoult, German-French historian and author (b. 1805)
    • 1893 – Hippolyte Taine, French historian and critic (b. 1828)
    • 1895 – Nikolai Leskov, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1831)
    • 1895 – Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, English general and scholar (b. 1810)
    • 1907 – Friedrich Blass, German philologist, scholar, and academic (b. 1843)
    • 1925 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1859)
    • 1927 – Franz Mertens, Polish-Austrian mathematician and academic (b. 1840)
    • 1929 – David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American businessman, founded Buick (b. 1854)
    • 1934 – Reşit Galip, Turkish academic and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of National Education (b. 1893)
    • 1935 – Roque Ruaño, Spanish priest and engineer (b. 1877)
    • 1940 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher and academic (b. 1868)
    • 1944 – Max Jacob, French poet and author (b. 1876)
    • 1945 – Lena Baker, African American maid and murderer (b. 1900)
    • 1947 – Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1883)
    • 1950 – Edgar Lee Masters, American poet, author, and playwright (b. 1868)
    • 1950 – Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (b. 1907)
    • 1953 – Herman J. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1897)
    • 1953 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1891)
    • 1953 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator and politician of Georgian descent, 2nd leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1878)
    • 1955 – Antanas Merkys, Lithuanian lawyer and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Lithuania (b. 1888)
    • 1963 – Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932)
    • 1963 – Cowboy Copas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1913)
    • 1963 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921)
    • 1965 – Chen Cheng, Chinese general and politician, 27th Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1897)
    • 1965 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1904)
    • 1966 – Anna Akhmatova, Ukrainian-Russian poet, author, and translator (b. 1889)
    • 1967 – Mischa Auer, Russian-American actor (b. 1905)
    • 1967 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian political scientist and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1882)
    • 1967 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (b. 1888)
    • 1971 – Allan Nevins, American journalist and author (b. 1890)
    • 1973 – Robert C. O’Brien, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
    • 1974 – John Samuel Bourque, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1894)
    • 1974 – Billy De Wolfe, American actor (b. 1907)
    • 1974 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American businessman (b. 1888)
    • 1976 – Otto Tief, Estonian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1889)
    • 1977 – Tom Pryce, Welsh race car driver (b. 1949)
    • 1980 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (b. 1912)
    • 1981 – Yip Harburg, American songwriter and composer (b. 1896)
    • 1982 – John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949)
    • 1984 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (b. 1924)
    • 1984 – Tito Gobbi, Italian operatic baritone (b. 1913)
    • 1984 – William Powell, American actor (b. 1892)
    • 1988 – Alberto Olmedo, Argentine comedian and actor (b. 1933)
    • 1990 – Gary Merrill, American actor and director (b. 1915)
    • 1995 – Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1943)
    • 1996 – Whit Bissell, American character actor (b. 1909)
    • 1997 – Samm Sinclair Baker, American writer (b. 1909)
    • 1997 – Jean Dréville, French director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
    • 1999 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (b. 1922)
    • 2000 – Lolo Ferrari, French dancer, actress and singer (b. 1963)
    • 2005 – David Sheppard, English cricketer and bishop (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German computer scientist and author (b. 1923)
    • 2010 – Charles B. Pierce, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
    • 2010 – Richard Stapley, British actor and writer (b. 1923)
    • 2011 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – Paul Haines, New Zealand-Australian author (b. 1970)
    • 2012 – Philip Madoc, Welsh-English actor (b. 1934)
    • 2012 – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – William O. Wooldridge, American sergeant (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (b. 1954)
    • 2013 – Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1954)
    • 2013 – Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Ailsa McKay, Scottish economist and academic (b. 1963)
    • 2014 – Leopoldo María Panero, Spanish poet and translator (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Ola L. Mize, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Vlada Divljan, Serbian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
    • 2015 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (b. 1932)
    • 2016 – Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese activist and politician (b. 1932)
    • 2016 – Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (b. 1941)
    • 2016 – Al Wistert, American football player and coach (b. 1920)
    • 2017 – Kurt Moll, German opera singer (b. 1938)

    Holidays and observances on March 5

    • Christian feast day:
      • Ciarán of Saigir
      • John Joseph of the Cross
      • Piran
      • Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
      • Thietmar of Minden
      • March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Custom Chief’s Day (Vanuatu)
    • Day of Physical Culture and Sport (Azerbaijan)
    • Learn from Lei Feng Day (China)
    • St Piran’s Day (Cornwall)

  • March 2- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his bucellarii are almost cut off.
    • 986 – Louis V becomes King of the Franks.
    • 1444 – Skanderbeg organizes a group of Albanian nobles to form the League of Lezhë.
    • 1458 – George of Poděbrady is chosen as the king of Bohemia.
    • 1476 – Burgundian Wars: The Old Swiss Confederacy hands Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a major defeat in the Battle of Grandson in Canton of Neuchâtel.
    • 1484 – The College of Arms is formally incorporated by Royal Charter signed by King Richard III of England.
    • 1498 – Vasco da Gama’s fleet visits the Island of Mozambique.
    • 1561 – Mendoza, Argentina, is founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro del Castillo.
    • 1657 – Great Fire of Meireki: A fire in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan, caused more than 100,000 deaths; it lasted three days
    • 1717 – The Loves of Mars and Venus is the first ballet performed in England.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Patriot militia units arrest the Royal Governor of Georgia James Wright and attempt to prevent capture of supply ships in the Battle of the Rice Boats.
    • 1791 – Long-distance communication speeds up with the unveiling of a semaphore machine in Paris.
    • 1797 – The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound banknotes.
    • 1807 – The U.S. Congress passes the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, disallowing the importation of new slaves into the country.
    • 1808 – The inaugural meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
    • 1811 – Argentine War of Independence: A royalist fleet defeats a small flotilla of revolutionary ships in the Battle of San Nicolás on the River Plate.
    • 1815 – Signing of the Kandyan Convention treaty by British invaders and the leaders of the Kingdom of Kandy.
    • 1825 – Roberto Cofresí, one of the last successful Caribbean pirates, is defeated in combat and captured by authorities.
    • 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico is adopted.
    • 1855 – Alexander II becomes Tsar of Russia.
    • 1859 – The two-day Great Slave Auction, the largest such auction in United States history, begins.
    • 1865 – East Cape War: The Völkner Incident in New Zealand.
    • 1867 – The U.S. Congress passes the first Reconstruction Act.
    • 1877 – Just two days before inauguration, the U.S. Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the 1876 U.S. presidential election even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote.
    • 1882 – Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Roderick McLean in Windsor.
    • 1896 – The Battle of Adwa: The Italian Army defeated by the Ethiopian Army in Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia.
    • 1901 – United States Steel Corporation is founded as a result of a merger between Carnegie Steel Company and Federal Steel Company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capital over $1 billion.
    • 1901 – The U.S. Congress passes the Platt Amendment limiting the autonomy of Cuba, as a condition of the withdrawal of American troops.
    • 1903 – In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.
    • 1917 – The enactment of the Jones–Shafroth Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.
    • 1919 – The first Communist International meets in Moscow.
    • 1933 – The film King Kong opens at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
    • 1937 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee signs a collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel, leading to unionization of the United States steel industry.
    • 1939 – Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the name Pius XII.
    • 1941 – World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joins the Axis Pact.
    • 1943 – World War II: Allied aircraft defeat a Japanese attempt to ship troops to New Guinea.
    • 1946 – Ho Chi Minh is elected the President of North Vietnam.
    • 1949 – Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.
    • 1955 – Norodom Sihanouk, king of Cambodia, abdicates the throne in favor of his father, Norodom Suramarit.
    • 1961 – John F. Kennedy announces the creation of the Peace Corps in a nationally televised broadcast.
    • 1962 – In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup d’état.
    • 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain sets the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association by scoring 100 points.
    • 1965 – The US and Republic of Vietnam Air Force begin Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
    • 1968 – Baggeridge Colliery closes marking the end of over 300 years of coal mining in the Black Country.
    • 1969 – In Toulouse, France, the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted.
    • 1970 – Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown.
    • 1972 – The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.
    • 1977 – Libya becomes the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as the General People’s Congress adopted the “Declaration on the Establishment of the Authority of the People”.
    • 1978 – Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.
    • 1983 – Compact discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had previously been available only in Japan.
    • 1989 – Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
    • 1990 – Nelson Mandela is elected deputy President of the African National Congress.
    • 1991 – Battle at Rumaila oil field brings an end to the 1991 Gulf War.
    • 1992 – Start of the war in Transnistria.
    • 1992 – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the United Nations.
    • 1995 – Researchers at Fermilab announce the discovery of the top quark.
    • 1995 – Yahoo! is incorporated.
    • 1998 – Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter’s moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.
    • 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).
    • 2004 – War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.
    • 2012 – A tornado outbreak occurred over a large section of the Southern United States and into the Ohio Valley region, resulting in 40 tornado-related fatalities.
    • 2017 – The elements Moscovium, Tennessine, and Oganesson were officially added to the periodic table at a conference in Moscow, Russia.

    Births on March 2

    • 480 – Benedict of Nursia, Italian Christian saint (d. 543 or 547)
    • 1316 – Robert II of Scotland (d. 1390)
    • 1409 – Jean II, Duke of Alençon (d. 1476)
    • 1432 – Countess Palatine Margaret of Mosbach, countess consort of Hanau (d. 1457)
    • 1453 – Johannes Engel, German doctor, astronomer and astrologer (d. 1512)
    • 1459 – Pope Adrian VI (d. 1523)
    • 1481 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight (d. 1523)
    • 1545 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (d. 1613)
    • 1577 – George Sandys, English traveller, colonist and poet (d. 1644)
    • 1628 – Cornelis Speelman, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1684)
    • 1651 – Carlo Gimach, Maltese architect, engineer and poet (d. 1730)
    • 1705 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1793)
    • 1740 – Nicholas Pocock, English naval painter (d.1821)
    • 1760 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist and politician (d. 1794)
    • 1769 – DeWitt Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of New York (d. 1828)
    • 1770 – Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French general (d. 1826)
    • 1779 – Joel Roberts Poinsett, American physician and politician, 15th United States Secretary of War (d. 1851)
    • 1793 – Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1863)
    • 1800 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian-Italian poet and philosopher (d. 1844)
    • 1810 – Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903)
    • 1816 – Alexander Bullock, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1882)
    • 1817 – János Arany, Hungarian journalist and poet (d. 1882)
    • 1820 – Multatuli, Dutch writer (d. 1887)
    • 1824 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1884)
    • 1829 – Carl Schurz, German-American general, lawyer, and politician, 13th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1906)
    • 1836 – Henry Billings Brown, American lawyer and judge (d. 1913)
    • 1842 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer, art collector, and philanthropist (d. 1914)
    • 1846 – Marie Roze, French soprano (d. 1926)
    • 1849 – Robert Means Thompson, American commander, lawyer, and businessman (d. 1930)
    • 1859 – Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright (d. 1916)
    • 1860 – Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (d. 1961)
    • 1862 – John Jay Chapman, American lawyer, author, and poet (d. 1933)
    • 1876 – Pope Pius XII (d. 1958)
    • 1878 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American sailor and race car driver (d. 1944)
    • 1886 – Willis H. O’Brien, American animator and director (d. 1962)
    • 1886 – Kurt Grelling, German logician and philosopher (d. 1942)
    • 1900 – Kurt Weill, German-American pianist and composer (d. 1950)
    • 1901 – Grete Hermann, German mathematician and philosopher (d. 1984)
    • 1902 – Moe Berg, American baseball player and spy (d. 1972)
    • 1902 – Edward Condon, American physicist and academic (d. 1974)
    • 1904 – Dr. Seuss, American children’s book writer, poet, and illustrator (d. 1991)
    • 1905 – Marc Blitzstein, American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
    • 1905 – Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic (d. 1985)
    • 1908 – Walter Bruch, German engineer (d. 1990)
    • 1909 – Mel Ott, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 1958)
    • 1912 – Henry Katzman, American pianist, composer, and painter (d. 2001)
    • 1913 – Godfried Bomans, Dutch television host and author (d. 1971)
    • 1913 – Mort Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1958)
    • 1914 – Martin Ritt, American actor and film director (d. 1990)
    • 1915 – John Burton, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon (d. 2010)
    • 1917 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1986)
    • 1917 – David Goodis, American author and screenwriter (d. 1967)
    • 1917 – Jim Konstanty, American baseball player and coach (d. 1976)
    • 1919 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Eddie Lawrence, American actor, singer, and playwright (d. 2014)
    • 1919 – Tamara Toumanova, Russian-American ballerina and actress (d. 1996)
    • 1921 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and coach (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Ernst Haas, Austrian-American photographer and journalist (d. 1986)
    • 1922 – Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, American saxophonist (d. 1986)
    • 1922 – Bill Quackenbush, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Frances Spence, American computer programmer (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – Basil Hume, English cardinal (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Robert H. Michel, American soldier and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Dave Strack, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Cal Abrams, American baseball player (d. 1997)
    • 1924 – Renos Apostolidis, Greek philologist, author, and critic (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Murray Rothbard, American economist and historian (d. 1995)
    • 1927 – Roger Walkowiak, French cyclist and economist (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – John Cullum, American actor and singer
    • 1930 – Emma Penella, Spanish actress (d. 2007)
    • 1930 – Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1931 – Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, President of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1932 – Gun Hägglund, Swedish journalist and translator (d. 2011)
    • 1934 – Dottie Rambo, American singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1935 – Gene Stallings, American football player and coach
    • 1936 – Haroon Ahmed, Pakistani-English engineer and academic
    • 1936 – John Tusa, Czech-English journalist and academic
    • 1937 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algerian soldier and politician, 5th President of Algeria
    • 1938 – Ricardo Lagos, Chilean economist, lawyer, and politician, 33rd President of Chile
    • 1938 – Lawrence Payton, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1997)
    • 1938 – Clark Gesner, American author and composer (d. 2002)
    • 1939 – Jan Howard Finder, American author and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer (d. 2019)
    • 1941 – John Cornell, Australian actor, director, and producer
    • 1941 – David Satcher, American admiral and physician, 16th Surgeon General of the United States
    • 1942 – John Irving, American novelist and screenwriter
    • 1942 – Claude Larose, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1942 – Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Iranian architect and politician, 79th Prime Minister of Iran
    • 1942 – Lou Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (d. 2013)
    • 1942 – Derek Woodley, English footballer (d. 2002)
    • 1943 – George Layton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Peter Straub, American author and poet
    • 1943 – Robert Williams, American painter and cartoonist
    • 1945 – Derek Watkins, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1947 – Harry Redknapp, English footballer and manager
    • 1948 – Larry Carlton, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1948 – Rory Gallagher, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1995)
    • 1948 – Jeff Kennett, Australian journalist and politician, 43rd Premier of Victoria
    • 1948 – Carmen Lawrence, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Western Australia
    • 1950 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (d. 1983)
    • 1952 – Mark Evanier, American author and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian
    • 1953 – Russ Feingold, American lawyer and politician
    • 1954 – Ed Johnstone, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1955 – Dale Bozzio, American pop-rock singer-songwriter
    • 1955 – Jay Osmond, American singer, drummer, actor, and TV/film producer
    • 1955 – Ken Salazar, American lawyer and politician, 50th United States Secretary of the Interior
    • 1955 – Steve Small, Australian cricketer
    • 1956 – John Cowsill, American musician, songwriter, and producer
    • 1956 – Mark Evans, Australian rock bass player
    • 1957 – Hossein Dehghan, Iranian general and politician, Iranian Minister of Defense
    • 1957 – Dito Tsintsadze, Georgian film director and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Mark Dean, American inventor and computer engineer
    • 1958 – Kevin Curren, South African-American tennis player
    • 1958 – Ian Woosnam, English-Welsh golfer
    • 1959 – Larry Stewart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1961 – Simone Young, Australian conductor, director, and composer
    • 1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
    • 1962 – Paul Farrelly, English journalist and politician
    • 1962 – Tom Nordlie, Norwegian footballer and coach
    • 1962 – Brendan O’Connor, Australian politician, Australian Minister for Employment
    • 1962 – Raimo Summanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Gabriele Tarquini, Italian race car driver
    • 1963 – Alvin Youngblood Hart, American singer and guitarist
    • 1963 – Anthony Albanese, Australian politician, 15th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
    • 1963 – Vidyasagar (composer), Indian composer, musician and singer
    • 1964 – Laird Hamilton, American surfer and actor
    • 1964 – Mike Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1987)
    • 1965 – Ron Gant, American baseball player and journalist
    • 1965 – Lembit Öpik, Northern Irish politician
    • 1966 – Ann Leckie, American author
    • 1966 – Simon Reevell, English lawyer and politician
    • 1968 – Daniel Craig, English actor and producer
    • 1970 – James Purnell, English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
    • 1970 – Ciriaco Sforza, Swiss footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Wibi Soerjadi, Dutch pianist and composer
    • 1971 – Dave Gorman, English comedian, author and television presenter
    • 1971 – Method Man, American rapper, record producer and actor
    • 1972 – Mauricio Pochettino, Argentinian footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Dejan Bodiroga, Serbian basketball player
    • 1973 – Trevor Sinclair, English footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Hayley Lewis, Australian swimmer and television host
    • 1975 – Daryl Gibson, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1977 – Dominique Canty, American basketball player and coach
    • 1977 – Chris Martin, English singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1977 – Stephen Parry, English swimmer and sportscaster
    • 1977 – Andrew Strauss, South African-English cricketer
    • 1978 – Gabby Eigenmann, Filipino actor and singer
    • 1978 – Lee Hodges, English footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Tomáš Kaberle, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Damien Duff, Irish international footballer, winger
    • 1979 – Gayatri Asokan, Indian playback singer
    • 1979 – Jim Troughton, English cricketer
    • 1979 – Nicky Weaver, English footballer
    • 1980 – Chris Barker, English footballer and manager (d. 2020)
    • 1980 – Rebel Wilson, Australian actress and screenwriter
    • 1981 – Lance Cade, American wrestler (d. 2010)
    • 1981 – Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress
    • 1982 – Kevin Kurányi, German footballer
    • 1982 – Henrik Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Ben Roethlisberger, American football player
    • 1982 – Corey Webster, American football player
    • 1983 – Deuce, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1983 – Lisandro López, Argentinian footballer
    • 1983 – Jay McClement, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Glen Perkins, American baseball player
    • 1983 – Ryan Shannon, American ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Reggie Bush, American football player
    • 1985 – Suso Santana, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Jonathan D’Aversa, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Jonas Jerebko, Swedish basketball player
    • 1988 – Édgar Andrade, Mexican footballer
    • 1988 – James Arthur, English singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Laura Kaeppeler, Miss America 2012
    • 1988 – Matthew Mitcham, Australian diver
    • 1988 – Chris Rainey, American football player
    • 1988 – Geert Arend Roorda, Dutch footballer
    • 1989 – Alemão, Brazilian footballer
    • 1989 – Toby Alderweireld, Belgian international footballer, defender
    • 1989 – André Bernardes Santos, Portuguese footballer
    • 1989 – Marcel Hirscher, Austrian skier
    • 1989 – Shane Vereen, American football player
    • 1989 – Chris Woakes, English cricketer
    • 1990 – Rauno Alliku, Estonian footballer
    • 1990 – Malcolm Butler, American football player
    • 1990 – Josh McGuire, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Tiger Shroff, Indian actor
    • 1991 – Nick Franklin, American baseball player
    • 1992 – Jack Stockwell, Australian rugby league player
    • 1995 – Ange-Freddy Plumain, French footballer
    • 1997 – Becky G, American singer and actress
    • 2010 – Hailey Dawson, American with a 3D-printed robotic hand
    • 2016 – Prince Oscar, duke of Skåne and prince of Sweden

    Deaths on March 2

    • 274 – Mani, Persian prophet and founder of Manichaeism (b. 216)
    • 672 – Chad of Mercia, English bishop and saint (b. 634)
    • 986 – Lothair, king of West Francia (b.941)
    • 968 – William, archbishop of Mainz (b. 929)
    • 1009 – Mokjong, king of Goryeo (b. 980)
    • 1127 – Charles the Good, Count of Flanders (b. 1084)
    • 1316 – Marjorie Bruce, Scottish daughter of Robert the Bruce (b. 1296)
    • 1333 – Wladyslaw I, king of Poland (b. 1261)
    • 1589 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal and diplomat (b. 1520)
    • 1619 – Anne of Denmark, queen of Scotland (b. 1574)
    • 1729 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian astronomer and philosopher (b. 1662)
    • 1755 – Louis de Rouvroy, French duke and diplomat (b. 1675)
    • 1791 – John Wesley, English cleric and theologian (b. 1703)
    • 1793 – Carl Gustaf Pilo, Swedish-Danish painter and academic (b. 1711)
    • 1797 – Horace Walpole, English historian and politician (b. 1717)
    • 1829 – Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Mexican revolutionary (b. ca. 1773)
    • 1830 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, German physician, anatomist, and anthropologist (b. 1755)
    • 1835 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1768)
    • 1840 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, German physician and astronomer (b. 1758)
    • 1855 – Nicholas I, Russian emperor (b. 1796)
    • 1864 – Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel (b. 1842)
    • 1865 – Carl Sylvius Völkner, German-New Zealand priest and missionary (b. 1819)
    • 1880 – John Benjamin Macneill, Irish engineer (b. 1790)
    • 1895 – Berthe Morisot, French painter (b. 1841)
    • 1895 – Isma’il Pasha, Egyptian politician (b. 1830)
    • 1896 – Jubal Early, American general (b. 1816)
    • 1921 – Champ Clark, American lawyer and politician, 41st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1850)
    • 1930 – D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1885)
    • 1938 – Ben Harney, American pianist and composer (b. 1871)
    • 1939 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (b. 1874)
    • 1943 – Gisela Januszewska, Jewish-Austrian physician (b.1867)
    • 1944 – Ida Maclean, British biochemist, the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society (b. 1877)
    • 1945 – Emily Carr, Canadian painter and author (b. 1871)
    • 1946 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1895)
    • 1946 – George E. Stewart, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
    • 1947 – Frans Johan Louwrens Ghijsels, Dutch architect and urban planner (b. 1882)
    • 1949 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (b. 1879)
    • 1953 – James Lightbody, American runner (b. 1882)
    • 1957 – Selim Sırrı Tarcan, Turkish educator and politician (b. 1874)
    • 1958 – Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888)
    • 1962 – Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic (b. 1866)
    • 1967 – José Martínez Ruiz, Spanish author and critic (b. 1873)
    • 1972 – Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer (b. 1877)
    • 1979 – Christy Ring, Irish hurler (b. 1920)
    • 1982 – Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author (b. 1928)
    • 1987 – Randolph Scott, American actor and director (b. 1898)
    • 1987 – Lolo Soetoro, Indonesian geographer and academic (b. 1935)
    • 1991 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (b. 1928)
    • 1992 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (b. 1937)
    • 1994 – Anita Morris, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1943)
    • 1999 – Dusty Springfield, English singer (b. 1939)
    • 2000 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler (b. 1963)
    • 2003 – Hank Ballard, American singer-songwriter (b. 1927)
    • 2003 – Malcolm Williamson, Australian pianist and composer (b. 1931)
    • 2004 – Cormac McAnallen, Irish footballer (b. 1980)
    • 2004 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Marge Schott, American businesswoman (b. 1928)
    • 2005 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (b. 1911)
    • 2007 – Thomas S. Kleppe, American soldier and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1919)
    • 2007 – Clem Labine, American baseball player (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Ivan Safronov, Russian colonel and journalist (b. 1956)
    • 2007 – Henri Troyat, Russian-French historian and author (b. 1911)
    • 2008 – Jeff Healey, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1966)
    • 2009 – João Bernardo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1939)
    • 2010 – Winston Churchill, English journalist and politician (b. 1940)
    • 2012 – Lawrence Anthony, South African environmentalist, explorer, and author (b. 1950)
    • 2012 – Van T. Barfoot, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Norman St John-Stevas, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – James Q. Wilson, American political scientist and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Peter Harvey, Australian journalist (b. 1944)
    • 2013 – Giorgos Kolokithas, Greek basketball player (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Shabnam Shakeel, Pakistani poet and author (b. 1942)
    • 2014 – Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet and translator (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Dean Hess, American minister and colonel (b. 1917)
    • 2015 – Dave Mackay, Scottish-English footballer and manager (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Mal Peet, English author and illustrator (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – Benoît Lacroix, Canadian priest, historian, and philosopher (b. 1915)
    • 2016 – Aubrey McClendon, American businessman (b. 1959)
    • 2018 – Billy Herrington, American actor (b. 1969)
    • 2018 – Lin Hu, Chinese lieutenant general (b. 1927)
    • 2019 – Mike Oliver, British sociologist, disability rights activist (b. 1945)

    Holidays and observances on March 2

    • Air Force Day (Sri Lanka)
    • Baloch Culture Day (Balochistan)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Agnes of Bohemia
      • Angela of the Cross
      • Blessed Charles the Good, Count of Flanders
      • Chad of Mercia (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • John Maron
      • March 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Feast of ‘Alá (Loftiness), First day of the 19th month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) and first day of the Baha’i Nineteen Day Fast
    • Jamahiriya Day (Libya)
    • Peasants’ Day (Myanmar)
    • Texas Independence Day
    • Victory at Adwa Day (Ethiopia)

  • February 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George’s (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
    • 1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.
    • 1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
    • 1685 – René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France’s claim to Texas.
    • 1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.
    • 1798 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
    • 1813 – Manuel Belgrano defeats the royalist army of Pío de Tristán during the Battle of Salta.
    • 1816 – Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.
    • 1835 – The 1835 Concepción earthquake destroys Concepción, Chile.
    • 1846 – Polish insurgents lead an uprising in Kraków to incite a fight for national independence.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Olustee: The largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
    • 1865 – End of the Uruguayan War, with a peace agreement between President Tomás Villalba and rebel leader Venancio Flores, setting the scene for the destructive War of the Triple Alliance.
    • 1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.
    • 1877 – Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake receives its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
    • 1901 – The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
    • 1909 – Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.
    • 1913 – King O’Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
    • 1920 – An earthquake kills between 114 and 130 in Georgia and heavily damages the town of Gori.
    • 1931 – The U.S. Congress approves the construction of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge by the state of California.
    • 1933 – The U.S. Congress approves the Blaine Act to repeal federal Prohibition in the United States, sending the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution to state ratifying conventions for approval.
    • 1933 – Adolf Hitler secretly meets with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party’s upcoming election campaign.
    • 1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
    • 1942 – Lieutenant Edward O’Hare becomes America’s first World War II flying ace.
    • 1943 – American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
    • 1943 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.
    • 1944 – World War II: The “Big Week” began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
    • 1944 – World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
    • 1952 – Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
    • 1956 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy.
    • 1959 – The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
    • 1962 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.
    • 1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
    • 1971 – The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.
    • 1979 – An earthquake cracks open the Sinila volcanic crater on the Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H2S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.
    • 1986 – The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for ten of those years.
    • 1988 – The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
    • 1991 – In the Albanian capital Tirana, a gigantic statue of Albania’s long-time leader, Enver Hoxha, is brought down by mobs of angry protesters.
    • 1998 – American figure skater Tara Lipinski, at the age of 15, becomes the youngest Olympic figure skating gold-medalist at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
    • 2003 – During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the Station nightclub ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.
    • 2005 – Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
    • 2009 – Two Tamil Tigers aircraft packed with C4 explosives en route to the national airforce headquarters are shot down by the Sri Lankan military before reaching their target, in a kamikaze style attack.
    • 2010 – In Madeira Island, Portugal, heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, resulting in at least 43 deaths, in the worst disaster in the history of the archipelago.
    • 2014 – Dozens of Euromaidan anti-government protesters died in Ukraine’s capital Kiev, many reportedly killed by snipers.
    • 2015 – Two trains collide in the Swiss town of Rafz resulting in as many as 49 people injured and Swiss Federal Railways cancelling some services.
    • 2016 – Six people are killed and two injured in multiple shooting incidents in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.

    Births on February 20

    • 1358 – Eleanor of Aragon, queen of John I of Castile (d. 1382)
    • 1469 – Thomas Cajetan, Italian philosopher (d. 1534)
    • 1523 – Jan Blahoslav, Czech writer (d. 1571)
    • 1549 – Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, last Duke of Urbino (d. 1631)
    • 1552 – Sengoku Hidehisa, Daimyō (d. 1614)
    • 1608 – Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (d. 1649)
    • 1631 – Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English politician, Treasurer of the Navy (d. 1712)
    • 1633 – Jan de Baen, Dutch painter (d. 1702)
    • 1705 – Nicolas Chédeville, French musette player and composer (d. 1782)
    • 1726 – William Prescott, American colonel (d. 1795)
    • 1745 – Henry James Pye, English poet and politician (d. 1813)
    • 1751 – Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet, translator, and academic (d. 1826)
    • 1753 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (d. 1815)
    • 1759 – Johann Christian Reil, German physician, physiologist, and anatomist (d. 1813)
    • 1774 – Vicente Sebastián Pintado, Spanish cartographer, engineer, military officer and land surveyor of Spanish Louisiana and Spanish West Florida (d. 1829)
    • 1784 – Judith Montefiore, British linguist, travel writer, philanthropist (d. 1862)
    • 1792 – Eliza Courtney, French daughter of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 1859)
    • 1794 – William Carleton, Irish author (d. 1869)
    • 1802 – Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1870)
    • 1819 – Alfred Escher, Swiss businessman and politician (d. 1882)
    • 1839 – Benjamin Waugh, English activist, founded the NSPCC (d. 1908)
    • 1844 – Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1906)
    • 1844 – Joshua Slocum, Canadian sailor and adventurer (d. 1909)
    • 1848 – E. H. Harriman, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1909)
    • 1857 – A. P. Lucas, English cricketer (d. 1923)
    • 1866 – Carl Westman, Swedish architect, designed the Stockholm Court House and Röhsska Museum (d. 1936)
    • 1867 – Louise, Princess Royal of England (d. 1931)
    • 1870 – Jay Johnson Morrow, American engineer and politician, 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (d. 1937)
    • 1874 – Mary Garden, Scottish-American soprano and actress (d. 1967)
    • 1879 – Hod Stuart, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1907)
    • 1880 – Jacques d’Adelswärd-Fersen, French author and poet (d. 1923)
    • 1882 – Elie Nadelman, Polish-American sculptor (d. 1946)
    • 1887 – Vincent Massey, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967)
    • 1888 – Georges Bernanos, French soldier and author (d. 1948)
    • 1889 – Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist and physician (d. 1948)
    • 1893 – Elizabeth Holloway Marston, American psychologist and author (d. 1993)
    • 1895 – Louis Zborowski, English race car driver and engineer (d. 1924)
    • 1897 – Ivan Albright, American painter (d. 1983)
    • 1898 – Ante Ciliga, Croatian politician, writer and publisher (d. 1992)
    • 1899 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1992)
    • 1901 – René Dubos, French-American biologist and author (d. 1982)
    • 1901 – Louis Kahn, American architect, designed the Salk Institute, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Bangladesh Parliament Building (d. 1974)
    • 1901 – Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian general and politician, 1st President of Egypt (d. 1984)
    • 1901 – Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (d. 1978)
    • 1902 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (d. 1984)
    • 1904 – Alexei Kosygin, Russian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
    • 1906 – Gale Gordon, American actor (d. 1995)
    • 1912 – Pierre Boulle, French soldier and author (d. 1994)
    • 1912 – Johnny Checketts, New Zealand flying ace of the Second World War (d. 2006)
    • 1913 – Tommy Henrich, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
    • 1914 – John Charles Daly, South African–American journalist and game show host (d. 1991)
    • 1916 – Jean Erdman, American dancer and choreographer
    • 1918 – Leonore Annenberg, American businesswoman and diplomat (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – James O’Meara, English soldier and pilot (d. 1974)
    • 1920 – Karl Albrecht, German businessman, co-founded Aldi (d. 2014)
    • 1921 – Buddy Rogers, American wrestler (d. 1992)
    • 1923 – Victor G. Atiyeh, American businessman and politician, 32nd Governor of Oregon (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Forbes Burnham, Guyanese lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Guyana (d. 1985)
    • 1923 – Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress (d. 2004)
    • 1924 – Gloria Vanderbilt, American actress, fashion designer, and socialite (d. 2019)
    • 1925 – Robert Altman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1925 – Tochinishiki Kiyotaka, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 44th Yokozuna (d. 1990)
    • 1926 – Matthew Bucksbaum, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded General Growth Properties (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Gillian Lynne, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (d. 2018)
    • 1926 – Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Bob Richards, American Olympic track and field athlete
    • 1926 – María de la Purísima Salvat Romero, Spanish Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (d. 1998)
    • 1927 – Roy Cohn, American lawyer and political activist (d. 1986)
    • 1927 – Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban singer and musician (d. 2005)
    • 1927 – Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, director, and diplomat
    • 1928 – Roy Face, American baseball player and carpenter
    • 1928 – Jean Kennedy Smith, American diplomat, 25th United States Ambassador to Ireland
    • 1929 – Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
    • 1931 – John Milnor, American mathematician and academic
    • 1932 – Adrian Cristobal, Filipino journalist and author (d. 2007)
    • 1934 – Bobby Unser, American race car driver
    • 1935 – Ellen Gilchrist, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
    • 1936 – Marj Dusay, American actress (d. 2020)
    • 1936 – Larry Hovis, American actor and singer (d. 2003)
    • 1936 – Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and coach
    • 1937 – David Ackles, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1999)
    • 1937 – Robert Huber, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1937 – Roger Penske, American race car driver and businessman
    • 1937 – Robert Evans, Australian minister and amateur astronomer
    • 1937 – Nancy Wilson, American singer and actress (d. 2018)
    • 1938 – Richard Beymer, American actor, director, and cinematographer
    • 1940 – Jimmy Greaves, English international footballer, forward and TV pundit
    • 1941 – Lim Kit Siang, Malaysian lawyer and politician
    • 1941 – Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1942 – Phil Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
    • 1942 – Mitch McConnell, American lawyer, and politician
    • 1942 – Claude Miller, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Antonio Inoki, Japanese wrestler, mixed martial artist, and politician
    • 1943 – Mike Leigh, English director and screenwriter
    • 1944 – Robert de Cotret, Canadian economist and politician, 56th Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1999)
    • 1944 – Lew Soloff, American trumpet player, composer, and actor (d. 2015)
    • 1944 – Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
    • 1945 – Alan Hull, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1995)
    • 1946 – Brenda Blethyn, English actress
    • 1946 – Sandy Duncan, American actress, singer, and dancer
    • 1946 – J. Geils, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
    • 1947 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (d. 2006)
    • 1947 – Peter Strauss, American actor and producer
    • 1948 – Pierre Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1948 – Jennifer O’Neill, American model and actress
    • 1949 – Eddie Hemmings, English cricketer
    • 1949 – Ivana Trump, Czech-American socialite and model
    • 1950 – Walter Becker, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1950 – Peter Marinello, Scottish footballer, forward
    • 1950 – Tony Wilson, English journalist and businessman (d. 2007)
    • 1951 – Edward Albert, American actor (d. 2006)
    • 1951 – Gordon Brown, Scottish historian and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    • 1951 – Randy California, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1997)
    • 1951 – Phil Neal, English footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Poison Ivy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1954 – Jon Brant, American bass player
    • 1954 – Anthony Head, English actor
    • 1954 – Patty Hearst, American actress and author
    • 1957 – Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1959 – Scott Brayton, American race car driver (d. 1996)
    • 1959 – David Corn, American journalist and author
    • 1959 – Bill Gullickson, American baseball player
    • 1960 – Joel Hodgson, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Cándido Muatetema Rivas, Equatoguinean politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (d. 2014)
    • 1961 – Steve Lundquist, American swimmer
    • 1962 – Dwayne McDuffie, American author, screenwriter, and producer, co-founded Milestone Media (d. 2011)
    • 1963 – Charles Barkley, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Ian Brown, English singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1963 – Joakim Nystrom, Swedish tennis player
    • 1963 – Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Health
    • 1963 – Cui Yongyuan, Chinese former anchor
    • 1964 – Willie Garson, American actor and director
    • 1964 – Tom Harris, Scottish journalist and politician
    • 1964 – Jeff Maggert, American golfer
    • 1964 – French Stewart, American actor
    • 1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model and businesswoman
    • 1967 – Paul Accola, Swiss alpine skier
    • 1967 – Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1994)
    • 1967 – David Herman, American comedian and actor
    • 1967 – Andrew Shue, American actor and activist, founded Do Something
    • 1967 – Lili Taylor, American actress
    • 1967 – Tom Waddle, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Kjell Ove Hauge, Norwegian school principal and track and field athlete
    • 1969 – Siniša Mihajlović, Serbian footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Danis Tanović, Bosnian director and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Calpernia Addams, American actress, author, and activist
    • 1971 – Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
    • 1971 – Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby player (d. 2017)
    • 1972 – Neil Primrose, Scottish drummer
    • 1974 – Karim Bagheri, Iranian footballer and manager
    • 1975 – Liván Hernández, Cuban baseball player
    • 1975 – Brian Littrell, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1975 – Niclas Wallin, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler
    • 1978 – Lauren Ambrose, American actress and producer
    • 1980 – Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player
    • 1980 – Luis Gabriel Rey, Colombian footballer
    • 1981 – Tony Hibbert, English footballer
    • 1981 – Fred Jackson, American football player
    • 1982 – Jason Hirsh, American baseball player
    • 1983 – Jose Morales, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
    • 1983 – Justin Verlander, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Brian McCann, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Trevor Noah, South African comedian, actor, and television host
    • 1984 – Ramzee Robinson, American football player
    • 1985 – Ryan Sweeney, American baseball player
    • 1985 – Julia Volkova, Russian singer and actress
    • 1985 – TJ Kirk, American YouTube personality and podcast host
    • 1987 – Luke Burgess, English rugby league player
    • 1987 – Miles Teller, American actor
    • 1988 – Kealoha Pilares, American football player
    • 1988 – Ki Bo-bae, South Korean archer
    • 1988 – Rihanna, Barbadian-American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1988 – Jiah Khan, Indian singer and actress (d. 2013)
    • 1989 – Daly Cherry-Evans, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Ciro Immobile, Italian footballer
    • 1991 – Hidilyn Diaz, Filipino weightlifter
    • 1991 – Giovanni Kyeremateng, Italian footballer
    • 1991 – Angelique van der Meet, Dutch tennis player
    • 1991 – Antonio Pedroza, English-Mexican footballer
    • 1991 – Jocelyn Rae, English-Scottish tennis player
    • 1992 – Kyle Turner, Australian rugby league player
    • 1994 – Elseid Hysaj, Albanian footballer

    Deaths on February 20

    • 789 – Leo of Catania, saint and bishop of Catania (b. 709)
    • 922 – Theodora, Byzantine empress
    • 1054 – Yaroslav the Wise, grand prince of Veliky Novgorod and Kiev (b. 978)
    • 1154 – Saint Wulfric of Haselbury (b. c. 1080)
    • 1171 – Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
    • 1194 – Tancred, King of Sicily (b. 1138)
    • 1258 – Al-Musta’sim, Iraqi caliph (b. 1213)
    • 1408 – Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (b. 1342)
    • 1431 – Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
    • 1458 – Lazar Branković, Despot of Serbia
    • 1513 – King John of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (b. 1455)
    • 1524 – Tecun Uman, Mayan ruler (b. 1500)
    • 1579 – Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
    • 1618 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554)
    • 1626 – John Dowland, English lute player and composer (b. 1563)
    • 1762 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (b. 1723)
    • 1771 – Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist and astronomer (b. 1678)
    • 1773 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)
    • 1778 – Laura Bassi, Italian physicist and scholar (b. 1711)
    • 1790 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
    • 1806 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (b. 1725)
    • 1810 – Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean rebel leader (b. 1767)
    • 1850 – Valentín Canalizo, Mexican general and politician. 14th President (1843–1844) (b. 1794)
    • 1862 – William Wallace Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1850)
    • 1871 – Paul Kane, Irish-Canadian painter (b. 1810)
    • 1893 – P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (b. 1818)
    • 1895 – Frederick Douglass, American author and activist (b. 1818)
    • 1900 – Washakie, American tribal leader (b. 1798)
    • 1907 – Henri Moissan, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
    • 1910 – Boutros Ghali, Egyptian educator and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1846)
    • 1916 – Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish journalist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)
    • 1920 – Jacinta Marto, Portuguese saint (b. 1910)
    • 1920 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (b. 1856)
    • 1933 – Takiji Kobayashi, Japanese writer (b. 1903)
    • 1936 – Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)
    • 1957 – Sadri Maksudi Arsal, Turkish scholar and politician (b. 1878)
    • 1961 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (b. 1882)
    • 1963 – Jacob Gade, Danish violinist and composer(b. 1879)
    • 1966 – Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
    • 1968 – Anthony Asquith, English director and screenwriter (b. 1902)
    • 1969 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
    • 1972 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
    • 1972 – Walter Winchell, American journalist and actor (b. 1897)
    • 1976 – René Cassin, French lawyer and judge, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
    • 1976 – Kathryn Kuhlman, healing evangelist, known for belief in Holy Spirit (b. 1907)
    • 1981 – Nicolas de Gunzburg, French-American banker and publisher (b. 1904)
    • 1987 – Wayne Boring, American illustrator (b. 1905)
    • 1992 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (b. 1898)
    • 1992 – Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
    • 1993 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian businessman, founded Lamborghini (b. 1916)
    • 1993 – Ernest L. Massad, American general (b. 1908)
    • 1996 – Solomon Asch, American psychologist and academic (b. 1907)
    • 1996 – Audrey Munson, American model (b. 1891)
    • 1996 – Toru Takemitsu, Japanese pianist, guitarist, and composer (b. 1930)
    • 1999 – Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)
    • 1999 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and critic (b. 1946)
    • 2000 – Anatoly Sobchak, Russian lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Saint Petersburg (b. 1937)
    • 2001 – Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)
    • 2001 – Donella Meadows, American environmentalist, author, and academic (b. 1941)
    • 2003 – Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani air marshal (b. 1947)
    • 2003 – Maurice Blanchot, French philosopher and author (b. 1907)
    • 2003 – Orville Freeman, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 29th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1918)
    • 2005 – Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1942)
    • 2005 – Josef Holeček, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1921)2005 – John Raitt, American actor and singer (b. 1917)
    • 2005 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)
    • 2006 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
    • 2006 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (b. 1920)
    • 2008 – Emily Perry, English actress and dancer (b. 1907)
    • 2009 – Larry H. Miller, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1944)
    • 2010 – Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Knut Torbjørn Eggen, Norwegian footballer and manager (b. 1960)
    • 2012 – Katie Hall, American educator and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Kenji Eno, Japanese game designer and composer (b. 1970)
    • 2013 – David S. McKay, American biochemist and geologist (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Antonio Roma, Argentinian footballer (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, President of Uruguay (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Walter D. Ehlers, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Garrick Utley, American journalist (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Govind Pansare, Indian author and activist (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Henry Segerstrom, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – John C. Willke, American physician, author, and activist (b. 1925)
    • 2016 – Fernando Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest and politician (b. 1934)
    • 2017 – Vitaly Churkin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Nations (b. 1952)
    • 2017 – Mildred Dresselhaus, American physicist (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Steve Hewlett, British journalist (b. 1958)
    • 2020 – Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP

    Holidays and observances on February 20

    • Christian feast day:
      • Eleutherius of Tournai
      • Eucherius of Orléans
      • Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto
      • Frederick Douglass (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Wulfric of Haselbury
      • February 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Heavenly Hundred Heroes (Ukraine)
    • World Day of Social Justice