763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
923 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
1184 – The naval Battle of Fimreite is won by the Birkebeiner pretender Sverre Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson takes the Norwegian throne and King Magnus V of Norway is killed.
1215 – King John of England puts his seal to Magna Carta.
1219 – Northern Crusades: Danish victory at the Battle of Lindanise (modern-day Tallinn) establishes the Danish Duchy of Estonia.
1246 – With the death of Frederick II, Duke of Austria, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
1300 – The city of Bilbao is founded.
1312 – At the Battle of Rozgony, King Charles I of Hungary wins a decisive victory over the family of Palatine Amade Aba.
1389 – Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbs and Bosnians.
1410 – In a decisive battle at Onon River, the Mongol forces of Oljei Temur were decimated by the Chinese armies of the Yongle Emperor.
1502 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Martinique on his fourth voyage.
1520 – Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in Exsurge Domine.
1648 – Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1667 – The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys.
1670 – The first stone of Fort Ricasoli is laid down in Malta.
1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown).
1776 – Delaware Separation Day: Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania.
1800 – The Provisional Army of the United States is dissolved.
1804 – New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document.
1808 – Joseph Bonaparte becomes King of Spain.
1836 – Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
1846 – The Oregon Treaty extends the border between the United States and British North America, established by the Treaty of 1818, westward to the Pacific Ocean.
1859 – Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the “Northwestern Boundary Dispute” between American and British/Canadian settlers.
1864 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Petersburg begins.
1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.81 km2) of the Arlington estate (formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee) are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
1878 – Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.
1888 – Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II; he will be the last Emperor of the German Empire. Due to the death of his predecessors Wilhelm I and Frederick III, 1888 is the Year of the Three Emperors.
1896 – The deadliest tsunami in Japan’s history kills more than 22,000 people.
1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City’s East River kills 1,000.
1916 – United States President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter.
1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
1920 – Following the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, Northern Schleswig is transferred from Germany to Denmark.
1921 – Bessie Coleman earns her pilot’s license, becoming the first female pilot of African-American descent.
1934 – The United States Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
1936 – First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.
1937 – A German expedition led by Karl Wien loses sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat. It is the worst single disaster to occur on an 8000m peak.
1940 – World War II: Operation Ariel begins: Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany’s takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
1944 – World War II: The United States invades Saipan, capital of Japan’s South Seas Mandate.
1944 – In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government in North America.
1970 – Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate murders.
1972 – Red Army Faction co-founder Ulrike Meinhof is captured by police in Langenhagen.
1977 – After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, the first democratic elections took place in Spain.
1978 – King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.
1985 – Rembrandt’s painting Danaë is attacked by a man (later judged insane) who throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with a knife.
1991 – In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, killing over 800 people.
1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the United States for trial, without approval from those other countries.
1994 – Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.
1996 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonates a powerful truck bomb in the middle of Manchester, England, devastating the city centre and injuring 200 people.
2001 – Leaders of the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
2012 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to successfully tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls.
2013 – A bomb explodes on a bus in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 25 people and wounding 22 others.
Births on June 15
1330 – Edward, the Black Prince of England (d. 1376)
1479 – Lisa del Giocondo, Italian model, subject of the Mona Lisa (d. 1542)
1519 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1536)
1542 – Richard Grenville, English captain and explorer (d. 1591)
1549 – Elizabeth Knollys, English noblewoman (d. 1605)
1553 – Archduke Ernest of Austria (d. 1595)
1605 – Thomas Randolph, English poet and playwright (d. 1635)
1618 – François Blondel, French architect (d. 1686)
1623 – Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (d. 1672)
1624 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (d. 1704)
1640 – Bernard Lamy, French mathematician and theologian (d. 1715)
1645 – Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, English politician (d. 1712)
1749 – Georg Joseph Vogler, German organist, composer, and theorist (d. 1814)
1754 – Juan José Elhuyar, Spanish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1796)
1755 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist and entomologist (d. 1809)
1763 – Franz Danzi, German cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1826)
1763 – Kobayashi Issa, Japanese priest and poet (d. 1827)
1765 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician, Mayor of Cincinnati (d. 1831)
1765 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1831)
1767 – Rachel Jackson, American wife of Andrew Jackson (d. 1828)
1777 – David Daniel Davis, Welsh physician and academic (d. 1841)
1789 – Josiah Henson, American minister, author, and activist (d. 1883)
1792 – Thomas Mitchell, Scottish-Australian colonel and explorer (d. 1855)
1801 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, American merchant and politician, 3rd Mayor of Chicago (d. 1883)
1805 – William B. Ogden, American businessman and politician, 1st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1877)
1809 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet and historian (d. 1866)
1835 – Adah Isaacs Menken, American actress, painter, and poet (d. 1868)
1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1907)
1848 – Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala, Indian bishop and saint (d. 1902)
1872 – Thomas William Burgess, English swimmer and water polo player (d. 1950)
1875 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (d. 1987)
1878 – Margaret Abbott, Indian-American golfer (d. 1955)
1881 – Kesago Nakajima, Japanese lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army (d. 1945)
1884 – Harry Langdon, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1944)
1886 – Frank Clement, British racing driver (d. 1970)
1888 – Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet and author (d. 1921)
1890 – Georg Wüst, German oceanographer and academic (d. 1977)
1894 – Robert Russell Bennett, American composer and conductor (d. 1981)
1894 – Nikolai Chebotaryov, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1947)
1898 – Hubertus Strughold, German-American physiologist and academic (d. 1986)
1900 – Gotthard Günther, German philosopher and academic (d. 1984)
1900 – Otto Luening, German-American composer and conductor (d. 1996)
1901 – Elmar Lohk, Russian-Estonian architect (d. 1963)
1902 – Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1994)
1906 – Gordon Welchman, English-American mathematician and author (d. 1985)
1906 – Léon Degrelle, Belgian SS officer (d. 1994)
1907 – James Robertson Justice, English actor and educator (d. 1975)
1909 – Elena Nikolaidi, Greek-American soprano and educator (d. 2002)
1910 – David Rose, English-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
1911 – Wilbert Awdry, English author, co-created Thomas the Tank Engine (d. 1997)
1913 – Tom Adair, American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
1914 – Yuri Andropov, Russian politician (d. 1984)
1914 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist (d. 1999)
1914 – Hilda Terry, American cartoonist (d. 2006)
1915 – Nini Theilade, Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, and educator (d. 2018)
1915 – Thomas Huckle Weller, American biologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
1916 – Olga Erteszek, Polish-American fashion designer (d. 1989)
1916 – Horacio Salgán, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2016)
1916 – Herbert A. Simon, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
1917 – John Fenn, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
1917 – Michalis Genitsaris, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
1917 – Lash LaRue, American actor and producer (d. 1996)
1918 – François Tombalbaye, Chadian politician, 1st President of Chad (d. 1975)
1920 – Keith Andrews, American race car driver (d. 1957)
1920 – Alla Kazanskaya, Russian actress (d. 2008)
1920 – Sam Sniderman, Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man (d. 2012)
1920 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1921 – Erroll Garner, American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
1922 – Jaki Byard, American pianist and composer (d. 1999)
1923 – Erland Josephson, Swedish actor and director (d. 2012)
1923 – Ninian Stephen, English-Australian lieutenant, judge, and politician, 20th Governor-General of Australia (d. 2017)
1924 – Hédi Fried, Swedish author and psychologist
1924 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli general and politician, 7th President of Israel (d. 2005)
1925 – Richard Baker, English journalist and author (d. 2018)
1925 – Attilâ İlhan, Turkish poet, author, and critic (d. 2005)
1926 – Alfred Duraiappah, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (d. 1975)
1927 – Ross Andru, American illustrator (d. 1993)
1927 – Ibn-e-Insha, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (d. 1978)
1927 – Hugo Pratt, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995)
1930 – Miguel Méndez, American author and academic (d. 2013)
1930 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
1931 – Joseph Gilbert, English air marshal
1931 – Brian Sewell, English art dealer and critic (d. 2015)
1932 – David Alliance, Baron Alliance, Iranian-English businessman and politician
1932 – Mario Cuomo, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New York (d. 2015)
1932 – Zia Fariduddin Dagar, Indian singer (d. 2013)
1932 – Bernie Faloney, American-Canadian football player and sportscaster (d. 1999)
1933 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Iranian politician, 2nd President of Iran (d. 1981)
1933 – Predrag Koraksić Corax, Serbian political caricaturist
1934 – Ruby Nash Garnett, American R&B singer
1936 – William Levada, American cardinal
1937 – Pierre Billon, Swiss-Canadian author and screenwriter
1937 – Waylon Jennings, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
1938 – Billy Williams, American baseball player and coach
1939 – Ward Connerly, American activist and businessman, founded the American Civil Rights Institute
1941 – Neal Adams, American illustrator
1941 – Harry Nilsson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1994)
1942 – Ian Greenberg, Canadian broadcaster, founded Astral Media
1942 – John E. McLaughlin, American diplomat
1942 – Peter Norman, Australian sprinter (d. 2006)
1943 – Johnny Hallyday, French singer and actor (d. 2017)
1943 – Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Danish politician, 38th Prime Minister of Denmark
1944 – Robert D. Keppel, American police officer and academic
1945 – Miriam Defensor Santiago, Filipino judge and politician (d. 2016)
1945 – Robert Sarah, Guinean cardinal
1945 – Lawrence Wilkerson, American colonel
1946 – Noddy Holder, English rock singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
1946 – John Horner, American paleontologist and academic
1946 – Demis Roussos, Egyptian-Greek singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2015)
1947 – John Hoagland, American photographer and journalist (d. 1984)
1948 – Mike Holmgren, American football player and coach
1948 – Alan Huckle, English politician and diplomat, Governor of Anguilla
1948 – Henry McLeish, Scottish footballer, academic, and politician, 2nd First Minister of Scotland
1949 – Dusty Baker, American baseball player and manager
1949 – Simon Callow, English actor and director
1949 – Russell Hitchcock, Australian singer-songwriter
1949 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
1950 – Uğur Erdener, Turkish ophthalmologist and professor
1950 – Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Ghanaian nurse and politician
1950 – Deney Terrio, American choreographer and host of the television musical variety series Dance Fever
1950 – Lakshmi Mittal, Indian-English businessman
1951 – Jane Amsterdam, American magazine and newspaper editor (Manhattan, inc., New York Post)
1951 – Vance A. Larson, American painter (d. 2000)
1951 – John Redwood, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
1951 – Steve Walsh, American rock singer-songwriter and musician
1952 – Satya Pal Jain, Indian lawyer and politician, Additional Solicitor General of India
1953 – Vilma Bardauskienė, Lithuanian long jumper
1953 – Marc Brickman, American lighting and production designer
1953 – Eje Elgh, Swedish racing driver and sportscaster
1953 – Xi Jinping, Chinese engineer and politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of China
1953 – Raphael Wallfisch, English cellist and educator
1954 – Jim Belushi, American actor
1954 – Terri Gibbs, American country music singer and keyboard player
1954 – Paul Rusesabagina, Rwandan humanitarian
1954 – Zdeňka Šilhavá, Czech discus thrower and shot putter
1954 – Beverley Whitfield, Australian swimmer (d. 1996)
1955 – Polly Draper, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
2015 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation (b. 1917)
2016 – Lois Duncan, American author (b. 1934)
2018 – Matt “Guitar” Murphy, American Blues guitarist (The Blues Brothers) (b. 1929)
2019 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film director (b. 1923)
Holidays and observances on June 15
Arbor Day (Costa Rica)
Christian feast day:
Abraham of Clermont (or of St Cyriacus)
Alice (or Adelaide) of Schaerbeek
Augustine of Hippo (Eastern Orthodox Church)
Blessed Albertina Berkenbrock
Blessed Clement Vismara
Edburga of Winchester
Evelyn Underhill (Church of England and The Episcopal Church)
Germaine Cousin
Landelin (of Crespin or of Lobbes)
Trillo
Vitus (Guy), Modestus and Crescentia
June 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of Valdemar and Reunion Day (Flag Day) (Denmark)
Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while June 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in June. (United States, and most other countries.)
1184 BC – Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes.
173 – Marcomannic Wars: The Roman army in Moravia is encircled by the Quadi, who have broken the peace treaty (171). In a violent thunderstorm emperor Marcus Aurelius defeats and subdues them in the so-called “miracle of the rain”.
631 – Emperor Taizong of Tang sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to seek the release of Chinese prisoners captured during the transition from Sui to Tang.
786 – A Hasanid Alid uprising in Mecca is crushed by the Abbasids at the Battle of Fakhkh.
980 – Vladimir the Great consolidates the Kievan realm from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. He is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus’.
1011 – Lombard Revolt: Greek citizens of Bari rise up against the Lombard rebels led by Melus and deliver the city to Basil Mesardonites, Byzantine governor (catepan) of the Catepanate of Italy.
1118 – Roger of Salerno, Prince of Antioch, captures Azaz from the Seljuk Turks.
1157 – Albert I of Brandenburg, also called The Bear (Ger: Albrecht der Bär), becomes the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Germany and the first margrave.
1345 – The megas doux Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, is lynched by political prisoners.
1429 – Hundred Years’ War: Start of the Battle of Jargeau.
1488 – Battle of Sauchieburn: Fought between rebel Lords and James III of Scotland, resulting in the death of the king.
1509 – Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon.
1594 – Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paved way to the stabilization of the rule of the Principalía (an elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines).
1748 – Denmark adopts the characteristic Nordic Cross flag later taken up by all other Scandinavian countries.
1770 – British explorer Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
1775 – The American Revolutionary War’s first naval engagement, the Battle of Machias, results in the capture of a small British naval vessel.
1776 – The Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.
1788 – Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
1805 – A fire consumes large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.
1825 – The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.
1837 – The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between Yankees and Irish.
1865 – The Naval Battle of the Riachuelo is fought on the rivulet Riachuelo (Argentina), between the Paraguayan Navy on one side and the Brazilian Navy on the other. The Brazilian victory was crucial for the later success of the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina) in the Paraguayan War.
1892 – The Limelight Department, one of the world’s first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
1895 – Paris–Bordeaux–Paris, sometimes called the first automobile race in history or the “first motor race”, takes place.
1898 – The Hundred Days’ Reform, a planned movement to reform social, political, and educational institutions in China, is started by the Guangxu Emperor, but is suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days. (The failed reform led to the abolition of the Imperial examination in 1905.)
1901 – The boundaries of the Colony of New Zealand are extended by the UK to include the Cook Islands.
1903 – A group of Serbian officers stormed the royal palace and assassinated King Alexander Obrenović and his wife, Queen Draga.
1917 – King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father, Constantine I, abdicates under pressure from allied armies occupying Athens.
1919 – Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown.
1920 – During the U.S. Republican National Convention in Chicago, U.S. Republican Party leaders gathered in a room at the Blackstone Hotel to come to a consensus on their candidate for the U.S. presidential election, leading the Associated Press to coin the political phrase “smoke-filled room”.
1935 – Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States at Alpine, New Jersey.
1936 – The London International Surrealist Exhibition opens.
1937 – Great Purge: The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin executes eight army leaders.
1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.
1940 – World War II: The Siege of Malta begins with a series of Italian air raids.
1942 – World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
1942 – Free French Forces retreat from Bir Hakeim after having successfully delayed the Axis advance.
1944 – USS Missouri, the last battleship built by the United States Navy and future site of the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, is commissioned.
1955 – Eighty-three spectators are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the deadliest ever accident in motorsports.
1956 – Start of Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that target minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province. The total number of deaths is reportedly 150.
1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.
1963 – American Civil Rights Movement: Governor of Alabama George Wallace defiantly stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending that school. Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, they are able to register.
1963 – Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.
1963 – John F. Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would revolutionize American society by guaranteeing equal access to public facilities, ending segregation in education, and guaranteeing federal protection for voting rights.
1964 – World War II veteran Walter Seifert attacks an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.
1968 – Lloyd J. Old identified the first cell surface antigens that could differentiate among different cell types.
1970 – After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first women to do so.
1971 – The U.S. Government forcibly removes the last holdouts to the Native American Occupation of Alcatraz, ending 19 months of control.
1978 – Altaf Hussain founds the student political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (APMSO) in Karachi University.
1981 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake at Golbaf, Iran, kills at least 2,000.
1987 – Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant are elected as the first black MPs in Great Britain.
1998 – Compaq Computer pays US$9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in the largest high-tech acquisition.
2001 – Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
2002 – Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
2004 – Cassini–Huygens makes its closest flyby of the Saturn moon Phoebe.
2007 – Mudslides in Chittagong, Bangladesh, kill 130 people.
2008 – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes a historic official apology to Canada’s First Nations in regard to abuses at a Canadian Indian residential school.
2008 – The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is launched into orbit.
2010 – The first African FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa.
2012 – More than 80 people die in a landslide triggered by two earthquakes in Afghanistan; an entire village is buried.
2013 – Greece’s public broadcaster ERT is shut down by then-prime minister Antonis Samaras. It reopened exactly two years later by then-prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
2018 – 3 World Trade Center officially opens.
Births on June 11
1403 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (d. 1427)
1431 – Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (d. 1456)
1456 – Anne Neville, Princess of Wales and Queen of England (d. 1485)
1540 – Barnabe Googe, English poet and translator (d. 1594)
1555 – Lodovico Zacconi, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1627)
1572 – Ben Jonson, English poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1637)
1585 – Evert Horn, Swedish soldier (d. 1615)
1588 – George Wither, English poet (d. 1667)
1620 – John Moore, English businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of London (d. 1702)
1655 – Antonio Cifrondi, Italian painter (d. 1730)
1662 – Tokugawa Ienobu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1712)
1672 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (d. 1749)
1690 – Giovanni Antonio Giay, Italian composer (d. 1764)
1696 – James Francis Edward Keith, Scottish-Prussian field marshal (d. 1758)
1697 – Francesco Antonio Vallotti, Italian organist and composer (d. 1780)
1704 – Carlos Seixas, Portuguese harpsichord player and composer (d. 1742)
1709 – Joachim Martin Falbe, German painter (d. 1782)
1712 – Benjamin Ingham, American missionary (d. 1772)
1723 – Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (d. 1788)
1726 – Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (d. 1746)
1741 – Joseph Warren, American physician and general (d. 1775)
1776 – John Constable, English painter and academic (d. 1837)
1797 – José Trinidad Reyes, Honduran philosopher and theorist (d. 1855)
1807 – James F. Schenck, American admiral (d. 1882)
1815 – Julia Margaret Cameron, Indian-Sri Lankan photographer (d. 1879)
1818 – Alexander Bain, Scottish philosopher and academic (d. 1903)
1829 – Edward Braddon, English-Australian politician, 18th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1904)
1832 – Lucy Pickens, American wife of Francis Wilkinson Pickens (d. 1899)
1842 – Carl von Linde, German engineer and academic (d. 1934)
1846 – William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (d. 1920)
1847 – Millicent Fawcett, English academic and activist (d. 1929)
1861 – Alexander Peacock, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Victoria (d. 1933)
1864 – Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)
1867 – Charles Fabry, French physicist and academic (d. 1945)
1871 – Stjepan Radić, Croatian lawyer and politician (d. 1928)
1876 – Alfred L. Kroeber, American-French anthropologist and ethnologist (d. 1960)
1877 – Renée Vivien, English-French poet and author (d. 1909)
1879 – Roger Bresnahan, American baseball player and manager (d. 1944)
1880 – Jeannette Rankin, American social worker and politician (d. 1973)
1881 – Spiros Xenos, Greek-Swedish painter (d. 1963)
1881 – Mordecai Kaplan, Lithuanian rabbi, founded Reconstructionist Judaism (d. 1983)
1888 – Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian-American anarchist and convicted criminal (d. 1927)
1889 – Hugo Wieslander, Swedish decathlete (d. 1976)
1894 – Kiichiro Toyoda, Japanese businessman, founded Toyota (d. 1952)
1895 – Nikolai Bulganin, Soviet politician (d. 1975)
1897 – Ram Prasad Bismil, Indian activist, founded the Hindustan Republican Association (d. 1927)
1897 – Reg Latta, Australian rugby league player (d. 1970)
1899 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese novelist and short story writer Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
1901 – Cap Fear, Canadian football player and rower (d. 1978)
1901 – Benny Wearing, Australian rugby league player (d. 1968)
1902 – Eric Fraser, British illustrator and graphic designer (d. 1983)
1903 – Ernie Nevers, American football player and coach (d. 1976)
1908 – Karl Hein, German hammer thrower (d. 1982)
1908 – Francisco Marto, Portuguese saint (d. 1919)
1909 – Natascha Artin Brunswick, German-American mathematician and photographer (d. 2003)
1910 – Carmine Coppola, American flute player and composer (d. 1991)
1910 – Jacques Cousteau, French biologist, author, and inventor, co-developed the aqua-lung (d. 1997)
1912 – James Algar, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
1912 – William Baziotes, American painter and academic (d. 1963)
1912 – Mohammad Hassan Ganji, Iranian meteorologist and academic (d. 2012)
1913 – Vince Lombardi, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 1970)
1913 – Risë Stevens, American soprano and actress (d. 2013)
1914 – Jan Hendrik van den Berg, Dutch psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
1915 – Magda Gabor, Hungarian-American actress (d. 1997)
1915 – Nicholas Metropolis, American mathematician and physicist (d. 1999)
1917 – Joseph B. Wirthlin, American businessman and religious leader (d. 2008)
1918 – Ruth Aarons, American table tennis player and manager (d. 1980)
1919 – Suleiman Mousa, Jordanian historian and author (d. 2008)
1919 – Richard Todd, Irish-English actor (d. 2009)
1920 – Shelly Manne, American drummer, composer, and bandleader (d. 1984)
1920 – Hazel Scott, Trinidadian-American singer, actress, and pianist (d. 1981)
1920 – Keith Seaman, Australian lawyer and politician, 29th Governor of South Australia (d. 2013)
1922 – Jean Sutherland Boggs, Peruvian-Canadian historian, academic, and civil servant (d. 2014)
1922 – Michael Cacoyannis, Greek Cypriot director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
1925 – Johnny Esaw, Canadian sportscaster (d. 2013)
1925 – William Styron, American novelist and essayist (d. 2006)
1926 – Carlisle Floyd, American composer and educator
1927 – Beryl Grey, English ballerina
1927 – John W. O’Malley, American Catholic historian, academic and Jesuit priest
1927 – Kit Pedler, English parapsychologist and author (d. 1981)
1928 – Queen Fabiola of Belgium (d. 2014)
1929 – Ayhan Şahenk, Turkish businessman (d. 2001)
1930 – Charles Rangel, American soldier, lawyer, and politician
1932 – Athol Fugard, South African-American actor, director, and playwright
1932 – Tim Sainsbury, English businessman and politician, Minister of State for Trade
1933 – Gene Wilder, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1937 – Chad Everett, American actor and director (d. 2012)
1937 – Robin Warren, Australian pathologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1939 – Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, English cricketer and journalist (d. 2017)
1939 – Jackie Stewart, Scottish race car driver and sportscaster
1942 – Parris Glendening, American politician, 59th Governor of Maryland
1943 – Henry Hill, American mobster (d. 2012)
1945 – Adrienne Barbeau, American actress
1947 – Richard Palmer-James, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1948 – Dave Cash, American baseball player and coach
1948 – Lalu Prasad Yadav, Indian politician, 20th Chief Minister of Bihar
1949 – Frank Beard, American drummer and songwriter
1950 – Lynsey de Paul, English singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, cartoonist and actress (d. 2014)
1950 – Graham Russell, English-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Matthew Engel, English journalist and author
1951 – Yasumasa Morimura, Japanese painter and photographer
1952 – Yekaterina Podkopayeva, Russian runner
1952 – Donnie Van Zant, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 – Steve Bassam, Baron Bassam of Brighton, English politician
1953 – José Bové, French farmer and politician
1953 – Barbara Minty, American model
1954 – John Dyson, Australian cricketer
1954 – Johnny Neel, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1955 – Yuriy Sedykh, Ukrainian hammer thrower
1955 – Duncan Steel, English-Australian astronomer and author
1956 – Joe Montana, American football player and sportscaster
1956 – Simon Plouffe, Canadian mathematician and academic
1956 – Arthur Porter, Canadian physician and academic (d. 2015)
1956 – Jamaaladeen Tacuma, American bass player and bandleader
1958 – Barry Adamson, English singer and bass player
1959 – Hugh Laurie, English actor and screenwriter
1960 – Mehmet Oz, American surgeon, author, and television host
1962 – Mano Menezes, Brazilian footballer and coach
1963 – Gioia Bruno, American singer-songwriter
1963 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler and sportscaster (d. 2000)
1964 – Jean Alesi, French race car driver
1964 – Kim Gallagher, American runner (d. 2002)
1965 – Georgios Bartzokas, Greek former professional basketball player
1965 – Gavin Hill, New Zealand rugby player
1966 – Bruce Robison, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist
1967 – Graeme Bachop, New Zealand rugby player
1967 – João Garcia, Portuguese mountaineer
1968 – Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein
1968 – Manoa Thompson, Fijian rugby player
1969 – Peter Dinklage, American actor and producer
1969 – Bryan Fogarty, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
1969 – Olaf Kapagiannidis, German footballer
1971 – Vladimir Gaidamașciuc, Moldovan footballer
1971 – Liz Kendall, British politician
1971 – Mark Richardson, New Zealand cricketer
1971 – Kenjiro Tsuda, Japanese voice actor
1972 – Stephen Kearney, New Zealand rugby league player and coach
1973 – José Manuel Abundis, Mexican footballer and coach
1974 – Fragiskos Alvertis, Greek basketball player, coach, and manager
1976 – Reiko Tosa, Japanese runner
1977 – Geoff Ogilvy, Australian golfer
1978 – Joshua Jackson, Canadian-American actor
1978 – Daryl Tuffey, New Zealand cricketer
1979 – Ali Boussaboun, Moroccan-Dutch footballer
1979 – Amy Duggan, Australian footballer and sportscaster
1980 – Yhency Brazoban, Dominican baseball player
1981 – Emiliano Moretti, Italian footballer
1981 – Kristo Tohver, Estonian footballer and referee
1982 – Vanessa Boslak, French pole vaulter
1982 – Jacques Freitag, South African high jumper
1982 – Joey Graham, American basketball player
1982 – Stephen Graham, American basketball player
1982 – Reni Maitua, Australian rugby league player
350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.
713 – The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army.
1140 – The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.
1326 – The Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark.
1539 – Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain.
1608 – Samuel de Champlain completes his third voyage to New France at Tadoussac, Quebec.
1621 – The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland.
1658 – Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France.
1665 – James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.
1781 – Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending raid by Banastre Tarleton.
1839 – In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War.
1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor: Union forces attack Confederate troops in Hanover County, Virginia.
1866 – The Fenians are driven out of Fort Erie, Ontario back into the United States.
1885 – In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police.
1889 – The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.
1916 – The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.
1935 – One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa.
1937 – The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson.
1940 – World War II: The Luftwaffe bombs Paris.
1940 – World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.
1940 – Franz Rademacher proposes plans to make Madagascar the “Jewish homeland”, an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl.
1941 – World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants.
1942 – World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island.
1943 – In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines clash with Latino youths in the Zoot Suit Riots.
1950 – Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.
1962 – At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130.
1963 – Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.
1965 – The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk.
1969 – Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half.
1973 – A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.
1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.
1980 – An explosive device is detonated at the Statue of Liberty. The FBI suspects Croatian nationalists.
1980 – The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $931 million in 2019) worth of damage.
1982 – The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed.
1984 – Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.
1989 – The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.
1991 – Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.
1992 – Aboriginal land rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Eddie Mabo.
1998 – After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people.
2006 – The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro’s formal declaration of independence.
2012 – A plane carrying 153 people on board crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board and 10 people on the ground.
2012 – The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames.
2013 – The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland.
2013 – At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China.
2015 – An explosion at a gasoline station in Accra, Ghana, killing more than 200 people.
2017 – London Bridge attack: Eight people are murdered and dozens of civilians are wounded by Islamist terrorists. Three of the attackers are shot dead by the police.
2019 – Khartoum massacre: In Sudan, over 100 people are killed when security forces accompanied by Janjaweed militiamen storm and open fire on a sit-in protest.
Births on June 3
20 BC – Sejanus, Roman soldier and bodyguard (d. 31 AD)
1139 – Conon of Naso, Basilian abbot (d. 1236)
1421 – Giovanni di Cosimo de’ Medici, Italian noble (d. 1463)
1454 – Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania (1474–1523) (d. 1523)
1537 – João Manuel, Prince of Portugal (d. 1554)
1540 – Charles II, Archduke of Austria (d. 1590)
1554 – Pietro de’ Medici, Italian noble (d. 1604)
1576 – Giovanni Diodati, Swiss-Italian minister, theologian, and academic (d. 1649)
1594 – César, Duke of Vendôme, French nobleman (d. 1665)
1603 – Pietro Paolini, Italian painter (d. 1681)
1635 – Philippe Quinault, French playwright and composer (d. 1688)
1636 – John Hale, American minister (d. 1700)
1659 – David Gregory, Scottish-English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1708)
1662 – Willem van Mieris, Dutch painter (d. 1747)
1723 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician, geologist, and botanist (d. 1788)
1726 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist and physician (d. 1797)
1736 – Ignaz Fränzl, German violinist and composer (d. 1811)
1770 – Manuel Belgrano, Argentinian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1820)
1808 – Jefferson Davis, American colonel and politician, President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1889)
1818 – Louis Faidherbe, French general and politician, Governor of Senegal (d. 1889)
1819 – Anton Anderledy, Swiss religious leader, 23rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1892)
1819 – Johan Jongkind, Dutch painter (d. 1891)
1832 – Charles Lecocq, French pianist and composer (d. 1918)
1843 – Frederick VIII of Denmark (d. 1912)
1844 – Garret Hobart, American lawyer and politician, 24th Vice President of the United States (d. 1899)
1844 – Detlev von Liliencron, German poet and author (d. 1909)
1852 – Theodore Robinson, American painter and academic (d. 1896)
1853 – Flinders Petrie, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1942)
1864 – Otto Erich Hartleben, German poet and playwright (d. 1905)
1864 – Ransom E. Olds, American businessman, founded Oldsmobile and REO Motor Car Company (d. 1950)
1865 – George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1936)
1866 – George Howells Broadhurst, English-American director and manager (d. 1952)
1873 – Otto Loewi, German-American pharmacologist and psychobiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
1877 – Raoul Dufy, French painter and illustrator (d. 1953)
1879 – Alla Nazimova, Ukrainian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1945)
1879 – Raymond Pearl, American biologist and botanist (d. 1940)
1879 – Vivian Woodward, English footballer and soldier (d. 1954)
1881 – Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter and set designer (d. 1964)
1890 – Baburao Painter, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1954)
1897 – Memphis Minnie, American singer-songwriter (d. 1973)
1899 – Georg von Békésy, Hungarian-American biophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
1900 – Adelaide Ames, American astronomer and academic (d. 1932)
1900 – Leo Picard, German-Israeli geologist and academic (d. 1997)
1901 – Maurice Evans, English actor (d. 1989)
1901 – Zhang Xueliang, Chinese general and warlord (d. 2001)
1903 – Eddie Acuff, American actor (d. 1956)
1904 – Charles R. Drew, American physician and surgeon (d. 1950)
1904 – Jan Peerce, American tenor and actor (d. 1984)
1905 – Martin Gottfried Weiss, German SS officer (d. 1946)
1906 – R. G. D. Allen, English economist, mathematician, and statistician (d. 1983)
1906 – Josephine Baker, French actress, singer, and dancer; French Resistance operative (d. 1975)
1906 – Walter Robins, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1968)
1907 – Paul Rotha, English director and producer (d. 1984)
1910 – Paulette Goddard, American actress and model (d. 1990)
1911 – Ellen Corby, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1999)
1913 – Pedro Mir, Dominican poet and author (d. 2000)
1914 – Ignacio Ponseti, Spanish physician and orthopedist (d. 2009)
1917 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (d. 1969)
1918 – Patrick Cargill, English actor and producer (d. 1996)
1918 – Lili St. Cyr, American dancer (d. 1999)
1921 – Forbes Carlile, Australian pentathlete and coach (d. 2016)
1921 – Jean Dréjac, French singer and composer (d. 2003)
1922 – Alain Resnais, French director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1923 – Igor Shafarevich, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 2017)
1924 – Karunanidhi, Indian screenwriter and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 2018)
1924 – Colleen Dewhurst, Canadian-American actress (d. 1991)
1924 – Bernard Glasser, American director and producer (d. 2014)
1924 – Jimmy Rogers, American singer and guitarist (d. 1997)
1924 – Torsten Wiesel, Swedish neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1925 – Tony Curtis, American actor (d. 2010)
1925 – Thomas Winning, Scottish cardinal (d. 2001)
1926 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (d. 1997)
1926 – Flora MacDonald, Canadian banker and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2015)
1927 – Boots Randolph, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2007)
1928 – Donald Judd, American sculptor and painter (d. 1994)
1928 – John Richard Reid, New Zealand cricketer
1929 – Werner Arber, Swiss microbiologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
1929 – Chuck Barris, American game show host and producer (d. 2017)
1930 – Marion Zimmer Bradley, American author and poet (d. 1999)
1930 – George Fernandes, Indian journalist and politician, Minister of Defence for India (d. 2019)
1930 – Dakota Staton, American singer (d. 2007)
1930 – Abbas Zandi, Iranian wrestler (d. 2017)
1930 – Ben Wada, Japanese director and producer (d. 2011)
1930 – Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe’s (d. 2020)
1931 – Françoise Arnoul, Algerian-French actress
1931 – Raúl Castro, Cuban commander and politician, 18th President of Cuba
1931 – John Norman, American philosopher and author
1931 – Lindy Remigino, American runner and coach (d. 2018)
1933 – Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahranian king (d. 1999)
1936 – Larry McMurtry, American novelist and screenwriter
1936 – Colin Meads, New Zealand rugby player and coach (d. 2017)
1937 – Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, French race car driver
1939 – Frank Blevins, English-Australian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of South Australia (d. 2013)
1939 – Steve Dalkowski, American baseball player (d. 2020)
1939 – Ian Hunter, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1942 – Curtis Mayfield, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1999)
1943 – Billy Cunningham, American basketball player and coach
1944 – Thomas Burns, British bishop
1944 – Edith McGuire, American sprinter and educator
1944 – Eddy Ottoz, Italian hurdler and coach
1945 – Hale Irwin, American golfer and architect
1945 – Ramon Jacinto, Filipino singer, guitarist, and businessman, founded the Rajah Broadcasting Network
1945 – Bill Paterson, Scottish actor
1946 – Michael Clarke, American drummer (d. 1993)
1946 – Eddie Holman, American pop/R&B/gospel singer
1946 – Penelope Wilton, English actress
1947 – John Dykstra, American special effects artist and producer
192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
1176 – The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo.
1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
1246 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV.
1254 – Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.
1370 – Brussels massacre: Hundreds of Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host.
1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
1455 – Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
1520 – The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.
1629 – Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War.
1762 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
1762 – Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.
1766 – A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region.
1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri.
1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
1809 – On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is repelled by an enemy army for the first time.
1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day.
1819 – SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
1840 – The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
1848 – Slavery is abolished in Martinique.
1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent.
1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery.
1863 – American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history.
1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army’s Red River Campaign ends in failure.
1872 – Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
1900 – The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative.
1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their “Flying-Machine”.
1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century.
1915 – Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246.
1926 – Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China.
1927 – Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world’s most destructive earthquakes.
1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
1941 – During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah.
1942 – Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies.
1943 – Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern.
1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece.
1957 – South Africa’s government approves of racial separation in universities.
1958 – The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths is estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.
1960 – The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.
1963 – Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is shot in an assassination attempt, and dies five days later.
1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson launches the Great Society.
1967 – Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
1967 – L’Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.
1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
1969 – Apollo 10’s lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon’s surface.
1972 – Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
1972 – Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave.
1987 – Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India.
1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
1994 – A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country’s ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
1996 – The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.
1998 – A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
2000 – In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
2002 – Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
2010 – Air India Express Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737.
2010 – Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the Uefa Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
2011 – An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
2012 – Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
2014 – General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d’état, following six months of political turmoil.
2014 – An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China’s far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
2015 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum.
2017 – Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
2017 – United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.
Births on May 22
626 – Itzam K’an Ahk I, Mayan king (d. 686)
1009 – Su Xun, Chinese writer (d. 1066)
1408 – Annamacharya, Hindu saint (d. 1503)
1539 – Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (d. 1621)
1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French soldier and governor (d. 1698)
1644 – Gabriël Grupello, Flemish Baroque sculptor (d. 1730)
1650 – Richard Brakenburgh, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1702)
1694 – Daniel Gran, Austrian painter (d. 1757)
1715 – François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and diplomat (d. 1794)
1733 – Hubert Robert, French painter (d. 1808)
1752 – Louis Legendre, French butcher and politician (d. 1797)
1762 – Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, English politician (d. 1834)
1770 – Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (d. 1840)
1772 – Ram Mohan Roy, Indian philosopher and reformer (d. 1833)
1782 – Hirose Tansō, Japanese neo-Confucian scholar, teacher, writer (d. 1856)
1783 – William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (d. 1850)
1808 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (d. 1855)
1811 – Giulia Grisi, Italian soprano (d. 1869)
1811 – Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, English politician (d. 1864)
1813 – Richard Wagner, German composer (d. 1883)
1814 – Amalia Lindegren, Swedish painter (d. 1891)
1820 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter (d. 1910)
1828 – Albrecht von Graefe, German ophthalmologist and academic (d. 1870)
1831 – Henry Vandyke Carter, English anatomist and surgeon (d. 1897)
1833 – Félix Bracquemond, French painter and etcher (d. 1914)
1833 – Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1895)
1841 – Catulle Mendès, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1909)
1844 – Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (d. 1926)
1846 – Rita Cetina Gutiérrez, Mexican poet, educator, and activist (d. 1908)
1848 – Fritz von Uhde, German painter and educator (d. 1911)
1849 – Aston Webb, English architect and academic (d. 1930)
1858 – Belmiro de Almeida, Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor (d. 1935)
1859 – Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (d. 1930)
1859 – Tsubouchi Shōyō, Japanese author, playwright, and educator (d. 1935)
1864 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (d. 1931)
1868 – Augusto Pestana, Brazilian engineer and politician (d. 1934)
1874 – Daniel François Malan, South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1959)
1876 – Julius Klinger, Austrian painter and illustrator (d. 1942)
1879 – Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 1947)
1879 – Jean Cras, French admiral and composer (d. 1932)
1879 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman and independence leader (d. 1926)
1880 – Francis de Miomandre, French author and translator (d. 1959)
1885 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian lawyer and politician (d. 1924)
1885 – Soemu Toyoda, Japanese admiral (d. 1957)
1887 – A. W. Sandberg, Danish film director and screenwriter (d. 1938)
1891 – Johannes R. Becher, German politician, novelist, and poet (d. 1958)
1894 – Friedrich Pollock, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1970)
1897 – Robert Neumann, German and English-speaking author (d. 1975)
1900 – Juan Arvizu, Mexican lyric opera tenor and bolero vocalist (d.1985)
1901 – Maurice J. Tobin, American politician, 6th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1953)
1902 – Jack Lambert, English footballer and manager (d. 1940)
1902 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (d. 1956)
1904 – Uno Lamm, Swedish electrical engineer and inventor (d. 1989)
1905 – Bodo von Borries, German physicist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (d. 1956)
1905 – Tom Driberg, British politician (d. 1976)
1907 – Hergé, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1983)
1907 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1989)
1908 – Horton Smith, American golfer and captain (d. 1963)
1909 – Margaret Mee, English illustrator and educator (d. 1988)
1912 – Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
1913 – Rafael Gil, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
1913 – Dominique Rolin, Belgian author (d. 2012)
1914 – Max Kohnstamm, Dutch historian and diplomat (d. 2010)
1914 – Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet (d. 1993)
1917 – George Aratani, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
1917 – Jean-Louis Curtis, French author (d. 1995)
1919 – Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian businessman and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2001)
1920 – Thomas Gold, Austrian-American astrophysicist and academic (d. 2004)
1921 – George S. Hammond, American scientist (d. 2005)
1922 – Quinn Martin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1987)
1924 – Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2018)
1925 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1991)
1927 – Michael Constantine, American actor
1927 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (d. 2014)
1927 – George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
1928 – Serge Doubrovsky, French theorist and author (d. 2017)
1928 – John Mackenzie, Scottish director and producer (d. 2011)
1928 – T. Boone Pickens, American businessman (d. 2019)
1928 – Hiroshi Sano, Japanese novelist (d. 2013)
1929 – Ahmed Fouad Negm, Egyptian poet (d. 2013)
1930 – Kenny Ball, English jazz trumpet player, vocalist, and bandleader (d. 2013)
1930 – Marisol Escobar, French-American sculptor (d. 2016)
1930 – Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1978)
1932 – Robert Spitzer, American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2015)
1933 – Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician and academic (d. 1996)
1934 – Peter Nero, American pianist and conductor
1936 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (d. 2014)
1937 – Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
1938 – Richard Benjamin, American actor and director
1938 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (d. 1999)
1939 – Paul Winfield, American actor (d. 2004)
1940 – Kieth Merrill, American filmmaker
1940 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (d. 2011)
1940 – Bernard Shaw, American journalist
1940 – Mick Tingelhoff, American Pro Football Hall of Famer
1941 – Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician
1942 – Roger Brown, American basketball player (d. 1997)
1942 – Ted Kaczynski, American academic and mathematician turned anarchist and serial murderer (Unabomber)
1942 – Barbara Parkins, Canadian actress
1942 – Richard Oakes, Native American civil rights activist (d. 1972)
1943 – Betty Williams, Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2020)
1943 – Tommy John, American baseball player
1944 – John Flanagan, Australian fantasy author
1945 – Bob Katter, Australian politician
1946 – George Best, Northern Irish footballer and manager (d. 2005)
1946 – Michael Green, English physicist and academic
1946 – Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager (d. 2015)
1946 – Andrei Marga, Romanian philosopher, political scientist, politician
1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.
1536 – George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason.
1536 – Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s marriage is annulled.
1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
1642 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
1673 – Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
1792 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed under the Buttonwood Agreement.
1805 – Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.
1809 – Emperor Napoleon I orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
1814 – Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
1814 – The Constitution of Norway is signed and Crown Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.
1859 – Members of the Melbourne Football Club codified the first rules of Australian rules football.
1863 – Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.
1865 – The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.
1875 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby with the jockey Oliver Lewis (2:37.75)
1900 – Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
1900 – The children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, is first published in the United States. The first copy is given to the author’s sister.
1902 – Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
1914 – The Protocol of Corfu is signed, recognising full autonomy to Northern Epirus under nominal Albanian sovereignty.
1915 – The last British Liberal Party government (led by H. H. Asquith) falls.
1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
1939 – The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States’ first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.
1940 – World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
1943 – World War II: Dambuster Raids commence by No. 617 Squadron RAF.
1954 – The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, outlawing racial segregation in public schools.
1967 – Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
1969 – Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
1973 – Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
1974 – The Troubles: Thirty-three civilians are killed and 300 injured when the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) detonates four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Republic of Ireland.
1974 – Police in Los Angeles raid the Symbionese Liberation Army’s headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
1977 – Nolan Bushnell opened the first Chuck E. Cheese’s in San Jose, California.
1980 – General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
1980 – On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in Chuschi (a town in Ayacucho), starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
1983 – The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world’s largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds , in response to the Appalachian Observer’s Freedom of Information Act request.
1983 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
1984 – Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”, sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
1987 – Iran–Iraq War: An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
1990 – The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.
1992 – Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially confirmed deaths, hundreds of injuries, many disappearances, and more than 3,500 arrests.
1994 – Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.
1995 – Shawn Nelson steals an M60 tank from the California Army National Guard Armory in San Diego and proceeds to go on a rampage.
1997 – Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2000 – Arsenal and Galatasaray fans clash in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots in Copenhagen
2004 – The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. are performed in the state of Massachusetts.
2006 – The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.
2007 – Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.
2014 – A plane crash in northern Laos kills 17 people.
Births on May 17
1155 – Jien, Japanese monk, poet, and historian (d. 1225)
1443 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland (d. 1460)
1451 – Engelbert II of Nassau, Count of Nassau-Vianden and Lord of Breda (1475–1504) (d. 1504)
1490 – Albert, Duke of Prussia, last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (d. 1568)
1500 – Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (d. 1540)
1551 – Martin Delrio, Belgian occultist and theologian (d. 1601)
1568 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Swedish princess (d. 1625)
1610 – Stefano della Bella, Italian engraver and etcher (d. 1664)
1628 – Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria (d. 1662)
1636 – Edward Colman, English Catholic courtier under Charles II (d. 1678)
1682 – Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (d. 1722)
1698 – Gio Nicola Buhagiar, Maltese painter (d. 1752)
1706 – Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (d. 1780)
1718 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1778)
1732 – Francesco Pasquale Ricci, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1817)
1743 – Seth Warner, American colonel (d. 1784)
1749 – Edward Jenner, English physician and microbiologist (d. 1823)
1758 – Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet, English politician (d. 1839)
1768 – Caroline of Brunswick (d. 1821)
1768 – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1854)
1794 – Anna Brownell Jameson, Irish-English author (d. 1860)
1818 – Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (d. 1899)
1821 – Sebastian Kneipp, German priest and therapist (d. 1897)
1835 – Thomas McIlwraith, Scottish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Queensland (d. 1900)
1836 – Virginie Loveling, Belgian author and poet (d. 1923)
1836 – Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian-American chess player (d. 1900)
1845 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan priest and poet (d. 1902)
1860 – Martin Kukučín, Slovak author and playwright (d. 1928)
1860 – Charlotte Barnum, American mathematician and social activist (d. 1934)
1863 – Léon Gérin, Canadian lawyer, sociologist, and civil servant (d. 1951)
1864 – Louis Richardet, Swiss target shooter (d. 1923)
1864 – Ante Trumbić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 27th Mayor of Split (d. 1938)
1866 – Erik Satie, French pianist and composer (d. 1925)
1868 – Horace Elgin Dodge, American businessman, co-founded Dodge (d. 1920)
1868 – Panagis Tsaldaris, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936)
1870 – Newton Moore, Australian politician, 8th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1936)
1873 – Henri Barbusse, French author and journalist (d. 1935)
1873 – Dorothy Richardson, English author and journalist (d. 1957)
1874 – George Sheldon, American diver (d. 1907)
1882 – Karl Burman, Estonian architect and painter (d. 1965)
1886 – Alfonso XIII of Spain, Spanish monarch (d. 1941)
1888 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (d. 1965)
1889 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (d. 1946)
1889 – Alfonso Reyes, Mexican author (d. 1959)
1891 – Napoleon Zervas, Greek general and politician (d. 1957)
1893 – Frederick McKinley Jones, American inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1961)
1895 – Saul Adler, Belarusian-English captain and parasitologist (d. 1966)
1895 – Reinhold Saulmann, Estonian sprinter and bandy player (d. 1936)
1897 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
1898 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (d. 1992)
1899 – Carmen de Icaza, Spanish writer (d. 1979)
1901 – Werner Egk, German pianist and composer (d. 1983)
1903 – Cool Papa Bell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
1904 – Marie-Anne Desmarest, French author (d. 1973)
1906 – Zinka Milanov, Croatian-American soprano and educator (d. 1989)
1909 – Julius Sumner Miller, American physicist and academic (d. 1987)
1911 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-American model (d. 1992)
1911 – Maureen O’Sullivan, Irish-American actress (d. 1998)
1912 – Archibald Cox, American lawyer and politician, 31st United States Solicitor General (d. 2004)
1912 – Ace Parker, American baseball and football player (d. 2013)
1912 – Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner, American inventor (d. 2006)
1913 – Hans Ruesch, Swiss racing driver and author (d. 2007)
1914 – Robert N. Thompson, American-Canadian chiropractor and politician (d. 1997)
1918 – Joan Benham, English actress (d. 1981)
1918 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish operatic soprano (d. 2005)
1919 – Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1919 – Merle Miller, American author and screenwriter (d. 1986)
1919 – Gustav Naan, Russian-Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1994)
1920 – Harry Männil, Estonian-Venezuelan businessman, co-founded ACO Group (d. 2010)
1921 – Dennis Brain, English composer (d. 1957)
1921 – Bob Merrill, American composer and screenwriter (d. 1998)
1922 – Jean Rédélé, French racing driver, founded Alpine (d. 2007)
1923 – Michael Beetham, English commander and pilot (d. 2015)
1924 – Roy Bentley, English footballer (d. 2018)
1924 – Francis Tombs, Baron Tombs, English engineer and politician (d. 2020)
1926 – David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, English-Scottish soldier and politician
1926 – Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1926 – Franz Sondheimer, German-English chemist and academic (d. 1981)
1929 – Branko Zebec, Yugoslav football player and coach (d. 1988)
1931 – Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader, founded Heaven’s Gate (d. 1997)
1931 – Dewey Redman, American saxophonist (d. 2006)
1932 – Rodric Braithwaite, English soldier and diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia
1932 – Peter Burge, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
1933 – Yelena Gorchakova, Russian javelin thrower (d. 2002)
1934 – Friedrich-Wilhelm Kiel, German educator and politician
1934 – Earl Morrall, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
1934 – Ronald Wayne, American computer scientist, co-founded Apple Inc.
1935 – Dennis Potter, English voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and director (d. 2010)
1937 – Hazel R. O’Leary, American lawyer and politician, 7th United States Secretary of Energy
1938 – Jason Bernard, American actor (d. 1996)
1938 – Marcia Freedman, Israeli activist
1938 – Pervis Jackson, American R&B bass singer (d. 2008)
1939 – Hugh Dykes, Baron Dykes, English politician
1939 – Gary Paulsen, American author
1940 – Alan Kay, American computer scientist and academic
1940 – Reynato Puno, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 22nd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
1941 – David Cope, American composer and author
1941 – Ben Nelson, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Nebraska
1942 – Taj Mahal, American blues singer-songwriter and musician
1943 – Sirajuddin of Perlis, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
1943 – Johnny Warren, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2004)
1944 – Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2014)
1945 – B.S. Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer
1945 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player and coach
1946 – Udo Lindenberg, German singer-songwriter and drummer
1947 – Stephen Platten, English bishop
1948 – Dick Gaughan, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1949 – Bill Bruford, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
1949 – Keith, American pop singer
1950 – Howard Ashman, American playwright and composer (d. 1991)
1950 – Keith Bradley, Baron Bradley, English accountant and politician
1950 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian economist and politician, 2nd President of Slovenia (d. 2008)
1950 – Alan Johnson, English politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
1950 – Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Russian journalist and politician (d. 2014)
1951 – Simon Hughes, English lawyer and politician
1952 – Howard Hampton, Canadian lawyer and politician
1954 – Michael Roberts, South African-English jockey
1955 – Bill Paxton, American actor and director (d. 2017)
1955 – David Townsend, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
1956 – Annise Parker, American politician
1956 – Bob Saget, American comedian, actor, and television host
1956 – Dave Sim, Canadian cartoonist and author
1957 – Pascual Pérez, Dominican baseball player (d. 2012)
1958 – Paul Di’Anno, English rock singer-songwriter
1959 – Marcelo Loffreda, Argentine rugby player and coach
1960 – Lou DiBella, American boxing promoter, actor, and producer
1960 – Simon Fuller, English talent manager and producer, created the Idols series
1961 – Enya, Irish singer-songwriter and producer
1961 – Jamil Azzaoui, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1961 – Justin King, English businessman
1962 – Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish journalist and author
1962 – Andrew Farrar, Australian rugby league player and coach
1962 – Craig Ferguson, Scottish-American comedian, actor, and talk show host
1962 – Jane Moore, English journalist and author
1962 – Rosalind Picard, American computer scientist and engineer, co-founded Affectiva
1963 – Jon Koncak, American basketball player
1963 – Page McConnell, American keyboard player and songwriter
1964 – Stratos Apostolakis, Greek footballer and coach
1964 – Mauro Martini, Italian race car driver
1964 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (d. 1999)
1965 – Trent Reznor, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer
1965 – Jeremy Vine, English journalist and author
1966 – Qusay Hussein, Iraqi soldier and politician (d. 2003)
1966 – Mark Kratzmann, Australian tennis player and coach
1966 – Danny Manning, American basketball player and coach
1966 – Gilles Quénéhervé, French sprinter
1967 – Nancy Benoit, American professional wrestling valet and model (d. 2007)
1967 – Mohamed Nasheed, Maldivian lawyer and politician 4th President of the Maldives
1967 – Patrick Ortlieb, Austrian skier
1968 – Dave Abbruzzese, American rock drummer and songwriter
1969 – Keith Hill, English footballer and manager
1970 – Hubert Davis, American basketball player and coach
1970 – Jordan Knight, American singer-songwriter and actor
1970 – Matt Lindland, American mixed martial artist, wrestler, and politician
1970 – Jodie Rogers, Australian diver
1970 – René Vilbre, Estonian director and screenwriter
1971 – Mark Connors, Australian rugby player
1971 – Shaun Hart, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster
1971 – Stella Jongmans, Dutch athlete
1971 – Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Dutch royal
1971 – Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island
1972 – Barry Hayles, English born Jamaican international footballer
1973 – Josh Homme, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1974 – Andrea Corr, Irish singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
1974 – Wiki González, Venezuelan baseball player
1974 – Eddie Lewis, American international soccer player
1975 – Marcelinho Paraíba, Brazilian footballer
1975 – Alex Wright, German wrestler
1976 – Kandi Burruss, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1976 – Shayne Dunley, Australian rugby league player
1976 – José Guillén, Dominican-American baseball player
1976 – Daniel Komen, Kenyan runner
1976 – Wang Leehom, American-Taiwanese singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
1976 – Mayte Martínez, Spanish runner
1976 – Kirsten Vlieghuis, Dutch freestyle swimmer
1978 – John Foster, American baseball player and coach
1978 – Paddy Kenny, English footballer
1978 – Carlos Peña, Dominican-American baseball player
1978 – Magdalena Zděnovcová, Czech tennis player
1979 – David Jarolím, Czech footballer
1979 – Wayne Thomas, English footballer
1980 – Davor Džalto, Bosnian historian and philosopher
1980 – Fredrik Kessiakoff, Swedish cyclist
1980 – Alistair Overeem, Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer
1980 – Ariën van Weesenbeek, Dutch drummer
1981 – Beñat Albizuri, Spanish cyclist
1981 – Leon Osman, English footballer
1981 – Lim Jeong-hee, South Korean singer
1981 – Chris Skidmore, English historian and politician
1981 – Giannis Taralidis, Greek footballer
1982 – Matt Cassel, American football player
1982 – Dan Hardy, English mixed martial artist
1982 – Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
1982 – Tony Parker, French-American basketball player
1982 – Chloe Smith, English politician
1983 – Channing Frye, American basketball player
1983 – Chris Henry, American football player (d. 2009)
1983 – Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer
1983 – Kevin Kingston, Australian rugby league player
1983 – Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
1984 – Christian Bolaños, Costa Rican footballer
1984 – Christine Ohuruogu, English runner
1984 – Christine Robinson, Canadian water polo player
1984 – Passenger, English singer-songwriter and musician
1985 – Teófilo Gutiérrez, Colombian footballer
1985 – Derek Hough, American actor, singer, and dancer
1985 – Christine Nesbitt, Canadian speed skater
1985 – Todd Redmond, American baseball player
1985 – Matt Ryan, American football player
1986 – Marius Činikas, Lithuanian footballer
1986 – Timo Simonlatser, Estonian skier
1986 – Jodie Taylor, English footballer
1987 – Edvald Boasson Hagen, Norwegian cyclist
1987 – Aleandro Rosi, Italian footballer
1988 – Nikki Reed, American actress, singer, and screenwriter
1988 – Jennison Myrie-Williams, English footballer
1989 – Mose Masoe, New Zealand rugby league player
1989 – Rain Raadik, Estonian basketball player
1989 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
1990 – Fabian Giefer, German footballer
1990 – Charlie Gubb, New Zealand rugby league player
1990 – Katrina Hart, English runner
1990 – Guido Pella, Argentine tennis player
1991 – Johanna Konta, Australian-English tennis player
1991 – Adil Omar, Pakistani rapper and music producer
1991 – Abigail Raye, Canadian field hockey player
Deaths on May 17
528 – Empress Dowager Hu of Northern Wei
528 – Yuan Yong, imperial prince of Northern Wei
528 – Yuan Zhao, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 526)
896 – Liu Jianfeng, Chinese warlord
924 – Li Maozhen, Chinese warlord and king (b. 856)
2017 – Todor Veselinović, Serbian football player and manager (b. 1930)
2019 – Herman Wouk, American author (b. 1915)
2020 – Lucky Peterson, American blues singer, keyboardist and guitarist (b. 1964)
Holidays and observances on May 17
Birthday of the Raja (Perlis)
Christian feast day:
Giulia Salzano
Paschal Baylon
William Hobart Hare (Episcopal Church (USA))
Restituta
May 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Children’s Day (Norway)
Constitution Day (Nauru)
Norwegian Constitution Day
The earliest date on which Trinity Sunday can fall, while June 20 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. (Western Christianity)
Feast of ‘Aẓamat (Bahá’í Faith, day shifts with March Equinox, see List of observances set by the Baháʼí calendar)
Galician Literature Day or Día das Letras Galegas (Galicia)
National Day Against Homophobia (Canada)
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia also known as IDAHOT
1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
1271 – Ninth Crusade, Edward I of England disembarks at Acre.
1386 – England and Portugal formally ratify their alliance with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, making it the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force.
1450 – ‘Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) is assassinated.
1540 – Hernando de Alarcón sets sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California.
1662 – The figure who later became Mr. Punch makes his first recorded appearance in England.
1671 – Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England’s Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
1726 – Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap’s molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.
1763 – The Siege of Fort Detroit begins during Pontiac’s War against British forces.
1864 – Second Schleswig War: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland.
1865 – American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest surrenders his forces at Gainesville, Alabama.
1865 – American Civil War: President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.
1873 – Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds the Long Depression.
1874 – The first horsebus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, traveling two routes.
1877 – Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.
1877 – A magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Peru kills 2,541, including some as far away as Hawaii and Japan.
1887 – Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show opens in London.
1901 – Australia opens its first national parliament in Melbourne.
1904 – The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100 mph (160 km/h).
1911 – The works of Gabriele D’Annunzio are placed in the Index of Forbidden Books by the Vatican.
1915 – World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
1918 – World War I: Germany repels Britain’s second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium.
1920 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk.
1926 – Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd’s diary appears to cast some doubt on the claim.)
1927 – Old Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.
1936 – Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
1940 – World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks the French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.
1941 – World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.
1942 – Holocaust: The SS executes 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported.
1945 – World War II: The final German Instrument of Surrender is signed at the Soviet headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst.
1945 – World War II: The German occupation of the Channel Islands comes to an end.
1946 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Umberto II.
1948 – Czechoslovakia’s Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect.
1949 – Rainier III becomes Prince of Monaco.
1950 – Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, which according to him was indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the “Schuman Declaration”, is considered by some people to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
1955 – Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
1958 – Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo has world premiere in San Francisco.
1960 – The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle’s Enovid, making Enovid the world’s first approved oral contraceptive pill.
1961 – FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow gives his Wasteland Speech.
1964 – Ngô Đình Cẩn, de facto ruler of central Vietnam under his brother President Ngô Đình Diệm before the family’s toppling, is executed.
1969 – Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks.
1970 – Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.
1974 – Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
1977 – Hotel Polen fire: A disastrous fire burns down the Hotel Polen in Amsterdam causing 33 deaths and 21 severe injuries.
1979 – Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran.
1980 – In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.
1980 – In Norco, California, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.
1987 – LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
1988 – New Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.
1992 – Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
1992 – Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada.
1994 – Disappearance of Cleashindra Hall in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
2001 – In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of tear gas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee.
2002 – The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected terrorists among them deported to several different countries.
2012 – A Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft crashes into Mount Salak in West Java, Indonesia, killing 45 people.
2015 – An Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft crashes near the Spanish city of Seville with three people on board killed.
2015 – Russia stages its biggest ever military parade in Moscow’s Red Square to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory Day.
2018 – The historic defeat for Barisan Nasional, the governing coalition of Malaysia since the country’s independence in 1957 in 2018 Malaysian general election.
2018 – At the height of the 2018 East Africa floods, the Patel dam breaks in Solai, Kenya, killing 48 people and displacing another 2000.
Births on May 9
1147 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shōgun (d. 1199)
1170 – Valdemar II of Denmark (d. 1241)
1540 – Maharana Pratap, Indian ruler (d. 1597)
1555 – Jerónima de la Asunción, Spanish Catholic nun and founder of the first monastery in Manila (d. 1630)
1594 – Louis Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg, military leader in the Thirty Years’ War (d. 1662)
1617 – Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege (d. 1655)
1740 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (probable; d. 1816)
1746 – Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (d. 1818)
1763 – János Batsányi, Hungarian-Austrian poet and author (d. 1845)
1800 – John Brown, American activist (d. 1859)
1801 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded the town of Fleetwood (d. 1866)
1814 – John Brougham, Irish-American actor and playwright (d. 1880)
1823 – Frederick Weld, English-New Zealand politician, 6th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)
1824 – Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, Polish apologist and author (d. 1896)
1825 – James Collinson, Victorian painter (d. 1881)
1836 – Ferdinand Monoyer, French ophthalmologist, invented the Monoyer chart (d. 1912)
1837 – Adam Opel, German engineer, founded the Opel Company (d. 1895)
1845 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman (d. 1913)
1850 – Edward Weston, English-American chemist (d. 1936)
1855 – Julius Röntgen, German-Dutch composer (d. 1932)
1860 – J. M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (d. 1937)
1866 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian economist and politician (d. 1915)
1870 – Harry Vardon, British golfer (d. 1937)
1873 – Anton Cermak, Czech-American captain and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1933)
1874 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (d. 1939)
1882 – George Barker, American painter (d. 1965)
1882 – Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder and businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards (d. 1967)
1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher, author, and critic (d. 1955)
1884 – Valdemar Psilander, Danish actor (d. 1917)
1885 – Gianni Vella, Maltese artist (d. 1977)
1888 – Francesco Baracca, Italian fighter pilot (d. 1918)
1888 – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector (d. 1964)
1892 – Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1989)
1893 – William Moulton Marston, American psychologist and author (d. 1947)
1895 – Richard Barthelmess, American actor (d. 1963)
1895 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1961)
1895 – Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (d. 1989)
1896 – Richard Day, Canadian-American art director and set decorator (d. 1972)
1900 – Maria Malicka, Polish stage and film actress (d. 1992)
1904 – Conrad Bernier, Canadian-American organist, composer, and educator (d. 1988)
1905 – Lilí Álvarez, Spanish tennis player, author, and feminist (d. 1998)
1906 – Eleanor Estes, American librarian, author, and illustrator (d. 1988)
1907 – Jackie Grant, Trinidadian cricketer (d. 1978)
1907 – Kathryn Kuhlman, American evangelist and author (d. 1976)
1907 – Baldur von Schirach, German politician (d. 1974)
1909 – Don Messer, Canadian violinist (d. 1973)
1909 – Gordon Bunshaft, American architect, designed the Solow Building (d. 1990)
1911 – Harry Simeone, American music arranger, conductor, and composer (d. 2005)
1912 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican-American actor (d. 1963)
1912 – Per Imerslund, Norwegian-German soldier and author (d. 1943)
1912 – Géza Ottlik, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (d. 1990)
1914 – Patricia Swift Blalock, American librarian (d.2011)
1914 – Denham Fouts, American prostitute (d. 1948)
1914 – Thanat Khoman, Thai politician and diplomat (d. 2016)
1914 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor and director (d. 2005)
1914 – Hank Snow, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
1916 – William Pène du Bois, American author and illustrator (d. 1993)
1917 – Fay Kanin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
1918 – Moisis Michail Bourlas, Greek soldier and educator (d. 2011)
1918 – Orville Freeman, American soldier and politician, 16th United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 2003)
1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist, media personality and one-time game show host (d. 2012)
1919 – Clifford Chadderton, Canadian soldier and journalist (d. 2013)
1920 – William Tenn, English-American author and academic (d. 2010)
1920 – Richard Adams, English novelist (d. 2016)
1921 – Daniel Berrigan, American priest, poet, and activist (d. 2016)
1921 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (d. 1943)
1921 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet and academic (d. 2004)
1923 – Johnny Grant, American radio host and producer (d. 2008)
1924 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer, poet, and author (d. 1997)
1926 – John Middleton Murry, Jr., English soldier, pilot, and author (d. 2002)
1927 – Manfred Eigen, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
1928 – Ralph Goings, American painter (d. 2016)
1928 – Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (d. 1995)
1928 – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater (d. 2012)
1930 – Joan Sims, English actress (d. 2001)
1930 – Kalifa Tillisi, Libyan historian and linguist (d. 2010)
1931 – Vance D. Brand, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut
1932 – Conrad Hunte, Barbadian cricketer (d. 1999)
1934 – Alan Bennett, English screenwriter, playwright, and novelist
1935 – Nokie Edwards, American guitarist (d. 2018)
1935 – Roger Hargreaves, English author and illustrator (d. 1988)
1936 – Terry Downes, British boxer and former world middle-weight champion (d. 2017)
1936 – Albert Finney, English actor (d. 2019)
1936 – Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
1937 – Sonny Curtis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1937 – Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect, designed the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and Valladolid Science Museum
1937 – Dave Prater, American singer (d. 1988)
1938 – Charles Simić, Serbian-American poet and editor
1939 – Ralph Boston, American long jumper
1939 – Ion Țiriac, Romanian tennis player and manager
1939 – Ken Warby, Australian motorboat racer
1939 – Giorgio Zancanaro, Italian baritone
1939 – John Ogbu, Nigerian-American anthropologist and professor (d. 2003)
1940 – James L. Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1941 – Dorothy Hyman, English sprinter
1941 – Danny Rapp, American musician (d. 1983)
1942 – John Ashcroft, American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General
1942 – Tommy Roe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Vince Cable, English economist and politician, former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
1943 – Anders Isaksson, Swedish historian and journalist (d. 2009)
1943 – Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (d. 2014)
1944 – Richie Furay, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Gamal El-Ghitani, Egyptian journalist and author (d. 2015)
1945 – Jupp Heynckes, German footballer and manager
1945 – Steve Katz, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1946 – Candice Bergen, American actress and producer
1946 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (d. 2002)
1947 – Yukiya Amano, Japanese diplomat (d. 2019)
1948 – Hans Georg Bock, German mathematician, computer scientist, and academic
1948 – John Mahaffey, American golfer
1948 – Steven W. Mosher, American social scientist and author
1948 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player and radio host
1949 – Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1949 – Richard S. Williamson, American lawyer and diplomat, 17th Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (d. 2013)
1951 – Alley Mills, American actress
1953 – Bruno Brokken, Belgian high jumper
1955 – Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (d. 2012)
1955 – Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish soprano and actress
1956 – Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress and producer
1956 – Jana Wendt, Australian television host
1958 – Graham Smith, Canadian swimmer
1959 – Andrew Jones, New Zealand cricketer
1960 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
1961 – Sean Altman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1961 – John Corbett, American actor
1962 – Dave Gahan, English singer-songwriter
1962 – Paul Heaton, English singer-songwriter
1963 – Joe Cirella, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1965 – Ken Nomura, Japanese race car driver and sportscaster
1965 – Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
1966 – Mark Tinordi, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Masahiko Harada, Japanese ski jumper
1968 – Graham Harman, American philosopher and academic
1968 – Ruth Kelly, British economist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
1968 – Marie-José Pérec, French sprinter
1968 – Neil Ruddock, English international footballer and television personality
1970 – Doug Christie, American basketball player
1970 – Hao Haidong, Chinese footballer & all time top scorer for Chinese national team
1970 – Ghostface Killah, American rapper and actor
1971 – Jason Lee, English footballer and manager
1971 – Dan Chiasson, American poet and critic
1972 – Megumi Odaka, Japanese actress and singer
1973 – Tegla Loroupe, Kenyan runner
1973 – Leonard Myles-Mills, Ghanaian sprinter
1975 – Tamia, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1975 – Brian Deegan, American motocross rider
1977 – Averno, Mexican wrestler
1977 – Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer
1977 – Svein Tuft, Canadian cyclist
1978 – Leandro Cufré, Argentinian footballer
1978 – Santiago Dellapè, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
1978 – Aaron Harang, American baseball player
1978 – Marwan al-Shehhi, Emirati terrorist (d. 2001)
1979 – Pierre Bouvier, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1979 – Rosario Dawson, American actress
1979 – Andrew W.K., American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, motivational speaker, and music producer
2013 – George M. Leader, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1918)
2013 – Humberto Lugo Gil, Mexican lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Hidalgo (b. 1933)
2013 – Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (b. 1921)
2014 – Giacomo Bini, Italian priest and missionary (b. 1938)
2014 – Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
2014 – Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy, Indian politician, 12th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (b. 1935)
2014 – Mary Stewart, English-Scottish author and poet (b. 1916)
2015 – Edward W. Estlow, American football player and journalist (b. 1920)
2015 – Kenan Evren, Turkish general and politician, 7th President of Turkey (b. 1917)
2015 – Elizabeth Wilson, American actress (b. 1921)
2017 – Robert Miles, a Swiss-born Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ (b. 1969)
2018 – Per Kirkeby, Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor (b. 1938)
2019 – Freddie Starr, English comedian, impressionist, singer and actor (1943)
2020 – Little Richard, American singer, songwriter, and pianist (b. 1932)
Holidays and observances on May 9
Anniversary of Dianetics (Church of Scientology)
Christian feast day:
Beatus of Lungern
Beatus of Vendome
Christopher (Eastern Orthodox Church)
George Preca
Gerontius of Cervia
Gregory of Nazianzen (The Episcopal Church (US) and traditional Roman Catholic calendar)
Nicolaus Zinzendorf (Lutheran)
Pachomius the Great
Tudy of Landevennec
May 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Commemoration of the end of the German occupation of the Channel Islands related observances:
Liberation Day, commemorating the end of the German occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. (Guernsey and Jersey)
National Day (Alderney)
Europe Day, commemorating the Schuman Declaration. (European Union)
Victory Day observances, celebration of the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany (Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan)
Victory and Peace Day, marks the capture of Shusha (1992) in the Nagorno-Karabakh War, and the end of World War II. (Armenia)
1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.
1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
1659 – English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.
1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
1757 – Battle of Prague: A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years’ War.
1757 – The end of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, and the end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757).
1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
1782 – Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
1801 – Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1857 – The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British in the lead up to the War of Indian Independence.
1861 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by the Army of Northern Virginia.
1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
1882 – The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
1906 – The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).
1910 – George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII.
1915 – Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.
1916 – Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs’ Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha.
1916 – Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tân is captured while calling upon the people to rise up against the French, and is later deposed and exiled to Réunion island.
1933 – The Deutsche Studentenschaft attacked Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books.
1935 – New Deal: Under the authority of the newly-enacted Federal Emergency Relief Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 7034 to create the Works Progress Administration.
1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
1941 – At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
1942 – World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
1945 – World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
1949 – EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.
1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.
1972 – Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
1975 – During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
1976 – The 6.5 Mw Friuli earthquake affected Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 900–978 dead and 1,700–2,400 injured.
1983 – The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.
1984 – One hundred three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul.
1988 – All thirty-six passengers and crew were killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy.
1994 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank’s 300-year history.
1998 – Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his fifth career start.
1998 – Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac.
1999 – The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.
2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio-interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.
2010 – In just 36 minutes, the Dow-Jones average plunged nearly 1000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash.
2013 – Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.
Births on May 6
973 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1024)
1464 – Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (d. 1512)
1493 – Girolamo Seripando, Italian theologian and cardinal (d. 1563)
1501 – Marcellus II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1555)
1574 – Innocent X, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1655)
1580 – Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (d. 1637)
1635 – Johann Joachim Becher, German physician and alchemist (d. 1682)
1668 – Alain-René Lesage, French author and playwright (d. 1747)
1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French cellist and composer (d. 1755)
1713 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (d. 1780)
1714 – Anton Raaff, German tenor (d. 1797)
1742 – Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor and physiologist (d. 1809)
1758 – André Masséna, French general (d. 1817)
1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
1769 – Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
1769 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (d. 1834)
1781 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (d. 1832)
1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
1800 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish general (d. 1881)
1827 – Hermann Raster, German-American journalist and politician (d. 1891)
1836 – Max Eyth, German engineer and author (d. 1906)
1843 – Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist and academic (d. 1918)
1848 – Henry Edward Armstrong, English chemist and academic (d. 1937)
1851 – Aristide Bruant, French singer and actor (d. 1925)
1856 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1939)
1856 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (d. 1920)
1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (d. 1931)
1868 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (d. 1927)
1869 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and central banker, 8th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (d. 1932)
1870 – Walter Rutherford, Scottish golfer (d. 1936)
1871 – Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
1871 – Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (d. 1914)
1872 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1934)
1872 – Djemal Pasha, Ottoman general (d. 1922)
1879 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
1879 – Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (d. 1929)
1880 – Winifred Brunton, English-South African painter and illustrator (d. 1959)
1880 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German-Swiss painter (d. 1938)
1883 – Alberto Collo, Italian actor (d. 1955)
1895 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and author (d. 1974)
1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian soldier and politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (d. 1946)
1895 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
1896 – Rolf Maximilian Sievert, Swedish physicist and academic (d. 1966)
1897 – Paul Alverdes, German author and poet (d. 1979)
1898 – Konrad Henlein, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1945)
1902 – Harry Golden, Ukrainian-American journalist and author (d. 1981)
1902 – Max Ophüls, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1957)
1903 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (d. 1977)
1904 – Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 1984)
1904 – Catherine Lacey, English actress (d. 1979)
1904 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
1905 – Philip N. Krasne, American lawyer and producer (d. 1999)
1906 – André Weil, French mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
1907 – Weeb Ewbank, American football player and coach (d. 1998)
1911 – Guy des Cars, French journalist and author (d. 1993)
1913 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (d. 1989)
1913 – Stewart Granger, English-American actor (d. 1993)
1915 – Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1985)
1915 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (d. 1986)
1916 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1997)
1917 – Kal Mann, American songwriter (d. 2001)
1918 – Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and first president of the United Arab Emirates (d. 2004)
1919 – André Guelfi, French race car driver (d. 2016)
1920 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Fiji (d. 2004)
1920 – Marguerite Piazza, American soprano and actress (d. 2012)
1921 – Erich Fried, Austrian-German author, poet, and translator (d. 1988)
1922 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1999)
1923 – Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
1924 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 2014)
1924 – Patricia Helen Kennedy, American socialite, activist, and author (d. 2006)
1924 – Denny Wright, English guitarist, composer, and producer (d. 1992)
1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Canadian politician, co-founded the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
1929 – Rosemary Cramp, English archaeologist and academic
1929 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
1929 – John Taylor, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
1931 – Willie Mays, American baseball player and coach
1931 – Louis Gambaccini, American government official (d. 2018)
1932 – Ahmet Haxhiu, Kosovan activist (d. 1994)
1932 – Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, English lieutenant and politician (d. 2020)
1934 – Richard Shelby, American lawyer and politician
1937 – Rubin Carter, American-Canadian boxer (d. 2014)
1938 – Jean Garon, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2014)
1939 – Eddie C. Campbell, American singer and guitarist (d. 2018)
1939 – Chet Allen, American child actor (d. 1984)
1942 – Ariel Dorfman, Argentinian author, playwright, and academic
1943 – Andreas Baader, German terrorist, co-founded the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
1943 – Milton William Cooper, American theorist and author (d. 2001)
1943 – Wolfgang Reinhardt, German pole vaulter (d. 2011)
1943 – James Turrell, American sculptor and illustrator
1944 – Anton Furst, English-American production designer and art director (d. 1991)
1944 – Masanori Murakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
1945 – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
1945 – Bob Seger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
1947 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher and author
1947 – Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist, founded Real Aikido (d. 2013)
1948 – Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2013)
1950 – Jeffery Deaver, American journalist and author
1951 – Samuel Doe, Liberian sergeant and politician, 21st President of Liberia (d. 1990)
1952 – Gerrit Zalm, Dutch economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1953 – Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl worker (d. 1986)
1953 – Tony Blair, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1953 – Michelle Courchesne, Canadian urban planner and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
1953 – Ülle Rajasalu, Estonian politician
1953 – Graeme Souness, Scottish international footballer and manager
1953 – Lynn Whitfield, American actress and producer
1954 – Tom Abernethy, American basketball player
1954 – Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician, 120th Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
1954 – Angela Hernández Nuñez, Dominican author and poet
1954 – Ain Lutsepp, Estonian actor and politician
1955 – Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Armagh
1955 – Tom Bergeron, American television host
1955 – John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
1956 – Lakis Lazopoulos, Greek actor and screenwriter
1956 – Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
1956 – Roland Wieser, German race walker and coach
1958 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (d. 2014)
1959 – Andreas Busse, German runner
1959 – Charles Hendry, English politician
1960 – Lyudmila Andonova, Bulgarian high jumper
1960 – Keith Dowding, English political scientist, philosopher, and academic
1960 – Roma Downey, Irish-American actress and producer
1960 – John Flansburgh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Aleksei Lotman, Estonian biologist and politician
1960 – Anne Parillaud, French actress
1961 – Oleksandr Apaychev, Ukrainian decathlete and coach
1961 – George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Tom Hunter, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
1961 – Gina Riley, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Frans Timmermans, Dutch politician and diplomat, First Vice President of the European Commission
1962 – Tom Brake, English politician
1962 – Brad Izzard, Australian rugby league player
1963 – Alessandra Ferri, Italian ballerina
1965 – Leslie Hope, Canadian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Worku Bikila, Ethiopian runner
1968 – Lætitia Sadier, French singer and keyboard player
1969 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1970 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
1970 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
1971 – Chris Shiflett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1972 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – Naoko Takahashi, Japanese runner
1974 – Bernard Barmasai, Kenyan runner
1974 – Daniela Bártová, Czech pole vaulter and gymnast
1975 – Alan Richardson, English cricketer and coach
1976 – Dean Chandler, English footballer
1976 – Iván de la Peña, Spanish footballer
1977 – Christophe Brandt, Belgian cyclist
1977 – Marc Chouinard, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player and coach
1977 – Chantelle Newbery, Australian diver
1978 – John Abraham, American football player
1978 – Tony Estanguet, French slalom canoeist
1978 – Fredrick Federley, Swedish journalist and politician
1978 – Alexandr Fedorov, Russian bodybuilder
1979 – Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
1979 – Jan Erik Mikalsen, Norwegian composer
1979 – Jon Montgomery, Canadian skeleton racer and television host
1980 – Brooke Bennett, American swimmer
1980 – Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek professional basketball player
1980 – Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Matthew Whiley, English cricketer
1982 – Jason Witten, American football player
1983 – Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer
1983 – Ingrid Jonach, Australian author
1983 – Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama
1983 – Fredrik Sjöström, Swedish ice hockey player
1984 – Anton Babchuk, Ukrainian ice hockey player
1984 – Juan Pablo Carrizo, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
1986 – Goran Dragic, Slovenian basketball player
1987 – Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer
1987 – Meek Mill, American rapper
1987 – Adrienne Warren, American actress
1988 – Ryan Anderson, American basketball player
1988 – Dakota Kai, New Zealander profesional wrestler
1989 – Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player
1989 – Jesse Hughes, Canadian DJ and producer
1990 – José Altuve, Venezuelan baseball player
1992 – Brendan Gallagher, Canadian ice hockey player
1992 – Byun Baekhyun, South Korean musician and actor
1992 – Jonas Valančiūnas, Lithuanian professional basketball player
43 BC – Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Caesar’s assassin Decimus Brutus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, but is then immediately defeated by the army of the other consul, Aulus Hirtius.
AD 69 – Vitellius, commander of the Rhine armies, defeats Emperor Otho in the Battle of Bedriacum to take power over Rome.
AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, surrounds the Jewish capital with four Roman legions.
193 – Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans).
966 – After his marriage to the Christian Doubravka of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converts to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state.
972 – Co-Emperor Otto II, a son of Otto I (the Great), marries the Byzantine princess Theophanu. She is crowned empress by Pope John XIII at Rome.
1028 – Henry III, son of Conrad, is elected King of Germany.
1205 – Battle of Adrianople between Bulgarians and Crusaders.
1294 – Temür, grandson of Kublai, is elected Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan dynasty with the reigning titles Oljeitu and Chengzong.
1341 – Sack of Saluzzo (Italy) by Italian-Angevine troops under Manfred V, Marquess of Saluzzo.
1434 – The foundation stone of Nantes Cathedral, France is laid.
1471 – In England, the Yorkists under Edward IV defeat the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet; the Earl is killed and Edward IV resumes the throne.
1561 – A celestial phenomenon is reported over Nuremberg, described as an aerial battle.
1639 – Imperial forces are defeated by the Swedes at the Battle of Chemnitz. The Swedish victory prolongs the Thirty Years’ War and allows them to advance into Bohemia.
1699 – Khalsa: The Sikh religion was formalised as the Khalsa – the brotherhood of Warrior-Saints – by Guru Gobind Singh in northern India, in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar.
1775 – The first abolition society in North America is established. The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage is organized in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.
1816 – Bussa, a slave in British-ruled Barbados, leads a slave rebellion and is killed. For this, he is remembered as the first national hero of Barbados.
1828 – Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary.
1849 – Hungary declares itself independent of Austria with Lajos Kossuth as its leader.
1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth; Lincoln died the next day.
1865 – U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family are attacked at home by Lewis Powell.
1881 – The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight is fought in El Paso, Texas.
1890 – The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.
1894 – The first ever commercial motion picture house opened in New York City using ten Kinetoscopes, a device for peep-show viewing of films.
1900 – The Exposition Universelle begins.
1902 – James Cash Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1906 – The Azusa Street Revival opens and will launch Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement.
1908 – Hauser Dam, a steel dam on the Missouri River in Montana, U.S., fails, sending a surge of water 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 m) high downstream.
1909 – A massacre is organized by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian population of Cilicia.
1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 (sinks morning of April 15th).
1927 – The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, reaches Greenly Island, Canada – the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
1931 – The Spanish Cortes deposes King Alfonso XIII and proclaims the Second Spanish Republic.
1935 – The Black Sunday dust storm, considered one of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl, swept across the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and neighboring areas.
1939 – The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck is first published by the Viking Press.
1940 – World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway in preparation for a larger force to arrive two days later.
1941 – World War II: German general Erwin Rommel attacks Tobruk.
1944 – Bombay explosion: A massive explosion in Bombay harbor kills 300 and causes economic damage valued then at 20 million pounds.
1945 – Razing of Friesoythe: The 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division deliberately destroyed the German town of Friesoythe on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes.
1958 – The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit after a mission duration of 162 days. This was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a female dog named Laika, who likely lived only a few hours.
1967 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma overthrows President of Togo Nicolas Grunitzky and installs himself as the new president, a title he would hold for the next 38 years.
1978 – Tbilisi Demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
1981 – STS-1: The first operational Space Shuttle, Columbia completes its first test flight.
1986 – The heaviest hailstones ever recorded (1 kilogram (2.2 lb)) fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.
1988 – The USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will.
1988 – In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
1991 – The Republic of Georgia introduces the post of President after its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
1994 – In a U.S. friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shoot-down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people.
1999 – NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees. Yugoslav officials say 75 people were killed.
1999 – A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$2.3 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history.
2002 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country’s military.
2003 – The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
2003 – U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the MS Achille Lauro in 1985.
2005 – The Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.
2006 – Twin blasts triggered by crude bombs during Asr prayer in Jama Masjid, Delhi injure 13 people.
2010 – Nearly 2,700 are killed in a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
2014 – Twin bomb blasts in Abuja, Nigeria, kill at least 75 people and injures 141 others.
2014 – Two hundred seventy-six schoolgirls are abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Nigeria.
2016 – In Japan, the foreshock of Kumamoto earthquakes occurs.
Births on April 14
1126 – Averroes, Spanish physician and philosopher (d. 1198)
1204 – Henry I, king of Castile (d. 1217)
1331 – Jeanne-Marie de Maille, French Roman Catholic saint (d. 1414)
1527 – Abraham Ortelius, Flemish cartographer and geographer (d. 1598)
1572 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1632)
1578 – Philip III of Spain (d. 1621)
1629 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1695)
1668 – Magnus Julius De la Gardie, Swedish general and politician (d. 1741)
1678 – Abraham Darby I, English iron master (d. 1717)
1709 – Charles Collé, French playwright and songwriter (d. 1783)
1714 – Adam Gib, Scottish minister and author (d. 1788)
1738 – William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1809)
1741 – Emperor Momozono of Japan (d. 1762)
1769 – Barthélemy Catherine Joubert, French general (d. 1799)
1773 – Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, French politician, 6th Prime Minister of France (d. 1854)
1788 – David G. Burnet, American politician, 2nd Vice-President of Texas (d. 1870)
1800 – John Appold, English engineer (d. 1865)
1812 – George Grey, Portuguese-New Zealand soldier, explorer, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1898)
1814 – Dimitri Kipiani, Georgian publicist and author (d. 1887)
1819 – Harriett Ellen Grannis Arey, American educator, author, editor, and publisher (d. 1901)
1827 – Augustus Pitt Rivers, English general, ethnologist, and archaeologist (d. 1900)
1852 – Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton, Australian biologist (d. 1941)
1854 – Martin Lipp, Estonian pastor and poet (d. 1923)
1857 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (d. 1944)
1865 – Alfred Hoare Powell, English architect, and designer and painter of pottery (d. 1960)
1866 – Anne Sullivan, American educator (d. 1936)
1868 – Peter Behrens, German architect, designed the AEG turbine factory (d. 1940)
1870 – Victor Borisov-Musatov, Russian painter and educator (d. 1905)
1870 – Syd Gregory, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 1929)
1872 – Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-English scholar and translator (d. 1953)
1876 – Cecil Chubb, English barrister and one time owner of Stonehenge (d. 1934)
1881 – Husain Salaahuddin, Maldivian poet and scholar (d. 1948)
1882 – Moritz Schlick, German-Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1936)
1886 – Ernst Robert Curtius, German philologist and scholar (d. 1956)
1886 – Árpád Tóth, Hungarian poet and translator (d. 1928)
1889 – Arnold J. Toynbee, English historian and academic (d. 1975)
1891 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian economist, jurist, and politician, 1st Indian Minister of Law and Justice (d. 1956)
1891 – Otto Lasanen, Finnish wrestler (d. 1958)
1892 – Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1962)
1892 – V. Gordon Childe, Australian archaeologist and philologist (d. 1957)
1892 – Claire Windsor, American actress (d. 1972)
1902 – Sylvio Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and referee (d. 1974)
1903 – Henry Corbin, French philosopher and academic (d. 1978)
1903 – Ruth Svedberg, Swedish discus thrower and triathlete (d. 2002)
1904 – John Gielgud, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2000)
1905 – Elizabeth Huckaby, American author and educator (d. 1999)
1905 – Georg Lammers, German sprinter (d. 1987)
1905 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French author and activist (d. 1999)
1906 – Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian king (d. 1975)
1907 – François Duvalier, Haitian physician and politician, 40th President of Haiti (d. 1971)
1912 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer and journalist (d. 1994)
1912 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (d. 1978)
1913 – Jean Fournet, French conductor (d. 2008)
1916 – Don Willesee, Australian telegraphist and politician, 29th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 2003)
1917 – Valerie Hobson, English actress (d. 1998)
1917 – Marvin Miller, American baseball executive (d. 2012)
1918 – Mary Healy, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
1919 – Shamshad Begum, Pakistani-Indian singer (d. 2013)
1919 – K. Saraswathi Amma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1975)
1920 – Ivor Forbes Guest, English lawyer, historian, and author (d. 2018)
1921 – Thomas Schelling, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
1922 – Audrey Long, American actress (d. 2014)
1923 – Roberto De Vicenzo, Argentinian golfer (d. 2017)
1924 – Shorty Rogers, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1994)
1924 – Joseph Ruskin, American actor and producer (d. 2013)
1924 – Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, English philosopher, and academic (d. 2019)
1925 – Abel Muzorewa, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (d. 2010)
1925 – Rod Steiger, American soldier and actor (d. 2002)
1926 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (d. 2013)
1926 – Frank Daniel, Czech director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1926 – Gloria Jean, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
1926 – Liz Renay, American actress and author (d. 2007)
1927 – Alan MacDiarmid, New Zealand chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
1927 – Dany Robin, French actress and singer (d. 1995)
1929 – Gerry Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1929 – Inez Andrews, African-American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
1930 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (d. 2013)
1930 – Arnold Burns, American lawyer and politician, 21st United States Deputy Attorney General (d. 2013)
1930 – René Desmaison, French mountaineer (d. 2007)
1930 – Bradford Dillman, American actor and author (d. 2018)
1931 – Geoffrey Dalton, English admiral
1931 – Paul Masnick, Canadian ice hockey player
1932 – Bill Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Premier of British Columbia (d. 2015)
1932 – Atef Ebeid, Egyptian academic and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2014)
1932 – Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter and musician
1932 – Cameron Parker, Scottish businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire
1933 – Paddy Hopkirk, Northern Irish racing driver
686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich’aak K’ahk’ assumes the crown of Calakmul.
801 – King Louis the Pious captures Barcelona from the Moors after a siege of several months.
1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
1077 – The first Parliament of Friuli is created.
1559 – The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis treaty is signed, ending the Italian Wars.
1860 – The first successful United States Pony Express run from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, begins.
1865 – American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
1882 – American Old West: Robert Ford kills Jesse James.
1885 – Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for his engine design.
1888 – The first of eleven unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurs.
1895 – The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
1922 – Joseph Stalin becomes the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1933 – First flight over Mount Everest, by the British Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale, and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston.
1936 – Bruno Richard Hauptmann is executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the baby son of pilot Charles Lindbergh.
1942 – World War II: Japanese forces begin an assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.
1946 – Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.
1948 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
1948 – In Jeju Province, South Korea, a civil-war-like period of violence and human rights abuses begins, known as the Jeju uprising.
1955 – The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg’s book Howl against obscenity charges.
1956 – Hudsonville–Standale tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado.
1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. He was assassinated the next day.
1969 – Vietnam War: United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to “Vietnamize” the war effort.
1973 – Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the first handheld mobile phone call to Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs.
1974 – The 1974 Super Outbreak occurs, the second biggest tornado outbreak in recorded history (after the 2011 Super Outbreak). The death toll is 315, with nearly 5,500 injured.
1975 – Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.
1980 – US Congress restores a federal trust relationship with the 501 members of the Shvwits, Kanosh, Koosharem, and the Indian Peaks and Cedar City bands of the Paiute people of Utah.
1981 – The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.
1989 – The US Supreme Court upholds the jurisdictional rights of tribal courts under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 in Mississippi Choctaw Band v. Holyfield.
1996 – Suspected “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski is captured at his Montana cabin in the United States.
1997 – The Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
2000 – United States v. Microsoft Corp.: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust law by keeping “an oppressive thumb” on its competitors.
2004 – Islamic terrorists involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves.
2007 – Conventional-Train World Speed Record: A French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line sets an official new world speed record.
2008 – ATA Airlines, once one of the ten largest U.S. passenger airlines and largest charter airline, files for bankruptcy for the second time in five years and ceases all operations.
2008 – Texas law enforcement cordons off the FLDS’s YFZ Ranch. Eventually, 533 women and children will be taken into state custody.
2009 – Jiverly Antares Wong opens fire at the American Civic Association immigration center in Binghamton, New York, killing thirteen and wounding four before committing suicide.
2010 – Apple Inc. released the first generation iPad, a tablet computer.
2013 – More than 50 people die in floods resulting from record-breaking rainfall in La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2016 – The Panama Papers, a leak of legal documents, reveals information on 214,488 offshore companies.
2017 – A bomb explodes in the St Petersburg metro system, killing 14 and injuring several more people.
2018 – YouTube headquarters shooting.
Births on April 3
1016 – Xing Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1055)
1151 – Igor Svyatoslavich, Russian prince (d. 1202)
1438 – John III of Egmont, Dutch nobleman (d. 1516)
1529 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1581)
1540 – Maria de’ Medici, Italian noblewoman, the eldest daughter of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. (d. 1557)
1593 – George Herbert, English poet (d. 1633)
1639 – Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (d. 1682)
1643 – Charles V, duke of Lorraine (d. 1690)
1682 – Valentin Rathgeber, German organist and composer (d. 1750)
1693 – George Edwards, English ornithologist and entomologist (d. 1773)
1715 – William Watson, English physician, physicist, and botanist (d. 1787)
1764 – John Abernethy, English surgeon and anatomist (d. 1831)
1769 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian politician and diplomat (d. 1835)
1770 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (d. 1843)
1778 – Pierre Bretonneau, French doctor who performed the first successful tracheotomy (d. 1862)
1781 – Swaminarayan, Indian religious leader (d. 1830)
1782 – Alexander Macomb, American general (d. 1841)
1783 – Washington Irving, American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian (d. 1859)
1791 – Anne Lister, English diarist, mountaineer, and traveller (d.1840)
1798 – Charles Wilkes, American admiral, geographer, and explorer (d.1877)
1807 – Mary Carpenter, English educational and social reformer (d. 1877)
1814 – Lorenzo Snow, American religious leader, 5th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1901)
1822 – Edward Everett Hale, American minister, historian, and author (d. 1909)
1823 – George Derby, American lieutenant and journalist (d. 1861)
1823 – William M. Tweed, American politician (d. 1878)
1826 – Cyrus K. Holliday, American businessman (d. 1900)
1837 – John Burroughs, American botanist and author (d. 1921)
1842 – Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel (d. 1864)
1848 – Arturo Prat, Chilean lawyer and captain (d. 1879)
1858 – Jacob Gaudaur, Canadian rower (d. 1937)
1860 – Frederik van Eeden, Dutch psychiatrist and author (d. 1932)
1864 – Emil Kellenberger, Swiss target shooter (d. 1943)
1875 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
1876 – Margaret Anglin, Canadian actress, director, and producer (d. 1958)
1876 – Tomáš Baťa, Czech businessman, founded Bata Shoes (d. 1932)
1880 – Otto Weininger, Jewish-Austrian philosopher and author (d. 1903)
1881 – Alcide De Gasperi, Italian journalist and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1954)
1882 – Philippe Desranleau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1952)
1883 – Ikki Kita, Japanese philosopher and author (d. 1937)
1885 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
1885 – Bud Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 1954)
1885 – Marie-Victorin Kirouac, Canadian botanist and academic (d. 1944)
1885 – St John Philby, English colonial and explorer (d. 1960)
1886 – Dooley Wilson, American actor and singer (d. 1953)
1887 – Ōtori Tanigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 24th Yokozuna (d. 1956)
1887 – Nishizō Tsukahara, Japanese admiral (d. 1966)
1888 – Neville Cardus, English author and critic (d. 1975)
1888 – Thomas C. Kinkaid, American admiral (d. 1972)
1889 – Grigoraș Dinicu, Romanian violinist and composer (d. 1949)
1893 – Leslie Howard, English actor (d. 1943)
1895 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian-American composer and educator (d. 1968)
1895 – Zez Confrey, American pianist and composer (d. 1971)
1897 – Joe Kirkwood Sr., Australian golfer (d. 1970)
1897 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek general (d. 1989)
1898 – David Jack, English footballer and manager (d. 1958)
1898 – George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1981)
1898 – Henry Luce, American publisher, co-founded Time Magazine (d. 1967)
1900 – Camille Chamoun, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Lebanon (d. 1987)
1900 – Albert Walsh, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1958)
1903 – Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Indian social reformer and freedom fighter (d. 1988)
1904 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor and stuntman (d. 1999)
1904 – Sally Rand, American dancer (d. 1979)
1904 – Russel Wright, American furniture designer (d. 1976)
1905 – Robert Sink, American general (d. 1965)
1909 – Stanislaw Ulam, Polish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1984)
1910 – Ted Hook, Australian public servant (d. 1990)
1911 – Nanette Bordeaux, Canadian-American actress (d. 1956)
1911 – Michael Woodruff, English-Scottish surgeon and academic (d. 2001)
1911 – Stanisława Walasiewicz, Polish-American runner (d. 1980)
1912 – Dorothy Eden, New Zealand-English author (d. 1982)
1912 – Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek physician and politician (d. 1963)
1913 – Per Borten, Norwegian politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (d. 2005)
1914 – Ray Getliffe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
1914 – Sam Manekshaw, Indian field marshal (d. 2008)
1915 – Piet de Jong, Dutch politician and naval officer, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2016)
1915 – İhsan Doğramacı, Turkish physician and academic (d. 2010)
1916 – Herb Caen, American journalist and author (d. 1997)
1916 – Cliff Gladwin, English cricketer (d. 1988)
1916 – Louis Guglielmi, Catalan composer (d. 1991)
1918 – Mary Anderson, American actress (d. 2014)
1918 – Louis Applebaum, Canadian composer and conductor (d. 2000)
1919 – Ervin Drake, American songwriter and composer (d. 2015)
1919 – Clairette Oddera, French-Canadian actress and singer (d. 2008)
1920 – Stan Freeman, American composer and conductor (d. 2001)
1920 – Yoshibayama Junnosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 43rd Yokozuna (d. 1977)
1921 – Robert Karvelas, American actor (d. 1991)
1921 – Jan Sterling, American actress (d. 2004)
1922 – Yevhen Bulanchyk, Ukrainian hurdler (d. 1996)
1922 – Doris Day, American singer and actress (d. 2019)
1923 – Daniel Hoffman, American poet and academic (d. 2013)
1924 – Marlon Brando, American actor and director (d. 2004)
1924 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (d. 1945)
1925 – Tony Benn, English pilot and politician, Secretary of State for Industry (d. 2014)
1926 – Alex Grammas, American baseball player, manager, and coach (d. 2019)
1926 – Gus Grissom, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1967)
1927 – Wesley A. Brown, American general and engineer (d. 2012)
1928 – Don Gibson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
1928 – Emmett Johns, Canadian priest, founded Dans la Rue (d. 2018)
1928 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1928 – Jennifer Paterson, English chef and television personality (d. 1999)
1929 – Fazlur Rahman Khan, Bangladeshi engineer and architect, co-designed the Willis Tower and John Hancock Center (d. 1982)
1929 – Poul Schlüter, Danish lawyer and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Denmark
1930 – Lawton Chiles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Governor of Florida (d. 1998)
1930 – Helmut Kohl, German politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 2017)
1930 – Mario Benjamín Menéndez, Argentinian general and politician (d. 2015)
1930 – Wally Moon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2018)
1931 – William Bast, American screenwriter and author (d. 2015)
1933 – Bob Dornan, American politician
1933 – Rod Funseth, American golfer (d. 1985)
1934 – Pamela Allen, New Zealand children’s writer and illustrator
1934 – Jane Goodall, English primatologist and anthropologist
1934 – Jim Parker, American football player (d. 2005)
1936 – Jimmy McGriff, American organist and bandleader (d. 2008)
1936 – Harold Vick, American saxophonist and flute player (d. 1987)
1938 – Jeff Barry, American singer-songwriter, and producer
1938 – Phil Rodgers, American golfer (d. 2018)
1939 – François de Roubaix, French composer (d. 1975)
1939 – Hawk Taylor, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
1939 – Paul Craig Roberts, American economist and politician
1941 – Jan Berry, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
1941 – Philippé Wynne, American soul singer (d. 1984)
1942 – Marsha Mason, American actress
1942 – Wayne Newton, American singer
1942 – Billy Joe Royal, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
1943 – Mario Lavista, Mexican composer
1943 – Jonathan Lynn, English actor, director, and screenwriter
1943 – Richard Manuel, Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1986)
1943 – Hikaru Saeki, Japanese admiral, the first female star officer of the Japan Self-Defense Forces
1944 – Peter Colman, Australian biologist and academic
1944 – Tony Orlando, American singer
1945 – Doon Arbus, American author and journalist
1945 – Bernie Parent, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1945 – Catherine Spaak, French actress
1946 – Nicholas Jones, English actor
1946 – Dee Murray, English bass player (d. 1992)
1946 – Hanna Suchocka, Polish lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Poland
1947 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (d. 2013)
1948 – Arlette Cousture, Canadian author and screenwriter
1948 – Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Dutch academic, politician, and diplomat, 11th Secretary General of NATO
1948 – Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, German footballer
1948 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexican economist and politician, 53rd President of Mexico
1949 – Lyle Alzado, American football player and actor (d. 1992)
1949 – A. C. Grayling, English philosopher and academic
1949 – Richard Thompson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1950 – Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Sri Lankan cricketer and economist
1951 – Brendan Barber, English trade union leader
1951 – Annette Dolphin, British academician and educator
1951 – Mitch Woods, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1952 – Mike Moore, American lawyer and politician
1953 – Sandra Boynton, American author and illustrator
1953 – Wakanohana Kanji II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 56th Yokozuna
1953 – James Smith, American boxer
1953 – Craig Taubman, American singer-songwriter and producer
1954 – Elisabetta Brusa, Italian composer
1954 – K. Krishnasamy, Indian physician and politician
1956 – Kalle Kulbok, Estonian politician
1956 – Boris Miljković, Serbian director and producer
1956 – Miguel Bosé, Spanish musician and actor
1956 – Ray Combs, American game show host (d. 1996)
1958 – Alec Baldwin, American actor, comedian, producer and television host
1958 – Adam Gussow, American scholar, musician, and memoirist
1958 – Francesca Woodman, Jewish-American photographer (d. 1981)
1959 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor and activist
1960 – Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Dutch singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1961 – Tim Crews, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1961 – Eddie Murphy, American actor and comedian
1962 – Dave Miley, American baseball player and manager
1962 – Mike Ness, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1962 – Jaya Prada, Indian actress and politician
1963 – Les Davidson, Australian rugby league player
1963 – Ricky Nixon, Australian footballer and manager
1963 – Criss Oliva, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1993)
1964 – Marco Ballotta, Italian footballer and manager
1964 – Nigel Farage, English politician
1964 – Claire Perry, English banker and politician
1964 – Bjarne Riis, Danish cyclist and manager
1964 – Andy Robinson, English rugby player and coach
1964 – Jay Weatherill, Australian politician, 45th Premier of South Australia
1965 – Nazia Hassan, Pakistani pop singer-songwriter, lawyer and social activist (d. 2000)
1966 – John de Vries, Australian race car driver
1967 – Cat Cora, American chef and author
1967 – Pervis Ellison, American basketball player
1967 – Brent Gilchrist, Canadian ice hockey player
1967 – Cristi Puiu, Romanian director and screenwriter
1967 – Mark Skaife, Australian race car driver and sportscaster
1968 – Sebastian Bach, Bahamian-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
1968 – Charlotte Coleman, English actress (d. 2001)
1968 – Jamie Hewlett, English director and performer
1968 – Tomoaki Kanemoto, Japanese baseball player
1969 – Rodney Hampton, American football player
1969 – Peter Matera, Australian footballer and coach
1969 – Ben Mendelsohn, Australian actor
1969 – Lance Storm, Canadian wrestler and trainer
1971 – Vitālijs Astafjevs, Latvian footballer and manager
1971 – Emmanuel Collard, French race car driver
1971 – Picabo Street, American skier
1972 – Jennie Garth, American actress and director
1972 – Catherine McCormack, English actress
1972 – Sandrine Testud, French tennis player
1973 – Nilesh Kulkarni, Indian cricketer
1973 – Adam Scott, American actor
1974 – Marcus Brown, American basketball player
1974 – Drew Shirley, American guitarist and songwriter
1974 – Lee Williams, Welsh model and actor
1975 – Shawn Bates, American ice hockey player
1975 – Michael Olowokandi, Nigerian-American basketball player
1975 – Aries Spears, American comedian and actor
1975 – Yoshinobu Takahashi, Japanese baseball player
1975 – Koji Uehara, Japanese baseball player
1976 – Nicolas Escudé, French tennis player
1978 – Matthew Goode, English actor
1978 – Tommy Haas, German-American tennis player
1978 – John Smit, South African rugby player
1979 – Simon Black, Australian footballer and coach
1980 – Andrei Lodis, Belarusian footballer
1980 – Megan Rohrer, American pastor and transgender activist
1981 – Aaron Bertram, American trumpet player
1981 – DeShawn Stevenson, American basketball player
1982 – Jared Allen, American football player
1982 – Iain Fyfe, Australian footballer
1982 – Cobie Smulders, Canadian actress
1983 – Ben Foster, English footballer
1983 – Stephen Weiss, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Jonathan Blondel, Belgian footballer
1984 – Maxi López, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Jari-Matti Latvala, Finnish race car driver
1985 – Leona Lewis, English singer-songwriter and producer
1986 – Amanda Bynes, American actress
1986 – Stephanie Cox, American soccer player
1986 – Annalisa Cucinotta, Italian cyclist
1986 – Sergio Sánchez Ortega, Spanish footballer
1987 – Rachel Bloom, American actress, writer, and producer
1987 – Jay Bruce, American baseball player
1987 – Yileen Gordon, Australian rugby league player
1987 – Jason Kipnis, American baseball player
1987 – Martyn Rooney, English sprinter
1987 – Julie Sokolow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1988 – Kam Chancellor, American football player
1988 – Brandon Graham, American football player
1988 – Peter Hartley, English footballer
1988 – Tim Krul, Dutch footballer
1989 – Romain Alessandrini, French footballer
1989 – Israel Folau, Australian rugby player and footballer
1989 – Joel Romelo, Australian rugby league player
1989 – Thisara Perera, Sri Lankan cricketer
1990 – Karim Ansarifard, Iranian footballer
1990 – Madison Brengle, American tennis player
1990 – Sotiris Ninis, Greek footballer
1990 – Natasha Negovanlis, Canadian actress and singer
1991 – Hayley Kiyoko, American actress and singer
1992 – Simone Benedetti, Italian footballer
1992 – Yuliya Yefimova, Russian swimmer
1993 – Pape Moussa Konaté, Senegalese footballer
1994 – Kodi Nikorima, New Zealand rugby league player
1996 – Mayo Hibi, Japanese tennis player
1997 – Gabriel Jesus, Brazilian footballer
1998 – Paris Jackson, American actress, model and singer
Deaths on April 3
963 – William III, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 915)
1153 – al-Adil ibn al-Sallar, vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate
1171 – Philip of Milly, seventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1120)
1203 – Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (b. 1187)
1253 – Saint Richard of Chichester
1287 – Pope Honorius IV (b. 1210)
1325 – Nizamuddin Auliya, Sufi saint (b. 1238)
1350 – Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1295)
1538 – Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (b. 1480)
1545 – Antonio de Guevara, Spanish chronicler and moralist (b. 1481)
1606 – Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1563)
1630 – Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey, English noble (b. c. 1593)
1680 – Shivaji, Indian emperor, founded the Maratha Empire (b. 1630)
598 – Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro-Slavic hordes are decimated by the plague.
1282 – The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers.
1296 – Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England.
1699 – Guru Gobind Singh establishes the Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab.
1815 – Joachim Murat issues the Rimini Proclamation which would later inspire Italian unification.
1818 – Physicist Augustin Fresnel reads a memoir on optical rotation to the French Academy of Sciences, reporting that when polarized light is “depolarized” by a Fresnel rhomb, its properties are preserved in any subsequent passage through an optically-rotating crystal or liquid.
1822 – The Florida Territory is created in the United States.
1841 – The National Bank of Greece is founded in Athens.
1842 – Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long.
1844 – One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.
1855 – Origins of the American Civil War: “Border Ruffians” from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature.
1856 – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.
1861 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Sir William Crookes announces his discovery of thallium.
1863 – Danish prince Wilhelm Georg is chosen as King George of Greece.
1867 – Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about 2-cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward.
1870 – Texas is readmitted to the United States Congress following Reconstruction.
1885 – The Battle for Kushka triggers the Panjdeh Incident which nearly gives rise to war between the Russian and British Empire.
1899 – German Society of Chemistry issues an invitation to other national scientific organizations to appoint delegates to the International Committee on Atomic Weights.
1912 – Sultan Abd al-Hafid signs the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French protectorate.
1918 – Outburst of bloody March Events in Baku and other locations of Baku Governorate.
1939 – The Heinkel He 100 fighter sets a world airspeed record of 463 mph (745 km/h).
1940 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Jingwei.
1944 – World War II: Allied bombers conduct their most severe bombing run on Sofia, Bulgaria.
1944 – Out of 795 Lancasters, Halifaxes and Mosquitos sent to attack Nuremberg, 95 bombers do not return, making it the largest RAF Bomber Command loss of the war.
1945 – World War II: Soviet forces invade Austria and capture Vienna; Polish and Soviet forces liberate Danzig.
1949 – Cold War: A riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO.
1959 – Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
1961 – The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed in New York City.
1965 – Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the United States Embassy, Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.
1972 – Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.
1976 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: in the first organized response against Israeli policies by a Palestinian collective since 1948, Palestinians create the first Land Day.
1979 – Airey Neave, a British Member of Parliament, is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility.
1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.; three others are wounded in the same incident.
1982 – Space Shuttle program: STS-3 mission is completed with the landing of Columbia at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
2002 – 2002 Lyon car attack takes place.
2009 – Twelve gunmen attack the Manawan Police Academy in Lahore, Pakistan.
2017 – SpaceX conducts the world’s first reflight of an orbital class rocket.
Births on March 30
892 – Shi Jingtang, founder of the Later Jin Dynasty (d. 942)
1135 – Maimonides, Spanish rabbi and philosopher (April 6 also proposed, d. 1204)
1326 – Ivan II of Moscow (d. 1359)
1432 – Mehmed the Conqueror, Ottoman sultan (d. 1481)
1510 – Antonio de Cabezón, Spanish composer and organist (d. 1566)
1551 – Salomon Schweigger, German theologian (d. 1622)
1606 – Vincentio Reinieri, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1647)
1632 – John Proctor, farmer hanged for witchcraft in the Salem witch trials (d. 1692)
1640 – John Trenchard, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1695)
1727 – Tommaso Traetta, Italian composer and educator (d. 1779)
1746 – Francisco Goya, Spanish-French painter and sculptor (d. 1828)
1750 – John Stafford Smith, English organist and composer (d. 1836)
1793 – Juan Manuel de Rosas, Argentinian soldier and politician, 13th Governor of Buenos Aires Province (d. 1877)
1805 – Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann, German-Swedish linguist and botanist (d. 1887)
1811 – Robert Bunsen, German chemist and academic (d. 1899)
1820 – Anna Sewell, English author (d. 1878)
1820 – James Whyte, Scottish-Australian politician, 6th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1882)
1844 – Paul Verlaine, French poet (d. 1896)
1853 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch-French painter and illustrator (d. 1890)
1853 – Arnoldo Sartorio, German composer, pianist, and teacher (d. 1936)
1857 – Léon Charles Thévenin, French engineer (d. 1926)
1858 – Siegfried Alkan, German composer (d. 1941)
1863 – Mary Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (d. 1930)
1864 – Franz Oppenheimer, German-American sociologist and economist (d. 1943)
1874 – Charles Lightoller, English 2nd officer on the RMS Titanic (d. 1952)
1874 – Josiah McCracken, American hammer thrower, shot putter, and football player (d. 1962)
1874 – Nicolae Rădescu, Romanian general and politician, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1953)
1875 – Thomas Xenakis, Greek-American gymnast (d. 1942)
1879 – Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (d. 1954)
1880 – Seán O’Casey, Irish dramatist, playwright, and memoirist (d. 1964)
1882 – Melanie Klein, Jewish Austrian-English psychologist and author (d. 1960)
1888 – J. R. Williams, Canadian-born cartoonist (d. 1957)
1891 – Chunseong, Korean monk, writer and philosopher (d. 1977)
1892 – Stefan Banach, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1945)
1892 – Fortunato Depero, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1960)
1892 – Erhard Milch, German field marshal (d. 1972)
1892 – Johannes Pääsuke, Estonian photographer and director (d. 1918)
1892 – Erwin Panofsky, German historian and academic (d. 1968)
1894 – Tommy Green, English race walker (d. 1975)
1894 – Sergey Ilyushin, Russian engineer, founded Ilyushin Aircraft Company (d. 1977)
1895 – Jean Giono, French author and poet (d. 1970)
1895 – Carl Lutz, Swiss vice-consul to Hungary during WWII, credited with saving over 62,000 Jews (d. 1975)
1895 – Charlie Wilson, English footballer (d. 1971)
1899 – Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, Indian author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970)
1902 – Brooke Astor, American socialite and philanthropist (d. 2007)
1902 – Ted Heath, English trombonist and composer (d. 1969)
1903 – Joy Ridderhof, American missionary (d. 1984)
1904 – Ripper Collins, American baseball player and coach (d. 1970)
1905 – Archie Birkin, English motorcycle racer (d. 1927)
1905 – Mikio Oda, Japanese triple jumper and academic (d. 1998)
1905 – Albert Pierrepoint, English hangman (d. 1992)
1907 – Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, German general (d. 1994)
1910 – Józef Marcinkiewicz, Polish soldier, mathematician, and academic (d. 1940)
1911 – Ekrem Akurgal, Turkish archaeologist and academic (d. 2002)
1912 – Jack Cowie, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1994)
1912 – Alvin Hamilton, Canadian lieutenant and politician, 18th Canadian Minister of Agriculture (d. 2004)
1913 – Marc Davis, American animator (d. 2000)
1913 – Richard Helms, American soldier and diplomat, 8th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 2002)
1913 – Frankie Laine, American singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
1913 – Ċensu Tabone, Maltese general, physician, and politician, 4th President of Malta (d. 2012)
1914 – Sonny Boy Williamson I, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (d. 1948)
1915 – Pietro Ingrao, Italian journalist and politician (d. 2015)
1917 – Els Aarne, Ukrainian-Estonian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1995)
1919 – McGeorge Bundy, American intelligence officer and diplomat, 6th United States National Security Advisor (d. 1996)
1919 – Robin M. Williams, New Zealand mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
1921 – André Fontaine, French historian and journalist (d. 2013)
1922 – Turhan Bey, American actor (d. 2012)
1922 – Arthur Wightman, American physicist and academic (d. 2013)
1923 – Milton Acorn, Canadian poet and playwright (d. 1986)
1926 – Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish businessman, founded IKEA (d. 2018)
1927 – Wally Grout, Australian cricketer (d. 1968)
1928 – Robert Badinter, French lawyer and politician, French Minister of Justice
1928 – Colin Egar, Australian cricket umpire (d. 2008)
1928 – Tom Sharpe, English-Spanish author and educator (d. 2013)
1929 – Richard Dysart, American actor (d. 2015)
1929 – Ray Musto, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)
1929 – István Rózsavölgyi, Hungarian runner (d. 2012)
1930 – John Astin, American actor
1930 – Rolf Harris, Australian singer-songwriter
1933 – Jean-Claude Brialy, French actor and director (d. 2007)
1934 – Paul Crouch, American broadcaster, co-founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network (d. 2013)
1934 – Hans Hollein, Austrian architect and academic, designed Haas House (d. 2014)
1935 – Karl Berger, German pianist and composer
1935 – Willie Galimore, American football player (d. 1964)
1935 – Gordon Mumma, American composer
1937 – Warren Beatty, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1937 – Ian MacLaurin, Baron MacLaurin of Knebworth, English businessman
1938 – John Barnhill, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
1938 – Klaus Schwab, German economist and engineer, founded the World Economic Forum
1940 – Norman Gifford, English cricketer
1940 – Jerry Lucas, American basketball player and educator
1940 – Hans Ragnemalm, Swedish lawyer and judge (d. 2016)
1941 – Graeme Edge, English singer-songwriter and drummer
1941 – Ron Johnston, English geographer and academic
1941 – Wasim Sajjad, Pakistani lawyer and politician, President of Pakistan
1941 – Bob Smith, American soldier and politician
1942 – Ruben Kun, Nauruan lawyer and politician, 14th President of Nauru (d. 2014)
1942 – Tane Norton, New Zealand rugby player
1942 – Kenneth Welsh, Canadian actor
1943 – Jay Traynor, American pop and doo-wop singer (d. 2014)
1944 – Mark Wylea Erwin, American businessman and diplomat
1944 – Brian Wilshire, Australian radio host
1945 – Eric Clapton, English guitarist and singer-songwriter
1947 – Dick Roche, Irish politician, Minister of State for European Affairs
1947 – Terje Venaas, Norwegian bassist
1948 – Nigel Jones, Baron Jones of Cheltenham, English computer programmer and politician
1948 – Eddie Jordan, Irish racing driver and team owner, founded Jordan Grand Prix
1948 – Mervyn King, English economist and academic
1948 – Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, American rock singer
1949 – Liza Frulla, Canadian talk show host and politician, 3rd Minister of Canadian Heritage
1949 – Dana Gillespie, English singer-songwriter and actress
1949 – Naomi Sims, American model and author (d. 2009)
1950 – Janet Browne, English-American historian and academic
1950 – Robbie Coltrane, Scottish actor
1950 – Grady Little, American baseball player, coach, and manager
1950 – Warren Snowdon, Australian educator and politician, 39th Australian Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
1951 – Paul Da Vinci, English singer-songwriter
1952 – Stuart Dryburgh, English-New Zealand cinematographer
1952 – Peter Knights, Australian footballer and coach
1955 – Randy VanWarmer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2004)
1956 – Bill Butler, Scottish educator and politician
1956 – Juanito Oiarzabal, Spanish mountaineer
1956 – Shahla Sherkat, Iranian journalist and author
1957 – Marie-Christine Koundja, Chadian author and diplomat
1957 – Paul Reiser, American actor and comedian
1958 – Maurice LaMarche, Canadian voice actor and stand-up comedian
1958 – Joey Sindelar, American golfer
1959 – Martina Cole, English television host and author
1960 – Laurie Graham, Canadian skier
1960 – Bill Johnson, American skier (d. 2016)
1961 – Mike Thackwell, New Zealand racing driver
1961 – Doug Wickenheiser, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 1999)
1962 – Mark Begich, American politician
1962 – MC Hammer, American rapper and actor
1962 – Gary Stevens, English international footballer, defender and manager
1963 – Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, Mongolian journalist and politician, 4th President of Mongolia
1963 – Eli-Eri Moura, Brazilian composer and conductor
1963 – Panagiotis Tsalouchidis, Greek footballer
1964 – Vlado Bozinovski, Macedonian-Australian footballer and manager
1964 – Tracy Chapman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1965 – Piers Morgan, English journalist and talk show host
1966 – Efstratios Grivas, Greek chess player and author
1966 – Dmitry Volkov, Russian swimmer
1966 – Leonid Voloshin, Russian triple jumper
1967 – Christopher Bowman, American figure skater and coach (d. 2008)
1967 – Richard Hutten, Dutch furniture designer
1967 – Julie Richardson, New Zealand tennis player
1968 – Celine Dion, Canadian singer-songwriter
1969 – Troy Bayliss, Australian motorcycle racer
1970 – Tobias Hill, English poet and author
1970 – Sylvain Charlebois, Canadian food/agriculture researcher and author
1971 – Mari Holden, American cyclist
1971 – Mark Consuelos, American actor and television personality
1972 – Mili Avital, Israeli-American actress
1972 – Emerson Thome, Brazilian footballer and scout
1972 – Karel Poborský, Czech footballer
1973 – Adam Goldstein, American keyboard player, DJ, and producer (d. 2009)
1973 – Jan Koller, Czech footballer
1973 – Kareem Streete-Thompson, Caymanian-American long jumper
1974 – Martin Love, Australian cricketer
1975 – Paul Griffen, New Zealand-Italian rugby player
1976 – Ty Conklin, American ice hockey player
1976 – Obadele Thompson, Barbadian sprinter
1976 – Troels Lund Poulsen, Danish politician, Minister for Education of Denmark
1977 – Abhishek Chaubey, Indian director and screenwriter
1978 – Paweł Czapiewski, Polish runner
1978 – Chris Paterson, Scottish rugby player and coach
1978 – Bok van Blerk, South African singer-songwriter and actor
1979 – Norah Jones, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1979 – Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Ukrainian footballer
1980 – Ricardo Osorio, Mexican footballer
1981 – Jammal Brown, American football player
1981 – Andrea Masi, Italian rugby player
1982 – Mark Hudson, English footballer
1982 – Philippe Mexès, French footballer
1982 – Javier Portillo, Spanish footballer
1982 – Jason Dohring, American actor
1983 – Jérémie Aliadière, French footballer
1984 – Mario Ančić, Croatian tennis player
1984 – Samantha Stosur, Australian tennis player
1985 – Giacomo Ricci, Italian racing driver
1986 – Sergio Ramos, Spanish footballer
1987 – Trent Barreta, American wrestler
1987 – Calum Elliot, Scottish footballer
1987 – Kwok Kin Pong, Hong Kong footballer
1987 – Marc-Édouard Vlasic, Canadian ice hockey player
1988 – Will Matthews, Australian rugby league player
1988 – Thanasis Papazoglou, Greek footballer
1988 – Richard Sherman, American football player
1988 – Larisa Yurkiw, Canadian alpine skier
1989 – Chris Sale, American baseball player
1989 – João Sousa, Portuguese tennis player
1990 – Thomas Rhett, American country music singer and songwriter
1990 – Michal Březina, Czech figure skater
1992 – Palak Muchhal, Indian playback singer
1993 – Anitta, Brazilian singer and entertainer
1994 – Jetro Willems, Dutch footballer
1997 – Cha Eun-woo, South Korean singer and actor, A member of the South Korean boy band, Astro
1998 – Kalyn Ponga, Australian rugby league player
2000 – Colton Herta, American race car driver
Deaths on March 30
116 – Quirinus of Neuss, Roman martyr and saint
365 – Ai of Jin, emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 341)
943 – Li Bian, emperor of Southern Tang (b. 889)
987 – Arnulf II, Count of Flanders (b. 960)
1180 – Al-Mustadi, Caliph (b. 1142)
1202 – Joachim of Fiore, Italian mystic and theologian (b. 1135)
1465 – Isabella of Clermont, queen consort of Naples (b. c. 1424)
1472 – Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy (b. 1435)
1486 – Thomas Bourchier, English cardinal (b. 1404)
1526 – Konrad Mutian, German humanist (b. 1471)
1540 – Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg, German cardinal (b. 1469)
1559 – Adam Ries, German mathematician and academic (b. 1492)
1587 – Ralph Sadler, English politician, Secretary of State for England (b. 1507)
1662 – François le Métel de Boisrobert, French poet and playwright (b. 1592)
1689 – Kazimierz Łyszczyński, Polish atheist and philosopher (b. 1634)
1707 – Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, French general and engineer (b. 1633)
1764 – Pietro Locatelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1695)
1783 – William Hunter, Scottish anatomist and physician (b. 1718)
1804 – Victor-François, 2nd duc de Broglie, French general and politician, French Secretary of State for War (b. 1718)
1806 – Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (b. 1757)
2012 – Francesco Mancini, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1968)
2012 – Granville Semmes, American businessman, founded 1-800-Flowers (b. 1928)
2012 – Leonid Shebarshin, Russian KGB officer (b. 1935)
2013 – Daniel Hoffman, American poet and academic (b. 1923)
2013 – Bobby Parks, American basketball player and coach (b. 1962)
2013 – Phil Ramone, South African-American songwriter and producer, co-founded A & R Recording (b. 1934)
2013 – Edith Schaeffer, Chinese-Swiss religious leader and author, co-founded L’Abri (b. 1914)
2013 – Bob Turley, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
2014 – Ray Hutchison, American lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
2014 – Kate O’Mara, English actress (b. 1939)
2015 – Helmut Dietl, German director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
2015 – Roger Slifer, American author, illustrator, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1954)
2015 – Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, Dutch astronomer and academic (b. 1921)
2018 – Bill Maynard, English actor (b. 1928)
2020 – Bill Withers, American musician (b. 1938)
Holidays and observances on March 30
Christian feast day:
Blessed Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy
Blessed Maria Restituta Kafka
John Climacus
Mamertinus of Auxerre
Quirinus of Neuss
Thomas Son Chasuhn, Marie-Nicolas-Antoine Daveluy (part of The Korean Martyrs)
Tola of Clonard
March 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which the first day of Hocktide can fall, while April 3 is the latest; observed on the second Monday after Easter. (Hungerford, England; popular in medieval England)
Land Day (Palestine)
National Doctors’ Day (United States)
Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day (Trinidad and Tobago)
