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May 4 in History
- 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
- 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
- 1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson
- 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales.
- 1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.
- 1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
- 1686 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
- 1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.
- 1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris.
- 1814 – Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
- 1814 – King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism.
- 1836 – Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians
- 1859 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall in England.
- 1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate is fought in Japan.
- 1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
- 1886 – Haymarket affair: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
- 1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.
- 1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
- 1912 – Italy occupies the Greek island of Rhodes.
- 1919 – May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan.
- 1926 – The United Kingdom general strike begins.
- 1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is incorporated.
- 1932 – In Atlanta, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.
- 1945 – World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
- 1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath is signed, coming into effect the following day. It encompasses all Wehrmacht units in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany.
- 1946 – In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Five people are killed in the riot.
- 1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash.
- 1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
- 1959 – The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held.
- 1961 – American civil rights movement: The “Freedom Riders” begin a bus trip through the South.
- 1961 – Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km).
- 1970 – Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the Cambodian Campaign of the United States and South Vietnam.
- 1972 – The Don’t Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to “Greenpeace Foundation”.
- 1978 – The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people.
- 1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.
- 1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.
- 1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal.
- 1990 – Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation.
- 1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
- 1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
- 2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London).
- 2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita scale.
- 2014 – Three people are killed and 62 injured in a pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya.
Births on May 4
- 1006 – Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Persian mystic and poet (d. 1088)
- 1008 – Henry I, king of France (d. 1060)
- 1559 – Alice Spencer, English noblewoman (d. 1637)
- 1634 – Katherine Ferrers, English aristocrat and heiress (d. 1660)
- 1649 – Chhatrasal, Indian ruler (d. 1731)
- 1654 – Kangxi Emperor, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty
- 1655 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (d. 1731)
- 1677 – Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, French noblewoman (d.1749)
- 1715 – Richard Graves, English minister and author (d. 1804)
- 1733 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (d. 1799)
- 1752 – John Brooks, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
- 1757 – Manuel Tolsá, Spanish sculptor and first director of the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City (d. 1816)
- 1767 – Tyagaraja, Indian composer (d. 1847)
- 1770 – François Gérard, French painter (d. 1837)
- 1772 – Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
- 1796 – Horace Mann, American educator and politician (d. 1859)
- 1796 – William Pennington, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1862)
- 1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian and scholar (d. 1859)
- 1820 – Julia Gardiner Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 11th First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
- 1820 – John Whiteaker, American soldier, judge, and politician, 1st Governor of Oregon (d. 1902)
- 1822 – Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Canadian physician and politician, 3rd Premier of Quebec (d. 1915)
- 1825 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, anatomist, and academic (d. 1895)
- 1825 – Augustus Le Plongeon, English-American historian, photographer, and academic (d. 1908)
- 1826 – Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
- 1827 – John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer (d. 1864)
- 1851 – Thomas Dewing, American painter (d. 1938)
- 1852 – Alice Liddell, English model (d. 1934)
- 1855 – Greyfriars Bobby, faithful dog (d. 1872)
- 1883 – Wang Jingwei, Chinese politician (d. 1944)
- 1884 – Richard Baggallay, English army officer and cricketer (d. 1975)
- 1887 – Andrew Dasburg, French-American painter (d. 1979)
- 1889 – Francis Spellman, American cardinal (d. 1967)
- 1890 – Franklin Carmichael, Canadian painter (d. 1945)
- 1902 – Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (d. 1986)
- 1902 – Cola Debrot, Dutch physician, lawyer, and politician (d. 1981)
- 1903 – Luther Adler, American actor (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Paul Demel, Czech actor (d. 1951)
- 1905 – Al Dexter, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
- 1906 – Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1987)
- 1907 – Lincoln Kirstein, American soldier and playwright, co-founded the New York City Ballet (d. 1996)
- 1907 – Walter Walsh, American target shooter and FBI agent (d. 2014)
- 1908 – Wolrad Eberle, German decathlete (d. 1949)
- 1911 – Evald Seepere, Estonian boxer (d. 1990)
- 1913 – John Broome, American author (d. 1999)
- 1913 – Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (d. 2007)
- 1914 – Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
- 1916 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Richard Proenneke, American soldier, carpenter, and meteorologist (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Edward T. Cone, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
- 1917 – Nick Joaquin, Filipino writer, journalist and historian (d. 2004)
- 1918 – Tom Mead, Australian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
- 1918 – Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1993)
- 1919 – Dory Funk, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1973)
- 1919 – Basil Yamey, South African-English economist and academic
- 1921 – Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
- 1921 – John van Kesteren, Dutch-American tenor and actor (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Edo Murtić, Croatian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Paul-Émile Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Ed Cassidy, American jazz and rock drummer (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer and producer (d. 1986)
- 1923 – Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian (d. 2012)
- 1923 – John Toner, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman and philanthropist
- 1926 – David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon, English politician
- 1928 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2006)
- 1928 – Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet, translator, and publisher
- 1928 – Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt (d. 2020)
- 1928 – Betsy Rawls, American golfer
- 1928 – Wolfgang von Trips, German race car driver (d. 1961)
- 1929 – Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-British actress and humanitarian (d. 1993)
- 1930 – Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family
- 1930 – Roberta Peters, American soprano (d. 2017)
- 1931 – Jan Pesman, Dutch speed skater (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian conductor and educator (d. 2018)
- 1931 – Thomas Stuttaford, English physician, journalist, and politician (d. 2018)
- 1932 – Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Alexander MacAra, Scottish epidemiologist and academic (d. 2012)
- 1933 – J. Fred Duckett, American journalist and educator (d. 2007)
- 1936 – El Cordobés, Spanish bullfighter
- 1936 – Med Hondo, Mauritanian filmmaker and actor (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Ron Carter, American bassist and educator
- 1937 – Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Wim Verstappen, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1938 – Tyrone Davis, American blues and soul singer (d. 2005)
- 1938 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican journalist, author, and critic (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Gillian Tindall, English historian and author
- 1939 – Neil Fox, English rugby league player and coach
- 1939 – Amos Oz, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2018)
- 1939 – Leon Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1940 – Robin Cook, American physician and author
- 1940 – Peter Gregg, American race car driver and businessman (d. 1980)
- 1941 – George Will, American journalist and author
- 1942 – Nickolas Ashford, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2011)
- 1943 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (d. 1971)
- 1943 – Mihail Chemiakin, Russian painter and sculptor
- 1943 – Prasanta Pattanaik, Indian economist and academic
- 1944 – Steve Liebmann, Australian radio and television host
- 1944 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress (d. 2019)
- 1945 – Jan Mulder, Dutch footballer and journalist
- 1946 – John Barnard, English car designer
- 1946 – Gary Bauer, American political activist
- 1946 – John Watson, British race car driver
- 1947 – John Bosley, Canadian businessman and politician, 31st Canadian Speaker of the House of Commons
- 1947 – Ronald Sørensen, Dutch historian and politician
- 1947 – Trivimi Velliste, Estonian politician, 17th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1948 – Alison Britton, English sculptor and educator
- 1948 – Hurley Haywood, American race car driver
- 1948 – King George Tupou V of Tonga, (d. 2012)
- 1949 – Graham Swift, English novelist and short story writer
- 1950 – Darryl Hunt, English bass player
- 1951 – Colin Bass, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
- 1951 – Colleen Hanabusa, American lawyer and politician
- 1951 – Jackie Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1952 – Belinda Green, Australian beauty queen and 1972 Miss World
- 1953 – Pia Zadora, American actress and singer
- 1954 – Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino pianist, composer, and conductor
- 1956 – Michael L. Gernhardt, American astronaut and engineer
- 1956 – David Guterson, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist
- 1956 – Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player and coach
- 1957 – Jaak Huimerind, Estonian architect
- 1957 – Kathy Kreiner, Canadian skier
- 1957 – Peter Sleep, Australian cricketer
- 1957 – Marijke Vos, Dutch educator and politician
- 1958 – Delbert Fowler, American football player
- 1958 – Keith Haring, American painter (d. 1990)
- 1958 – Jane Kennedy, English politician
- 1958 – Caroline Spelman, English politician, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- 1959 – Valdemaras Chomičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Randy Travis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1959 – Bob Tway, American golfer
- 1960 – Werner Faymann, Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria
- 1961 – Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1964 – Silvia Costa, Cuban high jumper
- 1966 – Gary Elkins, English footballer and manager
- 1966 – Jane McGrath, English-Australian activist, co-founded the McGrath Foundation (d. 2008)
- 1967 – Kate Garraway, English journalist
- 1967 – Ana Gasteyer, American actress and singer
- 1969 – Micah Aivazoff, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Franz Resch, Austrian footballer and manager
- 1970 – Gregg Alexander, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1970 – Will Arnett, Canadian actor and producer
- 1970 – Giovanni Mirabassi, Italian jazz musician
- 1970 – Dawn Staley, American basketball player
- 1970 – Paul Wiseman, New Zealand cricketer and coach
- 1971 – Joe Borowski, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1971 – Miles Stewart, Australian triathlete
- 1972 – Manny Aybar, Dominican baseball player
- 1972 – Mike Dirnt, American bass player and songwriter
- 1973 – Matthew Barnaby, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1973 – Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentinian footballer and coach
- 1973 – John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1974 – Miguel Cairo, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
- 1974 – Tony McCoy, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
- 1976 – Ben Grieve, American baseball player
- 1976 – Rory Hamill, Northern Irish international footballer
- 1976 – Jason Michaels, American baseball player
- 1976 – Indrek Visnapuu, Estonian basketball player and coach
- 1977 – John Tripp, Canadian-German ice hockey player
- 1978 – Erin Andrews, American sportscaster and journalist
- 1978 – Igor Biscan, Croatian footballer
- 1978 – Brett Burton, Australian footballer
- 1978 – Vladimíra Uhlířová, Czech tennis player
- 1979 – Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, and producer
- 1979 – Kristin Harmel, American journalist and author
- 1979 – Marie Poissonnier, French pole vaulter
- 1979 – Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby player
- 1980 – Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
- 1981 – Dallon Weekes, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1982 – Kleopas Giannou, Greek footballer
- 1982 – Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
- 1982 – Giorgos Tsiaras, Greek basketball player
- 1983 – Dan Christian, Australian cricketer
- 1983 – Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Robert Zwinkels, Dutch footballer
- 1984 – Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricketer (d. 2007)
- 1984 – Brad Maddox, American wrestler and referee
- 1984 – Sarah Meier, Swiss figure skater
- 1984 – Montell Owens, American football player
- 1984 – Kevin Slowey, American baseball player
- 1985 – Ravi Bopara, English cricketer
- 1985 – Anthony Fedorov, Ukrainian-born American singer and actor
- 1985 – Fernandinho, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Lester “Bo” McCalebb, American-Macedonian professional basketball player
- 1985 – Jamie Adenuga, English MC and rapper
- 1986 – Devan Dubnyk, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – George Hill, American basketball player
- 1987 – Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer
- 1987 – Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
- 1988 – Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer
- 1989 – Dániel Gyurta, Hungarian swimmer
- 1989 – Henna Lindholm, Finnish figure skater
- 1989 – Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer
- 1989 – Aris Tatarounis, Greek basketball player
- 1989 – James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player
- 1990 – Irina Falconi, American tennis player
- 1990 – Ryan Morgan, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Duvashen Padayachee, Australian race car driver
- 1990 – Andrea Torres, Filipino actress and model
- 1991 – Brianne Jenner, Canadian women’s ice hockey player
- 1992 – Victor Oladipo, American basketball player
- 1993 – Jānis Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
- 1994 – Abi Masatora, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1994 – Joseph Tapine, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1996 – Pelayo Roza, Spanish sprint canoeist
Deaths on May 4
- 408 – Venerius, archbishop of Milan
- 784 – Arbeo, bishop of Freising
- 1003 – Herman II, duke of Swabia
- 1038 – Gotthard of Hildesheim, German bishop (b. 960)
- 1406 – Coluccio Salutati, chancellor of Florence (b. 1331)
- 1436 – Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish rebel leader
- 1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, son and heir of Henry VI of England (b. 1453)
- 1471 – Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (b. 1438)
- 1483 – George Neville, Duke of Bedford (b. 1457)
- 1506 – Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (b. 1438)
- 1519 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, duke of Urbino (b. 1492)
- 1535 – John Houghton, Carthusian monk and saint
- 1562 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian Protestant theologian (b. 1525)
- 1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
- 1571 – Pierre Viret, Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1511)
- 1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (b. 1533)
- 1605 – Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist (b. 1522)
- 1615 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish priest and mathematician (b. 1561)
- 1626 – Arthur Lake, English bishop and scholar (b. 1569)
- 1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian (b. 1630)
- 1684 – John Nevison, English criminal (b. 1639)
- 1729 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (b. 1651)
- 1734 – James Thornhill, English painter and politician (b. 1675)
- 1737 – Eustace Budgell, English journalist and politician (b. 1686)
- 1774 – Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, Prussian nobleman (b. 1714)
- 1776 – Jacques Saly, French painter and sculptor (b. 1717)
- 1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American politician (b. 1718)
- 1799 – Tipu, ruler of Mysore (b. 1750)
- 1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
- 1816 – Samuel Dexter, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of War, 3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1761)
- 1824 – Joseph Joubert, French author (b. 1754)
- 1826 – Sebastián Kindelán y O’Regan, colonial governor of East Florida, Santo Domingo and Cuba (b. 1757)
- 1839 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (b. 1784)
- 1858 – Aimé Bonpland, French botanist and explorer (b. 1773)
- 1859 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1771)
- 1880 – Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
- 1901 – John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (b. 1831)
- 1903 – Gotse Delchev, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary IMRO (b. 1872)
- 1912 – Nettie Stevens, American geneticist credited with discovering sex chromosomes (b. 1861)
- 1916 – Ned Daly, Irish rebel commander (Easter Rising) (b. 1891)
- 1916 – John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (b. 1851)
- 1916 – Joseph Plunkett, Irish rebel and writer (b. 1887)
- 1916 – Willie Pearse, Irish rebel (b. 1891)
- 1919 – Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak general and politician (b. 1880)
- 1922 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (b. 1888)
- 1923 – Ralph McKittrick, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1877)
- 1924 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (b. 1858)
- 1938 – Kanō Jigorō, Japanese founder of judo (b. 1860)
- 1938 – Carl von Ossietzky, German journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
- 1941 – Chris McKivat, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1880)
- 1945 – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (b. 1880)
- 1953 – Alexandre Pharamond, French rugby player (b. 1876)
- 1955 – George Enescu, Romanian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1881)
- 1964 – Karl Robert Pusta, Estonian politician, 4th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
- 1969 – Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian author and poet (b. 1892)
- 1972 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
- 1973 – Jane Bowles, American author and playwright (b. 1917)
- 1975 – Moe Howard, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1897)
- 1976 – Frank Strahan, Australian public servant (b. 1886)
- 1980 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
- 1981 – C. Loganathan, Sri Lankan banker (b. 1913)
- 1983 – Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1911)
- 1984 – Diana Dors, English actress (b. 1931)
- 1985 – Fikri Sönmez, Turkish tailor and politician (b. 1938)
- 1985 – Clarence Wiseman, English-Canadian 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
- 1987 – Paul Butterfield, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1942)
- 1987 – Cathryn Damon, American actress (b. 1930)
- 1988 – Lillian Estelle Fisher, American historian of Spanish America (b. 1891)
- 1990 – Emily Remler, American guitarist (b. 1957)
- 1991 – Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer-songwriter and mandolin player (b. 1902)
- 1992 – Gregor Mackenzie, Scottish politician (b. 1927)
- 1993 – France Štiglic, Slovenian film director and screenwriter (b. 1919)
- 1995 – Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist and academic (b. 1909)
- 2001 – Bonnie Lee Bakley, American model, wife of Robert Blake (b. 1956)
- 2004 – David Reimer, Canadian victim of a botched circumcision and transgender reassignment surgery (b. 1965)
- 2005 – David Hackworth, American colonel and journalist (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (b. 1918)
- 2009 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1933)
- 2011 – Sammy McCrory, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Mort Lindsey, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Bob Stewart, American television producer, founded Stewart Tele Enterprises (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (b. 1964)
- 2012 – Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (b. 1963)
- 2013 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Mario Machado, Chinese-American journalist and actor (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Morgan Morgan-Giles, English admiral and politician (b. 1914)
- 2013 – César Portillo de la Luz, Cuban guitarist and composer (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (b. 1983)
- 2014 – Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Helga Königsdorf, German physicist and author (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Ross Lonsberry, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1948)
- 2015 – William Bast, American screenwriter and author (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Ellen Albertini Dow, American actress (b. 1913)
- 2015 – Marv Hubbard, American football player (b. 1946)
- 2016 – Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Burundian politician (b. 1946)
- 2020 – Don Shula, American football player and coach (b. 1930)
- 2020 – Greg Zanis, American carpenter and activist (b. 1950)
Holidays and observances on May 4
- Anti-Bullying Day (United Nations)
- Bird Day (United States)
- Cassinga Day (Namibia)
- Christian feast day:
- Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla
- Blessed Michal Giedroyc
- English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era (Church of England)
- F. C. D. Wyneken (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
- Florian
- Gotthard of Hildesheim
- José María Rubio
- Judas Cyriacus
- Monica of Hippo (1960 Roman Catholic Calendar)
- Sacerdos of Limoges
- Venerius of Milan
- May 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Dave Brubeck Day
- Death of Milan Rastislav Štefánik Day (Slovakia)
- Greenery Day (Japan)
- International Firefighters’ Day
- May Fourth Movement commemorations:
- Literary Day (Republic of China)
- Youth Day (China)
- Remembrance Day for Martyrs and Disabled (Afghanistan)
- Remembrance of the Dead (Netherlands)
- Restoration of Independence day (Latvia)
- Star Wars Day (International observance)
- World Give Day
- World Naked Gardening Day
- Youth Day (Fiji)
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April 24 in History
- 1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th dynasty).
- 1183 BC – Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy marking the end of the legendary Trojan War, given by chief librarian of the Library of Alexandria Erastothenes, among others.
- 1547 – Battle of Mühlberg. Duke of Alba, commanding Spanish-Imperial forces of Charles I of Spain, defeats the troops of Schmalkaldic League.
- 1558 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Dauphin of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris.
- 1704 – The first regular newspaper in British Colonial America, The Boston News-Letter, is published.
- 1800 – The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 to purchase “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress”.
- 1877 – Russo-Turkish War: Russian Empire declares war on Ottoman Empire.
- 1885 – American sharpshooter Annie Oakley is hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
- 1895 – Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail single-handedly around the world, sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts aboard the sloop “Spray”.
- 1913 – The Woolworth Building, a skyscraper in New York City, is opened.
- 1914 – The Franck–Hertz experiment, a pillar of quantum mechanics, is presented to the German Physical Society.
- 1915 – The arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul marks the beginning of the Armenian Genocide.
- 1916 – Easter Rising: Irish rebels, led by Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, launch an uprising in Dublin against British rule and proclaim an Irish Republic.
- 1916 – Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the crew of the sunken Endurance.
- 1918 – World War I: First tank-to-tank combat, during the second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux. Three British Mark IVs meet three German A7Vs.
- 1922 – The first segment of the Imperial Wireless Chain providing wireless telegraphy between Leafield in Oxfordshire, England, and Cairo, Egypt, comes into operation.
- 1926 – The Treaty of Berlin is signed. Germany and the Soviet Union each pledge neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party for the next five years.
- 1932 – Benny Rothman leads the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, leading to substantial legal reforms in the United Kingdom.
- 1933 – Nazi Germany begins its persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses by shutting down the Watch Tower Society office in Magdeburg.
- 1944 – World War II: The SBS launches a raid against the garrison of Santorini in Greece.
- 1953 – Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
- 1955 – The Bandung Conference ends: Twenty-nine non-aligned nations of Asia and Africa finish a meeting that condemns colonialism, racism, and the Cold War.
- 1957 – Suez Crisis: The Suez Canal is reopened following the introduction of UNEF peacekeepers to the region.
- 1963 – Marriage of Princess Alexandra of Kent to Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.
- 1965 – Civil war breaks out in the Dominican Republic when Colonel Francisco Caamaño overthrows the triumvirate that had been in power since the coup d’état against Juan Bosch.
- 1967 – Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission.
- 1967 – Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had “gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily”.
- 1970 – China launches Dong Fang Hong I, becoming the fifth nation to put an object into orbit using its own booster.
- 1970 – The Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as its first President.
- 1980 – Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis.
- 1990 – STS-31: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery.
- 1990 – Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine.
- 1993 – An IRA bomb devastates the Bishopsgate area of London.
- 1996 – In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is passed into law.
- 2004 – The United States lifts economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously, as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
- 2005 – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
- 2011 – WikiLeaks starts publishing the Guantanamo Bay files leak.
- 2013 – A building collapses near Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,129 people and injuring 2,500 others.
- 2013 – Violence in Bachu County, Kashgar Prefecture, of China’s Xinjiang results in death of 21 people.
Births on April 24
- 1086 – Ramiro II of Aragon (d. 1157)
- 1492 – Sabina of Bavaria, Bavarian duchess and noblewoman (d. 1564)
- 1532 – Thomas Lucy, English politician (d. 1600)
- 1533 – William I of Orange, founding father of the Netherlands (d. 1584)
- 1538 – Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (d. 1587)
- 1545 – Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, English Earl (d. 1581)
- 1562 – Xu Guangqi, Ming Dynasty Chinese politician, scholar and lay Catholic leader (d. 1633)
- 1581 – Vincent de Paul, French priest and saint (d. 1660)
- 1608 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans, third son of King Henry IV of France (d. 1660)
- 1620 – John Graunt, English demographer and statistician (d. 1674)
- 1706 – Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1780)
- 1718 – Nathaniel Hone the Elder, Irish-English painter and educator (d. 1784)
- 1743 – Edmund Cartwright, English clergyman and engineer, invented the power loom (d. 1823)
- 1784 – Peter Vivian Daniel, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1860)
- 1815 – Anthony Trollope, English novelist, essayist, and short story writer (d. 1882)
- 1823 – Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Mexican politician, President of Mexico (d. 1889)
- 1845 – Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
- 1856 – Philippe Pétain, French general and politician, 119th Prime Minister of France (d. 1951)
- 1860 – Queen Marau, last Queen of Tahiti (d.1935)
- 1862 – Tomitaro Makino, Japanese botanist (d. 1957)
- 1868 – Sandy Herd, Scottish golfer (d. 1944)
- 1876 – Erich Raeder, German admiral (d. 1960)
- 1878 – Jean Crotti, Swiss-French painter (d. 1958)
- 1879 – Susanna Bokoyni, Hungarian-American circus performer (d. 1984)
- 1880 – Gideon Sundback, Swedish-American engineer and businessman, developed the zipper (d. 1954)
- 1880 – Josef Müller, Croatian entomologist (d. 1964)
- 1882 – Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, Scottish-English air marshal (d. 1970)
- 1885 – Thomas Cronan, American triple jumper (d. 1962)
- 1885 – Con Walsh, Irish-Canadian hammer thrower and footballer (d. 1961)
- 1887 – Denys Finch Hatton, English hunter (d. 1931)
- 1888 – Pe Maung Tin, Burma-based scholar and educator (d. 1973)
- 1889 – Stafford Cripps, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1952)
- 1889 – Lyubov Popova, Russian painter and academic (d. 1924)
- 1897 – Manuel Ávila Camacho, Mexican colonel and politician, 45th President of Mexico (d. 1955)
- 1897 – Benjamin Lee Whorf, American linguist, anthropologist, and engineer (d. 1941)
- 1899 – Oscar Zariski, Russian-American mathematician and academic (d. 1986)
- 1900 – Elizabeth Goudge, English author and educator (d. 1984)
- 1903 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Spanish lawyer and politician, founded the Falange (d. 1936)
- 1904 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch-American painter and educator (d. 1997)
- 1905 – Al Bates, American long jumper (d. 1999)
- 1905 – Robert Penn Warren, American novelist, poet, and literary critic (d. 1989)
- 1906 – William Joyce, American-born Irish-British Nazi propaganda broadcaster (d. 1946)
- 1906 – Mimi Smith, English nurse (d. 1991)
- 1907 – Gabriel Figueroa, Mexican cinematographer (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Marceline Day, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1908 – Inga Gentzel, Swedish runner (d. 1991)
- 1908 – Józef Gosławski, Polish sculptor (d. 1963)
- 1912 – Ruth Osburn, American discus thrower (d. 1994)
- 1913 – Dieter Grau, German-American scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
- 1914 – William Castle, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
- 1914 – Phil Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991)
- 1914 – Justin Wilson, American chef and author (d. 2001)
- 1916 – Lou Thesz, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2002)
- 1919 – David Blackwell, American mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
- 1919 – Glafcos Clerides, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 4th President of Cyprus (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Gino Valenzano, Italian race car driver (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Marc-Adélard Tremblay, Canadian anthropologist and academic (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Gus Bodnar, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
- 1923 – Doris Burn, American author and illustrator (d. 2011)
- 1924 – Clement Freud, German-English radio host, academic, and politician (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Ruth Kobart, American actress and singer (d. 2002)
- 1925 – Franco Leccese, Italian sprinter (d. 1992)
- 1926 – Marilyn Erskine, American actress
- 1926 – Thorbjörn Fälldin, Swedish farmer and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 2016)
- 1927 – Josy Barthel, Luxembourgian runner and politician, Luxembourgian Minister for Energy (d. 1992)
- 1928 – Tommy Docherty, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1928 – Johnny Griffin, American saxophonist (d. 2008)
- 1928 – Anahit Perikhanian, Russian-born Armenian Iranologist (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Dr. Rajkumar, Indian actor and singer (d. 2006)
- 1930 – Jerome Callet, American instrument designer, educator, and author (d. 2019)
- 1930 – Richard Donner, American actor, director, and producer
- 1930 – José Sarney, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 31st President of Brazil
- 1931 – Abdelhamid Kermali, Algerian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Bridget Riley, English painter and illustrator
- 1934 – Jayakanthan, Indian journalist and author (d. 2015)
- 1934 – Shirley MacLaine, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1936 – David Crombie, Canadian educator and politician, 56th Mayor of Toronto
- 1936 – Jill Ireland, English actress (d. 1990)
- 1937 – Joe Henderson, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2001)
- 1940 – Sue Grafton, American author (d. 2017)
- 1941 – Richard Holbrooke, American journalist, banker, and diplomat, 22nd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2010)
- 1941 – John Williams, Australian-English guitarist and composer
- 1942 – Richard M. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 54th Mayor of Chicago
- 1942 – Barbra Streisand, American singer, actress, activist, and producer
- 1943 – Richard Sterban, American country & gospel bass singer
- 1943 – Gordon West, English footballer (d. 2012)
- 1944 – Peter Cresswell, English judge
- 1944 – Maarja Nummert, Estonian architect
- 1944 – Tony Visconti, American record producer, musician and singer
- 1945 – Doug Clifford, American drummer and songwriter
- 1946 – Doug Christie, Canadian lawyer and activist (d. 2013)
- 1947 – Josep Borrell, Spanish engineer and politician, 22nd President of the European Parliament
- 1947 – João Braz de Aviz, Brazilian cardinal
- 1947 – Claude Dubois, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Denise Kingsmill, Baroness Kingsmill, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician
- 1947 – Roger D. Kornberg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1948 – Paul Cellucci, American soldier and politician, 69th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Eliana Gil, Ecuadorian-American psychiatrist, therapist, and author
- 1949 – Eddie Hart, American sprinter
- 1949 – Véronique Sanson, French singer-songwriter and producer
- 1950 – Rob Hyman, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1951 – Ron Arad, Israeli architect and academic
- 1951 – Christian Bobin, French author and poet
- 1951 – Nigel Harrison, English bass player and songwriter
- 1951 – Enda Kenny, Irish educator and politician, 13th Taoiseach of Ireland
- 1952 – Jean Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
- 1952 – Ralph Winter, American film producer
- 1953 – Eric Bogosian, American actor and writer
- 1954 – Mumia Abu-Jamal, American journalist, activist, and convicted murderer
- 1954 – Jack Blades, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1955 – Marion Caspers-Merk, German politician
- 1955 – John de Mol Jr., Dutch businessman, co-founded Endemol
- 1955 – Eamon Gilmore, Irish trade union leader and politician, 25th Tánaiste of Ireland
- 1955 – Margaret Moran, British politician and criminal
- 1955 – Guy Nève, Belgian race car driver (d. 1992)
- 1955 – Michael O’Keefe, American actor
- 1955 – Bill Osborne, New Zealand rugby player
- 1956 – James A. Winnefeld, Jr., American admiral
- 1957 – Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed, Pakistani-English businessman and politician
- 1958 – Brian Paddick, English police officer and politician
- 1959 – Paula Yates, British-Australian television host and author (d. 2000)
- 1961 – Andrew Murrison, English physician and politician, Minister for International Security Strategy
- 1962 – Clemens Binninger, German politician
- 1962 – Stuart Pearce, English footballer, coach, and manager
- 1962 – Steve Roach, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1963 – Paula Frazer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1963 – Billy Gould, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
- 1963 – Mano Solo, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2010)
- 1964 – Helga Arendt, German sprinter (d. 2013)
- 1964 – Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian, actor, and producer
- 1964 – Djimon Hounsou, Beninese-American actor and producer
- 1964 – Witold Smorawiński, Polish guitarist, composer, and educator
- 1965 – Jeff Jackson, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1966 – Pierre Brassard, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1966 – Alessandro Costacurta, Italian footballer, coach, and manager
- 1966 – David Usher, English-Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1967 – Dino Rađa, Croatian basketball player
- 1967 – Omar Vizquel, Venezuelan-American baseball player and coach
- 1968 – Aidan Gillen, Irish actor
- 1968 – Todd Jones, American baseball player
- 1968 – Roxanna Panufnik, English composer
- 1968 – Hashim Thaçi, Kosovan soldier and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Kosovo
- 1969 – Elias Atmatsidis, Greek footballer
- 1969 – Rory McCann, Scottish actor
- 1969 – Eilidh Whiteford, Scottish academic and politician
- 1970 – Damien Fleming, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster
- 1971 – Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lankan cricketer and umpire
- 1971 – Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1972 – Rab Douglas, Scottish footballer
- 1972 – Chipper Jones, American baseball player
- 1972 – Jure Košir, Slovenian skier and singer
- 1973 – Gabby Logan, English gymnast, television and radio host
- 1973 – Damon Lindelof, American screenwriter and producer
- 1973 – Brian Marshall, American bass player and songwriter
- 1973 – Eric Snow, American basketball player and coach
- 1973 – Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer
- 1973 – Toomas Tohver, Estonian footballer
- 1973 – Lee Westwood, English golfer
- 1974 – Eric Kripke, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1974 – Stephen Wiltshire, English illustrator
- 1975 – Dejan Savić, Yugoslavian and Serbian water polo player
- 1976 – Steve Finnan, Irish international footballer
- 1976 – Frédéric Niemeyer, Canadian tennis player and coach
- 1977 – Carlos Beltrán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
- 1977 – Diego Placente, Argentine footballer
- 1978 – Diego Quintana, Argentine footballer
- 1980 – Fernando Arce, Mexican footballer
- 1980 – Karen Asrian, Armenian chess player (d. 2008)
- 1981 – Taylor Dent, American tennis player
- 1981 – Yuko Nakanishi, Japanese swimmer
- 1982 – Kelly Clarkson, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1982 – David Oliver, American hurdler
- 1982 – Simon Tischer, German volleyball player
- 1983 – Hanna Melnychenko, Ukrainian heptathlete
- 1985 – Mike Rodgers, American sprinter
- 1986 – Aaron Cunningham, American baseball player
- 1987 – Ben Howard, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1987 – Kris Letang, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Rein Taaramäe, Estonian cyclist
- 1987 – Jan Vertonghen, Belgian international footballer
- 1987 – Varun Dhawan, Indian actor
- 1989 – Elīna Babkina, Latvian basketball player
- 1989 – David Boudia, American diver
- 1989 – Taja Mohorčič, Slovenian tennis player
- 1990 – Kim Tae-ri, South Korean actress
- 1990 – Jan Veselý, Czech basketball player
- 1991 – Sigrid Agren, French-Swedish model
- 1991 – Morgan Ciprès, French figure skater
- 1991 – Batuhan Karadeniz, Turkish footballer
- 1992 – Joe Keery, American actor
- 1992 – Laura Kenny, English cyclist
- 1993 – Ben Davies, Welsh international footballer
- 1994 – Jordan Fisher, American singer, dancer, and actor
- 1994 – Caspar Lee, British-South African Youtuber
- 1996 – Ashleigh Barty, Australian tennis player
- 1997 – Lydia Ko, New Zealand golfer
- 1997 – Veronika Kudermetova, Russian tennis player
- 1998 – Ryan Newman, American actress
- 1999 – Jerry Jeudy, American football player
Deaths on April 24
- 624 – Mellitus, saint, and archbishop of Canterbury
- 1149 – Petronille de Chemillé, abbess of Fontevrault
- 1288 – Gertrude of Austria (b. 1226)
- 1338 – Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat (b. 1291)
- 1479 – Jorge Manrique, Spanish poet (b. 1440)
- 1513 – Şehzade Ahmet, Ottoman prince (b. 1465)
- 1617 – Concino Concini, Italian-French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1575)
- 1622 – Fidelis of Sigmaringen, German friar and saint (b. 1577)
- 1656 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (b. 1561)
- 1731 – Daniel Defoe, English journalist, novelist, and spy (b. 1660)
- 1748 – Anton thor Helle, German-Estonian clergyman and translator (b. 1683)
- 1779 – Eleazar Wheelock, American minister and academic, founded Dartmouth College (b. 1711)
- 1794 – Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish field marshal and politician (b. 1719)
- 1852 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and translator (b. 1783)
- 1889 – Zulma Carraud, French author (b. 1796)
- 1891 – Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, German field marshal (b. 1800)
- 1924 – G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist and academic (b. 1844)
- 1931 – David Kldiashvili, Georgian author and playwright (b. 1862)
- 1935 – Anastasios Papoulas, Greek general (b. 1857)
- 1938 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (b. 1863)
- 1939 – Louis Trousselier, French cyclist (b. 1881)
- 1941 – Karin Boye, Swedish author and poet (b. 1900)
- 1942 – Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (b. 1874)
- 1944 – Charles Jordan, American magician (b. 1888)
- 1945 – Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician (b. 1899)
- 1947 – Hans Biebow, German SS officer (b. 1902)
- 1947 – Willa Cather, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (b. 1873)
- 1948 – Jāzeps Vītols, Latvian composer (b. 1863)
- 1954 – Guy Mairesse, French race car driver (b. 1910)
- 1960 – Max von Laue, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- 1961 – Lee Moran, American actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1888)
- 1962 – Milt Franklyn, American composer (b. 1897)
- 1964 – Gerhard Domagk, German pathologist and bacteriologist (b. 1895)
- 1965 – Louise Dresser, American actress (b. 1878)
- 1966 – Simon Chikovani, Georgian poet and author (b. 1902)
- 1967 – Vladimir Komarov, Russian pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1927)
- 1967 – Robert Richards, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of South Australia (b. 1885)
- 1968 – Walter Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876)
- 1970 – Otis Spann, American singer and pianist (b. 1930)
- 1972 – Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (b. 1892)
- 1974 – Bud Abbott, American comedian and producer (b. 1895)
- 1975 – Pete Ham, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)
- 1976 – Mark Tobey, American-Swiss painter and educator (b. 1890)
- 1980 – Alejo Carpentier, Swiss-Cuban musicologist and author (b. 1904)
- 1982 – Ville Ritola, Finnish runner (b. 1896)
- 1983 – Erol Güngör, Turkish sociologist, psychologist, and academic (b. 1938)
- 1983 – Rolf Stommelen, German race car driver (b. 1943)
- 1984 – Rafael Pérez y Pérez, Spanish author (b. 1891)
- 1993 – Oliver Tambo, South African lawyer and activist (b. 1917)
- 1993 – Tran Duc Thao, Vietnamese philosopher and theorist (b. 1917)
- 1995 – Lodewijk Bruckman, Dutch painter (b. 1903)
- 1997 – Allan Francovich, American director and producer (b. 1941)
- 1997 – Pat Paulsen, American comedian and activist (b. 1927)
- 1997 – Eugene Stoner, American engineer, designed the AR-15 rifle (b. 1922)
- 2001 – Josef Peters, German race car driver (b. 1914)
- 2001 – Johnny Valentine, American wrestler (b. 1928)
- 2002 – Lucien Wercollier, Luxembourgian sculptor (b. 1908)
- 2004 – José Giovanni, French-Swiss director and producer (b. 1923)
- 2004 – Estée Lauder, American businesswoman, co-founded Estée Lauder Companies (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli general and politician, 7th President of Israel (b. 1924)
- 2005 – Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2006 – Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940)
- 2006 – Moshe Teitelbaum, Romanian-American rabbi and author (b. 1914)
- 2008 – Jimmy Giuffre, American clarinet player, and saxophonist, and composer (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Sathya Sai Baba, Indian guru and philanthropist (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Hans Hollein, Austrian architect, designed Haas House (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Sandy Jardine, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1948)
- 2014 – Shobha Nagi Reddy, Indian politician (b. 1968)
- 2014 – Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1921)
- 2015 – Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Tommy Kono, American weightlifter and coach (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Robert Pirsig, American author and philosopher (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances on April 24
- Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia, France)
- Christian feast day:
- Benedict Menni
- Dermot of Armagh
- Dyfnan of Anglesey
- Ecgberht of Ripon
- Fidelis of Sigmaringen
- Gregory of Elvira
- Ivo of Ramsey
- Johann Walter (Lutheran)
- Mary of Clopas
- Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
- Mellitus
- Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur
- Salome (disciple)
- Wilfrid (Church of England)
- William Firmatus
- April 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Concord Day (Niger)
- Democracy Day (Nepal)
- Earliest day on which Arbor Day can fall, while April 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Friday in April. (United States)
- Earliest day on which Turkmen Racing Horse Festival can fall, while April 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in April. (Turkmenistan)
- Fashion Revolution Day, and its related observances:
- Labour Safety Day (Bangladesh, proposed)
- Kapyong Day (Australia, Canada)
- National Panchayati Raj Day (India)
- St Mark’s Eve
- Republic Day (The Gambia)
- World Day for Laboratory Animals
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April 22 in History
- 238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
- 1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
- 1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
- 1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas.
- 1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.
- 1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
- 1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity.
- 1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
- 1876 – The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of Major League Baseball.
- 1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
- 1898 – Spanish–American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
- 1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games, now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
- 1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
- 1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
- 1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
- 1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
- 1944 – World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station.
- 1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.
- 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces.
- 1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
- 1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
- 1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
- 1969 – The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta.
- 1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
- 1972 – Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
- 1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
- 1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
- 1992 – In a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
- 1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham.
- 1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria where 93 villagers are killed.
- 2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami.
- 2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
- 2005 – Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan’s war record.
- 2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
- 2013 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.
- 2014 – More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Katanga Province.
- 2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.
- 2019 – The 2019 Luzon earthquake kills at least 18 people in the Philippines.
Births on April 22
- 1412 – Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (d. 1452)
- 1444 – Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (d. 1503)
- 1451 – Isabella I of Castile (d. 1504)
- 1518 – Antoine of Navarre (d. 1562)
- 1592 – Wilhelm Schickard, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1635)
- 1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
- 1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1709)
- 1690 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1763)
- 1707 – Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (d. 1754)
- 1711 – Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy, Austrian soldier (d. 1762)
- 1724 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1804)
- 1732 – John Johnson, English architect and surveyor (d. 1814)
- 1744 – James Sullivan, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1808)
- 1757 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1841)
- 1766 – Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (d. 1817)
- 1812 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-English orientalist (d. 1894)
- 1816 – Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general (d. 1897)
- 1830 – Emily Davies, British suffragist and educator, co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge University
- 1832 – Julius Sterling Morton, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 1902)
- 1844 – Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (d. 1865)
- 1852 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912)
- 1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)
- 1854 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
- 1860 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (d. 1916)
- 1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924)
- 1872 – Princess Margaret of Prussia (d. 1954)
- 1873 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
- 1876 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
- 1876 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler and strongman (d. 1920)
- 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
- 1884 – Otto Rank, Austrian-American psychologist and academic (d. 1939)
- 1886 – Izidor Cankar, Slovenian historian, author, and diplomat (d. 1958)
- 1889 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (d. 1945)
- 1891 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (d. 1979)
- 1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965)
- 1891 – Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1989)
- 1891 – Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (d. 1927)
- 1892 – Vernon Johns, African-American minister and activist (d. 1965)
- 1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (d. 1977)
- 1900 – Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1966–67 (d. 1988)
- 1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1967)
- 1905 – Robert Choquette, American-Canadian author, poet, and diplomat (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Eric Fenby, English composer and educator (d. 1997)
- 1906 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (d. 1947)
- 1908 – Ivan Yefremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d. 1972)
- 1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Sephardic Jewish-Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
- 1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001)
- 1909 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
- 1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician and academic (d. 1971)
- 1912 – Kathleen Ferrier, English operatic singer (d. 1953)
- 1912 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1914 – Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer (d. 2008)
- 1914 – Jan de Hartog, Dutch-American author and playwright (d. 2002)
- 1914 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (d. 1941)
- 1914 – Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (d. 1944)
- 1916 – Hanfried Lenz, German mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
- 1916 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (d. 2016)
- 1917 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (d. 1992)
- 1918 – William Jay Smith, American poet and academic (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Mickey Vernon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
- 1919 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- 1919 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Richard Diebenkorn, American soldier and painter (d. 1993)
- 1922 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1979)
- 1922 – Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist and academic (d. 1973)
- 1923 – Peter Kane Dufault, American soldier, pilot, and poet (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Bettie Page, American model and actress (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Nam Duck-woo, South Korean politician, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Charlotte Rae, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
- 1926 – James Stirling, Scottish architect, designed the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Seeley Historical Library (d. 1992)
- 1927 – Laurel Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (d. 2019)
- 1929 – Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Enno Penno, Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 2016)
- 1931 – John Buchanan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Ronald Hynd, English dancer and choreographer
- 1933 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist and astronaut (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Christopher Ball, English linguist and academic
- 1935 – Paul Chambers, African-American bassist and composer (d. 1969)
- 1935 – Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic
- 1936 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
- 1936 – Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (d. 1998)
- 1937 – Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer
- 1937 – Jack Nitzsche, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 2000)
- 1938 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and activist (d. 2009)
- 1938 – Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer
- 1938 – Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
- 1939 – Mel Carter, American singer and actor
- 1939 – John Foley, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
- 1939 – Ray Guy, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (d. 2001)
- 1939 – Theodor Waigel, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Finance
- 1941 – Greville Howard, Baron Howard of Rising, English politician
- 1942 – Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic
- 1942 – Mary Prior, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol
- 1943 – Keith Crisco, American businessman and politician (d. 2014)
- 1943 – Janet Evanovich, American author
- 1943 – Louise Glück, American poet
- 1943 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2012)
- 1943 – Scott W. Williams, American mathematician and professor
- 1944 – Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, and sailor (d. 2007)
- 1944 – Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Joshua Rifkin, American conductor and musicologist
- 1945 – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
- 1945 – Demetrio Stratos, Egyptian-Italian singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
- 1946 – Steven L. Bennett, American captain and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1972)
- 1946 – Paul Davies, English physicist and author
- 1946 – Louise Harel, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1946 – Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Scottish lawyer and politician
- 1946 – Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, English economist and academic
- 1946 – John Waters, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1948 – John Pritchard, English bishop
- 1949 – Spencer Haywood, American basketball player
- 1950 – Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1950 – Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic
- 1951 – Paul Carrack, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Aivars Kalējs, Latvian organist, composer, and pianist
- 1951 – Ana María Shua, Argentinian author and poet
- 1952 – François Berléand, French actor
- 1952 – Dave Loveridge, New Zealand rugby player
- 1952 – Phil Smith, American basketball player (d. 2002)
- 1953 – Valeri Bondarenko, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1953 – Richard Broadbent, English businessman
- 1955 – David Collier, English businessman
- 1957 – Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland
- 1959 – Keith Boanas, English footballer and manager
- 1959 – Terry Francona, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1959 – Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
- 1959 – Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian actor and producer
- 1960 – Lloyd Honeyghan, Jamaican-English boxer
- 1960 – Mart Laar, Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia
- 1960 – Randall L. Stephenson, American businessman
- 1961 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (d. 1996)
- 1961 – Ann McKechin, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
- 1961 – Dewey Nicks, American photographer and director
- 1962 – Danièle Sauvageau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1963 – Rosalind Gill, English sociologist and academic
- 1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic weightlifter and strongman
- 1964 – Paul Baxter, English footballer
- 1965 – Miguel Leal, Portuguese footballer and manager
- 1965 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (d. 2009)
- 1966 – Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager
- 1966 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
- 1967 – David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic
- 1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American actress and talk show panelist
- 1967 – Harvey Williams, American football player
- 1968 – Jo Angel, Australian cricketer
- 1968 – Bimbo Coles, American basketball player and coach
- 1968 – Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Dion Dublin, English footballer and sportscaster
- 1970 – Erkki Bahovski, Estonian journalist
- 1971 – Eric Mabius, American actor
- 1971 – Spencer Prior, English footballer
- 1972 – Sabine Appelmans, Belgian tennis player
- 1972 – Owen Finegan, Australian rugby player and coach
- 1972 – Milka Duno, Venezuelan race car driver and engineer
- 1972 – Sergei Hohlov-Simson, Estonian footballer and manager
- 1972 – Willie Robertson, American hunter and businessman
- 1973 – Adem Poric, English-Australian footballer
- 1973 – Ofer Talker, Israeli footballer and manager
- 1974 – Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-American bass player, songwriter, and producer
- 1975 – Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)
- 1975 – Carlos Sastre, Spanish cyclist
- 1975 – Anders Nyström, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
- 1976 – Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1976 – Paul Henderson, Australian footballer
- 1976 – Michał Żewłakow, Polish footballer
- 1977 – Mark van Bommel, Dutch footballer
- 1978 – Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach
- 1978 – David Masters, English cricketer
- 1978 – Matt Orford, Australian rugby league player
- 1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Esteban Tuero, Argentinian race car driver
- 1979 – Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager
- 1979 – Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1980 – Igor Budan, Croatian footballer
- 1980 – Clarke Dermody, New Zealand rugby player
- 1980 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
- 1980 – Courtney Friel, American journalist
- 1980 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1980 – Quincy Timberlake, Kenyan-Australian activist, engineer, and politician
- 1980 – Rutledge Wood, American racing analyst and television personality
- 1981 – Madis Kallas, Estonian decathlete and activist
- 1981 – Rafael Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2007)
- 1981 – Jonathan Trott, South African-English cricketer
- 1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Cassidy Freeman, American actress and musician
- 1982 – Joel Monaghan, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – David Purcey, American baseball player
- 1982 – Aidas Reklys, Lithuanian figure skater
- 1982 – Aleksander Saharov, Estonian footballer
- 1982 – Noriko Shitaya, Japanese voice actress
- 1983 – Remi Ayodele, American football player
- 1983 – Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist
- 1983 – Jos Hooiveld, Dutch footballer
- 1983 – Matt Jones, American football player
- 1983 – Vangelis Mantzios, Greek footballer
- 1984 – Amelle Berrabah, English singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Kristin Fairlie, Canadian actress
- 1986 – Amber Heard, American actress and producer
- 1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player
- 1986 – Dušan Šakota, Serbian-Greek basketball player
- 1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – David Mateos, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Dee Gordon, American baseball player
- 1989 – DeJuan Blair, American basketball player
- 1989 – Jasper Cillessen, Dutch footballer
- 1989 – Aron Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1990 – Óscar González, Mexican boxer (d. 2014)
- 1990 – Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper and actor
- 1991 – Jordi Murphy, Irish international rugby player
- 1991 – Braydon Smith, Australian boxer (d. 2015)
- 1992 – Kenny Stills, American football player
- 1992 – Joonas Vaino, Estonian basketball player
- 1993 – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Australian footballer
- 1993 – Ngani Laumape, New Zealand rugby player
- 1993 – Marcel Ritzmaier, Austrian footballer
Deaths on April 22
- 296 – Pope Caius
- 536 – Pope Agapetus I
- 591 – Peter III of Raqqa
- 613 – Saint Theodore of Sykeon
- 846 – Wuzong, Chinese emperor (b. 814)
- 1208 – Philip of Poitou, Prince-Bishop of Durham
- 1322 – Francis of Fabriano, Italian writer (b. 1251)
- 1355 – Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (b. 1318)
- 1585 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (b. 1550)
- 1616 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1547)
- 1672 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish linguist and poet (b. 1598)
- 1699 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet (b. 1646)
- 1758 – Antoine de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (b. 1686)
- 1778 – James Hargreaves, British inventor (b. 1720)
- 1806 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (b. 1763)
- 1821 – Gregory V of Constantinople, Greek patriarch and saint (b. 1746)
- 1833 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (b. 1771)
- 1850 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist and physician (b. 1798)
- 1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican general and politician, 11th President of Mexico (b. 1786)
- 1871 – Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (b. 1806)
- 1877 – James P. Kirkwood, Scottish-American engineer (b. 1807)
- 1892 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (b. 1823)
- 1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian businessman and author (b. 1825)
- 1894 – Kostas Krystallis, Greek author and poet (b. 1868)
- 1896 – Thomas Meik, English engineer, founded Halcrow Group (b. 1812)
- 1908 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Scottish-English merchant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
- 1925 – André Caplet, French composer and conductor (b. 1878)
- 1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter and art collector (b. 1848)
- 1932 – Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian and author (b. 1883)
- 1933 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1863)
- 1944 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (b. 1913)
- 1945 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
- 1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (b. 1867)
- 1946 – Lionel Atwill, English-American actor (b. 1885)
- 1946 – Harlan F. Stone, American lawyer and jurist, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1872)
- 1949 – Charles Middleton, American actor (b. 1874)
- 1950 – Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer and academic (b. 1895)
- 1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist and coleopterist (b. 1870)
- 1956 – Walt Faulkner, American race car driver (b. 1918)
- 1968 – Stephen H. Sholes, American record producer (b. 1911)
- 1978 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902)
- 1980 – Jane Froman, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
- 1980 – Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (b. 1902)
- 1983 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1903)
- 1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemist and academic (b. 1900)
- 1985 – Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician and author (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (b. 1907)
- 1987 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect (b. 1905)
- 1988 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1917)
- 1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891)
- 1989 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- 1990 – Albert Salmi, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1994 – Richard Nixon, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913)
- 1995 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (b. 1947)
- 1996 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (b. 1927)
- 1996 – Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (b. 1908)
- 1998 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (b. 1940)
- 1999 – Chan Canasta, Polish-English magician (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Munir Ahmad Khan, Pakistani nuclear engineer (b. 1926)
- 2002 – Linda Lovelace, American porn actress and activist (b. 1949)
- 2003 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter (b. 1925)
- 2003 – James H. Critchfield, American CIA officer (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Martha Griffiths, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 58th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (b. 1912)
- 2003 – Mike Larrabee, American runner (b. 1933)
- 2004 – Jason Dunham, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1981)
- 2004 – Pat Tillman, American football player and soldier (b. 1976)
- 2005 – Erika Fuchs, German translator (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Philip Morrison, American physicist and academic (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Eduardo Paolozzi, Scottish sculptor and artist (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1919)
- 2006 – D’Iberville Fortier, Canadian diplomat (b. 1926)
- 2006 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)
- 2007 – Juanita Millender-McDonald, American educator and politician (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Cameron Argetsinger, American race car driver and lawyer (b. 1921)
- 2008 – Ed Chynoweth, Canadian businessman (b. 1941)
- 2009 – Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director and photographer (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Richard Barrett, American lawyer and activist (b. 1943)
- 2011 – Hazel Dickens, American singer-songwriter, bassist and guitarist (b. 1935)
- 2012 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Bill Granger, American author (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Buzz Potamkin, American director and producer (b. 1945)
- 2012 – George Rathmann, American chemist, biologist, and businessman (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded 99 Cents Only Stores (b. 1932)
- 2013 – George Stanley Gordon, American businessman (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist and composer (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Mike Smith, English footballer (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Robert Suderburg, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1936)
- 2013 – J. S. Verma, Indian judge, 27th Chief Justice of India (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Allen Jacobs, American football player and coach (b. 1941)
- 2014 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Mohammad Naseem, Pakistani-English activist (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Werner Potzernheim, German cyclist (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Oswaldo Vigas, Venezuelan painter (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Dick Balharry, Scottish environmentalist and photographer (b. 1937)
- 2015 – Gennadi Vengerov, Belarusian-Russian actor (b. 1959)
- 2017 – Erin Moran, American actress (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Donna Leanne Williams, Australian writer, artist, activist (b. 1963)
Holidays and observances on April 22
- Christian feast day:
- Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic Church)
- Arwald
- Epipodius and Alexander
- Hudson Stuck (Episcopal Church)
- John Muir (Episcopal Church)
- Opportuna of Montreuil
- Pope Caius
- Pope Soter
- St Senorina
- April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Discovery Day (Brazil)
- Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance:
- International Mother Earth Day
- Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia)
- From 2018 onwards, a national day of commemoration for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence (United Kingdom)
-
April 10 in History
- 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 837 – Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
- 1407 – Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title “Great Treasure Prince of Dharma”.
- 1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
- 1606 – The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
- 1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, comes into force in Great Britain.
- 1741 – War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia gains control of Silesia at the Battle of Mollwitz.
- 1809 – Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.
- 1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth’s climate for the next two years.
- 1816 – The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
- 1821 – Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.
- 1826 – The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town of Missolonghi begin leaving the town after a year’s siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.
- 1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
- 1864 – Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico.
- 1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
- 1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
- 1868 – At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two British/Indian troops die.
- 1872 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.
- 1875 – India: Arya Samaj is founded in Mumbai by Swami Dayananda Saraswati to propagate his goal of social reform.
- 1887 – On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America.
- 1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.
- 1916 – The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.
- 1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
- 1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
- 1938 – The 1938 German parliamentary election and referendum seeks approval for a single list of Nazi candidates and the recent annexation of Austria.
- 1939 – Alcoholics Anonymous, A.A.’s “Big Book”, is first published.
- 1941 – World War II: The Axis powers establish the Independent State of Croatia.
- 1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.
- 1957 – The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.
- 1963 – One hundred twenty-nine American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.
- 1968 – The TEV Wahine, a New Zealand ferry sinks in Wellington harbour due to a fierce storm – the strongest winds ever in Wellington. Out of the 734 people on board, fifty-three died.
- 1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
- 1971 – Ping-pong diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a week-long visit.
- 1972 – Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Sun Bin’s lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
- 1973 – Invicta International Airlines Flight 435 crashes in a snowstorm on approach to Basel, Switzerland, killing 108 people.
- 1979 – Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
- 1988 – The Ojhri Camp explosion kills or injures more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.
- 1991 – Italian ferry MS Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy, killing 140.
- 1991 – A rare tropical storm develops in the South Atlantic Ocean near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
- 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Northern Ireland.
- 2009 – President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces the abrogation of the constitution and assumes all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis.
- 2010 – Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and dozens of other senior officials and dignitaries.
- 2016 – The Paravur temple accident in which a devastating fire caused by the explosion of firecrackers stored for Vishu, kills more than one hundred people out of the thousands gathered for seventh day of Bhadrakali worship.
- 2016 – An earthquake of 6.6 magnitude strikes 39 km west-southwest of Ashkasham, shakes up India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Srinagar and Pakistan.
- 2019 – Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project announce the first ever image of a black hole, located in the centre of the M87 galaxy.
Births on April 10
- 401 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (d. 450)
- 1018 – Nizam al-Mulk, Persian scholar and vizier (d. 1092)
- 1472 – Margaret of York, English princess (d. 1472)
- 1480 – Philibert II, duke of Savoy (d. 1504)
- 1487 – William I, count of Nassau-Dillenburg (d. 1559)
- 1512 – James V, king of Scotland (d. 1542)
- 1579 – Augustus II, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1666)
- 1583 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and jurist (d. 1645)
- 1603 – Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark (d. 1647)
- 1651 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician, physicist, and physician (d. 1708)
- 1656 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, French-Canadian settler, founded Rimouski (d. 1718)
- 1704 – Benjamin Heath, English scholar and author (d. 1766)
- 1707 – Michel Corrette, French organist, composer, and author (d. 1795)
- 1713 – John Whitehurst, English geologist and clockmaker (d. 1788)
- 1755 – Samuel Hahnemann, German-French physician and academic (d. 1843)
- 1762 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1834)
- 1769 – Jean Lannes, French marshal (d. 1809)
- 1778 – William Hazlitt, English essayist and critic (d. 1830)
- 1794 – Matthew C. Perry, English-Scottish American commander (d. 1858)
- 1806 – Juliette Drouet, French actress (d. 1883)
- 1806 – Leonidas Polk, Scottish-American general and bishop (d. 1884)
- 1827 – Lew Wallace, American general, lawyer, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (d. 1905)
- 1829 – William Booth, English minister, founded The Salvation Army (d. 1912)
- 1847 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American journalist, publisher, and politician, founded Pulitzer, Inc. (d. 1911)
- 1864 – Eugen d’Albert, Scottish-German pianist and composer (d. 1932)
- 1865 – Jack Miner, American-Canadian farmer, hunter, and environmentalist (d. 1944)
- 1867 – George William Russell, Irish author, poet, and painter (d. 1935)
- 1868 – George Arliss, English actor and playwright (d. 1946)
- 1868 – Asriel Günzig, Moravian rabbi (d. 1931)
- 1873 – Kyösti Kallio, Finnish farmer, banker, and politician, 4th President of Finland (d. 1940)
- 1875 – George Clawley, English footballer (d. 1920)
- 1877 – Alfred Kubin, Austrian author and illustrator (d. 1959)
- 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
- 1879 – Coenraad Hiebendaal, Dutch rower and physician (d. 1921)
- 1880 – Frances Perkins, American sociologist, academic, and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1965)
- 1880 – Montague Summers, English clergyman and author (d. 1948)
- 1886 – Johnny Hayes, American runner and trainer (d. 1965)
- 1887 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentinian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1889 – Louis Rougier, French philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1982)
- 1891 – Frank Barson, English footballer and coach (d. 1968)
- 1893 – Otto Steinböck, Austrian zoologist (d. 1969)
- 1894 – Ben Nicholson, British painter (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Prafulla Chandra Sen, Indian accountant and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1990)
- 1900 – Arnold Orville Beckman, American chemist, inventor, and philanthropist (d. 2004)
- 1901 – Dhananjay Ramchandra Gadgil, Indian economist (d. 1971)
- 1903 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (d. 1970)
- 1906 – Steve Anderson, American hurdler (d. 1988)
- 1910 – Margaret Clapp, American scholar and academic (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Helenio Herrera, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and publisher, founded the Monthly Review (d. 2004)
- 1911 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs for France (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Boris Kidrič, Austrian-Slovenian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Slovenia (d. 1953)
- 1913 – Stefan Heym, German-American soldier and author (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Jack Badcock, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
- 1915 – Harry Morgan, American actor and director (d. 2011)
- 1915 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (d. 2014)
- 1916 – Lee Jung-seob, Korean painter (d. 1956)
- 1917 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1919 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Chuck Connors, American baseball player and actor (d. 1992)
- 1921 – Jake Warren, Canadian soldier and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Sheb Wooley, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Roger Gaillard, Haitian historian and author (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Jane Kean, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Floyd Simmons, American decathlete and actor (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Sid Tickridge, English footballer (d. 1997)
- 1923 – John Watkins, South African cricketer
- 1924 – Kenneth Noland, American soldier and painter (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Linda Goodman, American astrologer and author (d. 1995)
- 1925 – Angelo Poffo, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Jacques Castérède, French pianist and composer (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Junior Samples, American comedian (d. 1983)
- 1927 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican-American actress (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1929 – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1929 – Liz Sheridan, American actress
- 1929 – Max von Sydow, Swedish-French actor (d. 2020)
- 1930 – Claude Bolling, French pianist, composer, and actor
- 1930 – Dolores Huerta, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers
- 1931 – Kishori Amonkar, Indian classical vocalist (d. 2017)
- 1932 – Delphine Seyrig, Swiss/Alsatian French actress (d. 1990)
- 1932 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Rokusuke Ei, Japanese composer and author (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (d. 2013)
- 1934 – David Halberstam, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
- 1935 – John A. Bennett, American soldier (d. 1961)
- 1935 – Patrick Garland, English actor and director (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Peter Hollingworth, Australian bishop, 23rd Governor General of Australia
- 1936 – John Howell, English long jumper
- 1936 – John Madden, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1936 – Bobby Smith, American singer (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Bella Akhmadulina, Soviet and Russian poet, short story writer, and translator (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Don Meredith, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Claudio Magris, Italian scholar, author, and translator
- 1940 – Gloria Hunniford, British radio and television host
- 1941 – Harold Long, Canadian politician (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Paul Theroux, American novelist, short story writer, and travel writer
- 1942 – Nick Auf der Maur, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1998)
- 1942 – Ian Callaghan, English footballer
- 1942 – Stuart Dybek, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
- 1943 – Andrzej Badeński, Polish-German sprinter (d. 2008)
- 1943 – Margaret Pemberton, English author
- 1945 – Kevin Berry, Australian swimmer (d. 2006)
- 1946 – David Angell, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2001)
- 1946 – Bob Watson, American baseball player and manager
- 1946 – Adolf Winkelmann, German director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1947 – David A. Adler, American author and educator
- 1947 – Bunny Wailer, Jamaican singer-songwriter and drummer
- 1948 – Mel Blount, American football player
- 1949 – Daniel Mangeas, French banker and sportscaster
- 1949 – Eric Troyer, American singer-songwriter, keyboardist and guitarist
- 1950 – Ken Griffey, Sr., American baseball player and manager
- 1950 – Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (d. 1992)
- 1951 – David Helvarg, American journalist and activist
- 1952 – Narayan Rane, Indian politician, 16th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
- 1952 – Masashi Sada, Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and producer
- 1952 – Steven Seagal, American actor, producer, and martial artist
- 1953 – David Moorcroft, English runner and businessman
- 1953 – Pamela Wallin, Swedish-Canadian journalist, academic, and politician
- 1954 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Anne Lamott, American author and educator
- 1954 – Peter MacNicol, American actor
- 1954 – Juan Williams, Panamanian-American journalist and author
- 1955 – Lesley Garrett, English soprano and actress
- 1956 – Carol V. Robinson, English chemist and academic
- 1957 – Aliko Dangote, Nigerian businessman, founded Dangote Group
- 1957 – John M. Ford, American author and poet (d. 2006)
- 1957 – Steve Gustafson, Spanish-American bass player
- 1957 – Rosemary Hill, English historian and author
- 1958 – Bob Bell, Northern Irish engineer
- 1958 – Yefim Bronfman, Uzbek-American pianist
- 1958 – Brigitte Holzapfel, German high jumper
- 1959 – Babyface, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1959 – Yvan Loubier, Canadian economist and politician
- 1959 – Brian Setzer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Steve Bisciotti, American businessman, co-founded Allegis Group
- 1960 – Katrina Leskanich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Terry Teagle, American basketball player
- 1961 – Nicky Campbell, Scottish broadcaster and journalist
- 1961 – Joe Cole, American roadie and author (d. 1991)
- 1961 – Carole Goble, English computer scientist and academic
- 1961 – Mark Jones, American basketball player
- 1962 – Steve Tasker, American football player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Warren DeMartini, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1963 – Jeff Gray, American baseball player and coach
- 1963 – Doris Leuthard, Swiss lawyer and politician, 162nd President of the Swiss Confederation
- 1965 – Tim Alexander, American drummer and songwriter
- 1966 – Steve Claridge, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
- 1967 – Donald Dufresne, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1967 – David Rovics, American singer-songwriter
- 1968 – Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer and journalist (d. 1996)
- 1968 – Orlando Jones, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1969 – Steve Glasson, Australian lawn bowler
- 1969 – Ekaterini Koffa, Greek sprinter
- 1970 – Enrico Ciccone, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Leonard Doroftei, Romanian-Canadian boxer
- 1970 – Kenny Lattimore, American singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Q-Tip, American rapper, producer, and actor
- 1971 – Brad William Henke, American football player and actor
- 1971 – Indro Olumets, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1971 – Al Reyes, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1972 – Ian Harvey, Australian cricketer
- 1972 – Priit Kasesalu, Estonian computer programmer, co-created Skype
- 1972 – Gordon Buchanan, Scottish film maker
- 1973 – Guillaume Canet, French actor and director
- 1973 – Roberto Carlos, Brazilian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Aidan Moffat, Scottish singer-songwriter
- 1973 – Christopher Simmons, Canadian-American graphic designer, author, and academic
- 1974 – Eric Greitens, American soldier, author and politician
- 1974 – Petros Passalis, Greek footballer
- 1975 – Chris Carrabba, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Terrence Lewis, Indian dancer and choreographer
- 1975 – David Harbour, American actor
- 1976 – Clare Buckfield, English actress
- 1976 – Yoshino Kimura, Japanese actress and singer
- 1976 – Sara Renner, Canadian skier
- 1977 – Stephanie Sheh, Taiwanese-American voice actress, director, and producer
- 1978 – Sir Christus, Finnish guitarist
- 1979 – Iván Alonso, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 – Kenyon Coleman, American football player
- 1979 – Rachel Corrie, American author and activist (d. 2003)
- 1979 – Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
- 1979 – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, English singer-songwriter
- 1979 – Peter Kopteff, Finnish footballer
- 1980 – Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player and model
- 1980 – Charlie Hunnam, English actor
- 1980 – Shao Jiayi, Chinese footballer
- 1980 – Kasey Kahne, American race car driver
- 1980 – Bryce Soderberg, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1981 – Laura Bell Bundy, American actress and singer
- 1981 – Liz McClarnon, English singer and dancer
- 1981 – Michael Pitt, American actor, model and musician
- 1981 – Alexei Semenov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Andre Ethier, American baseball player
- 1982 – Chyler Leigh, American actress and singer
- 1983 – Jamie Chung, American actress
- 1983 – Andrew Dost, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1983 – Ryan Merriman, American actor
- 1983 – Hannes Sigurðsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1984 – Faustina Agolley, Australian television host
- 1984 – Jeremy Barrett, American figure skater
- 1984 – Mandy Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1984 – David Obua, Ugandan footballer
- 1984 – Damien Perquis, French-Polish footballer
- 1984 – Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Barkhad Abdi, Somali-American actor and director
- 1985 – Willo Flood, Irish footballer
- 1985 – Jesús Gámez, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Dion Phaneuf, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Olivia Borlée, Belgian sprinter
- 1986 – Fernando Gago, Argentine footballer
- 1986 – Corey Kluber, American baseball pitcher
- 1986 – Vincent Kompany, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Tore Reginiussen, Norwegian footballer
- 1987 – Shay Mitchell, Canadian actress and model
- 1987 – Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano
- 1988 – Chris Heston, American baseball pitcher
- 1988 – Kareem Jackson, American football player
- 1988 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor
- 1990 – Ben Amos, English footballer
- 1990 – Andile Jali, South African footballer
- 1990 – Ricky Leutele, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- 1990 – Maren Morris, American singer
- 1990 – Alex Pettyfer, English actor
- 1991 – AJ Michalka, American actress and singer
- 1992 – Jack Buchanan, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Sadio Mané, Senegalese footballer
- 1992 – Daisy Ridley, English actress
- 1993 – Sofia Carson, American singer and actress
- 1994 – Siobhan Hunter, Scottish footballer
- 1995 – Ian Nelson, American actor
- 1996 – Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australian tennis player
- 1996 – Audrey Whitby, American actress
- 1998 – Anna Pogorilaya, Russian figure skater
- 2001 – Ky Baldwin, Australian singer and actor
- 2001 – Noa Kirel, Israeli singer
Deaths on April 10
- 879 – Louis the Stammerer, king of West Francia (b. 846)
- 943 – Landulf I, prince of Benevento and Capua
- 948 – Hugh of Arles, king of Italy
- 1008 – Notker of Liège, French bishop (b. 940)
- 1216 – Eric X, king of Sweden (b. 1180)
- 1282 – Ahmad Fanakati, chief minister under Kublai Khan
- 1309 – Elisabeth von Rapperswil, Swiss countess (b. 1261)
- 1362 – Maud, English noblewoman (b. 1339)
- 1500 – Michael Tarchaniota Marullus, Greek scholar and poet
- 1533 – Frederick I, king of Denmark and Norway (b. 1471)
- 1545 – Costanzo Festa, Italian composer
- 1585 – Gregory XIII, Pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1502)
- 1598 – Jacopo Mazzoni, Italian philosopher (b. 1548)
- 1599 – Gabrielle d’Estrées, French mistress of Henry IV of France (b. 1571)
- 1601 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish soldier and poet (b. 1562)
- 1619 – Thomas Jones, English-Irish archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Ireland (b. 1550)
- 1640 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1578)
- 1644 – William Brewster, English official and pilgrim leader (b. 1566)
- 1646 – Santino Solari, Swiss architect and sculptor (b. 1576)
- 1667 – Jan Marek Marci, Czech physician and author (b. 1595)
- 1704 – William Egon of Fürstenberg, German cardinal (b. 1629)
- 1756 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer (b. 1661)
- 1760 – Jean Lebeuf, French historian and author (b. 1687)
- 1786 – John Byron, English admiral and politician, 24th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1723)
- 1806 – Horatio Gates, English-American general (b. 1727)
- 1813 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1736)
- 1823 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher and academic (b. 1757)
- 1871 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1789)
- 1904 – Isabella II, Spanish queen (b. 1830)
- 1909 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic (b. 1837)
- 1919 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general (b. 1879)
- 1920 – Moritz Cantor, German mathematician and historian (b. 1829)
- 1931 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (b. 1883)
- 1935 – Rosa Campbell Praed, Australian novelist (b. 1851)
- 1938 – King Oliver, American cornet player and bandleader (b. 1885)
- 1942 – Carl Schenstrøm, Danish actor and director (b. 1881)
- 1943 – Andreas Faehlmann, Estonian-German sailor and engineer (b. 1898)
- 1945 – Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch printer and typographer (b. 1882)
- 1947 – Charles Nordhoff, English-American lieutenant and author (b. 1887)
- 1950 – Fevzi Çakmak, Turkish field marshal and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1876)
- 1954 – Auguste Lumière, French director and producer (b. 1862)
- 1954 – Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1888)
- 1955 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1881)
- 1958 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (b. 1928)
- 1960 – André Berthomieu, French director and screenwriter (b. 1903)
- 1962 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1886)
- 1962 – Stuart Sutcliffe, Scottish artist and musician (b. 1940)
- 1965 – Lloyd Casner, American race car driver, founded Casner Motor Racing Division (b. 1928)
- 1965 – Linda Darnell, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1966 – Evelyn Waugh, English soldier, novelist, journalist and critic (b. 1903)
- 1968 – Gustavs Celmiņš, Latvian lieutenant and politician (b. 1899)
- 1969 – Harley Earl, American businessman (b. 1893)
- 1975 – Walker Evans, American photographer (b. 1903)
- 1975 – Marjorie Main, American actress (b. 1890)
- 1978 – Hjalmar Mäe, Estonian politician (b. 1901)
- 1979 – Nino Rota, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1911)
- 1980 – Kay Medford, American actress and singer (b. 1919)
- 1981 – Howard Thurman, American author, philosopher and civil rights activist (b. 1899)
- 1983 – Issam Sartawi, Palestinian activist (b. 1935)
- 1985 – Zisis Verros, Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle (b. 1880)
- 1986 – Linda Creed, American singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (b. 1955)
- 1991 – Martin Hannett, English guitarist and producer (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1992 – Sam Kinison, American comedian and actor (b. 1953)
- 1993 – Chris Hani, South African activist and politician (b. 1942)
- 1994 – Sam B. Hall, Jr., American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1924)
- 1995 – Morarji Desai, Indian politician, 4th Prime Minister of India (b. 1896)
- 1997 – Michael Dorris, American author and academic (b. 1945)
- 1998 – Seraphim of Athens, Greek archbishop (b. 1913)
- 1999 – Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, German-American biochemist and physician (b. 1910)
- 1999 – Jean Vander Pyl, American actress and voice artist (b. 1919)
- 2000 – Peter Jones, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2000 – Larry Linville, American actor (b. 1939)
- 2003 – Little Eva, American singer (b. 1943)
- 2004 – Jacek Kaczmarski, Polish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and poet (b. 1957)
- 2004 – Sakıp Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist, founded Sabancı Holding (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Scott Gottlieb, American drummer (b. 1970)
- 2005 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Al Lucas, American football player (b. 1978)
- 2005 – Wally Tax, Dutch singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 2007 – Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2007 – Dakota Staton, American singer (b. 1930)
- 2009 – Deborah Digges, American poet and educator (b. 1950)
- 2010 – Casualties in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash included:
- Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish soldier and politician, 6th President of the Republic of Poland (b. 1919)
- Maria Kaczyńska, Polish economist, First Lady of Poland (b. 1942)
- Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 4th President of Poland (b. 1949)
- Anna Walentynowicz, Ukrainian-Polish journalist and activist (b. 1929)
- 2010 – Dixie Carter, American actress and singer (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Raymond Aubrac, French engineer and activist (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Barbara Buchholz, German theremin player and composer (b. 1959)
- 2012 – Lili Chookasian, Armenian-American operatic singer (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Luis Aponte Martínez, Puerto Rican cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Akin Omoboriowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Lorenzo Antonetti, Italian cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Raymond Boudon, French sociologist and academic (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Binod Bihari Chowdhury, Bangladeshi activist (b. 1911)
- 2013 – Robert Edwards, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Olive Lewin, Jamaican anthropologist, musicologist, and author (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Gordon Thomas, English cyclist (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Angela Voigt, German long jumper (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Dominique Baudis, French journalist and politician (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Jim Flaherty, Canadian lawyer and politician, 37th Canadian Minister of Finance (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Richard Hoggart, English author and academic (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (b. 1946)
- 2015 – Richie Benaud, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Raúl Héctor Castro, Mexican-American politician and diplomat, 14th Governor of Arizona (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Judith Malina, German-American actress and director, co-founded The Living Theatre (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Rose Francine Rogombé, Gabonese lawyer and politician, President of Gabon (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Peter Walsh, Australian farmer and politician, 6th Australian Minister for Finance (b. 1935)
- 2016 – Howard Marks, Welsh cannabis smuggler, writer, and legalisation campaigner (b. 1945)
Holidays and observances on April 10
- Christian feast day:
- Fulbert of Chartres
- James, Azadanus and Abdicius
- Mikael Agricola (Lutheran)
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (Episcopal Church)
- William of Ockham (Anglicanism)
- William Law (Anglicanism)
- April 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Builder (Azerbaijan)
- Feast of the Third Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema)
- Siblings Day (International observance)
- World Homeopathy Day
-
March 18 in History
- 1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula, leaves up to 20,000 dead.
- 1229 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares himself King of Jerusalem in the Sixth Crusade.
- 1241 – First Mongol invasion of Poland: Mongols overwhelm Polish armies in Kraków in the Battle of Chmielnik and plunder the city.
- 1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and final Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.
- 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1608 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
- 1644 – The Third Anglo-Powhatan War begins in the Colony of Virginia.
- 1741 – New York governor George Clarke’s complex at Fort George is burned in an arson attack, starting the New York Conspiracy of 1741.
- 1766 – American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.
- 1793 – The first modern republic in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann.
- 1793 – Flanders Campaign of the French Revolution, Battle of Neerwinden.
- 1834 – Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
- 1848 – March Revolution: In Berlin there is a struggle between citizens and military, costing about 300 lives.
- 1850 – American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.
- 1865 – American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States adjourns for the last time.
- 1871 – Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, orders the evacuation of Paris.
- 1874 – Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trade rights.
- 1892 – Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup as an award for the best hockey team in Canada; it was later named after him as the Stanley Cup.
- 1900 – AFC Ajax Amsterdam, The Netherlands’s biggest and most successful football club, was founded.
- 1902 – Macario Sakay issues Presidential Order No. 1 of his Tagalog Republic.
- 1913 – King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.
- 1915 – World War I: During the Battle of Gallipoli, three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
- 1921 – The second Peace of Riga is signed between Poland and the Soviet Union.
- 1921 – The Kronstadt rebellion is suppressed by the Red Army.
- 1922 – In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience, of which he serves only two.
- 1925 – The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
- 1937 – The New London School explosion in New London, Texas, kills 300 people, mostly children.
- 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
- 1938 – Mexico creates Pemex by expropriating all foreign-owned oil reserves and facilities.
- 1940 – World War II: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
- 1942 – The War Relocation Authority is established in the United States to take Japanese Americans into custody.
- 1944 – Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, killing 26 people, causing thousands to flee their homes, and destroying dozens of Allied bombers.
- 1948 – Soviet consultants leave Yugoslavia in the first sign of the Tito–Stalin Split.
- 1953 – An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 265 people.
- 1959 – The Hawaii Admission Act is signed into law.
- 1962 – The Évian Accords end the Algerian War of Independence, which had begun in 1954.
- 1965 – Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
- 1967 – The supertanker Torrey Canyon runs aground off the Cornish coast.
- 1968 – Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
- 1969 – The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.
- 1970 – Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
- 1971 – Peru: a landslide crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200 people at the mining camp of Chungar.
- 1980 – A Vostok-2M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 explodes during a fueling operation, killing 48 people.
- 1990 – Germans in the German Democratic Republic vote in the first democratic elections in the former communist dictatorship.
- 1990 – In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $500 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
- 1994 – Bosnia’s Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending war between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 1996 – A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162 people.
- 1997 – The tail of a Russian Antonov An-24 charter plane breaks off while en route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 people on board.
- 2014 – The parliaments of Russia and Crimea sign an accession treaty.
- 2015 – The Bardo National Museum in Tunisia is attacked by gunmen. 23 people, almost all tourists, are killed, and at least 50 other people are wounded.
Births on March 18
- 1075 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian scholar and theologian (d. 1144)
- 1395 – John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, English military commander (d. 1447)
- 1495 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France (d. 1533)
- 1548 – Cornelis Ketel, Dutch painter (d. 1616)
- 1552 – Polykarp Leyser the Elder, German theologian (d. 1610)
- 1555 – Francis, Duke of Anjou (d. 1584)
- 1578 – Adam Elsheimer, German painter (d. 1610)
- 1590 – Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet (d. 1649)
- 1597 – Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière, French religious leader, founded the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal (d. 1659)
- 1603 – Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate (d. 1697)
- 1609 – Frederick III of Denmark (d. 1670)
- 1634 – Madame de La Fayette, French author (d. 1693)
- 1640 – Philippe de La Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1719)
- 1657 – Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian organist and composer (d. 1743)
- 1690 – Christian Goldbach, Prussian-German mathematician and academic (d. 1764)
- 1701 – Niclas Sahlgren, Swedish businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Swedish East India Company (d. 1776)
- 1733 – Christoph Friedrich Nicolai, German author and bookseller (d. 1811)
- 1780 – Miloš Obrenović, Serbian prince (d. 1860)
- 1782 – John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (d. 1850)
- 1789 – Charlotte Elliott, English poet, hymn writer, editor (d. 1871)
- 1798 – Francis Lieber, German-American jurist and philosopher (d. 1872)
- 1800 – Harriet Smithson, Irish actress, the first wife and muse of Hector Berlioz (d. 1854)
- 1813 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German poet and playwright (d. 1864)
- 1814 – Jacob Bunn, American businessman (d. 1897)
- 1819 – James McCulloch, Scottish-Australian politician, 5th Premier of Victoria (d. 1893)
- 1820 – John Plankinton, American businessman and industrialist, also noted for philanthropy (d. 1891)
- 1823 – Antoine Chanzy, French general (d. 1883)
- 1828 – Randal Cremer, English activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1908)
- 1837 – Grover Cleveland, American lawyer and politician, 22nd and 24th President of the United States (d. 1908)
- 1840 – William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (d. 1901)
- 1842 – Stéphane Mallarmé, French poet and critic (d. 1898)
- 1844 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer and academic (d. 1908)
- 1846 – Kicking Bear, Native American tribal leader (d. 1904)
- 1848 – Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, American architect and engineer (d. 1938)
- 1858 – Rudolf Diesel, German engineer, invented the Diesel engine (d. 1913)
- 1862 – Eugène Jansson, Swedish painter (d. 1915)
- 1863 – William Sulzer, American lawyer and politician, 39th Governor of New York (d. 1941)
- 1869 – Neville Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
- 1870 – Agnes Sime Baxter, Canadian mathematician (d. 1917)
- 1874 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian-French philosopher and theologian (d. 1948)
- 1877 – Edgar Cayce, American mystic and psychic (d. 1945)
- 1877 – Clem Hill, Australian cricketer and engineer (d. 1945)
- 1878 – Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry, English businessman (d. 1956)
- 1882 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer and educator (d. 1973)
- 1884 – Bernard Cronin, English-Australian journalist and author (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Edward Everett Horton, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1970)
- 1890 – Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (d. 1969)
- 1893 – Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist (d. 1978)
- 1893 – Wilfred Owen, English soldier and poet (d. 1918)
- 1901 – Manly Palmer Hall, Canadian mystic, author and philosopher (d. 1990)
- 1901 – William Johnson, American painter (d. 1970)
- 1903 – Galeazzo Ciano, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1944)
- 1903 – E. O. Plauen, German cartoonist (d. 1944)
- 1904 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet and author (d. 1926)
- 1904 – Margaret Tucker, Australian author and activist (d. 1996)
- 1905 – Thomas Townsend Brown, American physicist and engineer (d. 1985)
- 1905 – Robert Donat, English actor (d. 1958)
- 1907 – John Zachary Young, English zoologist and neurophysiologist (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Loulou Gasté, French composer (d. 1995)
- 1909 – Ernest Gallo, American businessman, co-founded the E & J Gallo Winery (d. 2007)
- 1909 – C. Walter Hodges, English author and illustrator (d. 2004)
- 1911 – Smiley Burnette, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1967)
- 1912 – Art Gilmore, American voice actor and announcer (d. 2010)
- 1913 – René Clément, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Werner Mölders, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941)
- 1915 – Richard Condon, American author and screenwriter (d. 1996)
- 1922 – Egon Bahr, German journalist and politician, Federal Minister for Special Affairs of Germany (d. 2015)
- 1922 – Seymour Martin Lipset, American sociologist and academic (d. 2006)
- 1922 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American activist, co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Andy Granatelli, American race car driver and businessman (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Alessandro Alessandroni, Italian musician (d. 2017)
- 1925 – James Pickles, English journalist, lawyer, and judge (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Peter Graves, American actor and director (d. 2010)
- 1927 – John Kander, American pianist and composer
- 1927 – George Plimpton, American journalist and actor (d. 2003)
- 1927 – Lillian Vernon, German-American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Lillian Vernon Company (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Miguel Poblet, Spanish cyclist (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Fidel V. Ramos, Filipino general and politician, 12th President of the Philippines
- 1929 – Samuel Pisar, Polish-American lawyer and author (d. 2015)
- 1930 – James J. Andrews, American mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
- 1931 – John Fraser, Scottish actor
- 1932 – John Updike, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 2009)
- 1933 – Unita Blackwell, American civil rights activist and politician (d. 2019)
- 1934 – Roy Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1983)
- 1934 – Charley Pride, American country music singer and musician
- 1935 – Ole Barndorff-Nielsen, Danish mathematician and statistician
- 1935 – Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (d. 2016)
- 1936 – F. W. de Klerk, South African lawyer and politician, 2nd State President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1937 – Rudi Altig, German cyclist and sportscaster (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Mark Donohue, American race car driver (d. 1975)
- 1938 – Carl Gottlieb, American actor and screenwriter
- 1938 – Shashi Kapoor, Indian actor and producer (d. 2017)
- 1938 – Kenny Lynch, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2019)
- 1938 – Timo Mäkinen, Finnish race car driver (d. 2017)
- 1938 – Machiko Soga, Japanese actress (d. 2006)
- 1939 – Ron Atkinson, English footballer and manager
- 1939 – Jean-Pierre Wallez, French violinist and conductor
- 1941 – Wilson Pickett, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
- 1942 – Kathleen Collins, African-American filmmaker and playwright (d. 1988)
- 1943 – Dennis Linde, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
- 1944 – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli general and politician, 22nd Transportation Minister of Israel (d. 2012)
- 1944 – Frank McRae, American football player and actor
- 1944 – Dick Smith, Australian publisher and businessman, founded Dick Smith Electronics and Australian Geographic
- 1945 – Hiroh Kikai, Japanese photographer
- 1945 – Michael Reagan, American journalist and radio host
- 1945 – Susan Tyrrell, American actress (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2009)
- 1946 – Michel Leclère, French race car driver
- 1947 – Patrick Barlow, English actor and playwright
- 1947 – Patrick Chesnais, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1947 – David Lloyd, English cricketer, journalist, and sportscaster
- 1947 – B. J. Wilson, English rock drummer (d. 1990)
- 1948 – Guy Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1948 – Brian Lloyd, Welsh footballer
- 1948 – Eknath Solkar, Indian cricketer (d. 2005)
- 1949 – Åse Kleveland, Norwegian singer and politician, Norwegian Minister of Culture
- 1950 – James Conlon, American conductor and educator
- 1950 – Brad Dourif, American actor
- 1950 – Linda Partridge, English geneticist and academic
- 1950 – Larry Perkins, Australian race car driver
- 1951 – Paul Barber, English actor
- 1951 – Ben Cohen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Ben and Jerry’s
- 1951 – Bill Frisell, American guitarist and composer
- 1951 – Timothy N. Philpot, American lawyer, author, and judge
- 1952 – Will Durst, American journalist and actor
- 1952 – Pat Eddery, Irish jockey and trainer (d. 2015)
- 1952 – Bernie Tormé, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
- 1952 – Mike Webster, American football player (d. 2002)
- 1953 – Franz Wright, Austrian-American poet and translator (d. 2015)
- 1953 – Takashi Yoshimatsu, Japanese composer
- 1955 – Francis G. Slay, American lawyer and politician, 45th Mayor of St. Louis
- 1955 – Jeff Stelling, English journalist and game show host
- 1956 – Rick Martel, Canadian wrestler
- 1956 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey, American madam (d. 2008)
- 1956 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish skier
- 1957 – Christer Fuglesang, Swedish physicist and astronaut
- 1958 – Richard de Zoysa, Sri Lankan journalist and author (d. 1990)
- 1959 – Luc Besson, French director, producer, and screenwriter, founded EuropaCorp
- 1960 – Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1960 – Guy Carbonneau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1960 – James Plaskett, Cypriot-English chess player
- 1961 – Grant Hart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
- 1962 – Michael Andrews, Australian rugby league player
- 1962 – Irene Cara, American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer
- 1962 – Brian Fisher, American baseball player
- 1962 – Thomas Ian Griffith, American actor and martial artist
- 1962 – James McMurtry, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1962 – Etsushi Toyokawa, Japanese actor and director
- 1962 – Volker Weidler, German race car driver and engineer
- 1963 – Jeff LaBar, American guitarist
- 1963 – Vanessa L. Williams, American model, actress, and singer
- 1964 – Bonnie Blair, American speed skater
- 1964 – Alex Caffi, Italian race car driver
- 1964 – Jo Churchill, British politician
- 1964 – Courtney Pine, English saxophonist and clarinet player
- 1964 – Isabel Noronha, Mozambican film director
- 1966 – Jerry Cantrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1966 – Peter Jones, English businessman
- 1966 – Brian Watts, Canadian golfer
- 1967 – Miki Berenyi, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1968 – Prince Eudes, Duke of Angoulême
- 1968 – Miguel Herrera, Mexican footballer and manager
- 1968 – Temur Ketsbaia, Georgian footballer and manager
- 1968 – Paul Marsden, English businessman and politician
- 1969 – Andy Cutting, English accordion player and composer
- 1969 – Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess player
- 1969 – Shaun Udal, English cricketer
- 1970 – Queen Latifah, American rapper, producer, and actress
- 1971 – Wayne Arthurs, Australian tennis player
- 1971 – Mike Bell, American wrestler (d. 2008)
- 1971 – Mariaan de Swardt, South African-American tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1971 – Kitty Ussher, English economist and politician
- 1972 – Dane Cook, American comedian, actor, director, and producer
- 1972 – Reince Priebus, American lawyer and politician
- 1973 – Luci Christian, American voice actress and screenwriter
- 1974 – Laure Savasta, French basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1974 – Stuart Zender, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
- 1975 – Sutton Foster, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1975 – Brian Griese, American football player and sportscaster
- 1975 – Kimmo Timonen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1975 – Tomas Žvirgždauskas, Lithuanian footballer
- 1976 – Giovanna Antonelli, Brazilian actress and producer
- 1976 – Tomo Ohka, Japanese baseball player
- 1976 – Scott Podsednik, American baseball player
- 1976 – Mike Quackenbush, American wrestler, trainer, and author, founded Chikara wrestling promotion
- 1977 – Zdeno Chára, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1977 – Danny Murphy, English international footballer, midfielder and sportscaster
- 1977 – Fernando Rodney, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1977 – Willy Sagnol, French footballer and manager
- 1977 – Terrmel Sledge, American baseball player and coach
- 1978 – Fernandão, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
- 1978 – Brooke Hanson, Australian swimmer
- 1978 – Brian Scalabrine, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1978 – Jonas Wallerstedt, Swedish footballer, coach, and manager
- 1979 – Adam Levine, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and television personality
- 1980 – Sébastien Frey, French footballer
- 1980 – Sophia Myles, English actress
- 1980 – Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
- 1981 – Tora Berger, Norwegian biathlete
- 1981 – Fabian Cancellara, Swiss cyclist
- 1981 – Leslie Djhone, French sprinter
- 1981 – Jang Na-ra, South Korean singer and actress
- 1981 – Kasib Powell, American basketball player
- 1981 – Tom Starke, German footballer
- 1981 – Doug Warren, American soccer player
- 1981 – Lovro Zovko, Croatian tennis player
- 1982 – Mantorras, Angolan footballer
- 1982 – Chad Cordero, American baseball player
- 1982 – Timo Glock, German race car driver
- 1982 – Adam Pally, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1983 – Ethan Carter III, American wrestler
- 1983 – Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, French tennis player
- 1983 – Andy Sonnanstine, American baseball player
- 1983 – Tomasz Stolpa, Polish footballer
- 1984 – Simone Padoin, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Rajeev Ram, American tennis player
- 1984 – Vonzell Solomon, American singer and actress
- 1985 – Ana Beatriz, Brazilian race car driver
- 1985 – Marvin Humes, English singer
- 1985 – Vince Lia, Australian footballer
- 1986 – Lykke Li, Swedish singer-songwriter
- 1986 – Abdennour Chérif El-Ouazzani, Algerian footballer
- 1987 – Rebecca Soni, American swimmer
- 1989 – Francesco Checcucci, Italian footballer
- 1989 – Lily Collins, English-American actress
- 1989 – Shreevats Goswami, Indian cricketer
- 1989 – Kana Nishino, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1989 – Paul Marc Rousseau, Canadian guitarist and producer
- 1989 – Ming Xi, Chinese model
- 1991 – Dylan Mattingly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1991 – Sam Williams, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Ryan Truex, American race car driver
- 1992 – Takuya Terada, Japanese singer, actor, and model
- 1997 – Ciara Bravo, American actress
- 1997 – Rieko Ioane, New Zealand rugby union player
Deaths on March 18
- 978 – Edward the Martyr, English king (b. 962)
- 1076 – Ermengarde of Anjou, Duchess of Burgundy (b. 1018)
- 1086 – Anselm of Lucca, Italian bishop (b. 1036)
- 1227 – Pope Honorius III (b. 1148)
- 1272 – John FitzAlan, 7th Earl of Arundel (b. 1246)
- 1308 – Yuri I of Galicia
- 1314 – Jacques de Molay, Frankish knight (b. 1244)
- 1314 – Geoffroy de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy for the Knights Templar
- 1321 – Matthew III Csák, Hungarian oligarch (b. c.1260/5)
- 1582 – Juan Jauregui, attempted assassin of William I of Orange (b. 1562)
- 1675 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1606)
- 1689 – John Dixwell, English soldier and politician (b. 1607)
- 1745 – Robert Walpole, English scholar and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)
- 1768 – Laurence Sterne, Irish novelist and clergyman (b. 1713)
- 1781 – Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1727)
- 1823 – Jean-Baptiste Bréval, French cellist and composer (b. 1753)
- 1835 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian politician and diplomat (b. 1769)
- 1845 – Johnny Appleseed, American gardener and missionary (b. 1774)
- 1871 – Augustus De Morgan, Indian-English mathematician and academic (b. 1806)
- 1898 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American author and activist (b. 1826)
- 1900 – Hjalmar Kiærskou, Danish botanist (b. 1835)
- 1907 – Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1827)
- 1913 – George I of Greece (b. 1845)
- 1918 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect, designed the Plaza Hotel (b. 1847)
- 1930 – Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, American painter (b. 1863)
- 1936 – Eleftherios Venizelos, Greek journalist, lawyer, and politician, 93rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1864)
- 1939 – Henry Simpson Lunn, English businessman, founded Lunn Poly (b. 1859)
- 1941 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist (b. 1884)
- 1947 – William C. Durant, American businessman, co-founded General Motors and Chevrolet (b. 1861)
- 1954 – Walter Mead, English cricketer (b. 1868)
- 1956 – Louis Bromfield, American environmentalist and author (b. 1896)
- 1962 – Walter W. Bacon, American accountant and politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (b. 1880)
- 1964 – Sigfrid Edström, Swedish businessman, 4th President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1870)
- 1965 – Farouk of Egypt (b. 1920)
- 1973 – Johannes Aavik, Estonian philologist and poet (b. 1880)
- 1977 – Marien Ngouabi, Congolese politician, President of the Republic of the Congo (b. 1938)
- 1977 – Carlos Pace, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1944)
- 1978 – Leigh Brackett, American author and screenwriter (b. 1915)
- 1978 – Peggy Wood, American actress (b. 1892)
- 1980 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and philosopher (b. 1900)
- 1982 – Patrick Smith, Irish farmer and politician, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (b. 1901)
- 1983 – Umberto II of Italy (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Charley Lau, American baseball player and coach (b. 1933)
- 1986 – Bernard Malamud, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Billy Butterfield, American trumpet player and cornet player (b. 1917)
- 1990 – Robin Harris, American comedian (b. 1953)
- 1993 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English-American economist and activist (b. 1910)
- 1996 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 2000 – Eberhard Bethge, German theologian and academic (b. 1909)
- 2001 – John Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Mamas & the Papas) (b. 1935)
- 2002 – R. A. Lafferty, American soldier and author (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Karl Kling, German race car driver (b. 1910)
- 2003 – Adam Osborne, Thai-English engineer and businessman, founded the Osborne Computer Corporation (b. 1939)
- 2004 – Harrison McCain, Canadian businessman, co-founded McCain Foods (b. 1927)
- 2006 – Dan Gibson, Canadian photographer and cinematographer (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Bob Woolmer, Indian-English cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1948)
- 2008 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (b. 1954)
- 2009 – Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian journalist and blogger (b. 1980)
- 2009 – Natasha Richardson, English-American actress (b. 1963)
- 2010 – Fess Parker, American actor and businessman (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Warren Christopher, American lawyer and politician, 63rd United States Secretary of State (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Furman Bisher, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
- 2012 – William R. Charette, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1932)
- 2012 – William G. Moore Jr., American general (b. 1920)
- 2012 – George Tupou V of Tonga (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Muhammad Mahmood Alam, Pakistani general and pilot (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Henry Bromell, American novelist, screenwriter, and director (b. 1947)
- 2013 – Clay Ford, American lawyer and politician (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Nigerian author, playwright, and academic (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Kaiser Kalambo, Zambian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1953)
- 2014 – Lucius Shepard, American author and critic (b. 1943)
- 2015 – Zhao Dayu, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1961)
- 2015 – Thomas Hopko, American priest and theologian (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Grace Ogot, Kenyan nurse, journalist, and politician (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Barry Hines, English author and screenwriter (b. 1939)
- 2016 – Jan Němec, Czech director and screenwriter (b. 1936)
- 2016 – Tray Walker, American football player (b. 1992)
- 2016 – Guido Westerwelle, German lawyer and politician, 15th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (b. 1961)
- 2017 – Chuck Berry, American guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1926)
- 2020 – Alfred Worden, Apollo 15 command module pilot (b. 1932)
Holidays and observances on March 18
- Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)
- Christian feast day:
- Alexander of Jerusalem
- Anselm of Lucca
- Cyril of Jerusalem
- Edward the Martyr
- Fridianus
- Salvator
- March 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- The earliest date on which Holy Wednesday can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the week before Easter. (Christianity)
- Flag Day (Aruba)
- Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)
- Men’s and Soldiers’ Day (Mongolia)
- Ordnance Factories’ Day (India)
- Sheelah’s Day (Ireland, Canada, Australia)
- Teacher’s Day (Syria)
-
March 8 in History
- 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh.
- 1126 – Following the death of his mother Urraca, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of Castile and León.
- 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bourgeois militias and the army of the bishop of Strasbourg.
- 1576 – Spanish explorer Diego García de Palacio first sights the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Copán.
- 1618 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.
- 1655 – John Casor becomes the first legally-recognized slave in England’s North American colonies where a crime was not committed.
- 1658 – Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655–1661), Frederick III, the King of Denmark–Norway is forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.
- 1702 – Queen Anne, the younger sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland
- 1722 – The Safavid Empire of Iran is defeated by an army from Afghanistan at the Battle of Gulnabad, pushing Iran into anarchy.
- 1736 – Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid dynasty, is crowned Shah of Iran.
- 1775 – An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes “African Slavery in America”, the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery.
- 1777 – Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.
- 1782 – Gnadenhutten massacre: Ninety-six Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity, are killed by Pennsylvania militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indian tribes.
- 1801 – War of the Second Coalition: At the Battle of Abukir, a British force under Sir Ralph Abercromby lands in Egypt with the aim of ending the French campaign in Egypt and Syria.
- 1817 – The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
- 1844 – King Oscar I ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Naval Battle of Hampton Roads begins.
- 1868 – Sakai incident: Japanese samurai kill 11 French sailors in the port of Sakai, Osaka.
- 1910 – French aviator Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman to receive a pilot’s license.
- 1914 – First flights (for the Royal Thai Air Force) at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok.
- 1916 – World War I: A British force unsuccessfully attempts to relieve the siege of Kut (present-day Iraq) in the Battle of Dujaila.
- 1917 – International Women’s Day protests in St. Petersburg mark the beginning of the February Revolution (February 23rd in the Julian calendar).
- 1917 – The United States Senate votes to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
- 1920 – The Arab Kingdom of Syria, the first modern Arab state to come into existence, is established.
- 1921 – Spanish Prime Minister Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
- 1924 – A mine disaster kills 172 coal miners near Castle Gate, Utah.
- 1936 – Daytona Beach and Road Course holds its first oval stock car race.
- 1937 – Spanish Civil War: The Battle of Guadalajara begins.
- 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces gave an ultimatum to Dutch East Indies Governor General Jonkheer Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer and KNIL Commander in Chief Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten, to unconditionally surrender.
- 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces captured Rangoon, Burma from British.
- 1947 – Thirteen thousand troops of the Republic of China Army arrive in Taiwan after the February 28 Incident and launch crackdowns which kill thousands of people, including many elites. This turns into a major root of the Taiwan independence movement.
- 1949 – President of France Vincent Auriol and ex-emperor of Annam Bảo Đại sign the Élysée Accords, giving Vietnam greater independence from France and creating the State of Vietnam to oppose Viet Minh-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
- 1957 – Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal after the Suez Crisis.
- 1957 – The 1957 Georgia Memorial to Congress, which petitions the U.S. Congress to declare the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution null and void, is adopted by the U.S. state of Georgia.
- 1963 – The Ba’ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d’état by a clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the National Council of the Revolutionary Command.
- 1965 – Thirty-five hundred United States Marines are the first American land combat forces committed during the Vietnam War.
- 1966 – Nelson’s Pillar in Dublin, Ireland, destroyed by a bomb.
- 1971 – The Fight of the Century between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali commences. Frazier wins in 15 rounds via unanimous decision.
- 1974 – Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
- 1979 – Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.
- 1983 – Cold War: While addressing a convention of Evangelicals, U.S. President Ronald Reagan labels the Soviet Union an “evil empire”.
- 1985 – A supposed failed assassination attempt on Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon kills at least 45 and injures 175 others.
- 2004 – A new constitution is signed by Iraq’s Governing Council.
- 2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying a total of 239 people, disappears en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
- 2017 – The Azure Window, a natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses in stormy weather.
Births on March 8
- 1286 – John III, Duke of Brittany (d. 1341)
- 1293 – Beatrice of Castile (d. 1359)
- 1495 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (d. 1550)
- 1514 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese daimyō (d. 1562)
- 1518 – Sidonie of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg (d. 1575)
- 1550 – William Drury, English politician (d. 1590)
- 1658 – Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor, British Baron (d. 1730)
- 1566 – Carlo Gesualdo, Italian lute player and composer (d. 1613)
- 1712 – John Fothergill, English physician and botanist (d. 1780)
- 1714 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German pianist and composer (d. 1788)
- 1726 – Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, English admiral and politician, Treasurer of the Navy (d. 1799)
- 1746 – André Michaux, French botanist and explorer (d. 1802)
- 1748 – William V, Prince of Orange (d. 1806)
- 1761 – Jan Potocki, Polish ethnologist, historian, linguist, and author (d. 1815)
- 1799 – Simon Cameron, American journalist and politician, 26th United States Secretary of War (d. 1889)
- 1804 – Alvan Clark, American astronomer and optician (d. 1887)
- 1822 – Ignacy Łukasiewicz, Polish inventor and businessman, invented the Kerosene lamp (d. 1882)
- 1826 – Johann Köler, Estonian painter and academic (d. 1899)
- 1827 – Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist and anthropologist (d. 1875)
- 1830 – João de Deus, Portuguese poet and educator (d. 1896)
- 1839 – Josephine Cochrane, American inventor (d. 1913)
- 1841 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., American colonel, lawyer, and jurist (d. 1935)
- 1848 – LaMarcus Adna Thompson, American engineer and businessman, developed the roller coaster (d. 1917)
- 1856 – Bramwell Booth, English 2nd General of The Salvation Army (d. 1929)
- 1856 – Colin Campbell Cooper, American painter and academic (d. 1937)
- 1859 – Kenneth Grahame, Scottish-English banker and author (d. 1932)
- 1865 – Frederic Goudy, American type designer, created Copperplate Gothic and Goudy Old Style (d. 1947)
- 1879 – Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
- 1892 – Juana de Ibarbourou, Uruguayan poet and author (d. 1979)
- 1896 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian journalist and politician, 46th Mayor of Ottawa (d. 1975)
- 1899 – Elmer Keith, American gun designer and author (d. 1984)
- 1900 – Howard H. Aiken, American physicist and computer scientist, created the Harvard Mark I (d. 1973)
- 1902 – Louise Beavers, American actress and singer (d. 1962)
- 1902 – Jennings Randolph, American journalist and politician (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Greece (d. 1998)
- 1909 – Beatrice Shilling, English motorcycle racer and engineer (d. 1990)
- 1909 – Paula Strasberg, American actress and acting coach (d. 1966)
- 1910 – Claire Trevor, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1911 – Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American pianist and composer (d. 2000)
- 1912 – Preston Smith, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
- 1912 – Meldrim Thomson, Jr., American publisher and politician, 73rd Governor of New Hampshire (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Yakov Borisovich Zel’dovich, Belarusian-Russian physicist and astronomer (d. 1987)
- 1918 – Eileen Herlie, Scottish-American actress (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Douglass Wallop, American author and playwright (d. 1985)
- 1921 – Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
- 1921 – Sahir Ludhianvi, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1980)
- 1922 – Ralph H. Baer, German-American video game designer, created the Magnavox Odyssey (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (d. 1989)
- 1922 – Yevgeny Matveyev, Russian actor and director (d. 2003)
- 1922 – Shigeru Mizuki, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1924 – Anthony Caro, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Georges Charpak, Ukrainian-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1924 – Sean McClory, Irish-American actor and director (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Francisco Rabal, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Hebe Camargo, Brazilian actress and singer (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Bob Grim, American baseball player (d. 1996)
- 1930 – Douglas Hurd, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- 1931 – Neil Adcock, South African cricketer (d. 2013)
- 1931 – John McPhee, American author and educator
- 1931 – Gerald Potterton, English-Canadian animator, director, and producer
- 1931 – Neil Postman, American author and critic (d. 2003)
- 1934 – Marv Breeding, American baseball player and scout (d. 2006)
- 1935 – George Coleman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader
- 1936 – Sue Ane Langdon, American actress and singer
- 1936 – Gábor Szabó, Hungarian guitarist and composer (d. 1982)
- 1937 – Richard Fariña, American singer-songwriter and author (d. 1966)
- 1937 – Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan politician, 2nd President of Rwanda (d. 1994)
- 1938 – Pete Dawkins, American football player, colonel, and politician
- 1939 – Jim Bouton, American baseball player and journalist (d. 2019)
- 1939 – Lynn Seymour, Canadian ballerina and choreographer
- 1939 – Lidiya Skoblikova, Russian speed skater and coach
- 1939 – Robert Tear, Welsh tenor and conductor (d. 2011)
- 1941 – Norman Stone, Scottish-English historian, author, and academic (d. 2019)
- 1942 – Dick Allen, American baseball player and tenor
- 1942 – Ann Packer, English sprinter, hurdler, and long jumper
- 1943 – Susan Clark, Canadian actress and producer
- 1943 – Michael Grade, English businessman
- 1943 – Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (d. 2010)
- 1943 – Dionysis Simopoulos, Greek physicist and astronomer
- 1944 – Sergey Nikitin, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1945 – Jim Chapman, American lawyer and politician
- 1945 – Micky Dolenz, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
- 1945 – Anselm Kiefer, German painter and sculptor
- 1945 – Sylvia Wiegand, American mathematician
- 1946 – Robert Jaworski, Filipino basketball player, coach, and politician
- 1946 – Randy Meisner, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1947 – Carole Bayer Sager, American singer-songwriter and painter
- 1947 – Michael S. Hart, American author, founded Project Gutenberg (d. 2011)
- 1947 – Vladimír Mišík, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Florentino Pérez, Spanish engineer and businessman
- 1948 – Robert W. Boyd, American physicist and academic
- 1948 – Gyles Brandreth, German-English actor, screenwriter, and politician
- 1948 – Mel Galley, English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
- 1948 – Sam Lacey, American basketball player (d. 2014)
- 1948 – Peggy March, American pop singer
- 1948 – Jonathan Sacks, English rabbi, philosopher, and scholar
- 1949 – Teofilo Cubillas, Peruvian footballer
- 1951 – Phil Edmonds, Zambian-English cricketer and businessman
- 1951 – Dianne Walker, American tap dancer
- 1952 – George Allen, American lawyer and politician, 67th Governor of Virginia
- 1953 – Jim Rice, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1954 – Steve James, American documentary filmmaker
- 1954 – David Wilkie, Sri Lankan-Scottish swimmer
- 1956 – Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (d. 1989)
- 1956 – David Malpass, American economist and government official
- 1957 – Clive Burr, English rock drummer (d. 2013)
- 1957 – William Edward Childs, American pianist and composer
- 1957 – Bob Stoddard, American baseball player
- 1958 – Andy McDonald, English lawyer and politician
- 1958 – Gary Numan, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1959 – Aidan Quinn, Irish-American actor
- 1960 – Jeffrey Eugenides, American author and academic
- 1960 – Irek Mukhamedov, Russian ballet dancer
- 1960 – Buck Williams, American basketball player and coach
- 1961 – Camryn Manheim, American actress
- 1961 – Larry Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player and journalist
- 1962 – Leon Robinson, American actor and producer
- 1964 – Kate Betts, American journalist and author
- 1965 – Kenny Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1966 – Greg Barker, Baron Barker of Battle, English politician
- 1966 – Jaime Levy, American computer scientist and academic
- 1967 – Joel Johnston, American baseball player
- 1968 – Michael Bartels, German race car driver
- 1968 – Shawn Mullins, American singer-songwriter
- 1969 – Juan de Dios Ramírez Perales, Mexican footballer
- 1970 – Jason Elam, American football player
- 1971 – Kit Symons, English-Welsh footballer and manager
- 1972 – Georgios Georgiadis, Greek footballer and manager
- 1972 – Matthew Nable, Australian rugby player and actor
- 1972 – Lena Sundström, Swedish journalist and author
- 1973 – Boris Kodjoe, Austrian-born American actor and producer
- 1973 – Anneke van Giersbergen, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Mauro Briano, Italian footballer
- 1976 – Gaz Coombes, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1976 – Juan Encarnación, Dominican baseball player
- 1976 – Freddie Prinze, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1977 – James Van Der Beek, American actor
- 1977 – Johann Vogel, Swiss footballer
- 1978 – Nick Zano, American actor and producer
- 1979 – Apathy, American rapper and producer
- 1979 – Tom Chaplin, English singer-songwriter
- 1979 – Andy Ross, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1980 – Stephen Milne, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Timothy Jordan II, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1981 – Joost Posthuma, Dutch cyclist
- 1982 – Nicolas Armindo, French racing driver
- 1982 – Leonidas Kampantais, Greek footballer
- 1982 – Isak Strand, Norwegian drummer, composer, and producer
- 1983 – André Santos, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Mark Worrell, American baseball player
- 1984 – Rafik Djebbour, Algerian footballer
- 1984 – Ross Taylor, New Zealand cricketer
- 1984 – Sasha Vujačić, Slovenian basketball player
- 1987 – Jonathan Wright, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Benny Blanco, American rapper and producer
- 1990 – Asier Illarramendi, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Petra Kvitová, Czech tennis player
- 1990 – Nico Salva, Filipino basketball player
- 1990 – Ben Tozer, English footballer
- 1991 – Miriam Bryant, Swedish-Finnish singer-songwriter
- 1991 – Tom English, Australian rugby player
- 1992 – Uki Satake, Japanese singer, actress, and radio host
- 1994 – Pablo Dyego, Brazilian footballer
- 1994 – Claire Emslie, Scottish footballer
- 1994 – Dylan Tombides, Australian footballer (d. 2014)
- 1996 – Matthew Hammelmann, Australian rules footballer
- 1998 – Tali Darsigny, Canadian weightlifter
Deaths on March 8
- 865 – Rudolf of Fulda, German theologian
- 1126 – Urraca of León and Castile (b. 1079)
- 1137 – Adela of Normandy, by marriage countess of Blois (b. c. 1067)
- 1144 – Pope Celestine II
- 1223 – Wincenty Kadłubek, Polish bishop and historian (b. 1161)
- 1365 – Queen Noguk of Korea
- 1403 – Bayezid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1360)
- 1441 – Margaret of Burgundy, Duchess of Bavaria
- 1466 – Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1401)
- 1550 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (b. 1495)
- 1619 – Veit Bach, German baker and miller (b. 1550)
- 1641 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (b. 1587)
- 1702 – William III of England (b. 1650)
- 1717 – Abraham Darby I, English blacksmith (b. 1678)
- 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St. Paul’s Cathedral (b. 1632)
- 1731 – Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1688)
- 1771 – Louis August le Clerc, French-Danish sculptor and academic (b. 1688)
- 1819 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1739)
- 1844 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (b. 1763)
- 1869 – Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1803)
- 1872 – Cornelius Krieghoff, Dutch-Canadian painter (b. 1815)
- 1874 – Millard Fillmore, American lawyer and politician, 13th President of the United States (b. 1800)
- 1887 – Henry Ward Beecher, American minister and activist (b. 1813)
- 1887 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (b. 1820)
- 1889 – John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, designed the USS Monitor (b. 1803)
- 1917 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Company (b. 1838)
- 1923 – Krišjānis Barons, Latvian linguist and author (b. 1835)
- 1923 – Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)
- 1930 – William Howard Taft, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, 27th President of the United States (b. 1857)
- 1930 – Edward Terry Sanford, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, United States Assistant Attorney General (b. 1865)
- 1935 – Hachikō, Japanese dog (b. 1923)
- 1937 – Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1902)
- 1941 – Sherwood Anderson, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1876)
- 1942 – José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player and theoretician (b. 1888)
- 1944 – Fredy Hirsch, German Jewish athlete who helped thousands of Jewish children in the Holocaust (b. 1916)
- 1945 – Frederick Bligh Bond, English archaeologist and architect (b. 1864)
- 1948 – Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist and scientist (b. 1889)
- 1957 – Othmar Schoeck, Swiss composer and conductor (b. 1886)
- 1961 – Thomas Beecham, English conductor and composer (b. 1879)
- 1971 – Harold Lloyd, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1893)
- 1973 – Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1945)
- 1975 – George Stevens, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1904)
- 1976 – Alfons Rebane, Estonian colonel (b. 1908)
- 1983 – Chabuca Granda, Peruvian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1920)
- 1983 – Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1904)
- 1983 – William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Amar Singh Chamkila, Indian singer-songwriter (b. 1961)
- 1988 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist and academic (b. 1912)
- 1991 – John Bellairs, American author and academic (b. 1938)
- 1993 – Billy Eckstine, American trumpet player (b. 1914)
- 1996 – Jack Churchill, British colonel (b. 1906)
- 1997 – Gershon Liebman, French rabbi (b. 1905)
- 1998 – Ray Nitschke, American football player and actor (b. 1936)
- 1999 – Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinian journalist and author (b. 1914)
- 1999 – Peggy Cass, American actress and comedian (b. 1924)
- 1999 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player and coach (b. 1914)
- 2001 – Edward Winter, American actor (b. 1937)
- 2003 – Adam Faith, English singer (b. 1940)
- 2003 – Karen Morley, American actress (b. 1909)
- 2004 – Muhammad Zaidan, Syrian terrorist, founded the Palestine Liberation Front (b. 1948)
- 2005 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist and academic (b. 1924)
- 2005 – Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen commander and politician, 3rd President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (b. 1951)
- 2007 – John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
- 2007 – John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach (b. 1947)
- 2009 – Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
- 2009 – Zbigniew Religa, Polish surgeon and politician, Polish Minister of Health (b. 1938)
- 2011 – Mike Starr, American bass player (b. 1966)
- 2012 – Simin Daneshvar, Iranian author and academic (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Minoru Mori, Japanese businessman, founded the Mori Art Museum (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Steven Rubenstein, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1962)
- 2013 – Haseeb Ahsan, Pakistani cricketer and manager (b. 1939)
- 2013 – John O’Connell, Irish journalist and politician, 17th Irish Minister of Health (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, German soldier and publisher (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Leo Bretholz, Austrian-American Holocaust survivor and author (b. 1921)
- 2014 – William Guarnere, American sergeant (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Tjol Lategan, South African rugby player (b. 1925)
- 2015 – Sam Simon, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1955)
- 2016 – Aldo Ferrer, Argentinian economist and diplomat (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Ross Hannaford, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)
- 2016 – George Martin, English composer, conductor, and producer (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Kate Wilhelm, American author (b. 1928)
- 2019 – Marshall Brodien, American actor (b. 1934)
- 2019 – Cedrick Hardman, American football player and actor (b. 1948)
- 2020 – Max von Sydow, Swedish actor (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances on March 8
- Christian feast day:
- Edward King (Church of England)
- Felix of Burgundy
- Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (the Church of England, The Episcopal Church (USA))
- John of God
- Philemon the actor
- March 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Canberra Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March (Australian Capital Territory)
- Earliest day on which Commonwealth Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March (Commonwealth of Nations)
- Earliest day on which Decoration Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Wednesday in March (Liberia)
- Earliest day on which Passion Sunday can fall, while April 17 is the latest; observed on the fifth Sunday of Lent (Christianity)
- International Women’s Day, and its related observances:
- International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day
-
March 1 in History
- 509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
- 86 BC – Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus ending the Siege of Athens and Piraeus.
- 293 – Emperor Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesars. This is considered the beginning of the Tetrarchy, known as the Quattuor Principes Mundi (“Four Rulers of the World”).
- 317 – Crispus and Constantine II, sons of Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius Iunior, son of Emperor Licinius, are made Caesares.
- 350 – Vetranio is asked by Constantina, sister of Constantius II, to proclaim himself Caesar.
- 834 – Emperor Louis the Pious is restored as sole ruler of the Frankish Empire. After his re-accession to the throne, his eldest son Lothair I flees to Burgundy.
- 1457 – The Unitas Fratrum is established in the village of Kunvald, on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. It is to date the second oldest Protestant denomination.
- 1476 – Forces of the Catholic Monarchs engage the combined Portuguese-Castilian armies of Afonso V and Prince John at the Battle of Toro.
- 1562 – Sixty-three Huguenots are massacred in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
- 1565 – The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.
- 1628 – Writs issued in February by Charles I of England mandate that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.
- 1633 – Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.
- 1642 – Georgeana, Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine), becomes the first incorporated city in the United States.
- 1692 – Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.
- 1700 – Sweden introduces its own Swedish calendar, in an attempt to gradually merge into the Gregorian calendar, reverts to the Julian calendar on this date in 1712, and introduces the Gregorian calendar on this date in 1753.
- 1713 – The siege and destruction of Fort Neoheroka begins during the Tuscarora War in North Carolina, effectively opening up the colony’s interior to European colonization.
- 1781 – The Articles of Confederation goes into effect in the United States.
- 1790 – The first United States census is authorized.
- 1793 – French Revolutionary War: Battle of Aldenhoven during the Flanders Campaign.
- 1796 – The Dutch East India Company is nationalized by the Batavian Republic.
- 1803 – Ohio becomes the 17th state of The United States.
- 1805 – Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted at the end of his impeachment trial by the U.S. Senate.
- 1811 – Leaders of the Mamluk dynasty are killed by Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali.
- 1815 – Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.
- 1815 – Georgetown University’s congressional charter is signed into law by President James Madison.
- 1836 – A convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.
- 1845 – United States President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
- 1852 – Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
- 1854 – German psychologist Friedrich Eduard Beneke disappears; two years later his remains are found in a canal near Charlottenburg.
- 1867 – Nebraska becomes the 37th U.S. state; Lancaster, Nebraska is renamed Lincoln and becomes the state capital.
- 1868 – The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity is founded at the University of Virginia.
- 1870 – Marshal F. S. López dies during the Battle of Cerro Corá thus marking the end of the Paraguayan War.
- 1872 – Yellowstone National Park is established as the world’s first national park.
- 1873 – E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York begins production of the first practical typewriter.
- 1881 – The first Minnesota State Capitol burns down.
- 1886 – The Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore is founded by Bishop William Oldham.
- 1893 – Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.
- 1896 – Battle of Adwa: An Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
- 1896 – Henri Becquerel discovers radioactive decay.
- 1901 – The Australian Army is formed.
- 1910 – The deadliest avalanche in United States history buries a Great Northern Railway train in northeastern King County, Washington, killing 96 people.
- 1914 – The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.
- 1917 – The Zimmermann Telegram is reprinted in newspapers across the United States after the U.S. government releases its unencrypted text.
- 1919 – March 1st Movement begins in Korea under Japanese rule.
- 1921 – The Australian cricket team captained by Warwick Armstrong becomes the first team to complete a whitewash of The Ashes, something that would not be repeated for 86 years.
- 1921 – Following mass protests in Petrograd demanding greater freedom in the RSFSR, the Kronstadt rebellion began, with sailors and citizens taking up arms against the Bolsheviks.
- 1932 – Charles Lindbergh’s son is kidnapped.
- 1936 – The Hoover Dam is completed.
- 1939 – An Imperial Japanese Army ammunition dump explodes at Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, killing 94.
- 1941 – World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces land on Java, the main island of the Dutch East Indies, at Merak and Banten Bay (Banten), Eretan Wetan (Indramayu) and Kragan (Rembang).
- 1946 – The Bank of England is nationalised.
- 1947 – The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations.
- 1949 – Indonesian Army recaptures and occupies for six hours its capital city Yogyakarta from the Dutch.
- 1950 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.
- 1953 – Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.
- 1954 – Nuclear weapons testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.
- 1954 – Armed Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.
- 1956 – The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
- 1956 – Formation of the East German Nationale Volksarmee.
- 1958 – Samuel Alphonsus Stritch is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first U.S. member of the Roman Curia.
- 1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
- 1961 – Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.
- 1964 – Villarrica Volcano begins a strombolian eruption causing lahars that destroy half of the town of Coñaripe.
- 1966 – Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet’s surface.
- 1966 – The Ba’ath Party takes power in Syria.
- 1971 – President of Pakistan Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
- 1972 – The Thai province of Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani Province.
- 1973 – Black September storms the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, resulting in the assassination of three Western hostages.
- 1974 – Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
- 1981 – Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins his hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.
- 1983 – First collection of twelve Swatch models was introduced in Zürich, Switzerland.
- 1990 – Steve Jackson Games is raided by the United States Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
- 1991 – Uprisings against Saddam Hussein begin in Iraq, leading to the death of more than 25,000 people mostly civilian.
- 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 1998 – Titanic became the first film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
- 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
- 2002 – The Envisat environmental satellite successfully launches aboard an Ariane 5 rocket to reach an orbit of 800 km (500 mi) above the Earth, which was the then-largest payload at 10.5 m long and with a diameter of 4.57 m.
- 2003 – Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
- 2003 – The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.
- 2005 – In Roper v. Simmons, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the execution of juveniles found guilty of murder is unconstitutional.
- 2006 – English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station.
- 2007 – Tornadoes break out across the southern United States, killing at least 20 people, including eight at Enterprise High School.
- 2008 – The Armenian police clash with peaceful opposition rally protesting against allegedly fraudulent presidential elections, as a result ten people are killed.
- 2014 – Thirty-five people are killed and 143 injured in a mass stabbing at Kunming Railway Station in China.
Births on March 1
- 1105 – Alfonso VII, king of León and Castile (d. 1157)
- 1261 – Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester (d. 1326)
- 1389 – Antoninus of Florence, Italian archbishop and saint (d. 1459)
- 1432 – Isabella of Coimbra (d. 1455)
- 1456 – Vladislaus II of Hungary (d. 1516)
- 1547 – Rudolph Goclenius, German philosopher and lexicographer (d. 1628)
- 1554 – William Stafford, English courtier and conspirator (d. 1612)
- 1577 – Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland (d. 1635)
- 1597 – Jean-Charles della Faille, Flemish priest and mathematician (d. 1652)
- 1611 – John Pell, English mathematician and linguist (d. 1685)
- 1629 – Abraham Teniers, Flemish painter (d. 1670)
- 1647 – John de Brito, Portuguese Jesuit missionary and martyr (d. 1693)
- 1657 – Samuel Werenfels, Swiss theologian and author (d. 1740)
- 1683 – Tsangyang Gyatso, sixth Dalai Lama (d. 1706)
- 1683 – Caroline of Ansbach, British queen and regent (d. 1737)
- 1732 – William Cushing, American lawyer and judge (d. 1810)
- 1760 – François Buzot, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
- 1769 – François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French general (d. 1796)
- 1807 – Wilford Woodruff, American religious leader, 4th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1898)
- 1810 – Frédéric Chopin, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1849)
- 1812 – Augustus Pugin, English architect, co-designed the Palace of Westminster (d. 1852)
- 1817 – Giovanni Duprè, Italian sculptor and educator (d. 1882)
- 1821 – Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German bishop and academic (d. 1896)
- 1835 – Philip Fysh, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1919)
- 1837 – William Dean Howells, American novelist, playwright, and critic (d. 1920)
- 1842 – Nikolaos Gyzis, Greek painter and academic (d. 1901)
- 1848 – Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Irish-American sculptor and academic (d. 1907)
- 1852 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1923)
- 1863 – Alexander Golovin, Russian painter and set designer (d. 1930)
- 1870 – E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and academic (d. 1944)
- 1876 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman (d. 1942)
- 1880 – Lytton Strachey, British writer and critic (d. 1932)
- 1886 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian-Swiss painter, poet, and playwright (d. 1980)
- 1888 – Ewart Astill, English cricketer and billiards player (d. 1948)
- 1888 – Fanny Walden, English cricketer and umpire, international footballer, outside right (d. 1949)
- 1889 – Tetsuro Watsuji, Japanese historian and philosopher (d. 1960)
- 1890 – Theresa Bernstein, Polish-American painter and author (d. 2002)
- 1891 – Ralph Hitz, Austrian-American hotelier (d. 1940)
- 1892 – Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Japanese author and educator (d. 1927)
- 1893 – Mercedes de Acosta, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1968)
- 1896 – Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1960)
- 1896 – Moriz Seeler, German playwright and producer (d. 1942)
- 1899 – Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, German SS officer (d. 1972)
- 1904 – Paul Hartman, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1973)
- 1904 – Glenn Miller, American trombonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1944)
- 1905 – Doris Hare, Welsh-English actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2000)
- 1906 – Phạm Văn Đồng, Vietnamese lieutenant and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2000)
- 1909 – Eugene Esmonde, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 1942)
- 1909 – Winston Sharples, American pianist and composer (d. 1978)
- 1910 – Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
- 1910 – David Niven, English soldier and actor (d. 1983)
- 1912 – Gerald Emmett Carter, Canadian cardinal (d. 2003)
- 1912 – Boris Chertok, Polish-Russian engineer and academic (d. 2011)
- 1914 – Harry Caray, American sportscaster (d. 1998)
- 1914 – Ralph Ellison, American novelist and literary critic (d. 1994)
- 1917 – Robert Lowell, American poet (d. 1977)
- 1918 – João Goulart, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Brazil (d. 1976)
- 1918 – Gladys Spellman, American educator and politician (d. 1988)
- 1920 – Max Bentley, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
- 1921 – Cameron Argetsinger, American race car driver and lawyer (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Terence Cooke, American cardinal (d. 1983)
- 1921 – Richard Wilbur, American poet, translator, and essayist (d. 2017)
- 1922 – William Gaines, American publisher (d. 1992)
- 1922 – Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli general and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
- 1924 – Arnold Drake, American author and screenwriter (d. 2007)
- 1924 – Deke Slayton, American soldier, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1993)
- 1926 – Robert Clary, French-American actor and author
- 1926 – Cesare Danova, Italian-American actor (d. 1992)
- 1926 – Pete Rozelle, American businessman and commissioner of the National Football League (d. 1996)
- 1926 – Allan Stanley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1927 – George O. Abell, American astronomer, professor at UCLA, science popularizer, and skeptic (d. 1983)
- 1927 – Harry Belafonte, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1927 – Robert Bork, American lawyer and scholar, United States Attorney General (d. 2012)
- 1928 – Jacques Rivette, French director, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2016)
- 1929 – Georgi Markov, Bulgarian journalist and author (d. 1978)
- 1930 – Gastone Nencini, Italian cyclist (d. 1980)
- 1934 – Jean-Michel Folon, Belgian painter and sculptor (d. 2005)
- 1934 – Joan Hackett, American actress (d. 1983)
- 1935 – Robert Conrad, American actor, radio host and stuntman (d. 2020)
- 1936 – Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (d. 1997)
- 1939 – Leo Brouwer, Cuban guitarist, composer, and conductor
- 1939 – Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Pakistani author
- 1940 – Robin Gray, Australian politician, 37th Premier of Tasmania
- 1940 – Robert Grossman, American painter, sculptor, and author (d. 2018)
- 1941 – Robert Hass, American poet
- 1942 – Richard Myers, American general
- 1943 – Gil Amelio, American businessman
- 1943 – José Ángel Iribar, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1943 – Rashid Sunyaev, Russian-German astronomer and physicist
- 1944 – Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Indian politician, 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal
- 1944 – John Breaux, American lawyer and politician
- 1944 – Roger Daltrey, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1944 – Mike d’Abo, English singer
- 1945 – Dirk Benedict, American actor and director
- 1946 – Gerry Boulet, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1990)
- 1946 – Jim Crace, English author and academic
- 1947 – Alan Thicke, Canadian-American actor and composer (d. 2016)
- 1951 – Sergei Kourdakov, Russian-American KGB agent (d. 1973)
- 1952 – Dave Barr, Canadian golfer
- 1952 – Nevada Barr, American actress and author
- 1952 – Leigh Matthews, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster
- 1952 – Jerri Nielsen, American physician and explorer (d. 2009)
- 1952 – Martin O’Neill, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1953 – Sinan Çetin, Turkish actor, director, and producer
- 1953 – Carlos Queiroz, Portuguese footballer and manager
- 1954 – Catherine Bach, American actress
- 1954 – Ron Howard, American actor, director, and producer
- 1954 – Rod Reddy, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1956 – Tim Daly, American actor, director, and producer
- 1956 – Dalia Grybauskaitė, Lithuanian politician, 6th President of Lithuania
- 1958 – Nik Kershaw, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1958 – Wayne B. Phillips, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1959 – Nick Griffin, English politician
- 1961 – Mike Rozier, American football player
- 1962 – Russell Coutts, New Zealand sailor
- 1962 – Mark Gardner, American baseball player
- 1962 – Bill Leen, American bass player and producer
- 1963 – Bryan Batt, American actor and singer
- 1963 – Maurice Benard, American actor
- 1963 – Ron Francis, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1964 – Clinton Gregory, American singer-songwriter and fiddler
- 1964 – Paul Le Guen, French footballer and manager
- 1965 – Booker T, American wrestler and sportscaster
- 1965 – Stewart Elliott, Canadian jockey
- 1966 – Paul Hollywood, English chef
- 1966 – Zack Snyder, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1967 – George Eads, American actor
- 1967 – Aron Winter, Suriname-Dutch footballer and manager
- 1969 – Javier Bardem, Spanish actor and producer
- 1970 – Jason V Brock, American author, filmmaker, artist, scholar and musician
- 1971 – Thomas Adès, English pianist, composer, and conductor
- 1971 – Ivan Cleary, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1973 – Jack Davenport, English actor
- 1973 – Anton Gunn, American academic and politician
- 1973 – Chris Webber, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1974 – Mark-Paul Gosselaar, American actor
- 1976 – Travis Kvapil, American race car driver
- 1977 – Rens Blom, Dutch pole vaulter
- 1977 – Esther Cañadas, Spanish actress and model
- 1978 – Jensen Ackles, American actor and director
- 1979 – Mikkel Kessler, Danish boxer
- 1979 – Bruno Langlois, Canadian cyclist
- 1980 – Shahid Afridi, Pakistani cricketer
- 1980 – Abhay K, Indian poet and diplomat
- 1980 – Sercan Güvenışık, German-Turkish footballer
- 1980 – Djimi Traoré, Malian footballer
- 1981 – Will Power, Australian race car driver
- 1982 – Juan Manuel Ortiz, Spanish footballer
- 1983 – Daniel Carvalho, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Lupita Nyong’o, Mexican-Kenyan actress
- 1983 – Davey Richards, American wrestler
- 1983 – Anthony Tupou, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Naima Mora, American model and actress
- 1984 – Alexander Steen, Canadian-Swedish ice hockey player
- 1985 – Andreas Ottl, German footballer
- 1986 – Big E, American wrestler
- 1987 – Kesha, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1988 – Yang Hyeon-jong, South Korean baseball player
- 1989 – Tenille Tayla, Australian professional wrestler
- 1989 – Carlos Vela, Mexican footballer
- 1992 – Tom Walsh, New Zealand athlete
- 1993 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – Michael Conforto, American baseball player
- 1993 – Kurt Mann, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – Josh McEachran, English footballer
- 1994 – Justin Bieber, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1994 – Tyreek Hill, American football player
- 1996 – Lizzie Arnot, Scottish footballer
- 1999 – Brogan Hay, Scottish footballer
Deaths on March 1
- 492 – Felix III, pope of the Catholic Church
- 589 – David, Welsh bishop and saint
- 965 – Leo VIII, pope of the Catholic Church
- 977 – Rudesind, Galician bishop (b. 907)
- 991 – En’yū, Japanese emperor (b. 959)
- 1058 – Ermesinde of Carcassonne, countess and regent of Barcelona (b. 972)
- 1131 – Stephen II, king of Hungary and Croatia (b. 1101)
- 1233 – Thomas, count of Savoy (b. 1178)
- 1244 – Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr, Welsh noble, son of Llywelyn the Great (b. 1200)
- 1320 – Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, Chinese emperor (b. 1286)
- 1383 – Amadeus VI, count of Savoy (b. 1334)
- 1510 – Francisco de Almeida, Portuguese soldier and explorer (b. 1450)
- 1546 – George Wishart, Scottish minister and martyr (b. 1513)
- 1620 – Thomas Campion, English poet and composer (b. 1567)
- 1633 – George Herbert, English poet and orator (b. 1593)
- 1643 – Girolamo Frescobaldi, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1583)
- 1661 – Richard Zouch, English judge and politician (b. 1590)
- 1666 – Ecaterina Cercheza, princess consort of Moldavia (b. 1620)
- 1697 – Francesco Redi, Italian physician and poet (b. 1626)
- 1734 – Roger North, English lawyer and author (b. 1653)
- 1768 – Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and author (b. 1694)
- 1773 – Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect, designed the Palace of Caserta (b. 1700)
- 1792 – Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1747)
- 1792 – Angelo Emo, Venetian admiral and statesman (b. 1731)1841 – Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (b. 1764)
- 1862 – Peter Barlow, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1776)
- 1875 – Tristan Corbière, French poet and educator (b. 1845)
- 1882 – Theodor Kullak, German pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1818)
- 1884 – Isaac Todhunter, English mathematician and academic (b. 1820)
- 1906 – José María de Pereda, Spanish author (b. 1833)
- 1911 – Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff, Dutch-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- 1914 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, English soldier and politician, 8th Governor General of Canada (b. 1845)
- 1920 – John H. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician (b. 1842)
- 1922 – Pichichi, Spanish footballer (b. 1892)
- 1932 – Frank Teschemacher, American Jazz musician (b. 1906)
- 1936 – Mikhail Kuzmin, Russian author and poet (b. 1871)
- 1938 – Gabriele D’Annunzio, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1863)
- 1940 – Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (b. 1878)
- 1942 – George S. Rentz, American commander (b. 1882)
- 1943 – Alexandre Yersin, Swiss-French physician and bacteriologist (b. 1863)
- 1952 – Mariano Azuela, Mexican physician and author (b. 1873)
- 1966 – Fritz Houtermans, Polish-German physicist and academic (b. 1903)
- 1974 – Bobby Timmons, American pianist and composer (b. 1935)
- 1976 – Jean Martinon, French conductor and composer (b. 1910)
- 1978 – Paul Scott, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1920)
- 1979 – Mustafa Barzani, Iraqi-Kurdistan politician (b. 1903)
- 1980 – Wilhelmina Cooper, Dutch-American model and businesswoman, founded Wilhelmina Models (b. 1940)
- 1980 – Dixie Dean, English footballer (b. 1907)
- 1983 – Arthur Koestler, Hungarian-English journalist and author (b. 1905)
- 1984 – Jackie Coogan, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Joe Besser, American comedian and actor (b. 1907)
- 1989 – Vasantdada Patil, Indian politician, 5th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (b. 1917)
- 1991 – Edwin H. Land, American scientist and businessman, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (b. 1909)
- 1995 – César Rodríguez Álvarez, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1920)
- 1995 – Georges J. F. Köhler, German biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1946)
- 1998 – Archie Goodwin, American author and illustrator (b. 1937)
- 2004 – Mian Ghulam Jilani, Pakistani general (b. 1914)
- 2006 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (b. 1947)
- 2006 – Jack Wild, English actor (b.1952)
- 2010 – Kristian Digby, English television host and director (b. 1977)
- 2012 – Andrew Breitbart, American journalist and publisher (b. 1969)
- 2012 – Germano Mosconi, Italian journalist (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress, dancer, and singer (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Alain Resnais, French director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Minnie Miñoso, Cuban-American baseball player and coach (b. 1922)
- 2018 – María Rubio, Mexican television, film and stage actress (b. 1934)
- 2019 – Mike Willesee, Australian journalist and producer (b. 1942)
Holidays and observances on March 1
- Beer Day, marked the end of beer prohibition in 1989 (Iceland)
- Christian feast day:
- Agnes Tsao Kou Ying (one of the Martyr Saints of China)
- Albin
- David
- Eudokia of Heliopolis
- Pope Felix III
- Leoluca
- Luperculus
- Monan
- Rudesind
- Suitbert
- March 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Commemoration of Mustafa Barzani’s Death (Iraqi Kurdistan)
- Earliest day on which Casimir Pulaski Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in March. (Illinois)
- Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in March. (New Zealand)
- Earliest day on which Grandmother’s Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in March. (France)
- Earliest day on which Laetare Sunday can fall, while April 4 is the latest; celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
- Carnaval de la Laetare (Stavelot)
- Mothering Sunday (United Kingdom)
- Heroes’ Day (Paraguay)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992.
- National “Cursed Soldiers” Remembrance Day (Poland)
- National Pig Day (United States)
- Remembrance Day (Marshall Islands)
- Saint David’s Day or Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant (Wales and Welsh communities)
- Samiljeol (South Korea)
- Self-injury Awareness Day
- Southeastern Europe celebration of the beginning of spring:
- Baba Marta Day (Bulgaria)
- Mărțișor (Romania and Moldova)
- The final day (fourth or fifth) of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith)
- World Civil Defence Day
- Yap Day (Yap State)
- Zero Discrimination Day
-
January 29 in History
- 904 – Sergius III is consecrated pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
- 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu’izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.
- 1258 – First Mongol invasion of Đại Việt: Đại Việt defeats the Mongols at the battle of Đông Bộ Đầu, forcing the Mongols to withdraw from the country.
- 1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.
- 1819 – Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore.
- 1845 – “The Raven” is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe.
- 1850 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.
- 1856 – Queen Victoria issues a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that establishes the Victoria Cross to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War.
- 1861 – Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state.
- 1863 – The Bear River Massacre: A detachment of California Volunteers led by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor engage the Shoshone at Bear River, Washington Territory, killing hundreds of men, women and children.
- 1886 – Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
- 1891 – Liliuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
- 1907 – Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.
- 1911 – Mexican Revolution: Mexicali is captured by the Mexican Liberal Party, igniting the Magonista rebellion of 1911.
- 1916 – World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.
- 1918 – Ukrainian–Soviet War: The Bolshevik Red Army, on its way to besiege Kiev, is met by a small group of military students at the Battle of Kruty.
- 1918 – Ukrainian–Soviet War: An armed uprising organized by the Bolsheviks in anticipation of the encroaching Red Army begins at the Kiev Arsenal, which will be put down six days later.
- 1936 – The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.
- 1940 – Three trains on the Nishinari Line; present Sakurajima Line, in Osaka, Japan, collide and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station. One hundred and eighty-one people are killed.
- 1941 – Alexandros Koryzis becomes Prime Minister of Greece upon the sudden death of his predecessor, dictator Ioannis Metaxas.
- 1943 – World War II: The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, USS Chicago (CA-29) is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.
- 1944 – World War II: Approximately 38 people are killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) is attacked by Soviet partisan units.
- 1944 – In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio is completely destroyed in an air-raid, during the Second World War.
- 1948 – The Pakistan Socialist Party is founded in Karachi.
- 1959 – The first Melodifestivalen is held in Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden.
- 1963 – The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced.
- 1967 – The “ultimate high” of the hippie era, the Mantra-Rock Dance, takes place in San Francisco and features Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.
- 1980 – The Rubik’s Cube makes its international debut at the Ideal Toy Corp. in Earl’s Court, London.
- 1989 – Cold War: Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so.
- 1991 – Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji, the first major ground engagement of the war, as well as its deadliest, begins.
- 1996 – President Jacques Chirac announces a “definitive end” to French nuclear weapons testing.
- 2001 – Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.
- 2002 – In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush describes “regimes that sponsor terror” as an Axis of evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
- 2005 – The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing.
- 2009 – The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt rules that people who do not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions, while not allowed to list any belief outside of those three, are still eligible to receive government identity documents.
- 2009 – Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is removed from office following his conviction of several corruption charges, including the alleged solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the United States Senate as a replacement for then-U.S. president-elect Barack Obama.
- 2013 – SCAT Airlines Flight 760 crashes near the Kazakh city of Almaty, killing 21 people.
- 2013 – Alabama bunker hostage crisis: After shooting and killing of school bus driver, 66 years old Charles Albert Poland, Jr, by 65 year old Vietnam War era veteran, Jimmy Lee Dykes.
- 2017 – Quebec City mosque shooting: Alexandre Bissonnette opens fire at mosque in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, killing six and wounding 19 others in a spree shooting.
Births on January 29
- 919 – Shi Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 951)
- 1455 – Johann Reuchlin, German-born humanist and scholar (d. 1522)
- 1475 – Giuliano Bugiardini, Italian painter (d. 1555)
- 1499 – Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther; formerly a Roman Catholic nun (d. 1552)
- 1525 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian humanist and reformer (d. 1562)
- 1584 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (d. 1647)
- 1591 – Franciscus Junius, pioneer of Germanic philology (d. 1677)
- 1602 – Countess Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg (d. 1651)
- 1632 – Johann Georg Graevius, German scholar and critic (d. 1703)
- 1650 – Juan de Galavís, Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop of Santo Domingo and Bogotá (d. 1739)
- 1688 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish astronomer, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1772)
- 1711 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (d. 1788)
- 1715 – Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1777)
- 1717 – Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, English field marshal and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (d. 1797)
- 1718 – Paul Rabaut, French pastor (d. 1794)
- 1737 – Thomas Paine, prominent for publishing Common Sense (1776), which established him as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States (d. 1809)
- 1749 – Christian VII of Denmark (d. 1808)
- 1754 – Moses Cleaveland, American general, lawyer, and politician, founded Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1806)
- 1756 – Henry Lee III, American general and politician, 9th Governor of Virginia (d. 1818)
- 1761 – Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, and politician, 4th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1849)
- 1782 – Daniel Auber, French composer (d. 1871)
- 1801 – Johannes Bernardus van Bree, Dutch violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1857)
- 1810 – Ernst Kummer, Polish-German mathematician and academic (d. 1893)
- 1810 – Mary Whitwell Hale, American teacher, school founder, and hymnwriter (d. 1862)
- 1843 – William McKinley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 25th President of the United States (d. 1901)
- 1846 – Karol Olszewski, Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1915)
- 1852 – Frederic Hymen Cowen, Jamaican-English pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1935)
- 1858 – Henry Ward Ranger, American painter and academic (d. 1916)
- 1860 – Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright and short story writer (d. 1904)
- 1861 – Florida Ruffin Ridley, African-American civil rights activist, teacher, editor, and writer (d. 1943)
- 1862 – Frederick Delius, English composer (d. 1934)
- 1866 – Julio Peris Brell, Spanish painter (d. 1944)
- 1866 – Romain Rolland, French historian, author, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1944)
- 1867 – Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Spanish journalist and author (d. 1928)
- 1870 – Süleyman Nazif, Turkish poet and civil servant (d. 1927)
- 1874 – John D. Rockefeller, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1960)
- 1876 – Havergal Brian, English composer (d. 1972)
- 1877 – Georges Catroux, French general and diplomat (d. 1969)
- 1880 – W. C. Fields, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (d. 1946)
- 1881 – Alice Catherine Evans, American microbiologist (d. 1975)
- 1884 – Juhan Aavik, Estonian-Swedish composer and conductor (d. 1982)
- 1888 – Sydney Chapman, English mathematician and geophysicist (d. 1970)
- 1888 – Wellington Koo, Chinese statesman (d. 1985)
- 1891 – Elizaveta Gerdt, Russian ballerina and educator (d. 1975)
- 1891 – R. Norris Williams, Swiss-American tennis player and banker (d. 1968)
- 1892 – Ernst Lubitsch, German American film director, producer, writer, and actor (d. 1947)
- 1895 – Muna Lee, American poet and author (d. 1965)
- 1901 – Allen B. DuMont, American engineer and broadcaster, founded the DuMont Television Network (d. 1965)
- 1901 – E. P. Taylor, Canadian businessman and horse breeder (d. 1989)
- 1903 – Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Russian-Israeli biochemist and philosopher (d. 1994)
- 1905 – Barnett Newman, American painter and etcher (d. 1970)
- 1906 – Joe Primeau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1989)
- 1913 – Victor Mature, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1915 – Bill Peet, American author and illustrator (d. 2002)
- 1915 – John Serry Sr., Italian-American concert accordionist and composer (d.2003)
- 1917 – John Raitt, American actor and singer (d. 2005)
- 1918 – John Forsythe, American actor (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Geraldine Pittman Woods, American science administrator and embryologist (d. 1999)
- 1923 – Jack Burke Jr., American golfer
- 1923 – Paddy Chayefsky, American author and screenwriter (d. 1981)
- 1926 – Abdus Salam, Pakistani-British physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- 1926 – Amelita Ramos, 11th First Lady of the Philippines
- 1927 – Edward Abbey, American environmentalist and author (d. 1989)
- 1929 – Elio Petri, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1982)
- 1929 – Joseph Kruskal, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2010)
- 1931 – Leslie Bricusse, English playwright and composer
- 1931 – Ferenc Mádl, Hungarian academic and politician, 2nd President of Hungary (d. 2011)
- 1932 – Raman Subba Row, English cricketer and referee
- 1932 – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (d. 1958)
- 1933 – Sacha Distel, French singer and guitarist (d. 2004)
- 1934 – Branko Miljković, Serbian poet and academic (d. 1961)
- 1936 – Veturi Sundararama Murthy, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 2010)
- 1937 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Bobby Scott, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 1990)
- 1939 – Germaine Greer, Australian journalist and author
- 1940 – Katharine Ross, American actress and author
- 1940 – Kunimitsu Takahashi, Japanese motorcycle racer and race car driver
- 1941 – Robin Morgan, American actress, journalist, and author
- 1943 – Tony Blackburn, English radio and television host
- 1943 – Pat Quinn, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Andrew Loog Oldham, English record producer and manager
- 1944 – Patrick Lipton Robinson, Jamaican lawyer and judge
- 1944 – Pauline van der Wildt, Dutch swimmer
- 1945 – Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, Malian academic and politician, Prime Minister of Mali
- 1945 – Jim Nicholson, Northern Irish politician
- 1945 – Tom Selleck, American actor and businessman
- 1946 – Bettye LaVette, American singer-songwriter
- 1947 – Linda B. Buck, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1947 – David Byron, English singer-songwriter (d. 1985)
- 1947 – Marián Varga, Slovak organist and composer
- 1948 – Raymond Keene, English chess player and author
- 1949 – doris davenport, American poet and teacher
- 1949 – Evgeny Lovchev, Russian footballer and manager
- 1949 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (d. 2014)
- 1950 – Ann Jillian, American actress and singer
- 1950 – Jody Scheckter, South African race car driver and sportscaster
- 1951 – Fereydoon Forooghi, Iranian singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
- 1951 – Andy Roberts, Caribbean cricketer
- 1953 – Peter Baumann, German keyboard player and songwriter
- 1953 – Charlie Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1953 – Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (d. 1995)
- 1954 – Christian Bjelland IV, Norwegian businessman and art collector
- 1954 – Terry Kinney, American actor and director
- 1954 – Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host, actress, and producer, founded Harpo Productions
- 1956 – Jan Jakub Kolski, Polish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
- 1957 – Philippe Dintrans, French rugby player
- 1957 – Ron Franscell, American author and journalist
- 1957 – Grażyna Miller, Italian journalist and poet
- 1959 – Mike Foligno, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1960 – Gia Carangi, American supermodel (d. 1986)
- 1960 – Greg Louganis, American diver and author
- 1961 – Petra Thümer, German swimmer and photographer
- 1962 – Nicholas Turturro, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1964 – John Anthony Gallagher, English-New Zealand rugby player
- 1965 – Dominik Hašek, Czech ice hockey player
- 1965 – Peter Lundgren, Swedish tennis player and coach
- 1966 – Romário, Brazilian footballer, manager, and politician
- 1967 – Stacey King, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1968 – Edward Burns, American actor, director, and producer
- 1968 – Susi Erdmann, German luger and bobsledder
- 1970 – Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian colonel and politician
- 1970 – Heather Graham, American actress
- 1970 – Jörg Hoffmann, German swimmer
- 1970 – Paul Ryan, American economist and politician, 62nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
- 1970 – Mohammed Yusuf, Nigerian Islamist leader, founded Boko Haram (d. 2009)
- 1975 – Sara Gilbert, American actress, producer, and talk show host
- 1980 – Ivan Klasnic, German-Croatian footballer
- 1982 – Adam Lambert, American singer, songwriter and actor
- 1984 – Natalie du Toit, South African swimmer
- 1984 – Nuno Morais, Portuguese footballer
- 1985 – Marc Gasol, Spanish basketball player
- 1987 – José Abreu, Cuban baseball player
- 1988 – Tatyana Chernova, Russian heptathlete
- 1988 – Shay Logan, English footballer
- 1988 – Aydın Yılmaz, Turkish footballer
- 1989 – Kevin Shattenkirk, American ice hockey player
- 1993 – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Japanese singer
Deaths on January 29
- 661 – Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad (b. 601)
- 702 – Princess Ōku of Japan (b. 661)
- 757 – An Lushan, Chinese general (b. 703)
- 870 – Salih ibn Wasif, Muslim general
- 1119 – Pope Gelasius II (b. 1060)
- 1327 – Adolf, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1300)
- 1465 – Louis, Duke of Savoy (b. 1413)
- 1597 – Elias Ammerbach, German organist and composer (b. 1530)
- 1608 – Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1557)
- 1647 – Francis Meres, English priest and author (b. 1565)
- 1678 – Jerónimo Lobo, Portuguese missionary and author (b. 1593)
- 1706 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (b. 1638)
- 1737 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, Scottish-English field marshal and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1666)
- 1743 – André-Hercule de Fleury, French cardinal (b. 1653)
- 1763 – Louis Racine, French poet (b. 1692)
- 1820 – George III of the United Kingdom (b. 1738)
- 1829 – Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras, French captain and politician (b. 1755)
- 1829 – István Pauli, Hungarian-Slovenian priest and poet (b. 1760)
- 1870 – Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1797)
- 1871 – Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, Canadian author (b. 1786)
- 1888 – Edward Lear, English poet and illustrator (b. 1812)
- 1899 – Alfred Sisley, French-English painter (b. 1839)
- 1906 – Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1818)
- 1928 – Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, Scottish field marshal (b. 1861)
- 1931 – Henri Mathias Berthelot, French general during World War I (b. 1861)
- 1933 – Sara Teasdale, American poet (b. 1884)
- 1934 – Fritz Haber, Polish-German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
- 1941 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1871)
- 1944 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (b. 1868)
- 1946 – Harry Hopkins, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1890)
- 1948 – Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta (b. 1900)
- 1950 – Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1885)
- 1951 – Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer and umpire (b. 1880)
- 1956 – H. L. Mencken, American journalist and critic (b. 1880)
- 1959 – Winifred Brunton, South African painter and illustrator (b. 1880)
- 1962 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (b. 1875)
- 1963 – Robert Frost, American poet and playwright (b. 1874)
- 1964 – Alan Ladd, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1969 – Allen Welsh Dulles, American banker, lawyer, and diplomat, 5th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1893)
- 1970 – B. H. Liddell Hart, French-English soldier, historian, and journalist (b. 1895)
- 1977 – Freddie Prinze, American comedian and actor (b. 1954)
- 1978 – Frank Nicklin, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Queensland (b. 1895)
- 1980 – Jimmy Durante, American entertainer (b. 1893)
- 1991 – Yasushi Inoue, Japanese author and poet (b. 1907)
- 1992 – Willie Dixon, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1915)
- 1993 – Adetokunbo Ademola, Nigerian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of Nigeria (b. 1906)
- 1994 – Ulrike Maier, Austrian skier (b. 1967)
- 1999 – Lili St. Cyr, American model and dancer (b. 1918)
- 2002 – Harold Russell, Canadian-American soldier and actor (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Frank Moss, American lawyer and politician (b. 1911)
- 2004 – Janet Frame, New Zealand author and poet (b. 1924)
- 2005 – Ephraim Kishon, Israeli author, screenwriter, and director (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Nam June Paik, South Korean-American artist, (b. 1932)
- 2008 – Bengt Lindström, Swedish painter and sculptor (b. 1925)
- 2008 – Margaret Truman, American singer and author (b. 1924)
- 2009 – Hélio Gracie, Brazilian martial artist (b. 1913)
- 2011 – Milton Babbitt, American composer, educator, and theorist (b. 1916)
- 2012 – Ranjit Singh Dyal, Indian general and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Italian lawyer and politician, 9th President of Italy (b. 1918)
- 2012 – Camilla Williams, American soprano and educator (b. 1919)
- 2014 – François Cavanna, French journalist and author (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist, author, and academic (b. 1937)
- 2015 – Rod McKuen, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1933)
- 2015 – Alexander Vraciu, American commander and pilot (b. 1918)
- 2016 – Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Jacques Rivette, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1928)
- 2019 – George Fernandes, Indian politician (b. 1930)
- 2019 – James Ingram, American musician (b. 1952)
Holidays and observances on January 29
- Christian feast day:
- Andrei Rublev (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Aquilinus of Milan
- Constantius of Perugia
- Dallán Forgaill
- Gildas
- Juniper
- Sabinian of Troyes
- Sulpitius I of Bourges
- Valerius of Trèves
- January 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Fat Thursday can fall, while March 4 is the latest; celebrated on Thursday before Ash Wednesday. (Christianity)
- Kansas Day (Kansas, United States)
-
January 26 in History
- 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
- 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes the sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
- 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
- 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
- 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
- 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.
- 1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
- 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.
- 1700 – The 8.7–9.2 Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
- 1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
- 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day.
- 1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in New South Wales.
- 1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
- 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States.
- 1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
- 1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory.
- 1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
- 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
- 1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
- 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union.
- 1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon.
- 1905 – The world’s largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
- 1911 – Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.
- 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.
- 1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers’ Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war.
- 1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
- 1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird.
- 1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (“Complete Independence”) which occurred 17 years later.
- 1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
- 1934 – German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
- 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
- 1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
- 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.
- 1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor.
- 1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).
- 1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
- 1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo’s central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
- 1956 – the Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland.
- 1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be the first woman Physician to the President.
- 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).
- 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India.
- 1972 – JAT Fight 367 is destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 27 of the 28 people on board the DC-9. Flight attendant Vesna Vulović survives with critical injuries.
- 1980 – Egypt–Israel relations are formally established.
- 1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni.
- 1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi.
- 1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
- 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
- 2001 – The 7.7 Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured.
- 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.
- 2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.
- 2020 – A Sikorsky S-76B flying from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport crashes in Calabasas, 30 miles west of Los Angeles, killing all nine people on board including former five time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant.
Births on January 26
- 183 – Lady Zhen, wife of Cao Pi (d. 221)
- 1436 – Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, Lancastrian military commander (d. 1464)
- 1467 – Guillaume Budé, French scholar (d. 1540)
- 1495 – Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (d. 1557)
- 1541 – Florent Chrestien, French poet and translator (d. 1596)
- 1549 – Jakob Ebert, German theologian (d. 1614)
- 1582 – Giovanni Lanfranco, Italian painter (d. 1647)
- 1595 – Antonio Maria Abbatini, Italian composer (d. 1679)
- 1624 – George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1705)
- 1657 – William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1737)
- 1708 – William Hayes, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1777)
- 1714 – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor and educator (d. 1785)
- 1715 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
- 1716 – George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1785)
- 1722 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish minister and author (d. 1805)
- 1763 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (d. 1844)
- 1781 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (d. 1831)
- 1813 – Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican philosopher and poet (d. 1876)
- 1824 – Emil Czyrniański, Polish chemist (d. 1888)
- 1832 – George Shiras, Jr., American lawyer and jurist (d. 1924)
- 1842 – François Coppée, French poet and author (d. 1908)
- 1852 – Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, Italian-French explorer (d. 1905)
- 1857 – 12th Dalai Lama (d. 1875)
- 1861 – Louis Anquetin, French painter (d. 1932)
- 1864 – József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist (d. 1934)
- 1866 – John Cady, American golfer (d. 1933)
- 1877 – Kees van Dongen, Dutch painter (d. 1968)
- 1878 – Dave Nourse, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 1948)
- 1880 – Douglas MacArthur, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
- 1885 – Michael Considine, Irish-Australian politician (d. 1959)
- 1885 – Harry Ricardo, English engineer and academic (d. 1974)
- 1885 – Per Thorén, Swedish figure skater (d. 1962)
- 1887 – François Faber, French-Luxembourgian cyclist (d. 1915)
- 1887 – Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (d. 1947)
- 1887 – Dimitris Pikionis, Greek architect and academic (d. 1968)
- 1891 – Frank Costello, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1973)
- 1891 – August Froehlich, German priest and martyr (d. 1942)
- 1891 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian neurosurgeon and academic (d. 1976)
- 1892 – Bessie Coleman, American pilot (d. 1926)
- 1893 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Italian mob boss (d. 1976)
- 1899 – Günther Reindorff, Russian-Estonian graphic designer and illustrator (d. 1974)
- 1900 – Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)
- 1902 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch author (d. 1940)
- 1904 – Ancel Keys, American physiologist and nutritionist (d. 2004)
- 1904 – Seán MacBride, Irish lawyer and politician, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
- 1905 – Charles Lane, American actor and singer (d. 2007)
- 1905 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 1987)
- 1907 – Henry Cotton, English golfer (d. 1987)
- 1907 – Dimitrios Holevas, Greek priest and philologist (d. 2001)
- 1908 – Jill Esmond, English actress (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Rupprecht Geiger, German painter and sculptor (d. 2009)
- 1908 – Stéphane Grappelli, French violinist (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Jean Image, Hungarian-French animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
- 1911 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
- 1911 – Norbert Schultze, German composer and conductor (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer (d. 1990)
- 1914 – Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire (d. 2006)
- 1915 – William Hopper, American actor (d. 1970)
- 1917 – Louis Zamperini, American runner and captain (d. 2014)
- 1918 – Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian dictator, 1st President of Romania (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Philip José Farmer, American author (d. 2009)
- 1919 – Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
- 1919 – Bill Nicholson, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Hyun Soong-jong, South Korean politician, 24th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2020)
- 1920 – Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal researcher and author (d. 2009)
- 1921 – Eddie Barclay, French record producer, founded Barclay Records (d. 2005)
- 1921 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Michael Bentine, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
- 1922 – Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health (d. 1993)
- 1922 – Gil Merrick, English footballer (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Patrick J. Hannifin, American admiral (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Anne Jeffreys, American actress and singer (d. 2017)
- 1924 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1924)
- 1924 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician, Mayor of Dallas (d. 1998)
- 1925 – David Jenkins, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
- 1925 – Joan Leslie, American actress (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, activist, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman’s Own (d. 2008)
- 1925 – Ben Pucci, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
- 1926 – Farman Fatehpuri, Pakistani linguist and scholar (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Joseph Bacon Fraser, Jr., American architect and businessman, co-founded the Sea Pines Company (d. 2014)
- 1927 – José Azcona del Hoyo, Honduran businessman and politician, President of Honduras (d. 2005)
- 1927 – Bob Nieman, American baseball player and scout (d. 1985)
- 1927 – Hubert Schieth, German footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Roger Vadim, French actor and director (d. 2000)
- 1929 – Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and educator
- 1934 – Roger Landry, Canadian businessman and publisher (d. 2020)
- 1934 – Charles Marowitz, American director, playwright, and critic (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Huey “Piano” Smith, American pianist and songwriter
- 1934 – Bob Uecker, American baseball player, sportscaster and actor
- 1935 – Corrado Augias, Italian journalist and politician
- 1935 – Henry Jordan, American football player (d. 1977)
- 1935 – Paula Rego, Portuguese-born British visual artist
- 1936 – Sal Buscema, American illustrator
- 1937 – Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leonean soldier and politician, 2nd President of Sierra Leone (d. 2003)
- 1937 – Francisco Gonzales, former 1960 Summer Olympics yachting team member and murderer
- 1938 – Henry Jaglom, English-American director and screenwriter
- 1940 – Séamus Hegarty, Irish bishop
- 1940 – Frank Large, English footballer, centre forward and cricketer (d. 2003)
- 1943 – César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
- 1943 – Jack Warner, Trinidadian businessman and politician
- 1944 – Angela Davis, American activist, academic, and author
- 1944 – Jerry Sandusky, American football coach and criminal
- 1945 – Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987)
- 1945 – David Purley, English race car driver (d. 1985)
- 1946 – Christopher Hampton, Portuguese-English director, screenwriter, and playwright
- 1946 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and film critic (d. 1999)
- 1946 – Susan Friedlander, American mathematician
- 1947 – Patrick Dewaere, French actor and composer (d. 1982)
- 1947 – Les Ebdon, English chemist and academic
- 1947 – Redmond Morris, 4th Baron Killanin, Irish director, producer, and production manager
- 1947 – Michel Sardou, French singer-songwriter and actor
- 1948 – Alda Facio, Costa Rican jurist, writer and teacher
- 1949 – Jonathan Carroll, American author
- 1949 – David Strathairn, American actor
- 1950 – Jörg Haider, Austrian lawyer and politician, Governor of Carinthia (d. 2008)
- 1951 – David Briggs, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1951 – Andy Hummel, American singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2010)
- 1951 – Anne Mills, English economist and academic
- 1953 – Alik L. Alik, Micronesian politician, 7th Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia
- 1953 – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Danish politician and diplomat, 39th Prime Minister of Denmark
- 1953 – Lucinda Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Kim Hughes, Australian cricketer
- 1955 – Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1957 – Road Warrior Hawk, American wrestler (d. 2003)
- 1958 – Anita Baker, American singer-songwriter
- 1958 – Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
- 1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1961 – Tom Keifer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1962 – Guo Jian, Chinese-Australian painter, sculptor, and photographer
- 1962 – Tim May, Australian cricketer
- 1962 – Oscar Ruggeri, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1963 – José Mourinho, Portuguese footballer and manager
- 1963 – Simon O’Donnell, Australian footballer, cricketer, and sportscaster
- 1963 – Tony Parks, English footballer and manager
- 1963 – Andrew Ridgeley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 – Adam Crozier, Scottish businessman
- 1965 – Thomas Östros, Swedish businessman and politician
- 1965 – Natalia Yurchenko, Russian gymnast and coach
- 1966 – Kazushige Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and sportscaster
- 1967 – Anatoly Komm, Russian chef and businessman
- 1967 – Col Needham, English businessman, co-founded Internet Movie Database
- 1968 – Jupiter Apple, Brazilian singer-songwriter, film director, and actor (d. 2015)
- 1969 – George Dikeoulakos, Greek-Romanian basketball player and coach
- 1970 – Kirk Franklin, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1973 – Larissa Lowing, Canadian artistic gymnast
- 1973 – Melvil Poupaud, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Brendan Rodgers, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1973 – Mayu Shinjo, Japanese author and illustrator
- 1977 – Vince Carter, American basketball player
- 1977 – Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player and coach
- 1978 – Corina Morariu, American tennis player and sportscaster
- 1981 – José de Jesús Corona, Mexican footballer
- 1981 – Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuelan violinist, composer, and conductor
- 1981 – Juan José Haedo, Argentinian cyclist
- 1981 – Colin O’Donoghue, Irish actor
- 1982 – Reggie Hodges, American football player
- 1983 – Petri Oravainen, Finnish footballer
- 1983 – Eric Werner, American ice hockey player
- 1984 – Ryan Hoffman, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Iain Turner, Scottish footballer
- 1984 – Luo Xuejuan, Chinese swimmer
- 1985 – Heather Stanning, English rower
- 1986 – Gerald Green, American basketball player
- 1986 – Kim Jae-joong, South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, director and designer.
- 1986 – Mustapha Yatabaré, French-Malian footballer
- 1987 – Sebastian Giovinco, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Dimitrios Chondrokoukis, Greek high jumper
- 1989 – MarShon Brooks, American basketball player
- 1989 – Emily Hughes, American figure skater
- 1990 – Sergio Pérez, Mexican race car driver
- 1990 – Peter Sagan, Slovak professional cyclist
- 1990 – Nina Zander, German tennis player
- 1991 – Tom Meechan, English footballer
- 1992 – Sasha Banks, American professional wrestler
- 1993 – Lana Clelland, Scottish footballer
- 1993 – Florian Thauvin, French footballer
- 1995 – Sione Katoa, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1997 – Gedion Zelalem, German-born American soccer player
- 2001 – Latalia Bevan, Welsh artistic gymnast
Deaths on January 26
- 724 – Yazid II, Umayyad caliph (b. 687)
- 738 – John of Dailam, Syrian monk and saint (b. 660)
- 910 – Luo Yin, Chinese statesman and poet
- 946 – Eadgyth, Queen consort of Germany (b.c 910)
- 1186 – Ismat ad-Din Khatun, wife of Saladin
- 1390 – Adolph IX, Count of Holstein-Kiel (b.c 1327)
- 1567 – Nicholas Wotton, English courtier and diplomat (b. 1497)
- 1568 – Lady Catherine Grey, Countess of Hertford (b. 1540)
- 1620 – Amar Singh I, ruler of Mewar (b. 1559)
- 1630 – Henry Briggs, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1556)
- 1636 – Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (b. 1552)
- 1641 – Lawrence Hyde, English lawyer (b. 1562)
- 1697 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician and theorist (b. 1640)
- 1744 – Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (b. 1683)
- 1750 – Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist and academic (b. 1686)
- 1779 – Thomas Hudson, English painter (b. 1701)
- 1795 – Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German harpsichord player and composer (b. 1732)
- 1799 – Gabriel Christie, Scottish general (b. 1722)
- 1823 – Edward Jenner, English physician and immunologist (b. 1749)
- 1824 – Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer (b. 1791)
- 1831 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian soldier (b. 1798)
- 1831 – Anton Delvig, Russian poet and journalist (b. 1798)
- 1849 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician (b. 1803)
- 1855 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (b. 1808)
- 1860 – Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, opera singer (b. 1804)
- 1869 – Duncan Gordon Boyes, English soldier; Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1846)
- 1870 – Victor de Broglie, French politician, 9th Prime Minister of France (b. 1785)
- 1885 – Edward Davy, English-Australian physician and engineer (b. 1806)
- 1885 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (b. 1833)
- 1886 – David Rice Atchison, American general and politician (b. 1807)
- 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, One of the first female Indian physicians (b. 1865)
- 1891 – Nicolaus Otto, German engineer, invented the Internal combustion engine (b. 1833)
- 1893 – Abner Doubleday, American general (b. 1819)
- 1895 – Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic (b. 1825)
- 1904 – Whitaker Wright, English businessman (b. 1846)
- 1926 – John Flannagan, American priest and academic (b. 1860)
- 1932 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded the Wrigley Company (b. 1861)
- 1942 – Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician and academic (b. 1868)
- 1943 – Harry H. Laughlin, American sociologist and eugenicist (b. 1880)
- 1943 – Nikolai Vavilov, Russian botanist and geneticist (b. 1887)
- 1946 – Oskar Kallas, Estonian linguist and diplomat (b. 1868)
- 1946 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (b. 1884)
- 1947 – Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (b. 1898)
- 1948 – Kâzım Karabekir, Turkish general and politician, 5th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1882)
- 1948 – Fred Conrad Koch, American biochemist and endocrinologist (born 1876)
- 1948 – John Lomax, American musicologist and academic (b. 1867)
- 1952 – Khorloogiin Choibalsan, Mongolian general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1895)
- 1953 – Athanase David, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1882)
- 1957 – Helene Costello, American actress (b. 1906)
- 1962 – Lucky Luciano, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1897)
- 1968 – Merrill C. Meigs, American publisher (b. 1883)
- 1973 – Edward G. Robinson, Romanian-American actor (b. 1893)
- 1975 – Donald Sheldon, American bush pilot (b. 1921)
- 1976 – João Branco Núncio, Portuguese bullfighter (b. 1901)
- 1977 – Filopimin Finos, Greek production manager and producer, founded Finos Film (b. 1908)
- 1979 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
- 1980 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (b. 1922)
- 1983 – Bear Bryant, American football player and coach (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (b. 1914)
- 1990 – Bob Gerard, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1914)
- 1990 – Lewis Mumford, American sociologist and historian (b. 1895)
- 1992 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor (b. 1912)
- 1993 – Jan Gies, Dutch businessman and humanitarian (b. 1905)
- 1993 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (b. 1912)
- 1993 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada (b. 1922)
- 1996 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1921)
- 1996 – Harold Brodkey, American author and academic (b. 1930)
- 1996 – Frank Howard, American football player and coach (b. 1909)
- 1996 – Henry Lewis, American bassist and conductor (b. 1932)
- 1997 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (b. 1904)
- 2000 – Don Budge, American tennis player and coach (b. 1915)
- 2000 – Kathleen Hale, English author and illustrator (b. 1898)
- 2000 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Al McGuire, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
- 2003 – Valeriy Brumel, Russian high jumper (b. 1942)
- 2003 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian and academic (b. 1917)
- 2003 – George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Scottish banker and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland (b. 1931)
- 2004 – Fred Haas, American golfer (b. 1916)
- 2006 – Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Pakistani politician (b. 1917)
- 2007 – Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
- 2008 – Viktor Schreckengost, American sculptor and designer (b. 1906)
- 2010 – Louis Auchincloss, American novelist and essayist (b. 1917)
- 2011 – David Kato Kisule, Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda’s gay rights movement (b. 1964)
- 2011 – Charlie Louvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Roberto Mieres, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Christine M. Jones, American educator and politician (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Stefan Kudelski, Polish-Swiss engineer, invented the Nagra (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Padma Kant Shukla, Indian physicist and academic (b. 1950)
- 2013 – Shōtarō Yasuoka, Japanese author (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Tom Gola, American basketball player, coach, and politician (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Paula Gruden, Slovenian-Australian poet and translator (b. 1921)
- 2014 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and author (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Ralph T. Troy, American banker and politician (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Cleven “Goodie” Goudeau, American art director and cartoonist (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Tom Uren, Australian soldier and politician (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, Pakistani politician and diplomat, 14th Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1920)
- 2016 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (b. 1921)
- 2017 – Mike Connors, American actor (b. 1925)
- 2017 – Tam Dalyell, Scottish politician (b. 1932)
- 2017 – Lindy Delapenha, Jamaican footballer and sports journalist (b. 1927)
- 2017 – Barbara Hale, American actress (b. 1922)
- 2020 – John Altobelli, American college baseball coach (b. 1963)
- 2020 – Kobe Bryant, American basketball player (b. 1978)
Holidays and observances on January 26
- Christian feast day:
- Alberic
- Founders of Cîteaux (Alberic of Cîteaux, Robert of Molesme, Stephen Harding)
- Blessed Gabriele Allegra
- Paula
- Timothy and Titus
- January 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Australia Day (Australia)
- Duarte Day (Dominican Republic)
- Engineer’s Day (Panama)
- International Customs Day
- Liberation Day (Uganda)
- Republic Day (India)
-
January 18 in History
- 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later.
- 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail.
- 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chinese throne in favour of his son Emperor Qinzong.
- 1486 – King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York.
- 1562 – Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session.
- 1591 – King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Mingyi Swa of Burma in single combat, for which this date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces day.
- 1670 – Henry Morgan captures Panama.
- 1701 – Frederick I crowns himself King of Prussia in Königsberg.
- 1778 – James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the “Sandwich Islands”.
- 1788 – The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from Great Britain to Australia arrive at Botany Bay.
- 1806 – Jan Willem Janssens surrenders the Dutch Cape Colony to the British.
- 1866 – Wesley College is established in Melbourne, Australia.
- 1871 – Wilhelm I of Germany is proclaimed Kaiser Wilhelm in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles (France) towards the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Wilhelm already had the title of German Emperor since the constitution of 1 January 1871, but he had hesitated to accept the title.
- 1886 – Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England.
- 1896 – An X-ray generating machine is exhibited for the first time by H. L. Smith.
- 1911 – Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay, the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.
- 1913 – First Balkan War: A Greek flotilla defeats the Ottoman Navy in the Naval Battle of Lemnos, securing the islands of the Northern Aegean Sea for Greece.
- 1915 – Japan issues the “Twenty-One Demands” to the Republic of China in a bid to increase its power in East Asia.
- 1919 – World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France.
- 1919 – Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland.
- 1941 – World War II: British troops launch a general counter-offensive against Italian East Africa.
- 1943 – Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
- 1945 – World War II: Liberation of Kraków, Poland by the Red Army.
- 1958 – Willie O’Ree, the first Black Canadian National Hockey League player, makes his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins.
- 1960 – Capital Airlines Flight 20 crashes into a farm in Charles City County, Virginia, killing all 50 aboard, the third fatal Capital Airlines crash in as many years.
- 1967 – Albert DeSalvo, the “Boston Strangler”, is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
- 1969 – United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into Santa Monica Bay killing all 32 passengers and six crew members.
- 1974 – A Disengagement of Forces agreement is signed between the Israeli and Egyptian governments, ending conflict on the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War.
- 1976 – Lebanese Christian militias kill at least 1,000 in Karantina, Beirut.
- 1977 – Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires’ disease.
- 1977 – Australia’s worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney killing 83.
- 1977 – SFR Yugoslavia’s Prime minister, Džemal Bijedić, his wife and six others are killed in a plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 1978 – The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom’s government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
- 1981 – Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield parachute off a Houston skyscraper, becoming the first two people to BASE jump from objects in all four categories: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).
- 1983 – The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe’s Olympic medals to his family.
- 1990 – Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
- 1993 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is officially observed for the first time in all 50 US states.
- 2002 – The Sierra Leone Civil War is declared over.
- 2003 – A bushfire kills four people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.
- 2005 – The Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial jet, is unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse, France
- 2007 – The strongest storm in the United Kingdom in 17 years kills 14 people and Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Cyclone Kyrill causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe.
- 2008 – The Euphronios Krater is unveiled in Rome after being returned to Italy by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- 2018 – A bus catches fire on the Samara–Shymkent road in Yrgyz District, Aktobe, Kazakhstan. The fire kills 52 passengers, with three passengers and two drivers escaping.
Births on January 18
- 1404 – Sir Philip Courtenay, British noble (d. 1463)
- 1457 – Antonio Trivulzio, seniore, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1508)
- 1519 – Isabella Jagiellon, Queen of Hungary (d. 1559)
- 1540 – Catherine, Duchess of Braganza (d. 1614)
- 1641 – François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French politician, Secretary of State for War (d. 1691)
- 1659 – Damaris Cudworth Masham, English philosopher and theologian (d. 1708)
- 1672 – Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French author (d. 1731)
- 1688 – Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1765)
- 1689 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (d. 1755)
- 1701 – Johann Jakob Moser, German jurist (d. 1785)
- 1743 – Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1803)
- 1751 – Ferdinand Kauer, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1831)
- 1752 – John Nash, English architect (d. 1835)
- 1764 – Samuel Whitbread, English politician (d. 1815)
- 1779 – Peter Mark Roget, English physician, lexicographer, and theologian (d. 1869)
- 1782 – Daniel Webster, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852)
- 1793 – Pratap Singh Bhosle, Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1847)
- 1815 – Constantin von Tischendorf, German theologian and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1835 – César Cui, Russian general, composer, and critic (d. 1918)
- 1840 – Henry Austin Dobson, English poet and author (d. 1921)
- 1841 – Emmanuel Chabrier, French pianist and composer (d. 1894)
- 1842 – A. A. Ames, American physician and politician, Mayor of Minneapolis (d. 1911)
- 1848 – Ioan Slavici, Romanian journalist and author (d. 1925)
- 1849 – Edmund Barton, Australian judge and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1920)
- 1850 – Seth Low, American academic and politician, 92nd Mayor of New York City (d. 1916)
- 1853 – Marthinus Nikolaas Ras, South African farmer, soldier, and gun-maker (d. 1900)
- 1854 – Thomas A. Watson, American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (d. 1934)
- 1856 – Daniel Hale Williams, American surgeon and cardiologist (d. 1931)
- 1867 – Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat (d. 1916)
- 1868 – Kantarō Suzuki, Japanese admiral and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
- 1877 – Sam Zemurray, Russian-American businessman, founded the Cuyamel Fruit Company (d. 1961)
- 1879 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (d. 1949)
- 1880 – Paul Ehrenfest, Austrian-Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1933)
- 1880 – Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, Italian cardinal (d. 1954)
- 1881 – Gaston Gallimard, French publisher, founded Éditions Gallimard (d. 1975)
- 1882 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1956)
- 1886 – Clara Nordström, Swedish-German author and translator (d. 1962)
- 1888 – Thomas Sopwith, English ice hockey player, sailor, and pilot (d. 1989)
- 1892 – Oliver Hardy, American actor and comedian (d. 1957)
- 1892 – Bill Meanix, American hurdler and coach (d. 1957)
- 1892 – Paul Rostock, German surgeon and academic (d. 1956)
- 1893 – Jorge Guillén, Spanish poet, critic, and academic (d. 1984)
- 1894 – Toots Mondt, American wrestler and promoter (d. 1976)
- 1896 – C. M. Eddy Jr., American author (d. 1967)
- 1896 – Ville Ritola, Finnish-American runner (d. 1982)
- 1898 – Albert Kivikas, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1978)
- 1901 – Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1973)
- 1903 – Berthold Goldschmidt, German pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1904 – Anthony Galla-Rini, American accordion player and composer (d. 2006)
- 1904 – Cary Grant, English-American actor (d. 1986)
- 1905 – Joseph Bonanno, Italian-American mob boss (d. 2002)
- 1907 – János Ferencsik, Hungarian conductor (d. 1984)
- 1908 – Jacob Bronowski, Polish-English mathematician, historian, and television host (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English economist and academic (d. 1993)
- 1911 – José María Arguedas, Peruvian anthropologist, author, and poet (d. 1969)
- 1911 – Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1987)
- 1913 – Carroll Cloar, American artist (d. 1993)
- 1913 – Giannis Papaioannou, Greek composer (d. 1972)
- 1914 – Arno Schmidt, German author and translator (d. 1979)
- 1914 – Vitomil Zupan, Slovene author, poet, and playwright (d. 1987)
- 1915 – Syl Apps, Canadian pole vaulter, ice hockey player, and politician (d. 1998)
- 1915 – Santiago Carrillo, Spanish soldier and politician (d. 2012)
- 1915 – Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (d. 1984)
- 1917 – Nicholas Oresko, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Wang Yung-ching, Taiwanese-American businessman (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Gustave Gingras, Canadian-English physician and educator (d. 1996)
- 1919 – Toni Turek, German footballer (d. 1984)
- 1921 – Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
- 1923 – John Graham, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Wales (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Gerrit Voorting, Dutch cyclist (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Gilles Deleuze, French metaphysician and philosopher (d. 1995)
- 1925 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Sol Yurick, American soldier and author (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Randolph Bromery, American geologist and academic (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Sundaram Balachander, Indian actor, singer, and veena player (d. 1990)
- 1928 – Alexander Gomelsky, Soviet and Russian professional basketball coach (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Chun Doo-hwan, South Korean general and politician, 5th President of South Korea
- 1932 – Robert Anton Wilson, American psychologist, author, poet, and playwright (d. 2007)
- 1933 – Emeka Anyaoku, Nigerian politician, 8th Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1933 – David Bellamy, English botanist, author and academic (d. 2019)
- 1933 – John Boorman, English director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1933 – Ray Dolby, American engineer and businessman, founded Dolby Laboratories (d. 2013)
- 1933 – William Goodhart, Baron Goodhart, English lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
- 1933 – Frank McMullen, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2004)
- 1933 – Jean Vuarnet, French ski racer (d. 2017)
- 1934 – Raymond Briggs, English author and illustrator
- 1935 – Albert Millaire, Canadian actor and director (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Jon Stallworthy, English poet, critic, and academic (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Gad Yaacobi, Israeli academic and diplomat, 10th Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2007)
- 1936 – David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
- 1937 – John Hume, Northern Irish educator and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1938 – Curt Flood, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1997)
- 1938 – Anthony Giddens, English sociologist and academic
- 1938 – Werner Olk, German footballer and manager
- 1938 – Hargus “Pig” Robbins, American Country Music Hall of Fame session keyboard and piano player
- 1940 – Pedro Rodriguez, Mexican race car driver (d. 1971)
- 1941 – Denise Bombardier, Canadian journalist and author
- 1941 – Bobby Goldsboro, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1941 – David Ruffin, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1991)
- 1943 – Paul Freeman, English actor
- 1943 – Kay Granger, American educator and politician
- 1943 – Dave Greenslade, English keyboard player and composer
- 1943 – Charlie Wilson, American businessman and politician (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Paul Keating, Australian economist and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Australia
- 1944 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (d. 1983)
- 1944 – Kei Ogura, Japanese singer-songwriter and composer
- 1944 – Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria
- 1945 – Rocco Forte, English businessman and philanthropist
- 1946 – Perro Aguayo, Mexican wrestler (d. 2019)
- 1946 – Joseph Deiss, Swiss economist and politician, 156th President of the Swiss Confederation
- 1946 – Henrique Rosa, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2013)
- 1947 – Sachio Kinugasa, Japanese baseball player and journalist (d. 2018)
- 1947 – Takeshi Kitano, Japanese actor and director
- 1949 – Bill Keller, American journalist
- 1949 – Philippe Starck, French interior designer
- 1950 – Gianfranco Brancatelli, Italian race car driver
- 1950 – Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (d. 1982)
- 1951 – Bram Behr, Surinamese journalist and activist (d. 1982)
- 1951 – Bob Latchford, English footballer
- 1952 – Michael Behe, American biochemist, author, and academic
- 1952 – R. Stevie Moore, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1953 – Brett Hudson, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1953 – Peter Moon, Australian comedian and actor
- 1955 – Kevin Costner, American actor, director, and producer
- 1956 – Paul Deighton, Baron Deighton, English banker and politician
- 1960 – Mark Rylance, English actor, director, and playwright
- 1961 – Peter Beardsley, English footballer and manager
- 1961 – Bob Hansen, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1961 – Mark Messier, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1961 – Jeff Yagher, American actor and sculptor
- 1962 – Alison Arngrim, Canadian-American actress
- 1963 – Maxime Bernier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Minister of Foreign Affairs for Canada
- 1963 – Ian Crook, English footballer, central midfielder and manager
- 1963 – Carl McCoy, English singer-songwriter
- 1963 – Martin O’Malley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 61st Governor of Maryland
- 1964 – Brady Anderson, American baseball player
- 1964 – Richard Dunwoody, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
- 1964 – Virgil Hill, American boxer
- 1964 – Jane Horrocks, English actress and singer
- 1966 – Alexander Khalifman, Russian chess player and author
- 1966 – Kazufumi Miyazawa, Japanese singer
- 1966 – André Ribeiro, Brazilian race car driver
- 1967 – Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
- 1967 – Iván Zamorano, Chilean footballer
- 1969 – Dave Bautista, American wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor
- 1969 – Jesse L. Martin, American actor and singer
- 1969 – Jim O’Rourke, American guitarist and producer
- 1970 – Peter Van Petegem, Belgian cyclist
- 1971 – Amy Barger, American astronomer
- 1971 – Jonathan Davis, American singer-songwriter
- 1971 – Christian Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver
- 1971 – Pep Guardiola, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1971 – Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan writer (d. 2019)
- 1972 – Vinod Kambli, Indian cricketer, sportscaster, and actor
- 1972 – Mike Lieberthal, American baseball player
- 1972 – Kjersti Plätzer, Norwegian race walker
- 1973 – Burnie Burns, American actor, director, and producer, co-founded Rooster Teeth Productions
- 1973 – Luke Goodwin, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1973 – Benjamin Jealous, American civic leader and activist
- 1973 – Anthony Koutoufides, Australian footballer
- 1973 – Crispian Mills, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director
- 1973 – Rolando Schiavi, Argentinian footballer and coach
- 1974 – Christian Burns, English singer-songwriter
- 1975 – Leslie Knope, Protagonist of Parks and Recreation (fictional)
- 1976 – Laurence Courtois, Belgian tennis player
- 1976 – Marcelo Gallardo, Argentinian footballer and coach
- 1976 – Damien Leith, Irish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1977 – Richard Archer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Brian Falkenborg, American baseball player
- 1978 – Thor Hushovd, Norwegian cyclist
- 1978 – Bogdan Lobonț, Romanian footballer
- 1979 – Ruslan Fedotenko, Ukrainian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Paulo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer
- 1979 – Brian Gionta, American ice hockey player
- 1979 – Kenyatta Jones, American football player (d. 2018)
- 1980 – Estelle, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1980 – Robert Green, English footballer
- 1980 – Kert Haavistu, Estonian footballer and manager
- 1980 – Julius Peppers, American football player
- 1980 – Jason Segel, American actor and screenwriter
- 1981 – Otgonbayar Ershuu, Mongolian painter and illustrator
- 1981 – Olivier Rochus, Belgian tennis player
- 1981 – Khari Stephenson, Jamaican footballer
- 1981 – Kang Dong-won, South Korean actor
- 1982 – Quinn Allman, American guitarist and producer
- 1982 – Mary Jepkosgei Keitany, Kenyan runner
- 1983 – Amir Blumenfeld, Israeli-American comedian, actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1983 – Samantha Mumba, Irish singer-songwriter and actress
- 1984 – Kristy Lee Cook, American singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Ioannis Drymonakos, Greek swimmer
- 1984 – Makoto Hasebe, Japanese footballer
- 1984 – Michael Kearney, American biochemist and academic
- 1984 – Seung-Hui Cho, South Korean student who perpetrated the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech (d. 2007)
- 1984 – Benji Schwimmer, American dancer and choreographer
- 1984 – Viktoria Shklover, Estonian figure skater
- 1985 – Dale Begg-Smith, Canadian-Australian skier
- 1985 – Mark Briscoe, American wrestler
- 1985 – Riccardo Montolivo, Italian footballer
- 1985 – Hyun Woo, South Korean actor
- 1986 – Marya Roxx, Estonian-American singer-songwriter
- 1986 – Ikusaburo Yamazaki, Japanese actor and singer
- 1987 – Johan Djourou, Swiss footballer
- 1987 – Christopher Liebig, German rugby player
- 1987 – Grigoris Makos, Greek footballer
- 1988 – Ronnie Day, American singer-songwriter
- 1988 – Angelique Kerber, German tennis player
- 1988 – Anastasios Kissas, Greek footballer
- 1988 – Boy van Poppel, Dutch cyclist
- 1989 – Rubén Miño, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Nacho, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Hayle Ibrahimov, Ethiopian-Azerbaijani runner
- 1990 – Gift Ngoepe, South African baseball player
- 1991 – Diego Simões, Brazilian footballer
- 1992 – Francesco Bardi, Italian footballer
- 1993 – Sean Keenan, Australian actor
- 1994 – Kang Ji-young, South Korean singer
- 1994 – Ilona Kremen, Belarusian tennis player
- 1995 – Bryce Alford, American basketball player
- 1998 – Aitana Bonmatí, Spanish footballer
Deaths on January 18
- 52 BC – Publius Clodius Pulcher, Roman politician (b. 93 BC)
- 474 – Leo I, Byzantine emperor (b. 401)
- 748 – Odilo, duke of Bavaria
- 896 – Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun, ruler of the Tulunids, murdered (b. 864)
- 1213 – Tamar of Georgia (b. 1160)
- 1253 – King Henry I of Cyprus (b. 1217)
- 1271 – Saint Margaret of Hungary (b. 1242)
- 1326 – Robert FitzWalter, 1st Baron FitzWalter, English baron (b. 1247)
- 1357 – Maria of Portugal, infanta (b. 1313)
- 1367 – Peter I of Portugal (b. 1320)
- 1411 – Jobst of Moravia, ruler of Moravia, King of the Romans
- 1425 – Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, English politician (b. 1391)
- 1471 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (b. 1419)
- 1479 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1417)
- 1547 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal and scholar (b. 1470)
- 1586 – Margaret of Parma (b. 1522)
- 1589 – Magnus Heinason, Faroese naval hero (b. 1545)
- 1677 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch politician, founded Cape Town (b. 1619)
- 1756 – Francis George of Schönborn-Buchheim, Archbishop-Elector of Trier (b. 1682)
- 1783 – Jeanne Quinault, French actress and playwright (b. 1699)
- 1803 – Ippolit Bogdanovich, Russian poet and academic (b. 1743)
- 1849 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (b. 1752)
- 1862 – John Tyler, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 10th President of the United States (b. 1790)
- 1873 – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English author, poet, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1803)
- 1878 – Antoine César Becquerel, French physicist and academic (b. 1788)
- 1886 – Baldassare Verazzi, Italian painter (b. 1819)
- 1892 – Anton Anderledy, Swiss religious leader, 23rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1819)
- 1896 – Charles Floquet, French lawyer and politician, 55th Prime Minister of France (b. 1828)
- 1923 – Wallace Reid, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1891)
- 1936 – Hermanus Brockmann, Dutch rower (b. 1871)
- 1936 – Rudyard Kipling, English author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1940 – Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Polish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1865)
- 1951 – Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary and humanitarian (b. 1867)
- 1952 – Curly Howard, American actor (b. 1903)
- 1954 – Sydney Greenstreet, English-American actor (b. 1879)
- 1955 – Saadat Hasan Manto, Pakistani author and screenwriter (b. 1912)
- 1956 – Makbule Atadan, Turkish lawyer and politician (b. 1885)
- 1956 – Konstantin Päts, Estonian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 1st President of Estonia (b. 1874)
- 1963 – Hugh Gaitskell, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1906)
- 1966 – Kathleen Norris, American journalist and author (b. 1880)
- 1967 – Goose Tatum, American basketball player and soldier (b. 1921)
- 1969 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1887)
- 1970 – David O. McKay, American religious leader, 9th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1873)
- 1971 – Virgil Finlay, American illustrator (b. 1914)
- 1973 – Irina Nikolaevna Levchenko, Russian tank commander (b. 1924)
- 1975 – Gertrude Olmstead, American actress (b. 1897)
- 1978 – Hasan Askari, Pakistani philosopher and author (b. 1919)
- 1980 – Cecil Beaton, English fashion designer and photographer (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Panteleimon Ponomarenko, Belarusian general and politician (b. 1902)
- 1984 – Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1915)
- 1989 – Bruce Chatwin, English-French author (b. 1940)
- 1990 – Melanie Appleby, English singer (b. 1966)
- 1990 – Rusty Hamer, American actor (b. 1947)
- 1993 – Dionysios Zakythinos, Greek historian, academic, and politician (b. 1905)
- 1995 – Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1995 – Ron Luciano, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1937)
- 1996 – N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician, 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (b. 1923)
- 1997 – Paul Tsongas, American lawyer and politician (b. 1941)
- 1998 – Dan Georgiadis, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (b. 1897)
- 2003 – Ed Farhat, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1924)
- 2003 – Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Indian poet and author (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Lamont Bentley, American actor and rapper (b. 1973)
- 2006 – Jan Twardowski, Polish priest and poet (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Brent Liles, American bass player (b. 1963)
- 2008 – Georgia Frontiere, American businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
- 2008 – Frank Lewin, American composer and theorist (b. 1925)
- 2008 – Lois Nettleton, American actress (b. 1927)
- 2008 – John Stroger, American politician (b. 1929)
- 2009 – Tony Hart, English painter and television host (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Nora Kovach, Hungarian-American ballerina (b. 1931)
- 2009 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1913)
- 2009 – Grigore Vieru, Romanian poet and author (b. 1935)
- 2010 – Kate McGarrigle, Canadian musician and singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
- 2010 – Robert B. Parker, American author and academic (b. 1932)
- 2011 – Sargent Shriver, American politician and diplomat, 21st United States Ambassador to France (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Anthony Gonsalves, Indian composer and educator (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Georg Lassen, German captain (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Yuri Rasovsky, American playwright and producer, founded The National Radio Theater of Chicago (b. 1944)
- 2013 – Sean Fallon, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Jim Horning, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Jon Mannah, Australian rugby league player (b. 1989)
- 2013 – Lewis Marnell, Australian skateboarder (b. 1982)
- 2013 – Ron Nachman, Israeli lawyer and politician (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Kathryn Abbe, American photographer and author (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Michael Botmang, Nigerian politician, 17th Governor of Plateau State (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Dennis Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Andy Graver, English footballer (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Sarah Marshall, English actress (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Eugenio Cruz Vargas, Chilean poet and painter (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer and prosecutor (b. 1963)
- 2015 – Christine Valmy, Romanian cosmetologist and author (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Piet van der Sanden, Dutch journalist and politician (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Tony Verna, American director and producer, invented instant replay (b. 1933)
- 2016 – Johnny Bach, American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Glenn Frey, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1948)
- 2016 – T. S. Sinnathuray, Judge of the High Court of Singapore (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Michel Tournier, French journalist and author (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Peter Abrahams, South African-Jamaican writer (b. 1919)
- 2017 – David P. Buckson, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Delaware (b. 1920)
- 2017 – Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, English cricketer, businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1939)
- 2017 – Roberta Peters, American coloratura soprano (b. 1930)
- 2019 – John Coughlin, American figure skater (b. 1985)
Holidays and observances on January 18
- Christian feast day:
- Amy Carmichael (Church of England)
- Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Confession of Peter (Eastern Orthodox, some Anglican and Lutheran Churches)
- Cyril of Alexandria
- Deicolus
- Margaret of Hungary
- Prisca
- Volusianus of Tours
- January 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Royal Thai Armed Forces Day (Thailand)
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18–25) (Christianity)