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June 13 in History
- 313 – The decisions of the Edict of Milan, signed by Constantine the Great and co-emperor Valerius Licinius, granting religious freedom throughout the Roman Empire, are published in Nicomedia.
- 1381 – In England, the Peasants’ Revolt, led by Wat Tyler, comes to a head, as rebels set fire to the Savoy Palace.
- 1514 – Henry Grace à Dieu, at over 1,000 tons the largest warship in the world at this time, built at the new Woolwich Dockyard in England, is dedicated.
- 1525 – Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for priests and nuns.
- 1625 – King Charles I of England marries Catholic princess Henrietta Maria of France and Navarre, at Canterbury.
- 1740 – Georgia provincial governor James Oglethorpe begins an unsuccessful attempt to take Spanish Florida during the Siege of St. Augustine.
- 1774 – Rhode Island becomes the first of Britain’s North American colonies to ban the importation of slaves.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette lands near Charleston, South Carolina, in order to help the Continental Congress to train its army.
- 1805 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: Scouting ahead of the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and four companions sight the Great Falls of the Missouri River.
- 1881 – The USS Jeannette is crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack.
- 1886 – A fire devastates much of Vancouver, British Columbia.
- 1893 – Grover Cleveland notices a rough spot in his mouth and on July 1 undergoes secret, successful surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw; the operation was not revealed to the public until 1917, nine years after the president’s death.
- 1898 – Yukon Territory is formed, with Dawson chosen as its capital.
- 1917 – World War I: The deadliest German air raid on London of the war is carried out by Gotha G.IV bombers and results in 162 deaths, including 46 children, and 432 injuries.
- 1927 – Aviator Charles Lindbergh receives a ticker tape parade down 5th Avenue in New York City.
- 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Villers-Bocage: German tank ace Michael Wittmann ambushes elements of the British 7th Armoured Division, destroying up to fourteen tanks, fifteen personnel carriers and two anti-tank guns in a Tiger I tank.
- 1944 – World War II: German combat elements, reinforced by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, launch a counterattack on American forces near Carentan.
- 1944 – World War II: Germany launches the first V1 Flying Bomb attack on England. Only four of the eleven bombs strike their targets.
- 1952 – Catalina affair: A Swedish Douglas DC-3 is shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 fighter.
- 1966 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.
- 1967 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson nominates Solicitor-General Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
- 1971 – Vietnam War: The New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers.
- 1977 – Convicted Martin Luther King Jr. assassin James Earl Ray is recaptured after escaping from prison three days before.
- 1981 – At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager, Marcus Sarjeant, fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.
- 1982 – Fahd becomes King of Saudi Arabia upon the death of his brother, Khalid.
- 1982 – Battles of Tumbledown and Wireless Ridge, during the Falklands War.
- 1983 – Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the central Solar System when it passes beyond the orbit of Neptune.
- 1990 – First day of the June 1990 Mineriad in Romania. At least 240 strikers and students are arrested or killed in the chaos ensuing from the first post-Ceaușescu elections.
- 1994 – A jury in Anchorage, Alaska, blames recklessness by Exxon and Captain Joseph Hazelwood for the Exxon Valdez disaster, allowing victims of the oil spill to seek $15 billion in damages.
- 1996 – The Montana Freemen surrender after an 81-day standoff with FBI agents.
- 1997 – A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to death for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
- 2000 – President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea meets Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea, for the beginning of the first ever inter-Korea summit, in the northern capital of Pyongyang.
- 2000 – Italy pardons Mehmet Ali Ağca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.
- 2002 – The United States withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
- 2007 – The Al Askari Mosque is bombed for a second time.
- 2010 – A capsule of the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa, containing particles of the asteroid 25143 Itokawa, returns to Earth.
- 2012 – A series of bombings across Iraq, including Baghdad, Hillah and Kirkuk, kills at least 93 people and wounds over 300 others.
- 2015 – A man opens fire at policemen outside the police headquarters in Dallas, Texas, while a bag containing a pipe bomb is also found. He was later shot dead by police.
Births on June 13
- AD 40 – Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman general (d. 93)
- 823 – Charles the Bald, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 877)
- 839 – Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 888)
- 1367 – Taejong of Joseon (d. 1422)
- 1500 – Ernest of Bavaria, pledge lord of the County of Glatz (d. 1560)
- 1508 – Alessandro Piccolomini, Italian astronomer and philosopher (d. 1579)
- 1539 – Jost Amman, Swiss printmaker (d. 1591)
- 1555 – Giovanni Antonio Magini, Italian mathematician, cartographer and astronomer (d. 1617)
- 1580 – Willebrord Snell, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (d. 1626)
- 1595 – Jan Marek Marci, Czech physician and scientist (d. 1667)
- 1617 – Sir Vincent Corbet, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1656)
- 1649 – Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (d. 1706)
- 1711 – Sir Richard Glyn, 1st Baronet, of Ewell, English banker and politician, Lord Mayor of London (d. 1773)
- 1752 – Frances Burney, English novelist and playwright (d. 1840)
- 1761 – Antonín Vranický, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1820)
- 1763 – José Bonifácio de Andrada, Brazilian poet, academic, and politician (d. 1838)
- 1773 – Thomas Young, English physicist and physiologist (d. 1829)
- 1775 – Antoni Radziwiłł, Polish-Lithuanian composer and politician (d. 1833)
- 1786 – Winfield Scott, American general (d. 1866)
- 1790 – José Antonio Páez, Venezuelan general and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 1873)
- 1809 – Heinrich Hoffmann, German psychiatrist and author (d. 1894)
- 1822 – Carl Schmidt, Latvian-German chemist and academic (d. 1894)
- 1827 – Alberto Henschel, German-Brazilian photographer and businessman (d. 1882)
- 1831 – James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist and mathematician (d. 1879)
- 1840 – Augusta Lundin, the first international Swedish fashion designer (d. 1919)
- 1854 – Charles Algernon Parsons, English engineer, founded C. A. Parsons and Company (d. 1931)
- 1863 – Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, English fashion designer (d. 1935)
- 1864 – Rudolf Kjellén, Swedish political scientist and academic (d. 1922)
- 1864 – Dwight B. Waldo, American historian and academic (d. 1939)
- 1865 – Karl Blossfeldt, German photographer (d. 1932)
- 1865 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1939)
- 1868 – Wallace Clement Sabine, American physicist and academic (d. 1919)
- 1870 – Jules Bordet, Belgian immunologist and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
- 1872 – Thomas N. Heffron, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1951)
- 1873 – Karin Swanström, Swedish actress, director, and producer (d. 1942)
- 1875 – Paul Neumann, Austrian swimmer and physician (d. 1932)
- 1876 – William Sealy Gosset, English chemist and statistician (d. 1937)
- 1879 – Heinrich Gutkin, Estonian businessman and politician (d. 1941)
- 1879 – Charalambos Tseroulis, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister for Military Affairs (d. 1929)
- 1884 – Leon Chwistek, Polish painter, philosopher, and mathematician (d. 1944)
- 1884 – Étienne Gilson, French philosopher and academic (d. 1978)
- 1885 – Henry George Lamond, Australian farmer and author (d. 1969)
- 1887 – André François-Poncet, French politician and diplomat (d. 1978)
- 1887 – Bruno Frank, German-American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1945)
- 1888 – Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet and critic (d. 1935)
- 1892 – Basil Rathbone, South African-born British-American actor (d. 1967)
- 1893 – Alan Arnold Griffith, English engineer (d. 1963)
- 1893 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English author and poet (d. 1957)
- 1894 – Leo Kanner, Ukrainian-American psychiatrist and physician (d. 1981)
- 1894 – Jacques Henri Lartigue, French photographer and painter (d. 1986)
- 1897 – Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner and coach (d. 1973)
- 1899 – Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer, conductor, and journalist, founded the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra (d. 1978)
- 1901 – Tage Erlander, Swedish lieutenant and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1985)
- 1902 – Carolyn Eisele, American mathematician and historian (d. 2000)
- 1903 – Willard Harrison Bennett, American physicist and chemist (d. 1987)
- 1905 – James T. Rutnam, Sri Lankan historian and author (d. 1988)
- 1906 – Bruno de Finetti, Austrian-Italian mathematician and statistician (d. 1985)
- 1909 – E. M. S. Namboodiripad, Indian theorist and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Kerala (d. 1998)
- 1910 – Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, Spanish journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1999)
- 1910 – Mary Wickes, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1910 – Mary Whitehouse, English activist, founded the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association (d. 2001)
- 1911 – Luis Walter Alvarez, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
- 1911 – Maurice Copeland, American actor (d. 1985)
- 1911 – Erwin Wilhelm Müller, German physicist and academic (d. 1977)
- 1912 – Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, Canadian poet and painter (d. 1943)
- 1913 – Ralph Edwards, American radio and television host (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Yitzhak Pundak, Israeli general, diplomat and politician (d. 2017)
- 1914 – Frederic Franklin, English-American ballet dancer and director (d. 2013)
- 1915 – Don Budge, American tennis player and coach (d. 2000)
- 1916 – Wu Zhengyi, Chinese botanist and academic (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Teddy Turner, English actor (d. 1992)
- 1917 – Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan novelist (d. 2005)
- 1918 – Ben Johnson, American actor and stuntman (d. 1996)
- 1918 – Helmut Lent, German soldier and pilot (d. 1944)
- 1918 – Percy Rodriguez, Canadian-American actor (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Rolf Huisgen, German chemist and academic (d. 2020)
- 1920 – Iosif Vorovich, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 2001)
- 1921 – Lennart Strand, Swedish runner (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Etienne Leroux, South African author (d. 1989)
- 1923 – Lloyd Conover, American chemist and inventor (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Kristine Miller, American actress (d. 2015)
- 1926 – Jérôme Lejeune, French pediatrician and geneticist (d. 1994)
- 1926 – Paul Lynde, American actor and comedian (d. 1982)
- 1927 – Slim Dusty, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
- 1928 – Giacomo Biffi, Italian cardinal (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Renée Morisset, Canadian pianist (d. 2009)
- 1928 – John Forbes Nash, Jr., American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Ralph McQuarrie, American illustrator (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Robert W. Scott, American farmer and politician, 67th Governor of North Carolina (d. 2009)
- 1930 – Gotthard Graubner, German painter and educator (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Ryszard Kukliński, Polish colonel and spy (d. 2004)
- 1930 – Paul Veyne, French archaeologist, historian, and academic
- 1931 – Nora Kovach, Hungarian-American ballerina (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Reed Scowen, Canadian politician
- 1931 – Irvin D. Yalom, American psychotherapist and academic
- 1932 – Raymond Jolliffe, 5th Baron Hylton, English politician
- 1932 – Bob McGrath, American singer and actor
- 1932 – Billy Williams, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1933 – Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
- 1933 – Norman Lloyd-Edwards, Welsh lawyer and politician, Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan
- 1934 – Bill Blakeley, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
- 1934 – Lucjan Brychczy, Polish footballer and coach
- 1934 – Manuel Clouthier, Mexican businessman and politician (d. 1989)
- 1934 – James Anthony Griffin, American bishop
- 1934 – Uriel Jones, American drummer (d. 2009)
- 1934 – Leonard Kleinrock, American computer scientist and engineer
- 1935 – Christo, Bulgarian-French sculptor and painter
- 1935 – Jeanne-Claude, Moroccan sculptor and painter (d. 2009)
- 1935 – Samak Sundaravej, Thai politician, 25th Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2009)
- 1937 – Eleanor Holmes Norton, American lawyer and politician
- 1937 – Erich Ribbeck, German footballer and manager
- 1937 – Andreas Whittam Smith, English journalist and publisher, co-founded The Independent
- 1940 – Bobby Freeman, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2017)
- 1940 – Dallas Long, American shot putter and physician
- 1941 – Marcel Lachemann, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1941 – Serge Lemoyne, Canadian painter (d. 1998)
- 1941 – Marv Tarplin, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2011)
- 1942 – Yiannis Boutaris, Greek businessman and politician, Mayor of Thessaloniki
- 1943 – Harry Collins, English sociologist, author, and academic
- 1943 – Malcolm McDowell, English actor and producer
- 1943 – Jim Guy Tucker, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Arkansas
- 1944 – Christine Beasley, English nursing administrator
- 1944 – David Curry, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
- 1944 – Ban Ki-moon, South Korean politician and diplomat, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations
- 1945 – Whitley Strieber, American author
- 1946 – Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepalese politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Nepal
- 1946 – Paul L. Modrich, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1946 – Gabriel of Komana, Belgian-Dutch archbishop (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Garnet Bailey, Canadian-American ice hockey player and scout (d. 2001)
- 1948 – Joe Roth, American director and producer, co-founded Morgan Creek Productions
- 1949 – Ann Druyan, American popular science writer
- 1949 – Dennis Locorriere, American singer and musician
- 1949 – Ulla Schmidt, German educator and politician, German Federal Minister of Health
- 1949 – Red Symons, English-Australian musician, television, and radio personality
- 1950 – Nick Brown, English politician, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- 1950 – Gerd Zewe, German footballer and manager
- 1951 – Howard Leese, American guitarist and producer
- 1951 – Richard Thomas, American actor, director, and producer
- 1951 – Stellan Skarsgård, Swedish actor
- 1952 – Jean-Marie Dedecker, Belgian martial artist and politician
- 1953 – Tim Allen, American actor, comedian, and producer
- 1954 – Andrzej Lepper, Polish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (d. 2011)
- 1954 – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian economist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nigeria
- 1955 – Alan Hansen, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
- 1955 – Leah Ward Sears, German-American lawyer and jurist
- 1956 – Blair Chapman, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1956 – Sal Paolantonio, American lieutenant and journalist
- 1957 – Ron Areshenkoff, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1957 – Roy Cooper, American lawyer and politician, 75th Governor of North Carolina
- 1957 – Bruce Flowers, American basketball player
- 1957 – Andrzej Morozowski, Polish journalist and author
- 1957 – Dicky Thompson, American golfer
- 1959 – Boyko Borissov, Bulgarian footballer and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
- 1959 – Maurice G. Dantec, French-born Canadian science fiction writer (d. 2016)
- 1959 – Steve Georganas, Australian politician
- 1959 – Klaus Iohannis, Romanian educator and politician, 5th President of Romania
- 1960 – Jacques Rougeau, Canadian wrestler
- 1961 – Anders Järryd, Swedish tennis player
- 1962 – Davey Hamilton, American race car driver
- 1962 – Glenn Michibata, Canadian-American tennis player and coach
- 1962 – Ally Sheedy, American actress and author
- 1962 – Hannah Storm, American journalist and author
- 1963 – Bettina Bunge, Swiss-German tennis player
- 1963 – Sarah Connolly, English soprano and actress
- 1963 – Audrey Niffenegger, American author and academic
- 1964 – Christian Wilhelm Berger, Romanian organist, composer, and educator
- 1964 – Kathy Burke, English actress, director, and playwright
- 1964 – Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Government of India, Politician
- 1964 – Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1965 – Infanta Cristina Federica of Spain
- 1965 – Vassilis Karapialis, Greek footballer
- 1965 – Lukas Ligeti, Austrian-American drummer and composer
- 1965 – Maninder Singh, Indian cricketer
- 1966 – Henry Bond, English photographer and curator
- 1966 – Grigori Perelman, Russian mathematician
- 1966 – Naoki Hattori, Japanese race car driver
- 1967 – Taşkın Aksoy, German-Turkish footballer and manager
- 1968 – Fabio Baldato, Italian cyclist
- 1968 – Peter DeBoer, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1968 – Darren Dreger, Canadian sportscaster
- 1968 – David Gray, English-Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1968 – Tim Leveque, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1968 – Denise Pearson, English singer-songwriter
- 1968 – Marcel Theroux, Ugandan-English journalist and author
- 1969 – Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, Spanish actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1969 – Virginie Despentes, French author, screenwriter, and director
- 1969 – Laura Kightlinger, American actress, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
- 1969 – Svetlana Krivelyova, Russian shot putter
- 1969 – Søren Rasted, Danish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1970 – Rivers Cuomo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1970 – Chris Cairns, New Zealand cricketer
- 1971 – Nóra Köves, Hungarian tennis player
- 1972 – Natalie MacMaster, Canadian fiddler
- 1972 – Marek Jerzy Minakowski, Polish philosopher, historian, genealogist
- 1973 – Sam Adams, American football player
- 1973 – Tanner Foust, American race car driver and television host
- 1973 – Mattias Hellberg, Swedish singer-songwriter
- 1973 – Stuart Karppinen, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1973 – Ville Laihiala, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1974 – Valeri Bure, Russian-American ice hockey player
- 1975 – Ante Covic, Australian footballer
- 1975 – Jeff Davis, American screenwriter and producer
- 1975 – Jennifer Nicole Lee, American model, actress, and author
- 1975 – Jaan Pehk, Estonian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Riccardo Scimeca, English footballer
- 1976 – Kym Marsh, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1977 – Romain Mesnil, French pole vaulter
- 1977 – Earthwind Moreland, American football player
- 1978 – Ethan Embry, American actor
- 1979 – Esther Anderson, Australian actress
- 1979 – Nila Håkedal, Norwegian volleyball player
- 1979 – Miguel Pate, American long jumper
- 1979 – Ryan Pickett, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1980 – Florent Malouda, French footballer
- 1980 – Diego Mendieta, Paraguayan footballer (d. 2012)
- 1980 – Jamario Moon, American basketball player
- 1980 – Juan Carlos Navarro, Spanish basketball player
- 1980 – Darius Vassell, English footballer
- 1980 – Markus Winkelhock, German racing driver
- 1981 – Chris Evans, American actor and producer
- 1981 – Blake Judd, American actor, director, and producer
- 1981 – David Madden, founder and executive director of the National History Bee and the National History Bowl
- 1981 – Radim Vrbata, Czech ice hockey player
- 1982 – Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopian runner
- 1982 – Krzysztof Bosak, Polish politician
- 1982 – Nate Jones, American football player
- 1983 – Steve Novak, American basketball player
- 1983 – Jason Spezza, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Rachel Taylor, Welsh rugby union player
- 1984 – Nery Castillo, Mexican-Uruguayan footballer
- 1984 – Kaori Icho, Japanese wrestler
- 1984 – Antje Möldner-Schmidt, German runner
- 1985 – Filipe Albuquerque, Portuguese racing driver
- 1985 – Silvio Bankert, German footballer
- 1985 – Pedro Strop, Dominican baseball player
- 1985 – Danny Syvret, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Kat Dennings, American actress and comedian
- 1986 – Keisuke Honda, Japanese footballer
- 1986 – Jonathan Lucroy, American baseball catcher
- 1986 – Ashley Olsen, American child actress, fashion designer, and businesswoman
- 1986 – Mary-Kate Olsen, American child actress, fashion designer, and businesswoman
- 1986 – DJ Snake, French DJ and record producer
- 1986 – Lea Verou, Greek computer scientist and author
- 1986 – Måns Zelmerlöw, Swedish singer
- 1987 – Marko Grgić, Croatian footballer
- 1988 – Gabe Carimi, American football player
- 1988 – Reece Noi, British actor
- 1988 – Cody Walker, American actor
- 1989 – Ben Barba, Australian rugby league player
- 1989 – James Calado, English racing driver
- 1989 – Ryan McDonagh, American ice hockey defenseman
- 1989 – Daniel Mortimer, Australian rugby league player
- 1989 – Andreas Samaris, Greek footballer
- 1989 – Tommy Searle, English motocross racer
- 1989 – Hassan Whiteside, American basketball player
- 1989 – Erica Wiebe, Canadian wrestler
- 1990 – James McCann, American baseball player
- 1990 – Nicole Riner, Swiss tennis player
- 1990 – Aaron Taylor-Johnson, English actor
- 1991 – Will Claye, American jumper
- 1991 – Ryan Mason, English footballer
- 1992 – Semi Radradra, Fijian rugby league player
- 1993 – Simona Senoner, Italian ski jumper (d. 2011)
- 1993 – Denis Ten, Kazakhstani figure skater (d. 2018)
- 1994 – Deepika Kumari, Indian archer
- 1995 – Emily Fanning, New Zealand tennis player
- 1995 – Laura Ucrós, Colombian tennis player
- 2000 – Penny Oleksiak, Canadian swimmer
Deaths on June 13
- 220 – Xiahou Dun, Chinese general
- 976 – Mansur I, Samanid emir
- 995 – Fujiwara no Michikane, Japanese nobleman (b. 961)
- 1036 – Ali az-Zahir, Fatimid caliph (b. 1005)
- 1231 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese priest and saint (b. 1195)
- 1256 – Tankei, Japanese sculptor (b. 1173)
- 1348 – Juan Manuel, Spanish prince (b. 1282)
- 1432 – Uko Fockena, Frisian chieftain (b. c. 1408)
- 1550 – Veronica Gambara, Italian poet (b. 1485)
- 1636 – George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly, Scottish politician (b. 1562)
- 1645 – Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese samurai (b. 1584)
- 1661 – Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth, English politician (b. 1595)
- 1665 – Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, Dutch admiral (b. 1604)
- 1784 – Henry Middleton, American farmer and politician, 2nd President of the Continental Congress (b. 1717)
- 1846 – Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès, French geographer and author (b. 1767)
- 1861 – Henry Gray, English anatomist and surgeon (b. 1827)
- 1881 – Joseph Škoda, Czech physician and dermatologist (b. 1805)
- 1886 – Ludwig II, king of Bavaria (b. 1845)
- 1894 – John Cox Bray, Australian politician, 15th Premier of South Australia (b. 1842)
- 1898 – Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Quebec (b. 1840)
- 1904 – Nikiforos Lytras, Greek painter and educator (b. 1832)
- 1917 – Louis-Philippe Hébert, Canadian sculptor (b. 1850)
- 1918 – Michael Alexandrovich, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1878)
- 1930 – Henry Segrave, American-English racing driver (b. 1896)
- 1931 – Kitasato Shibasaburō, Japanese physician and bacteriologist (b. 1851)
- 1939 – Arthur Coningham, Australian cricketer (b. 1863)
- 1943 – Kočo Racin, Macedonian author and activist (b. 1908)
- 1948 – Osamu Dazai, Japanese author (b. 1909)
- 1951 – Ben Chifley, Australian engineer and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1885)
- 1957 – Irving Baxter, American high jumper and pole vaulter (b. 1876)
- 1958 – Edwin Keppel Bennett, English poet and academic (b. 1887
- 1965 – Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher and theologian (b. 1878)
- 1965 – David Drummond, Australian farmer and politician (b. 1890)
- 1969 – Pralhad Keshav Atre, Indian journalist, director, and producer (b. 1898)
- 1972 – Georg von Békésy, Hungarian biophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- 1972 – Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-German spy (b. 1891)
- 1979 – Demetrio Stratos, Egyptian-Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1945)
- 1980 – Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and activist (b. 1942)
- 1981 – Olivério Pinto, Brazilian zoologist and physician (b. 1896)
- 1984 – António Variações, Portuguese singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
- 1986 – Benny Goodman, American clarinet player, songwriter, and bandleader (b. 1909)
- 1987 – Geraldine Page, American actress (b. 1924)
- 1989 – Fran Allison, American television personality and puppeteer (b. 1907)
- 1993 – Gérard Côté, Canadian runner (b. 1913)
- 1993 – Deke Slayton, American soldier, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1924)
- 1994 – Nadia Gray, Romanian-French actress (b. 1923)
- 1997 – Nguyen Manh Tuong, Vietnamese lawyer and academic (b. 1909)
- 1998 – Alfred Gerrard, English sculptor and academic (b. 1899)
- 1998 – Birger Ruud, Norwegian ski jumper (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Reg Smythe, English cartoonist (b. 1917)
- 2002 – John Hope, American navigator and meteorologist (b. 1919)
- 2002 – Maia Wojciechowska, Polish-American author (b. 1927)
- 2003 – Malik Meraj Khalid, Pakistani lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1916)
- 2004 – Ralph Wiley, American journalist and author (b. 1952)
- 2005 – Álvaro Cunhal, Portuguese academic and politician (b. 1913)
- 2005 – David Diamond, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Charles Haughey, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1925)
- 2007 – Walid Eido, Lebanese judge and politician (b. 1942)
- 2008 – Tim Russert, American journalist and lawyer (b. 1950)
- 2009 – Fathi Yakan, Lebanese scholar and politician (b. 1933)
- 2010 – Jimmy Dean, American singer and businessman, founded Jimmy Dean Foods (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Sam Beddingfield, American pilot and engineer (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Graeme Bell, Australian pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Roger Garaudy, French philosopher and author (b. 1913)
- 2012 – Jože Humer, Slovenian composer and translator (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Mehdi Hassan, Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer for Lollywood (b. 1927)
- 2013 – David Deutsch, American businessman, founded Deutsch Inc. (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Sam Most, American flute player and saxophonist (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Albert White Hat, American educator and activist (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Mahdi Elmandjra, Moroccan economist and sociologist (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Gyula Grosics, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Jim Keays, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1946)
- 2014 – Chuck Noll, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Robert Peters, American poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Buddy Boudreaux, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1917)
- 2015 – Sergio Renán, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1933)
- 2015 – Mike Shrimpton, New Zealand cricketer and coach (b. 1940)
Holidays and observances on June 13
- Christian feast day:
- Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church
- Aquilina
- Cetteus (Peregrinus)
- Felicula
- G. K. Chesterton (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Gerard of Clairvaux
- Psalmodius
- Ragnebert (Rambert)
- Blessed Thomas Woodhouse
- Triphyllius
- June 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Inventors’ Day (Hungary)
- Suleimaniah City Fallen and Martyrs Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
-
June 9 in History
- 411 BC – The Athenian coup succeeds, forming a short-lived oligarchy.
- AD 53 – The Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia.
- AD 68 – Nero commits suicide, after quoting Homer’s Iliad, thus ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty and starting the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
- 721 – Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse.
- 747 – Abbasid Revolution: Abu Muslim Khorasani begins an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which is carried out under the sign of the Black Standard.
- 1311 – Duccio’s Maestà, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.
- 1523 – The Parisian Faculty of Theology fines Simon de Colines for publishing the Biblical commentary Commentarii initiatorii in quatuor Evangelia by Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples.
- 1534 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to describe and map the Saint Lawrence River.
- 1667 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet begins. It lasts for five days and results in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy.
- 1732 – James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of the future U.S. state of Georgia.
- 1772 – The British schooner Gaspee is burned in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
- 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battles of Arklow and Saintfield.
- 1815 – End of the Congress of Vienna: The new European political situation is set.
- 1856 – Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa for the Mormon Trail.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson concludes his successful Shenandoah Valley Campaign with a victory in the Battle of Port Republic; his tactics during the campaign are now studied by militaries around the world.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
- 1885 – Treaty of Tientsin is signed to end the Sino-French War, with China eventually giving up Tonkin and Annam – most of present-day Vietnam – to France.
- 1900 – Indian nationalist Birsa Munda dies of cholera in a British prison.
- 1915 – William Jennings Bryan resigns as Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States’ handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.
- 1923 – Bulgaria’s military takes over the government in a coup.
- 1928 – Charles Kingsford Smith completes the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross.
- 1930 – A Chicago Tribune reporter, Jake Lingle, is killed during rush hour at the Illinois Central train station by Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a $100,000 gambling debt owed to Al Capone.
- 1944 – World War II: Ninety-nine civilians are hanged from lampposts and balconies by German troops in Tulle, France, in reprisal for maquisards attacks.
- 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, occupied by Finland since 1941.
- 1948 – Foundation of the International Council on Archives under the auspices of the UNESCO.
- 1953 – The Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence kills 94 people in Massachusetts.
- 1954 – Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army–McCarthy hearings, giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, “You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
- 1957 – First ascent of Broad Peak by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl.
- 1959 – The USS George Washington is launched. It is the first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.
- 1965 – The civilian Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Phan Huy Quát, resigns after being unable to work with a junta led by Nguyễn Cao Kỳ.
- 1965 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong commences combat with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in the Battle of Đồng Xoài, one of the largest battles in the war.
- 1967 – Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria.
- 1968 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
- 1972 – Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160 million in damage.
- 1973 – In horse racing, Secretariat wins the U.S. Triple Crown.
- 1978 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to “all worthy men”, ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men.
- 1979 – The Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney, Australia, kills seven.
- 1999 – Kosovo War: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty.
- 2008 – Two bombs explode at a train station near Algiers, Algeria, killing at least 13 people.
- 2009 – An explosion kills 17 people and injures at least 46 at a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan.
- 2010 – At least 40 people are killed and more than 70 wounded in a suicide bombing at a wedding party in Arghandab, Kandahar.
Births on June 9
- 1016 – Deokjong of Goryeo, ruler of Korea (d. 1034)
- 1424 – Blanche II of Navarre (d. 1464)
- 1580 – Daniel Heinsius, Belgian poet and scholar (d. 1655)
- 1588 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and theorist (d. 1666)
- 1595 – Władysław IV Vasa, Polish king (d. 1648)
- 1597 – Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (d. 1665)
- 1640 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1705)
- 1661 – Feodor III of Russia (d. 1682)
- 1672 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (d. 1725)
- 1686 – Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1747)
- 1696 – Shiva Rajaram, infant Chattrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1726)
- 1732 – Giuseppe Demachi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1791)
- 1754 – Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, English general and politician, Governor of Barbados (d. 1815)
- 1768 – Samuel Slater, English-American engineer and businessman (d. 1835)
- 1781 – George Stephenson, English engineer, designed the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (d. 1848)
- 1810 – Otto Nicolai, German composer and conductor (d. 1849)
- 1812 – Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer and academic (d. 1910)
- 1836 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician and politician (d. 1917)
- 1837 – Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, English author (d. 1919)
- 1842 – Hazard Stevens, American military officer, mountaineer, politician and writer (d. 1918)
- 1843 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
- 1845 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, English soldier, academic, and politician, 36th Governor-General of India (d. 1914)
- 1845 – Frank Norton, American baseball player (d. 1920)
- 1849 – Michael Ancher, Danish painter and academic (d. 1927)
- 1851 – Charles Joseph Bonaparte, American lawyer and politician, 46th United States Attorney General (d. 1921)
- 1861 – Pierre Duhem, French physicist, mathematician, and historian (d. 1916)
- 1861 – Gustav Heinrich Johann Apollon Tammann, Russian-German chemist and physicist (d. 1938)
- 1864 – Jeanne Bérangère, French actress (d. 1928)
- 1865 – Albéric Magnard, French composer and educator (d. 1914)
- 1865 – Carl Nielsen, Danish violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931)
- 1868 – Jane Avril, French model and dancer (d. 1943)
- 1874 – Launceston Elliot, Scottish weightlifter and wrestler (d. 1930)
- 1875 – Henry Hallett Dale, English pharmacologist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
- 1879 – Harry DeBaecke, American rower (d. 1961)
- 1882 – Robert Kerr, Irish-Canadian sprinter and coach (d. 1963)
- 1885 – Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, Polish general and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1962)
- 1890 – Leslie Banks, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1952)
- 1891 – Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
- 1893 – Irish Meusel, American baseball player and coach (d. 1963)
- 1895 – Archie Weston, American football player and journalist (d. 1981)
- 1898 – Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (d. 1952)
- 1900 – Fred Waring, American singer, bandleader, and television host (d. 1984)
- 1902 – Skip James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1969)
- 1903 – Felice Bonetto, Italian race car driver (d. 1953)
- 1903 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (d. 1996)
- 1906 – Robert Klark Graham, American eugenicist and businessman, founded Repository for Germinal Choice (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Luis Kutner, American lawyer, author, and activist (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Branch McCracken, American basketball player and coach (d. 1970)
- 1910 – Robert Cummings, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1990)
- 1910 – Ted Hicks, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (d. 1984)
- 1912 – Ingolf Dahl, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1970)
- 1915 – Jim McDonald, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
- 1915 – Les Paul, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Jurij Brězan, German soldier and author (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Siegfried Graetschus, German SS officer (d. 1943)
- 1916 – Robert McNamara, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 2009)
- 1917 – Eric Hobsbawm, Egyptian-English historian and author (d. 2012)
- 1918 – John Hospers, American philosopher and politician (d. 2011)
- 1921 – Arthur Hertzberg, American rabbi and scholar (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Jean Lacouture, French journalist, historian, and author (d. 2015)
- 1922 – George Axelrod, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
- 1922 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., Anglo-American pilot and poet (d. 1941)
- 1922 – Fernand Seguin, Canadian biochemist and academic (d. 1988)
- 1923 – Gerald Götting, German politician (d. 2015)
- 1924 – Ed Farhat, American wrestler and manager (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Keith Laumer, American soldier and author (d. 1993)
- 1925 – Herman Sarkowsky, German-American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Seattle Seahawks (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Calvin “Fuzz” Jones, American singer and bass player (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Happy Rockefeller, American philanthropist, 31st Second Lady of the United States (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Jim Nolan, American basketball player (d. 1983)
- 1928 – R. Geraint Gruffydd, Welsh critic and academic (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Johnny Ace, American singer and pianist (d. 1954)
- 1930 – Barbara, French singer (d. 1997)
- 1930 – Jordi Pujol, Spanish physician and politician, 126th President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
- 1931 – Jackie Mason, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1931 – Nandini Satpathy, Indian author and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Odisha (d. 2006)
- 1931 – Bill Virdon, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1933 – Al Cantello, American javelin thrower and coach
- 1934 – Michael Mates, English colonel and politician
- 1934 – Jackie Wilson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
- 1935 – Dutch Savage, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2013)
- 1936 – Nell Dunn, English playwright, screenwriter and author
- 1936 – Mick O’Dwyer, Irish Gaelic footballer and manager
- 1936 – George Radda, Hungarian chemist and academic
- 1937 – Harald Rosenthal, German hydrobiologist and academic
- 1938 – Jeremy Hardie, English economist and businessman
- 1938 – Giles Havergal, Scottish actor, director, and playwright
- 1938 – Charles Wuorinen, American composer and educator (d. 2020)
- 1939 – Ileana Cotrubaș, Romanian soprano and actress
- 1939 – Eric Fernie, Scottish historian and academic
- 1939 – David Hobbs, English race car driver and sportscaster
- 1939 – Dick Vitale, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1939 – Charles Webb, American author
- 1940 – André Vallerand, Canadian businessman and politician
- 1941 – Jon Lord, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2012)
- 1942 – Anton Burghardt, German footballer and manager
- 1942 – Nicholas Lloyd, English journalist
- 1943 – John Fitzpatrick, English race car driver
- 1943 – Charles Saatchi, Iraqi-English businessman, co-founded Saatchi & Saatchi
- 1944 – Janric Craig, 3rd Viscount Craigavon, English accountant and politician
- 1944 – Wally Gabler, American football player and sportscaster
- 1946 – Deyda Hydara, Gambian journalist and publisher, co-founded The Point (d. 2004)
- 1946 – James Kelman, Scottish author and playwright
- 1946 – Peter Kilfoyle, English politician
- 1946 – Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Italian politician and diplomat, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1947 – Robert Indermaur, Swiss painter
- 1947 – Robbie Vincent, UK disc jockey and radio presenter
- 1948 – Jim Bailey, American football player
- 1948 – Gudrun Schyman, Swedish social worker and politician
- 1949 – Kiran Bedi, Indian police officer and activist
- 1950 – Trevor Bolder, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2013)
- 1950 – Fred Jackson, American football player and coach
- 1950 – Giorgos Kastrinakis, Greek-American basketball player
- 1951 – Michael Patrick Cronan, American graphic designer and academic (d. 2013)
- 1951 – James Newton Howard, American composer, conductor, and producer
- 1951 – Dave Parker, American baseball player and coach
- 1951 – Brian Taylor, American basketball player
- 1952 – Uzi Hitman, Israeli singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
- 1952 – Billy Knight, American basketball player
- 1953 – Ken Navarro, Italian-American guitarist and composer
- 1954 – Pete Byrne, English singer-songwriter
- 1954 – Paul Chapman, Welsh guitarist and songwriter
- 1954 – Gregory Maguire, American author
- 1954 – Elizabeth May, American-Canadian environmentalist, lawyer, and politician
- 1954 – George Pérez, American author and illustrator
- 1956 – Berit Aunli, Norwegian skier
- 1956 – Patricia Cornwell, American journalist and author
- 1956 – Marek Gazdzicki, Polish nuclear physicist
- 1956 – Joaquín, Spanish footballer
- 1956 – John Le Lievre, British squash player
- 1956 – Kayhan Mortezavi, Iranian director
- 1956 – Francine Raymond, French Canadian singer songwriter
- 1956 – Nikolai Tsonev, Bulgarian politician
- 1956 – Rudolf Wojtowicz, Polish footballer
- 1957 – Randy Read, English crystallographer and academic
- 1958 – David Ancrum, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Peter Fowler, Australian golfer
- 1960 – Steve Paikin, Canadian journalist and author
- 1961 – Thomas Benson, American football player
- 1961 – Michael J. Fox, Canadian-American actor, producer, and author
- 1961 – Aaron Sorkin, American screenwriter, producer, and playwright
- 1962 – Yuval Banay, Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1962 – Ken Rose, American football player
- 1962 – David Trewhella, Australian rugby league player
- 1963 – Gilad Atzmon, Israeli-English saxophonist, author, and activist
- 1963 – Johnny Depp, American actor
- 1963 – David Koepp, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1964 – Gloria Reuben, Canadian-American actress
- 1964 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (d. 2009)
- 1967 – Rubén Maza, Venezuelan runner
- 1968 – Niki Bakoyianni, Greek high jumper and coach
- 1969 – André Racicot, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Eric Wynalda, American soccer player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1971 – Gilles De Bilde, Belgian footballer and sportscaster
- 1971 – Jean Galfione, French pole vaulter and sportscaster
- 1971 – Jackie McKeown, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1972 – Matt Horsley, Australian footballer and coach
- 1973 – Aigars Apinis, Latvian discus thrower and shot putter
- 1973 – Tedy Bruschi, American football player and sportscaster
- 1973 – Frédéric Choffat, Swiss director, producer, and cinematographer
- 1973 – Grant Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 – Samoth, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Otto Addo, German-Ghanaian footballer and manager
- 1975 – Ameesha Patel, Indian actress and model
- 1975 – Andrew Symonds, English-Australian cricketer
- 1977 – Usman Afzaal, Pakistani-English cricketer
- 1977 – Paul Hutchison, English cricketer
- 1977 – Olin Kreutz, American football player
- 1977 – Peja Stojaković, Serbian basketball player
- 1978 – Matt Bellamy, English singer, musician and songwriter
- 1978 – Shandi Finnessey, American model and actress, Miss USA 2004
- 1978 – Miroslav Klose, German footballer
- 1978 – Heather Mitts, American soccer player
- 1978 – Hayden Schlossberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1979 – Dario Dainelli, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Amanda Lassiter, American basketball player
- 1980 – D’banj, Nigerian singer-songwriter and harmonica player
- 1980 – Mike Fontenot, American baseball player
- 1980 – Udonis Haslem, American basketball player
- 1980 – Lehlohonolo Seema, South African footballer
- 1981 – Natalie Portman, Israeli-American actress
- 1982 – Parinya Charoenphol, Thai boxer, model, and actress
- 1982 – Yoshito Ōkubo, Japanese footballer
- 1982 – Christina Stürmer, Austrian singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Firas Al-Khatib, Syrian footballer
- 1983 – Josh Cribbs, American football player
- 1983 – Dwayne Jones, American basketball player
- 1983 – Danny Richar, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1984 – Yulieski Gourriel, Cuban baseball player
- 1984 – Jake Newton, Guyanese footballer
- 1984 – Asko Paade, Estonian basketball player
- 1984 – Masoud Shojaei, Iranian footballer
- 1984 – Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer
- 1985 – Richard Kahui, New Zealand rugby player
- 1985 – Sonam Kapoor, Indian model and actress
- 1985 – Sebastian Telfair, American basketball player
- 1986 – Doug Legursky, American football player
- 1986 – Yadier Pedroso, Cuban baseball player (d. 2013)
- 1986 – Ashley Postell, American gymnast
- 1987 – Jaan Mölder, Estonian race car driver
- 1988 – Jason Demers, Canadian ice hockey defenseman
- 1988 – Sara Isaković, Slovenian swimmer
- 1989 – Dídac Vilà, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Matthias Mayer, Austrian skier
- 1992 – Zach Hyman, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Yannick Agnel, French swimmer
- 1992 – Boyd Cordner, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – George Jennings, Australian rugby league player
Deaths on June 9
- AD 68 – Nero, Roman emperor (b. 37)
- 373 – Ephrem the Syrian, hymnographer and theologian (b. 306)
- 597 – Columba, Irish missionary and saint (b. 521)
- 630 – Shahrbaraz, king of the Persian Empire
- 889 – Aimoin, Frankish monk and archivist
- 908 – Yang Wo, Prince of Hongnong
- 1075 – Gebhard of Supplinburg, Saxon count
- 1087 – Otto I of Olomouc (b. 1045)
- 1238 – Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester
- 1252 – Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
- 1348 – Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Sienese painter (b. 1290)
- 1361 – Philippe de Vitry, French composer and poet (b. 1291)
- 1563 – William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1506)
- 1572 – Jeanne d’Albret, Navarrese queen and Huguenot leader (b. 1528)
- 1583 – Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1525)
- 1597 – José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1534)
- 1647 – Leonard Calvert, Colonial governor of Maryland (b. 1606)
- 1656 – Thomas Tomkins, Welsh-English composer (b. 1572)
- 1716 – Banda Singh Bahadur, Indian commander (b. 1670)
- 1717 – Jeanne Guyon, French mystic and author (b. 1648)
- 1834 – William Carey, English minister and missionary (b. 1761)
- 1870 – Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic (b. 1812)
- 1875 – Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist and conchologist (b. 1795)
- 1889 – Mike Burke, American baseball player (b. 1854)
- 1892 – William Grant Stairs, Canadian-English captain and explorer (b. 1863)
- 1901 – Adolf Bötticher, German historian and author (b. 1842)
- 1923 – Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (b. 1846)
- 1927 – Victoria Woodhull, American activist for women’s rights (b. 1838)
- 1929 – Louis Bennison, American stage and silent film actor (b. 1884)
- 1929 – Margaret Lawrence, American stage actress (b. 1889)
- 1942 – František Erben, Czech gymnast (b. 1874)
- 1952 – Adolf Busch, German-Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1891)
- 1953 – Ernest Graves, Sr., American football player, coach, and general (b. 1880)
- 1956 – Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist and lawyer (b. 1888)
- 1956 – Hans Bergsland, Norwegian fencer (b. 1878)
- 1956 – Thomas Hicks, Australian tennis player (b. 1869)
- 1956 – Ferdinand Jodl, German general (b. 1896)
- 1958 – Robert Donat, English actor (b. 1905)
- 1959 – Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
- 1960 – Harry S. Hammond, American football player and businessman (b. 1884)
- 1961 – Camille Guérin, French veterinarian, bacteriologist and immunologist (b. 1872)
- 1963 – Jacques Villon, French painter (b.1875)
- 1964 – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, British businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1879)
- 1968 – Bernard Cronin, Australian author and journalist (b. 1884)
- 1972 – Gilberto Parlotti, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1940)
- 1973 – Chuck Bennett, American football player and coach (b. 1907)
- 1973 – John Creasey, English author and politician (b. 1908)
- 1973 – Erich von Manstein, German general (b. 1887)
- 1974 – Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan journalist, author, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- 1979 – Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player and civil servant (b. 1884)
- 1981 – Allen Ludden, American game show host (b. 1917)
- 1984 – Helen Hardin, American painter (b. 1943)
- 1989 – George Wells Beadle, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1991 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-American pianist and educator (b. 1903)
- 1993 – Alexis Smith, Canadian-born American actress (b. 1921)
- 1994 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1997 – Stanley Knowles, American-Canadian academic and politician (b. 1908)
- 1998 – Lois Mailou Jones, American painter and academic (b. 1905)
- 2000 – John Abramovic, American basketball player (b. 1919)
- 2000 – Jacob Lawrence, American painter and academic (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Rosey Brown, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
- 2004 – Brian Williamson, Jamaican activist, co-founded J-FLAG (b. 1945)
- 2006 – Drafi Deutscher, German singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
- 2007 – Frankie Abernathy, American purse designer, cast-member on The Real World: San Diego (b. 1981)
- 2008 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Suleiman Mousa, Jordanian historian and author (b. 1919)
- 2009 – Dick May, American race car driver (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Ken Brown, British Guitarist who was a member of The Quarrymen (b. 1940)
- 2011 – M. F. Husain, Indian painter and director (b. 1915)
- 2011 – Tomoko Kawakami, Japanese voice actress (b. 1970)
- 2011 – Mike Mitchell, American basketball player (b. 1956)
- 2012 – Régis Clère, French cyclist (b. 1956)
- 2012 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Ivan Minatti, Slovene poet and translator (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Hawk Taylor, American baseball player and coach (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Abram Wilson, American-English trumpet player and educator (b. 1973)
- 2013 – Iain Banks, Scottish author (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor (b. 1926)
- 2013 – John Burke, English rugby player (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Walter Jens, German philologist, historian, and academic (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Zdeněk Rotrekl, Czech poet and historian (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Rik Mayall, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1958)
- 2014 – Elsie Quarterman, American ecologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2014 – Alicemarie Huber Stotler, American lawyer and judge (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Gustave Tassell, American fashion designer (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Bob Welch, American baseball player and coach (b. 1956)
- 2015 – Pumpkinhead, American rapper (b. 1975)
- 2015 – Pedro Zerolo, Spanish lawyer and politician (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Adam West, American actor and investor (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Fadil Vokrri, Kosovo Albanian football administrator and player (b. 1960)
- 2019 – Bushwick Bill, Jamaican-American rapper (b. 1966)
Holidays and observances on June 9
- Anniversary of the Accession of King Abdullah II (Jordan)
- Autonomy Day (Åland Islands)
- Christian feast day:
- Aidan of Lindisfarne (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
- Bede (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
- Columba
- Ephrem the Syrian (Roman Catholic Church and Church of England)
- José de Anchieta
- Primus and Felician
- June 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Coral Triangle Day
- La Rioja Day (La Rioja)
- Murcia Day (Murcia)
- National Heroes’ Day (Uganda)
-
May 25 in History
- 567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
- 240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
- 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain, back from the Moors.
- 1420 – Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.
- 1521 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.
- 1644 – Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.
- 1659 – Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England.
- 1660 – Charles II lands at Dover at the invitation of the Convention Parliament, which marks the end of the Cromwell-proclaimed Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and begins the Restoration of the British monarchy.
- 1738 – A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
- 1787 – After a delay of 11 days, the United States Constitutional Convention formally convenes in Philadelphia after a quorum of seven states is secured.
- 1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion: Battle of Carlow begins; executions of suspected rebels at Carnew and at Dunlavin Green take place.
- 1809 – Chuquisaca Revolution: Patriot revolt in Chuquisaca (modern-day Sucre) against the Spanish Empire, sparking the Latin American wars of independence.
- 1810 – May Revolution: Citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the “May Week”, starting the Argentine War of Independence.
- 1819 – The Argentine Constitution of 1819 is promulgated.
- 1833 – The Chilean Constitution of 1833 is promulgated.
- 1865 – In Mobile, Alabama, around 300 people are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.
- 1878 – Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.
- 1895 – Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of “committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons” and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
- 1895 – The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Jingsong as its president.
- 1914 – The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Home Rule Bill for devolution in Ireland.
- 1925 – Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching human evolution in Tennessee.
- 1926 – Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the government of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, which is in government-in-exile in Paris.
- 1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- 1938 – Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante kills 313 people.
- 1940 – World War II: The German 2nd Panzer Division captures the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer; the surrender of the last French and British troops marks the end of the Battle of Boulogne.
- 1946 – The parliament of Transjordan makes Abdullah I of Jordan their Emir.
- 1953 – Nuclear weapons testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.
- 1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.
- 1955 – In the United States, a night-time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas, killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado to ever occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.
- 1955 – First ascent of Mount Kangchenjunga: A British expedition led by Charles Evans, Joe Brown and George Band reaches the summit of the third-highest mountain in the world (8,586 meters); Norman Hardie and Tony Streather join them the following day.
- 1961 – Apollo program: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces, before a special joint session of the U.S. Congress, his goal to initiate a project to put a “man on the Moon” before the end of the decade.
- 1963 – The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- 1966 – Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.
- 1968 – The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is dedicated.
- 1973 – In protest against the dictatorship in Greece, the captain and crew on Greek naval destroyer Velos mutiny and refuse to return to Greece, instead anchoring at Fiumicino, Italy.
- 1977 – Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is released in theaters.
- 1977 – The Chinese government removes a decade-old ban on William Shakespeare’s work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966.
- 1978 – The first of a series of bombings orchestrated by the Unabomber detonates at Northwestern University resulting in minor injuries.
- 1979 – John Spenkelink, a convicted murderer, is executed in Florida; he is the first person to be executed in the state after the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1976.
- 1979 – American Airlines Flight 191: A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, killing all 271 on board and two people on the ground.
- 1981 – In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- 1982 – Falklands War: HMS Coventry is sunk by Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks.
- 1985 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
- 1986 – The Hands Across America event takes place.
- 1997 – A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.
- 1999 – The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report which details the People’s Republic of China’s nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.
- 2000 – Liberation Day of Lebanon: Israel withdraws its army from Lebanese territory (with the exception of the disputed Shebaa farms zone) 18 years after the invasion of 1982.
- 2001 – Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr. Sherman Bull.
- 2002 – China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, with the loss of all 225 people on board.
- 2008 – NASA’s Phoenix lander touches down in the Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life.
- 2009 – North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device, after which Pyongyang also conducts several missile tests, building tensions in the international community.
- 2011 – Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
- 2012 – The SpaceX Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.
- 2013 – Suspected Maoist rebels kill at least 28 people and injure 32 others in an attack on a convoy of Indian National Congress politicians in Chhattisgarh, India.
- 2013 – A gas cylinder explodes on a school bus in the Pakistani city of Gujrat, killing at least 18 people.
- 2018 – The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable in the European Union.
- 2018 – Ireland votes to repeal the Eighth Amendment of their constitution that prohibits abortion in all but a few cases, choosing to replace it with the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.
- 2020 – George Floyd, a black man, is killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest when he is restrained in a prone position face-down on the ground for several minutes, provoking protests across the United States and elsewhere around the world.
Births on May 25
- 1048 – Emperor Shenzong of Song (d. 1085)
- 1320 – Toghon Temür, Mongolian emperor (d. 1370)
- 1334 – Emperor Sukō of Japan (d. 1398)
- 1416 – Jakobus (“James”), Count of Lichtenburg (d. 1480)
- 1417 – Catherine of Cleves, Duchess consort regent of Guelders (d. 1479)
- 1550 – Camillus de Lellis, Italian saint and nurse (d. 1614)
- 1606 – Charles Garnier, French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
- 1661 – Claude Buffier, Polish-French historian and philosopher (d. 1737)
- 1713 – John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)
- 1725 – Samuel Ward, American politician, 31st Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island (d. 1776)
- 1783 – Philip Pendleton Barbour, American farmer and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1841)
- 1791 – Minh Mạng, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1841)
- 1803 – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English author, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1873)
- 1803 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and philosopher (d. 1882)
- 1818 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian and academic (d. 1897)
- 1818 – Louise de Broglie, Countess d’Haussonville, French essayist and biographer (d. 1882)
- 1830 – Trebor Mai (né Robert Williams), Welsh poet (d. 1877)
- 1846 – Naim Frashëri, Albanian-Turkish poet and translator (d. 1900)
- 1848 – Johann Baptist Singenberger, Swiss composer, educator, and publisher (d. 1924)
- 1852 – William Muldoon, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1933)
- 1856 – Louis Franchet d’Espèrey, Algerian-French general (d. 1942)
- 1860 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist and academic (d. 1944)
- 1865 – John Mott, American evangelist and saint, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
- 1865 – Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
- 1867 – Anders Peter Nielsen, Danish target shooter (d. 1950)
- 1869 – Robbie Ross, Canadian journalist and art critic (d. 1918)
- 1869 – Mathilde Verne, English pianist and educator (d. 1936)
- 1878 – Bill Robinson, American actor and dancer (d. 1949)
- 1879 – Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, Canadian-English businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 1964)
- 1879 – William Stickney, American golfer (d. 1944)
- 1880 – Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist and academic (d. 1967)
- 1882 – Marie Doro, American actress (d. 1956)
- 1883 – Carl Johan Lind, Swedish hammer thrower (d. 1965)
- 1886 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian soldier and activist (d. 1945)
- 1886 – Philip Murray, Scottish-American miner and labor leader (d. 1952)
- 1887 – Padre Pio, Italian priest and saint (d. 1968)
- 1888 – Miles Malleson, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1969)
- 1889 – Günther Lütjens, German admiral (d. 1941)
- 1889 – Igor Sikorsky, Russian-American aircraft designer, founded Sikorsky Aircraft (d. 1972)
- 1893 – Ernest “Pop” Stoneman, American country musician (d. 1968)
- 1897 – Alan Kippax, Australian cricketer (d. 1972)
- 1897 – Gene Tunney, American boxer and soldier (d. 1978)
- 1898 – Bennett Cerf, American publisher and television game show panelist; co-founded Random House (d. 1971)
- 1899 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, author, and flute player (d. 1976)
- 1900 – Alain Grandbois, Canadian poet and author (d. 1975)
- 1907 – U Nu, Burmese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Burma (d. 1995)
- 1908 – Theodore Roethke, American poet (d. 1963)
- 1909 – Alfred Kubel, German politician, 5th Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (d. 1999)
- 1912 – Dean Rockwell, American commander, wrestler, and coach (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Heinrich Bär, German colonel and pilot (d. 1957)
- 1913 – Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and producer (d. 1965)
- 1916 – Brian Dickson, Canadian captain, lawyer, and politician, 15th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1998)
- 1916 – Giuseppe Tosi, Italian discus thrower (d. 1981)
- 1917 – Steve Cochran, American film, television and stage actor (d. 1965)
- 1917 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, and academic (d. 2015)
- 1920 – Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner and diplomat (d. 1992)
- 1921 – Hal David, American songwriter and composer (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Kitty Kallen, American singer (d. 2016)
- 1921 – Jack Steinberger, German-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1922 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (d. 1984)
- 1924 – István Nyers, French-Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)
- 1925 – Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet and author (d. 1974)
- 1925 – Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Eldon Griffiths, English journalist and politician (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Don Liddle, American baseball player (d. 2000)
- 1925 – Claude Pinoteau, French film director and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Claude Akins, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1926 – William Bowyer, English painter and academic (d. 2015)
- 1926 – Phyllis Gotlieb, Canadian author and poet (d. 2009)
- 1926 – Bill Sharman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1926 – David Wynne, English sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Robert Ludlum, American soldier and author (d. 2001)
- 1927 – Norman Petty, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 1984)
- 1929 – Beverly Sills, American soprano and actress (d. 2007)
- 1930 – Sonia Rykiel, French fashion designer (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Herb Gray, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Georgy Grechko, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2017)
- 1931 – Irwin Winkler, American director and producer
- 1932 – John Gregory Dunne, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2003)
- 1932 – K. C. Jones, American basketball player and coach
- 1933 – Sarah Marshall, English-American actress (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Basdeo Panday, Trinidadian lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
- 1933 – Ray Spencer, English footballer (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Jógvan Sundstein, Faroese accountant and politician, 7th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
- 1935 – John Ffowcs Williams, Welsh engineer and academic
- 1935 – Cookie Gilchrist, American football player (d. 2011)
- 1935 – W. P. Kinsella, Canadian novelist and short story writer (d. 2016)
- 1935 – Victoria Shaw, Australian-born American actress (d. 1988)
- 1936 – Tom T. Hall, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1936 – Rusi Surti, Indian cricketer (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Tom Phillips, English painter and academic
- 1938 – Raymond Carver, American short story writer and poet (d. 1988)
- 1938 – Margaret Forster, English historian, author, and critic (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Geoffrey Robinson, English businessman and politician
- 1939 – Dixie Carter, American actress and singer (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Ian McKellen, English actor
- 1940 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese photographer
- 1941 – Rudolf Adler, Czech filmmaker:88
- 1941 – Uta Frith, German developmental psychologist
- 1941 – Vladimir Voronin, Moldovan economist and politician, 3rd President of Moldova
- 1943 – Jessi Colter, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1943 – John Palmer, English keyboard player
- 1943 – Leslie Uggams, American actress and singer
- 1944 – Digby Anderson, English journalist and philosopher
- 1944 – Pierre Bachelet, French singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1944 – Charlie Harper, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1944 – Robert MacPherson, American mathematician and academic
- 1944 – Frank Oz, English-born American puppeteer, filmmaker, and actor
- 1944 – Chris Ralston, English rugby player
- 1946 – Bill Adam, Scottish-Canadian racing driver
- 1946 – David A. Hargrave, American game designer, created Arduin (d. 1988)
- 1947 – Karen Valentine, American actress
- 1947 – Catherine G. Wolf, American psychologist and computer scientist
- 1948 – Bülent Arınç, Turkish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1948 – Marianne Elliott, Northern Irish historian, author, and academic
- 1948 – Klaus Meine, German rock singer-songwriter
- 1949 – Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist
- 1949 – Barry Windsor-Smith, English painter and illustrator
- 1950 – Robby Steinhardt, American rock violinist and singer
- 1951 – Bob Gale, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1952 – Jeffrey Bewkes, American businessman
- 1952 – Nick Fotiu, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1952 – David Jenkins, Trinidadian-Scottish runner
- 1952 – Al Sarrantonio, American author and publisher
- 1952 – Gordon H. Smith, American businessman and politician
- 1953 – Eve Ensler, American playwright and producer
- 1953 – Daniel Passarella, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
- 1953 – Stan Sakai, Japanese-American author and illustrator
- 1953 – Gaetano Scirea, Italian footballer (d. 1989)
- 1954 – John Beck, English footballer, midfielder and manager
- 1954 – Murali, Indian actor, producer, and politician (d. 2009)
- 1955 – Alistair Burt, English lawyer and politician
- 1956 – Stavros Arnaoutakis, Greek politician
- 1956 – Larry Hogan, American politician, 62nd Governor of Maryland
- 1956 – David P. Sartor, American composer and conductor
- 1957 – Alastair Campbell, English journalist and author
- 1957 – Edward Lee, American author
- 1957 – Robert Picard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1958 – Dorothy Straight, American children’s author
- 1958 – Paul Weller, English singer, songwriter and musician
- 1959 – Julian Clary, English comedian, actor, and author
- 1959 – Manolis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician
- 1959 – Rick Wamsley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1960 – Amy Klobuchar, American lawyer and politician
- 1960 – Anthea Turner, English journalist and television host
- 1962 – Ric Nattress, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
- 1963 – George Hickenlooper, American director and producer (d. 2010)
- 1963 – Mike Myers, Canadian-American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Ludovic Orban, Romanian engineer, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Romania
- 1964 – David Shaw, Canadian-American ice hockey player
- 1965 – Yahya Jammeh, Gambian colonel and politician, President of the Gambia
- 1967 – Luc Nilis, Belgian footballer and manager
- 1967 – Mark Rosewater, Head designer of Magic: the Gathering
- 1968 – Kendall Gill, American basketball player, boxer, and sportscaster
- 1969 – Glen Drover, Canadian guitarist and songwriter
- 1969 – Anne Heche, American actress
- 1969 – Karen Bernstein, Canadian voice actress
- 1969 – Stacy London, American journalist and author
- 1970 – Robert Croft, Welsh-English cricketer and sportscaster
- 1970 – Jamie Kennedy, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – Stefano Baldini, Italian runner
- 1971 – Marco Cappato, Italian politician
- 1972 – Karan Johar, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1972 – Octavia Spencer, American actress and author
- 1973 – Daz Dillinger, American rapper and producer
- 1973 – Molly Sims, American model and actress
- 1974 – Dougie Freedman, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1974 – Frank Klepacki, American drummer and composer
- 1974 – Miguel Tejada, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1975 – Blaise Nkufo, Congolese-Swiss footballer
- 1976 – Stefan Holm, Swedish high jumper
- 1976 – Erki Pütsep, Estonian cyclist
- 1976 – Ethan Suplee, American actor
- 1976 – Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
- 1976 – Miguel Zepeda, Mexican footballer
- 1977 – Andre Anis, Estonian footballer
- 1977 – Alberto Del Rio, Mexican-American mixed martial artist and wrestler
- 1978 – Adam Gontier, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Brian Urlacher, American football player
- 1979 – Carlos Bocanegra, American international soccer player, defender and Sports Executive
- 1979 – Sayed Moawad, Egyptian footballer
- 1979 – Caroline Ouellette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1979 – Sam Sodje, English-Nigerian footballer
- 1979 – Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player
- 1979 – Chris Young, American baseball pitcher
- 1980 – David Navarro, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Michalis Pelekanos, Greek basketball player
- 1981 – Matt Utai, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1982 – Adam Boyd, English footballer
- 1982 – Daniel Braaten, Norwegian footballer
- 1982 – Ryan Gallant, American skateboarder
- 1982 – Roger Guerreiro, Polish footballer
- 1982 – Justin Hodges, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – Ezekiel Kemboi, Kenyan runner
- 1982 – Jason Kubel, American baseball player
- 1982 – Stacey Pensgen, American figure skater and meteorologist
- 1982 – Luke Webster, Australian footballer
- 1984 – Luke Ball, Australian footballer
- 1984 – Kyle Brodziak, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – A. J. Foyt IV, American race car driver
- 1984 – Shawne Merriman, American football player
- 1985 – Luciana Abreu, Portuguese singer and actress
- 1985 – Demba Ba, French footballer
- 1985 – Gert Kams, Estonian footballer
- 1985 – Roman Reigns, American football player and wrestler
- 1986 – Edewin Fanini, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 – Yoan Gouffran, French footballer
- 1986 – Takahiro Hōjō, Japanese actor and musician
- 1986 – Geraint Thomas, Welsh cyclist
- 1987 – Timothy Derijck, Belgian footballer
- 1987 – Yves De Winter, Belgian footballer
- 1987 – Moritz Stehling, German footballer
- 1987 – Kamil Stoch, Polish ski jumper
- 1988 – Dávid Škutka, Slovak footballer
- 1988 – Cameron van der Burgh, South African swimmer
- 1990 – Bo Dallas, American wrestler
- 1990 – Nikita Filatov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1993 – James Porter, English cricketer
- 1994 – Matt Murray, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1994 – Aly Raisman, American gymnast
- 1995 – Kagiso Rabada, South African cricketer
- 1996 – David Pastrňák, Czech ice hockey player
Deaths on May 25
- 675 – Li Hong, Chinese prince (b. 652)
- 709 – Aldhelm, English-Latin bishop, poet, and scholar (b. 639)
- 803 – Higbald of Lindisfarne, English bishop
- 912 – Xue Yiju, chancellor of Later Liang
- 916 – Flann Sinna, king of Meath
- 939 – Yao Yanzhang, general of Chu
- 986 – Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, Muslim astronomer (b. 903)
- 992 – Mieszko I of Poland (b. 935)
- 1085 – Pope Gregory VII (b. 1020)
- 1261 – Pope Alexander IV (b. 1185)
- 1452 – John Stafford, English archbishop and politician
- 1555 – Gemma Frisius, Dutch physician, mathematician, and cartographer (b. 1508)
- 1555 – Henry II of Navarre (b. 1503)
- 1595 – Valens Acidalius, German poet and critic (b. 1567)
- 1595 – Philip Neri, Italian priest and saint (b. 1515)
- 1607 – Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Italian Carmelite nun and mystic (b. 1566)
- 1632 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1572)
- 1667 – Gustaf Bonde, Finnish-Swedish politician, 5th Lord High Treasurer of Sweden (b. 1620)
- 1681 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1600)
- 1741 – Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German bishop and theologian (b. 1660)
- 1786 – Peter III of Portugal (b. 1717)
- 1789 – Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist and physician (b. 1751)
- 1797 – John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (b. 1719)
- 1805 – William Paley, English priest and philosopher (b. 1743)
- 1849 – Benjamin D’Urban, English general and politician, Governor of British Guiana (b. 1777)
- 1895 – Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman sociologist, historian, and jurist (b. 1822)
- 1899 – Rosa Bonheur, French painter and sculptor (b. 1822)
- 1912 – Austin Lane Crothers, American educator and politician, 46th Governor of Maryland (b. 1860)
- 1917 – Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet and critic (b. 1891)
- 1919 – Eliza Pollock, American archer (b. 1840)
- 1919 – Madam C. J. Walker, American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company (b. 1867)
- 1924 – Lyubov Popova, Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1889)
- 1926 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian journalist and politician (b. 1879)
- 1927 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1876)
- 1930 – Randall Davidson, Scottish-English archbishop (b. 1848)
- 1934 – Gustav Holst, English trombonist, composer, and educator (b. 1874)
- 1937 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American-French painter and illustrator (b. 1859)
- 1939 – Frank Watson Dyson, English astronomer and academic (b. 1868)
- 1942 – Emanuel Feuermann, Ukrainian-American cellist and educator (b. 1902)
- 1943 – Nils von Dardel, Swedish painter (b. 1888)
- 1948 – Witold Pilecki, Polish officer and Resistance leader (b. 1901)
- 1951 – Paula von Preradović, Croatian poet and author (b. 1887)
- 1954 – Robert Capa, Hungarian photographer and journalist (b. 1913)
- 1957 – Leo Goodwin, American swimmer, diver, and water polo player (b. 1883)
- 1968 – Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (b. 1881)
- 1970 – Tom Patey, Scottish mountaineer and author (b. 1932)
- 1977 – Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian author (b. 1904)
- 1979 – Itzhak Bentov, Czech-Israeli engineer, mystic, and author (b. 1923)
- 1979 – Amédée Gordini, Italian-born French racing driver and sports car manufacturer (b. 1899)
- 1981 – Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (b. 1912)
- 1981 – Fredric Warburg, English author and publisher (b. 1898)
- 1983 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1904)
- 1983 – Idris of Libya (b. 1889)
- 1983 – Jack Stewart, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1917)
- 1986 – Chester Bowles, American journalist and politician, 22nd Under Secretary of State (b. 1901)
- 1990 – Vic Tayback, American actor (b. 1930)
- 1995 – Élie Bayol, French racing driver (b. 1914)
- 1995 – Krešimir Ćosić, Croatian basketball player and coach, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer 1996 (b. 1948)
- 1995 – Dany Robin, French actress (b. 1927)
- 1996 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian and author (b. 1929)
- 2003 – Sloan Wilson, American author and poet (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Roger Williams Straus, Jr., American publisher, co-founded Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing Company (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Sunil Dutt, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Robert Jankel, English businessman, founded Panther Westwinds (b. 1938)
- 2005 – Graham Kennedy, Australian television host and actor (b. 1934)
- 2005 – Ismail Merchant, Indian-born film producer and director (b. 1936)
- 2005 – Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter and illustrator (b. 1909)
- 2007 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor, comedian, and director (b. 1931)
- 2008 – J. R. Simplot, American businessman, founded Simplot (b. 1909)
- 2009 – Haakon Lie, Norwegian politician (b. 1905)
- 2010 – Alexander Belostenny, Ukrainian basketball player (b. 1959)
- 2010 – Michael H. Jordan, American businessman (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Alan Hickinbotham, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1925)
- 2010 – Gabriel Vargas, Mexican painter and illustrator (b. 1915)
- 2010 – Jarvis Williams, American football player and coach (b. 1965)
- 2011 – Terry Jenner, Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1944)
- 2012 – William Hanley, American author and screenwriter (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Peter D. Sieruta, American author and critic (b. 1958)
- 2012 – Lou Watson, American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Mahendra Karma, Indian politician (b. 1950)
- 2013 – Nand Kumar Patel, Indian politician (b. 1953)
- 2014 – David Allen, English cricketer (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Marcel Côté, Canadian economist and politician (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and politician, 1st President of Poland (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Herb Jeffries, American singer and actor (b. 1913)
- 2014 – Toaripi Lauti, Tuvaluan educator and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Tuvalu (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (b. 1954)
- 2015 – George Braden, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of the Northwest Territories (b. 1949)
- 2015 – Robert Lebel, Canadian bishop (b. 1924)
- 2019 – Claus von Bülow, Danish-British socialite (b.1926)
Holidays and observances on May 25
- Africa Day (African Union)
- African Liberation Day (African Union, Rastafari)
- Christian feast day:
- Aldhelm
- Bede
- Canius
- Dionysius of Milan
- Dúnchad mac Cinn Fáelad
- Gerard of Lunel
- Madeleine Sophie Barat
- Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
- Maximus (Mauxe) of Évreux
- Pope Boniface IV
- Pope Gregory VII
- Pope Urban I
- Zenobius of Florence
- May 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Arbor Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Venezuela)
- Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Hungary)
- Earliest day on which Holiday of Saint Etchmiadzin can fall, while July 27 is the latest; celebrated on the 64th day after Easter. (Armenia)
- Earliest day on which Memorial Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Monday in May. (United States)
- Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Algeria, Dominican Republic, France (First Sunday of June, if Pentecost occurs on this day), Haiti, Mauritius, Morocco, Sweden, Tunisia)
- Earliest day on which Turkmen Carpet Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Turkmenistan)
- First National Government / National Day (Argentina)
- Geek Pride Day (geek culture)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Jordan from the United Kingdom in 1946.
- Last bell (Russia, post-Soviet countries)
- Liberation Day (Lebanon)
- International Missing Children’s Day and its related observances:
- National Missing Children’s Day (United States),
- National Tap Dance Day (United States)
- Towel Day in honour of the work of the writer Douglas Adams
-
May 24 in History
- 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
- 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
- 1276 – Magnus Ladulås is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
- 1487 – The ten-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland, with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII’s reign.
- 1567 – Erik XIV of Sweden and his guards murder five incarcerated Swedish nobles.
- 1595 – Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
- 1607 – One hundred English settlers disembark in Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America.
- 1621 – The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
- 1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
- 1667 – The French Royal Army crosses the border into the Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Devolution opposing France to the Spanish Empire and the Triple Alliance.
- 1683 – The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world’s first university museum.
- 1689 – The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting dissenting Protestants but excluding Roman Catholics.
- 1738 – John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day and a church service is generally held on the preceding Sunday.
- 1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins.
- 1813 – South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”).
- 1822 – Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
- 1832 – The First Kingdom of Greece is declared in the London Conference.
- 1844 – Samuel Morse sends the message “What hath God wrought” (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from a committee room in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, to inaugurate a commercial telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C.
- 1856 – John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
- 1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
- 1915 – World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, joining the conflict on the side of the Allies.
- 1930 – Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
- 1935 – The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2–1 at Crosley Field.
- 1940 – Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
- 1940 – Acting on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, NKVD agent Iosif Grigulevich orchestrates an unsuccessful assassination attempt on exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, Mexico.
- 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks then-pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.
- 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: Egypt captures the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai, but the five-day effort gives Israeli forces time to prepare enough to stop the Egyptian advance a week later.
- 1956 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.
- 1958 – United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
- 1960 – Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.
- 1961 – American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for “disturbing the peace” after disembarking from their bus.
- 1962 – Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
- 1967 – Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.
- 1976 – The Judgment of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.
- 1981 – Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife, and his presidential committee die in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.
- 1982 – Liberation of Khorramshahr: Iranians recapture of the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.
- 1988 – Section 28 of the United Kingdom’s Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted.
- 1991 – Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
- 1992 – The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.
- 1992 – The ethnic cleansing in Kozarac, Bosnia and Herzegovina begins when Serbian militia and police forces enter the town.
- 1993 – Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
- 1993 – Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and five other people are assassinated in a shootout at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport in Mexico.
- 1994 – Four men convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 are each sentenced to 240 years in prison.
- 1995 – While attempting to return to Leeds Bradford Airport in the United Kingdom, Knight Air Flight 816 crashes in Harewood, North Yorkshire, killing all 12 people on board.
- 1999 – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.
- 2000 – Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
- 2002 – Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.
- 2014 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurs in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, injuring 324 people.
- 2014 – At least three people are killed in a shooting at Brussels’ Jewish Museum of Belgium.
- 2019 – Twenty-two students die in a fire in Surat (India).
- 2019 – Under pressure over her handling of Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Leader of the Conservative Party, effective as of June 7.
Births on May 24
- 15 BC – Germanicus, Roman general (d. 19)
- 1335 – Margaret of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary (d. 1349)
- 1494 – Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
- 1522 – John Jewel, English bishop (d. 1571)
- 1544 – William Gilbert, English physician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1603)
- 1576 – Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley, English courtier (d. 1635)
- 1616 – John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, Scottish politician, Secretary of State, Scotland (d. 1682)
- 1628 – Marek Sobieski, Polish noble (d. 1652)
- 1669 – Emerentia von Düben, Swedish royal favorite (d. 1743)
- 1671 – Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
- 1686 – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Polish-German physicist and engineer, developed the Fahrenheit scale (d. 1736)
- 1689 – Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1769)
- 1743 – Jean-Paul Marat, Swiss-French physician, journalist, and politician (d. 1793)
- 1789 – Cathinka Buchwieser, German operatic singer and actress (d.1828)
- 1794 – William Whewell, English priest and philosopher (d. 1866)
- 1803 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist and paleontologist (d. 1866)
- 1810 – Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1816 – Emanuel Leutze, German-American painter (d. 1868)
- 1819 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
- 1830 – Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter and academic (d. 1897)
- 1855 – Arthur Wing Pinero, English actor, director, and playwright (d. 1934)
- 1861 – Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, Maltese lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1940)
- 1863 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
- 1868 – Charlie Taylor, American engineer and mechanic (d. 1956)
- 1870 – Benjamin N. Cardozo, American lawyer and judge (d. 1938)
- 1870 – Jan Smuts, South African lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
- 1874 – Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1878)
- 1875 – Robert Garrett, American discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1961)
- 1878 – Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American psychologist and engineer (d. 1972)
- 1879 – H. B. Reese, American candy maker, created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (d. 1956)
- 1886 – Paul Paray, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1979)
- 1887 – Mick Mannock, Irish soldier and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
- 1891 – William F. Albright, American archaeologist, philologist, and scholar (d. 1971)
- 1895 – Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., American publisher, founded Advance Publications (d. 1979)
- 1899 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
- 1899 – Henri Michaux, Belgian-French poet and painter (d. 1984)
- 1900 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1984)
- 1901 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer and manager (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (d. 1954)
- 1902 – Sylvia Daoust, Canadian sculptor (d. 2004)
- 1905 – George Nakashima, American woodworker and architect(d. 1990)
- 1905 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1909 – Wilbur Mills, American banker and politician (d. 1992)
- 1910 – Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (d. 1983)
- 1913 – Joe Abreu, American baseball player and soldier (d. 1993)
- 1914 – Lilli Palmer, German-American actress (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Roden Cutler, Australian lieutenant and politician, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (d. 2002)
- 1917 – Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, English lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Coleman Young, American politician, 66th Mayor of Detroit (d. 1997)
- 1923 – Siobhán McKenna, Irish actress (d. 1986)
- 1924 – Philip Pearlstein, American soldier and painter
- 1925 – Carmine Infantino, American illustrator and educator (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and director (d. 1994)
- 1926 – Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor and screenwriter
- 1928 – William Trevor, Irish novelist, playwright and short story writer (d. 2016)
- 1932 – Arnold Wesker, English playwright and producer (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Jane Byrne, American lawyer and politician, 50th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Réal Giguère, Canadian television host and actor
- 1933 – Aharon Lichtenstein, French-Israeli rabbi and author (d. 2015)
- 1935 – Joan Micklin Silver, American director and screenwriter
- 1936 – Harold Budd, American composer and poet
- 1937 – Maryvonne Dupureur, French runner and educator (d. 2008)
- 1937 – Archie Shepp, American saxophonist and composer
- 1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Tommy Chong, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1940 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- 1941 – Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist, writer, and producer; Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 – Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, English academic and politician
- 1942 – Ali Bacher, South African cricketer and manager
- 1942 – Hannu Mikkola, Finnish race car driver
- 1942 – Ichirō Ozawa, Japanese lawyer and politician, Japanese Minister of Home Affairs
- 1943 – Gary Burghoff, American actor
- 1944 – Patti LaBelle, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1944 – Dominique Lavanant, French actress
- 1945 – Terry Callier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Steven Norris, English engineer and politician
- 1945 – Richard Ottaway, English lieutenant and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- 1945 – Priscilla Presley, American actress and businesswoman
- 1946 – Tansu Çiller, Turkish economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1946 – Jesualdo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer and manager
- 1946 – Irena Szewińska, Russian-Polish sprinter
- 1947 – Albert Bouchard, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
- 1947 – Mike De Leon, Filipino director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer
- 1947 – Mike Reid, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and American football player
- 1947 – Waddy Wachtel, American guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer
- 1947 – Martin Winterkorn, German businessman
- 1948 – Richard Dembo, French director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1949 – Jim Broadbent, English actor
- 1949 – Roger Deakins , English cinematographer
- 1953 – Alfred Molina, English actor
- 1955 – Rosanne Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1955 – Philippe Lafontaine, Belgian singer and songwriter
- 1955 – Rajesh Roshan, Indian composer
- 1956 – R. B. Bernstein, American constitutional historian
- 1956 – Larry Blackmon, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1956 – Dominic Grieve, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
- 1956 – Michael Jackson, Irish archbishop
- 1958 – Chip Ganassi, American race car driver, team owner and businessman
- 1959 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish-American ice hockey player (d. 1985)
- 1959 – Barry O’Farrell, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of New South Wales
- 1960 – Guy Fletcher, English keyboard player, guitarist, and producer
- 1960 – Bill Harrigan, Australian rugby league referee and sportscaster
- 1960 – Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
- 1961 – Lorella Cedroni, Italian philosopher and theorist (d. 2013)
- 1961 – Alain Lemieux, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
- 1962 – Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican-American boxer (d. 2012)
- 1962 – Gene Anthony Ray, American actor, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2003)
- 1963 – Ivan Capelli, Italian race car driver and sportscaster
- 1963 – Michael Chabon, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Joe Dumars, American basketball player
- 1963 – Rich Rodriguez, American football player and coach
- 1963 – Valerie Taylor, American computer scientist and educator
- 1964 – Liz McColgan, Scottish educator and runner
- 1964 – Adrian Moorhouse, English swimmer
- 1964 – Isidro Pérez, Mexican boxer (d. 2013)
- 1964 – Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1965 – John C. Reilly, American actor
- 1965 – Shinichirō Watanabe, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Éric Cantona, French footballer, manager, and actor
- 1966 – Ricky Craven, American race car driver and sportscaster
- 1967 – Tamer Karadağlı, Turkish actor
- 1967 – Andrey Borodin, Russian-English economist and businessman
- 1967 – Eric Close, American actor
- 1967 – Heavy D, Jamaican-American rapper, producer, and actor (d. 2011)
- 1967 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
- 1969 – Martin McCague, Northern Irish-English cricketer
- 1969 – Jacob Rees-Mogg, English politician
- 1969 – Rich Robinson, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1971 – Kris Draper, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1972 – Greg Berlanti, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Rodrigo, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
- 1973 – Bartolo Colón, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1973 – Shirish Kunder, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Vladimír Šmicer, Czech footballer and manager
- 1974 – Sébastien Foucan, French runner and actor
- 1974 – Masahide Kobayashi, Japanese baseball player and coach
- 1974 – Magnus Manske, German biochemist and computer programmer, developed MediaWiki
- 1975 – Will Sasso, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1975 – Marc Gagnon, Canadian speed skater
- 1975 – Giannis Goumas, Greek footballer and coach
- 1975 – Maria Lawson, English singer-songwriter
- 1976 – Alessandro Cortini, Italian-American singer and keyboard player
- 1976 – Catherine Cox, New Zealand-Australian netball player
- 1976 – Silje Vige, Norwegian singer
- 1977 – Jeet Gannguli, Indian score composer, music director and singer
- 1978 – Elijah Burke, American wrestler
- 1978 – Johan Holmqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1978 – Brad Penny, American baseball player
- 1978 – Rose, French singer, songwriter and composer
- 1979 – Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
- 1979 – Kareem McKenzie, American football player
- 1980 – Jason Babin, American football player
- 1980 – Anthony Minichiello, Australian rugby league player
- 1981 – Andy Lee, Australian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1982 – Issah Gabriel Ahmed, Ghanaian footballer
- 1982 – Rian Wallace, American football player
- 1983 – Custódio Castro, Portuguese footballer
- 1983 – Pedram Javaheri, Iranian-American meteorologist and journalist
- 1983 – Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (d. 2009)
- 1984 – Sarah Hagan, American actress
- 1984 – Dmitri Kruglov, Estonian footballer
- 1985 – Tim Bridgman, English race car driver
- 1986 – Mark Ballas, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, dancer, and actor
- 1986 – Giannis Kontoes, Greek footballer
- 1987 – Guillaume Latendresse, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Artem Anisimov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Monica Lin Brown, American sergeant
- 1988 – Billy Gilman, American musician
- 1988 – Lucian Wintrich, American political artist and White House correspondent
- 1989 – G-Eazy, American rapper
- 1989 – Andrew Jordan, English race car driver
- 1990 – Mattias Ekholm, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1991 – Aled Davies, Welsh discus thrower
- 1991 – Cody Eakin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Marcus Bettinelli, English footballer, goalkeeper
- 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
- 1994 – Emily Nicholl, Scottish netball player
- 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
- 1994 – Emily Temple Wood, American 2016 Wikipedian of the Year award
- 1999 – Tarjei Sandvik Moe, Norwegian actor
Deaths on May 24
- 688 – Ségéne, bishop of Armagh (b. c. 610)
- 1089 – Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1136 – Hugues de Payens, first Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1070)
- 1153 – David I of Scotland (b. 1083)
- 1201 – Theobald III, Count of Champagne (b. 1179)
- 1351 – Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman, Moroccan sultan (b. 1297)
- 1408 – Taejo of Joseon (b. 1335)
- 1425 – Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
- 1456 – Ambroise de Loré, French commander (b. 1396)
- 1543 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (b. 1473)
- 1612 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1563)
- 1627 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet and cleric (b. 1561)
- 1632 – Robert Hues, English mathematician and geographer (b. 1553)
- 1665 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Spanish Franciscan abbess and mystic (b. 1602)
- 1734 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
- 1792 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1718)
- 1806 – John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, Scottish field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Argyllshire (b. 1723)
- 1843 – Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician and academic (b. 1765)
- 1848 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German author and composer (b. 1797)
- 1861 – Elmer E. Ellsworth, American colonel (b. 1837)
- 1872 – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter and illustrator (b. 1794)
- 1879 – William Lloyd Garrison, American journalist and activist (b. 1805)
- 1881 – Samuel Palmer, English painter and illustrator (b. 1805)
- 1901 – Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, Canadian bishop (b. 1824)
- 1908 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer and architect (b. 1821)
- 1915 – John Condon, Irish-English soldier (b. 1896)
- 1919 – Amado Nervo, Mexican poet, journalist, and educator (b. 1870)
- 1929 – Nikolai von Meck, Russian engineer (b. 1863)
- 1941 – Lancelot Holland, English admiral (b. 1887)
- 1945 – Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal and pilot (b. 1892)
- 1948 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1949 – Alexey Shchusev, Russian architect, designed Lenin’s Mausoleum and Moscow Kazanskaya railway station (b. 1873)
- 1950 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English field marshal and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (b. 1883)
- 1951 – Thomas N. Heffron, American actor, director, screenwriter (b. 1872)
- 1956 – Martha Annie Whiteley, English chemist and mathematician (b. 1866)
- 1958 – Frank Rowe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
- 1959 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- 1963 – Elmore James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
- 1965 – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (b. 1908)
- 1974 – Duke Ellington, American pianist and composer (b. 1899)
- 1976 – Denise Pelletier, Canadian actress (b. 1923)
- 1979 – Ernest Bullock, English organist, composer, and educator (b. 1890)
- 1981 – Herbert Müller, Swiss race car driver (b. 1940)
- 1984 – Vince McMahon Sr., American wrestling promoter and businessman, founded WWE (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Freddie Frith, English motorcycle road racer (b. 1909)
- 1990 – Arthur Villeneuve, Canadian painter (b. 1910)
- 1991 – Gene Clark, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
- 1992 – Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese race car driver (b. 1956)
- 1995 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
- 1996 – Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (b. 1934)
- 1996 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist and author (b. 1908)
- 1997 – Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
- 2000 – Kurt Schork, American journalist and scholar (b. 1947)
- 2000 – Majrooh Sultanpuri, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1919)
- 2002 – Wallace Markfield, American author (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (b. 1910)
- 2004 – Henry Ries, German-American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Milton Shulman, Canadian author and critic (b. 1913)
- 2004 – Edward Wagenknecht, American critic and educator (b. 1900)
- 2005 – Carl Amery, German activist and author (b. 1922)
- 2005 – Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and poet (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Guy Tardif, Canadian academic and politician (b. 1935)
- 2006 – Henry Bumstead, American art director and production designer (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Claude Piéplu, French actor (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Dick Martin, American actor, comedian, and director (b. 1922)
- 2008 – Jimmy McGriff, American organist and bandleader (b. 1936)
- 2009 – Jay Bennett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1963)
- 2010 – Ray Alan, English ventriloquist, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1972)
- 2010 – Raymond V. Haysbert, American businessman and activist (b. 1920)
- 2010 – Petr Muk, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1965)
- 2010 – Anneliese Rothenberger, German soprano and actress (b. 1926)
- 2011 – Huguette Clark, American heiress, painter, and philanthropist (b. 1906)
- 2011 – Hakim Ali Zardari, Indian-Pakistani businessman and politician (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Klaas Carel Faber, Dutch-German SS officer (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Kathi Kamen Goldmark, American journalist and author (b. 1948)
- 2012 – Jacqueline Harpman, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Juan Francisco Lombardo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Lee Rich, American production manager and producer (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Ron Davies, Welsh footballer (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Gotthard Graubner, German painter (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1925)
- 2014 – David Allen, English cricketer (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Stormé DeLarverie, known as the “Rosa Parks of the lesbian community” (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, Iranian businessman (b. 1969)
- 2014 – Knowlton Nash, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1927)
- 2014 – John Vasconcellos, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Dean Carroll, English rugby player (b. 1962)
- 2015 – Kenneth Jacobs, Australian lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
- 2015 – Tanith Lee, English author (b. 1947)
- 2018 – Gudrun Burwitz, daughter of Margarete Himmler and Heinrich Himmler (b. 1929)
- 2018 – John Bain (TotalBiscuit), English gaming commentator and critic (b. 1984)
Holidays and observances on May 24
- Aldersgate Day/Wesley Day (Methodism)
- Battle of Pichincha Day (Ecuador)
- Bermuda Day (Bermuda), celebrated on the nearest weekday if May 24 falls on the weekend.
- Christian feast day:
- Anna Pak Agi (one of The Korean Martyrs)
- Donatian and Rogatian
- Jackson Kemper (Episcopal Church)
- Joanna
- Mary, Help of Christians
- Sarah (celebrated by the Romani people of Camargue)
- Vincent of Lérins
- May 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Commonwealth Day (Belize)
- Earliest day on which El Colacho tradition can fall, while June 27 is the latest; celebrated on Sunday after Corpus Christi. (Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos)
- Independence Day (Eritrea), celebrates the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993.
- Lubiri Memorial Day (Buganda)
- Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Eastern Orthodox Church, Julian Calendar) and its related observance:
- Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day (Bulgaria)
- Saints Cyril and Methodius, Slavonic Enlighteners’ Day (North Macedonia)
- Victoria Day; celebrated on Monday on or before May 24. (Canada), and its related observance:
- National Patriots’ Day or Journée nationale des patriotes (Quebec)
-
May 20 in History
- 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.
- 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed Augusta is able to choose her successor for the Byzantine throne, after Zeno (late emperor) dies of dysentery.
- 685 – The Battle of Dun Nechtain is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.
- 794 – While visiting the royal Mercian court at Sutton Walls with a view to marrying princess Ælfthryth, King Æthelberht II of East Anglia is taken captive and beheaded.
- 1217 – The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
- 1293 – King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Estudio de Escuelas de Generales in Alcalá de Henares.
- 1449 – The Battle of Alfarrobeira is fought, establishing the House of Braganza as a principal royal family of Portugal.
- 1497 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
- 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route to India when he arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India.
- 1521 – Ignatius of Loyola is seriously wounded in the Battle of Pampeluna.
- 1570 – Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas.
- 1609 – Shakespeare’s sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.
- 1631 – The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years’ War.
- 1645 – Yangzhou massacre: The ten day massacre of 800,000 residents of the city of Yangzhou, part of the Transition from Ming to Qing.
- 1741 – The Battle of Cartagena de Indias ends in a Spanish victory and the British begin withdrawal towards Jamaica with substantial losses.
- 1775 – The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is allegedly signed in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- 1802 – By the Law of 20 May 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution.
- 1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
- 1840 – York Minster is badly damaged by fire.
- 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Meanwhile, the State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
- 1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, opening 84 million acres of public land to settlers.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church: In the Virginia Bermuda Hundred campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
- 1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
- 1875 – Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 nations leading to the establishment of the International System of Units.
- 1882 – The Triple Alliance between the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy is formed.
- 1883 – Krakatoa begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.
- 1891 – History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison’s prototype kinetoscope.
- 1902 – Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country’s first President.
- 1927 – Treaty of Jeddah: The United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- 1932 – Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
- 1940 – The Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
- 1941 – World War II: Battle of Crete: German paratroops invade Crete.
- 1948 – Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek wins the 1948 Republic of China presidential election and is sworn in as the first President of the Republic of China at Nanjing.
- 1949 – In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.
- 1956 – In Operation Redwing, the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1964 – Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias.
- 1967 – The Popular Movement of the Revolution political party is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- 1969 – The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
- 1971 – In the Chuknagar massacre, Pakistani forces massacre thousands, mostly Bengali Hindus.
- 1980 – In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, by 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.
- 1983 – First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier.
- 1983 – Church Street bombing: A car bomb planted by Umkhonto we Sizwe explodes on Church Street in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, killing 19 people and injuring 217 others.
- 1985 – Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
- 1989 – The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
- 1990 – The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
- 1996 – Civil rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.
- 2002 – The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and three years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).
- 2012 – At least 27 people are killed and 50 others injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes northern Italy.
- 2013 – An EF5 tornado strikes the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing 24 people and injuring 377 others.
- 2019 – The International System of Units (SI): The base units are redefined, making the international prototype of the kilogram obsolete.
Births on May 20
- 1315 – Bonne of Luxembourg, first wife of John II of France (d. 1349)
- 1470 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal, poet, and scholar (d. 1547)
- 1505 – Levinus Lemnius, Dutch writer (d. 1568)
- 1531 – Thado Minsaw of Ava, Viceroy of Ava (d. 1584)
- 1537 – Hieronymus Fabricius, Italian anatomist (d. 1619)
- 1575 – Robert Heath, English judge and politician (d. 1649)
- 1664 – Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor and architect (d. 1714)
- 1726 – Francis Cotes, English painter and academic (d. 1770)
- 1743 – Toussaint Louverture, Haitian revolutionary, general, and president (d. 1803)
- 1759 – William Thornton, Virgin Islander-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1828)
- 1769 – Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
- 1772 – Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet, English inventor and politician, developed Congreve rockets (d. 1828)
- 1776 – Simon Fraser, American-Canadian fur trader and explorer (d. 1862)
- 1795 – Pedro María de Anaya, Mexican soldier. President (1847-1848) (d. 1854)
- 1799 – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist and playwright (d. 1850)
- 1806 – John Stuart Mill, English economist, civil servant, and philosopher (d. 1873)
- 1811 – Alfred Domett, English-New Zealand poet and politician, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1887)
- 1818 – William Fargo, American businessman and politician, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (d. 1881)
- 1822 – Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1912)
- 1824 – Cadmus M. Wilcox, Confederate States Army general (d. 1890)
- 1825 – Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman to be ordained as a mainstream Protestant minister in the U.S. (d. 1921)
- 1830 – Hector Malot, French author (d. 1907)
- 1838 – Jules Méline, French lawyer and politician, 65th Prime Minister of France (d. 1925)
- 1851 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor, invented the Gramophone record (d. 1929)
- 1854 – George Prendergast, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Victoria (d. 1937)
- 1856 – Henri-Edmond Cross, French Neo-Impressionist painter (d. 1910)
- 1860 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, zymologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
- 1875 – Hendrik Offerhaus, Dutch rower (d. 1953)
- 1877 – Pat Leahy, Irish-American jumper (d. 1927)
- 1879 – Hans Meerwein, German chemist (d. 1965)
- 1882 – Sigrid Undset, Danish-Norwegian novelist, essayist, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
- 1883 – Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
- 1886 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded the Galatasaray Sports Club (d. 1951)
- 1894 – Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian guru and scholar (d. 1994)
- 1895 – R. J. Mitchell, English engineer, designed the Supermarine Spitfire and Supermarine S.6B (d. 1937)
- 1897 – Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish economist and author (d. 1983)
- 1897 – Malcolm Nokes, English hammer and discus thrower (d. 1986)
- 1898 – Eduard Ole, Estonian painter (d. 1995)
- 1899 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Russian painter and sculptor (d. 1969)
- 1899 – John Marshall Harlan II, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1971)
- 1900 – Sumitranandan Pant, Indian poet and author (d. 1977)
- 1901 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player, mathematician, and author (d. 1981)
- 1901 – Doris Fleeson, American journalist (d. 1970)
- 1904 – Margery Allingham, English author of detective fiction (d. 1966)
- 1906 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (d. 1989)
- 1907 – Carl Mydans, American photographer and journalist (d. 2004)
- 1908 – Henry Bolte, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Victoria (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Louis Daquin, French actor and director (d. 1980)
- 1908 – Francis Raymond Fosberg, American botanist and author (d. 1993)
- 1908 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1911 – Gardner Fox, American author (d. 1986)
- 1911 – Annie M. G. Schmidt, Dutch author and playwright (d. 1995)
- 1913 – Teodoro Fernández, Peruvian footballer (d. 1996)
- 1913 – William Redington Hewlett, American engineer, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Peter Copley, English actor (d. 2008)
- 1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician, 5th Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1981)
- 1915 – Joff Ellen, Australian comedian and actor (d. 1999)
- 1916 – Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
- 1916 – Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (d. 2001)
- 1916 – Ondina Valla, Italian sprinter and hurdler (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Tony Cliff, Israeli-English author and activist (d. 2000)
- 1917 – Guy Favreau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 28th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1967)
- 1918 – Alexandra Boyko, Russian tank commander (d. 1996)
- 1918 – Edward B. Lewis, American biologist, geneticist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
- 1919 – George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
- 1920 – John Cruickshank, Scottish lieutenant and banker, Victoria Cross recipient
- 1921 – Wolfgang Borchert, German author and playwright (d. 1947)
- 1921 – Hal Newhouser, American baseball player and scout (d. 1998)
- 1921 – Hao Wang, Chinese-American logician, philosopher, and mathematician (d. 1995)
- 1922 – Ted Hinton, Northern Irish international footballer (d. 1988)
- 1923 – Edith Fellows, American actress (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Sam Selvon, Trinidad-born writer (d. 1994)
- 1924 – David Chavchavadze, English-American CIA officer and author (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (d. 1976)
- 1925 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (d. 2001)
- 1926 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
- 1927 – Bud Grant, American football player and coach
- 1927 – David Hedison, American actor (d. 2019)
- 1927 – Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (d. 2016)
- 1929 – Gilles Loiselle, Canadian politician and diplomat, 33rd Canadian Minister of Finance
- 1930 – Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1982)
- 1931 – Louis Smith, American trumpeter (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Constance Towers, American actress and singer
- 1935 – José Mujica, Uruguayan guerrilla leader and politician, 40th President of Uruguay
- 1936 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
- 1937 – Dave Hill, American golfer (d. 2011)
- 1937 – Derek Lampe, English footballer
- 1939 – Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
- 1940 – Shorty Long, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1969)
- 1940 – Stan Mikita, Slovak-Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 2018)
- 1940 – Sadaharu Oh, Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager
- 1941 – Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
- 1941 – John Strasberg, American actor and teacher
- 1942 – Raymond Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
- 1942 – Lynn Davies, Welsh sprinter and long jumper
- 1942 – Carlos Hathcock, American sergeant and sniper (d. 1999)
- 1942 – Frew McMillan, South African tennis player
- 1943 – Albano Carrisi, Italian singer, actor, and winemaker
- 1943 – Deryck Murray, Trinidadian cricketer
- 1944 – Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Boudewijn de Groot, Indonesian-Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1944 – Keith Fletcher, English cricketer and manager
- 1944 – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman, co-founded Red Bull GmbH
- 1945 – Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian intelligence officer
- 1946 – Cher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1946 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, coach, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
- 1947 – Steve Currie, English bass player (d. 1981)
- 1947 – Greg Dyke, English journalist and academic
- 1949 – Robert Morin, Canadian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
- 1949 – Michèle Roberts, English author and poet
- 1949 – Dave Thomas, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1950 – Andy Johns, English-American engineer and producer (d. 2013)
- 1950 – Reinaldo Merlo, Argentinian footballer and coach
- 1951 – Thomas Akers, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
- 1951 – Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (d. 2020)
- 1951 – Mike Crapo, American lawyer and politician
- 1952 – Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer and manager
- 1952 – Michael Wills, English politician, British Minister of Justice
- 1953 – Robert Doyle, Australian educator and politician, 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne
- 1954 – David Paterson, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of New York
- 1954 – Colin Sutherland, Lord Carloway, Scottish lawyer and judge
- 1955 – Steve George, American keyboard player and songwriter
- 1955 – Zbigniew Preisner, Polish composer and producer
- 1956 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian-German author and critic
- 1956 – Gerry Peyton, English born Irish international footballer and coach
- 1956 – Douglas Preston, American journalist and author
- 1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, Japanese lawyer and politician, 62nd Prime Minister of Japan
- 1958 – Ron Reagan, American journalist and radio host
- 1958 – Jane Wiedlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
- 1959 – Susan Cowsill, American singer-songwriter
- 1960 – Tony Goldwyn, American actor and director
- 1961 – Clive Allen, English international footballer and manager
- 1961 – Nick Heyward, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1963 – David Wells, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1964 – Kōichirō Genba, Japanese politician, 80th Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
- 1964 – Edin Osmanović, Slovenian footballer, coach, and manager
- 1964 – Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, English journalist and author
- 1965 – Ted Allen, American television host and author
- 1965 – Stu Grimson, Canadian ice hockey player, sportscaster, and lawyer
- 1966 – Dan Abrams, American journalist and author
- 1967 – Graham Brady, English politician
- 1967 – Gabriele Muccino, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor and producer
- 1969 – Road Dogg, American wrestler, producer, and soldier
- 1970 – Terrell Brandon, American basketball player
- 1970 – Louis Theroux, Singaporean-English journalist and producer
- 1971 – Šárka Kašpárková, Czech triple jumper and coach
- 1971 – Tony Stewart, American race car driver
- 1972 – Michael Diamond, Australian shooter
- 1972 – Christophe Dominici, French rugby player
- 1972 – Busta Rhymes, American rapper, producer, and actor
- 1973 – Nathan Long, Australian rugby league player
- 1974 – Allison Amend, American novelist and short story writer
- 1974 – Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Indian film director, writer and actor
- 1975 – Juan Minujín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
- 1976 – Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
- 1977 – Matt Czuchry, American actor
- 1977 – Leo Franco, Argentinian footballer
- 1977 – Angela Goethals, American actress
- 1977 – Stirling Mortlock, Australian rugby player
- 1977 – Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1978 – Hristos Banikas, Greek chess player
- 1978 – Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová, Czech pole vaulter
- 1978 – Nils Schumann, German runner
- 1979 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician, 28th Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
- 1979 – Jayson Werth, American baseball player
- 1980 – Austin Kearns, American baseball player
- 1980 – Kassim Osgood, American football player
- 1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Rachel Platten, American singer and songwriter
- 1981 – Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
- 1981 – Mark Winterbottom, Australian race car driver
- 1982 – Petr Čech, Czech footballer
- 1982 – Imran Farhat, Pakistani cricketer
- 1982 – Jessica Raine, English actress
- 1982 – Daniel Ribeiro, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1983 – Óscar Cardozo, Paraguayan footballer
- 1983 – Matt Langridge, English rower
- 1984 – Mauro Rafael da Silva, Brazilian footballer
- 1984 – Patrick Ewing, Jr., American basketball player
- 1984 – Keith Grennan, American football player
- 1985 – Chris Froome, Kenyan-English cyclist
- 1985 – Brendon Goddard, Australian footballer
- 1986 – Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
- 1986 – Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian footballer
- 1986 – Jiřina Svobodová, Czech pole vaulter
- 1987 – Mike Havenaar, Japanese footballer
- 1987 – Julian Wright, American basketball player
- 1988 – Joel Moon, Australian rugby league player
- 1989 – Siosia Vave, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
- 1991 – Bastian Baker, Swiss singer, songwriter, and performer
- 1991 – Emre Colak, Turkish footballer
- 1992 – Cate Campbell, Malawian-Australian swimmer
- 1992 – Jack Gleeson, Irish actor
- 1992 – Enes Kanter, Turkish basketball player
- 1993 – Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
- 1996 – Brian Kelly, Australian rugby league player
- 1998 – Jamie Chadwick, English race car driver
- 1998 – Nam Nguyen, Canadian figure skater
Deaths on May 20
- 685 – Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
- 794 – Æthelberht II, king of East Anglia
- 965 – Gero the Great, Saxon ruler (b.c. 900)
- 1062 – Bao Zheng, Chinese magistrate and mayor of Kaifeng (b. 999)
- 1277 – Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
- 1285 – John II of Jerusalem (b. 1259)
- 1291 – Sufi Saint Sayyid Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari
- 1366 – Maria of Calabria, Empress of Constantinople (b. 1329)
- 1444 – Bernardino of Siena, Italian-Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1380)
- 1449 – Álvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches
- 1449 – Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra (b. 1392)
- 1501 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican tertiary Religious Sister (b. 1467)
- 1503 – Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, Italian banker and politician (b. 1463)
- 1506 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer, discovered the Americas (b. 1451)
- 1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1510)
- 1579 – Isabella Markham, English courtier (b. 1527)
- 1622 – Osman II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1604)
- 1645 – Shi Kefa, Chinese general and calligrapher (b. 1601)
- 1648 – Władysław IV Vasa, Polish son of Sigismund III Vasa (b. 1595)
- 1677 – George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, Spanish-English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1612)
- 1713 – Thomas Sprat, English bishop (b. 1635)
- 1717 – John Trevor, Welsh lawyer and politician, 102nd Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1637)
- 1722 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (b. 1669)
- 1732 – Thomas Boston, Scottish author and educator (b. 1676)
- 1782 – William Emerson, English mathematician and academic (b. 1701)
- 1793 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss botanist and biologist (b. 1720)
- 1812 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (b. 1732)
- 1834 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, French general (b. 1757)
- 1841 – Joseph Blanco White, Spanish poet and theologian (b. 1775)
- 1864 – John Clare, English poet (b. 1793)
- 1873 – George-Étienne Cartier, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th Premier of East Canada (b. 1814)
- 1880 – Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse and philanthropist (b. 1814)
- 1896 – Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
- 1909 – Ernest Hogan, American actor and composer (b. 1859)
- 1917 – Valentine Fleming, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1887)
- 1917 – Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
- 1924 – Bogd Khan, Mongolian ruler (c. 1869)
- 1925 – Joseph Howard, Maltese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1862)
- 1931 – Ernest Noel, Scottish businessman and politician (b. 1831)
- 1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
- 1942 – Hector Guimard, French Architect (b. 1867)
- 1946 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish pilot and engineer (b. 1871)
- 1947 – Philipp Lenard, Slovak-German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- 1947 – Georgios Siantos, Greek sergeant and politician (b. 1890)
- 1949 – Damaskinos of Athens, Greek archbishop and politician, 137th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1891)
- 1956 – Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist (b. 1872)
- 1956 – Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian swimmer and trainer (b. 1881)
- 1961 – Josef Priller, German colonel and pilot (b. 1915)
- 1964 – Rudy Lewis, American singer (b. 1936)
- 1971 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (b. 1904)
- 1973 – Renzo Pasolini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1938)
- 1973 – Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
- 1975 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor and lithographer (b. 1903)
- 1976 – Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
- 1976 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (b. 1924)
- 1976 – Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan politician (b. 1934)
- 1989 – John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1989 – Gilda Radner, American actress and comedian (b. 1946)
- 1995 – Les Cowie, Australian rugby league player (b. 1925)
- 1996 – Jon Pertwee, English actor, portrayed the Third Doctor (b. 1919)
- 1998 – Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist (b. 1916)
- 2000 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flute player (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player and actor (b. 1970)
- 2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1933)
- 2001 – Renato Carosone, Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist, biologist, and academic (b. 1941)
- 2005 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (b. 1913)
- 2005 – William Seawell, American general (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (b. 1914)
- 2008 – Hamilton Jordan, American politician, 8th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1944)
- 2009 – Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect and urban planner, designed Roy Thomson Hall (b. 1924)
- 2009 – Lucy Gordon, American actress and model (b. 1980)
- 2009 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (b. 1919)
- 2011 – Randy Savage, American wrestler and actor (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Leela Dube, Indian anthropologist and scholar (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1949)
- 2012 – David Littman, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Ken Lyons, American bass guitarist (b. 1953)
- 2012 – Eugene Polley, American engineer, invented the remote control (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Andrew B. Steinberg, American lawyer (b. 1958)
- 2013 – Flavio Costantini, Italian painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (b. 1947)
- 2013 – Miloslav Kříž, Czech basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1939)
- 2013 – Denys Roberts, English judge and politician (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Zach Sobiech, American singer-songwriter (b. 1995)
- 2014 – Sandra Bem, American psychologist and academic (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Ross Brown, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Robyn Denny, English-French painter (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Arthur Gelb, American journalist, author, and critic (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Prince Rupert Loewenstein, Spanish-English businessman (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Barbara Murray, English actress (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Bob Belden, American saxophonist, composer, and producer (b. 1956)
- 2015 – Femi Robinson, Nigerian actor and playwright (b. 1940)
Holidays and observances on May 20
- Christian feast day:
- Abercius and Helena
- Alcuin of York
- Aurea of Ostia
- Austregisilus
- Baudilus
- Bernardino of Siena
- Ivo of Chartres
- Lucifer of Cagliari
- Sanctan
- May 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Remembrance (Cambodia)
- Emancipation Day (Florida)
- European Maritime Day (European Council)
- Independence Restoration Day, celebrates the independence of East Timor from Indonesia in 2002.
- Josephine Baker Day (NAACP)
- National Awakening Day (Indonesia), and its related observances:
- Indonesian Doctor Day (Indonesia)
- National Day (Cameroon)
- World Bee Day
- World Metrology Day
-
April 27 in history
- 33 BC – Lucius Marcius Philippus, step-brother to the future emperor Augustus, celebrates a triumph for his victories while serving as governor in one of the provinces of Hispania.
- 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of the more powerful Roman empresses of Late Antiquity.
- 629 – Shahrbaraz is crowned as king of the Sasanian Empire.
- 711 – Islamic conquest of Hispania: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus).
- 1296 – First War of Scottish Independence: John Balliol’s Scottish army is defeated by an English army commanded by John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey at the Battle of Dunbar.
- 1509 – Pope Julius II places the Italian state of Venice under interdict.
- 1521 – Battle of Mactan: Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines led by chief Lapu-Lapu.
- 1522 – Combined forces of Spain and the Papal States defeat a French and Venetian army at the Battle of Bicocca.
- 1539 – Re-founding of the city of Bogotá, New Granada (now Colombia), by Nikolaus Federmann and Sebastián de Belalcázar.
- 1565 – Cebu is established becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
- 1578 – Duel of the Mignons claims the lives of two favourites of Henry III of France and two favorites of Henry I, Duke of Guise.
- 1595 – The relics of Saint Sava are incinerated in Belgrade on the Vračar plateau by Ottoman Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha; the site of the incineration is now the location of the Church of Saint Sava, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world.
- 1650 – The Battle of Carbisdale: A Royalist army from Orkney invades mainland Scotland but is defeated by a Covenanter army.
- 1667 – Blind and impoverished, John Milton sells Paradise Lost to a printer for £10, so that it could be entered into the Stationers’ Register.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Ridgefield: A British invasion force engages and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.
- 1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (The “shores of Tripoli” part of the Marines’ Hymn).
- 1813 – War of 1812: American troops capture York, the capital of Upper Canada, in the Battle of York.
- 1861 – American President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
- 1865 – The New York State Senate creates Cornell University as the state’s land grant institution.
- 1906 – The State Duma of the Russian Empire meets for the first time.
- 1909 – Sultan of Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown, and is succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V.
- 1911 – Following the resignation and death of William P. Frye, a compromise is reached to rotate the office of President pro tempore of the United States Senate.
- 1927 – Carabineros de Chile (Chilean national police force and gendarmerie) are created.
- 1936 – The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.
- 1941 – World War II: German troops enter Athens.
- 1941 – World War II: The Communist Party of Slovenia, the Slovene Christian Socialists, the left-wing Slovene Sokols (also known as “National Democrats”) and a group of progressive intellectuals establish the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation.
- 1945 – World War II: The last German formations withdraw from Finland to Norway. The Lapland War and thus, World War II in Finland, comes to an end and the Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn photograph is taken.
- 1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.
- 1953 – Operation Moolah offers $50,000 to any pilot who defected with a fully mission-capable Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 to South Korea. The first pilot was to receive $100,000.
- 1960 – Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.
- 1961 – Sierra Leone is granted its independence from the United Kingdom, with Milton Margai as the first Prime Minister.
- 1967 – Expo 67 officially opens in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with a large opening ceremony broadcast around the world. It opens to the public the next day.
- 1974 – Ten thousand march in Washington, D.C., calling for the impeachment of U.S. President Richard Nixon.
- 1978 – Former United States President Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman is released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.
- 1978 – The Saur Revolution begins in Afghanistan, ending the following morning with the murder of Afghan President Mohammed Daoud Khan and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
- 1981 – Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.
- 1986 – The city of Pripyat and surrounding areas are evacuated due to Chernobyl disaster.
- 1987 – The U.S. Department of Justice bars Austrian President Kurt Waldheim (and his wife, Elisabeth, who had also been a Nazi) from entering the US, charging that he had aided in the deportations and executions of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II.
- 1989 – The April 27 demonstrations, student-led protests responding to the April 26 Editorial, during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
- 1992 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, is proclaimed.
- 1992 – Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman to be elected Speaker of the British House of Commons in its 700-year history.
- 1992 – The Russian Federation and 12 other former Soviet republics become members of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
- 1993 – Most of the Zambia national football team lose their lives in a plane crash off Libreville, Gabon en route to Dakar, Senegal to play a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.
- 1994 – South African general election: The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote. The Interim Constitution comes into force.
- 2005 – Airbus A380 aircraft had its maiden test flight.
- 2006 – Construction begins on the Freedom Tower (later renamed One World Trade Center) in New York City.
- 2007 – Estonian authorities remove the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn, amid political controversy with Russia.
- 2007 – Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.
- 2011 – The 2011 Super Outbreak devastates parts of the Southeastern United States, especially the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. 205 tornadoes touched down on April 27 alone, killing more than 300 and injuring hundreds more.
- 2012 – At least four explosions hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk with at least 27 people injured.
- 2018 – The Panmunjom Declaration is signed between North and South Korea, officially declaring their intentions to end the Korean conflict.
Births on April 27
- 85 BC – Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, Roman politician and general (d. 43 BC)
- 1468 – Frederick Jagiellon, Primate of Poland (d. 1503)
- 1564 – Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (d. 1632)
- 1556 – François Béroalde de Verville, French writer (d. 1626)
- 1593 – Mumtaz Mahal, Mughal empress buried at the Taj Mahal (d. 1631)
- 1650 – Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, Queen Consort of Denmark (1670-1699) (d. 1714)
- 1654 – Charles Blount, English deist and philosopher (d. 1693)
- 1701 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (d. 1773)
- 1718 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-born American surveyor and lawyer (d. 1790)
- 1748 – Adamantios Korais, Greek-French philosopher and scholar (d. 1833)
- 1755 – Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1836)
- 1759 – Mary Wollstonecraft, English philosopher, historian, and novelist (d. 1797)
- 1788 – Charles Robert Cockerell, English architect, archaeologist, and writer (d. 1863)
- 1791 – Samuel Morse, American painter and inventor, co-invented the Morse code (d. 1872)
- 1812 – William W. Snow, American lawyer and politician (d. 1886)
- 1812 – Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (d. 1883)
- 1820 – Herbert Spencer, English biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher (d. 1903)
- 1822 – Ulysses S. Grant, American general and politician, 18th President of the United States (d. 1885)
- 1840 – Edward Whymper, English-French mountaineer, explorer, author, and illustrator (d. 1911)
- 1848 – Otto of Bavaria (d. 1916)
- 1850 – Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general and politician (d. 1921)
- 1853 – Jules Lemaître, French playwright and critic (d. 1914)
- 1857 – Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter and illustrator (d. 1914)
- 1861 – William Arms Fisher, American composer and music historian (d. 1948)
- 1866 – Maurice Raoul-Duval, French polo player (d. 1916)
- 1875 – Frederick Fane, Irish-born, English cricketer (d. 1960)
- 1880 – Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1958)
- 1882 – Jessie Redmon Fauset, American author and poet (d. 1961)
- 1887 – Warren Wood, American golfer (d. 1926)
- 1888 – Florence La Badie, Canadian actress (d. 1917)
- 1891 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1953)
- 1893 – Draža Mihailović, Serbian general (d. 1946)
- 1893 – Allen Sothoron, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1939)
- 1894 – George Petty, American painter and illustrator (d. 1975)
- 1894 – Nicolas Slonimsky, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1995)
- 1896 – Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1963)
- 1896 – William Hudson, New Zealand-Australian engineer (d. 1978)
- 1896 – Wallace Carothers, American chemist and inventor of nylon (d. 1937)
- 1898 – Ludwig Bemelmans, Italian-American author and illustrator (d. 1962)
- 1899 – Walter Lantz, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and actor (d. 1994)
- 1900 – August Koern, Estonian politician and diplomat, Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs in exile (d. 1989)
- 1902 – Tiemoko Garan Kouyaté, Malian educator and activist (d. 1942)
- 1904 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet and author (d. 1972)
- 1904 – Nikos Zachariadis, Greek politician (d. 1973)
- 1905 – John Kuck, American javelin thrower and shot putter (d. 1986)
- 1906 – Yiorgos Theotokas, Greek author and playwright (d. 1966)
- 1910 – Chiang Ching-kuo, Chinese politician, 3rd President of the Republic of China (d. 1988)
- 1911 – Bruno Beger, German anthropologist and ethnologist (d. 2009)
- 1911 – Chris Berger, Dutch sprinter and footballer (d. 1965)
- 1912 – Jacques de Bourbon-Busset, French author and politician (d. 2001)
- 1912 – Zohra Sehgal, Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2014)
- 1913 – Philip Abelson, American physicist and author (d. 2004)
- 1913 – Irving Adler, American mathematician, author, and academic (d. 2012)
- 1913 – Luz Long, German long jumper and soldier (d. 1943)
- 1916 – Robert Hugh McWilliams, Jr., American sergeant, lawyer, and judge (d. 2013)
- 1916 – Enos Slaughter, American baseball player and manager (d. 2002)
- 1917 – Roman Matsov, Estonian violinist, pianist, and conductor (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Sten Rudholm, Swedish lawyer and jurist (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
- 1920 – Mark Krasnosel’skii, Ukrainian mathematician and academic (d. 1997)
- 1920 – James Robert Mann, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (d. 2010)
- 1920 – Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet and translator (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Robert Dhéry, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Jack Klugman, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1922 – Sheila Scott, English nurse and pilot (d. 1988)
- 1923 – Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, Seminole chief (d. 2011)
- 1924 – Vernon B. Romney, American lawyer and politician, 14th Attorney General of Utah (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Derek Chinnery, English broadcaster (d. 2015)
- 1926 – Tim LaHaye, American minister, activist, and author (d. 2016)
- 1926 – Basil A. Paterson, American lawyer and politician, 59th Secretary of State of New York (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Alan Reynolds, English painter and educator (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Coretta Scott King, African-American activist and author (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Joe Moakley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Nina Ponomaryova, Russian discus thrower and coach (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Igor Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist and educator
- 1932 – Anouk Aimée, French actress
- 1932 – Pik Botha, South African lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 8th South African Ambassador to the United States (d. 2018)
- 1932 – Casey Kasem, American disc jockey, music historian, radio celebrity, and voice actor; co-created American Top 40 (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Chuck Knox, American football coach (d. 2018)
- 1932 – Derek Minter, English motorcycle racer (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian-American mathematician and philosopher (d. 1999)
- 1933 – Peter Imbert, Baron Imbert, English police officer and politician, Lord Lieutenant for Greater London (d. 2017)
- 1935 – Theodoros Angelopoulos, Greek director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1935 – Ron Morris, American pole vaulter and coach
- 1936 – Geoffrey Shovelton, English singer and illustrator (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (d. 1992)
- 1937 – Robin Eames, Irish Anglican archbishop
- 1937 – Richard Perham, English biologist and academic (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Earl Anthony, American bowler and sportscaster (d. 2001)
- 1938 – Alain Caron, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986)
- 1939 – Judy Carne, English actress and comedian (d. 2015)
- 1939 – Stanisław Dziwisz, Polish cardinal
- 1941 – Fethullah Gülen, Turkish preacher and theologian
- 1941 – Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti, Indian archaeologist
- 1941 – Lee Roy Jordan, American football player
- 1942 – Ruth Glick, American author
- 1942 – Jim Keltner, American drummer
- 1943 – Helmut Marko, Austrian race car driver and manager
- 1944 – Michael Fish, English meteorologist and journalist
- 1944 – Cuba Gooding Sr., American singer (d. 2017)
- 1944 – Herb Pedersen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1945 – Martin Chivers, English footballer and manager
- 1945 – Jack Deverell, English general
- 1945 – Helen Hodgman, Scottish-Australian author
- 1945 – Terry Willesee, Australian journalist and television host
- 1945 – August Wilson, American author and playwright (d. 2005)
- 1946 – Franz Roth, German footballer
- 1947 – G. K. Butterfield, African-American soldier, lawyer, and politician
- 1947 – Nick Greiner, Hungarian-Australian politician, 37th Premier of New South Wales
- 1947 – Pete Ham, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
- 1947 – Keith Magnuson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2003)
- 1947 – Ann Peebles, American soul singer-songwriter
- 1948 – Frank Abagnale Jr., American security consultant and criminal
- 1948 – Josef Hickersberger, Austrian footballer, coach, and manager
- 1948 – Kate Pierson, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1949 – Grant Chapman, Australian businessman and politician
- 1950 – Jaime Fresnedi, Filipino politician
- 1950 – Paul Lockyer, Australian journalist (d. 2011)
- 1951 – Ace Frehley, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1952 – Larry Elder, American lawyer and talk show host
- 1952 – George Gervin, American basketball player
- 1952 – Ari Vatanen, Finnish race car driver and politician
- 1953 – Arielle Dombasle, French-American actress and model
- 1954 – Frank Bainimarama, Fijian commander and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Fiji
- 1954 – Herman Edwards, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1954 – Mark Holden, Australian singer, actor, and lawyer
- 1955 – Gudrun Berend, German hurdler (d. 2011)
- 1955 – Eric Schmidt, American engineer and businessman
- 1956 – Bryan Harvey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
- 1956 – Jeff Probyn, English rugby player, coach, and manager
- 1957 – Willie Upshaw, American baseball player and manager
- 1959 – Sheena Easton, Scottish-American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer
- 1959 – Marco Pirroni, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1960 – Mike Krushelnyski, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1961 – Andrew Schlafly, American lawyer and activist, founded Conservapedia
- 1962 – Ángel Comizzo, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1962 – Seppo Räty, Finnish javelin thrower and coach
- 1962 – Im Sang-soo, South Korean director and screenwriter
- 1962 – Andrew Selous, English soldier and politician
- 1963 – Russell T Davies, Welsh screenwriter and producer
- 1965 – Anna Chancellor, English actress
- 1966 – Peter McIntyre, Australian cricketer
- 1966 – Yoshihiro Togashi, Japanese illustrator
- 1967 – Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands
- 1967 – Tommy Smith, Scottish saxophonist, composer, and educator
- 1967 – Erik Thomson, Scottish-New Zealand actor
- 1967 – Jason Whitlock, American football player and journalist
- 1968 – Dana Milbank, American journalist and author
- 1969 – Cory Booker, African-American lawyer and politician
- 1969 – Darcey Bussell, English ballerina
- 1971 – Olari Elts, Estonian conductor
- 1972 – Nigel Barker, English photographer and author
- 1972 – Almedin Civa, Bosnian footballer and coach
- 1973 – Duško Adamović, Serbian footballer
- 1973 – Sharlee D’Angelo, Swedish bass player and songwriter
- 1973 – Sébastien Lareau, Canadian tennis player
- 1974 – Frank Catalanotto, American baseball player
- 1974 – Richard Johnson, Australian footballer
- 1975 – Rabih Abdullah, American football player
- 1975 – Chris Carpenter, American baseball player and manager
- 1975 – Pedro Feliz, Dominican baseball player
- 1975 – Kazuyoshi Funaki, Japanese ski jumper
- 1976 – Isobel Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter and cellist
- 1976 – Sally Hawkins, English actress
- 1976 – Walter Pandiani, Uruguayan footballer
- 1976 – Faisal Saif, Indian director, screenwriter, and critic
- 1979 – Will Boyd, American bass player
- 1979 – Natasha Chokljat, Australian netball player
- 1979 – Vladimir Kozlov, Ukrainian wrestler
- 1980 – Sybille Bammer, Austrian tennis player
- 1980 – Talitha Cummins, Australian journalist
- 1980 – Christian Lara, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1981 – Joey Gathright, American baseball player
- 1981 – Patrik Gerrbrand, Swedish footballer
- 1982 – François Parisien, Canadian cyclist
- 1982 – Alexander Widiker, German rugby player
- 1983 – Ari Graynor, American actress and producer
- 1983 – Martin Viiask, Estonian basketball player
- 1984 – Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Daniel Holdsworth, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Patrick Stump, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1985 – José António de Miranda da Silva Júnior, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Meselech Melkamu, Ethiopian runner
- 1986 – Jenna Coleman, English actress
- 1986 – Hayley Mulheron, Scottish netball player
- 1986 – Dinara Safina, Russian tennis player
- 1987 – Taylor Chorney, American ice hockey player
- 1987 – Elliott Shriane, Australian speed skater
- 1987 – William Moseley, English actor
- 1987 – Wang Feifei, Chinese singer and actress
- 1988 – Joeri Dequevy, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Kris Thackray, English footballer
- 1988 – Semyon Varlamov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Lizzo, American singer and rapper
- 1989 – Lars Bender, German footballer
- 1989 – Sven Bender, German footballer
- 1989 – Tim Glasby, Australian rugby league player
- 1989 – Dmytro Kozban, Ukrainian footballer
- 1990 – Trude Raad, Norwegian deaf track and field athlete
- 1991 – Isaac Cuenca, Spanish footballer
- 1991 – Eric Fukusaki, Peruvian singer
- 1991 – Lara Gut, Swiss skier
- 1992 – Keenan Allen, American football player
- 1994 – Corey Seager, American baseball player
- 1995 – Nick Kyrgios, Australian tennis player
- 1997 – Josh Onomah, English footballer
Deaths on April 27
- 630 – Ardashir III of Persia (b. 621)
- 1160 – Rudolf I, Count of Bregenz (b. 1081)
- 1272 – Zita, Italian saint (b. 1212)
- 1321 – Nicolò Albertini, Italian cardinal statesman (b. c. 1250)
- 1353 – Simeon of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and Vladimir
- 1403 – Maria of Bosnia, Countess of Helfenstein (b. 1335)
- 1404 – Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1342)
- 1463 – Isidore of Kiev (b. 1385)
- 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese sailor and explorer (b. 1480)
- 1599 – Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (b. 1538)
- 1605 – Pope Leo XI (b. 1535)
- 1607 – Edward Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell, Governor of Lecale (b. 1560)
- 1613 – Robert Abercromby, Scottish priest and missionary (b. 1532)
- 1656 – Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1596)
- 1694 – John George IV, Elector of Saxony (b. 1668)
- 1695 – John Trenchard, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1640)
- 1702 – Jean Bart, French admiral (b. 1651)
- 1782 – William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician, Lord Steward of the Household (b. 1710)
- 1813 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (b. 1779)
- 1873 – William Macready, English actor and manager (b. 1793)
- 1882 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and philosopher (b. 1803)
- 1893 – John Ballance, Irish-born New Zealand journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1839)
- 1896 – Henry Parkes, English-Australian businessman and politician, 7th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1815)
- 1915 – John Labatt, Canadian businessman (b. 1838)
- 1915 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1872)
- 1932 – Hart Crane, American poet (b. 1899)
- 1936 – Karl Pearson, English mathematician and academic (b. 1857)
- 1937 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian sociologist, linguist, and politician (b. 1891)
- 1938 – Edmund Husserl, Czech mathematician and philosopher (b. 1859)
- 1952 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician and statistician (b. 1865)
- 1961 – Roy Del Ruth, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1893)
- 1962 – A. K. Fazlul Huq, Bangladeshi-Pakistani lawyer and politician, Pakistani Minister of the Interior (b. 1873)
- 1965 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (b. 1908)
- 1967 – William Douglas Cook, New Zealand farmer, founded the Eastwoodhill Arboretum (b. 1884)
- 1969 – René Barrientos, Bolivian soldier, pilot, and politician, 55th President of Bolivia (b. 1919)
- 1970 – Arthur Shields, Irish rebel and actor (b. 1896)
- 1972 – Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanaian politician, 1st President of Ghana (b. 1909)
- 1973 – Carlos Menditeguy, Argentinian race car driver and polo player (b. 1914)
- 1977 – Stanley Adams, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1915)
- 1988 – Fred Bear, American hunter and author (b. 1902)
- 1989 – Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese businessman, founded Panasonic (b. 1894)
- 1992 – Olivier Messiaen, French organist and composer (b. 1908)
- 1992 – Gerard K. O’Neill, American physicist and astronomer (b. 1927)
- 1995 – Katherine DeMille, Canadian-American actress (b. 1911)
- 1995 – Willem Frederik Hermans, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (b. 1921)
- 1996 – William Colby, American diplomat, 10th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1920)
- 1996 – Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (b. 1911)
- 1998 – John Bassett, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1915)
- 1998 – Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian-American anthropologist and author (b. 1925)
- 1998 – Anne Desclos, French journalist and author (b. 1907)
- 1998 – Browning Ross, American runner and soldier (b. 1924)
- 1999 – Al Hirt, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1922)
- 1999 – Dale C. Thomson, Canadian historian, author, and academic (b. 1923)
- 1999 – Cyril Washbrook, English cricketer (b. 1914)
- 2002 – George Alec Effinger, American author (b. 1947)
- 2002 – Ruth Handler, American inventor and businesswoman, created the Barbie doll (b. 1916)
- 2005 – Red Horner, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1909)
- 2006 – Julia Thorne, American author (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor (b. 1927)
- 2009 – Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1914)
- 2009 – Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (b. 1983)
- 2009 – Feroz Khan (actor), Indian Actor, Film Director & Producer (b. 1939)
- 2011 – Marian Mercer, American actress and singer (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Daniel E. Boatwright, American soldier and politician (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Bill Skowron, American baseball player (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Aída Bortnik, Argentinian screenwriter (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Lorraine Copeland, Scottish archaeologist (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Antonio Díaz Jurado, Spanish footballer (b. 1969)
- 2013 – Jérôme Louis Heldring, Dutch journalist and author (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Aloysius Jin Luxian, Chinese bishop (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Mutula Kilonzo, Kenyan lawyer and politician, Kenyan Minister of Justice (b. 1948)
- 2014 – Yigal Arnon, Israeli lawyer (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Vujadin Boškov, Serbian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Daniel Colchico, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Harry Firth, Australian race car driver and manager (b. 1918)
- 2015 – Gene Fullmer, American boxer (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Alexander Rich, American biologist, biophysicist, and academic (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Vinod Khanna, Indian actor, producer and politician (b. 1946)
- 2017 – Sadanoyama Shinmatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1938)
Holidays and observances on April 27
- Christian feast days:
- Anthimus of Nicomedia
- Assicus
- Floribert of Liège
- John of Constantinople
- Liberalis of Treviso
- Pollio
- Rafael Arnáiz Barón
- Virgin of Montserrat
- Zita
- April 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Russian Parliamentarism (Russia)
- Day of the Uprising Against the Occupying Forces (Slovenia)
- Flag Day (Moldova)
- Freedom Day (South Africa)
- UnFreedom Day (South Africa, unofficial)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Sierra Leone from United Kingdom in 1961.
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Togo from France in 1960.
- King’s Day (Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten) (celebrated on April 26 if April 27 falls on a Sunday)
- National Veterans’ Day (Finla
-
April 25 in History
- 404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.
- 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire.
- 799 – After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection.
- 1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094.
- 1607 – Eighty Years’ War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
- 1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
- 1707 – A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
- 1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
- 1792 – “La Marseillaise” (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
- 1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire.
- 1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.
- 1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
- 1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal’s English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
- 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks’ Mills.
- 1882 – French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry.
- 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
- 1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
- 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
- 1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.
- 1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class “A” League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
- 1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
- 1940 – Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands is approved by the British occupation government.
- 1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
- 1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two.
- 1945 – Liberation Day (Italy): The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini is captured after trying to escape. This day was set as a public holiday to celebrate the Liberation of Italy.
- 1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.
- 1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland’s soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland.
- 1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong.
- 1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” describing the double helix structure of DNA.
- 1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
- 1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
- 1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
- 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
- 1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government.
- 1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
- 1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
- 1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
- 1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
- 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto’s orbit.
- 1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
- 1988 – In Israel, John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
- 1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position.
- 2001 – Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.
- 2004 – The March for Women’s Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion.
- 2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
- 2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
- 2007 – Boris Yeltsin’s funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
- 2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.
Births on April 25
- 1214 – Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
- 1228 – Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
- 1284 – Edward II of England (d. 1327)
- 1287 – Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1330)
- 1502 – Georg Major, German theologian and academic (d. 1574)
- 1529 – Francesco Patrizi, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1597)
- 1599 – Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (d. 1658)
- 1621 – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, English soldier and politician (d. 1679)
- 1666 – Johann Heinrich Buttstett, German organist and composer (d. 1727)
- 1694 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (d. 1753)
- 1710 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer and author (d. 1776)
- 1723 – Giovanni Marco Rutini, Italian composer (d. 1797)
- 1725 – Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, English admiral and politician (d. 1786)
- 1767 – Nicolas Oudinot, French general (d. 1847)
- 1770 – Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist and academic (d. 1850)
- 1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1857)
- 1843 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
- 1849 – Felix Klein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1925)
- 1850 – Luise Adolpha Le Beau, German composer and educator (d. 1927)
- 1851 – Leopoldo Alas, Spanish author, critic, and academic (d. 1901)
- 1854 – Charles Sumner Tainter, American engineer and inventor (d. 1940)
- 1862 – Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, English ornithologist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1933)
- 1868 – John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (d. 1910)
- 1871 – Lorne Currie, French-English sailor (d. 1926)
- 1872 – C. B. Fry, English cricketer, footballer, educator, and politician (d. 1956)
- 1873 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (d. 1956)
- 1873 – Howard Garis, American author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily series of children’s stories (d. 1962)
- 1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian businessman and inventor, developed Marconi’s law, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
- 1874 – Ernest Webb, English-Canadian race walker (d. 1937)
- 1876 – Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician (d. 1958)
- 1878 – William Merz, American gymnast and triathlete (d. 1946)
- 1882 – Fred McLeod, Scottish golfer (d. 1976)
- 1887 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and critic (d. 1936)
- 1892 – Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (d. 1980)
- 1896 – Fred Haney, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1977)
- 1897 – Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (d. 1965)
- 1900 – Gladwyn Jebb, English politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1996)
- 1900 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-Swiss-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- 1902 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (d. 1964)
- 1902 – Mary Miles Minter, American actress (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1987)
- 1905 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player and referee (d. 1986)
- 1906 – William J. Brennan Jr., American colonel and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
- 1909 – William Pereira, American architect, designed the Transamerica Pyramid (d. 1985)
- 1910 – Arapeta Awatere, New Zealand interpreter, military leader, politician, and murderer (d. 1976)
- 1911 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1912 – Earl Bostic, African-American saxophonist (d. 1965)
- 1913 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (d. 1944)
- 1914 – Ross Lockridge Jr., American author and academic (d. 1948)
- 1915 – Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
- 1916 – Jerry Barber, American golfer (d. 1994)
- 1917 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
- 1917 – Jean Lucas, French racing driver (d. 2003)
- 1918 – Graham Payn, South African-born English actor and singer (d. 2005)
- 1918 – Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French-American astronomer and academic (d. 1995)
- 1918 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish-American soprano and actress (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Finn Helgesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2011)
- 1921 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter and sculptor (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Francis Graham-Smith, English astronomer and academic
- 1923 – Melissa Hayden, Canadian ballerina (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Albert King, African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1992)
- 1924 – Ingemar Johansson, Swedish race walker (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Franco Mannino, Italian pianist, composer, director, and playwright (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Tony Christopher, Baron Christopher, English trade union leader and businessman
- 1925 – Sammy Drechsel, German comedian and journalist (d. 1986)
- 1925 – Louis O’Neil, Canadian academic and politician (d. 2018)
- 1926 – Johnny Craig, American author and illustrator (d. 2001)
- 1926 – Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (d. 2008)
- 1926 – Patricia Castell, Argentine actress (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Albert Uderzo, French author and illustrator (d. 2020)
- 1928 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper, shot putter, and discus thrower (d. 2019)
- 1930 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Godfrey Milton-Thompson, English admiral and surgeon (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Peter Schulz, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Hamburg (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1980)
- 1931 – David Shepherd, English painter and author (d. 2017)
- 1932 – Nikolai Kardashev, Russian astrophysicist (d. 2019)
- 1932 – Meadowlark Lemon, African-American basketball player and minister (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower and politician (d. 1998)
- 1933 – Jerry Leiber, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
- 1933 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (d. 1992)
- 1934 – Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1935 – Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter (d. 1960)
- 1935 – Reinier Kreijermaat, Dutch footballer (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Henck Arron, Surinamese banker and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (d. 2000)
- 1938 – Roger Boisjoly, American aerodynamicist and engineer (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Ton Schulten, Dutch painter and graphic designer
- 1939 – Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian footballer and manager
- 1939 – Michael Llewellyn-Smith, English academic and diplomat
- 1939 – Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, English historian and academic
- 1939 – Veronica Sutherland, English academic and British diplomat
- 1940 – Al Pacino, American actor and director
- 1941 – Bertrand Tavernier, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1942 – Jon Kyl, American lawyer and politician
- 1943 – Tony Christie, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1944 – Len Goodman, English dancer
- 1944 – Mike Kogel, German singer-songwriter
- 1944 – Stephen Nickell, English economist and academic
- 1944 – Bruce Ponder, English geneticist and cancer researcher
- 1945 – Stu Cook, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
- 1945 – Richard C. Hoagland, American theorist and author
- 1945 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
- 1946 – Talia Shire, American actress
- 1946 – Peter Sutherland, Irish lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Ireland
- 1946 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian colonel, lawyer, and politician
- 1947 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2016)
- 1947 – Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
- 1948 – Mike Selvey, English cricketer and sportscaster
- 1948 – Yu Shyi-kun, Taiwanese politician, 39th Premier of the Republic of China
- 1949 – Vicente Pernía, Argentinian footballer and race car driver
- 1949 – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician, French Minister of Finance
- 1949 – James Fenton, English poet, journalist and literary critic
- 1950 – Donnell Deeny, Northern Irish lawyer and judge
- 1950 – Steve Ferrone, English drummer
- 1950 – Peter Hintze, German politician (d. 2016)
- 1950 – Valentyna Kozyr, Ukrainian high jumper
- 1951 – Ian McCartney, Scottish politician, Minister of State for Trade
- 1952 – Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
- 1952 – Vladislav Tretiak, Russian ice hockey player and coach
- 1952 – Jacques Santini, French footballer and coach
- 1953 – Ron Clements, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
- 1953 – Gary Cosier, Australian cricketer
- 1953 – Anthony Venables, English economist, author, and academic
- 1954 – Melvin Burgess, English author
- 1954 – Randy Cross, American football player and sportscaster
- 1954 – Róisín Shortall, Irish educator and politician
- 1955 – Américo Gallego, Argentinian footballer and coach
- 1955 – Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor and singer
- 1955 – Zev Siegl, American businessman, co-founded Starbucks
- 1956 – Dominique Blanc, French actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1956 – Abdalla Uba Adamu, Nigerian professor, media scholar
- 1957 – Theo de Rooij, Dutch cyclist and manager
- 1958 – Fish, Scottish singer-songwriter
- 1958 – Misha Glenny, British journalist
- 1959 – Paul Madden, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to Australia
- 1959 – Daniel Kash, Canadian actor and director
- 1959 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player (d. 2016)
- 1960 – Paul Baloff, American singer (d. 2002)
- 1960 – Robert Peston, English journalist
- 1960 – Bruce Redman, Australian director, producer, and critic
- 1961 – Dinesh D’Souza, Indian-American journalist and author
- 1961 – Miran Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper
- 1962 – Foeke Booy, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1963 – Joy Covey, American businesswoman (d. 2013)
- 1963 – Dave Martin, English footballer
- 1963 – David Moyes, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1963 – Bernd Müller, German footballer and manager
- 1963 – Paul Wassif, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 – Hank Azaria, American actor, voice artist, comedian and producer
- 1964 – Andy Bell, English singer-songwriter
- 1965 – Eric Avery, American bass player and songwriter
- 1965 – Mark Bryant, American basketball player and coach
- 1965 – John Henson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2014)
- 1966 – Diego Domínguez, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
- 1966 – Femke Halsema, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician
- 1966 – Darren Holmes, American baseball player and coach
- 1966 – Erik Pappas, American baseball player and coach
- 1967 – Angel Martino, American swimmer
- 1968 – Vitaliy Kyrylenko, Ukrainian long jumper
- 1968 – Thomas Strunz, German footballer
- 1969 – Joe Buck, American sportscaster
- 1969 – Martin Koolhoven, Dutch director and screenwriter
- 1969 – Jon Olsen, American swimmer
- 1969 – Darren Woodson, American football player and sportscaster
- 1969 – Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer
- 1970 – Jason Lee, American skateboarder, actor, comedian and producer
- 1971 – Sara Baras, Spanish dancer
- 1971 – Brad Clontz, American baseball player
- 1973 – Carlota Castrejana, Spanish triple jumper
- 1973 – Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer
- 1973 – Barbara Rittner, German tennis player
- 1975 – Jacque Jones, American baseball player and coach
- 1976 – Gilberto da Silva Melo, Brazilian footballer
- 1976 – Tim Duncan, American basketball player
- 1976 – Breyton Paulse, South African rugby player
- 1976 – Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player and coach
- 1977 – Constantinos Christoforou, Cypriot singer-songwriter
- 1977 – Ilias Kotsios, Greek footballer
- 1977 – Marguerite Moreau, American actress and producer
- 1977 – Matthew West, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1978 – Matt Walker, English swimmer
- 1980 – Ben Johnston, Scottish drummer and songwriter
- 1980 – James Johnston, Scottish bass player and songwriter
- 1980 – Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor and television host
- 1980 – Bruce Martin, New Zealand cricketer
- 1980 – Kazuhito Tadano, Japanese baseball player
- 1980 – Alejandro Valverde, Spanish cyclist
- 1981 – Dwone Hicks, American football player
- 1981 – Felipe Massa, Brazilian racing driver
- 1981 – John McFall, English sprinter
- 1981 – Anja Pärson, Swedish skier
- 1982 – Brian Barton, American baseball player
- 1982 – Monty Panesar, English cricketer
- 1982 – Marco Russo, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Johnathan Thurston, Australian rugby league player
- 1983 – DeAngelo Williams, American football player
- 1984 – Robert Andino, American baseball player
- 1984 – Isaac Kiprono Songok, Kenyan runner
- 1985 – Giedo van der Garde, Dutch racing driver
- 1986 – Alexei Emelin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Thin Seng Hon, Cambodian Paralympic athlete
- 1986 – Gwen Jorgensen, American triathlete
- 1986 – Claudia Rath, German heptathlete
- 1987 – Razak Boukari, Togolese footballer
- 1987 – Jay Park, American-South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1987 – Johann Smith, American soccer player
- 1988 – James Sheppard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Canadian skier
- 1989 – Michael van Gerwen, Dutch darts player
- 1989 – Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, one of the highest-ranking spiritual leaders in Tibet
- 1990 – Jean-Éric Vergne, French racing driver
- 1990 – Taylor Walker, Australian footballer
- 1991 – Alex Shibutani, American ice dancer
- 1993 – Alex Bowman, American race car driver
- 1993 – Daniel Norris, American baseball player
- 1994 – Omar McLeod, Jamaican hurdler
- 1995 – Lewis Baker, English footballer
- 1996 – Mack Horton, Australian swimmer
- 1997 – Julius Ertlthaler, Austrian footballer
Deaths on April 25
- 501 – Rusticus, saint and archbishop of Lyon (b. 455)
- 775 – Smbat VII Bagratuni, Armenian prince
- 775 – Mushegh VI Mamikonian, Armenian prince
- 908 – Zhang Wenwei, Chinese chancellor
- 1074 – Herman I, Margrave of Baden
- 1077 – Géza I of Hungary (b. 1040)
- 1185 – Emperor Antoku of Japan (b. 1178)
- 1217 – Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia
- 1228 – Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem (b. 1212)
- 1243 – Boniface of Valperga, Bishop of Aosta
- 1264 – Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, medieval English nobleman; Earl of Winchester (b. 1195)
- 1295 – Sancho IV of Castile (b. 1258)
- 1342 – Pope Benedict XII (b. 1285)
- 1397 – Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, English nobleman
- 1472 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian author, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)
- 1516 – John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
- 1566 – Louise Labé, French poet and author (b. 1520)
- 1566 – Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France (b. 1499)
- 1595 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet and songwriter (b. 1544)
- 1605 – Naresuan, Siamese King of Ayutthaya Kingdom (b. c. 1555)
- 1644 – Chongzhen Emperor of China (b. 1611)
- 1660 – Henry Hammond, English cleric and theologian (b. 1605)
- 1690 – David Teniers the Younger, Flemish painter and educator (b. 1610)
- 1744 – Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (b. 1701)
- 1770 – Jean-Antoine Nollet, French minister, physicist, and academic (b. 1700)
- 1800 – William Cowper, English poet (b. 1731)
- 1840 – Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1781)
- 1873 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1783)
- 1875 – 12th Dalai Lama (b. 1857)
- 1878 – Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
- 1890 – Crowfoot, Canadian tribal chief (b. 1830)
- 1891 – Nathaniel Woodard, English priest and educator (b. 1811)
- 1892 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (b. 1840)
- 1892 – Karl von Ditmar, Estonian-German geologist and explorer (b. 1822)
- 1906 – John Knowles Paine, American composer and educator (b. 1839)
- 1911 – Emilio Salgari, Italian journalist and author (b. 1862)
- 1913 – Joseph-Alfred Archambeault, Canadian bishop (b. 1859)
- 1915 – Frederick W. Seward, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1830)
- 1919 – Augustus D. Juilliard, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1836)
- 1923 – Louis-Olivier Taillon, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Premier of Quebec (b. 1840)
- 1928 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian general (b. 1878)
- 1941 – Salih Bozok, Turkish commander and politician (b. 1881)
- 1943 – Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian director, producer, and playwright (b. 1858)
- 1944 – George Herriman, American cartoonist (b. 1880)
- 1944 – Tony Mullane, Irish-American baseball player (b. 1859)
- 1944 – William Stephens, American engineer and politician, 24th Governor of California (b. 1859)
- 1945 – Huldreich Georg Früh, Swiss composer (b. 1903)
- 1961 – Robert Garrett, American discus thrower and shot putter (b. 1875)
- 1970 – Anita Louise, American actress (b. 1915)
- 1972 – George Sanders, English actor (b. 1906)
- 1973 – Olga Grey, Hungarian-American actress (b. 1896)
- 1974 – Gustavo R. Vincenti, Maltese architect and developer (b. 1888)
- 1975 – Mike Brant, Israeli singer and songwriter (b.1947)
- 1976 – Carol Reed, English director and producer (b. 1906)
- 1976 – Markus Reiner, Israeli engineer and educator (b. 1886)
- 1982 – John Cody, American cardinal (b. 1907)
- 1983 – William S. Bowdern, American priest and author (b. 1897)
- 1988 – Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
- 1988 – Clifford D. Simak, American journalist and author (b. 1904)
- 1990 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (b. 1923)
- 1992 – Yutaka Ozaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1965)
- 1995 – Art Fleming, American game show host (b. 1925)
- 1995 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
- 1995 – Lev Shankovsky, Ukrainian military historian (b. 1903)
- 1996 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer and director (b. 1920)
- 1998 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (b. 1910)
- 1999 – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, Irish journalist and author (b. 1914)
- 1999 – Roger Troutman, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1951)
- 2000 – Lucien Le Cam, French mathematician and statistician (b. 1924)
- 2000 – David Merrick, American director and producer (b. 1911)
- 2001 – Michele Alboreto, Italian racing driver (b. 1956)
- 2002 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (b. 1971)
- 2003 – Samson Kitur, Kenyan runner (b. 1966)
- 2004 – Thom Gunn, English-American poet and academic (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Jim Barker, American politician (b. 1935)
- 2005 – Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk and educator (b. 1908)
- 2006 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1916)
- 2006 – Peter Law, Welsh politician and independent member of parliament (b. 1948)
- 2007 – Alan Ball Jr., English footballer and manager (b. 1945)
- 2007 – Arthur Milton, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1928)
- 2007 – Bobby Pickett, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Humphrey Lyttelton, English trumpet player, composer, and radio host (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Bea Arthur, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
- 2010 – Dorothy Provine, American actress and singer (b. 1935)
- 2010 – Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (b. 1928)
- 2011 – Poly Styrene, British musician (b. 1957)
- 2012 – Gerry Bahen, Australian footballer (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Denny Jones, American rancher and politician (b. 1910)
- 2012 – Moscelyne Larkin, American ballerina and educator (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Louis le Brocquy, Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Brian Adam, Scottish biochemist and politician (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Jacob Avshalomov, American composer and conductor (b. 1919)
- 2013 – György Berencsi, Hungarian virologist and academic (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Rick Camp, American baseball player (b. 1953)
- 2014 – Dan Heap, Canadian priest and politician (b. 1925)
- 2014 – William Judson Holloway Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and judge (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Earl Morrall, American football player and coach (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Tito Vilanova, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1968)
- 2014 – Stefanie Zweig, German journalist and author (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Jim Fanning, American-Canadian baseball player and manager (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Matthias Kuhle, German geographer and academic (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Don Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and novelist (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Mike Phillips, American basketball player (b. 1956)
- 2016 – Tom Lewis, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of New South Wales (b. 1922)
- 2018 – Madeeha Gauhar, Pakistani actress, playwright and director of social theater, and women’s rights activist (b. 1956)
- 2019 – John Havlicek, American basketball player (b. 1940)
Holidays and observances on April 25
- Anniversary of the First Cabinet of Kurdish Government (Iraqi Kurdistan)
- Anzac Day (Australia, New Zealand)
- Arbor Day (Germany)
- Christian feast day:
- Giovanni Battista Piamarta
- Major Rogation (Western Christianity)
- Mark the Evangelist
- Maughold
- Philo and Agathopodes
- Anianus of Alexandria
- April 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- DNA Day
- Flag Day (Faroe Islands)
- Freedom Day (Portugal)
- Liberation Day (Italy)
- Liberation Day (South Georgia)
- Military Foundation Day (North Korea)
- Parental Alienation Awareness Day
- Red Hat Society Day
- Sinai Liberation Day (Egypt)
- World Malaria Day
-
April 10 in History
- 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 837 – Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
- 1407 – Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title “Great Treasure Prince of Dharma”.
- 1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
- 1606 – The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
- 1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, comes into force in Great Britain.
- 1741 – War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia gains control of Silesia at the Battle of Mollwitz.
- 1809 – Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.
- 1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth’s climate for the next two years.
- 1816 – The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
- 1821 – Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.
- 1826 – The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town of Missolonghi begin leaving the town after a year’s siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.
- 1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
- 1864 – Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico.
- 1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
- 1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
- 1868 – At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two British/Indian troops die.
- 1872 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.
- 1875 – India: Arya Samaj is founded in Mumbai by Swami Dayananda Saraswati to propagate his goal of social reform.
- 1887 – On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America.
- 1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.
- 1916 – The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.
- 1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
- 1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
- 1938 – The 1938 German parliamentary election and referendum seeks approval for a single list of Nazi candidates and the recent annexation of Austria.
- 1939 – Alcoholics Anonymous, A.A.’s “Big Book”, is first published.
- 1941 – World War II: The Axis powers establish the Independent State of Croatia.
- 1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.
- 1957 – The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.
- 1963 – One hundred twenty-nine American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.
- 1968 – The TEV Wahine, a New Zealand ferry sinks in Wellington harbour due to a fierce storm – the strongest winds ever in Wellington. Out of the 734 people on board, fifty-three died.
- 1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
- 1971 – Ping-pong diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a week-long visit.
- 1972 – Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Sun Bin’s lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
- 1973 – Invicta International Airlines Flight 435 crashes in a snowstorm on approach to Basel, Switzerland, killing 108 people.
- 1979 – Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
- 1988 – The Ojhri Camp explosion kills or injures more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.
- 1991 – Italian ferry MS Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy, killing 140.
- 1991 – A rare tropical storm develops in the South Atlantic Ocean near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
- 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Northern Ireland.
- 2009 – President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces the abrogation of the constitution and assumes all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis.
- 2010 – Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and dozens of other senior officials and dignitaries.
- 2016 – The Paravur temple accident in which a devastating fire caused by the explosion of firecrackers stored for Vishu, kills more than one hundred people out of the thousands gathered for seventh day of Bhadrakali worship.
- 2016 – An earthquake of 6.6 magnitude strikes 39 km west-southwest of Ashkasham, shakes up India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Srinagar and Pakistan.
- 2019 – Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project announce the first ever image of a black hole, located in the centre of the M87 galaxy.
Births on April 10
- 401 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (d. 450)
- 1018 – Nizam al-Mulk, Persian scholar and vizier (d. 1092)
- 1472 – Margaret of York, English princess (d. 1472)
- 1480 – Philibert II, duke of Savoy (d. 1504)
- 1487 – William I, count of Nassau-Dillenburg (d. 1559)
- 1512 – James V, king of Scotland (d. 1542)
- 1579 – Augustus II, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1666)
- 1583 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and jurist (d. 1645)
- 1603 – Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark (d. 1647)
- 1651 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician, physicist, and physician (d. 1708)
- 1656 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, French-Canadian settler, founded Rimouski (d. 1718)
- 1704 – Benjamin Heath, English scholar and author (d. 1766)
- 1707 – Michel Corrette, French organist, composer, and author (d. 1795)
- 1713 – John Whitehurst, English geologist and clockmaker (d. 1788)
- 1755 – Samuel Hahnemann, German-French physician and academic (d. 1843)
- 1762 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1834)
- 1769 – Jean Lannes, French marshal (d. 1809)
- 1778 – William Hazlitt, English essayist and critic (d. 1830)
- 1794 – Matthew C. Perry, English-Scottish American commander (d. 1858)
- 1806 – Juliette Drouet, French actress (d. 1883)
- 1806 – Leonidas Polk, Scottish-American general and bishop (d. 1884)
- 1827 – Lew Wallace, American general, lawyer, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (d. 1905)
- 1829 – William Booth, English minister, founded The Salvation Army (d. 1912)
- 1847 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American journalist, publisher, and politician, founded Pulitzer, Inc. (d. 1911)
- 1864 – Eugen d’Albert, Scottish-German pianist and composer (d. 1932)
- 1865 – Jack Miner, American-Canadian farmer, hunter, and environmentalist (d. 1944)
- 1867 – George William Russell, Irish author, poet, and painter (d. 1935)
- 1868 – George Arliss, English actor and playwright (d. 1946)
- 1868 – Asriel Günzig, Moravian rabbi (d. 1931)
- 1873 – Kyösti Kallio, Finnish farmer, banker, and politician, 4th President of Finland (d. 1940)
- 1875 – George Clawley, English footballer (d. 1920)
- 1877 – Alfred Kubin, Austrian author and illustrator (d. 1959)
- 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
- 1879 – Coenraad Hiebendaal, Dutch rower and physician (d. 1921)
- 1880 – Frances Perkins, American sociologist, academic, and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1965)
- 1880 – Montague Summers, English clergyman and author (d. 1948)
- 1886 – Johnny Hayes, American runner and trainer (d. 1965)
- 1887 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentinian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1889 – Louis Rougier, French philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1982)
- 1891 – Frank Barson, English footballer and coach (d. 1968)
- 1893 – Otto Steinböck, Austrian zoologist (d. 1969)
- 1894 – Ben Nicholson, British painter (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Prafulla Chandra Sen, Indian accountant and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1990)
- 1900 – Arnold Orville Beckman, American chemist, inventor, and philanthropist (d. 2004)
- 1901 – Dhananjay Ramchandra Gadgil, Indian economist (d. 1971)
- 1903 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (d. 1970)
- 1906 – Steve Anderson, American hurdler (d. 1988)
- 1910 – Margaret Clapp, American scholar and academic (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Helenio Herrera, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and publisher, founded the Monthly Review (d. 2004)
- 1911 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs for France (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Boris Kidrič, Austrian-Slovenian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Slovenia (d. 1953)
- 1913 – Stefan Heym, German-American soldier and author (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Jack Badcock, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
- 1915 – Harry Morgan, American actor and director (d. 2011)
- 1915 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (d. 2014)
- 1916 – Lee Jung-seob, Korean painter (d. 1956)
- 1917 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1919 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Chuck Connors, American baseball player and actor (d. 1992)
- 1921 – Jake Warren, Canadian soldier and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Sheb Wooley, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Roger Gaillard, Haitian historian and author (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Jane Kean, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Floyd Simmons, American decathlete and actor (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Sid Tickridge, English footballer (d. 1997)
- 1923 – John Watkins, South African cricketer
- 1924 – Kenneth Noland, American soldier and painter (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Linda Goodman, American astrologer and author (d. 1995)
- 1925 – Angelo Poffo, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Jacques Castérède, French pianist and composer (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Junior Samples, American comedian (d. 1983)
- 1927 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican-American actress (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1929 – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1929 – Liz Sheridan, American actress
- 1929 – Max von Sydow, Swedish-French actor (d. 2020)
- 1930 – Claude Bolling, French pianist, composer, and actor
- 1930 – Dolores Huerta, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers
- 1931 – Kishori Amonkar, Indian classical vocalist (d. 2017)
- 1932 – Delphine Seyrig, Swiss/Alsatian French actress (d. 1990)
- 1932 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Rokusuke Ei, Japanese composer and author (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (d. 2013)
- 1934 – David Halberstam, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
- 1935 – John A. Bennett, American soldier (d. 1961)
- 1935 – Patrick Garland, English actor and director (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Peter Hollingworth, Australian bishop, 23rd Governor General of Australia
- 1936 – John Howell, English long jumper
- 1936 – John Madden, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1936 – Bobby Smith, American singer (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Bella Akhmadulina, Soviet and Russian poet, short story writer, and translator (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Don Meredith, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Claudio Magris, Italian scholar, author, and translator
- 1940 – Gloria Hunniford, British radio and television host
- 1941 – Harold Long, Canadian politician (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Paul Theroux, American novelist, short story writer, and travel writer
- 1942 – Nick Auf der Maur, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1998)
- 1942 – Ian Callaghan, English footballer
- 1942 – Stuart Dybek, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
- 1943 – Andrzej Badeński, Polish-German sprinter (d. 2008)
- 1943 – Margaret Pemberton, English author
- 1945 – Kevin Berry, Australian swimmer (d. 2006)
- 1946 – David Angell, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2001)
- 1946 – Bob Watson, American baseball player and manager
- 1946 – Adolf Winkelmann, German director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1947 – David A. Adler, American author and educator
- 1947 – Bunny Wailer, Jamaican singer-songwriter and drummer
- 1948 – Mel Blount, American football player
- 1949 – Daniel Mangeas, French banker and sportscaster
- 1949 – Eric Troyer, American singer-songwriter, keyboardist and guitarist
- 1950 – Ken Griffey, Sr., American baseball player and manager
- 1950 – Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (d. 1992)
- 1951 – David Helvarg, American journalist and activist
- 1952 – Narayan Rane, Indian politician, 16th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
- 1952 – Masashi Sada, Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and producer
- 1952 – Steven Seagal, American actor, producer, and martial artist
- 1953 – David Moorcroft, English runner and businessman
- 1953 – Pamela Wallin, Swedish-Canadian journalist, academic, and politician
- 1954 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Anne Lamott, American author and educator
- 1954 – Peter MacNicol, American actor
- 1954 – Juan Williams, Panamanian-American journalist and author
- 1955 – Lesley Garrett, English soprano and actress
- 1956 – Carol V. Robinson, English chemist and academic
- 1957 – Aliko Dangote, Nigerian businessman, founded Dangote Group
- 1957 – John M. Ford, American author and poet (d. 2006)
- 1957 – Steve Gustafson, Spanish-American bass player
- 1957 – Rosemary Hill, English historian and author
- 1958 – Bob Bell, Northern Irish engineer
- 1958 – Yefim Bronfman, Uzbek-American pianist
- 1958 – Brigitte Holzapfel, German high jumper
- 1959 – Babyface, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1959 – Yvan Loubier, Canadian economist and politician
- 1959 – Brian Setzer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Steve Bisciotti, American businessman, co-founded Allegis Group
- 1960 – Katrina Leskanich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Terry Teagle, American basketball player
- 1961 – Nicky Campbell, Scottish broadcaster and journalist
- 1961 – Joe Cole, American roadie and author (d. 1991)
- 1961 – Carole Goble, English computer scientist and academic
- 1961 – Mark Jones, American basketball player
- 1962 – Steve Tasker, American football player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Warren DeMartini, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1963 – Jeff Gray, American baseball player and coach
- 1963 – Doris Leuthard, Swiss lawyer and politician, 162nd President of the Swiss Confederation
- 1965 – Tim Alexander, American drummer and songwriter
- 1966 – Steve Claridge, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
- 1967 – Donald Dufresne, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1967 – David Rovics, American singer-songwriter
- 1968 – Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer and journalist (d. 1996)
- 1968 – Orlando Jones, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1969 – Steve Glasson, Australian lawn bowler
- 1969 – Ekaterini Koffa, Greek sprinter
- 1970 – Enrico Ciccone, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Leonard Doroftei, Romanian-Canadian boxer
- 1970 – Kenny Lattimore, American singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Q-Tip, American rapper, producer, and actor
- 1971 – Brad William Henke, American football player and actor
- 1971 – Indro Olumets, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1971 – Al Reyes, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1972 – Ian Harvey, Australian cricketer
- 1972 – Priit Kasesalu, Estonian computer programmer, co-created Skype
- 1972 – Gordon Buchanan, Scottish film maker
- 1973 – Guillaume Canet, French actor and director
- 1973 – Roberto Carlos, Brazilian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Aidan Moffat, Scottish singer-songwriter
- 1973 – Christopher Simmons, Canadian-American graphic designer, author, and academic
- 1974 – Eric Greitens, American soldier, author and politician
- 1974 – Petros Passalis, Greek footballer
- 1975 – Chris Carrabba, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Terrence Lewis, Indian dancer and choreographer
- 1975 – David Harbour, American actor
- 1976 – Clare Buckfield, English actress
- 1976 – Yoshino Kimura, Japanese actress and singer
- 1976 – Sara Renner, Canadian skier
- 1977 – Stephanie Sheh, Taiwanese-American voice actress, director, and producer
- 1978 – Sir Christus, Finnish guitarist
- 1979 – Iván Alonso, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 – Kenyon Coleman, American football player
- 1979 – Rachel Corrie, American author and activist (d. 2003)
- 1979 – Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
- 1979 – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, English singer-songwriter
- 1979 – Peter Kopteff, Finnish footballer
- 1980 – Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player and model
- 1980 – Charlie Hunnam, English actor
- 1980 – Shao Jiayi, Chinese footballer
- 1980 – Kasey Kahne, American race car driver
- 1980 – Bryce Soderberg, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1981 – Laura Bell Bundy, American actress and singer
- 1981 – Liz McClarnon, English singer and dancer
- 1981 – Michael Pitt, American actor, model and musician
- 1981 – Alexei Semenov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Andre Ethier, American baseball player
- 1982 – Chyler Leigh, American actress and singer
- 1983 – Jamie Chung, American actress
- 1983 – Andrew Dost, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1983 – Ryan Merriman, American actor
- 1983 – Hannes Sigurðsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1984 – Faustina Agolley, Australian television host
- 1984 – Jeremy Barrett, American figure skater
- 1984 – Mandy Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1984 – David Obua, Ugandan footballer
- 1984 – Damien Perquis, French-Polish footballer
- 1984 – Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Barkhad Abdi, Somali-American actor and director
- 1985 – Willo Flood, Irish footballer
- 1985 – Jesús Gámez, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Dion Phaneuf, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Olivia Borlée, Belgian sprinter
- 1986 – Fernando Gago, Argentine footballer
- 1986 – Corey Kluber, American baseball pitcher
- 1986 – Vincent Kompany, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Tore Reginiussen, Norwegian footballer
- 1987 – Shay Mitchell, Canadian actress and model
- 1987 – Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano
- 1988 – Chris Heston, American baseball pitcher
- 1988 – Kareem Jackson, American football player
- 1988 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor
- 1990 – Ben Amos, English footballer
- 1990 – Andile Jali, South African footballer
- 1990 – Ricky Leutele, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- 1990 – Maren Morris, American singer
- 1990 – Alex Pettyfer, English actor
- 1991 – AJ Michalka, American actress and singer
- 1992 – Jack Buchanan, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Sadio Mané, Senegalese footballer
- 1992 – Daisy Ridley, English actress
- 1993 – Sofia Carson, American singer and actress
- 1994 – Siobhan Hunter, Scottish footballer
- 1995 – Ian Nelson, American actor
- 1996 – Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australian tennis player
- 1996 – Audrey Whitby, American actress
- 1998 – Anna Pogorilaya, Russian figure skater
- 2001 – Ky Baldwin, Australian singer and actor
- 2001 – Noa Kirel, Israeli singer
Deaths on April 10
- 879 – Louis the Stammerer, king of West Francia (b. 846)
- 943 – Landulf I, prince of Benevento and Capua
- 948 – Hugh of Arles, king of Italy
- 1008 – Notker of Liège, French bishop (b. 940)
- 1216 – Eric X, king of Sweden (b. 1180)
- 1282 – Ahmad Fanakati, chief minister under Kublai Khan
- 1309 – Elisabeth von Rapperswil, Swiss countess (b. 1261)
- 1362 – Maud, English noblewoman (b. 1339)
- 1500 – Michael Tarchaniota Marullus, Greek scholar and poet
- 1533 – Frederick I, king of Denmark and Norway (b. 1471)
- 1545 – Costanzo Festa, Italian composer
- 1585 – Gregory XIII, Pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1502)
- 1598 – Jacopo Mazzoni, Italian philosopher (b. 1548)
- 1599 – Gabrielle d’Estrées, French mistress of Henry IV of France (b. 1571)
- 1601 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish soldier and poet (b. 1562)
- 1619 – Thomas Jones, English-Irish archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Ireland (b. 1550)
- 1640 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1578)
- 1644 – William Brewster, English official and pilgrim leader (b. 1566)
- 1646 – Santino Solari, Swiss architect and sculptor (b. 1576)
- 1667 – Jan Marek Marci, Czech physician and author (b. 1595)
- 1704 – William Egon of Fürstenberg, German cardinal (b. 1629)
- 1756 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer (b. 1661)
- 1760 – Jean Lebeuf, French historian and author (b. 1687)
- 1786 – John Byron, English admiral and politician, 24th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1723)
- 1806 – Horatio Gates, English-American general (b. 1727)
- 1813 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1736)
- 1823 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher and academic (b. 1757)
- 1871 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1789)
- 1904 – Isabella II, Spanish queen (b. 1830)
- 1909 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic (b. 1837)
- 1919 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general (b. 1879)
- 1920 – Moritz Cantor, German mathematician and historian (b. 1829)
- 1931 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (b. 1883)
- 1935 – Rosa Campbell Praed, Australian novelist (b. 1851)
- 1938 – King Oliver, American cornet player and bandleader (b. 1885)
- 1942 – Carl Schenstrøm, Danish actor and director (b. 1881)
- 1943 – Andreas Faehlmann, Estonian-German sailor and engineer (b. 1898)
- 1945 – Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch printer and typographer (b. 1882)
- 1947 – Charles Nordhoff, English-American lieutenant and author (b. 1887)
- 1950 – Fevzi Çakmak, Turkish field marshal and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1876)
- 1954 – Auguste Lumière, French director and producer (b. 1862)
- 1954 – Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1888)
- 1955 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1881)
- 1958 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (b. 1928)
- 1960 – André Berthomieu, French director and screenwriter (b. 1903)
- 1962 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1886)
- 1962 – Stuart Sutcliffe, Scottish artist and musician (b. 1940)
- 1965 – Lloyd Casner, American race car driver, founded Casner Motor Racing Division (b. 1928)
- 1965 – Linda Darnell, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1966 – Evelyn Waugh, English soldier, novelist, journalist and critic (b. 1903)
- 1968 – Gustavs Celmiņš, Latvian lieutenant and politician (b. 1899)
- 1969 – Harley Earl, American businessman (b. 1893)
- 1975 – Walker Evans, American photographer (b. 1903)
- 1975 – Marjorie Main, American actress (b. 1890)
- 1978 – Hjalmar Mäe, Estonian politician (b. 1901)
- 1979 – Nino Rota, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1911)
- 1980 – Kay Medford, American actress and singer (b. 1919)
- 1981 – Howard Thurman, American author, philosopher and civil rights activist (b. 1899)
- 1983 – Issam Sartawi, Palestinian activist (b. 1935)
- 1985 – Zisis Verros, Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle (b. 1880)
- 1986 – Linda Creed, American singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (b. 1955)
- 1991 – Martin Hannett, English guitarist and producer (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1992 – Sam Kinison, American comedian and actor (b. 1953)
- 1993 – Chris Hani, South African activist and politician (b. 1942)
- 1994 – Sam B. Hall, Jr., American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1924)
- 1995 – Morarji Desai, Indian politician, 4th Prime Minister of India (b. 1896)
- 1997 – Michael Dorris, American author and academic (b. 1945)
- 1998 – Seraphim of Athens, Greek archbishop (b. 1913)
- 1999 – Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, German-American biochemist and physician (b. 1910)
- 1999 – Jean Vander Pyl, American actress and voice artist (b. 1919)
- 2000 – Peter Jones, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2000 – Larry Linville, American actor (b. 1939)
- 2003 – Little Eva, American singer (b. 1943)
- 2004 – Jacek Kaczmarski, Polish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and poet (b. 1957)
- 2004 – Sakıp Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist, founded Sabancı Holding (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Scott Gottlieb, American drummer (b. 1970)
- 2005 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Al Lucas, American football player (b. 1978)
- 2005 – Wally Tax, Dutch singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 2007 – Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2007 – Dakota Staton, American singer (b. 1930)
- 2009 – Deborah Digges, American poet and educator (b. 1950)
- 2010 – Casualties in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash included:
- Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish soldier and politician, 6th President of the Republic of Poland (b. 1919)
- Maria Kaczyńska, Polish economist, First Lady of Poland (b. 1942)
- Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 4th President of Poland (b. 1949)
- Anna Walentynowicz, Ukrainian-Polish journalist and activist (b. 1929)
- 2010 – Dixie Carter, American actress and singer (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Raymond Aubrac, French engineer and activist (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Barbara Buchholz, German theremin player and composer (b. 1959)
- 2012 – Lili Chookasian, Armenian-American operatic singer (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Luis Aponte Martínez, Puerto Rican cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Akin Omoboriowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Lorenzo Antonetti, Italian cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Raymond Boudon, French sociologist and academic (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Binod Bihari Chowdhury, Bangladeshi activist (b. 1911)
- 2013 – Robert Edwards, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Olive Lewin, Jamaican anthropologist, musicologist, and author (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Gordon Thomas, English cyclist (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Angela Voigt, German long jumper (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Dominique Baudis, French journalist and politician (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Jim Flaherty, Canadian lawyer and politician, 37th Canadian Minister of Finance (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Richard Hoggart, English author and academic (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (b. 1946)
- 2015 – Richie Benaud, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Raúl Héctor Castro, Mexican-American politician and diplomat, 14th Governor of Arizona (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Judith Malina, German-American actress and director, co-founded The Living Theatre (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Rose Francine Rogombé, Gabonese lawyer and politician, President of Gabon (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Peter Walsh, Australian farmer and politician, 6th Australian Minister for Finance (b. 1935)
- 2016 – Howard Marks, Welsh cannabis smuggler, writer, and legalisation campaigner (b. 1945)
Holidays and observances on April 10
- Christian feast day:
- Fulbert of Chartres
- James, Azadanus and Abdicius
- Mikael Agricola (Lutheran)
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (Episcopal Church)
- William of Ockham (Anglicanism)
- William Law (Anglicanism)
- April 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Builder (Azerbaijan)
- Feast of the Third Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema)
- Siblings Day (International observance)
- World Homeopathy Day
-
April 7 in History
- 451 – Attila the Hun sacks the town of Metz and attacks other cities in Gaul.
- 529 – First draft of the Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I.
- 611 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul sacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico.
- 1141 – Empress Matilda became the first female ruler of England, adopting the title ‘Lady of the English’.
- 1348 – Charles University is founded in Prague.
- 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.
- 1541 – Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.
- 1724 – Premiere performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion, BWV 245, at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig.
- 1767 – End of Burmese–Siamese War (1765–67).
- 1776 – Captain John Barry and the USS Lexington captures the Edward.
- 1788 – American pioneers to the Northwest Territory establish Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory.
- 1789 – Selim III became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
- 1798 – The Mississippi Territory is organized from disputed territory claimed by both the United States and Spain. It is expanded in 1804 and again in 1812.
- 1805 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery breaks camp among the Mandan tribe and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River.
- 1805 – German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
- 1827 – John Walker, an English chemist, sells the first friction match that he had invented the previous year.
- 1829 – Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, commences translation of the Book of Mormon, with Oliver Cowdery as his scribe.
- 1831 – Emperor Pedro I of Brazil resigns. He goes to his native Portugal to become King Pedro IV.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Union’s Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi near Shiloh, Tennessee.
- 1868 – Thomas D’Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers of Confederation, is assassinated by a Fenian activist.
- 1890 – Completion of the first Lake Biwa Canal.
- 1906 – Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
- 1906 – The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco.
- 1922 – The United States Secretary of the Interior leases federal petroleum reserves to private oil companies on excessively generous terms.
- 1927 – The first long-distance public television broadcast (from Washington, D.C., to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).
- 1933 – Prohibition in the United States is repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the XXI amendment. (Now celebrated as National Beer Day in the United States.)
- 1940 – Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
- 1943 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: In Terebovlia, Germans order 1,100 Jews to undress and march through the city to the nearby village of Plebanivka, where they are shot and buried in ditches.
- 1943 – Ioannis Rallis becomes collaborationist Prime Minister of Greece during the Axis Occupation.
- 1945 – World War II: The battleship Yamato, one of the two largest ever constructed, is sunk by American aircraft during Operation Ten-Go.
- 1945 – World War II: Visoko is liberated by the 7th, 9th, and 17th Krajina brigades from the Tenth division of Yugoslav Partisan forces.
- 1948 – The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
- 1949 – The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific opened on Broadway; it would run for 1,925 performances and win ten Tony Awards.
- 1954 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his “domino theory” speech during a news conference.
- 1955 – Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health.
- 1964 – IBM announces the System/360.
- 1964 – A bulldozer kills Rev. Bruce W. Klunder, a civil rights activist, during a school segregation protest in Cleveland, Ohio, sparking a riot.
- 1965 – Representatives of the National Congress of American Indians testify before members of the US Senate against the termination of the Colville tribe in Washington DC.
- 1968 – Motor racing world champion Jim Clark is killed in an accident during a Formula Two race at Hockenheim.
- 1969 – The Internet’s symbolic birth date: Publication of RFC 1.
- 1971 – President Richard Nixon announces his decision to quicken the pace of Vietnamization.
- 1976 – Member of Parliament and suspected spy John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party (UK) after being arrested for faking his own death.
- 1977 – German Federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by two Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light.
- 1978 – Development of the neutron bomb is canceled by President Jimmy Carter.
- 1980 – During the Iran hostage crisis, the United States severs relations with Iran.
- 1983 – During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first Space Shuttle spacewalk.
- 1989 – Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway killing 42 sailors.
- 1990 – Iran–Contra affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal (the conviction is later reversed on appeal).
- 1990 – A fire breaks out on the passenger ferry Scandinavian Star, killing 159 people.
- 1994 – Rwandan genocide: Massacres of Tutsis begin in Kigali, Rwanda.
- 1994 – Auburn Calloway attempts to destroy Federal Express Flight 705 in order to allow his family to benefit from his life insurance policy.
- 1995 – First Chechen War: Russian paramilitary troops begin a massacre of civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.
- 1999 – The World Trade Organization rules in favor of the United States in its long-running trade dispute with the European Union over bananas.
- 2001 – Mars Odyssey is launched.
- 2003 – U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein’s regime falls two days later.
- 2009 – Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.
- 2009 – Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent.
- 2017 – A man deliberately drives a hijacked truck into a crowd of people, killing five people and injuring fifteen others.
Births on April 7
- 1206 – Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1253)
- 1330 – John, 3rd Earl of Kent, English nobleman (d. 1352)
- 1470 – Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire (d. 1498)
- 1506 – Francis Xavier, Spanish missionary and saint, co-founded the Society of Jesus (d. 1552)
- 1539 – Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and illustrator (d. 1584)
- 1613 – Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (d. 1675)
- 1644 – François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, French general (d. 1730)
- 1648 – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English poet and politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1721)
- 1652 – Pope Clement XII (d. 1740)
- 1713 – Nicola Sala, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1801)
- 1718 – Hugh Blair, Scottish minister and author (d. 1800)
- 1727 – Michel Adanson, French botanist, entomologist, and mycologist (d. 1806)
- 1763 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (d. 1846)
- 1770 – William Wordsworth, English poet (d. 1850)
- 1772 – Charles Fourier, French philosopher and author (d. 1837)
- 1780 – William Ellery Channing, American preacher and theologian (d. 1842)
- 1803 – James Curtiss, American journalist and politician, 11th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1859)
- 1803 – Flora Tristan, French author and activist (d. 1844)
- 1811 – Hasan Tahsini, Albanian astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1881)
- 1817 – Francesco Selmi, Italian chemist and patriot (d. 1881)
- 1848 – Randall Davidson, Scottish archbishop (d. 1930)
- 1859 – Walter Camp, American football player and coach (d. 1925)
- 1860 – Will Keith Kellogg, American businessman, founded the Kellogg Company (d. 1951)
- 1867 – Holger Pedersen, Danish linguist and academic (d. 1953)
- 1870 – Gustav Landauer, Jewish-German theorist and activist (d. 1919)
- 1871 – Epifanio de los Santos, Filipino jurist, historian, and scholar (d. 1927)
- 1873 – John McGraw, American baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
- 1874 – Frederick Carl Frieseke, German-American painter (d. 1939)
- 1876 – Fay Moulton, American sprinter, football player, coach, and lawyer (d. 1945)
- 1882 – Bert Ironmonger, Australian cricketer (d. 1971)
- 1882 – Kurt von Schleicher, German general and politician, 23rd Chancellor of Germany (d. 1934)
- 1883 – Gino Severini, Italian-French painter and author (d. 1966)
- 1884 – Clement Smoot, American golfer (d. 1963)
- 1886 – Ed Lafitte, American baseball player and soldier (d. 1971)
- 1889 – Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1890 – Paul Berth, Danish footballer (d. 1969)
- 1890 – Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American journalist and activist (d. 1998)
- 1891 – Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman, founded the Lego Group (d. 1958)
- 1893 – Allen Dulles, American lawyer and diplomat, 5th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1969)
- 1895 – John Flannagan, American soldier and sculptor (d. 1942)
- 1895 – Margarete Schön, German actress (d. 1985)
- 1896 – Frits Peutz, Dutch architect, designed the Glaspaleis (d. 1974)
- 1897 – Erich Löwenhardt, Polish-German lieutenant and pilot (d. 1918)
- 1897 – Walter Winchell, American journalist and radio host (d. 1972)
- 1899 – Robert Casadesus, French pianist and composer (d. 1972)
- 1900 – Adolf Dymsza, Polish actor (d. 1975)
- 1900 – Tebbs Lloyd Johnson, English race walker (d. 1984)
- 1902 – Eduard Eelma, Estonian footballer (d. 1941)
- 1903 – M. Balasundaram, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1965)
- 1903 – Edwin T. Layton, American admiral (d. 1984)
- 1904 – Roland Wilson, Australian economist and statistician (d. 1996)
- 1908 – Percy Faith, Canadian composer, conductor, and bandleader (d. 1976)
- 1908 – Pete Zaremba, American hammer thrower (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Robert Charroux, French author and critic (d. 1978)
- 1913 – Louise Currie, American actress (d. 2013)
- 1913 – Charles Vanik, American soldier, judge, and politician (d. 2007)
- 1914 – Ralph Flanagan, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1995)
- 1915 – Stanley Adams, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1977)
- 1915 – Billie Holiday, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1959)
- 1915 – Henry Kuttner, American author (d. 1958)
- 1916 – Anthony Caruso, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1917 – R. G. Armstrong, American actor and playwright (d. 2012)
- 1918 – Bobby Doerr, American baseball player and coach (d. 2017)
- 1919 – Roger Lemelin, Canadian author and screenwriter (d. 1992)
- 1919 – Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italian fencer (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Feza Gürsey, Turkish mathematician and physicist (d. 1992)
- 1922 – Mongo Santamaría, Cuban-American drummer (d. 2003)
- 1924 – Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian-English author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
- 1925 – Chaturanan Mishra, Indian trade union leader and politician (d. 2011)
- 1925 – Jan van Roessel, Dutch footballer (d. 2011)
- 1927 – Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian-American drummer, educator, and activist (d. 2003)
- 1927 – Leonid Shcherbakov, Russian triple jumper
- 1928 – James Garner, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Alan J. Pakula, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
- 1928 – James White, Northern Irish author and educator (d. 1999)
- 1929 – Bob Denard, French soldier (d. 2007)
- 1929 – Joe Gallo, American gangster (d. 1972)
- 1930 – Jane Priestman, English interior designer
- 1930 – Yves Rocher, French businessman, founded the Yves Rocher Company (d. 2009)
- 1930 – Andrew Sachs, German-English actor and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1930 – Roger Vergé, French chef and restaurateur (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Donald Barthelme, American short story writer and novelist (d. 1989)
- 1931 – Daniel Ellsberg, American activist and author
- 1932 – Cal Smith, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
- 1933 – Wayne Rogers, American actor, investor, and producer (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Sakıp Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist (d. 2004)
- 1934 – Ian Richardson, Scottish-English actor (d. 2007)
- 1935 – Bobby Bare, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1935 – Hodding Carter III, American journalist and politician, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
- 1937 – Charlie Thomas, American singer
- 1938 – Jerry Brown, American lawyer and politician, 34th and 39th Governor of California
- 1938 – Spencer Dryden, American drummer (d. 2005)
- 1938 – Freddie Hubbard, American trumpet player and composer (d. 2008)
- 1938 – Iris Johansen, American author
- 1939 – Francis Ford Coppola, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1939 – David Frost, English journalist and game show host (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Gary Kellgren, American record producer, co-founded Record Plant (d. 1977)
- 1939 – Brett Whiteley, Australian painter (d. 1992)
- 1940 – Marju Lauristin, Estonian academic and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Social Affairs
- 1941 – James Di Pasquale, American composer
- 1941 – Peter Fluck, English puppet maker and illustrator
- 1941 – Cornelia Frances, English-Australian actress (d. 2018)
- 1941 – Gorden Kaye, English actor (d. 2017)
- 1942 – Jeetendra, Indian actor, TV and film producer
- 1943 – Mick Abrahams, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Dennis Amiss, English cricketer and manager
- 1944 – Shel Bachrach, American insurance broker, investor, businessman and philanthropist
- 1944 – Warner Fusselle, American sportscaster (d. 2012)
- 1944 – Oshik Levi, Israeli singer and actor
- 1944 – Julia Phillips, American film producer and author (d. 2002)
- 1944 – Gerhard Schröder, German lawyer and politician, 7th Chancellor of Germany
- 1944 – Bill Stoneman, American baseball player and manager
- 1945 – Megas, Icelandic singer-songwriter
- 1945 – Gerry Cottle, English businessman
- 1945 – Marilyn Friedman, American philosopher and academic
- 1945 – Martyn Lewis, Welsh journalist and author
- 1945 – Joël Robuchon, French chef and author (d. 2018)
- 1945 – Werner Schroeter, German director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1945 – Hans van Hemert, Dutch songwriter and producer
- 1946 – Zaid Abdul-Aziz, American basketball player
- 1946 – Colette Besson, French runner and educator (d. 2005)
- 1946 – Herménégilde Chiasson, Canadian poet, playwright, and politician, 29th Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
- 1946 – Dimitrij Rupel, Slovenian politician and diplomate
- 1946 – Stan Winston, American special effects designer and makeup artist (d. 2008)
- 1947 – Patricia Bennett, American singer
- 1947 – Florian Schneider, German singer and drummer (d. 2020)
- 1947 – Michèle Torr, French singer and author
- 1948 – John Oates, American singer-songwriter guitarist, and producer
- 1949 – Mitch Daniels, American academic and politician, 49th Governor of Indiana
- 1950 – Brian J. Doyle, American press secretary
- 1951 – Bruce Gary, American drummer (d. 2006)
- 1951 – Janis Ian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1952 – David Baulcombe, English geneticist and academic
- 1952 – Jane Frederick, American hurdler and heptathlete
- 1952 – Gilles Valiquette, Canadian actor, singer, and producer
- 1952 – Dennis Hayden, American actor
- 1953 – Santa Barraza, American mixed media artist
- 1953 – Douglas Kell, English biochemist and academic
- 1954 – Jackie Chan, Hong Kong martial artist, actor, stuntman, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1954 – Tony Dorsett, American football player
- 1955 – Tim Cochran, American mathematician and academic (d. 2014)
- 1955 – Gregg Jarrett, American lawyer and journalist
- 1956 – Annika Billström, Swedish businesswoman and politician, 16th Mayor of Stockholm
- 1956 – Christopher Darden, American lawyer and author
- 1956 – Georg Werthner, Austrian decathlete
- 1957 – Kim Kap-soo, South Korean actor
- 1957 – Thelma Walker, British politician
- 1958 – Brian Haner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1958 – Hindrek Kesler, Estonian architect
- 1960 – Buster Douglas, American boxer and actor
- 1960 – Sandy Powell, English costume designer
- 1961 – Thurl Bailey, American basketball player and actor
- 1961 – Pascal Olmeta, French footballer
- 1961 – Brigitte van der Burg, Tanzanian-Dutch geographer and politician
- 1962 – Jon Cruddas, English lawyer and politician
- 1962 – Andrew Hampsten, American cyclist
- 1963 – Jaime de Marichalar, Spanish businessman
- 1963 – Nick Herbert, English businessman and politician, Minister for Policing
- 1963 – Dave Johnson, American decathlete and educator
- 1964 – Jace Alexander, American actor and director
- 1964 – Russell Crowe, New Zealand-Australian actor
- 1964 – Steve Graves, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1965 – Bill Bellamy, American comedian, actor, and producer
- 1965 – Rozalie Hirs, Dutch composer and poet
- 1965 – Alison Lapper, English painter and photographer
- 1965 – Nenad Vučinić, Serbian-New Zealand basketball player and coach
- 1966 – Richard Gomez, Filipino actor and politician
- 1966 – Zvika Hadar, Israeli entertainer
- 1966 – Béla Mavrák, Hungarian tenor singer
- 1966 – Gary Wilkinson, English snooker player
- 1967 – Artemis Gounaki, Greek-German singer-songwriter
- 1967 – Bodo Illgner, German footballer
- 1967 – Simone Schilder, Dutch tennis player
- 1968 – Duncan Armstrong, Australian swimmer and sportscaster
- 1968 – Jennifer Lynch, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Jože Možina, Slovenian historian, sociologist and journalist
- 1968 – Vasiliy Sokov, Russian triple jumper
- 1969 – Ricky Watters, American football player
- 1970 – Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian pianist and educator
- 1971 – Guillaume Depardieu, French actor (d. 2008)
- 1971 – Victor Kraatz, German-Canadian figure skater
- 1972 – Tim Peake, British astronaut
- 1973 – Marco Delvecchio, Italian footballer
- 1973 – Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Defence
- 1973 – Carole Montillet, French skier
- 1973 – Christian O’Connell, British radio DJ and presenter
- 1973 – Brett Tomko, American baseball player
- 1975 – Karin Dreijer Andersson, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
- 1975 – Ronde Barber, American football player and sportscaster
- 1975 – Tiki Barber, American football player and journalist
- 1975 – Ronnie Belliard, American baseball player
- 1975 – John Cooper, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1975 – Simon Woolford, Australian rugby league player
- 1976 – Kevin Alejandro, American actor and producer
- 1976 – Martin Buß, German high jumper
- 1976 – Jessica Lee, English lawyer and politician
- 1976 – Aaron Lohr, American actor
- 1976 – Barbara Jane Reams, American actress
- 1976 – Gang Qiang, Chinese anchor
- 1978 – Jo Appleby, English soprano
- 1978 – Duncan James, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1978 – Lilia Osterloh, American tennis player
- 1979 – Adrián Beltré, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1979 – Patrick Crayton, American football player
- 1979 – Pascal Dupuis, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Danny Sandoval, Venezuelan-American baseball player
- 1980 – Dragan Bogavac, Montenegrin footballer
- 1980 – Tetsuji Tamayama, Japanese actor
- 1981 – Hitoe Arakaki, Japanese singer
- 1981 – Kazuki Watanabe, Japanese songwriter and guitarist (d. 2000)
- 1981 – Vanessa Olivarez, American singer-songwriter, and actress
- 1981 – Suzann Pettersen, Norwegian golfer
- 1982 – Silvana Arias, Peruvian actress
- 1982 – Sonjay Dutt, American wrestler
- 1982 – Kelli Young, English singer
- 1983 – Hamish Davidson, Australian musician
- 1983 – Franck Ribéry, French footballer
- 1983 – Jon Stead, English footballer
- 1983 – Jakub Smrž, Czech motorcycle rider
- 1983 – Janar Talts, Estonian basketball player
- 1984 – Hiroko Shimabukuro, Japanese singer
- 1985 – KC Concepcion, Filipino actress and singer
- 1985 – Humza Yousaf, Scottish politician
- 1986 – Brooke Brodack, American comedian
- 1986 – Jack Duarte, Mexican actor, singer, and guitarist
- 1986 – Andi Fraggs, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1986 – Christian Fuchs, Austrian footballer
- 1987 – Martín Cáceres, Uruguayan footballer
- 1987 – Eelco Sintnicolaas, Dutch decathlete
- 1987 – Jamar Smith, American football player
- 1988 – Antonio Piccolo, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Ed Speleers, English actor and producer
- 1989 – Alexa Demara, American actress, model and writer
- 1989 – Franco Di Santo, Argentinian footballer
- 1989 – Mitchell Pearce, Australian rugby league player
- 1989 – Teddy Riner, French judoka
- 1990 – Nickel Ashmeade, Jamaican sprinter
- 1990 – Anna Bogomazova, Russian-American kick-boxer, martial artist, and wrestler
- 1990 – Sorana Cîrstea, Romanian tennis player
- 1990 – Trent Cotchin, Australian footballer
- 1991 – Luka Milivojević, Serbian footballer
- 1991 – Anne-Marie, English singer-songwriter
- 1992 – Andreea Acatrinei, Romanian gymnast
- 1992 – Guilherme Negueba, Brazilian footballer
- 1993 – Ichinojō Takashi, Mongolian sumo wrestler
- 1994 – Johanna Allik, Estonian figure skater
- 1994 – Aaron Gray, Australian rugby league player
- 1996 – Emerson Hyndman, American international soccer player[5]
- 1997 – Rafaela Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player
Deaths on April 7
- AD 30 – Jesus Christ, (possible date of the crucifixion) (b. circa 4 BC)
- 821 – George the Standard-Bearer, archbishop of Mytilene (b. c. 776)
- 924 – Berengar I of Italy (b. 845)
- 1206 – Frederick I, Duke of Lorraine
- 1340 – Bolesław Jerzy II of Mazovia (b. 1308)
- 1498 – Charles VIII of France (b. 1470)
- 1499 – Galeotto I Pico, Duke of Mirandola (b. 1442)
- 1501 – Minkhaung II, king of Ava (b. 1446)
- 1606 – Edward Oldcorne, English martyr (b. 1561)
- 1614 – El Greco, Greek-Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1541)
- 1638 – Shimazu Tadatsune, Japanese daimyō (b. 1576)
- 1651 – Lennart Torstensson, Swedish field marshal and engineer (b. 1603)
- 1658 – Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, Spanish mystic and philosopher (b. 1595)
- 1661 – Sir William Brereton, 1st Baronet, English commander and politician (b. 1604)
- 1663 – Francis Cooke, English-American settler (b. 1583)
- 1668 – William Davenant, English poet and playwright (b. 1606)
- 1719 – Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest and saint, founded the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (b. 1651)
- 1739 – Dick Turpin, English criminal (b. 1705)
- 1747 – Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (b. 1676)
- 1761 – Thomas Bayes, English minister and mathematician (b. 1701)
- 1766 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (b. 1685)
- 1767 – Franz Sparry, Austrian composer and director (b. 1715)
- 1782 – Taksin, Thai king (b. 1734)
- 1789 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1725)
- 1789 – Petrus Camper, Dutch physician, anatomist, and physiologist (b. 1722)
- 1801 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer and author (b. 1724)
- 1804 – Toussaint Louverture, Haitian general (b. 1743)
- 1811 – Garsevan Chavchavadze, Georgian diplomat and politician (b. 1757)
- 1823 – Jacques Charles, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1746)
- 1833 – Antoni Radziwiłł, Lithuanian composer and politician (b. 1775)
- 1836 – William Godwin, English journalist and author (b. 1756)
- 1849 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentinian priest and politician (b. 1777)
- 1850 – William Lisle Bowles, English poet and critic (b. 1762)
- 1858 – Anton Diabelli, Austrian composer and publisher (b. 1781)
- 1868 – Thomas D’Arcy McGee, Irish-Canadian journalist, activist, and politician (b. 1825)
- 1879 – Begum Hazrat Mahal, Begum of Awadh, was the second wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (b. 1820)
- 1885 – Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist and zoologist (b. 1804)
- 1889 – Youssef Bey Karam, Lebanese soldier and politician (b. 1823)
- 1889 – Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Mexican politician and president, 1872-1876 (b. 1823)
- 1891 – P. T. Barnum, American businessman and politician, co-founded The Barnum & Bailey Circus (b. 1810)
- 1917 – Spyridon Samaras, Greek composer and playwright (b. 1861)
- 1918 – David Kolehmainen, Finnish wrestler (b. 1885)
- 1918 – George E. Ohr, American potter (b. 1857)
- 1920 – Karl Binding, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1841)
- 1922 – James McGowen, Australian politician, 18th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1855)
- 1928 – Alexander Bogdanov, Russian physician, philosopher, and author (b. 1873)
- 1932 – Grigore Constantinescu, Romanian priest and journalist (b. 1875)
- 1938 – Suzanne Valadon, French painter (b. 1865)
- 1939 – Joseph Lyons, Australian educator and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1879)
- 1943 – Jovan Dučić, Serbian-American poet and diplomat (b. 1871)
- 1943 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (b. 1859)
- 1947 – Henry Ford, American engineer and businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (b. 1863)
- 1949 – John Gourlay, Canadian soccer player (b. 1872)
- 1950 – Walter Huston, Canadian-American actor and singer (b. 1883)
- 1955 – Theda Bara, American actress (b. 1885)
- 1956 – Fred Appleby, English runner (b. 1879)
- 1960 – Henri Guisan, Swiss general (b. 1874)
- 1965 – Roger Leger, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1919)
- 1966 – Walt Hansgen, American race car driver (b. 1919)
- 1968 – Edwin Baker, Canadian co-founder of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) (b. 1893)
- 1968 – Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (b. 1936)
- 1972 – Joe Gallo, American gangster (b. 1929)
- 1972 – Abeid Karume, Tanzanian politician, 1st President of Zanzibar (b. 1905)
- 1981 – Kit Lambert, English record producer and manager (b. 1935)
- 1981 – Norman Taurog, American director and screenwriter (b. 1899)
- 1982 – Harald Ertl, Austrian race car driver and journalist (b. 1948)
- 1984 – Frank Church, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1924)
- 1985 – Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and jurist (b. 1888)
- 1986 – Leonid Kantorovich, Russian mathematician and economist (b. 1912)
- 1990 – Ronald Evans, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1933)
- 1991 – Memduh Ünlütürk, Turkish general (b. 1913)
- 1992 – Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1903)
- 1992 – Antonis Tritsis, Greek high jumper and politician, 71st Mayor of Athens (b. 1937)
- 1994 – Lee Brilleaux, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
- 1994 – Albert Guðmundsson, Icelandic footballer, manager, and politician (b. 1923)
- 1994 – Golo Mann, German historian and author (b. 1909)
- 1994 – Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Rwandan chemist, academic, and politician, Prime Minister of Rwanda (b. 1953)
- 1995 – Philip Jebb, English architect and politician (b. 1927)
- 1997 – Luis Aloma, Cuban-American baseball player (b. 1923)
- 1997 – Georgy Shonin, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1935)
- 1998 – Alex Schomburg, Puerto Rican-American painter and illustrator (b. 1905)
- 1999 – Heinz Lehmann, German-Canadian psychiatrist and academic (b. 1911)
- 2001 – David Graf, American actor (b. 1950)
- 2001 – Beatrice Straight, American actress (b. 1914)
- 2002 – John Agar, American actor (b. 1921)
- 2003 – Cecile de Brunhoff, French pianist and author (b. 1903)
- 2003 – David Greene, English-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
- 2004 – Victor Argo, American actor (b. 1934)
- 2004 – Konstantinos Kallias, Greek politician (b. 1901)
- 2005 – Cliff Allison, English race car driver (b. 1932)
- 2005 – Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1922)
- 2005 – Bob Kennedy, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Melih Kibar, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1951)
- 2007 – Johnny Hart, American author and illustrator (b. 1931)
- 2007 – Barry Nelson, American actor (b. 1917)
- 2008 – Ludu Daw Amar, Burmese journalist and author (b. 1915)
- 2009 – Dave Arneson, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (b. 1947)
- 2011 – Pierre Gauvreau, Canadian painter (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Steven Kanumba, Tanzanian actor and director (b. 1984)
- 2012 – Satsue Mito, Japanese zoologist and academic (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Ignatius Moses I Daoud, Syrian cardinal (b. 1930)
- 2012 – David E. Pergrin, American colonel and engineer (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Bashir Ahmed Qureshi, Pakistani politician (b. 1959)
- 2012 – Mike Wallace, American television news journalist (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Marty Blake, American businessman (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Les Blank, American director and producer (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Andy Johns, English-American record producer (b. 1950)
- 2013 – Lilly Pulitzer, American fashion designer (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Irma Ravinale, Italian composer and educator (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Mickey Rose, American screenwriter (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Carl Williams, American boxer (b. 1959)
- 2014 – George Dureau, American painter and photographer (b. 1930)
- 2014 – James Alexander Green, American-English mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
- 2014 – V. K. Murthy, Indian cinematographer (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Zeituni Onyango, Kenyan-American computer programmer (b. 1952)
- 2014 – John Shirley-Quirk, English opera singer (b. 1931)
- 2014 – George Shuffler, American guitarist (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Royce Waltman, American basketball player and coach (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Tim Babcock, American soldier and politician, 16th Governor of Montana (b. 1919)
- 2015 – José Capellán, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1981)
- 2015 – Stan Freberg, American puppeteer, voice actor, and singer (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Richard Henyekane, South African footballer (b. 1983)
- 2015 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor (b. 1935)
- 2016 – Blackjack Mulligan, American professional wrestler (b. 1942)
- 2019 – Seymour Cassel, American actor (b. 1935)
Holidays and observances on April 7
- Christian feast days:
- Aibert of Crespin
- Blessed Alexander Rawlins
- Blessed Edward Oldcorne and Blessed Ralph Ashley
- Blessed Notker the Stammerer
- Brynach
- Hegesippus
- Henry Walpole
- Hermann Joseph
- Jean-Baptiste de La Salle
- Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow (Eastern Orthodox Church, Episcopal Church (USA))
- April 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Flag Day (Slovenia)
- Genocide Memorial Day (Rwanda), and its related observance:
- International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwanda Genocide (United Nations)
- Motherhood and Beauty Day (Armenia)
- National Beer Day (United States)
- Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume Day (Tanzania)
- Women’s Day (Mozambique)
- World Health Day (International observance)
-
April 5 in History
- 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
- 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his army.
- 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos is crowned Byzantine emperor at Constantinople, bringing the Komnenian dynasty to full power.
- 1242 – During the Battle on the Ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
- 1536 – Royal Entry of Charles V into Rome: The last Roman triumph.
- 1566 – Two hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrick van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Seventeen Provinces.
- 1609 – Daimyō (Lord) Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa.
- 1614 – In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
- 1621 – The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to England.
- 1710 – The Statute of Anne receives the royal assent establishing the Copyright law of the United Kingdom.
- 1722 – The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island.
- 1792 – United States President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States.
- 1795 – Peace of Basel between France and Prussia is made.
- 1818 – In the Battle of Maipú, Chile’s independence movement, led by Bernardo O’Higgins and José de San Martín, win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins.
- 1879 – Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
- 1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they call Linear B.
- 1904 – The first international rugby league match is played between England and an Other Nationalities team (Welsh and Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan, England.
- 1915 – Boxing challenger Jess Willard knocks out Jack Johnson in Havana, Cuba to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
- 1922 – The American Birth Control League, forerunner of Planned Parenthood, is incorporated.
- 1932 – Dominion of Newfoundland: Ten thousand rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
- 1933 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs two executive orders: 6101 to establish the Civilian Conservation Corps, and 6102 “forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates” by U.S. citizens.
- 1936 – Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado kills 233 in Tupelo, Mississippi.
- 1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid. Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
- 1943 – World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally cause more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1,300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. Their target was the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit.
- 1944 – World War II: Two hundred seventy inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by the Germans.
- 1945 – Cold War: Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito signs an agreement with the Soviet Union to allow “temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory”.
- 1946 – Soviet troops end their year-long occupation of the Danish island of Bornholm.
- 1946 – A Fleet Air Arm Vickers Wellington crashes into a residential area in Rabat, Malta during a training exercise, killing all 4 crew members and 16 civilians on the ground.
- 1949 – A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements in the United States.
- 1951 – Cold War: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for spying for the Soviet Union.
- 1956 – Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro declares himself at war with Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.
- 1956 – In Sri Lanka, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna win the general elections in a landslide and S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Ceylon.
- 1957 – In India, Communists win the first elections in united Kerala and E. M. S. Namboodiripad is sworn in as the first Chief Minister.
- 1958 – Ripple Rock, an underwater threat to navigation in the Seymour Narrows in Canada is destroyed in one of the largest non-nuclear controlled explosions of the time.
- 1969 – Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities.
- 1971 – In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches a revolt against the United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
- 1976 – In China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen Incident.
- 1977 – The US Supreme Court rules that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people’s reservation thereby destroyed the tribe’s jurisdictional authority over the area in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip.
- 1986 – Three people are killed in the bombing of the La Belle discotheque in West Berlin, Germany.
- 1991 – An ASA EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 aboard including Sen. John Tower and astronaut Sonny Carter.
- 1992 – Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolves the Peruvian congress by military force.
- 1992 – Peace protesters Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sučić are killed on the Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo, becoming the first casualties of the Bosnian War.
- 1998 – In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opens to traffic, becoming the longest bridge span in the world.
- 1999 – Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
- 2000 – UEFA Cup semi-final violence: Four Galatasaray fans are arrested for the stabbings to death of two Leeds United fans.
- 2009 – North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of Six-party talks.
- 2010 – Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.
Births on April 5
- 1170 – Isabella of Hainault (d. 1190)
- 1219 – Wonjong of Goryeo, 24th ruler of Goryeo (d. 1274)
- 1279 – Al-Nuwayri, Egyptian Muslim historian (d. 1333)
- 1288 – Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (d. 1336)
- 1315 – James III of Majorca (d. 1349)
- 1365 – William II, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1417)
- 1472 – Bianca Maria Sforza, Italian wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1510)
- 1521 – Francesco Laparelli, Italian architect (d. 1570)
- 1523 – Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer and diplomat (d. 1596)
- 1533 – Giulio della Rovere, Italian Catholic Cardinal (d. 1578)
- 1539 – George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1603)
- 1549 – Princess Elizabeth of Sweden, (d. 1597)
- 1568 – Pope Urban VIII (d. 1644)
- 1588 – Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d. 1679)
- 1591 – Frederick Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (d. 1634)
- 1595 – John Wilson, English composer and educator (d. 1674)
- 1604 – Charles IV (d. 1675)
- 1616 – Frederick, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1661)
- 1622 – Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1703)
- 1649 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (d. 1721)
- 1656 – Nikita Demidov, Russian industrialist (d. 1725)
- 1664 – Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine, French noblewoman and Princess of Epinoy (d. 1748)
- 1674 – Margravine Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg, (d. 1748)
- 1691 – Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (d. 1768)
- 1692 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (d. 1730)
- 1719 – Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish field marshal and politician, Lord Marshal of Sweden (d. 1794)
- 1726 – Benjamin Harrison V, American politician, planter and merchant (d. 1791)
- 1727 – Pasquale Anfossi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1797)
- 1729 – Frederick Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1809)
- 1730 – Jean Baptiste Seroux d’Agincourt, French archaeologist and historian (d. 1814)
- 1732 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French painter and etcher (d. 1806)
- 1735 – Franziskus Herzan von Harras, Czech Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1804)
- 1739 – Philemon Dickinson, American lawyer and politician (d. 1809)
- 1752 – Sébastien Érard, French instrument maker (d. 1831)
- 1761 – Sybil Ludington, American heroine of the American Revolutionary War (d. 1839)
- 1769 – Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1839)
- 1773 – José María Coppinger, governor of Spanish East Florida (d. 1844)
- 1773 – Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, (d. 1839)
- 1777 – Marie Jules César Savigny, French zoologist (d. 1851)
- 1782 – Wincenty Krasiński, Polish nobleman (d. 1858)
- 1784 – Louis Spohr, German violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1859)
- 1788 – Franz Pforr, German painter (d. 1812)
- 1793 – Casimir Delavigne, French poet and dramatist (d. 1843)
- 1793 – Felix de Muelenaere, Belgian politician (d. 1862)
- 1795 – Henry Havelock, British general (d. 1857)
- 1799 – Jacques Denys Choisy, Swiss clergyman and botanist (d. 1859)
- 1801 – Félix Dujardin, French biologist (d. 1860)
- 1801 – Vincenzo Gioberti, Italian philosopher, publicist and politician (d. 1852)
- 1804 – Matthias Jakob Schleiden, German botanist (d. 1881)
- 1809 – Karl Felix Halm, German scholar and critic (d. 1882)
- 1810 – Sir Henry Rawlinson, British East India Company army officer and politician (d. 1895)
- 1811 – Jules Dupré, French painter (d. 1889)
- 1814 – Felix Lichnowsky, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1848)
- 1822 – Émile Louis Victor de Laveleye, Belgian economist (d. 1892)
- 1827 – Joseph Lister, English surgeon and academic (d. 1912)
- 1832 – Jules Ferry, French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (d. 1893)
- 1834 – Prentice Mulford, American humorist and author (d. 1891)
- 1834 – Wilhelm Olbers Focke, German medical doctor and botanist (d. 1922)
- 1834 – Frank R. Stockton, American writer and humorist (d. 1902)
- 1835 – Vítězslav Hálek, Czech poet, writer, journalist, dramatist and theatre critic. (d. 1874)
- 1837 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic (d. 1909)
- 1839 – Robert Smalls, African-American ship’s pilot, sea captain, and politician (d. 1915)
- 1840 – Ghazaros Aghayan, Armenian historian and linguist (d. 1911)
- 1842 – Hans Hildebrand, Swedish archaeologist (d. 1913)
- 1845 – Friedrich Sigmund Merkel, German anatomist and histopathologist (d. 1919)
- 1845 – Jules Cambon, French diplomat (d. 1935)
- 1846 – Sigmund Exner, Austrian physiologist (d. 1926)
- 1846 – Henry Wellesley, British peer and politician (d. 1900)
- 1848 – Thure de Thulstrup, American illustrator (d. 1930)
- 1848 – Ulrich Wille, Swiss army general (d. 1925)
- 1850 – Enrico Mazzanti, Italian engineer and cartoonist (d. 1910)
- 1852 – Émile Billard, French sailor (d. 1930)
- 1852 – Walter W. Winans, American marksman and sculptor (d. 1920)
- 1852 – Franz Eckert, German composer and musician (d. 1916)
- 1856 – Booker T. Washington, African-American educator, essayist and historian (d. 1915)
- 1857 – Alexander of Battenberg (d. 1893)
- 1858 – Washington Atlee Burpee, Canadian businessman, founded Burpee Seeds (d. 1915)
- 1859 – Reinhold Seeberg, German theologian (d. 1935)
- 1860 – Harry S. Barlow, British tennis player (d. 1917)
- 1862 – Louis Ganne, French conductor (d. 1923)
- 1862 – Leo Stern, English cellist (d. 1904)
- 1863 – Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1950)
- 1867 – Ernest Lewis, British tennis player (d. 1930)
- 1869 – Sergey Chaplygin, Russian physicist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 1942)
- 1869 – Albert Roussel, French composer (d. 1937)
- 1870 – Motobu Chōki, Japanese karateka (d. 1944)
- 1871 – Stanisław Grabski, Polish economist and politician (d. 1949)
- 1872 – Samuel Cate Prescott, American microbiologist and chemist (d. 1962)
- 1873 – Joseph Rheden, Austrian astronomer (d. 1946)
- 1874 – Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, French Cardinal of the Catholic Church (d. 1949)
- 1874 – Manuel María Ponce Brousset, President of Peru (d. 1966)
- 1878 – Albert Champion, French cyclist (d. 1927)
- 1878 – Georg Misch, German philosopher (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Paul Weinstein, German high jumper (d. 1964)
- 1879 – Arthur Berriedale Keith, Scottish lawyer (d. 1944)
- 1879 – Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien, German naval officer and author (d. 1956)
- 1880 – Eric Carlberg, Swedish Army officer, diplomat, shooter, fencer and modern pentathlete (d. 1963)
- 1880 – Vilhelm Carlberg, Swedish Army officer and shooter (d. 1970)
- 1882 – Song Jiaoren, Chinese revolutionary (d. 1913)
- 1882 – Natalia Sedova, 2nd wife of Leon Trotsky (d. 1962)
- 1883 – Walter Huston, Canadian-American actor and singer (d. 1950)
- 1884 – Ion Inculeț, Bessarabian academic and politician, President of Moldova (d. 1940)
- 1885 – Dimitrie Cuclin, Romanian composer (d. 1978)
- 1886 – Gotthelf Bergsträsser, German linguist (d. 1933)
- 1886 – Frederick Lindemann, British physicist (d. 1957)
- 1886 – Gustavo Jiménez, Peruvian colonel and politician, 73rd President of Peru (d. 1933)
- 1887 – William Cowhig, British gymnast (d. 1964)
- 1889 – Vicente Ferreira Pastinha, Brazilian martial artist (d. 1981)
- 1890 – Karl Kirk, Danish gymnast (d. 1955)
- 1890 – William Moore, British track and field athlete (d. 1956)
- 1891 – Arnold Jackson, English runner, soldier, and lawyer (d. 1972)
- 1891 – Laura Vicuña, Chilean nun (d. 1904)
- 1892 – Raymond Bonney, American ice hockey player (d. 1964)
- 1893 – Frithjof Andersen, Norwegian wrestler (d. 1975)
- 1893 – Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (d. 1973)
- 1894 – Lawrence Dale Bell, American industrialist and founder of Bell Aircraft Corporation (d. 1956)
- 1894 – Hans Hüttig, German SS officer (d. 1980)
- 1894 – Carl Rudolf Florin, Swedish botanist (d. 1965)
- 1895 – Mike O’Dowd, American boxer (d. 1957)
- 1896 – Einar Lundborg, Swedish aviator (d. 1931)
- 1897 – Hans Schuberth, German politician (d. 1976)
- 1899 – Alfred Blalock, American surgeon and academic (d. 1964)
- 1900 – Herbert Bayer, Austrian-American graphic designer, painter, and photographer (d. 1985)
- 1900 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrestler (d. 1928)
- 1900 – Spencer Tracy, American actor (d. 1967)
- 1901 – Curt Bois, German actor (d. 1991)
- 1901 – Chester Bowles, American diplomat and ambassador (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1901 – Doggie Julian, American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach (d. 1967)
- 1902 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Russian-American rabbi (d. 1994)
- 1903 – Marion Aye, American actress (d. 1951)
- 1904 – Richard Eberhart, American poet and academic (d. 2005)
- 1906 – Albert Charles Smith, American botanist (d. 1999)
- 1906 – Fernando Germani, Italian organist (d. 1998)
- 1906 – Ted Morgan, New Zealand boxer (d. 1952)
- 1907 – Sanya Dharmasakti, Thai jurist (d. 2002)
- 1908 – Bette Davis, American actress (d. 1989)
- 1908 – Kurt Neumann, German director (d. 1958)
- 1908 – Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1986)
- 1908 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor and manager (d. 1989)
- 1909 – Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer, co-founded Eon Productions (d. 1996)
- 1909 – Giacomo Gentilomo, Italian film director and painter (d. 2001)
- 1909 – Károly Sós, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1991)
- 1909 – Erwin Wegner, German hurdler (d. 1945)
- 1910 – Sven Andersson, Swedish politician (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Oronzo Pugliese, Italian football manager (d. 1990)
- 1911 – Hedi Amara Nouira, Tunisian politician (d. 1993)
- 1911 – Johnny Revolta, American golfer (d. 1991)
- 1912 – Jehan Buhan, French fencer (d. 1999)
- 1912 – Habib Elghanian, Iranian businessman (d. 1979)
- 1912 – Antonio Ferri, Italian scientist (d. 1975)
- 1912 – Carlos Guastavino, Argentine composer (d. 2000)
- 1912 – Makar Honcharenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 1997)
- 1912 – John Le Mesurier, English actor (d. 1983)
- 1912 – István Örkény, Hungarian author and playwright (d. 1979)
- 1912 – Bill Roberts, English sprinter and soldier (d. 2001)
- 1913 – Antoni Clavé, Catalan artist (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Nicolas Grunitzky, 2nd President of Togo (d. 1969)
- 1913 – Ruth Smith, Faroese artist (d. 1958)
- 1914 – Felice Borel, Italian footballer (d. 1993)
- 1916 – Gregory Peck, American actor, political activist, and producer (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Robert Bloch, American author (d. 1994)
- 1917 – Frans Gommers, Belgian footballer (d. 1996)
- 1919 – Lester James Peries, Sri Lankan director, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2018)
- 1920 – Barend Biesheuvel, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2001)
- 1920 – Arthur Hailey, English-Canadian soldier and author (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Alfonso Thiele, Turkish-Italian race car driver (d. 1986)
- 1920 – John Willem Gran, Swedish bishop (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Christopher Hewett, English actor and theatre director (d. 2001)
- 1922 – Tom Finney, English footballer (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Harry Freedman, Polish-Canadian horn player, composer, and educator (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Andy Linden, American race car driver (d. 1987)
- 1922 – Gale Storm, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
- 1923 – Ernest Mandel, German-born Belgian Marxist economist, Trotskyist activist and theorist (d. 1995)
- 1923 – Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (d. 1995)
- 1923 – Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, Vietnamese general and politician, 5th President of South Vietnam (d. 2001)
- 1924 – Igor Borisov, Soviet rower (d. before 2005)
- 1925 – Janet Rowley, American human geneticist (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Pierre Nihant, Belgian cyclist (d. 1993)
- 1926 – Roger Corman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1926 – Liang Yusheng, Chinese writer (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Thanin Kraivichien, Thai lawyer and politician
- 1927 – Arne Hoel, Norwegian ski jumper (d. 2006)
- 1928 – Enzo Cannavale, Italian actor (d. 2011)
- 1928 – Tony Williams, American singer (d. 1992)
- 1929 – Hugo Claus, Belgian author, poet, and painter (d. 2008)
- 1929 – Ivar Giaever, Norwegian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1929 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor and producer (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Joe Meek, English songwriter and producer (d. 1967)
- 1929 – Mahmoud Mollaghasemi, Iranian wrestler
- 1930 – Mary Costa, American singer and actress
- 1930 – Pierre Lhomme, French director of photography (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Jack Clement, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Héctor Olivera, Argentine director, producer and screenwriter
- 1933 – Feridun Buğeker, Turkish footballer (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1933 – Barbara Holland, American author (d. 2010)
- 1933 – K. Kailasapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and academic (d. 1982)
- 1934 – John Carey, English author and critic
- 1934 – Roman Herzog, German lawyer and politician, 7th President of Germany (d. 2017)
- 1934 – Moise Safra, Brazilian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Banco Safra (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Stanley Turrentine, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2000)
- 1935 – Giovanni Cianfriglia, Italian actor
- 1935 – Peter Grant, English talent manager (d. 1995)
- 1935 – Donald Lynden-Bell, English astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Frank Schepke, German rower (d. 2017)
- 1936 – Ronnie Bucknum, American race car driver (d. 1992)
- 1936 – Glenn Jordan, American director and producer
- 1936 – Dragoljub Minić, Yugoslavian chess Grandmaster (d. 2005)
- 1937 – Joseph Lelyveld, American journalist and author
- 1937 – Jean-Pierre Petit, French scientist
- 1937 – Colin Powell, American general and politician, 65th United States Secretary of State
- 1937 – Andrzej Schinzel, Polish mathematician
- 1937 – Arie Selinger, Israeli volleyball player and manager
- 1937 – Juan Vicente Lezcano, Paraguayan footballer (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Colin Bland, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer (d. 2018)
- 1938 – Mal Colston, Australian educator and politician (d. 2003)
- 1938 – Nancy Holt, American sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Natalya Kustinskaya, Soviet actress (d. 2012)
- 1939 – Leka I, Crown Prince of Albania (d. 2011)
- 1939 – Crispian St. Peters, English singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas, Prime Minister of Yemen
- 1939 – Ronald White, American singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
- 1939 – David Winters, English-American actor, choreographer and producer (d. 2019)
- 1940 – Tommy Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1940 – Gilles Proulx, Canadian journalist, historian, and radio host
- 1941 – Michael Moriarty, American-Canadian actor
- 1941 – Dave Swarbrick, English singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 2016)
- 1942 – Allan Clarke, English singer-songwriter
- 1942 – Pascal Couchepin, Swiss politician
- 1942 – Juan Gisbert Sr., Spanish tennis player
- 1942 – Peter Greenaway, Welsh director and screenwriter
- 1943 – Dean Brown, Australian politician, 41st Premier of South Australia
- 1943 – Max Gail, American actor and director
- 1943 – Fighting Harada, Japanese boxer
- 1943 – Miet Smet, Belgian politician
- 1943 – Jean-Louis Tauran, French cardinal (d. 2018)
- 1944 – Willeke van Ammelrooy, Dutch actress and director
- 1944 – János Martonyi, Hungarian politician
- 1944 – Evan Parker, British musician
- 1944 – Douangchay Phichit, Laotian politician (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Willy Planckaert, Belgian cyclist
- 1944 – Pedro Rosselló, Puerto Rican physician and politician, 7th Governor of Puerto Rico
- 1944 – Peter T. King, American soldier, lawyer, and politician
- 1945 – Ove Bengtson, Swedish tennis player
- 1945 – Steve Carver, American director and producer
- 1945 – Cem Karaca, Turkish musician (d. 2004)
- 1945 – Tommy Smith, English footballer (d. 2019)
- 1946 – Jane Asher, English actress
- 1946 – Julio Ángel Fernández, Uruguayan astronomer
- 1946 – Björn Granath, Swedish actor (d. 2017)
- 1946 – Georgi Markov, Bulgarian Greco-Roman wrestler
- 1947 – Đurđica Bjedov, Yugoslav swimmer
- 1947 – Willy Chirino, Cuban-American musician
- 1947 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Filipino academic and politician, 14th President of the Philippines
- 1947 – Ramón Mifflin, Peruvian footballer
- 1947 – Virendra Sharma, Indian-English lawyer and politician
- 1948 – Pierre-Albert Chapuisat, Swiss footballer
- 1948 – Dave Holland, English drummer (d. 2018)
- 1948 – Roy McFarland, English footballer and manager
- 1949 – Stanley Dziedzic, American wrestler
- 1949 – Larry Franco, American film producer
- 1949 – Judith Resnik, Ukrainian-American engineer and astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1950 – Ann C. Crispin, American writer (d. 2013)
- 1950 – Franklin Chang Díaz, Costa Rican-Chinese American astronaut and physicist
- 1950 – Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
- 1950 – Toshiko Fujita, Japanese actress, singer and narrator (d. 2018)
- 1950 – Miki Manojlović, Serbian actor
- 1951 – Les Binks, Irish drummer and songwriter
- 1951 – Yevgeniy Gavrilenko, Belarusian hurdler
- 1951 – Nedim Gürsel, Turkish writer
- 1951 – Dean Kamen, American inventor and businessman, founded Segway Inc.
- 1951 – Dave McArtney, New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
- 1951 – Ubol Ratana, Thai Princess
- 1952 – Alfie Conn, Scottish international footballer, midfielder
- 1952 – John C. Dvorak, American author and editor
- 1952 – Sandy Mayer, American tennis player
- 1952 – Dennis Mortimer, English footballer
- 1952 – Mitch Pileggi, American actor
- 1953 – Frank Gaffney, American journalist and radio host
- 1953 – Keiko Han, Japanese actress
- 1953 – Tae Jin-ah, South Korean singer
- 1953 – Raleb Majadele, Israeli politician
- 1953 – Ian Swales, English accountant and politician
- 1954 – Guy Bertrand, Canadian linguist and radio host
- 1954 – Peter Case, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Mohamed Ben Mouza, Tunisian footballer
- 1954 – Stan Ridgway, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Yoshiichi Watanabe, Japanese footballer
- 1955 – Charlotte de Turckheim, French actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1955 – Ricardo Ferrero, Argentine footballer (d. 2015)
- 1955 – Christian Gourcuff, French footballer and manager
- 1955 – Anthony Horowitz, English author and screenwriter
- 1955 – Bernard Longley, English prelate
- 1955 – Akira Toriyama, Japanese illustrator
- 1955 – Takayoshi Yamano, Japanese footballer
- 1956 – Diamond Dallas Page, American wrestler and actor
- 1956 – Leonid Fedun, Russian businessman
- 1956 – Reid Ribble, American politician
- 1957 – Sebastian Adayanthrath, Indian bishop
- 1957 – Karin Roßley, German hurdler
- 1958 – Henrik Dettmann, Finnish basketball coach
- 1958 – Ryoichi Kawakatsu, Japanese footballer
- 1958 – Johan Kriek, South African-American tennis player
- 1958 – Daniel Schneidermann, French journalist
- 1958 – Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan lawyer and journalist (d. 2009)
- 1959 – Paul Chung, Hong Kong actor and host (d. 1989)
- 1960 – Asteris Koutoulas, Romanian-German record producer, manager, and author
- 1960 – Larry McCray, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Ian Redford, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
- 1960 – Hiromi Taniguchi, Japanese long-distance runner
- 1960 – Adnan Terzić, Bosnian politician
- 1961 – Andrea Arnold, English filmmaker and actress
- 1961 – Anna Caterina Antonacci, Italian soprano
- 1961 – Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Bahraini-Danish human rights activist
- 1961 – Lisa Zane, American actress and singer
- 1962 – Lana Clarkson, American actress and model (d. 2003)
- 1962 – Sara Danius, Swedish scholar of literature and aesthetics
- 1962 – Richard Gough, Swedish born Scottish international footballer
- 1962 – Arild Monsen, Norwegian cross-country skier
- 1962 – Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Russian businessman and politician, 1st President of Kalmykia
- 1963 – Arthur Adams, American comic book artist and writer
- 1964 – Neil Eckersley, British judoka
- 1964 – Vakhtang Iagorashvili, Soviet modern pentathlete
- 1964 – Levon Julfalakyan, Soviet Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler
- 1964 – Marius Lăcătuș, Romanian footballer and coach
- 1965 – Aykut Kocaman, Turkish footballer and manager
- 1965 – Lang Tzu-yun, Taiwanese actress
- 1965 – Elizabeth McIntyre, American freestyle skier
- 1965 – Svetlana Paramygina, Belarusian biathlete
- 1966 – Yoon Hyun, South Korean judoka
- 1966 – Mike McCready, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1967 – Troy Gentry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
- 1967 – Franck Silvestre, French footballer
- 1967 – Erland Johnsen, Norwegian footballer
- 1967 – Laima Zilporytė, Soviet cyclist
- 1968 – Paula Cole, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1969 – Dinos Angelidis, Greek basketball player
- 1969 – Viatcheslav Djavanian, Russian cyclist
- 1969 – Pontus Kåmark, Swedish footballer
- 1969 – Pavlo Khnykin, Ukrainian swimmer
- 1969 – Tomislav Piplica, Bosnian footballer and manager
- 1969 – Ravindra Prabhat, Indian writer and journalist
- 1970 – Soheil Ayari, French race car driver
- 1970 – Valérie Bonneton, French actress
- 1970 – Diamond D, American hip hop producer
- 1970 – Petar Genov, Bulgarian chess grandmaster
- 1970 – Thea Gill, Canadian actress
- 1970 – Miho Hatori, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Irina Timofeyeva, Russian long-distance runner
- 1971 – Dong Abay, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1971 – Austin Berry, Costa Rican footballer
- 1971 – Simona Cavallari, Italian actress
- 1971 – Victoria Hamilton, English actress
- 1971 – Nelson Parraguez, Chilean footballer
- 1971 – Kim Soo-nyung, South Korean archer
- 1972 – Krista Allen, American actress
- 1972 – Nima Arkani-Hamed, American-Canadian theoretical physicist
- 1972 – Tom Coronel, Dutch race car driver
- 1972 – Paul Okon, Australian footballer and manager
- 1972 – Yasuhiro Takemoto, Japanese animator and director (d. 2019)
- 1972 – Junko Takeuchi, Japanese actress
- 1973 – Élodie Bouchez, French-American actress
- 1973 – Lidia Trettel, Italian snowboarder
- 1973 – Pharrell Williams, American singer, songwriter and rapper
- 1974 – Sandra Bagarić, Croatian opera singer and actress
- 1974 – Julien Boutter, French tennis player
- 1974 – Katja Holanti, Finnish biathlete
- 1974 – Oleg Khodkov, Russian handball player
- 1974 – Ariel López, Argentine footballer
- 1974 – Lukas Ridgeston, Slovak actor and director
- 1974 – Vyacheslav Voronin, Russian high jumper
- 1975 – Sarah Baldock, English organist and conductor
- 1975 – John Hartson, Welsh footballer and coach
- 1975 – Juicy J, American rapper and producer
- 1975 – Serhiy Klymentiev, Ukrainian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Caitlin Moran, English journalist, author, and critic
- 1975 – Marcos Vales, Spanish footballer
- 1975 – Shammond Williams, American basketball player and coach
- 1976 – Luis de Agustini, Uruguayan footballer
- 1976 – Péter Biros, Hungarian water polo player
- 1976 – Sterling K. Brown, American actor
- 1976 – Aleksei Budõlin, Estonian judoka
- 1976 – Simone Inzaghi, Italian footballer
- 1976 – Fernando Morientes, Spanish footballer and coach
- 1976 – Natascha Ragosina, Russian boxer
- 1976 – Henrik Stenson, Swedish golfer
- 1976 – Valeria Straneo, Italian long-distance runner
- 1976 – Indrek Tobreluts, Estonian biathlete
- 1976 – Anouska van der Zee, Dutch cyclist
- 1977 – Jonathan Erlich, Israeli tennis player
- 1977 – Trevor Letowski, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1977 – Daniel Majstorović, Swedish footballer
- 1978 – Dwain Chambers, British track sprinter
- 1978 – Marcone Amaral Costa, Qatari footballer
- 1978 – Tarek El-Said, Egyptian footballer
- 1978 – Jairo Patiño, Colombian footballer
- 1978 – Sohyang, South Korean singer
- 1978 – Stephen Jackson, American basketball player
- 1978 – Arnaud Tournant, French cyclist
- 1978 – Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
- 1978 – Günther Weidlinger, Austrian long-distance runner
- 1979 – Vlada Avramov, Serbian footballer
- 1979 – Josh Boone, American screenwriter and director
- 1979 – Song Dae-nam, South Korean judoka
- 1979 – Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
- 1979 – Imany, French singer
- 1979 – Barel Mouko, Congolese footballer
- 1979 – Cesare Natali, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Mitsuo Ogasawara, Japanese footballer
- 1979 – Alexander Resch, German luger
- 1979 – Andrius Velička, Lithuanian footballer
- 1979 – Dante Wesley, American football player
- 1979 – Chen Yanqing, Chinese weightlifter
- 1980 – Matt Bonner, American basketball player
- 1980 – Alberta Brianti, Italian tennis player
- 1980 – Rafael Cavalcante, Brazilian mixed martial artist
- 1980 – David Chocarro, Argentinian baseball player and actor
- 1980 – Mike Glumac, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Mario Kasun, Croatian basketball player
- 1980 – Lee Jae-won, South Korean DJ and singer
- 1980 – Joris Mathijsen, Dutch footballer
- 1980 – Rasmus Quist Hansen, Danish rower
- 1980 – Odlanier Solís, Cuban boxer
- 1981 – Matthew Emmons, American rifle shooter
- 1981 – Michael A. Monsoor, American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
- 1981 – Mariqueen Maandig, Filipino-American musician and singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Daba Modibo Keïta, Malian taekwondo athlete
- 1981 – Marissa Nadler, American musician
- 1981 – Tom Riley, English actor and producer
- 1981 – Mompati Thuma, Botswana footballer
- 1981 – Pieter Weening, Dutch cyclist
- 1982 – Hayley Atwell, English-American actress
- 1982 – Matheus Coradini Vivian, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Thomas Hitzlsperger, German footballer
- 1982 – Kelly Pavlik, American boxer
- 1982 – Matt Pickens, American soccer player
- 1982 – Alexandre Prémat, French race car driver
- 1982 – Danylo Sapunov, Ukrainian-Kazakhstani triathlete
- 1982 – Hubert Schwab, Swiss cyclist
- 1982 – Marcel Seip, Dutch former footballer
- 1983 – Jaime Castrillón, Colombian footballer
- 1983 – Jorge Andrés Martínez, Uruguayan footballer
- 1983 – Brock Radunske, Canadian-South Korean ice hockey player
- 1983 – Yohann Sangaré, French basketball player
- 1983 – Cécile Storti, French cross-country skier
- 1983 – Shikha Uberoi, Indian-American tennis player
- 1984 – Marshall Allman, American actor
- 1984 – Aram Mp3, Armenian singer and comedian
- 1984 – Rune Brattsveen, Norwegian biathlete
- 1984 – Alexei Glukhov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Maartje Goderie, Dutch field hockey player
- 1984 – Darija Jurak, Croatian tennis player
- 1984 – Dejan Kelhar, Slovenian footballer
- 1984 – Dmitry Kozonchuk, Russian cyclist
- 1984 – Shin Min-a, South Korean actress
- 1984 – Jess Sum, Hong Kong actress
- 1984 – Peter Penz, Austrian luger
- 1984 – Samuele Preisig, Swiss footballer
- 1984 – Cristian Săpunaru, Romanian footballer
- 1984 – Fabio Vitaioli, San Marinese footballer
- 1984 – Kisho Yano, Japanese footballer
- 1984 – Saba Qamar, Pakistani actress-model
- 1985 – Daniel Congré, French footballer
- 1985 – Erwin l’Ami, Dutch chess player
- 1985 – Jolanda Keizer, Dutch heptathlete
- 1985 – Sergey Khachatryan, Armenian violinist
- 1985 – Linas Pilibaitis, Lithuanian footballer
- 1985 – Jan Smeets, Dutch chess grandmaster
- 1985 – Kristof Vandewalle, Belgian cyclist
- 1986 – Anna Sophia Berglund, American model and actress
- 1986 – Anzor Boltukayev, Chechen wrestler
- 1986 – Diego Chará, Colombian footballer
- 1986 – Charlotte Flair, American wrestler, author and actress
- 1986 – Róbert Kasza, Hungarian Modern pentathlete
- 1986 – Eetu Muinonen, Finnish footballer
- 1986 – Manuel Ruz, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Albert Selimov, Azerbaijani boxer
- 1987 – Max Grün, German footballer
- 1987 – Balázs Hárai, Hungarian water polo player
- 1987 – Anton Kokorin, Russian sprint athlete
- 1987 – Fyodor Kudryashov, Russian footballer
- 1987 – Etiënne Reijnen, Dutch footballer
- 1988 – Gerson Acevedo, Chilean footballer
- 1988 – Teresa Almeida, Angolan handball player
- 1988 – Quade Cooper, New Zealand rugby player and boxer
- 1988 – Jonathan Davies, Welsh rugby union player
- 1988 – Gevorg Ghazaryan, Armenian footballer
- 1988 – Alisha Glass, American ex-indoor volleyball player
- 1988 – Vurğun Hüseynov, Azerbaijani footballer
- 1988 – Matthias Jaissle, German footballer and manager
- 1988 – Jon Kwang-ik, North Korean footballer
- 1988 – Christopher Papamichalopoulos, Cypriot skier
- 1988 – Zack Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Pape Sy, French basketball player
- 1988 – Alexey Volkov, Russian biathlete
- 1989 – Kader Amadou, Nigerien footballer
- 1989 – Yémi Apithy, Beninese fencer
- 1989 – Liemarvin Bonevacia, Dutch sprinter
- 1989 – Freddie Fox, English actor
- 1989 – Emre Güral, Turkish footballer
- 1989 – Justin Holiday, American basketball player
- 1989 – Rachel Homan, Canadian curler
- 1989 – Lily James, English actress
- 1989 – Trevor Marsicano, American speed skater
- 1989 – Jonathan Rossini, Swiss footballer
- 1989 – Kiki Sukezane, Japanese actress
- 1989 – Sosuke Takatani, Japanese wrestler
- 1990 – Alex Cuthbert, Welsh rugby player
- 1990 – Amer Said Al-Shatri, Omani footballer
- 1990 – Fredy Hinestroza, Colombian footballer
- 1990 – Chen Huijia, Chinese swimmer
- 1990 – Haruma Miura, Japanese actor and singer
- 1990 – Ismaeel Mohammad, Qatari footballer
- 1990 – Iryna Pamialova, Belarusian canoeist
- 1990 – Jakub Sedláček, Czech ice hockey player
- 1990 – Sercan Yıldırım, Turkish footballer
- 1990 – Género Zeefuik, Dutch footballer
- 1991 – Yassine Bounou, Moroccan footballer
- 1991 – Nathaniel Clyne, English footballer
- 1991 – Adriano Grimaldi, Italian-German footballer
- 1991 – Joël Mall, Swiss footballer
- 1991 – Guilherme dos Santos Torres, Brazilian footballer
- 1992 – Emmalyn Estrada, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1992 – Shintaro Kurumaya, Japanese footballer
- 1992 – Kaveh Rezaei, Iranian footballer
- 1992 – Dmytro Ryzhuk, Ukrainian footballer
- 1993 – Andreas Bouchalakis, Greek footballer
- 1993 – Maya DiRado, American swimmer
- 1993 – Laura Feiersinger, Austrian footballer
- 1993 – Scottie Wilbekin, American-born naturalized Turkish basketball player
- 1994 – Mateusz Bieniek, Polish volleyball player
- 1994 – Edem Rjaïbi, Tunisian footballer
- 1994 – Richard Sánchez, Mexican footballer
- 1995 – Viliame Kikau, Fijian rugby league player
- 1995 – Sei Muroya, Japanese footballer
- 1995 – Gleb Rassadkin, Belarusian footballer
- 1995 – Sebastian Starke Hedlund, Swedish footballer
- 1996 – Nicolas Beer, Danish race car driver
- 1996 – Raouf Benguit, Algerian footballer
- 1997 – Borja Mayoral, Spanish footballer
- 1998 – Jeremy Olson
- 1999 – Andrea Buwalda
- 2000 – Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Indian actor
- 2001 – Thylane Blondeau, French model and actress
Deaths on April 5
- 517 – Timothy I, Byzantine patriarch
- 582 – Eutychius, Byzantine patriarch
- 584 – Ruadán of Lorrha, Irish abbot
- 828 – Nikephoros I, Byzantine patriarch
- 902 – Al-Mu’tadid, Abbasid caliph
- 1168 – Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1104)
- 1183 – Ramon Berenguer III, Spanish count of Cerdanya and Provence
- 1205 – Isabella I of Jerusalem, queen regent of Jerusalem (b. 1172)
- 1258 – Juliana of Liège, Belgian canoness and saint
- 1308 – Ivan Kőszegi, Hungarian baron and oligarch
- 1325 – Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron of Monthermer and Earl of Gloucester (b. c.1270)
- 1419 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1350)
- 1431 – Bernard I, margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1364)
- 1512 – Lazzaro Bastiani, Italian painter (b. 1429)
- 1534 – Jan Matthys, Dutch anabaptist reformer
- 1594 – Catherine of Palma, Spanish nun (b. 1533)
- 1617 – Alonso Lobo, Spanish composer (b. 1555)
- 1626 – Anna Koltovskaya, Russian tsarina
- 1673 – François Caron, Belgian-French explorer and politician, 8th Governor of Formosa (b. 1600)
- 1674 – George Frederick, prince of Nassau-Siegen (b. 1606)
- 1679 – Anne Geneviève de Bourbon, French princess (b. 1619)
- 1684 – William Brouncker, English mathematician (b. 1620)
- 1684 – Karl Eusebius, prince of Liechtenstein (b. 1611)
- 1693 – Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, French noblewoman (b. 1627)
- 1693 – Philip William August, German nobleman (b. 1668)
- 1695 – George Savile, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1633)
- 1697 – Charles XI, king of Sweden (b. 1655)
- 1704 – Christian Ulrich I, German nobleman and Duke of Württemberg-Oels (b. 1652)
- 1708 – Christian Heinrich, German prince and member of the House of Hohenzollern (b. 1661)
- 1709 – Roger de Piles, French painter, engraver, art critic and diplomat (b. 1635)
- 1712 – Jan Luyken, Dutch poet, illustrator and engraver (b. 1649)
- 1717 – Jean Jouvenet, French painter (b. 1647)
- 1723 – Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Austrian architect, sculptor and historian (b. 1656)
- 1735 – William Derham, English minister and philosopher (b. 1657)
- 1751 – Frederick I, prince consort and king of Sweden (b. 1676)
- 1765 – Edward Young, English poet and author (b. 1683)
- 1767 – Princess Charlotte Wilhelmine of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, German princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1685)
- 1768 – Egidio Forcellini, Italian philologist (b. 1688)
- 1769 – Marc-Antoine Laugier, Jesuit priest (b. 1713)
- 1794 – Georges Danton, French lawyer and politician, French Minister of Justice (b. 1759)
- 1794 – François Chabot, French politician (b. 1756)
- 1794 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1760)
- 1794 – Fabre d’Églantine, French actor, dramatist, poet and politician (b. 1750)
- 1794 – Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles, French judge and politician (b. 1759)
- 1794 – Pierre Philippeaux, French lawyer (b. 1754)
- 1794 – François Joseph Westermann, French general (b. 1751)
- 1799 – Johann Christoph Gatterer, German historian (b. 1727)
- 1804 – Jean-Charles Pichegru, French general (b. 1761)
- 1808 – Johann Georg Wille, German engraver (b. 1715)
- 1830 – Richard Chenevix, Irish chemist and playwright (b. 1774)
- 1831 – Pierre Léonard Vander Linden, Belgian entomologist (b. 1797)
- 1842 – Shah Shujah Durrani, 5th Emir of Afghanistan (b. 1785)
- 1852 – Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, (b. 1800)
- 1861 – Ferdinand Joachimsthal, German mathematician (b. 1818)
- 1862 – Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Dutch artist (b. 1803)
- 1865 – Manfredo Fanti, Italian general (b. 1806)
- 1866 – Thomas Hodgkin, British physician (b. 1798)
- 1868 – Karel Purkyně, Czech painter (b. 1834)
- 1871 – Paolo Savi, Italian geologist and ornithologist (b. 1798)
- 1872 – Paul-Auguste-Ernest Laugier, French astronomer (b. 1812)
- 1873 – Milivoje Blaznavac, Serbian soldier and politician (b. 1824)
- 1882 – Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play, (b. 1806)
- 1888 – Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
- 1891 – Johann Hermann Bauer, (b. 1861)
- 1900 – Joseph Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (b. 1822)
- 1900 – Osman Nuri Pasha, Ottoman field marshal and the hero of the Siege of Plevna in 1877 (b. 1832)
- 1901 – Angelo Messedaglia, Italian social scientist and statistician (b. 1820)
- 1902 – Hans Ernst August Buchner, German bacteriologist (b. 1850)
- 1904 – Ernst Leopold, 4th Prince of Leiningen (b. 1830)
- 1904 – Frances Power Cobbe, Irish writer (b. 1822)
- 1906 – Eastman Johnson, American painter (b. 1824)
- 1914 – Bernard Borggreve, German forestry scientist (b. 1836)
- 1916 – Maksim Kovalevsky, Russian sociologist (b. 1851)
- 1918 – George Tupou II, King of Tonga (b. 1874)
- 1918 – Paul Vidal de La Blache, French geographer (b. 1845)
- 1920 – Laurent Marqueste, French sculptor (b. 1848)
- 1921 – Alphons Diepenbrock, Dutch composer (b. 1862)
- 1921 – Sophie Elkan, Swedish-Jewish writer and translator (b. 1853)
- 1923 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English archaeologist and businessman (b. 1866)
- 1924 – Victor Hensen, German zoologist (b. 1835)
- 1928 – Roy Kilner, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1890)
- 1928 – Viktor Oliva, Czech painter and illustrator (b. 1861)
- 1929 – Francis Aidan Gasquet, English Benedictine monk (b. 1846)
- 1929 – Ludwig von Sybel, German archeologist (b. 1846)
- 1932 – María Blanchard, Spanish painter (b. 1881)
- 1933 – Earl Derr Biggers, American novelist and playwright (b. 1884)
- 1933 – Hjalmar Mellin, Finnish mathematician and functional theorist (b. 1854)
- 1934 – Salvatore Di Giacomo, Italian poet, playwright, songwriter and fascist intellectual (b. 1860)
- 1934 – Jiro Sato, Japanese tennis player (b. 1908)
- 1935 – Achille Locatelli, Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1856)
- 1935 – Emil Młynarski, Polish conductor, violinist, composer, and pedagogue (b. 1870)
- 1935 – Franz von Vecsey, Hungarian violinist and composer (b. 1893)
- 1936 – Chandler Egan, American golfer and architect (b. 1884)
- 1937 – Gustav Adolf Deissmann, (b. 1866)
- 1937 – José Benlliure y Gil, Spanish painter (b. 1858)
- 1938 – Helena Westermarck, Finnish artist and writer (b. 1857)
- 1938 – Verner Lehtimäki, Finnish revolutionary (b. 1890)
- 1940 – Charles Freer Andrews, English-Indian priest, missionary, and educator (b. 1871)
- 1940 – Robert Maillart, Swiss civil engineer (b. 1872)
- 1940 – Jay O’Brien, American bobsledder (b. 1883)
- 1940 – Song Zheyuan, Chinese general (b. 1885)
- 1941 – Parvin E’tesami, Persian poet (b. 1907)
- 1941 – Nigel Gresley, Scottish-English engineer (b. 1876)
- 1941 – Franciszek Kleeberg, Polish general (b. 1888)
- 1945 – Heinrich Borgmann, German officer (b. 1912)
- 1945 – Karl-Otto Koch, German SS officer (b. 1897)
- 1946 – Vincent Youmans, American composer and producer (b. 1898)
- 1947 – Bernhard Pankok, German painter, artist and architect (b. 1872)
- 1947 – Elis Strömgren, Swedish-Danish astronomer (b. 1870)
- 1948 – Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, American socialite and philanthropist (b. 1874)
- 1949 – Erich Zeigner, Prime Minister of Saxony (b. 1886)
- 1950 – Hiroshi Yoshida, Japanese painter (b. 1876)
- 1952 – Agnes Morton, British tennis player (b.
- 1954 – Princess Märtha of Sweden, (b. 1901)
- 1954 – Claude Delvincourt, French pianist and composer (b. 1888)
- 1956 – William Titt, British gymnast (b. 1881)
- 1958 – Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, (b. 1884)
- 1958 – Ásgrímur Jónsson, Icelandic painter (b. 1876)
- 1958 – Isidora Sekulić, Serbian writer (b. 1877)
- 1961 – Nikolai Kryukov, Russian composer (b. 1908)
- 1962 – Boo Kullberg, Swedish gymnast (b. 1889)
- 1963 – Jacobus Oud, Dutch architect (b. 1890)
- 1964 – James Chapin, American ornithologist (b. 1889)
- 1964 – Aloïse Corbaz, Swiss artist (b. 1886)
- 1964 – Douglas MacArthur, American general (b. 1880)
- 1965 – Pedro Sernagiotto, Italian-Brazilian footballer (b. 1908)
- 1965 – Sándor Szalay, Hungarian figure skater (b. 1893)
- 1967 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (b. 1891)
- 1967 – Johan Falkberget, Norwegian author (b. 1879)
- 1967 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
- 1967 – Herbert Johnston, British runner (b. 1902)
- 1968 – Félix Couchoro, Togolese writer (b. 1900)
- 1968 – Lajos Csordás, Hungarian footballer
- 1968 – Giuseppe Paris, Italian gymnast (b. 1895)
- 1969 – Alberto Bonucci, Italian actor and director (b. 1918)
- 1969 – Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan novelist and politician (b. 1917)
- 1969 – Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian SS officer (b. 1903)
- 1970 – Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist (b. 1877)
- 1970 – Alfred Sturtevant, American geneticist and academic (b. 1891)
- 1970 – Karl von Spreti, German diplomat (b. 1907)
- 1971 – José Cubiles, Spanish pianist and conductor (b. 1894)
- 1972 – Brian Donlevy, American actor and producer (b. 1901)
- 1973 – David Murray, British race car driver (b. 1909)
- 1973 – Isabel Jewell, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
- 1973 – Alla Tarasova, Russian ballerina (b. l898)
- 1974 – Bino Bini, Italian fencer (b. 1900)
- 1974 – A. Y. Jackson, Canadian painter (b. 1882)
- 1975 – Tell Berna, American middle and long-distance runner (b. 1891)
- 1975 – Victor Marijnen, Dutch politician (b. 1917)
- 1975 – Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese general and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1887)
- 1975 – Harold Osborn, American track and fielder (b. 1899)
- 1976 – Howard Hughes, American pilot, engineer, and director (b. 1905)
- 1976 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian surgeon and academic (b. 1891)
- 1976 – Harry Wyld, British cyclist (b. 1900)
- 1977 – Carlos Prío Socarrás, President of Cuba, (b. 1903)
- 1977 – Yuri Zavadsky, Russian actor and director (b. 1894)
- 1981 – Émile Hanse, Belgian footballer (b. 1892)
- 1981 – Bob Hite, American singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
- 1981 – Pinchus Kremegne, French artist (b. 1890)
- 1982 – Abe Fortas, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1910)
- 1984 – Hans Lunding, Danish military officer (b. 1899)
- 1984 – Giuseppe Tucci, Italian scholar of oriental cultures (b. 1894)
- 1986 – Manly Wade Wellman, American writer (b. 1903)
- 1987 – Leabua Jonathan, 2nd Prime Minister of Lesotho (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Alf Kjellin, Swedish actor and director (b. 1920)
- 1989 – Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (b. 1895)
- 1989 – Karel Zeman, Czech director, artist, production designer and animator (b. 1910)
- 1991 – Sonny Carter, American soccer player, physician, and astronaut (b. 1947)
- 1991 – Jay Miller, American basketball player (b. 1943)
- 1991 – Jiří Mucha, Czech journalist, writer and screenwriter (b. 1915)
- 1991 – William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L’Isle (b. 1909)
- 1991 – John Tower, American soldier, academic, and politician (b. 1925)
- 1992 – Takeshi Inoue, Japanese footballer (b. 1928)
- 1992 – Molly Picon, American actress (b. 1898)
- 1992 – Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam’s Club (b. 1918)
- 1993 – Divya Bharti, Indian actress (b. 1974)
- 1994 – Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1967)
- 1995 – Nicolaas Cortlever, Dutch chess player (b. 1915)
- 1995 – Emilio Greco, Italian sculptor and engraver (b. 1913)
- 1995 – Christian Pineau, French Resistance fighter (b. 1904)
- 1996 – Charlene Holt, American actress (b. 1928)
- 1997 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
- 1998 – Frederick Charles Frank, British theoretical physicist (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Cozy Powell, English drummer (b. 1947)
- 1999 – Giulio Einaudi, Italian book publisher (b. 1912)
- 2000 – Heinrich Müller, Austrian footballer (b. 1909)
- 2000 – Lee Petty, American race car driver (b. 1914)
- 2001 – Aldo Olivieri, Italian footballer (b. 1910)
- 2002 – Layne Staley, American singer-songwriter (b. 1967)
- 2002 – Kim Won-gyun, North Korean composer and politician (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Keizo Morishita, Japanese painter (b. 1944)
- 2004 – Fernand Goyvaerts, Belgian footballer (b. 1938)
- 2004 – Sławomir Rawicz, Polish lieutenant (b. 1915)
- 2004 – Heiner Zieschang, German mathematician and academic (b. 1936)
- 2005 – Saul Bellow, Canadian-American novelist, essayist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Robert Borg, American military officer and equestrian (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Chung Nam-sik, South Korean footballer (b. 1917)
- 2006 – Allan Kaprow, American painter and educator (b. 1927)
- 2006 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
- 2006 – Yevgeny Seredin, Russian swimmer (b. 1958)
- 2006 – Pasquale Macchi, Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Maria Gripe, Swedish journalist and author (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Leela Majumdar, Indian author and academic (b. 1908)
- 2007 – Werner Maser, German historian and journalist (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (b. 1956)
- 2007 – Thomas Stoltz Harvey, American pathologist (b. 1912)
- 2008 – Charlton Heston, American actor, director, and political activist (b. 1923)
- 2009 – I. J. Good, British mathematician (b. 1916)
- 2010 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Soviet cosmonaut and engineer (b. 1935)
- 2011 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician and geneticist (b. 1925)
- 2011 – Ange-Félix Patassé, Central African politician (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, German designer (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Pedro Bartolomé Benoit, Dominican Republican politician military officer
- 2012 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Barney McKenna, Irish musician (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawian economist and politician, 3rd President of Malawi (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Regina Bianchi, Italian actress (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Piero de Palma, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Alan Davie, Scottish saxophonist and painter (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Mariano Díaz, Spanish cyclist (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (b. 1927)
- 2014 – John Pinette, American comedian (b. 1964)
- 2014 – José Wilker, Brazilian actor, director, and producer (b. 1947)
- 2015 – Fredric Brandt, American dermatologist and author (b. 1949)
- 2015 – Juan Carlos Cáceres, Argentinian singer and pianist (b. 1936)
- 2016 – Koço Kasapoğlu, Turkish footballer (b. 1936)
- 2017 – Attilio Benfatto, Italian cyclist (b. 1943)
- 2017 – Arthur Bisguier, American chess Grandmaster (b. 1929)
- 2017 – Paul G. Comba, Italian-American computer scientist and astronomer (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Makoto Ōoka, Japanese poet and literary critic (b. 1931)
- 2017 – Paul O’Neill, American rock composer and producer (b. 1956)
- 2017 – Tim Parnell, British race car driver (b. 1932)
- 2017 – Memè Perlini, Italian actor and director (b. 1947)
- 2017 – Atanase Sciotnic, Romanian sprint canoeist (b. 1942)
- 2017 – Ilkka Sinisalo, Finnish ice hockey player (b. 1958)
- 2018 – Isao Takahata, Japanese director (b. 1935)
- 2019 – Sydney Brenner, South African biologist (b. 1927)[16]
Holidays and observances on April 5
- Christian feast day:
- Albert of Montecorvino
- Derfel Gadarn
- Æthelburh of Kent
- Gerald of Sauve-Majeure
- Juliana of Liège
- Maria Crescentia Höss
- Blessed Mariano de la Mata
- Pandita Mary Ramabai (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Ruadhán of Lorrha
- Vincent Ferrer
- April 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Cold Food Festival, held on April 4 if it is a leap year (China); and its related observances:
- Earliest day on which Sham el-Nessim can fall, while May 9 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after the Orthodox Easter (Egypt)
- Children’s Day (Palestinian territories)
- Sikmogil (South Korea)
- National Maritime Day is observed in India, in commemoration of the first voyage of SS Loyalty of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd. in 1919.