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May 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.
715 – Pope Gregory II is elected.
1051 – Henry I of France marries the Russian princess, Anne of Kiev.
1445 – John II of Castile defeats the Infantes of Aragon at the First Battle of Olmedo.
1499 – Catherine of Aragon is married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12.
1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona’s two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).
1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.
1542 – The Prome Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in present-day Myanmar.
1568 – Queen Elizabeth I of England orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.
1643 – Thirty Years’ War: French forces under the duc d’Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
1649 – An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
1655 – The Invasion of Jamaica begins during the Anglo-Spanish War.
1743 – Jean-Pierre Christin developed the centigrade temperature scale.
1749 – King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison surrenders in the Battle of The Cedars.
1780 – New England’s Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada.
1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Legion of Honour.
1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.
1845 – Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.
1848 – Mexican–American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.
1911 – Parks Canada, the world’s first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
1917 – The Norwegian football club Rosenborg BK is founded.
1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence.
1921 – The United States Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.
1922 – The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union is established.
1934 – Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d’état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
1942 – World War II: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 16 heads to Pearl Harbor.
1950 – A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.
1950 – Egypt announces that the Suez Canal is closed to Israeli ships and commerce.
1959 – The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
1961 – Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
1961 – At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement.
1962 – A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe’s rendition of “Happy Birthday”.
1963 – The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.
1971 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
1986 – The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
1991 – Croatians vote for independence in a referendum.
1997 – The Sierra Gorda biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts.
2007 – President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.
2010 – The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders.
2012 – Three gas cylinder bombs explode in front of a vocational school in the Italian city of Brindisi, killing one person and injuring five others.
2012 – A car bomb explodes near a military complex in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, killing nine people.
2015 – The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast.
2016 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo, killing all on board.
2018 – The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.

Births on May 19

1400 – John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton, English soldier and politician (d. 1462)
1462 – Baccio D’Agnolo, Italian woodcarver, sculptor and architect (d. 1543)
1476 (or 1474) – Helena of Moscow, Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania and Queen consort of Poland (d. 1513)
1593 – Claude Vignon, French painter (d. 1670)
1616 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (d. 1667)
1639 – Charles Weston, 3rd Earl of Portland, English soldier and noble (d. 1665)
1700 – José de Escandón, 1st Count of Sierra Gorda, Spanish sergeant and politician (d. 1770)
1724 – Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, English admiral and politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (d. 1779)
1744 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, German-born Queen to George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1818)
1762 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher and academic (d. 1814)
1773 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (d. 1854)
1795 – Johns Hopkins, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1873)
1827 – Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French academic and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1896)
1832 – James Watney, Jr., English politician, brewer and cricketer (d. 1886)
1857 – John Jacob Abel, American biochemist and pharmacologist (d. 1938)
1861 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano and actress (d. 1931)
1871 – Walter Russell, American painter, sculptor, and author (d. 1963)
1874 – Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1955)
1878 – Alfred Laliberté, Canadian sculptor and painter (d. 1953)
1879 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (d. 1964)
1880 – Albert Richardson, English architect and educator, designed the Manchester Opera House (d. 1964)
1881 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (official birthday), Turkish field marshal and statesman, 1st President of Turkey (d. 1938)
1884 – David Munson, American runner (d. 1953)
1886 – Francis Biddle, American lawyer and judge, 58th United States Attorney General (d. 1968)
1887 – Ion Jalea, Romanian soldier and sculptor (d. 1983)
1889 – Tản Đà, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1939)
1889 – Henry B. Richardson, American archer (d. 1963)
1890 – Eveline Adelheid von Maydell, German-American illustrator (d. 1962)
1890 – Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese politician, 1st President of Vietnam (d. 1969)
1891 – Oswald Boelcke, German captain and pilot (d. 1916)
1893 – H. Bonciu, Romanian author, poet, and journalist (d. 1950)
1897 – Frank Luke, American lieutenant and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1918)
1898 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher and painter (d. 1974)
1899 – Lothar Rădăceanu, Romanian journalist, linguist, and politician (d. 1955)
1902 – Lubka Kolessa, Ukrainian-Canadian pianist and educator (d. 1997)
1903 – Ruth Ella Moore, American scientist (d. 1994)
1906 – Bruce Bennett, American shot putter and actor (d. 2007)
1908 – Manik Bandopadhyay, Indian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1956)
1908 – Merriam Modell, American author (d. 1994)
1908 – Percy Williams, Canadian sprinter (d. 1982)
1909 – Nicholas Winton, English banker and humanitarian (d. 2015)
1910 – Alan Melville, South African cricketer (d. 1983)
1913 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th President of India (d. 1996)
1914 – Max Perutz, Austrian-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
1914 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
1914 – John Vachon, American photographer and journalist (d. 1975)
1915 – Renée Asherson, English actress (d. 2014)
1918 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist, historian, and academic (d. 2000)
1919 – Georgie Auld, Canadian-American saxophonist, clarinet player, and bandleader (d. 1990)
1919 – Mitja Ribičič, Italian-Slovenian soldier and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
1920 – Tina Strobos, Dutch psychiatrist known for rescuing Jews during World War II (d. 2012)
1921 – Leslie Broderick, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 2013)
1921 – Harry W. Brown, American colonel and pilot (d. 1991)
1921 – Daniel Gélin, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1921 – Yuri Kochiyama, American activist (d. 2014)
1921 – Karel van het Reve, Dutch historian and author (d. 1999)
1922 – Arthur Gorrie, Australian hobby shop proprietor (d. 1992)
1924 – Sandy Wilson, English composer and songwriter (d. 2014)
1925 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (d. 1998)
1925 – Malcolm X, American minister and activist (d. 1965)
1926 – Edward Parkes, English engineer and academic (d. 2019)
1926 – Peter Zadek, German director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1927 – Serge Lang, French-American mathematician, author and academic (d. 2005)
1928 – Colin Chapman, English engineer and businessman, founded Lotus Cars (d. 1982)
1928 – Thomas Kennedy, English air marshal (d. 2013)
1928 – Gil McDougald, American baseball player and coach (d. 2010)
1928 – Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1929 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (d. 2013)
1929 – Richard Larter, Australian painter (d. 2014)
1929 – John Stroger, American politician (d. 2008)
1930 – Eugene Genovese, American historian and author (d. 2012)
1930 – Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright and director (d. 1965)
1931 – Bob Anderson, English race car driver (d. 1967)
1931 – Trevor Peacock, English actor, screenwriter and songwriter
1932 – Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966)
1932 – Paul Erdman, American economist and author (d. 2007)
1932 – Bill Fitch, American basketball player and coach
1932 – Elena Poniatowska, Mexican intellectual and journalist
1933 – Edward de Bono, Maltese physician, author, and academic
1934 – Ruskin Bond, Indian author and poet
1934 – Jim Lehrer, American journalist and author (d. 2020)
1935 – David Hartman, American journalist and television personality
1937 – Pat Roach, English wrestler (d. 2004)
1938 – Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese politician (d. 1989)
1938 – Herbie Flowers, English musician
1938 – Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, Ukrainian long jumper and coach
1939 – Livio Berruti, Italian sprinter
1939 – James Fox, English actor
1939 – Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong-American actress and makeup artist
1939 – Jānis Lūsis, Latvian javelin thrower and coach (d. 2020)
1939 – Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1986)
1940 – Jan Janssen, Dutch cyclist
1940 – Mickey Newbury, American country/pop singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
1941 – Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1941 – Igor Judge, Baron Judge, Maltese-English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
1942 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research Inc. (d. 1994)
1942 – Robert Kilroy-Silk, English television host and politician
1943 – Eddie May, English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1943 – Shirrel Rhoades, American author, publisher, and academic
1944 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (d. 2019)
1945 – Pete Townshend, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Claude Lelièvre, Belgian activist
1946 – Michele Placido, Italian actor and director
1946 – André the Giant, French-American wrestler and actor (d. 1993)
1947 – Paul Brady, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1947 – Christopher Chope, English lawyer and politician
1947 – David Helfgott, Australian pianist
1948 – Grace Jones, Jamaican-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1949 – Dusty Hill, American singer-songwriter and bass player
1949 – Philip Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath, English politician
1949 – Archie Manning, American football player
1950 – Tadeusz Ślusarski, Polish pole vaulter (d. 1998)
1951 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
1951 – Dick Slater, American wrestler
1952 – Charlie Spedding, English runner
1952 – Bert van Marwijk, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager
1953 – Patrick Hodge, Lord Hodge, Scottish lawyer and judge
1953 – Shavarsh Karapetyan, Armenian finswimmer
1953 – Florin Marin, Romanian footballer and manager
1953 – Victoria Wood, English actress, singer, director, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1954 – Rick Cerone, American baseball player and sportscaster
1954 – Hōchū Ōtsuka, Japanese voice actor
1954 – Phil Rudd, Australian-New Zealand drummer
1955 – James Gosling, Canadian-American computer scientist, created Java
1956 – Oliver Letwin, English philosopher and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1956 – Martyn Ware, English keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
1957 – Bill Laimbeer, American basketball player and coach
1957 – James Reyne, Nigerian-Australian singer-songwriter
1961 – Vadim Cojocaru, Moldovan politician
1961 – Gregory Poirier, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Wayne Van Dorp, Canadian ice hockey player
1963 – Filippo Galli, Italian footballer and manager
1964 – Peter Jackson, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster (d. 1997)
1964 – John Lee, South Korean-American football player
1964 – Miloslav Mečíř, Slovak tennis player
1965 – Maile Flanagan, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Marc Bureau, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1966 – Jodi Picoult, American author and educator
1966 – Polly Walker, English actress
1967 – Alexia, Italian singer
1967 – Geraldine Somerville, Irish-born English actress
1968 – Kyle Eastwood, American actor and bass player
1970 – Stuart Cable, Welsh drummer (d. 2010)
1970 – K. J. Choi, South Korean golfer
1970 – Regina Narva, Estonian chess player
1970 – Nia Zulkarnaen, Indonesian actress, singer and producer
1971 – Ross Katz, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Andres Salumets, Estonian biologist, biochemist, and educator
1972 – Jenny Berggren, Swedish singer-songwriter
1972 – Claudia Karvan, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
1973 – Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver
1974 – Andrew Johns, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
1974 – Emma Shapplin, French soprano
1974 – Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Indian actor
1975 – Pretinha, Brazilian footballer
1975 – London Fletcher, American football player
1975 – Josh Paul, American baseball player and manager
1975 – Jonas Renkse, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1976 – Ed Cota, American basketball player
1976 – Kevin Garnett, American basketball player
1977 – Manuel Almunia, Spanish footballer
1977 – Wouter Hamel, Dutch singer and guitarist
1977 – Brandon Inge, American baseball player
1977 – Natalia Oreiro, Uruguayan singer-songwriter and actress
1978 – Marcus Bent, English footballer
1978 – Dave Bus, Dutch footballer
1979 – Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer
1979 – Diego Forlan, Uruguayan footballer
1980 – Tony Hackworth, English footballer
1981 – Luciano Figueroa, Argentinian footballer
1981 – Yo Gotti, American rapper
1981 – Michael Leighton, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Sina Schielke, German sprinter
1981 – Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
1982 – Kevin Amankwaah, English footballer
1982 – Pål Steffen Andresen, Norwegian footballer
1982 – Klaas Vantornout, Belgian cyclist
1983 – Michael Che, American comedian
1983 – Jessica Fox, English actress
1984 – Marcedes Lewis, American football player
1985 – Aleister Black, Dutch professional wrestler
1986 – Mario Chalmers, American basketball player
1987 – Michael Angelakos, American singer-songwriter and producer
1987 – David Edgar, Canadian soccer player
1987 – Mariano Torres, Argentinian footballer
1987 – Jayne Wisener, Northern Irish actress
1991 – Jordan Pruitt, American singer-songwriter
1992 – Marshmello, American electronic music producer and DJ
1992 – Michele Camporese, Italian footballer
1992 – Ola John, Dutch footballer
1992 – Felise Kaufusi, New Zealand-Tongan rugby league player
1992 – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player
1992 – Sam Smith, English singer-songwriter
1994 – Carlos Guzmán, Mexican footballer
1995 – Taane Milne, New Zealand rugby league player

Deaths on May 19

804 – Alcuin, English monk and scholar (b. 735)
956 – Robert, archbishop of Trier
988 – Dunstan, English archbishop and saint (b. 909)
1102 – Stephen, Count of Blois (b. 1045)
1125 – Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Duke of Kiev
1164 – Saint Bashnouna, Egyptian saint and martyr
1218 – Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
1296 – Pope Celestine V (b. 1215)
1303 – Saint Ivo of Kermartin, French canon lawyer (b. 1253)
1319 – Louis, Count of Évreux (b. 1276)
1389 – Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Muscovy (b. 1350)
1396 – John I of Aragon (b. 1350)
1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
1531 – Jan Łaski, Polish archbishop and diplomat (b. 1456)
1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England (1533–1536); second wife of Henry VIII of England (b. c. 1501)
1601 – Costanzo Porta, Italian composer (b. 1528)
1609 – García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete (b. 1535)
1610 – Thomas Sanchez, Spanish priest and theologian (b. 1550)
1623 – Mariam-uz-Zamani, Empress of the Mughal Empire (b. 1542)
1637 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (b. 1588)
1715 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
1786 – John Stanley, English organist and composer (b. 1712)
1795 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and politician, 4th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1729)
1795 – James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740)
1798 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1722)
1821 – Camille Jordan, French lawyer and politician (b. 1771)
1825 – Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, French philosopher and theorist (b. 1760)
1831 – Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, Estonian-German physician, botanist, and entomologist (b. 1793)
1864 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1804)
1865 – Sengge Rinchen, Mongolian general (b. 1811)
1872 – John Baker, English-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of South Australia (b. 1813)
1876 – Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch historian and politician (b. 1801)
1885 – Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
1895 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1853)
1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)
1901 – Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, South African general and politician, 1st President of the South African Republic (b. 1819)
1903 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer (b. 1856)
1904 – Auguste Molinier, French librarian and historian (b. 1851)
1904 – Jamsetji Tata, Indian businessman, founded Tata Group (b. 1839)
1906 – Gabriel Dumont, Canadian Métis leader (b. 1837)
1907 – Benjamin Baker, English engineer, designed the Forth Bridge (b. 1840)
1912 – Bolesław Prus, Polish journalist and author (b. 1847)
1915 – John Simpson Kirkpatrick, English-Australian soldier (b. 1892)
1918 – Gervais Raoul Lufbery, French-American soldier and pilot (b. 1885)
1935 – T. E. Lawrence, British colonel and archaeologist (b. 1888)
1936 – Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, British Islamic scholar (b. 1875)
1939 – Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Azerbaijani-Turkish journalist and publicist (b. 1869)
1943 – Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter and illustrator (b. 1865)
1945 – Philipp Bouhler, German soldier and politician (b. 1889)
1946 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (b. 1869)
1950 – Daniel Ciugureanu, Romanian physician and politician, Prime Minister of Moldova (b. 1884)
1954 – Charles Ives, American composer and educator (b. 1874)
1958 – Jadunath Sarkar, Indian historian (b. 1870)
1958 – Archie Scott Brown, Scottish race car driver (b. 1927)
1958 – Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
1963 – Walter Russell, American painter, sculptor, and author (b. 1871)
1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1901)
1971 – Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
1978 – Albert Kivikas, Estonian-Swedish journalist and author (b. 1898)
1980 – Joseph Schull, Canadian playwright and historian (b. 1906)
1983 – Jean Rey, Belgian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the European Commission (b. 1902)
1984 – John Betjeman, English poet and academic (b. 1906)
1986 – Jimmy Lyons, American saxophonist (b. 1931)
1987 – James Tiptree, Jr., American psychologist and author (b. 1915)
1989 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (b. 1910)
1994 – Jacques Ellul, French sociologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1912)
1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American journalist, 37th First Lady of the United States (b. 1929)
1994 – Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (b. 1945)
1996 – John Beradino, American baseball player and actor (b. 1917)
1998 – Sōsuke Uno, Japanese soldier and politician, 75th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1922)
2001 – Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (b. 1916)
2001 – Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946)
2002 – John Gorton, Australian lieutenant and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
2002 – Walter Lord, American historian and author (b. 1917)
2004 – Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress and screenwriter (b. 1907)
2007 – Bernard Blaut, Polish footballer and coach (b. 1940)
2007 – Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914)
2008 – Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright and screenwriter (b. 1928)
2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
2009 – Nicholas Maw, English composer and academic (b. 1935)
2009 – Clint Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1913)
2011 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish lawyer and politician, 8th Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1926)
2011 – Jeffrey Catherine Jones, American artist (b.1944)
2012 – Bob Boozer, American basketball player (b. 1937)
2012 – Tamara Brooks, American conductor and educator (b. 1941)
2012 – Ian Burgess, English race car driver (b. 1930)
2012 – Gerhard Hetz, German-Mexican swimmer (b. 1942)
2012 – Phil Lamason, New Zealand soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
2013 – G. Sarsfield Ford, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1933)
2013 – Robin Harrison, English-Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1932)
2013 – Neil Reynolds, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1940)
2014 – Simon Andrews, English motorcycle racer (b. 1982)
2014 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (b. 1926)
2014 – Terry W. Gee, American businessman and politician (b. 1940)
2014 – Sam Greenlee, American author and poet (b. 1930)
2014 – Vincent Harding, American historian and scholar (b. 1931)
2014 – Gabriel Kolko, American historian and author (b. 1932)
2014 – Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, Polish boxer (b. 1934)
2015 – Bruce Lundvall, American businessman (b. 1935)
2015 – Ted McWhinney, Australian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1924)
2015 – Happy Rockefeller, American philanthropist, socialite; 31st Second Lady of the United States (b. 1926)
2015 – Robert S. Wistrich, English historian, author, and academic (b. 1945)
2016 – Alan Young, English-born Canadian-American actor (b. 1919)
2016 – Morley Safer, Canadian-born American journalist (b. 1931)
2017 – Nawshirwan Mustafa, General coordinator of the Movement for Change (Gorran) (b. 1944)
2018 – Zhengzhang Shangfang, Chinese linguist (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances on May 19

Christian feast day:
- Calocerus (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Crispin of Viterbo
- Dunstan (Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church; commemoration, Anglicanism)
- Ivo of Kermartin
- Joaquina Vedruna de Mas
- Maria Bernarda Bütler
- Peter Celestine
- Pudentiana (Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church)
- May 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day (Turkey, Northern Cyprus)
Greek Genocide Remembrance Day (Greece)
Hồ Chí Minh’s Birthday (Vietnam)
Malcolm X Day (United States of America)
National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
Hepatitis Testing Day (United States)
Mother’s Day (Kyrgyzstan)

May 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

May 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
413 – Emperor Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths.
589 – Reccared I opens the Third Council of Toledo, marking the entry of Visigothic Spain into the Catholic Church.
1429 – Joan of Arc lifts the Siege of Orléans, turning the tide of the Hundred Years’ War.
1450 – Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI.
1516 – A group of imperial guards, led by Trịnh Duy Sản, murdered Emperor Lê Tương Dực and fled, leaving the capital Thăng Long undefended.
1541 – Hernando de Soto stops near present-day Walls, Mississippi, and sees the Mississippi River(then known by the Spanish as Río de Espíritu Santo, the name given to it by Alonso Álvarez de Pineda in 1519).
1788 – King Louis XVI of France attempts to impose the reforms of Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne by abolishing the parlements.
1794 – Branded a traitor during the Reign of Terror, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was also a tax collector with the Ferme générale, is tried, convicted and guillotined in one day in Paris.
1821 – Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.
1842 – A train derails and catches fire in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people.
1846 – Mexican–American War: American forces led by Zachary Taylor defeat a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
1877 – At Gilmore’s Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.
1886 – Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named “Coca-Cola” as a patent medicine.
1898 – The first games of the Italian football league system are played.
1899 – The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin produced its first play.
1902 – In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.
1912 – Paramount Pictures is founded.
1919 – Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the Armistice of 11 November 1918 which ended World War I.
1921 – The creation of the Communist Party of Romania.
1924 – The Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania.
1927 – Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli disappear after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.
1933 – Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.
1941 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby.
1942 – World War II: The German 11th Army begins Operation Trappenjagd (Bustard Hunt) and destroys the bridgehead of the three Soviet armies defending the Kerch Peninsula.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington.
1942 – World War II: Gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebel in the Cocos Islands Mutiny. Their mutiny is crushed and three of them are executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
1945 – World War II: The German Instrument of Surrender signed at Reims comes into effect.
1945 – End of the Prague uprising, celebrated now as a national holiday in the Czech Republic.
1945 – Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre.
1945 – The Halifax riot starts when thousands of civilians and servicemen rampage through Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1946 – Estonian schoolgirls Aili Jõgi and Ageeda Paavel blow up the Soviet memorial which preceded the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn.
1963 – South Vietnamese soldiers under the Roman Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis.
1967 – The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.
1972 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to place naval mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
1973 – A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota ends with the surrender of the militants.
1976 – The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
1978 – The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
1980 – The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox.
1984 – Corporal Denis Lortie enters the Quebec National Assembly and opens fire, killing three people and wounding 13. René Jalbert, Sergeant-at-Arms of the Assembly, succeeds in calming him, for which he will later receive the Cross of Valour.
1984 – The Thames Barrier is officially opened, preventing the floodplain of most of Greater London from being flooded except under extreme circumstances.
1987 – The SAS kills eight Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a civilian during an ambush in Loughgall, Northern Ireland.
1988 – A fire at Illinois Bell’s Hinsdale Central Office triggers an extended 1AESS network outage once considered to be the “worst telecommunications disaster in US telephone industry history”.
1997 – China Southern Airlines Flight 3456 crashes on approach into Bao’an International Airport, killing 35 people.
2019 – British 17-year-old Isabelle Holdaway is reported to be the first patient ever to receive a genetically modified phage therapy to treat a drug-resistant infection.

Births on May 8

1326 – Joan I, Countess of Auvergne (d. 1360)
1427 – John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester, Lord High Treasurer (d. 1470)
1460 – Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1536)
1492 – Andrea Alciato, Italian jurist and writer (d. 1550)
1508 – Charles Wriothesley, English Officer of Arms (d. 1562)
1521 – Peter Canisius, Dutch-Swiss priest and saint (d. 1597)
1551 – Thomas Drury, English government informer and swindler (d. 1603)
1587 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1637)
1622 – Claes Rålamb, Swedish politician (d. 1698)
1628 – Angelo Italia, Sicilian Jesuit and architect (d. 1700)
1629 – Niels Juel, Norwegian-Danish admiral (d. 1697)
1632 – Heino Heinrich Graf von Flemming, German field marshal and politician (d. 1706)
1639 – Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Italian artist (d. 1709)
1641 – Nicolaes Witsen, Mayor of Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1717)
1653 – Claude Louis Hector de Villars, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (d. 1734)
1670 – Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire (d. 1726)
1698 – Henry Baker, English naturalist (d. 1774)
1720 – William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1764)
1735 – Nathaniel Dance-Holland, English painter and politician (d. 1811)
1737 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (d. 1794)
1745 – Carl Stamitz, German violinist and composer (d. 1801)
1753 – Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexican priest and rebel leader (d. 1811)
1786 – John Vianney, French priest and saint (d. 1859)
1815 – Edward Tompkins, American lawyer and politician (d. 1872)
1818 – Samuel Leonard Tilley, Canadian pharmacist and politician, 3rd Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1896)
1821 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1885)
1824 – William Walker, American physician, lawyer, journalist and mercenary (d. 1860)
1825 – George Bruce Malleson, English-Indian colonel and author (d. 1898)
1828 – Henry Dunant, Swiss businessman and activist, co-founded the Red Cross, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)
1828 – Charbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk and saint (d. 1898)
1829 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist and composer (d. 1869)
1835 – Bertalan Székely, Hungarian painter and academic (d. 1910)
1839 – Adolphe-Basile Routhier, Canadian judge, author, and songwriter (d. 1920)
1842 – Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist and mycologist (d. 1909)
1846 – Oscar Hammerstein I, American businessman and composer (d. 1919)
1850 – Ross Barnes, American baseball player and manager (d. 1915)
1853 – Dan Brouthers, American baseball player and manager (d. 1932)
1856 – Pedro Lascuráin, Mexican politician, president for 45 minutes on February 13, 1913. (d. 1952)
1858 – Heinrich Berté, Slovak-Austrian composer (d. 1924)
1858 – J. Meade Falkner, English author and poet (d. 1932)
1859 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician and engineer (d. 1925)
1867 – Margarete Böhme, German novelist (d. 1939)
1879 – Wesley Coe, American shot putter, discus thrower, and tug of war competitor (d. 1926)
1884 – Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (d. 1972)
1885 – Thomas B. Costain, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1965)
1892 – Adriaan Pelt, Dutch journalist and diplomat (d. 1981)
1893 – Francis Ouimet, American golfer (d. 1967)
1893 – Edd Roush, American baseball player and coach (d. 1988)
1893 – Teddy Wakelam, English rugby player and sportscaster (d. 1963)
1895 – James H. Kindelberger, American businessman (d. 1962)
1895 – Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop (d. 1979)
1895 – Edmund Wilson, American critic, essayist, and editor (d. 1972)
1898 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (d. 1960)
1899 – Arthur Q. Bryan, American actor, voice actor, comedian and radio personality (d. 1959)
1899 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
1899 – Jacques Heim, French fashion designer (d. 1967)
1901 – Turkey Stearnes, American baseball player (d. 1979)
1902 – André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
1903 – Fernandel, French actor and singer (d. 1971)
1903 – Mary Stewart, Baroness Stewart of Alvechurch, British politician and educator (d. 1984)
1904 – John Snagge, English journalist (d. 1996)
1905 – Red Nichols, American cornet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1965)
1906 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1977)
1910 – George Male, English footballer (d. 1998)
1910 – Andrew E. Svenson, American author and publisher (d. 1975)
1910 – Mary Lou Williams, American pianist and composer (d. 1981)
1911 – Wilhelm Friedrich de Gaay Fortman, Dutch jurist and politician, Dutch Minister of The Interior (d. 1997)
1911 – Robert Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1938)
1912 – George Woodcock, Canadian author and poet (d. 1995)
1913 – Bob Clampett, American animator, director, and producer (d. 1984)
1913 – Sid James, South African-English actor and singer (d. 1976)
1915 – Milton Meltzer, American historian and author (d. 2009)
1916 – João Havelange, Brazilian water polo player, lawyer, and businessman (d. 2016)
1916 – Chinmayananda Saraswati, Indian spiritual leader and educator (d. 1993)
1916 – Ramananda Sengupta, Indian cinematographer (d. 2017)
1917 – John Anderson, Jr., American lawyer and politician, 36th Governor of Kansas (d. 2014)
1919 – Lex Barker, American actor (d. 1973)
1920 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer and director (d. 1996)
1920 – Tom of Finland, Finnish illustrator (d. 1991)
1920 – Sloan Wilson, American author and poet (d. 2003)
1920 – Gordon McClymont, Australian ecologist and academic (d. 2000)
1922 – Mary Q. Steele, American naturalist and author (d. 1992)
1924 – S. Vithiananthan, Sri Lankan author and academic (d. 1989)
1925 – Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Tanzanian politician, 2nd President of Tanzania
1926 – David Attenborough, English environmentalist and television host
1926 – David Hurst, German actor (d. 2019)
1926 – Don Rickles, American comedian and actor (d. 2017)
1927 – Chumy Chúmez, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1927 – László Paskai, Hungarian cardinal (d. 2015)
1928 – Robert Conley, American journalist (d. 2013)
1928 – Ted Sorensen, American lawyer, 8th White House Counsel (d. 2010)
1929 – Ethel D. Allen, American physician and politician (d. 1981)
1929 – Girija Devi, Indian classical singer (d. 2017)
1929 – Claude Castonguay, Canadian banker and politician
1929 – Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese-American actress and singer (d. 2007)
1930 – Heather Harper, Northern Irish soprano (d. 2019)
1930 – Doug Atkins, American football player (d. 2015)
1930 – René Maltête, French photographer and poet (d. 2000)
1930 – Gary Snyder, American poet, essayist, and translator
1932 – Julieta Campos, Cuban-Mexican author and translator (d. 2007)
1932 – Phyllida Law, Scottish actress
1932 – Harry Wells, Australian rugby league player
1934 – Leonard Hoffmann, Baron Hoffmann, South African-English lawyer and judge
1934 – Maurice Norman, English footballer
1934 – David Williamson, Baron Williamson of Horton, English soldier and politician (d. 2015)
1935 – Lucius Cary, 15th Viscount Falkland, Scottish politician
1935 – Princess Elisabeth of Denmark (d. 2018)
1935 – Jack Charlton, English footballer and manager
1936 – Kazuo Koike, Japanese author
1936 – Haljand Udam, Estonian orientalist and academic (d. 2005)
1937 – Bernard Cleary, Canadian journalist, academic, and politician
1937 – Mike Cuellar, Cuban-American baseball player (d. 2010)
1937 – Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian lawyer and politician (d. 2015)
1937 – Thomas Pynchon, American novelist
1938 – Javed Burki, Indian-Pakistani cricketer
1938 – Jean Giraud, French author and illustrator (d. 2012)
1939 – Paul Drayton, American sprinter (d. 2010)
1940 – Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (d. 2006)
1940 – James Blyth, Baron Blyth of Rowington, English businessman and academic
1940 – Irwin Cotler, Canadian lawyer and politician, 47th Canadian Minister of Justice
1940 – Emilio Delgado, Mexican-American actor, “Sesame Street”
1940 – Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 1985)
1940 – Toni Tennille, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1941 – John Fred, American singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
1941 – Bill Lockyer, American academic and politician, 30th Attorney General of California
1941 – James Traficant, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014)
1942 – Martin Dobkin, Canadian doctor and politician, 2nd Mayor of Mississauga
1942 – Robin Hobbs, English cricketer
1942 – Norman Lamont, Scottish banker and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
1942 – Pierre Morency, Canadian poet and playwright
1942 – Terry Neill, Irish footballer and manager
1943 – Pat Barker, English author
1943 – Johnny Greaves, Australian rugby league player
1943 – Jon Mark, English-New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Paul Samwell-Smith, English bass player and producer
1943 – Danny Whitten, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
1944 – Gary Glitter, English singer-songwriter
1944 – Bill Legend, English drummer
1945 – Arthur Docters van Leeuwen, Dutch jurist and politician
1945 – Mike German, Baron German, Welsh educator and politician, Deputy First Minister for Wales
1945 – Janine Haines, Australian politician (d. 2004)
1945 – Keith Jarrett, American pianist and composer
1946 – André Boulerice, Canadian politician
1946 – Jonathan Dancy, English philosopher, author, and academic
1947 – H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1947 – Felicity Lott, English soprano
1947 – John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, Scottish historian and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
1948 – Steve Braun, American baseball player and coach
1948 – Stephen Stohn, American-Canadian lawyer and producer
1949 – David Vines, Australian economist and academic
1950 – Robert Mugge, American director and producer
1950 – Lepo Sumera, Estonian composer and educator (d. 2000)
1951 – Philip Bailey, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
1951 – Mike D’Antoni, American basketball player and coach
1951 – Chris Frantz, American drummer and producer
1952 – Peter McNab, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1953 – Billy Burnette, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1953 – Alex Van Halen, Dutch-American drummer
1954 – Pam Arciero, American puppeteer and voice actress
1954 – David Keith, American actor and director
1954 – John Michael Talbot, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Stephen Furst, American actor and director (d. 2017)
1955 – Mladen Markač, Croatian general
1955 – Keith Osgood, English footballer
1956 – Jeff Wincott, Canadian actor and martial artist
1957 – Bill Cowher, American football player and coach
1957 – Rino Katase, Japanese actress
1957 – Gary Lunn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 6th Canadian Minister of Natural Resources
1958 – Roddy Doyle, Irish novelist, playwright, and screenwriter
1958 – Simone Kleinsma, Dutch actress and singer
1958 – Brooks Newmark, American-English businessman and politician, Lord of the Treasury
1958 – Lovie Smith, American football player and coach
1959 – Ronnie Lott, American football player and sportscaster
1959 – David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland, English politician
1959 – Ikue Sakakibara, Japanese actress and singer
1960 – Franco Baresi, Italian footballer and coach
1960 – Eric Brittingham, American bass player
1961 – Bill de Blasio, American politician, 109th Mayor of New York City
1961 – Gert Kruys, Dutch footballer and manager
1961 – Vallo Reimaa, Estonian academic and politician
1961 – David Winning, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
1962 – Natalia Molchanova, Russian diver (d. 2015)
1962 – David Sole, Scottish rugby player
1963 – Sylvain Cossette, Canadian singer-songwriter
1963 – Anthony Field, Australian guitarist, songwriter, producer, and actor
1963 – Michel Gondry, French director and screenwriter
1963 – Izabela Kloc, Polish politician
1963 – Aleksandr Kovalenko, Belarusian triple jumper
1963 – Rick Zombo, American ice hockey player and coach
1964 – Päivi Alafrantti, Finnish javelin thrower
1964 – Melissa Gilbert, American actress and director
1964 – Bobby Labonte, American race car driver
1964 – Nathalie Roy, Canadian lawyer and politician
1964 – Dave Rowntree, English drummer and animator
1964 – Metin Tekin, Turkish footballer, manager, and journalist
1966 – Cláudio Taffarel, Brazilian footballer and coach
1967 – Viviana Durante, Italian ballerina and actress
1967 – Angus Scott, British sports television presenter
1968 – Teet Kask, Estonian ballet dancer and choreographer
1968 – Nathalie Normandeau, Canadian politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
1968 – Johan Pehrson, Swedish lawyer and politician
1969 – Jonny Searle, English rower
1969 – Akebono Tarō, American-Japanese sumo wrestler, the 64th Yokozuna
1969 – John Timu, New Zealand rugby player
1970 – Michael Bevan, Australian cricketer and coach
1970 – Naomi Klein, Canadian author and activist
1970 – Luis Enrique, Spanish footballer and manager
1971 – Chuck Huber, American voice actor, director, and screenwriter
1971 – Candice Night, American singer-songwriter
1972 – Darren Hayes, Australian singer-songwriter
1972 – Ray Whitney, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Hiromu Arakawa, Japanese author and illustrator
1973 – Jesús Arellano, Mexican footballer
1973 – Marcus Brigstocke, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1974 – Marge Kõrkjas, Estonian swimmer
1974 – Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
1974 – Christian XXX, American pornographic star
1975 – Enrique Iglesias, Spanish-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1975 – Jussi Markkanen, Finnish ice hockey player
1975 – Gastón Mazzacane, Argentinian race car driver
1975 – Dmitri Ustritski, Estonian footballer
1976 – Gonçalo Abecasis, Portuguese-American biochemist and academic
1976 – Martha Wainwright, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1977 – Joe Bonamassa, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1977 – Bad News Brown, Canadian rapper, harmonica player, and actor (d. 2011)
1977 – Theodoros Papaloukas, Greek basketball player
1977 – Kathrin Bringmann, German mathematician and academic
1978 – Lúcio, Brazilian footballer
1978 – Jang Woo-hyuk, South Korean rapper and dancer
1979 – Ole Morten Vågan, Norwegian bassist
1980 – Keyon Dooling, American basketball player
1980 – Panagiotis Kafkis, Greek basketball player
1980 – Evgeny Lebedev, Russian-English publisher and philanthropist
1980 – Michelle McManus, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress
1980 – Benny Yau, Hong Kong-Canadian actor and singer
1981 – Stephen Amell, Canadian actor
1981 – Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer
1981 – Tatyana Dektyareva, Russian hurdler
1981 – Björn Dixgård, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 – Manny Gamburyan, Armenian-American mixed martial artist
1981 – John Maine, American baseball player
1982 – Buakaw Banchamek, Thai kick-boxer
1982 – Christina Cole, English actress
1982 – Adrián González, American baseball player
1982 – Uğur Yıldırım, Turkish-Dutch footballer
1983 – Juan Martin Goity, Argentinian-German rugby player
1983 – Bershawn Jackson, American hurdler
1983 – Lawrence Vickers, American football player
1983 – Vicky McClure, English actress
1984 – David King, English figure skater
1985 – Tommaso Ciampa, American wrestler
1985 – Silvia Stroescu, Romanian gymnast
1985 – Sarah Vaillancourt, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Usama Young, American football player
1986 – Pemra Özgen, Turkish tennis player
1986 – Galen Rupp, American runner
1986 – Marvell Wynne, American soccer player
1987 – Felix Jones, American football player
1987 – Aarne Nirk, Estonian hurdler
1987 – Mark Noble, English footballer
1987 – Kurt Tippett, Australian footballer
1988 – Tanel Kurbas, Estonian basketball player
1988 – Maicon Pereira de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (d. 2014)
1989 – Liam Bridcutt, English footballer
1989 – Lars Eller, Danish ice hockey player
1989 – Dinesh Patel, Indian baseball player
1990 – Kemba Walker, American basketball player
1991 – Ethan Gage, Canadian soccer player
1991 – Valentijn Lietmeijer, Dutch basketball player
1991 – Anamaria Tămârjan, Romanian gymnast
1992 – Kevin Hayes, American ice hockey player
1993 – Pat Cummins, Australian cricketer
1996 – 6ix9ine, American rapper
2001 – Jordyn Huitema, Canadian soccer player
2003 – Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Morocco

Deaths on May 8

535 – Pope John II
615 – Pope Boniface IV (b. 550)
685 – Pope Benedict II
997 – Tai Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 939)
1157 – Ahmed Sanjar, Seljuk sultan (b. 1086)
1192 – Ottokar IV, duke of Styria (b. 1163)
1220 – Richeza of Denmark, queen of Sweden
1278 – Duan Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1269)
1319 – Haakon V, king of Norway (b. 1270)
1473 – John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English politician (b. 1420)
1538 – Edward Foxe, English bishop and academic (b. 1496)
1551 – Barbara Radziwiłł, queen of Poland (b. 1520)
1668 – Catherine of St. Augustine, French-Canadian nun and saint (b. 1632)
1766 – Samuel Chandler, English minister and author (b. 1693)
1773 – Ali Bey al-Kabir, Egyptian sultan (b. 1728)
1781 – Richard Jago, English priest and poet (b. 1715)
1782 – Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, Portuguese politician, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1699)
1785 – Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, French general and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1719)
1785 – Pietro Longhi, Italian painter (b. 1701)
1788 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1723)
1794 – Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist and biologist (b. 1743)
1819 – Kamehameha I, king of the Hawaiian Islands
1822 – John Stark, American general (b. 1728)
1828 – Mauro Giuliani, Italian guitarist, cellist, and composer (b. 1781)
1837 – Alexander Balashov, Russian general and politician, Russian Minister of Police (b. 1770)
1842 – Jules Dumont d’Urville, French admiral and explorer (b. 1790)
1853 – Jan Roothaan, Dutch priest, 21st Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1785)
1880 – Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (b. 1821)
1891 – Helena Blavatsky, Russian-English mystic and author (b. 1831)
1891 – John Robertson, English-Australian politician, 5th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1816)
1893 – Manuel González Flores, Mexican general and president, 1880–1884 (b. 1833)
1903 – Paul Gauguin, French painter and sculptor (b. 1848)
1907 – Edmund G. Ross, American soldier and politician, 13th Governor of New Mexico Territory (b. 1826)
1925 – John Beresford, Irish polo player (b. 1847)
1936 – Oswald Spengler, German historian and philosopher (b. 1880)
1941 – Natalie, queen consort of Serbia (b. 1859)
1941 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (b. 1858)
1942 – Nikolai Reek, Estonian general and politician, 11th Estonian Minister of War (b. 1890)
1943 – Mordechai Anielewicz, Polish commander (b. 1919)
1944 – Themistoklis Diakidis, Greek high jumper (b. 1882)
1945 – Frank Bourne, British soldier, last survivor of the Battle of Rorke’s Drift (b. 1854)
1945 – Wilhelm Rediess, German SS officer (b. 1900)
1945 – Bernhard Rust, German lieutenant and politician (b. 1883)
1945 – Josef Terboven, German lieutenant and politician (b. 1898)
1947 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American-English businessman, founded Selfridges (b. 1858)
1948 – U Saw, Burmese politician, Prime Minister of Burma (b. 1900)
1950 – Vital Brazil, Brazilian physician and immunologist (b. 1865)
1952 – William Fox, Austrian businessman, founded Fox Theatres (b. 1879)
1959 – John Fraser, Canadian soccer player (b. 1881)
1960 – J. H. C. Whitehead, Indian-English mathematician and academic (b. 1904)
1965 – Wally Hardinge, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1886)
1969 – Remington Kellogg, American zoologist and paleontologist (b. 1892)
1972 – Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Bharat Ratna awardee (b. 1880)
1972 – Beatrice Helen Worsley, Mexican-Canadian computer scientist (b. 1921)
1975 – Avery Brundage, American businessman and art collector (b. 1887)
1980 – Geoffrey Baker, English Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the British Army (b. 1920)
1981 – Uri Zvi Greenberg, Israeli poet and journalist (b. 1896)
1982 – Neil Bogart, American record producer, co-founded Casablanca Records (b. 1943)
1982 – Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (b. 1950)
1983 – John Fante, American author and screenwriter (b. 1909)
1984 – Lila Bell Wallace, American publisher, co-founded Reader’s Digest (b. 1890)
1984 – Gino Bianco, Italian-Brazilian race car driver (b. 1916)
1985 – Karl Marx, German conductor and composer (b. 1897)
1985 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (b. 1918)
1985 – Dolph Sweet, American actor (b. 1920)
1986 – Ernle Bradford, English historian and author (b. 1922)
1987 – Doris Stokes, English psychic and author (b. 1920)
1988 – Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (b. 1907)
1990 – Luigi Nono, Italian composer and educator (b. 1924)
1991 – Jean Langlais, French pianist and composer (b. 1907)
1991 – Rudolf Serkin, Czech-Austrian pianist and educator (b. 1903)
1992 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (b. 1933)
1993 – Avram Davidson, American soldier and author (b. 1923)
1994 – George Peppard, American actor and producer (b. 1928)
1995 – Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (b. 1953)
1996 – Beryl Burton, English cyclist (b. 1937)
1996 – Luis Miguel Dominguín, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1926)
1996 – Larry Levis, American poet, author, and critic (b. 1946)
1996 – Garth Williams, American illustrator (b. 1912)
1998 – Johannes Kotkas, Estonian wrestler (b. 1915)
1998 – Charles Rebozo, American banker and businessman (b. 1912)
1999 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1921)
1999 – Ed Gilbert, American actor (b. 1931)
1999 – Dana Plato, American actress (b. 1964)
1999 – Soeman Hs, Indonesian author and educator (b. 1904)
2000 – Pita Amor, Mexican poet and author (b. 1918)
2000 – Dédé Fortin, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1962)
2000 – Henry Nicols, American activist (b. 1973)
2003 – Elvira Pagã, Brazilian vedette, singer, and artist (b. 1920)
2005 – Jean Carrière, French author (b. 1928)
2005 – Nicolás Vuyovich, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1981)
2006 – Iain Macmillan, Scottish photographer and author (b. 1938)
2007 – Philip R. Craig, American author and poet (b. 1933)
2007 – Carson Whitsett, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (b. 1945)
2008 – Eddy Arnold, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1918)
2008 – François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (b. 1982)
2009 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1917)
2009 – Bud Shrake, American journalist and author (b. 1931)
2011 – Lionel Rose, Australian boxer (b. 1948)
2012 – Everett Lilly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1924)
2012 – Jerry McMorris, American businessman (b. 1941)
2012 – Stacy Robinson, American football player (b. 1962)
2012 – Maurice Sendak, American author and illustrator (b. 1928)
2012 – Ampon Tangnoppakul, Thai criminal (b. 1948)
2012 – Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist and educator (b. 1911)
2013 – Jeanne Cooper, American actress (b. 1928)
2013 – Bryan Forbes, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
2013 – Juan José Muñoz, Argentinian businessman (b. 1950)
2013 – Hugh J. Silverman, American philosopher and theorist (b. 1945)
2013 – Ken Whaley, Austrian-English bass player (b. 1946)
2014 – Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (b. 1921)
2014 – Nancy Malone, American actress, director, and producer (b. 1935)
2014 – Yago Lamela, Spanish long jumper (b. 1977)
2014 – Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian singer (b. 1939)
2014 – R. Douglas Stuart Jr., American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Norway (b. 1916)
2014 – Joseph P. Teasdale, American lawyer and politician, 48th Governor of Missouri (b. 1936)
2015 – Zeki Alasya, Turkish actor and director (b. 1943)
2015 – Mwepu Ilunga, Congolese footballer (b. 1949)
2015 – Menashe Kadishman, Israeli sculptor and painter (b. 1932)
2015 – Juan Schwanner, Hungarian-Chilean footballer and manager (b. 1921)
2015 – Atanas Semerdzhiev, Bulgarian soldier and politician, 1st Vice President of Bulgaria (b. 1924)
2016 – Tom M. Apostol, American analytic number theorist (b. 1923)
2016 – William Schallert, American actor; president (1979–81) of the Screen Actors Guild (b. 1922)
2018 – Big Bully Busick, American professional wrestler (b. 1954)
2018 – Anne V. Coates, British film editor (Lawrence of Arabia, The Elephant Man, Erin Brockovich), Oscar winner (1963) (b. 1925)
2019 – Sprent Dabwido, President of Nauru from 2011 to 2013 (b. 1972)

Holidays and observances on May 8

Christian feast day:
- Amato Ronconi
- Apparition of Saint Michael
- Arsenius the Great
- Desideratus
- Blessed Catherine of St. Augustine
- Julian of Norwich (Anglican, Lutheran)
- Magdalene of Canossa
- Our Lady of Luján
- Peter of Tarentaise
- Blessed Teresa Demjanovich (Ruthenian Catholic Church)
- May 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while May 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday of May. (Romania)
Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while May 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday of May. (United States and others)
Earliest day on which State Flag and State Emblem Day can fall, while May 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday of May. (Belarus)
Earliest day on which World Fair Trade Day can fall, while May 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday of May (site of the WFTO) (International)
Emancipation Day (Columbus, Mississippi)
Furry Dance (Helston, UK)
Liberation Day (Czech Republic)
Miguel Hidalgo’s birthday (Mexico)
Parents’ Day (South Korea)
Truman Day (Missouri)
Veterans Day (Norway)
Victory in Europe Day, and its related observances (Europe):
- Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War, continues to May 9
White Lotus Day (Theosophy)
World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day (International)

May 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

May 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson
1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales.
1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.
1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
1686 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.
1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris.
1814 – Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
1814 – King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism.
1836 – Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians
1859 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall in England.
1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate is fought in Japan.
1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1886 – Haymarket affair: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.
1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
1912 – Italy occupies the Greek island of Rhodes.
1919 – May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan.
1926 – The United Kingdom general strike begins.
1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is incorporated.
1932 – In Atlanta, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.
1945 – World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath is signed, coming into effect the following day. It encompasses all Wehrmacht units in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany.
1946 – In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Five people are killed in the riot.
1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash.
1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
1959 – The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held.
1961 – American civil rights movement: The “Freedom Riders” begin a bus trip through the South.
1961 – Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km).
1970 – Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the Cambodian Campaign of the United States and South Vietnam.
1972 – The Don’t Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to “Greenpeace Foundation”.
1978 – The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people.
1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.
1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.
1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal.
1990 – Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation.
1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London).
2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita scale.
2014 – Three people are killed and 62 injured in a pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya.

Births on May 4

1006 – Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Persian mystic and poet (d. 1088)
1008 – Henry I, king of France (d. 1060)
1559 – Alice Spencer, English noblewoman (d. 1637)
1634 – Katherine Ferrers, English aristocrat and heiress (d. 1660)
1649 – Chhatrasal, Indian ruler (d. 1731)
1654 – Kangxi Emperor, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty
1655 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (d. 1731)
1677 – Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, French noblewoman (d.1749)
1715 – Richard Graves, English minister and author (d. 1804)
1733 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (d. 1799)
1752 – John Brooks, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
1757 – Manuel Tolsá, Spanish sculptor and first director of the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City (d. 1816)
1767 – Tyagaraja, Indian composer (d. 1847)
1770 – François Gérard, French painter (d. 1837)
1772 – Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
1796 – Horace Mann, American educator and politician (d. 1859)
1796 – William Pennington, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1862)
1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian and scholar (d. 1859)
1820 – Julia Gardiner Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 11th First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
1820 – John Whiteaker, American soldier, judge, and politician, 1st Governor of Oregon (d. 1902)
1822 – Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Canadian physician and politician, 3rd Premier of Quebec (d. 1915)
1825 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, anatomist, and academic (d. 1895)
1825 – Augustus Le Plongeon, English-American historian, photographer, and academic (d. 1908)
1826 – Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
1827 – John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer (d. 1864)
1851 – Thomas Dewing, American painter (d. 1938)
1852 – Alice Liddell, English model (d. 1934)
1855 – Greyfriars Bobby, faithful dog (d. 1872)
1883 – Wang Jingwei, Chinese politician (d. 1944)
1884 – Richard Baggallay, English army officer and cricketer (d. 1975)
1887 – Andrew Dasburg, French-American painter (d. 1979)
1889 – Francis Spellman, American cardinal (d. 1967)
1890 – Franklin Carmichael, Canadian painter (d. 1945)
1902 – Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (d. 1986)
1902 – Cola Debrot, Dutch physician, lawyer, and politician (d. 1981)
1903 – Luther Adler, American actor (d. 1984)
1903 – Paul Demel, Czech actor (d. 1951)
1905 – Al Dexter, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
1906 – Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1987)
1907 – Lincoln Kirstein, American soldier and playwright, co-founded the New York City Ballet (d. 1996)
1907 – Walter Walsh, American target shooter and FBI agent (d. 2014)
1908 – Wolrad Eberle, German decathlete (d. 1949)
1911 – Evald Seepere, Estonian boxer (d. 1990)
1913 – John Broome, American author (d. 1999)
1913 – Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (d. 2007)
1914 – Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
1916 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
1916 – Richard Proenneke, American soldier, carpenter, and meteorologist (d. 2003)
1917 – Edward T. Cone, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
1917 – Nick Joaquin, Filipino writer, journalist and historian (d. 2004)
1918 – Tom Mead, Australian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
1918 – Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1993)
1919 – Dory Funk, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1973)
1919 – Basil Yamey, South African-English economist and academic
1921 – Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
1921 – John van Kesteren, Dutch-American tenor and actor (d. 2008)
1921 – Edo Murtić, Croatian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2005)
1922 – Paul-Émile Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 2014)
1922 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic (d. 2015)
1923 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (d. 2006)
1923 – Ed Cassidy, American jazz and rock drummer (d. 2012)
1923 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer and producer (d. 1986)
1923 – Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian (d. 2012)
1923 – John Toner, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
1925 – Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
1925 – Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman and philanthropist
1926 – David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon, English politician
1928 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2006)
1928 – Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet, translator, and publisher
1928 – Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt (d. 2020)
1928 – Betsy Rawls, American golfer
1928 – Wolfgang von Trips, German race car driver (d. 1961)
1929 – Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (d. 2015)
1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-British actress and humanitarian (d. 1993)
1930 – Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family
1930 – Roberta Peters, American soprano (d. 2017)
1931 – Jan Pesman, Dutch speed skater (d. 2014)
1931 – Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian conductor and educator (d. 2018)
1931 – Thomas Stuttaford, English physician, journalist, and politician (d. 2018)
1932 – Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
1932 – Alexander MacAra, Scottish epidemiologist and academic (d. 2012)
1933 – J. Fred Duckett, American journalist and educator (d. 2007)
1936 – El Cordobés, Spanish bullfighter
1936 – Med Hondo, Mauritanian filmmaker and actor (d. 2019)
1937 – Ron Carter, American bassist and educator
1937 – Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (d. 2019)
1937 – Wim Verstappen, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
1938 – Tyrone Davis, American blues and soul singer (d. 2005)
1938 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican journalist, author, and critic (d. 2010)
1938 – Gillian Tindall, English historian and author
1939 – Neil Fox, English rugby league player and coach
1939 – Amos Oz, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2018)
1939 – Leon Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player
1940 – Robin Cook, American physician and author
1940 – Peter Gregg, American race car driver and businessman (d. 1980)
1941 – George Will, American journalist and author
1942 – Nickolas Ashford, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2011)
1943 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (d. 1971)
1943 – Mihail Chemiakin, Russian painter and sculptor
1943 – Prasanta Pattanaik, Indian economist and academic
1944 – Steve Liebmann, Australian radio and television host
1944 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress (d. 2019)
1945 – Jan Mulder, Dutch footballer and journalist
1946 – John Barnard, English car designer
1946 – Gary Bauer, American political activist
1946 – John Watson, British race car driver
1947 – John Bosley, Canadian businessman and politician, 31st Canadian Speaker of the House of Commons
1947 – Ronald Sørensen, Dutch historian and politician
1947 – Trivimi Velliste, Estonian politician, 17th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1948 – Alison Britton, English sculptor and educator
1948 – Hurley Haywood, American race car driver
1948 – King George Tupou V of Tonga, (d. 2012)
1949 – Graham Swift, English novelist and short story writer
1950 – Darryl Hunt, English bass player
1951 – Colin Bass, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
1951 – Colleen Hanabusa, American lawyer and politician
1951 – Jackie Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer
1952 – Belinda Green, Australian beauty queen and 1972 Miss World
1953 – Pia Zadora, American actress and singer
1954 – Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino pianist, composer, and conductor
1956 – Michael L. Gernhardt, American astronaut and engineer
1956 – David Guterson, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist
1956 – Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player and coach
1957 – Jaak Huimerind, Estonian architect
1957 – Kathy Kreiner, Canadian skier
1957 – Peter Sleep, Australian cricketer
1957 – Marijke Vos, Dutch educator and politician
1958 – Delbert Fowler, American football player
1958 – Keith Haring, American painter (d. 1990)
1958 – Jane Kennedy, English politician
1958 – Caroline Spelman, English politician, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
1959 – Valdemaras Chomičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
1959 – Randy Travis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1959 – Bob Tway, American golfer
1960 – Werner Faymann, Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria
1961 – Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer
1964 – Silvia Costa, Cuban high jumper
1966 – Gary Elkins, English footballer and manager
1966 – Jane McGrath, English-Australian activist, co-founded the McGrath Foundation (d. 2008)
1967 – Kate Garraway, English journalist
1967 – Ana Gasteyer, American actress and singer
1969 – Micah Aivazoff, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Franz Resch, Austrian footballer and manager
1970 – Gregg Alexander, American singer-songwriter and producer
1970 – Will Arnett, Canadian actor and producer
1970 – Giovanni Mirabassi, Italian jazz musician
1970 – Dawn Staley, American basketball player
1970 – Paul Wiseman, New Zealand cricketer and coach
1971 – Joe Borowski, American baseball player and sportscaster
1971 – Miles Stewart, Australian triathlete
1972 – Manny Aybar, Dominican baseball player
1972 – Mike Dirnt, American bass player and songwriter
1973 – Matthew Barnaby, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1973 – Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentinian footballer and coach
1973 – John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1974 – Miguel Cairo, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
1974 – Tony McCoy, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
1976 – Ben Grieve, American baseball player
1976 – Rory Hamill, Northern Irish international footballer
1976 – Jason Michaels, American baseball player
1976 – Indrek Visnapuu, Estonian basketball player and coach
1977 – John Tripp, Canadian-German ice hockey player
1978 – Erin Andrews, American sportscaster and journalist
1978 – Igor Biscan, Croatian footballer
1978 – Brett Burton, Australian footballer
1978 – Vladimíra Uhlířová, Czech tennis player
1979 – Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, and producer
1979 – Kristin Harmel, American journalist and author
1979 – Marie Poissonnier, French pole vaulter
1979 – Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby player
1980 – Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
1981 – Dallon Weekes, American singer-songwriter and musician
1982 – Kleopas Giannou, Greek footballer
1982 – Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
1982 – Giorgos Tsiaras, Greek basketball player
1983 – Dan Christian, Australian cricketer
1983 – Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Robert Zwinkels, Dutch footballer
1984 – Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricketer (d. 2007)
1984 – Brad Maddox, American wrestler and referee
1984 – Sarah Meier, Swiss figure skater
1984 – Montell Owens, American football player
1984 – Kevin Slowey, American baseball player
1985 – Ravi Bopara, English cricketer
1985 – Anthony Fedorov, Ukrainian-born American singer and actor
1985 – Fernandinho, Brazilian footballer
1985 – Lester “Bo” McCalebb, American-Macedonian professional basketball player
1985 – Jamie Adenuga, English MC and rapper
1986 – Devan Dubnyk, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – George Hill, American basketball player
1987 – Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer
1987 – Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
1988 – Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer
1989 – Dániel Gyurta, Hungarian swimmer
1989 – Henna Lindholm, Finnish figure skater
1989 – Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer
1989 – Aris Tatarounis, Greek basketball player
1989 – James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player
1990 – Irina Falconi, American tennis player
1990 – Ryan Morgan, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Duvashen Padayachee, Australian race car driver
1990 – Andrea Torres, Filipino actress and model
1991 – Brianne Jenner, Canadian women’s ice hockey player
1992 – Victor Oladipo, American basketball player
1993 – Jānis Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
1994 – Abi Masatora, Japanese sumo wrestler
1994 – Joseph Tapine, New Zealand rugby league player
1996 – Pelayo Roza, Spanish sprint canoeist

Deaths on May 4

408 – Venerius, archbishop of Milan
784 – Arbeo, bishop of Freising
1003 – Herman II, duke of Swabia
1038 – Gotthard of Hildesheim, German bishop (b. 960)
1406 – Coluccio Salutati, chancellor of Florence (b. 1331)
1436 – Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish rebel leader
1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, son and heir of Henry VI of England (b. 1453)
1471 – Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (b. 1438)
1483 – George Neville, Duke of Bedford (b. 1457)
1506 – Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (b. 1438)
1519 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, duke of Urbino (b. 1492)
1535 – John Houghton, Carthusian monk and saint
1562 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian Protestant theologian (b. 1525)
1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
1571 – Pierre Viret, Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1511)
1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (b. 1533)
1605 – Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist (b. 1522)
1615 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish priest and mathematician (b. 1561)
1626 – Arthur Lake, English bishop and scholar (b. 1569)
1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian (b. 1630)
1684 – John Nevison, English criminal (b. 1639)
1729 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (b. 1651)
1734 – James Thornhill, English painter and politician (b. 1675)
1737 – Eustace Budgell, English journalist and politician (b. 1686)
1774 – Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, Prussian nobleman (b. 1714)
1776 – Jacques Saly, French painter and sculptor (b. 1717)
1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American politician (b. 1718)
1799 – Tipu, ruler of Mysore (b. 1750)
1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
1816 – Samuel Dexter, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of War, 3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1761)
1824 – Joseph Joubert, French author (b. 1754)
1826 – Sebastián Kindelán y O’Regan, colonial governor of East Florida, Santo Domingo and Cuba (b. 1757)
1839 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (b. 1784)
1858 – Aimé Bonpland, French botanist and explorer (b. 1773)
1859 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1771)
1880 – Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
1901 – John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (b. 1831)
1903 – Gotse Delchev, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary IMRO (b. 1872)
1912 – Nettie Stevens, American geneticist credited with discovering sex chromosomes (b. 1861)
1916 – Ned Daly, Irish rebel commander (Easter Rising) (b. 1891)
1916 – John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (b. 1851)
1916 – Joseph Plunkett, Irish rebel and writer (b. 1887)
1916 – Willie Pearse, Irish rebel (b. 1891)
1919 – Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak general and politician (b. 1880)
1922 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (b. 1888)
1923 – Ralph McKittrick, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1877)
1924 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (b. 1858)
1938 – Kanō Jigorō, Japanese founder of judo (b. 1860)
1938 – Carl von Ossietzky, German journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
1941 – Chris McKivat, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1880)
1945 – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (b. 1880)
1953 – Alexandre Pharamond, French rugby player (b. 1876)
1955 – George Enescu, Romanian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1881)
1964 – Karl Robert Pusta, Estonian politician, 4th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
1969 – Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian author and poet (b. 1892)
1972 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
1973 – Jane Bowles, American author and playwright (b. 1917)
1975 – Moe Howard, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1897)
1976 – Frank Strahan, Australian public servant (b. 1886)
1980 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
1981 – C. Loganathan, Sri Lankan banker (b. 1913)
1983 – Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1911)
1984 – Diana Dors, English actress (b. 1931)
1985 – Fikri Sönmez, Turkish tailor and politician (b. 1938)
1985 – Clarence Wiseman, English-Canadian 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
1987 – Paul Butterfield, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1942)
1987 – Cathryn Damon, American actress (b. 1930)
1988 – Lillian Estelle Fisher, American historian of Spanish America (b. 1891)
1990 – Emily Remler, American guitarist (b. 1957)
1991 – Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer-songwriter and mandolin player (b. 1902)
1992 – Gregor Mackenzie, Scottish politician (b. 1927)
1993 – France Štiglic, Slovenian film director and screenwriter (b. 1919)
1995 – Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (b. 1922)
2000 – Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist and academic (b. 1909)
2001 – Bonnie Lee Bakley, American model, wife of Robert Blake (b. 1956)
2004 – David Reimer, Canadian victim of a botched circumcision and transgender reassignment surgery (b. 1965)
2005 – David Hackworth, American colonel and journalist (b. 1930)
2008 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (b. 1918)
2009 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1933)
2011 – Sammy McCrory, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1924)
2012 – Mort Lindsey, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1923)
2012 – Bob Stewart, American television producer, founded Stewart Tele Enterprises (b. 1920)
2012 – Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (b. 1964)
2012 – Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (b. 1963)
2013 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (b. 1918)
2013 – Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
2013 – Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (b. 1948)
2013 – Mario Machado, Chinese-American journalist and actor (b. 1935)
2013 – Morgan Morgan-Giles, English admiral and politician (b. 1914)
2013 – César Portillo de la Luz, Cuban guitarist and composer (b. 1922)
2014 – Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (b. 1924)
2014 – Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (b. 1983)
2014 – Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (b. 1923)
2014 – Helga Königsdorf, German physicist and author (b. 1938)
2014 – Ross Lonsberry, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1947)
2014 – Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1948)
2015 – William Bast, American screenwriter and author (b. 1931)
2015 – Ellen Albertini Dow, American actress (b. 1913)
2015 – Marv Hubbard, American football player (b. 1946)
2016 – Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Burundian politician (b. 1946)
2020 – Don Shula, American football player and coach (b. 1930)
2020 – Greg Zanis, American carpenter and activist (b. 1950)

Holidays and observances on May 4

Anti-Bullying Day (United Nations)
Bird Day (United States)
Cassinga Day (Namibia)
Christian feast day:
- Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla
- Blessed Michal Giedroyc
- English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era (Church of England)
- F. C. D. Wyneken (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
- Florian
- Gotthard of Hildesheim
- José María Rubio
- Judas Cyriacus
- Monica of Hippo (1960 Roman Catholic Calendar)
- Sacerdos of Limoges
- Venerius of Milan
- May 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Dave Brubeck Day
Death of Milan Rastislav Štefánik Day (Slovakia)
Greenery Day (Japan)
International Firefighters’ Day
May Fourth Movement commemorations:
- Literary Day (Republic of China)
- Youth Day (China)
Remembrance Day for Martyrs and Disabled (Afghanistan)
Remembrance of the Dead (Netherlands)
Restoration of Independence day (Latvia)
Star Wars Day (International observance)
World Give Day
World Naked Gardening Day
Youth Day (Fiji)

May 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on April 21

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

Deaths on April 21

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

Holidays and observances April 21

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

April 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan II.
1362 – Kaunas Castle falls to the Teutonic Order after a month-long siege.
1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.
1521 – Trial of Martin Luther over his teachings begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.
1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.
1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in the Americas.
1797 – Citizens of Verona begin an unsuccessful eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces.
1861 – The state of Virginia’s secession convention votes to secede from the United States, later becoming the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America.
1863 – American Civil War: Grierson’s Raid begins: Troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins: Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
1869 – Morelos is admitted as the 27th state of Mexico.
1876 – Catalpa rescue: The rescue of six Fenian prisoners from Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.
1895 – The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.
1905 – The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the “right to free contract” is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
1907 – The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
1912 – Russian troops open fire on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.
1941 – World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
1942 – French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress.
1944 – Forces of the Communist-controlled Greek People’s Liberation Army attack the smaller National and Social Liberation resistance group, which surrenders. Its leader Dimitrios Psarros is murdered.
1945 – World War II: Montese, Italy, is liberated from Nazi forces.
1946 – The last French troops are withdrawn from Syria.
1951 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
1961 – Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
1969 – Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.
1970 – Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
1971 – The Provisional Government of Bangladesh is formed.
1975 – The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
1978 – Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking a communist coup d’état in Afghanistan.
1982 – Constitution Act, 1982 Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
1992 – The Katina P is deliberately run aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
2006 – A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates an explosive device in a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 11 people and injuring 70.
2013 – An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others.
2014 – NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

Births on April 17

44 – Pope Evaristus (d. 107)
1277 – Michael IX Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1320)
1455 – Andrea Gritti, Doge of Venice (d. 1538)
1497 – Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador, conquered northern Chile (d. 1553)
1573 – Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1651)
1586 – John Ford, English poet and playwright (d. 1639)
1598 – Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian priest and astronomer (d. 1671)
1620 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal (d. 1700)
1635 – Edward Stillingfleet, British theologian and scholar (d. 1699)
1676 – Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
1683 – Johann David Heinichen, German composer and theorist (d. 1729)
1710 – Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, Scottish politician (d. 1767)
1734 – Taksin, King of Thailand (d. 1782)
1741 – Samuel Chase, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1811)
1750 – François de Neufchâteau, French academic and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 1828)
1756 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian commander (d. 1805)
1766 – Collin McKinney, American surveyor, merchant, and politician (d. 1861)
1794 – Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist and explorer (d. 1868)
1798 – Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician and academic (d. 1840)
1814 – Josif Pančić, Serbian botanist and academic (d. 1888)
1816 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English architect and philanthropist (d. 1876)
1820 – Alexander Cartwright, American firefighter and inventor of baseball (d. 1892)
1833 – Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1900)
1837 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (d. 1913)
1842 – Maurice Rouvier, French businessman and politician, 53rd Prime Minister of France (d. 1911)
1849 – William R. Day, American jurist and politician, 36th United States Secretary of State (d. 1923)
1852 – Cap Anson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1922)
1863 – Augustus Edward Hough Love, English mathematician and theorist (d. 1940)
1865 – Ursula Ledóchowska, Polish-Austrian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (d. 1939)
1866 – Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (d. 1927)
1875 – Aleksander Tõnisson, Estonian general and politician, 5th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1941)
1877 – Matsudaira Tsuneo, Japanese diplomat (d. 1949)
1878 – Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman (d. 1961)
1878 – Demetrios Petrokokkinos, Greek tennis player (d. 1942)
1879 – Henri Tauzin, French hurdler (d. 1918)
1882 – Artur Schnabel, Jewish-Polish pianist and composer (d. 1951)
1888 – Herms Niel, German soldier, trombonist, and composer (d. 1954)
1891 – George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (d. 1965)
1895 – Robert Dean Frisbie, American soldier and author (d. 1948)
1896 – Señor Wences, Spanish-American ventriloquist (d. 1999)
1897 – Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian philosopher and educator (d. 1981)
1897 – Thornton Wilder, American novelist and playwright (d. 1975)
1897 – Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (d. 1983)
1899 – Aleksander Klumberg, Estonian decathlete and coach (d. 1958)
1903 – Nicolas Nabokov, Russian-American composer and educator (d. 1978)
1903 – Gregor Piatigorsky, Ukrainian-American cellist and educator (d. 1976)
1903 – Morgan Taylor, American hurdler and coach (d. 1975)
1905 – Louis Jean Heydt, American journalist and actor (d. 1960)
1905 – Arthur Lake, American actor (d. 1987)
1906 – Sidney Garfield, American physician, co-founded Kaiser Permanente (d. 1984)
1909 – Alain Poher, French politician, President of France (d. 1996)
1910 – Evangelos Averoff, Greek historian and politician, Greek Minister of Defence (d. 1990)
1910 – Ivan Goff, Australian screenwriter and producer (d. 1999)
1910 – Helenio Herrera, French footballer and manager (d. 1997)
1911 – Hervé Bazin, French author and poet (d. 1996)
1911 – Lester Rodney, American soldier and journalist (d. 2009)
1912 – Marta Eggerth, Jewish-Hungarian-American actress and singer (d. 2013)
1914 – George Davis, American art director (d. 1984)
1914 – Mac Raboy, American illustrator (d. 1967)
1915 – Martin Clemens, Scottish soldier (d. 2009)
1915 – Joe Foss, American general and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota (d. 2003)
1915 – Regina Ghazaryan, Armenian painter (d. 1999)
1916 – Win Maung, 3rd President of Union of Myanmar (d. 1989)
1916 – A. Thiagarajah, Sri Lankan educator and politician (d. 1981)
1916 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, world’s first female prime minister (d. 2000)
1918 – William Holden, American actor (d. 1981)
1919 – Gilles Lamontagne, Canadian lieutenant and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2016)
1919 – Chavela Vargas, Costa Rican-Mexican singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2012)
1920 – Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (d. 2016)
1923 – Lindsay Anderson, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
1923 – Solly Hemus, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2017)
1923 – Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (d. 2014)
1923 – Gianni Raimondi, Italian lyric tenor (d. 2008)
1923 – Harry Reasoner, American soldier and journalist (d. 1991)
1924 – Kenneth Norman Jones, Australian public servant
1924 – Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (d. 2013)
1925 – René Moawad, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 13th President of Lebanon (d. 1989)
1926 – Joan Lorring, British actress (d. 2014)
1926 – Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2004)
1927 – Margot Honecker, East German politician and First Lady (d. 2016)
1928 – Victor Lownes, American businessman (d. 2017)
1928 – Cynthia Ozick, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist
1928 – Heinz Putzl, Austrian fencer
1928 – Fabien Roy, Canadian accountant and politician
1929 – James Last, German-American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2015)
1930 – Chris Barber, English trombonist and bandleader
1931 – John Barrett, English tennis player and sportscaster
1931 – Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (d. 2012)
1934 – Don Kirshner, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
1934 – Peter Morris, Australian-English surgeon and academic
1935 – Bud Paxson, American broadcaster, founded Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (d. 2015)
1937 – Ronald Hamowy, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2012)
1937 – Ferdinand Piëch, Austrian-German engineer and businessman (d. 2019)
1938 – Ben Barnes, American businessman and politician, 36th Lieutenant Governor of Texas
1938 – Doug Lewis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 41st Canadian Minister of Justice
1938 – Ronald H. Miller, American theologian, author, and academic (d. 2011)
1938 – Kerry Wendell Thornley, American theorist and author (d. 1988)
1939 – Robert Miller, American art dealer (d. 2011)
1940 – Eric Dancer, English businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Devon
1940 – Billy Fury, English singer-songwriter (d. 1983)
1940 – John McCririck, English journalist (d. 2019)
1940 – Chuck Menville, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1992)
1940 – Anja Silja, German soprano and actress
1940 – Agostino Vallini, Italian cardinal and vicar general of Rome
1941 – Lagle Parek, Estonian architect and politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior
1942 – Buster Williams, American jazz bassist
1943 – Richard Allen Epstein, American lawyer, author, and academic
1946 – Clare Francis, English sailor and author
1947 – Nigel Emslie, Lord Emslie, Scottish lawyer and judge
1947 – Richard Field, English lawyer and judge
1947 – Sherrie Levine, American photographer
1947 – Tsutomu Wakamatsu, Japanese baseball player, coach, and manager
1948 – Jan Hammer, Czech pianist, composer, and producer
1948 – Alice Harden, American educator and politician (d. 2012)
1948 – Pekka Vasala, Finnish runner
1951 – Olivia Hussey, Argentinian-English actress
1951 – Börje Salming, Swedish ice hockey player and businessman
1952 – Joe Alaskey, American voice actor (d. 2016)
1952 – Pierre Guité, Canadian ice hockey player
1952 – John McColl, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Jersey
1952 – Željko Ražnatović, Serbian commander (d. 2000)
1952 – John Robertson, Scottish businessman and politician
1954 – Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver
1954 – Roddy Piper, Canadian professional wrestler and actor (d. 2015)
1954 – Michael Sembello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Todd Lickliter, American basketball player and coach
1955 – Pete Shelley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
1955 – Mike Stroud, English physician and explorer
1956 – Colin Tyre, Lord Tyre, Scottish lawyer and judge
1957 – Teri Austin, Canadian actress
1957 – Afrika Bambaataa, American disc jockey
1957 – Nick Hornby, English novelist, essayist, lyricist, and screenwriter
1957 – Julia Macur, English lawyer and judge
1957 – Frank McDonough, British historian
1958 – Laslo Babits, Canadian javelin thrower (d. 2013)
1959 – Sean Bean, English actor
1959 – Jimmy Mann, Canadian ice hockey player
1959 – Li Meisu, Chinese shot putter
1960 – Vladimir Polyakov, Russian pole vaulter
1961 – Frank J. Christensen, American labor union leader
1961 – Norman Cowans, Jamaican-English cricketer
1961 – Boomer Esiason, American football player and sportscaster
1961 – Bella Freud, English fashion designer
1962 – Paul Nicholls, English jockey and trainer
1964 – Ken Daneyko, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1964 – Maynard James Keenan, American singer-songwriter and producer
1964 – Rachel Notley, Canadian politician
1964 – Lela Rochon, American actress
1966 – Vikram, Indian actor and singer
1967 – Kimberly Elise, American actress
1967 – Marquis Grissom, American baseball player and coach
1967 – Ian Jones, New Zealand rugby player
1967 – Barnaby Joyce, Australian politician, 17th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
1967 – Liz Phair, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1968 – Julie Fagerholt, Danish fashion designer
1968 – Phil Henderson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
1968 – Eric Lamaze, Canadian jockey
1968 – Roger Twose, New Zealand cricketer
1968 – Richie Woodhall, English boxer and trainer
1970 – Redman, American rapper, producer, and actor
1971 – Claire Sweeney, English actress
1972 – Gary Bennett, American baseball player
1972 – Tony Boselli, American football player and sportscaster
1972 – Jennifer Garner, American actress
1972 – Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
1972 – Yuichi Nishimura, Japanese footballer and referee
1972 – Terran Sandwith, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Katrin Koov, Estonian architect
1973 – Brett Maher, Australian basketball player and sportscaster
1973 – Theo Ratliff, American basketball player
1974 – Mikael Åkerfeldt, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1974 – Victoria Beckham, English singer and fashion designer
1975 – Heidi Alexander, English politician
1975 – Travis Roy, American ice hockey player
1976 – Maurice Wignall, Jamaican hurdler and long jumper
1977 – Chad Hedrick, American speed skater
1977 – Frederik Magle, Danish composer, organist, and pianist
1978 – Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, German skier
1978 – Lindsay Hartley, American actress
1978 – Jason White, Scottish rugby player
1979 – Eric Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Marija Šestak, Serbian-Slovenian triple jumper
1980 – Fabián Vargas, Colombian footballer
1980 – Curtis Woodhouse, English footballer, boxer, and manager
1981 – Jenny Meadows, English runner
1981 – Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer-songwriter
1981 – Ryan Raburn, American baseball player
1981 – Chris Thompson, English runner
1981 – Zhang Yaokun, Chinese footballer
1982 – Brad Boyes, Canadian ice hockey player
1982 – Chuck Kobasew, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Stanislav Chistov, Russian ice hockey player
1983 – Roberto Jiménez, Peruvian footballer
1983 – Andrea Marcato, Italian rugby player
1984 – Pablo Sebastián Álvarez, Argentinian footballer
1984 – Jed Lowrie, American baseball player
1984 – Raffaele Palladino, Italian footballer
1985 – Rooney Mara, American actress
1985 – Luke Mitchell, Australian actor and model
1985 – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player
1986 – Romain Grosjean, French race car driver
1988 – Takahiro Moriuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
1989 – Paraskevi Papachristou, Greek triple jumper
1989 – Avi Kaplan, singer and songwriter
1990 – Jonathan Brown, Welsh footballer
1992 – Lachlan Maranta, Australian rugby league footballer
1994 – Alanna Goldie, Canadian fencer
1996 – Lorna Fitzgerald, British actress

Deaths on April 17

485 – Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (b. 412)
617 – Donnán of Eigg, Irish priest and saint
648 – Xiao, empress of the Sui Dynasty
744 – Al-Walid II, Umayyad caliph (b. 706)
818 – Bernard of Italy, Frankish king (b. 797)
858 – Benedict III, pope of the Catholic Church
1071 – Manuel Komnenos, Byzantine military commander (b. c. 1045)
1080 – Harald III of Denmark (b. 1041)
1111 – Robert of Molesme, Christian saint and abbot (b. 1027)
1298 – Árni Þorláksson, Icelandic bishop (b. 1237)
1321 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1259)
1331 – Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford, English nobleman (b. 1257)
1344 – Constantine II, King of Armenia
1355 – Marin Falier, Doge of Venice (b. 1285)
1427 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (b. 1403)
1539 – George, Duke of Saxony (b. 1471)
1574 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar and translator (b. 1500)
1669 – Antonio Bertali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1605)
1680 – Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk-born Native American saint (b. 1656)
1695 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1651)
1696 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (b. 1626)
1711 – Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1678)
1713 – David Hollatz, Polish pastor and theologian (b. 1648)
1764 – Johann Mattheson, German lexicographer and composer (b. 1681)
1790 – Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, publisher, and politician, 6th President of Pennsylvania (b. 1706)
1799 – Richard Jupp, English surveyor and architect (b. 1728)
1840 – Hannah Webster Foster, American journalist and author (b. 1758)
1843 – Samuel Morey, American engineer (b. 1762)
1882 – George Jennings, English engineer and plumber, invented the Flush toilet (b. 1810)
1888 – E. G. Squier, American archaeologist and journalist (b. 1821)
1892 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1822)
1921 – Manwel Dimech, Maltese journalist, author, and philosopher (b. 1860)
1923 – Laurence Ginnell, Irish lawyer and politician (b. 1852)
1930 – Alexander Golovin, Russian painter and stage designer (b. 1863)
1933 – Kote Marjanishvili, Georgian director and playwright (b. 1872)
1936 – Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Dutch lawyer and politician, 28th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1873)
1942 – Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
1944 – J. T. Hearne, English cricketer and coach (b. 1867)
1944 – Dimitrios Psarros, Greek lieutenant, founded the National and Social Liberation (b. 1893)
1946 – Juan Bautista Sacasa, Nicaraguan medical doctor, politician and 20th President of Nicaragua (b. 1874)
1948 – Suzuki Kantarō, Japanese admiral and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1868)
1954 – Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, Romanian lawyer and politician, Romanian Minister of Justice (b. 1900)
1960 – Eddie Cochran, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938)
1961 – Elda Anderson, American physicist and health researcher (b. 1899)
1967 – Red Allen, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1908)
1975 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of India (b. 1888)
1976 – Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
1977 – William Conway, Irish cardinal (b. 1913)
1983 – Felix Pappalardi, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (b. 1939)
1984 – Claude Provost, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1933)
1987 – Cecil Harmsworth King, English publisher (b. 1901)
1987 – Dick Shawn, American actor (b. 1923)
1988 – Louise Nevelson, Ukrainian-American sculptor and educator (b. 1900)
1990 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (b. 1936)
1993 – Turgut Özal, Turkish engineer and politician, 8th president of Turkey (b. 1927)
1994 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American psychologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
1995 – Frank E. Resnik, American sergeant and businessman (b. 1928)
1996 – Piet Hein, Danish poet and mathematician (b. 1905)
1997 – Chaim Herzog, Israeli general, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of Israel (b. 1918)
1998 – Linda McCartney, American photographer, activist, and musician (b. 1941)
2003 – Robert Atkins, American physician and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet (b. 1930)
2003 – H. B. Bailey, American race car driver (b. 1936)
2003 – John Paul Getty, Jr., American-English philanthropist (b. 1932)
2003 – Earl King, American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter (b. 1934)
2003 – Yiannis Latsis, Greek businessman (b. 1910)
2004 – Edmond Pidoux, Swiss author and poet (b. 1908)
2006 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (b. 1907)
2006 – Scott Brazil, American director and producer (b. 1955)
2006 – Henderson Forsythe, American actor (b. 1917)
2007 – Kitty Carlisle, American actress, singer, socialite and game show panelist (b. 1910)
2008 – Aimé Césaire, Caribbean-French poet and politician (b. 1913)
2008 – Danny Federici, American organist and accordion player (b. 1950)
2011 – Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian pianist and composer (b. 1926)
2011 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (b. 1940)
2011 – Robert Vickrey, American artist and author (b. 1926)
2012 – Leila Berg, English journalist and author (b. 1917)
2012 – J. Quinn Brisben, American educator and politician (b. 1934)
2012 – Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (b. 1948)
2012 – Nityananda Mohapatra, Indian journalist, poet, and politician (b. 1912)
2012 – Jonathan V. Plaut, American rabbi and author (b. 1942)
2012 – Stanley Rogers Resor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th United States Secretary of the Army (b. 1917)
2013 – Carlos Graça, São Toméan politician, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (b. 1931)
2013 – Bi Kidude, Tanzanian Taarab singer (b. ≈1910)
2013 – Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter (b. 1957)
2013 – V. S. Ramadevi, Indian politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka (b. 1934)
2014 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
2014 – Bernat Klein, Serbian-Scottish fashion designer and painter (b. 1922)
2014 – Wojciech Leśnikowski, Polish–American architect and academic (b. 1938)
2014 – Karpal Singh, Malaysian lawyer and politician (b. 1940)
2015 – Robert P. Griffin, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1923)
2015 – Scotty Probasco, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1928)
2015 – Jeremiah J. Rodell, American general (b. 1921)
2015 – A. Alfred Taubman, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1924)
2016 – Chyna, American wrestler (b. 1969)
2016 – Doris Roberts, American actress (b. 1925)
2018 – Barbara Bush, former First Lady of the United States (b. 1925)
2018 – Carl Kasell, American radio personality (b. 1934)
2019 – Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 61st and 64th President of Peru (b. 1949)

Holidays and observances on April 17

Christian feast day:
- Kateri Tekakwitha (Canada)
- Stephen Harding
- April 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Store Bededag or General Prayer Day can fall, while May 13 is the latest; observed on the 4th Friday after Easter. (Denmark)
Evacuation Day (Syria), celebrates the recognition of the independence of Syria from France in 1946.
FAO Day (Iraq)
Flag Day (American Samoa)
Malbec World Day
Women’s Day (Gabon)
World Hemophilia Day

April 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 14 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

43 BC – Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Caesar’s assassin Decimus Brutus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, but is then immediately defeated by the army of the other consul, Aulus Hirtius.
AD 69 – Vitellius, commander of the Rhine armies, defeats Emperor Otho in the Battle of Bedriacum to take power over Rome.
AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, surrounds the Jewish capital with four Roman legions.
193 – Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans).
966 – After his marriage to the Christian Doubravka of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converts to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state.
972 – Co-Emperor Otto II, a son of Otto I (the Great), marries the Byzantine princess Theophanu. She is crowned empress by Pope John XIII at Rome.
1028 – Henry III, son of Conrad, is elected King of Germany.
1205 – Battle of Adrianople between Bulgarians and Crusaders.
1294 – Temür, grandson of Kublai, is elected Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan dynasty with the reigning titles Oljeitu and Chengzong.
1341 – Sack of Saluzzo (Italy) by Italian-Angevine troops under Manfred V, Marquess of Saluzzo.
1434 – The foundation stone of Nantes Cathedral, France is laid.
1471 – In England, the Yorkists under Edward IV defeat the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet; the Earl is killed and Edward IV resumes the throne.
1561 – A celestial phenomenon is reported over Nuremberg, described as an aerial battle.
1639 – Imperial forces are defeated by the Swedes at the Battle of Chemnitz. The Swedish victory prolongs the Thirty Years’ War and allows them to advance into Bohemia.
1699 – Khalsa: The Sikh religion was formalised as the Khalsa – the brotherhood of Warrior-Saints – by Guru Gobind Singh in northern India, in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar.
1775 – The first abolition society in North America is established. The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage is organized in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.
1816 – Bussa, a slave in British-ruled Barbados, leads a slave rebellion and is killed. For this, he is remembered as the first national hero of Barbados.
1828 – Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary.
1849 – Hungary declares itself independent of Austria with Lajos Kossuth as its leader.
1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth; Lincoln died the next day.
1865 – U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family are attacked at home by Lewis Powell.
1881 – The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight is fought in El Paso, Texas.
1890 – The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.
1894 – The first ever commercial motion picture house opened in New York City using ten Kinetoscopes, a device for peep-show viewing of films.
1900 – The Exposition Universelle begins.
1902 – James Cash Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1906 – The Azusa Street Revival opens and will launch Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement.
1908 – Hauser Dam, a steel dam on the Missouri River in Montana, U.S., fails, sending a surge of water 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 m) high downstream.
1909 – A massacre is organized by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian population of Cilicia.
1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 (sinks morning of April 15th).
1927 – The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, reaches Greenly Island, Canada – the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
1931 – The Spanish Cortes deposes King Alfonso XIII and proclaims the Second Spanish Republic.
1935 – The Black Sunday dust storm, considered one of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl, swept across the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and neighboring areas.
1939 – The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck is first published by the Viking Press.
1940 – World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway in preparation for a larger force to arrive two days later.
1941 – World War II: German general Erwin Rommel attacks Tobruk.
1944 – Bombay explosion: A massive explosion in Bombay harbor kills 300 and causes economic damage valued then at 20 million pounds.
1945 – Razing of Friesoythe: The 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division deliberately destroyed the German town of Friesoythe on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes.
1958 – The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit after a mission duration of 162 days. This was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a female dog named Laika, who likely lived only a few hours.
1967 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma overthrows President of Togo Nicolas Grunitzky and installs himself as the new president, a title he would hold for the next 38 years.
1978 – Tbilisi Demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
1981 – STS-1: The first operational Space Shuttle, Columbia completes its first test flight.
1986 – The heaviest hailstones ever recorded (1 kilogram (2.2 lb)) fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.
1988 – The USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will.
1988 – In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
1991 – The Republic of Georgia introduces the post of President after its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
1994 – In a U.S. friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shoot-down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people.
1999 – NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees. Yugoslav officials say 75 people were killed.
1999 – A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$2.3 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history.
2002 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country’s military.
2003 – The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
2003 – U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the MS Achille Lauro in 1985.
2005 – The Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.
2006 – Twin blasts triggered by crude bombs during Asr prayer in Jama Masjid, Delhi injure 13 people.
2010 – Nearly 2,700 are killed in a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
2014 – Twin bomb blasts in Abuja, Nigeria, kill at least 75 people and injures 141 others.
2014 – Two hundred seventy-six schoolgirls are abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Nigeria.
2016 – In Japan, the foreshock of Kumamoto earthquakes occurs.

Births on April 14

1126 – Averroes, Spanish physician and philosopher (d. 1198)
1204 – Henry I, king of Castile (d. 1217)
1331 – Jeanne-Marie de Maille, French Roman Catholic saint (d. 1414)
1527 – Abraham Ortelius, Flemish cartographer and geographer (d. 1598)
1572 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1632)
1578 – Philip III of Spain (d. 1621)
1629 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1695)
1668 – Magnus Julius De la Gardie, Swedish general and politician (d. 1741)
1678 – Abraham Darby I, English iron master (d. 1717)
1709 – Charles Collé, French playwright and songwriter (d. 1783)
1714 – Adam Gib, Scottish minister and author (d. 1788)
1738 – William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1809)
1741 – Emperor Momozono of Japan (d. 1762)
1769 – Barthélemy Catherine Joubert, French general (d. 1799)
1773 – Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, French politician, 6th Prime Minister of France (d. 1854)
1788 – David G. Burnet, American politician, 2nd Vice-President of Texas (d. 1870)
1800 – John Appold, English engineer (d. 1865)
1812 – George Grey, Portuguese-New Zealand soldier, explorer, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1898)
1814 – Dimitri Kipiani, Georgian publicist and author (d. 1887)
1819 – Harriett Ellen Grannis Arey, American educator, author, editor, and publisher (d. 1901)
1827 – Augustus Pitt Rivers, English general, ethnologist, and archaeologist (d. 1900)
1852 – Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton, Australian biologist (d. 1941)
1854 – Martin Lipp, Estonian pastor and poet (d. 1923)
1857 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (d. 1944)
1865 – Alfred Hoare Powell, English architect, and designer and painter of pottery (d. 1960)
1866 – Anne Sullivan, American educator (d. 1936)
1868 – Peter Behrens, German architect, designed the AEG turbine factory (d. 1940)
1870 – Victor Borisov-Musatov, Russian painter and educator (d. 1905)
1870 – Syd Gregory, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 1929)
1872 – Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-English scholar and translator (d. 1953)
1876 – Cecil Chubb, English barrister and one time owner of Stonehenge (d. 1934)
1881 – Husain Salaahuddin, Maldivian poet and scholar (d. 1948)
1882 – Moritz Schlick, German-Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1936)
1886 – Ernst Robert Curtius, German philologist and scholar (d. 1956)
1886 – Árpád Tóth, Hungarian poet and translator (d. 1928)
1889 – Arnold J. Toynbee, English historian and academic (d. 1975)
1891 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian economist, jurist, and politician, 1st Indian Minister of Law and Justice (d. 1956)
1891 – Otto Lasanen, Finnish wrestler (d. 1958)
1892 – Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1962)
1892 – V. Gordon Childe, Australian archaeologist and philologist (d. 1957)
1892 – Claire Windsor, American actress (d. 1972)
1902 – Sylvio Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and referee (d. 1974)
1903 – Henry Corbin, French philosopher and academic (d. 1978)
1903 – Ruth Svedberg, Swedish discus thrower and triathlete (d. 2002)
1904 – John Gielgud, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2000)
1905 – Elizabeth Huckaby, American author and educator (d. 1999)
1905 – Georg Lammers, German sprinter (d. 1987)
1905 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French author and activist (d. 1999)
1906 – Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian king (d. 1975)
1907 – François Duvalier, Haitian physician and politician, 40th President of Haiti (d. 1971)
1912 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer and journalist (d. 1994)
1912 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (d. 1978)
1913 – Jean Fournet, French conductor (d. 2008)
1916 – Don Willesee, Australian telegraphist and politician, 29th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 2003)
1917 – Valerie Hobson, English actress (d. 1998)
1917 – Marvin Miller, American baseball executive (d. 2012)
1918 – Mary Healy, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
1919 – Shamshad Begum, Pakistani-Indian singer (d. 2013)
1919 – K. Saraswathi Amma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1975)
1920 – Ivor Forbes Guest, English lawyer, historian, and author (d. 2018)
1921 – Thomas Schelling, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
1922 – Audrey Long, American actress (d. 2014)
1923 – Roberto De Vicenzo, Argentinian golfer (d. 2017)
1924 – Shorty Rogers, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1994)
1924 – Joseph Ruskin, American actor and producer (d. 2013)
1924 – Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, English philosopher, and academic (d. 2019)
1925 – Abel Muzorewa, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (d. 2010)
1925 – Rod Steiger, American soldier and actor (d. 2002)
1926 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (d. 2013)
1926 – Frank Daniel, Czech director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1926 – Gloria Jean, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
1926 – Liz Renay, American actress and author (d. 2007)
1927 – Alan MacDiarmid, New Zealand chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
1927 – Dany Robin, French actress and singer (d. 1995)
1929 – Gerry Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1929 – Inez Andrews, African-American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
1930 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (d. 2013)
1930 – Arnold Burns, American lawyer and politician, 21st United States Deputy Attorney General (d. 2013)
1930 – René Desmaison, French mountaineer (d. 2007)
1930 – Bradford Dillman, American actor and author (d. 2018)
1931 – Geoffrey Dalton, English admiral
1931 – Paul Masnick, Canadian ice hockey player
1932 – Bill Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Premier of British Columbia (d. 2015)
1932 – Atef Ebeid, Egyptian academic and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2014)
1932 – Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter and musician
1932 – Cameron Parker, Scottish businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire
1933 – Paddy Hopkirk, Northern Irish racing driver
1933 – Boris Strugatsky, Russian author (d. 2012)
1933 – Yuri Oganessian, Armenian-Russian nuclear physicist
1934 – Fredric Jameson, American philosopher and theorist
1935 – Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Baroness Masham of Ilton, English table tennis player, swimmer, and politician
1935 – John Oliver, English bishop
1935 – Erich von Däniken, Swiss historian and author
1936 – Arlene Martel, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
1936 – Bobby Nichols, American golfer
1936 – Frank Serpico, American-Italian soldier, police officer and lecturer
1937 – Efi Arazi, Israeli businessman, founded the Scailex Corporation (d. 2013)
1937 – Sepp Mayerl, Austrian mountaineer (d. 2012)
1938 – Mahmud Esad Coşan, Turkish author and academic (d. 2001)
1940 – Julie Christie, English actress and activist
1940 – David Hope, Baron Hope of Thornes, English archbishop and academic
1940 – Richard Thompson, English physician and academic
1941 – Pete Rose, American baseball player and manager
1942 – Valeriy Brumel, Soviet high jumper (d. 2003)
1942 – Valentin Lebedev, Russian engineer and astronaut
1942 – Björn Rosengren, Swedish politician, Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Innovation
1944 – John Sergeant, English journalist
1945 – Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Samoan economist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Samoa
1945 – Ritchie Blackmore, English guitarist and songwriter
1945 – Roger Frappier, Canadian producer, director and screenwriter
1946 – Mireille Guiliano, French-American author
1946 – Michael Sarris, Cypriot economist and politician, Cypriot Minister of Finance
1946 – Knut Kristiansen, Norwegian pianist and orchestra leader
1947 – Dominique Baudis, French journalist and politician (d. 2014)
1947 – Bob Massie, Australian cricketer
1948 – Berry Berenson, American model, actress, and photographer (d. 2001)
1948 – Anastasios Papaligouras, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Justice
1949 – Dave Gibbons, English author and illustrator
1949 – DeAnne Julius, American-British economist and academic
1949 – Chris Langham, English actor and screenwriter
1949 – Chas Mortimer, English motorcycle racer
1949 – John Shea, American actor and director
1950 – Francis Collins, American physician and geneticist
1950 – Péter Esterházy, Hungarian author (d. 2016)
1951 – Milija Aleksic, English footballer (d. 2012)
1951 – José Eduardo González Navas, Spanish politician
1951 – Julian Lloyd Webber, English cellist, conductor, and educator
1951 – Elizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, English politician
1952 – Kenny Aaronson, American bass player
1952 – Mickey O’Sullivan, Irish footballer and manager
1952 – David Urquhart, Scottish bishop
1954 – Sue Hill, English pathologist and civil servant
1954 – Katsuhiro Otomo, Japanese director, screenwriter, and illustrator
1956 – Boris Šprem, Croatian lawyer and politician, 8th President of Croatian Parliament (d. 2012)
1957 – Lothaire Bluteau, Canadian actor
1957 – Mikhail Pletnev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor
1958 – Peter Capaldi, Scottish actor
1959 – Steve Byrnes, American sportscaster and producer (d. 2015)
1959 – Marie-Thérèse Fortin, Canadian actress
1960 – Brad Garrett, American actor and comedian
1960 – Myoma Myint Kywe, Burmese historian and journalist
1960 – Osamu Sato, Japanese graphic artist, programmer, and composer
1960 – Tina Rosenberg, American journalist and author
1960 – Pat Symcox, South African cricketer
1961 – Robert Carlyle, Scottish actor and director
1961 – Daniel Clowes, American cartoonist and screenwriter
1962 – Guillaume Leblanc, Canadian athlete
1964 – Brian Adams, American wrestler (d. 2007)
1964 – Jeff Andretti, American race car driver
1964 – Greg Battle, American-Canadian football player
1964 – Stuart Duncan, American bluegrass musician
1964 – Jeff Hopkins, Welsh international footballer and manager
1964 – Gina McKee, English actress
1965 – Tom Dey, American director and producer
1965 – Alexandre Jardin, French author
1965 – Craig McDermott, Australian cricketer and coach
1966 – André Boisclair, Canadian lawyer and politician
1966 – Jan Boklöv, Swedish ski jumper
1966 – David Justice, American baseball player and sportscaster
1966 – Greg Maddux, American baseball player, coach, and manager
1967 – Nicola Berti, Italian international footballer
1967 – Steve Chiasson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1999)
1967 – Alain Côté, Canadian ice hockey player
1967 – Barrett Martin, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
1967 – Julia Zemiro, French-Australian actress, comedian, singer and writer
1968 – Anthony Michael Hall, American actor
1969 – Brad Ausmus, American baseball player and manager
1969 – Martyn LeNoble, Dutch-American bass player
1969 – Vebjørn Selbekk, Norwegian journalist
1970 – Steve Avery, American baseball player
1970 – Shizuka Kudō, Japanese singer and actress
1971 – Miguel Calero, Colombian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1971 – Carlos Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
1971 – Gregg Zaun, American baseball player and sportscaster
1972 – Paul Devlin, English-Scottish footballer and manager
1972 – Roberto Mejía, Dominican baseball player
1972 – Dean Potter, American rock climber and BASE jumper (d. 2015)
1973 – Roberto Ayala, Argentinian footballer
1973 – Adrien Brody, American actor
1973 – Hidetaka Suehiro, Japanese video game director and writer
1973 – David Miller, American tenor
1974 – Da Brat, American rapper
1975 – Lita, American wrestler
1975 – Luciano Almeida, Brazilian footballer
1975 – Avner Dorman, Israeli-American composer and academic
1975 – Anderson Silva, Brazilian mixed martial artist and boxer
1976 – Christian Älvestam, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1976 – Georgina Chapman, English model, actress, and fashion designer, co-founded Marchesa
1976 – Anna DeForge, American basketball player
1976 – Kyle Farnsworth, American baseball player
1976 – Nadine Faustin-Parker, Hatian hurdler
1976 – Jason Wiemer, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Nate Fox, American basketball player (d. 2014)
1977 – Martin Kaalma, Estonian footballer
1977 – Sarah Michelle Gellar, American actress and producer
1977 – Rob McElhenney, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1978 – Roland Lessing, Estonian biathlete
1979 – Iain Balshaw, English rugby player
1979 – Rebecca DiPietro, American wrestler and model
1979 – Marios Elia, Cypriot footballer
1979 – Ross Filipo, New Zealand rugby player
1979 – Noé Pamarot, French footballer
1979 – Patrick Somerville, American novelist and short story writer
1979 – Kerem Tunçeri, Turkish basketball player
1980 – Win Butler, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1980 – Jeremy Smith, New Zealand rugby league player
1981 – Mustafa Güngör, German rugby player
1981 – Amy Leach, English director and producer
1982 – Uğur Boral, Turkish footballer
1982 – Larissa França, Brazilian volleyball player
1983 – Simona La Mantia, Italian triple jumper
1983 – James McFadden, Scottish footballer
1983 – William Obeng, Ghanaian-American football player
1983 – Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Georgian basketball player
1984 – Blake Costanzo, American football player
1984 – Charles Hamelin, Canadian speed skater
1984 – Harumafuji Kōhei, Mongolian sumo wrestler, the 70th Yokozuna
1984 – Adán Sánchez, American-Mexican musician (d. 2004)
1984 – Tyler Thigpen, American football player
1985 – Grant Clitsome, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – Matt Derbyshire, English footballer
1986 – Goran Gogić, Serbian footballer (d. 2015)
1987 – Michael Baze, American jockey (d. 2011)
1987 – Erwin Hoffer, Austrian footballer
1987 – Wilson Kiprop, Kenyan runner
1987 – Korina Perkovic, German tennis player
1988 – Roberto Bautista Agut, Spanish tennis player
1988 – Eric Gryba, Canadian ice hockey defenseman
1988 – Eliška Klučinová, Czech heptathlete
1988 – Vasileios Pliatsikas, Greek footballer
1988 – Brad Sinopoli, Canadian football player
1989 – Joe Haden, American football player
1990 – Markus Smarzoch, German footballer
1992 – Frederik Sørensen, Danish footballer
1996 – Abigail Breslin, American actress

Deaths on April 14

911 – Pope Sergius III, pope of the Roman Catholic Church
1070 – Gerard, Duke of Lorraine (b. c. 1030)
1099 – Conrad, Bishop of Utrecht (b. before 1040)
1132 – Mstislav I of Kiev (b. 1076)
1279 – Bolesław the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland (b. 1224)
1322 – Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere, English soldier and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1275)
1345 – Richard de Bury, English bishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of The United Kingdom (b. 1287)
1424 – Lucia Visconti, English countess (b. 1372)
1433 – Lidwina, Dutch saint (b. 1380)
1471 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, English commander and politician (b. 1428)
1471 – John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu (b. 1431)
1480 – Thomas de Spens, Scottish statesman and prelate (b. c. 1415)
1488 – Girolamo Riario, Lord of Imola and Forli (b. 1443)
1574 – Louis of Nassau (b. 1538)
1578 – James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, English husband of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1534)
1587 – Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland (b. 1548)
1599 – Henry Wallop, English politician (b. 1540)
1609 – Gasparo da Salò, Italian violin maker (b. 1540)
1662 – William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, English politician (b. 1582)
1682 – Avvakum, Russian priest and saint (b. 1620)
1721 – Michel Chamillart, French politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1652)
1740 – Lady Catherine Jones, English philanthropist (b.1672)
1759 – George Frideric Handel, German-English organist and composer (b. 1685)
1785 – William Whitehead, English poet and playwright (b. 1715)
1792 – Maximilian Hell, Slovak-Hungarian astronomer and priest (b. 1720)
1843 – Joseph Lanner, Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1801)
1864 – Charles Lot Church, American-Canadian politician (b. 1777)
1888 – Emil Czyrniański, Polish chemist (b. 1824)
1910 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1856)
1911 – Addie Joss, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1880)
1911 – Henri Elzéar Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and jurist, 4th Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1836)
1912 – Henri Brisson, French politician, 50th Prime Minister of France (b. 1835)
1914 – Hubert Bland, English activist, co-founded the Fabian Society (b. 1855)
1916 – Gina Krog, Norwegian suffragist and women’s rights activist (b. 1847)
1917 – L. L. Zamenhof, Polish physician and linguist, created Esperanto (b. 1859)
1919 – Auguste-Réal Angers, Canadian judge and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1837)
1925 – John Singer Sargent, American painter (b. 1856)
1930 – Vladimir Mayakovsky, Georgian-Russian actor, playwright, and poet (b. 1893)
1931 – Richard Armstedt, German philologist, historian, and educator (b. 1851)
1935 – Emmy Noether, German-American mathematician and academic (b. 1882)
1938 – Gillis Grafström, Swedish figure skater and architect (b. 1893)
1943 – Yakov Dzhugashvili, Georgian-Russian lieutenant (b. 1907)
1950 – Ramana Maharshi, Indian guru and philosopher (b. 1879)
1951 – Al Christie, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1881)
1962 – M. Visvesvaraya, Indian engineer and scholar (b. 1860)
1963 – Rahul Sankrityayan, Indian monk and historian (b. 1893)
1964 – Tatyana Afanasyeva, Russian-Dutch mathematician and theorist (b. 1876)
1964 – Rachel Carson, American biologist and author (b. 1907)
1968 – Al Benton, American baseball player (b. 1911)
1969 – Matilde Muñoz Sampedro, Spanish actress (b. 1900)
1975 – Günter Dyhrenfurth, German-Swiss mountaineer, geologist, and explorer (b. 1886)
1975 – Fredric March, American actor (b. 1897)
1976 – José Revueltas, Mexican author and activist (b. 1914)
1978 – Joe Gordon, American baseball player and manager (b. 1915)
1978 – F. R. Leavis, English educator and critic (b. 1895)
1983 – Pete Farndon, English bassist (The Pretenders) (b. 1952)
1983 – Gianni Rodari, Italian journalist and author (b. 1920)
1986 – Simone de Beauvoir, French novelist and philosopher (b. 1908)
1990 – Thurston Harris, American singer (b. 1931)
1990 – Olabisi Onabanjo, Nigerian politician, 3rd Governor of Ogun State (b. 1927)
1992 – Irene Greenwood, Australian radio broadcaster and feminist and peace activist (b. 1898)
1994 – Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Pakistani chemist and scholar (b. 1897)
1995 – Burl Ives, American actor, folk singer, and writer (b. 1909)
1999 – Ellen Corby, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1911)
1999 – Anthony Newley, English singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1931)
1999 – Bill Wendell, American television announcer (b. 1924)
2000 – Phil Katz, American computer programmer, co-created the zip file format (b. 1962)
2000 – August R. Lindt, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
2000 – Wilf Mannion, English footballer (b. 1918)
2001 – Jim Baxter, Scottish footballer (b. 1939)
2001 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
2003 – Jyrki Otila, Finnish politician (b. 1941)
2004 – Micheline Charest, English-Canadian television producer, co-founded the Cookie Jar Group (b. 1953)
2006 – Mahmut Bakalli, Kosovo politician (b. 1936)
2007 – June Callwood, Canadian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1924)
2007 – Don Ho, American singer and ukulele player (b. 1930)
2007 – René Rémond, French historian and economist (b. 1918)
2008 – Tommy Holmes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917)
2008 – Ollie Johnston, American animator and voice actor (b. 1912)
2009 – Maurice Druon, French author (b. 1918)
2010 – Israr Ahmed, Pakistani theologian and scholar (b. 1932)
2010 – Alice Miller, Polish-French psychologist and author (b. 1923)
2010 – Peter Steele, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1962)
2011 – Jean Gratton, Canadian Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1924)
2012 – Émile Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1919)
2012 – Jonathan Frid, Canadian actor (b. 1924)
2012 – Piermario Morosini, Italian footballer (b. 1986)
2013 – Efi Arazi, Israeli businessman, founded the Scailex Corporation (b. 1937)
2013 – Colin Davis, English conductor and educator (b. 1927)
2013 – R. P. Goenka, Indian businessman, founded RPG Group (b. 1930)
2013 – George Jackson, American singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
2013 – Armando Villanueva, Peruvian politician, 121st Prime Minister of Peru (b. 1915)
2013 – Charlie Wilson, American politician (b. 1943)
2014 – Nina Cassian, Romanian poet and critic (b. 1924)
2014 – Crad Kilodney, American-Canadian author (b. 1948)
2014 – Wally Olins, English businessman and academic (b. 1930)
2014 – Mick Staton, American soldier and politician (b. 1940)
2015 – Klaus Bednarz, German journalist and author (b. 1942)
2015 – Mark Reeds, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1960)
2015 – Percy Sledge, American singer (b. 1940)
2015 – Roberto Tucci, Italian cardinal and theologian (b. 1921)
2019 – Bibi Andersson, Swedish actress (b.1935)

Holidays and observances on April 14

Ambedkar Jayanti (India)
Black Day (South Korea)
Christian feast day:
- Anthony, John, and Eustathius
- Bénézet
- Henry Beard Delany (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Domnina of Terni
- Lidwina
- Peter González
- Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus
- April 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Commemoration of Anfal Genocide Against the Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Day of Mologa (Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia)
Day of the Georgian language (Georgia)
Dhivehi Language Day (Maldives)
N’Ko Alphabet Day (Mande speakers)
Pan American Day (several countries in The Americas)
South and Southeast Asian New Year, celebrated on the sidereal vernal equinox. (see April 13):
- Assamese New Year, or Bohag Bihu (India’s Assam Valley)
- Bengali New Year, or Pohela Boishakh (Bangladesh and India’s West Bengal state)
- Burmese New Year, or Thingyan (Myanmar)
- Hindu and Sikh New Year, or Vaisakhi (Punjab region)
- Khmer New Year, or Chol Chnam Thmey (Cambodia)
- Lao New Year, or Pi Mai Lao (Laos)
- Mahl New Year, or Alathu Aharudhuvas (Maldives and India’s Lakshadweep and Kerala state)
- Maithili New Year, or Jude Sheetal (Mithila region)
- Malayali New Year, or Vishu (India’s Kerala state)
- Nepali New Year, or Navabarsha / Vaishak Ek (Nepal)
- Oriya/Odia New Year, or Pana Sankranti (India’s Odisha state)
- Sinhalese New Year, or Aluth Avurudhu (Sri Lanka)
- Tamil New Year, or Puthandu (India’s Tamil Nadu state)
- Thai New Year, or Songkran, celebrated from 13 to 15 April (Thailand)
- Tuluva New Year, or Bisu (India’s Karnataka state)
The first day of Takayama Spring Festival (Takayama, Gifu, Japan)
Youth Day (Angola)

April 14 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

240 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I.
467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted to Christianity by Paulinus, bishop of York.
1012 – Duke Oldřich of Bohemia deposes and blinds his brother Jaromír who flees to Poland.
1204 – The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day.
1606 – The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of English and Scottish ships.
1776 – American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain.
1807 – The Froberg mutiny ends when the remaining mutineers blow up the magazine of Fort Ricasoli.
1820 – Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece.
1831 – Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, cause it to collapse.
1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
1862 – American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw).
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Pillow: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
1865 – American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.
1877 – The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
1910 – SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is launched.
1917 – World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.
1927 – Shanghai massacre of 1927: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Communist Party of China members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front.
1927 – Rocksprings, Texas was hit by an F5 tornado that destroyed 235 of the 247 buildings in the town and killed 72 townspeople and injured 205; third deadliest tornado in Texas history.
1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
1934 – The strongest surface wind gust in the world at the time of 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. It has since been surpassed.
1934 – The U.S. Auto-Lite strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers.
1937 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.
1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office; Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes President upon Roosevelt’s death.
1945 – World War II: The U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reached Tangermünde—only 50 miles from Berlin.
1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
1961 – Cold War: Space Race: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, Vostok 1.
1963 – The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits.
1970 – Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board.
1980 – The Americo-Liberian government of Liberia is violently deposed.
1980 – Transbrasil Flight 303, a Boeing 727, crashes on approach to Hercílio Luz International Airport, in Florianópolis, Brazil. Fifty-five out of the 58 people on board are killed.
1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission.
1983 – Harold Washington is elected as the first black mayor of Chicago.
1990 – Jim Gary’s “Twentieth Century Dinosaurs” exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is the only sculptor ever invited to present a solo exhibition there.
1992 – The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland; the resort and its park’s name are subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris.
1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving “intentionally false statements” in a civil lawsuit; he is later fined and disbarred.
2002 – A suicide bomber blows herself up at the entrance to Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market, killing seven people and wounding 104.
2007 – A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people.
2009 – Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency.
2010 – Merano derailment: A rail accident in South Tyrol kills nine people and injures a further 28.
2013 – Two suicide bombers kill three Chadian soldiers and injure dozens of civilians at a market in Kidal, Mali.
2014 – The Great Fire of Valparaíso ravages the Chilean city of Valparaíso, killing 16 people, displacing nearly 10,000, and destroying over 2,000 homes.

Births on April 12

811 – Muhammad al-Jawad, the ninth Imam of Shia Islam (d. 835)
959 – En’yū, emperor of Japan (d. 991)
1116 – Richeza of Poland, queen of Sweden and Grand Princess of Minsk (d. 1156)
1432 – Anne of Austria, Landgravine of Thuringia (d. 1462)
1484 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace and St. Peter’s Basilica (d. 1546)
1484 – Maharana Sangram Singh, Rana of Mewar (d. 1527)
1500 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar and translator (d. 1574)
1526 – Muretus, French philosopher and author (d. 1585)
1550 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, English courtier and politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (d. 1604)
1577 – Christian IV of Denmark (d. 1648)
1612 – Simone Cantarini, Italian painter and engraver (d. 1648)
1639 – Martin Lister, English naturalist and physician (d. 1712)
1656 – Benoît de Maillet, French diplomat and natural historian (d. 1738)
1705 – William Cookworthy, English minister and pharmacist (d. 1780)
1710 – Caffarelli, Italian actor and singer (d. 1783)
1713 – Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French historian and author (d. 1796)
1716 – Felice Giardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1796)
1722 – Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1793)
1724 – Lyman Hall, American physician, clergyman, and politician, 16th Governor of Georgia (d. 1790)
1748 – Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist and author (d. 1836)
1777 – Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852)
1792 – John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, English soldier and politician, Lord Privy Seal (d. 1840)
1794 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (d. 1847)
1796 – George N. Briggs, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1861)
1799 – Henri Druey, Swiss lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1855)
1801 – Joseph Lanner, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1843)
1816 – Charles Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Victoria (d. 1903)
1823 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian playwright and translator (d. 1886)
1839 – Nikolay Przhevalsky, Russian geographer and explorer (d. 1888)
1845 – Gustaf Cederström, Swedish painter (d. 1933)
1851 – José Gautier Benítez, Puerto Rican soldier and poet (d. 1880)
1851 – Edward Walter Maunder, English astronomer and author (d. 1928)
1852 – Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician and academic (d. 1939)
1856 – Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, English mountaineer, cartographer, and politician (d. 1937)
1863 – Raul Pompeia, Brazilian writer (d. 1895)
1868 – Akiyama Saneyuki, Japanese admiral (d. 1918)
1869 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (d. 1922)
1871 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1941)
1874 – William B. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician, 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1940)
1880 – Addie Joss, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1911)
1883 – Imogen Cunningham, American photographer and educator (d. 1976)
1883 – Dally Messenger, Australian rugby player, cricketer, and sailor (d. 1959)
1884 – Tenby Davies, Welsh runner (d. 1932)
1884 – Otto Meyerhof, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
1885 – Robert Delaunay, French painter (d. 1941)
1887 – Harold Lockwood, American actor and director (d. 1918)
1888 – Dan Ahearn, Irish-American long jumper and police officer (d. 1942)
1888 – Cecil Kimber, English automobile engineer (d. 1945)
1892 – Henry Darger, American writer and artist (d. 1973)
1894 – Dorothy Cumming, Australian-American actress (d. 1983)
1894 – Francisco Craveiro Lopes, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 13th President of Portugal (d. 1964)
1898 – Lily Pons, French-American soprano and actress (d. 1976)
1901 – Lowell Stockman, American farmer and politician (d. 1962)
1902 – Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, 36th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
1903 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
1907 – Zawgyi, Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic (d. 1990)
1907 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian-American sculptor, designed the Marine Corps War Memorial (d. 2003)
1908 – Ida Pollock, English author and painter (d. 2013)
1908 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American pilot and general (d. 2006)
1910 – Gillo Dorfles, Italian art critic, painter and philosopher (d. 2018)
1910 – Irma Rapuzzi, French politician (d. 2018)
1911 – Mahmoud Younis, Egyptian engineer (d. 1976)
1912 – Frank Dilio, Canadian businessman (d. 1997)
1912 – Hamengkubuwono IX, Indonesian politician, 2nd Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1988)
1912 – Hound Dog Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
1913 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist (d. 2013)
1914 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (d. 2013)
1916 – Beverly Cleary, American author
1916 – Russell Garcia, American-New Zealander composer and conductor (d. 2011)
1916 – Benjamin Libet, American neuropsychologist and academic (d. 2007)
1917 – Helen Forrest, American singer and actress (d. 1999)
1917 – Vinoo Mankad, Indian cricketer (d. 1978)
1917 – Robert Manzon, French racing driver (d. 2015)
1919 – István Anhalt, Hungarian-Canadian composer and educator (d. 2012)
1919 – Billy Vaughn, American musician and bandleader (d. 1991)
1921 – Robert Cliche, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1978)
1922 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (d. 1980)
1923 – Ann Miller, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2004)
1924 – Raymond Barre, French economist and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
1924 – Peter Safar, Austrian physician and academic (d. 2003)
1924 – Curtis Turner, American race car driver (d. 1970)
1925 – Evelyn Berezin, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2018)
1925 – Ned Miller, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2016)
1925 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
1926 – Jane Withers, American actress
1927 – Thomas Hemsley, English baritone (d. 2013)
1927 – Alvin Sargent, two-time Academy-Award-winning American screenwriter (d. 2019)
1928 – Hardy Krüger, German actor
1928 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (d. 2013)
1929 – Elspet Gray, Scottish actress (d. 2013)
1929 – Mukhran Machavariani, Georgian poet and educator (d. 2010)
1930 – John Landy, Australian runner and politician, 26th Governor of Victoria
1930 – Bryan Magee, English philosopher and politician (d. 2019)
1930 – Manuel Neri, American sculptor and painter
1930 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (d. 2006)
1931 – Leonid Derbenyov, Russian poet and songwriter (d. 1995)
1932 – Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 5th Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2005)
1932 – Jean-Pierre Marielle, French actor (d. 2019)
1932 – Tiny Tim, American singer and ukulele player (d. 1996)
1933 – Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 2018)
1934 – Heinz Schneiter, Swiss footballer and manager (d. 2017)
1936 – Charles Napier, American actor (d. 2011)
1936 – Kennedy Simmonds, Kittitian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
1937 – Dennis Banks, American author and activist (d. 2017)
1937 – Igor Volk, Ukrainian-Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2017)
1939 – Alan Ayckbourn, English director and playwright
1939 – Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league player and coach
1940 – Woodie Fryman, American baseball player (d. 2011)
1940 – Herbie Hancock, American pianist, composer, and bandleader
1941 – Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (d. 1993)
1942 – Bill Bryden, Scottish actor, director, and screenwriter
1942 – Carlos Reutemann, Argentinian race car driver and politician
1942 – Jacob Zuma, South African politician, 4th President of South Africa
1943 – Sumitra Mahajan, Indian politician, 16th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
1944 – Lisa Jardine, English historian, author, and academic (d. 2015)
1944 – John Kay, German-Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1945 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (d. 2006)
1946 – Ed O’Neill, American actor and comedian
1946 – George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, Scottish politician and diplomat, 10th Secretary General of NATO
1947 – Roy M. Anderson, English epidemiologist, zoologist, and academic
1947 – Martin Brasier, English palaeontologist, biologist, and academic (d. 2014)
1947 – Alex Briley, American disco singer
1947 – Tom Clancy, American historian and author (d. 2013)
1947 – Woody Johnson, American businessman and philanthropist
1947 – Dan Lauria, American actor
1947 – David Letterman, American comedian and talk show host
1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host and producer (d. 2008)
1948 – Joschka Fischer, German academic and politician
1948 – Marcello Lippi, Italian footballer, manager, and coach
1949 – Scott Turow, American lawyer and author
1950 – Flavio Briatore, Italian businessman
1950 – David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
1950 – Joyce Banda, Malawian politician, 4th president of Malawi
1950 – Nick Sackman, English composer and educator
1951 – Tom Noonan, American actor
1952 – Reuben Gant, American football player
1952 – Leicester Rutledge, New Zealand rugby player
1952 – Gary Soto, American poet, novelist, and memoirist
1952 – Ralph Wiley, American journalist (d. 2004)
1953 – Tanino Liberatore, Italian author and illustrator
1954 – John Faulkner, Australian educator and politician, 52nd Australian Minister for Defence
1954 – Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician (d. 2015)
1954 – Pat Travers, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Fabian Hamilton, English graphic designer, engineer, and politician
1956 – Andy Garcia, Cuban-American actor, director, and producer
1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer-songwriter and actor
1957 – Greg Child, Australian mountaineer and author
1957 – Vince Gill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1957 – Tama Janowitz, American novelist and short story writer
1958 – Will Sergeant, English guitarist
1958 – Klaus Tafelmeier, German javelin thrower
1958 – Ginka Zagorcheva, Bulgarian hurdler
1959 – Howard Stableford, English radio and television host
1961 – Corrado Fabi, Italian racing driver
1961 – Charles Mann, American football player and sportscaster
1961 – Magda Szubanski, English-Australian actress, comedian and writer
1962 – Art Alexakis, American singer-songwriter and musician
1962 – Carlos Sainz, Spanish racing driver
1962 – Nobuhiko Takada, Japanese mixed martial artist and wrestler, founded Hustle
1963 – Lydia Cacho, Mexican journalist and author
1964 – Chris Fairclough, English footballer and coach
1965 – Amy Ray, American folk-rock singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer
1965 – Kim Bodnia, Danish actor and director
1965 – Chi Onwurah, English politician
1965 – Gervais Rufyikiri, Burundian politician
1965 – Mihai Stoica, Romanian footballer and manager
1966 – Nils-Olav Johansen, Norwegian guitarist and singer
1966 – Lorenzo White, American football player
1967 – Sarah Cracknell, English singer-songwriter
1968 – Alicia Coppola, American actress
1968 – Toby Gad, German songwriter and producer
1968 – Adam Graves, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Jörn Lenz, German footballer and manager
1969 – Lucas Radebe, South African footballer and sportscaster
1969 – Michael Jackson, American football player and politician (d. 2017)
1970 – Sylvain Bouchard, Canadian speed skater
1971 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor
1971 – Shannen Doherty, American actress, director, and producer
1972 – Paul Lo Duca, American baseball player and sportscaster
1973 – J. Scott Campbell, American author and illustrator
1973 – Ryan Kisor, American trumpet player and composer
1973 – Antonio Osuna, Mexican-American baseball player
1973 – Christian Panucci, Italian footballer and manager
1974 – Belinda Emmett, Australian actress (d. 2006)
1974 – Bryan Fletcher, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1974 – Roman Hamrlík, Czech ice hockey player
1974 – Marley Shelton, American actress
1974 – Sylvinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
1976 – Olga Kotlyarova, Russian runner
1976 – Brad Miller, American basketball player
1977 – Giovanny Espinoza, Ecuadorian footballer
1977 – Sarah Monahan, Australian actress
1977 – Jason Price, Welsh footballer
1977 – Glenn Rogers, Australian-Scottish cricketer
1978 – Guy Berryman, Scottish bass player and producer
1978 – Scott Crary, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1978 – Svetlana Lapina, Russian high jumper
1978 – Robin Walker, English businessman and politician
1979 – Claire Danes, American actress
1979 – Elena Grosheva, Russian gymnast
1979 – Mateja Kežman, Serbian footballer
1979 – Jennifer Morrison, American actress
1979 – Cristian Ranalli, Italian footballer
1979 – Lee Soo-young, South Korean singer
1980 – Sara Head, Welsh Paralympic table tennis champion
1980 – Brian McFadden, Irish singer-songwriter
1981 – Yuriy Borzakovskiy, Russian runner
1981 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentinian footballer
1981 – Tulsi Gabbard, American politician
1981 – Grant Holt, English footballer and professional wrestler
1981 – Hisashi Iwakuma, Japanese baseball pitcher
1983 – Jelena Dokic, Serbian-Australian tennis player
1983 – Luke Kibet, Kenyan runner
1984 – Aleksey Dmitrik, Russian high jumper
1985 – Brennan Boesch, American baseball player
1985 – Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer
1986 – Brad Brach, American baseball pitcher
1986 – Blerim Džemaili, Swiss footballer
1986 – Marcel Granollers, Spanish tennis player
1986 – Jonathan Pitroipa, Burkinabé footballer
1987 – Brooklyn Decker, American model and actress
1987 – Shawn Gore, Canadian football player
1987 – Josh McCrone, Australian rugby league player
1987 – Luiz Adriano, Brazilian professional footballer
1987 – Brendon Urie, American singer, songwriter, musician and multi-instrumentalist
1988 – Ricardo Gabriel Álvarez, Argentinian footballer
1988 – Stephen Brogan, English footballer
1988 – Amedeo Calliari, Italian footballer
1988 – Jessie James Decker, American singer-songwriter
1989 – Bethan Dainton, Welsh rugby union player
1989 – Miguel Ángel Ponce, American-Mexican footballer
1989 – Ádám Hanga, Hungarian basketball player
1989 – Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian-American ice dancer
1989 – Valentin Stocker, Swiss footballer
1990 – Francesca Halsall, English swimmer
1990 – Hiroki Sakai, Japanese footballer
1991 – Torey Krug, American ice hockey player
1991 – Lionel Carole, French professional footballer
1991 – Oliver Norwood, English born Northern Irish international footballer
1991 – Magnus Pääjärvi, Swedish ice hockey player
1991 – Jazz Richards, Welsh international footballer
1992 – Chad le Clos, South African swimmer
1993 – Jordan Archer, English-Scottish footballer
1993 – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Canadian ice hockey player
1994 – Isabelle Drummond, Brazilian actress and singer
1994 – Saoirse Ronan, American-born Irish actress
1994 – Oh Sehun, South Korean musician
1994 – Eric Bailly, Ivorian professional footballer
1994 – Guido Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
1995 – Pedro Cachín, Argentine tennis player
1996 – Elizaveta Kulichkova, Russian tennis player

Deaths on April 12

45 BC – Gnaeus Pompeius, Roman general and politician (b. 75 BC)
352 – Julius I, pope of the Catholic Church
434 – Maximianus, archbishop of Constantinople
901 – Eudokia Baïana, Byzantine empress and wife of Leo VI
1125 – Vladislaus I, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1065)
1167 – Charles VII, king of Sweden (b. c. 1130)
1212 – Vsevolod the Big Nest, Grand Prince of Vladimir (b. 1154)
1256 – Margaret of Bourbon, Queen of Navarre, regent of Navarre (b. c. 1217)
1443 – Henry Chichele, English archbishop (b. 1364)
1500 – Leonhard of Gorizia, Count of Gorz (b. 1440)
1530 – Joanna La Beltraneja, Princess of Castile (b. 1462)
1550 – Claude, Duke of Guise (b. 1496)
1555 – Joanna of Castile (b. 1479)
1675 – Richard Bennett, English politician, colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1609)
1684 – Nicola Amati, Italian instrument maker (b. 1596)
1687 – Ambrose Dixon, English-American soldier (b. 1619)
1704 – Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and theologian (b. 1627)
1748 – William Kent, English architect, designed Holkham Hall and Chiswick House (b. 1685)
1782 – Metastasio, Italian-Austrian poet and composer (b. 1698)
1788 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-Italian composer (b. 1719)
1795 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (b. 1710)
1814 – Charles Burney, English composer and historian (b. 1726)
1817 – Charles Messier, French astronomer and academic (b. 1730)
1850 – Adoniram Judson, American lexicographer and missionary (b. 1788)
1866 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded Fleetwood (b. 1801)
1872 – Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer and theorist (b. 1795)
1878 – William M. Tweed, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823)
1879 – Richard Taylor, American general (b. 1826)
1885 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1817)
1898 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian cardinal (b. 1820)
1902 – Marie Alfred Cornu, French physicist and academic (b. 1842)
1906 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar, academic, and philanthropist (b. 1836)
1912 – Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founded the American Red Cross (b. 1821)
1933 – Adelbert Ames, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Mississippi (b. 1835)
1937 – Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan, Turkish playwright and poet (b. 1852)
1938 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (b. 1873)
1943 – Viktor Puskar, Estonian colonel (b. 1889)
1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882)
1953 – Lionel Logue, Australian actor and therapist (b. 1880)
1962 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish racing driver (b. 1923)
1966 – Sydney Allard, English racing driver and founder of the Allard car company (b. 1910)
1968 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (b. 1899)
1971 – Ed Lafitte, American baseball player and dentist (b. 1886)
1973 – Arthur Freed, American songwriter and producer (b. 1894)
1975 – Josephine Baker, French actress, activist, and humanitarian (b. 1906)
1977 – Philip K. Wrigley, American businessman, co-founded Lincoln Park Gun Club (b. 1894)
1980 – William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician, 20th President of Liberia (b. 1913)
1981 – Prince Yasuhiko Asaka of Japan (b. 1887)
1981 – Joe Louis, American boxer and wrestler (b. 1914)
1983 – Jørgen Juve, Norwegian football player and journalist (b. 1906)
1983 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (b. 1944)
1984 – Edwin T. Layton, American admiral and cryptanalyst (b. 1903)
1986 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (b. 1897)
1988 – Colette Deréal, French singer and actress (b. 1927)
1988 – Alan Paton, South African historian and author (b. 1903)
1989 – Abbie Hoffman, American activist, co-founded Youth International Party (b. 1936)
1989 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
1992 – Ilario Bandini, Italian racing driver and businessman (b. 1911)
1997 – George Wald, American neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
1998 – Robert Ford, Canadian poet and diplomat (b. 1915)
1999 – Boxcar Willie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
2001 – Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the smiley (b. 1921)
2002 – George Shevelov, Ukrainian-American linguist and philologist (b. 1908)
2004 – Moran Campbell, Canadian physician and academic, invented the venturi mask (b. 1925)
2006 – William Sloane Coffin, American minister and activist (b. 1924)
2007 – Kevin Crease, Australian journalist (b. 1936)
2008 – Cecilia Colledge, English-American figure skater and coach (b. 1920)
2008 – Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (b. 1923)
2008 – Jerry Zucker, Israeli-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1949)
2010 – Michel Chartrand, Canadian trade union leader (b. 1916)
2010 – Werner Schroeter, German director and screenwriter (b. 1945)
2011 – Karim Fakhrawi, Bahraini journalist, co-founded Al-Wasat (b. 1962)
2012 – Mohit Chattopadhyay, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1934)
2012 – Rodgers Grant, American pianist and composer (b. 1935)
2013 – Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (b. 1928)
2013 – Johnny du Plooy, South African boxer (b. 1964)
2013 – Michael France, American screenwriter (b. 1962)
2013 – Brennan Manning, American priest and author (b. 1934)
2013 – Annamária Szalai, Hungarian journalist and politician (b. 1961)
2013 – Ya’akov Yosef, Israeli rabbi and politician (b. 1946)
2014 – Pierre Autin-Grenier, French author and poet (b. 1947)
2014 – Pierre-Henri Menthéour, French cyclist (b. 1960)
2014 – Maurício Alves Peruchi, Brazilian footballer (b. 1990)
2014 – Hal Smith, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
2014 – Billy Standridge, American race car driver (b. 1953)
2015 – Paulo Brossard, Brazilian jurist and politician (b. 1924)
2015 – Patrice Dominguez, Algerian-French tennis player and trainer (b. 1950)
2015 – Alfred Eick, German commander (b. 1916)
2015 – André Mba Obame, Gabonese politician (b. 1957)
2016 – Anne Jackson, American actress (b. 1925)
2016 – Mohammad Al Gaz, Emirati politician & diplomat (b. 1930)
2017 – Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (b. 1959)
2020 – Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (b. 1983)

Holidays and observances on April 12

Children’s Day (Bolivia)
Christian feast day:
- Adoniram Judson (Episcopal Church)
- Alferius
- Blessed Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
- Erkembode
- Pope Julius I
- Teresa of the Andes
- Zeno of Verona
- April 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin:
- Cosmonautics Day (Russia)
- International Day of Human Space Flight
- Yuri’s Night (International observance)
Halifax Day (North Carolina)
National Redemption Day (Liberia)

April 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich’aak K’ahk’ assumes the crown of Calakmul.
801 – King Louis the Pious captures Barcelona from the Moors after a siege of several months.
1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
1077 – The first Parliament of Friuli is created.
1559 – The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis treaty is signed, ending the Italian Wars.
1860 – The first successful United States Pony Express run from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, begins.
1865 – American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
1882 – American Old West: Robert Ford kills Jesse James.
1885 – Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for his engine design.
1888 – The first of eleven unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurs.
1895 – The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
1922 – Joseph Stalin becomes the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1933 – First flight over Mount Everest, by the British Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale, and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston.
1936 – Bruno Richard Hauptmann is executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the baby son of pilot Charles Lindbergh.
1942 – World War II: Japanese forces begin an assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.
1946 – Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.
1948 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
1948 – In Jeju Province, South Korea, a civil-war-like period of violence and human rights abuses begins, known as the Jeju uprising.
1955 – The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg’s book Howl against obscenity charges.
1956 – Hudsonville–Standale tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado.
1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. He was assassinated the next day.
1969 – Vietnam War: United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to “Vietnamize” the war effort.
1973 – Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the first handheld mobile phone call to Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs.
1974 – The 1974 Super Outbreak occurs, the second biggest tornado outbreak in recorded history (after the 2011 Super Outbreak). The death toll is 315, with nearly 5,500 injured.
1975 – Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.
1980 – US Congress restores a federal trust relationship with the 501 members of the Shvwits, Kanosh, Koosharem, and the Indian Peaks and Cedar City bands of the Paiute people of Utah.
1981 – The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.
1989 – The US Supreme Court upholds the jurisdictional rights of tribal courts under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 in Mississippi Choctaw Band v. Holyfield.
1996 – Suspected “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski is captured at his Montana cabin in the United States.
1997 – The Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
2000 – United States v. Microsoft Corp.: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust law by keeping “an oppressive thumb” on its competitors.
2004 – Islamic terrorists involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves.
2007 – Conventional-Train World Speed Record: A French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line sets an official new world speed record.
2008 – ATA Airlines, once one of the ten largest U.S. passenger airlines and largest charter airline, files for bankruptcy for the second time in five years and ceases all operations.
2008 – Texas law enforcement cordons off the FLDS’s YFZ Ranch. Eventually, 533 women and children will be taken into state custody.
2009 – Jiverly Antares Wong opens fire at the American Civic Association immigration center in Binghamton, New York, killing thirteen and wounding four before committing suicide.
2010 – Apple Inc. released the first generation iPad, a tablet computer.
2013 – More than 50 people die in floods resulting from record-breaking rainfall in La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2016 – The Panama Papers, a leak of legal documents, reveals information on 214,488 offshore companies.
2017 – A bomb explodes in the St Petersburg metro system, killing 14 and injuring several more people.
2018 – YouTube headquarters shooting.

Births on April 3

1016 – Xing Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1055)
1151 – Igor Svyatoslavich, Russian prince (d. 1202)
1438 – John III of Egmont, Dutch nobleman (d. 1516)
1529 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1581)
1540 – Maria de’ Medici, Italian noblewoman, the eldest daughter of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. (d. 1557)
1593 – George Herbert, English poet (d. 1633)
1639 – Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (d. 1682)
1643 – Charles V, duke of Lorraine (d. 1690)
1682 – Valentin Rathgeber, German organist and composer (d. 1750)
1693 – George Edwards, English ornithologist and entomologist (d. 1773)
1715 – William Watson, English physician, physicist, and botanist (d. 1787)
1764 – John Abernethy, English surgeon and anatomist (d. 1831)
1769 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian politician and diplomat (d. 1835)
1770 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (d. 1843)
1778 – Pierre Bretonneau, French doctor who performed the first successful tracheotomy (d. 1862)
1781 – Swaminarayan, Indian religious leader (d. 1830)
1782 – Alexander Macomb, American general (d. 1841)
1783 – Washington Irving, American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian (d. 1859)
1791 – Anne Lister, English diarist, mountaineer, and traveller (d.1840)
1798 – Charles Wilkes, American admiral, geographer, and explorer (d.1877)
1807 – Mary Carpenter, English educational and social reformer (d. 1877)
1814 – Lorenzo Snow, American religious leader, 5th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1901)
1822 – Edward Everett Hale, American minister, historian, and author (d. 1909)
1823 – George Derby, American lieutenant and journalist (d. 1861)
1823 – William M. Tweed, American politician (d. 1878)
1826 – Cyrus K. Holliday, American businessman (d. 1900)
1837 – John Burroughs, American botanist and author (d. 1921)
1842 – Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel (d. 1864)
1848 – Arturo Prat, Chilean lawyer and captain (d. 1879)
1858 – Jacob Gaudaur, Canadian rower (d. 1937)
1860 – Frederik van Eeden, Dutch psychiatrist and author (d. 1932)
1864 – Emil Kellenberger, Swiss target shooter (d. 1943)
1875 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
1876 – Margaret Anglin, Canadian actress, director, and producer (d. 1958)
1876 – Tomáš Baťa, Czech businessman, founded Bata Shoes (d. 1932)
1880 – Otto Weininger, Jewish-Austrian philosopher and author (d. 1903)
1881 – Alcide De Gasperi, Italian journalist and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1954)
1882 – Philippe Desranleau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1952)
1883 – Ikki Kita, Japanese philosopher and author (d. 1937)
1885 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
1885 – Bud Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 1954)
1885 – Marie-Victorin Kirouac, Canadian botanist and academic (d. 1944)
1885 – St John Philby, English colonial and explorer (d. 1960)
1886 – Dooley Wilson, American actor and singer (d. 1953)
1887 – Ōtori Tanigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 24th Yokozuna (d. 1956)
1887 – Nishizō Tsukahara, Japanese admiral (d. 1966)
1888 – Neville Cardus, English author and critic (d. 1975)
1888 – Thomas C. Kinkaid, American admiral (d. 1972)
1889 – Grigoraș Dinicu, Romanian violinist and composer (d. 1949)
1893 – Leslie Howard, English actor (d. 1943)
1895 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian-American composer and educator (d. 1968)
1895 – Zez Confrey, American pianist and composer (d. 1971)
1897 – Joe Kirkwood Sr., Australian golfer (d. 1970)
1897 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek general (d. 1989)
1898 – David Jack, English footballer and manager (d. 1958)
1898 – George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1981)
1898 – Henry Luce, American publisher, co-founded Time Magazine (d. 1967)
1900 – Camille Chamoun, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Lebanon (d. 1987)
1900 – Albert Walsh, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1958)
1903 – Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Indian social reformer and freedom fighter (d. 1988)
1904 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor and stuntman (d. 1999)
1904 – Sally Rand, American dancer (d. 1979)
1904 – Russel Wright, American furniture designer (d. 1976)
1905 – Robert Sink, American general (d. 1965)
1909 – Stanislaw Ulam, Polish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1984)
1910 – Ted Hook, Australian public servant (d. 1990)
1911 – Nanette Bordeaux, Canadian-American actress (d. 1956)
1911 – Michael Woodruff, English-Scottish surgeon and academic (d. 2001)
1911 – Stanisława Walasiewicz, Polish-American runner (d. 1980)
1912 – Dorothy Eden, New Zealand-English author (d. 1982)
1912 – Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek physician and politician (d. 1963)
1913 – Per Borten, Norwegian politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (d. 2005)
1914 – Ray Getliffe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
1914 – Sam Manekshaw, Indian field marshal (d. 2008)
1915 – Piet de Jong, Dutch politician and naval officer, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2016)
1915 – İhsan Doğramacı, Turkish physician and academic (d. 2010)
1916 – Herb Caen, American journalist and author (d. 1997)
1916 – Cliff Gladwin, English cricketer (d. 1988)
1916 – Louis Guglielmi, Catalan composer (d. 1991)
1918 – Mary Anderson, American actress (d. 2014)
1918 – Louis Applebaum, Canadian composer and conductor (d. 2000)
1919 – Ervin Drake, American songwriter and composer (d. 2015)
1919 – Clairette Oddera, French-Canadian actress and singer (d. 2008)
1920 – Stan Freeman, American composer and conductor (d. 2001)
1920 – Yoshibayama Junnosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 43rd Yokozuna (d. 1977)
1921 – Robert Karvelas, American actor (d. 1991)
1921 – Jan Sterling, American actress (d. 2004)
1922 – Yevhen Bulanchyk, Ukrainian hurdler (d. 1996)
1922 – Doris Day, American singer and actress (d. 2019)
1923 – Daniel Hoffman, American poet and academic (d. 2013)
1924 – Marlon Brando, American actor and director (d. 2004)
1924 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (d. 1945)
1925 – Tony Benn, English pilot and politician, Secretary of State for Industry (d. 2014)
1926 – Alex Grammas, American baseball player, manager, and coach (d. 2019)
1926 – Gus Grissom, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1967)
1927 – Wesley A. Brown, American general and engineer (d. 2012)
1928 – Don Gibson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
1928 – Emmett Johns, Canadian priest, founded Dans la Rue (d. 2018)
1928 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1928 – Jennifer Paterson, English chef and television personality (d. 1999)
1929 – Fazlur Rahman Khan, Bangladeshi engineer and architect, co-designed the Willis Tower and John Hancock Center (d. 1982)
1929 – Poul Schlüter, Danish lawyer and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Denmark
1930 – Lawton Chiles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Governor of Florida (d. 1998)
1930 – Helmut Kohl, German politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 2017)
1930 – Mario Benjamín Menéndez, Argentinian general and politician (d. 2015)
1930 – Wally Moon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2018)
1931 – William Bast, American screenwriter and author (d. 2015)
1933 – Bob Dornan, American politician
1933 – Rod Funseth, American golfer (d. 1985)
1934 – Pamela Allen, New Zealand children’s writer and illustrator
1934 – Jane Goodall, English primatologist and anthropologist
1934 – Jim Parker, American football player (d. 2005)
1936 – Jimmy McGriff, American organist and bandleader (d. 2008)
1936 – Harold Vick, American saxophonist and flute player (d. 1987)
1938 – Jeff Barry, American singer-songwriter, and producer
1938 – Phil Rodgers, American golfer (d. 2018)
1939 – François de Roubaix, French composer (d. 1975)
1939 – Hawk Taylor, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
1939 – Paul Craig Roberts, American economist and politician
1941 – Jan Berry, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
1941 – Philippé Wynne, American soul singer (d. 1984)
1942 – Marsha Mason, American actress
1942 – Wayne Newton, American singer
1942 – Billy Joe Royal, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
1943 – Mario Lavista, Mexican composer
1943 – Jonathan Lynn, English actor, director, and screenwriter
1943 – Richard Manuel, Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1986)
1943 – Hikaru Saeki, Japanese admiral, the first female star officer of the Japan Self-Defense Forces
1944 – Peter Colman, Australian biologist and academic
1944 – Tony Orlando, American singer
1945 – Doon Arbus, American author and journalist
1945 – Bernie Parent, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1945 – Catherine Spaak, French actress
1946 – Nicholas Jones, English actor
1946 – Dee Murray, English bass player (d. 1992)
1946 – Hanna Suchocka, Polish lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Poland
1947 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (d. 2013)
1948 – Arlette Cousture, Canadian author and screenwriter
1948 – Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Dutch academic, politician, and diplomat, 11th Secretary General of NATO
1948 – Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, German footballer
1948 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexican economist and politician, 53rd President of Mexico
1949 – Lyle Alzado, American football player and actor (d. 1992)
1949 – A. C. Grayling, English philosopher and academic
1949 – Richard Thompson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1950 – Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Sri Lankan cricketer and economist
1951 – Brendan Barber, English trade union leader
1951 – Annette Dolphin, British academician and educator
1951 – Mitch Woods, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1952 – Mike Moore, American lawyer and politician
1953 – Sandra Boynton, American author and illustrator
1953 – Wakanohana Kanji II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 56th Yokozuna
1953 – James Smith, American boxer
1953 – Craig Taubman, American singer-songwriter and producer
1954 – Elisabetta Brusa, Italian composer
1954 – K. Krishnasamy, Indian physician and politician
1956 – Kalle Kulbok, Estonian politician
1956 – Boris Miljković, Serbian director and producer
1956 – Miguel Bosé, Spanish musician and actor
1956 – Ray Combs, American game show host (d. 1996)
1958 – Alec Baldwin, American actor, comedian, producer and television host
1958 – Adam Gussow, American scholar, musician, and memoirist
1958 – Francesca Woodman, Jewish-American photographer (d. 1981)
1959 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor and activist
1960 – Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Dutch singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1961 – Tim Crews, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1961 – Eddie Murphy, American actor and comedian
1962 – Dave Miley, American baseball player and manager
1962 – Mike Ness, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1962 – Jaya Prada, Indian actress and politician
1963 – Les Davidson, Australian rugby league player
1963 – Ricky Nixon, Australian footballer and manager
1963 – Criss Oliva, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1993)
1964 – Marco Ballotta, Italian footballer and manager
1964 – Nigel Farage, English politician
1964 – Claire Perry, English banker and politician
1964 – Bjarne Riis, Danish cyclist and manager
1964 – Andy Robinson, English rugby player and coach
1964 – Jay Weatherill, Australian politician, 45th Premier of South Australia
1965 – Nazia Hassan, Pakistani pop singer-songwriter, lawyer and social activist (d. 2000)
1966 – John de Vries, Australian race car driver
1967 – Cat Cora, American chef and author
1967 – Pervis Ellison, American basketball player
1967 – Brent Gilchrist, Canadian ice hockey player
1967 – Cristi Puiu, Romanian director and screenwriter
1967 – Mark Skaife, Australian race car driver and sportscaster
1968 – Sebastian Bach, Bahamian-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
1968 – Charlotte Coleman, English actress (d. 2001)
1968 – Jamie Hewlett, English director and performer
1968 – Tomoaki Kanemoto, Japanese baseball player
1969 – Rodney Hampton, American football player
1969 – Peter Matera, Australian footballer and coach
1969 – Ben Mendelsohn, Australian actor
1969 – Lance Storm, Canadian wrestler and trainer
1971 – Vitālijs Astafjevs, Latvian footballer and manager
1971 – Emmanuel Collard, French race car driver
1971 – Picabo Street, American skier
1972 – Jennie Garth, American actress and director
1972 – Catherine McCormack, English actress
1972 – Sandrine Testud, French tennis player
1973 – Nilesh Kulkarni, Indian cricketer
1973 – Adam Scott, American actor
1974 – Marcus Brown, American basketball player
1974 – Drew Shirley, American guitarist and songwriter
1974 – Lee Williams, Welsh model and actor
1975 – Shawn Bates, American ice hockey player
1975 – Michael Olowokandi, Nigerian-American basketball player
1975 – Aries Spears, American comedian and actor
1975 – Yoshinobu Takahashi, Japanese baseball player
1975 – Koji Uehara, Japanese baseball player
1976 – Nicolas Escudé, French tennis player
1978 – Matthew Goode, English actor
1978 – Tommy Haas, German-American tennis player
1978 – John Smit, South African rugby player
1979 – Simon Black, Australian footballer and coach
1980 – Andrei Lodis, Belarusian footballer
1980 – Megan Rohrer, American pastor and transgender activist
1981 – Aaron Bertram, American trumpet player
1981 – DeShawn Stevenson, American basketball player
1982 – Jared Allen, American football player
1982 – Iain Fyfe, Australian footballer
1982 – Cobie Smulders, Canadian actress
1983 – Ben Foster, English footballer
1983 – Stephen Weiss, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Jonathan Blondel, Belgian footballer
1984 – Maxi López, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Jari-Matti Latvala, Finnish race car driver
1985 – Leona Lewis, English singer-songwriter and producer
1986 – Amanda Bynes, American actress
1986 – Stephanie Cox, American soccer player
1986 – Annalisa Cucinotta, Italian cyclist
1986 – Sergio Sánchez Ortega, Spanish footballer
1987 – Rachel Bloom, American actress, writer, and producer
1987 – Jay Bruce, American baseball player
1987 – Yileen Gordon, Australian rugby league player
1987 – Jason Kipnis, American baseball player
1987 – Martyn Rooney, English sprinter
1987 – Julie Sokolow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1988 – Kam Chancellor, American football player
1988 – Brandon Graham, American football player
1988 – Peter Hartley, English footballer
1988 – Tim Krul, Dutch footballer
1989 – Romain Alessandrini, French footballer
1989 – Israel Folau, Australian rugby player and footballer
1989 – Joel Romelo, Australian rugby league player
1989 – Thisara Perera, Sri Lankan cricketer
1990 – Karim Ansarifard, Iranian footballer
1990 – Madison Brengle, American tennis player
1990 – Sotiris Ninis, Greek footballer
1990 – Natasha Negovanlis, Canadian actress and singer
1991 – Hayley Kiyoko, American actress and singer
1992 – Simone Benedetti, Italian footballer
1992 – Yuliya Yefimova, Russian swimmer
1993 – Pape Moussa Konaté, Senegalese footballer
1994 – Kodi Nikorima, New Zealand rugby league player
1996 – Mayo Hibi, Japanese tennis player
1997 – Gabriel Jesus, Brazilian footballer
1998 – Paris Jackson, American actress, model and singer

Deaths on April 3

963 – William III, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 915)
1153 – al-Adil ibn al-Sallar, vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate
1171 – Philip of Milly, seventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1120)
1203 – Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (b. 1187)
1253 – Saint Richard of Chichester
1287 – Pope Honorius IV (b. 1210)
1325 – Nizamuddin Auliya, Sufi saint (b. 1238)
1350 – Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1295)
1538 – Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (b. 1480)
1545 – Antonio de Guevara, Spanish chronicler and moralist (b. 1481)
1606 – Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1563)
1630 – Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey, English noble (b. c. 1593)
1680 – Shivaji, Indian emperor, founded the Maratha Empire (b. 1630)
1682 – Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Spanish painter and educator (b. 1618)
1691 – Jean Petitot, French-Swiss painter (b. 1608)
1695 – Melchior d’Hondecoeter, Dutch painter (b. 1636)
1717 – Jacques Ozanam, French mathematician and academic (b. 1640)
1728 – James Anderson, Scottish lawyer and historian (b. 1662)
1792 – George Pocock, English admiral (b. 1706)
1804 – Jędrzej Kitowicz, Polish priest, historian, and author (b. 1727)
1827 – Ernst Chladni, German physicist and academic (b. 1756)
1838 – François Carlo Antommarchi, French physician and author (b. 1780)
1844 – Edward Bigge, English cleric, 1st Archdeacon of Lindisfarne (b. 1807)
1846 – William Braine, English soldier and explorer (b. 1814)
1849 – Juliusz Słowacki, Polish-French poet and playwright (b. 1809)
1868 – Franz Berwald, Swedish composer and surgeon (b. 1796)
1882 – Jesse James, American criminal and outlaw (b. 1847)
1897 – Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (b. 1833)
1901 – Richard D’Oyly Carte, English composer and talent agent (b. 1844)
1902 – Esther Hobart Morris, American lawyer and judge (b. 1814)
1930 – Emma Albani, Canadian-English operatic soprano (b. 1847)
1936 – Richard Hauptmann, German-American murderer (b. 1899)
1941 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna (b. 1877)
1941 – Pál Teleki, Hungarian academic and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1879)
1943 – Conrad Veidt, German actor, director, and producer (b. 1893)
1946 – Masaharu Homma, Japanese general (b. 1887)
1950 – Kurt Weill, German-American composer and pianist (b. 1900)
1950 – Carter G. Woodson, American historian, author, and journalist, founded Black History Month (b. 1875)
1951 – Henrik Visnapuu, Estonian poet and playwright (b. 1890)
1952 – Miina Sillanpää, Finnish minister and politician (b. 1866)
1957 – Ned Sparks, Canadian-American actor (b. 1883)
1958 – Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (b. 1891)
1962 – Manolis Kalomiris, Greek composer and educator (b. 1883)
1970 – Avigdor Hameiri, Israeli author (b. 1890)
1971 – Joseph Valachi, American gangster (b. 1904)
1972 – Ferde Grofé, American pianist and composer (b. 1892)
1975 – Mary Ure, Scottish-English actress (b. 1933)
1976 – David M. Dennison, American physicist and academic (b. 1900)
1976 – Claude-Henri Grignon, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1894)
1978 – Ray Noble, English bandleader, composer, and actor (b. 1903)
1978 – Winston Sharples, American composer (b. 1909)
1981 – Juan Trippe, American businessman, founded Pan American World Airways (b. 1899)
1982 – Warren Oates, American actor (b. 1928)
1983 – Jimmy Bloomfield, English footballer and manager (b. 1934)
1986 – Peter Pears, English tenor and educator (b. 1910)
1987 – Tom Sestak, American football player (b. 1936)
1988 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (b. 1907)
1990 – Sarah Vaughan, American singer (b. 1924)
1991 – Charles Goren, American bridge player and author (b. 1901)
1991 – Graham Greene, English novelist, playwright, and critic (b. 1904)
1993 – Pinky Lee, American television host (b. 1907)
1994 – Frank Wells, American businessman (b. 1932)
1995 – Alfred J. Billes, Canadian businessman, co-founded Canadian Tire (b. 1902)
1996 – Ron Brown, American captain and politician, 30th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1941)
1998 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
1999 – Lionel Bart, English composer (b. 1930)
1999 – Geoffrey Walsh, Canadian general (b. 1909)
2000 – Terence McKenna, American botanist and philosopher (b. 1946)
2000 – Dina Abramowicz, Librarian and YIVO and Yiddish language expert (b. 1909)
2005 – François Gérin, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1944)
2007 – Nina Wang, Chinese businesswoman (b. 1937)
2008 – Hrvoje Ćustić, Croatian footballer (b. 1983)
2012 – Mingote, Spanish cartoonist and journalist (b. 1919)
2012 – Richard Descoings, French civil servant (b. 1958)
2012 – Govind Narain, Indian politician, 8th Governor of Karnataka (b. 1917)
2012 – Chief Jay Strongbow, American wrestler (b. 1928)
2012 – José María Zárraga, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1930)
2013 – Mariví Bilbao, Spanish actress (b. 1930)
2013 – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-American author and screenwriter (b. 1927)
2014 – Régine Deforges, French author, playwright, and director (b. 1935)
2014 – Fred Kida, American illustrator (b. 1920)
2014 – Prince Michael of Prussia (b. 1940)
2014 – Jovan Pavlović, Serbian metropolitan (b. 1936)
2014 – Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith, American guitarist, fiddler, and composer (b. 1921)
2015 – Sarah Brady, American activist and author (b. 1942)
2015 – Bob Burns, American drummer and songwriter (b. 1950)
2015 – Shmuel Wosner, Austrian-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1913)
2016 – Cesare Maldini, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1932)
2016 – Joe Medicine Crow, American anthropologist, historian, and author (b. 1913)
2016 – Koji Wada, Japanese singer and songwriter (b. 1974)
2017 – Kishori Amonkar, Indian Classical Vocalist (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances on April 3

Christian feast day:
- Agape, Chionia, and Irene
- Burgundofara
- Luigi Scrosoppi
- Richard of Chichester
- April 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

April 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 20- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

Typically the March equinox falls on March 20, marking the vernal point in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal point in the Southern Hemisphere.

235 – Maximinus Thrax is proclaimed emperor.
673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish noblemen are publicly beheaded in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599).
1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established.
1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
1815 – After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.
1848 – German revolutions of 1848–49: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published.
1854 – The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin, US.
1861 – An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
1888 – The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.
1890 – Prime Minister of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II.
1896 – With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
1915 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
1921 – The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland.
1922 – The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso’s first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
1933 – Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
1942 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: “I came out of Bataan and I shall return”.
1948 – With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
1952 – The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan.
1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
1972 – The Troubles: The first Provisional IRA car bombing in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
1990 – Ferdinand Marcos’s widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland.
1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and wounding over 6,200 people.
1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US.
2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff’s deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries (the UK, Australia and Poland) begin military operations in Iraq.
2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.
2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day.

Births on March 20

43 BC – Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17)
1253 – Magadu, renamed Wareru, founder of Ramanya Kingdom, renamed Hanthawady Kingdom of Pegu (b. a commoner; d. on a Saturday in January 1307)
1319 – Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. 1348)
1469 – Cecily of York (d. 1507)
1477 – Jerome Emser, German theologian and scholar (d. 1527)
1479 – Ippolito d’Este, Italian cardinal (d. 1520)
1502 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (d. 1575)
1532 – Juan de Ribera, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1611)
1612 – Anne Bradstreet, Puritan American poet (d. 1672)
1615 – Dara Shikoh, Indian prince (d. 1659)
1639 – Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian diplomat, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1709)
1725 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1789)
1737 – Rama I, Thai king (d. 1809)
1771 – Heinrich Clauren, German author (d. 1854)
1796 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (d. 1862)
1799 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet and author (d. 1839)
1800 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, President of Costa Rica (d. 1845)
1805 – Thomas Cooper, British poet (d. 1892)
1811 – Napoleon II, French emperor (d. 1832)
1811 – George Caleb Bingham, American painter and politician, State Treasurer of Missouri (d. 1879)
1821 – Ned Buntline, American journalist, author, and publisher (d. 1886)
1824 – Theodor von Heuglin, German explorer and ornithologist (d. 1876)
1828 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian poet, playwright, and director (d. 1906)
1831 – Patrick Jennings, Northern Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1897)
1831 – Solomon L. Spink, American lawyer and politician (d. 1881)
1834 – Charles William Eliot, American mathematician and academic (d. 1926)
1836 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1886)
1836 – Edward Poynter, English painter, illustrator, and curator (d. 1919)
1840 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (d. 1894)
1851 – Ismail Gasprinski, Ukrainian educator, publisher, and politician (d. 1914)
1856 – John Lavery, Irish painter (d. 1941)
1856 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American tennis player and engineer (d. 1915)
1870 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
1874 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet and activist (d. 1945)
1876 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1927)
1879 – Maud Menten, Canadian physician and biochemist (d. 1960)
1882 – René Coty, French lawyer and politician, 17th President of France (d. 1962)
1882 – Harold Weber, American golfer (d. 1933)
1884 – Philipp Frank, Austrian-American physicist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1966)
1884 – John Jensen, Australian public servant (d. 1970)
1885 – Vernon Ransford, Australian cricketer (d. 1958)
1888 – Amanda Clement, American baseball player, umpire, and educator (d. 1971)
1890 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American tenor and actor (d. 1973)
1894 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (d. 1974)
1895 – Fredric Wertham, German-American psychologist and author (d. 1981)
1898 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian artist (d. 1954)
1900 – Amelia Chopitea Villa, Bolivia’s first female physician (d. 1942)
1903 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (d. 1979)
1904 – B. F. Skinner, American psychologist and author (d. 1990)
1905 – Jean Galia, French rugby player and boxer (d. 1949)
1906 – Abraham Beame, American accountant and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (d. 2001)
1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader (d. 1975)
1907 – Hugh MacLennan, Canadian author and educator (d. 1990)
1908 – Michael Redgrave, English actor and director (d. 1985)
1910 – Erwin Blask, German hammer thrower (d. 1999)
1911 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican lawyer and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
1912 – Ralph Hauenstein, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
1913 – Nikolai Stepulov, Russian-Estonian boxer (d. 1968)
1914 – Wendell Corey, American actor and politician (d. 1968)
1915 – Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian judge and politician, 8th President of Austria (d. 2000)
1915 – Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist and composer (d. 1997)
1915 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1973)
1916 – Pierre Messmer, French lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
1917 – Vera Lynn, English singer, songwriter and actress (d. 2020)
1917 – Yigael Yadin, Israeli archaeologist, general, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1984)
1918 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (d. 1984)
1918 – Donald Featherstone, English soldier and author (d. 2013)
1918 – Marian McPartland, English-American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
1918 – Bernd Alois Zimmermann, German composer (d. 1970)
1919 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter ace (d. 1983)
1920 – Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France (d. 1997)
1920 – Rosemary Timperley, English author and screenwriter (d. 1988)
1921 – Usmar Ismail, Indonesian filmmaker (d. 1971)
1921 – Dušan Pirjevec, Slovenian historian and philosopher (d. 1977)
1921 – Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (d. 1970)
1922 – Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2017)
1922 – Ray Goulding, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1990)
1922 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2020)
1923 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1923 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
1925 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer, 12th White House Counsel (d. 1999)
1927 – John Joubert, South African-English composer and academic (d. 2019)
1928 – Jerome Biffle, American long jumper and coach (d. 2002)
1928 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and engineer (d. 2013)
1928 – Fred Rogers, American television host and producer (d. 2003)
1929 – William Andrew MacKay, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
1929 – Germán Robles, Spanish-Mexican actor and director (d. 2015)
1930 – S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (d. 1998)
1931 – Hal Linden, American actor, singer, and director
1931 – Rein Raamat, Estonian director and screenwriter
1933 – Lateef Adegbite, Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
1933 – George Altman, American baseball player
1933 – Ian Walsh, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2013)
1934 – Willie Brown, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Mayor of San Francisco
1934 – David Malouf, Australian author and playwright
1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor and director (d. 1996)
1935 – Bettye Washington Greene, American chemist (d. 1995)
1936 – Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jamaican singer, songwriter, music producer, and inventor
1936 – Mark Saville, Baron Saville of Newdigate, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
1937 – Lois Lowry, American author
1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2008)
1938 – Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician and academic
1939 – Gerald Curran, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1939 – Don Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1939 – Walter Jakob Gehring, Swiss biologist and academic (d. 2014)
1939 – Brian Mulroney, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Canada
1940 – Stathis Chaitas, Greek footballer and manager
1940 – Mary Ellen Mark, American photographer and journalist (d. 2015)
1940 – Giampiero Moretti, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded the Momo company (d. 2012)
1941 – Pat Corrales, American baseball player and manager
1941 – Kenji Kimihara, Japanese runner
1943 – Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
1943 – Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings (d. 2015)
1943 – Paul Junger Witt, American director and producer (d. 2018)
1944 – John Cameron, English composer and conductor
1944 – Camille Cosby, American author, producer, and philanthropist
1944 – Alan Harper, English-Irish archbishop
1945 – Henry Bartholomay, American soldier and pilot (d. 2015)
1945 – Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
1945 – Pat Riley, American basketball player and coach
1945 – Tim Yeo, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
1946 – Douglas B. Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Malcolm Simmons, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
1947 – John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and academic (d. 1994)
1948 – John de Lancie, American actor
1948 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1948 – Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
1949 – Marcia Ball, American blues singer-songwriter and pianist
1949 – Richard Dowden, English journalist and educator
1950 – William Hurt, American actor
1950 – Carl Palmer, English drummer, percussionist, and songwriter
1951 – Jimmie Vaughan, American blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
1952 – Geoff Brabham, Australian race car driver
1952 – David Greenaway, English economist and academic
1953 – Phil Judd, New Zealand singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter
1954 – Mike Francesa, American radio talk show host and television commentator
1954 – Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
1954 – Paul Mirabella, American baseball player
1955 – Nina Kiriki Hoffman, American author
1955 – Ian Moss, Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter
1955 – Mariya Takeuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
1956 – Catherine Ashton, English politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
1956 – Anne Donahue, American lawyer and politician
1956 – Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director
1957 – Vanessa Bell Calloway, American actress
1957 – David Foster, Australian woodchopper
1957 – Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1957 – Theresa Russell, American actress
1957 – Chris Wedge, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor
1958 – Holly Hunter, American actress and producer
1958 – Rickey Jackson, American football player
1958 – Joe Reaiche, Australian rugby player
1959 – Dave Beasant, English footballer and coach
1959 – Mary Roach, American author
1959 – Sting, American wrestler
1959 – Peter Truscott, Baron Truscott, British Labour Party politician and peer
1960 – Norm Magnusson, American painter and sculptor
1960 – Norbert Pohlmann, German computer scientist and academic
1960 – Yuri Shargin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
1961 – Ingrid Arndt-Brauer, German politician
1961 – Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer and manager
1961 – Sara Wheeler, English author and journalist
1962 – Stephen Sommers, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – Paul Annacone, American tennis player and coach
1963 – Kathy Ireland, American model, actress, and furniture designer
1963 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (d. 2007)
1963 – David Thewlis, English-French actor, director, and screenwriter
1964 – Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer-songwriter
1965 – William Dalrymple, Scottish historian and author
1967 – Xavier Beauvois, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1967 – Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player
1968 – Carlos Almeida, Cape Verdean runner
1968 – A. J. Jacobs, American journalist and author
1968 – Paul Merson, English footballer and manager
1968 – Ultra Naté, American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, and promoter
1969 – Yvette Cooper, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
1969 – Fabien Galthie, French rugby player
1970 – Edoardo Ballerini, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1970 – Josephine Medina, Filipino Paralympic table tennis player
1970 – sj Miller, American academic, public speaker, and social justice activist
1970 – Michael Rapaport, American actor, podcast host, and director
1971 – Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
1971 – Touré, American journalist and author
1972 – Chilly Gonzales, Canadian-German singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1972 – Alex Kapranos, English-Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1972 – Greg Searle, English rower
1972 – Marco Sejna, German footballer
1972 – Cristel Vahtra, Estonian skier
1973 – Nicky Boje, South African cricketer
1973 – Natalya Khrushcheleva, Russian runner
1973 – Talal Khalifa Aljeri, Kuwaiti businessman
1974 – Carsten Ramelow, German footballer
1975 – Ramin Bahrani, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1975 – Isolde Kostner, Italian skier
1976 – Chester Bennington, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2017)
1978 – Kevin Betsy, English born Seychelles international footballer, midfielder and manager
1978 – Brent Sherwin, Australian rugby league player
1979 – Shinnosuke Abe, Japanese baseball player
1979 – Freema Agyeman, English actress
1979 – Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
1980 – Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
1980 – Robertas Javtokas, Lithuanian basketball player
1981 – Ian Murray, Scottish footballer
1981 – Carl Webb, Australian rugby league player
1982 – Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
1982 – Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
1982 – José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
1983 – Carolina Padrón, Venezuelan journalist
1983 – Jenni Vartiainen, Finnish singer
1984 – Vikram Banerjee, English cricketer
1984 – Christy Carlson Romano, American actress and singer
1984 – Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
1985 – Morgan Amalfitano, French footballer
1985 – Ronnie Brewer, American basketball player
1985 – Nicolas Lombaerts, Belgian footballer
1986 – Dean Geyer, South African-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
1986 – Julián Magallanes, Argentinian footballer
1986 – Ruby Rose, Australian actress and model
1986 – Román Torres, Panamanian footballer
1987 – Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian footballer
1987 – Jô, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
1989 – Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
1989 – Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi Cricketer
1990 – Blake Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Marcos Rojo, Argentine footballer
1991 – Mattia Destro, Italian footballer
1991 – Michał Kucharczyk, Polish footballer
1991 – Ethan Lowe, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Sloane Stephens, American tennis player
1995 – Jack Bird, Australian rugby league player

Deaths on March 20

687 – Cuthbert, Northumbrian (English) monk, bishop, and saint (b. 634)
703 – Wulfram, archbishop of Sens
842 – Alfonso II, king of Asturias (Spain) (b. 759)
851 – Ebbo, archbishop of Reims
1181 – Taira no Kiyomori, Japanese general (b. 1118)
1191 – Pope Clement III (b. 1130)
1239 – Hermann von Salza, German knight and diplomat (b. 1179)
1302 – Ralph Walpole, Bishop of Norwich
1336 – Maurice Csák, Hungarian Dominican friar (b. 1270)
1351 – Muhammad bin Tughluq, Sultan of Delhi
1390 – Alexios III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1338)
1413 – Henry IV of England (b. 1367)
1440 – Sigismund I of Lithuania
1475 – Georges Chastellain, Burgundian chronicler and poet
1549 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, English general and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1508)
1568 – Albert, Duke of Prussia (b. 1490)
1619 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1557)
1673 – Augustyn Kordecki, Polish monk (b. 1603)
1688 – Maria of Orange-Nassau, Dutch princess (b. 1642)
1730 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (b. 1692)
1746 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter and academic (b. 1656)
1780 – Benjamin Truman, English brewer and businessman (b. 1699)
1793 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish judge and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1705)
1835 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (b. 1794)
1849 – James Justinian Morier, Turkish-English author and diplomat (b. 1780)
1855 – Joseph Aspdin, English businessman (b. 1788)
1865 – Yamanami Keisuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1833)
1874 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (b. 1810)
1878 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (b. 1814)
1894 – Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian lawyer, journalist and politician (b. 1802)
1897 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1821)
1899 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and author (b. 1822)
1909 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian historian and businessman (b. 1842)
1918 – Lewis A. Grant, American general and lawyer (b. 1828)
1925 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (b. 1859)
1929 – Ferdinand Foch, French field marshal (b. 1851)
1930 – Arthur F. Andrews, American cyclist (b. 1876)
1931 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
1933 – Giuseppe Zangara, Italian-American assassin of Anton Cermak (b. 1900; executed)
1940 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
1945 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (b. 1883)
1946 – Amadeus William Grabau, American-Chinese geologist, paleontologist, and academic (b. 1870)
1947 – Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and director (b. 1884)
1952 – Hjalmar Väre, Finnish cyclist (b. 1892)
1958 – Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian merchant, journalist, and politician (b. 1915)
1964 – Brendan Behan, Irish republican and playwright (b. 1923)
1965 – Daniel Frank, American long jumper (b. 1882)
1966 – Johnny Morrison, American baseball player (b. 1895)
1968 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (b. 1889)
1969 – Henri Longchambon, French politician (b. 1896)
1971 – Falih Rıfkı Atay, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1894)
1972 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (b. 1921)
1974 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (b. 1911)
1977 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1909)
1977 – Terukuni Manzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 38th Yokozuna (b. 1919)
1978 – Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (b. 1895)
1981 – Gerry Bertier, American football player (b. 1953)
1983 – Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1891)
1990 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1907)
1990 – Lev Yashin, Russian footballer (b. 1929)
1992 – Georges Delerue, French composer (b. 1925)
1993 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
1994 – Lewis Grizzard, American writer and humorist (b. 1946)
1997 – V. S. Pritchett, English short story writer, essayist, and critic (b. 1900)
1999 – Patrick Heron, British painter (b. 1920)
2000 – Gene Eugene, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1961)
2001 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (b. 1949)
2004 – Juliana of the Netherlands (b. 1909)
2004 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1917)
2005 – Armand Lohikoski, American-Finnish director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
2007 – Raynald Fréchette, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1933)
2007 – Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraqi politician, Vice President of Iraq (b. 1938)
2007 – Hawa Yakubu, Ghanaian politician (b. 1948)
2010 – Ai, American poet and academic (b. 1947)
2010 – Girija Prasad Koirala, Indian-Nepalese politician, 30th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1924)
2010 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1920)
2011 – Johnny Pearson, English pianist, conductor, and composer (b. 1925)
2012 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (b. 1955)
2012 – Noboru Ishiguro, Japanese animator and director (b. 1938)
2012 – Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Polish-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1910)
2012 – Jim Stynes, Irish-Australian footballer (b. 1966)
2013 – James Herbert, English author (b. 1943)
2013 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1924)
2013 – Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, 19th President of Bangladesh (b. 1929)
2014 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (b. 1934)
2014 – Hilderaldo Bellini, Brazilian footballer (b. 1930)
2014 – Tonie Nathan, American politician (b. 1923)
2014 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (b. 1915)
2015 – Eva Burrows, Australian 13th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1929)
2015 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1930)
2016 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1922)
2017 – David Rockefeller, American billionaire and philanthropist (b. 1915)
2018 – C. K. Mann, a Ghanaian Highlife musician and producer (b. 1936)
2019 – Mary Warnock, English philosopher & writer (b. 1924)
2020 – Kenny Rogers, American singer (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances on March 20

Christian feast day:
- Alexandra
- Blessed John of Parma
- Clement of Ireland
- Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
- Herbert of Derwentwater
- John of Nepomuk
- Józef Bilczewski
- María Josefa Sancho de Guerra
- Martin of Braga
- Michele Carcano
- Wulfram
- March 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest date for the vernal equinox in the Northern hemisphere:
- Bahá’í Naw-Rúz, started at sunset on March 20. The end of the 19-day sunrise-to-sunset fast. (Bahá’í Faith)
- Chunfen (China)
- Earth Equinox Day
- International Astrology Day
- New Year (Thelema)
- Nowruz (Persian, Gilaki, Kurdish, Zoroastrians, and other Iranian people and countries with an Iranian influence)
- Ostara in the northern hemisphere, Mabon in the southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year)
- Shunbun no Hi (Japan)
- Sun-Earth Day (United States)
- Vernal Equinox Day/Kōreisai (Japan)
- World Storytelling Day
Earliest day on which Good Friday can fall, while April 23 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Easter. (Christianity)
Great American Meatout (United States)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tunisia from France in 1956.
International Day of Happiness (United Nations)
International Francophonie Day (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie), and its related observances:
- UN French Language Day (United Nations)
National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
World Sparrow Day

March 20- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 13- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years’ War.
1591 – At the Battle of Tondibi in Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi dynasty, led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.
1639 – Harvard College is named after clergyman John Harvard.
1697 – Nojpetén, capital of the last independent Maya kingdom, fell to Spanish conquistadors, the final step in the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.
1741 – The Battle of Cartagena de Indias (part of the War of Jenkins’ Ear) begins..
1809 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in the Coup of 1809.
1826 – Pope Leo XII publishes the apostolic constitution Quo Graviora in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics joining freemasonry.
1845 – Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto receives its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist.
1848 – The German revolutions of 1848–1849 begin in Vienna.
1862 – The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves was passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.
1881 – Alexander II of Russia is assassinated.
1884 – The Siege of Khartoum begins. It lasts until January 26, 1885.
1900 – British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War.
1920 – The Kapp Putsch briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin.
1930 – The news of the discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory.
1933 – Banks in the U.S. begin to re-open after the three-day national “bank holiday” mandated by the Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act.
1943 – German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.
1954 – The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins with an artillery barrage by Viet Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp; Viet Minh victory lead to the end of the First Indochina War and French withdrawal from Vietnam.
1957 – Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista.
1969 – Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
1979 – The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts the Prime Minister of Grenada, Eric Gairy, in a coup d’état.
1988 – The Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan.
1992 – The M_w  6.6 Erzincan earthquake strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).
1996 – The Dunblane massacre leads to the death of sixteen primary school children and one teacher in Dunblane, Scotland.
1997 – The Missionaries of Charity choose Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as their leader.
2003 – An article in Nature identifies the Ciampate del Diavolo as 350,000-year-old hominid footprints.
2012 – The Sierre coach crash kills 28 people, including 22 children.
2013 – The 2013 papal conclave elects Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.
2016 – The Ankara bombing kills at least 37 people.
2016 – Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people.

Births on March 13

1372 – Louis I, Duke of Orléans (d. 1407)
1479 – Lazarus Spengler, German hymnwriter (d. 1534)
1560 – William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Dutch count (d. 1620)
1593 – Georges de La Tour, French painter (probable; d. 1652)
1599 – John Berchmans, Belgian Jesuit scholastic and saint (d. 1621)
1615 – Innocent XII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1700)
1683 – Johann Wilhelm Weinmann, German botanist (d. 1741)
1700 – Michel Blavet, French flute player and composer (d. 1768)
1719 – John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (d. 1797)
1720 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss historian and author (d. 1793)
1741 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1790)
1763 – Guillaume Brune, French general and diplomat (d. 1815)
1764 – Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1845)
1770 – Daniel Lambert, English animal breeder (d. 1809)
1781 – Karl Friedrich Schinkel, German painter and architect, designed the Konzerthaus Berlin (d. 1841)
1798 – Abigail Fillmore, American wife of Millard Fillmore, 14th First Lady of the United States (d. 1853)
1800 – Mustafa Reşid Pasha, Ottoman politician, 212th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1858)
1815 – James Curtis Hepburn, American physician, linguist, and missionary (d. 1911)
1825 – Hans Gude, Norwegian-German painter and academic (d. 1903)
1855 – Percival Lowell, American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1916)
1857 – B. H. Roberts, English-American historian and politician (d. 1933)
1860 – Hugo Wolf, Slovene-Austrian composer (d. 1903)
1862 – Paul Prosper Henrys, French general (d. 1943)
1864 – Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian-German painter (d. 1941)
1870 – William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (d. 1938)
1874 – Ellery Harding Clark, American jumper, coach, and lawyer (d. 1949)
1880 – Josef Gočár, Czech architect (d. 1945)
1883 – Enrico Toselli, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1926)
1884 – Hugh Walpole, New Zealand-English author and educator (d. 1941)
1886 – Home Run Baker, American baseball player and manager (d. 1963)
1886 – Albert William Stevens, American captain and photographer (d. 1949)
1888 – Paul Morand, French author and diplomat (d. 1976)
1890 – Fritz Busch, German conductor and director (d. 1951)
1892 – Janet Flanner, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
1897 – Yeghishe Charents, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1937)
1898 – Henry Hathaway, American director and producer (d. 1985)
1899 – John Hasbrouck Van Vleck, American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
1899 – Pancho Vladigerov, Bulgarian pianist and composer (d. 1978)
1900 – Andrée Bosquet, Belgian painter (d. 1980)
1900 – Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
1902 – Hans Bellmer, German-French painter and sculptor (d. 1975)
1904 – Clifford Roach, Trinidadian cricketer and footballer (d. 1988)
1907 – Dorothy Tangney, Australian politician (d. 1985)
1908 – Walter Annenberg, American publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
1908 – Myrtle Bachelder, American chemist and Women’s Army Corps officer (d. 1997)
1910 – Sammy Kaye, American saxophonist, songwriter, and bandleader (d. 1987)
1910 – Kemal Tahir, Turkish journalist and author (d. 1973)
1911 – José Ardévol, Cuban composer and conductor (d. 1981)
1913 – William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1987)
1913 – Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian author and playwright (d. 2009)
1914 – W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1998)
1914 – Edward O’Hare, American lieutenant and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1943)
1916 – Lindy Boggs, American educator and politician, 5th United States Ambassador to the Holy See (d. 2013)
1916 – Jacque Fresco, American engineer and academic (d. 2017)
1920 – Ralph J. Roberts, American businessman, co-founded Comcast (d. 2015)
1921 – Al Jaffee, American cartoonist
1923 – Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek general (d. 2010)
1925 – Roy Haynes, American drummer and composer
1926 – Carlos Roberto Reina, Honduran lawyer and politician, President of Honduras (d. 2003)
1929 – Zbigniew Messner, Polish economist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (d. 2014)
1933 – Mahdi Elmandjra, Moroccan economist and sociologist (d. 2014)
1933 – Gero von Wilpert, German author and academic (d. 2009)
1935 – David Nobbs, English author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1938 – Robert Gammage, American captain and politician (d. 2012)
1939 – Neil Sedaka, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1941 – Donella Meadows, American environmentalist, author, and academic (d. 2001)
1942 – Dave Cutler, American computer scientist and engineer
1942 – Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and author (d. 2008)
1944 – Terence Burns, Baron Burns, English economist and academic
1945 – Anatoly Fomenko, Russian mathematician and academic
1946 – Yonatan Netanyahu, American-Israeli colonel (d. 1976)
1947 – Lesley Collier, English ballerina and educator
1947 – Beat Richner, Swiss pediatrician and cellist (d. 2018)
1947 – Lyn St. James, American race car driver
1949 – Ze’ev Bielski, Israeli politician
1949 – Sian Elias, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 12th Chief Justice of New Zealand
1950 – Bernard Julien, Trinidadian cricketer
1950 – Charles Krauthammer, American physician, journalist, and author (d. 2018)
1950 – William H. Macy, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1951 – Charo, Spanish-American singer, guitarist, and actress
1952 – Wolfgang Rihm, German composer and educator
1952 – Tim Sebastian, English journalist and author
1953 – Andy Bean, American golfer
1953 – Michael Curry, 27th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church
1954 – Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos, Guyanese-English politician and diplomat
1954 – Robin Duke, Canadian actress and screenwriter
1955 – Bruno Conti, Italian footballer and manager
1955 – Glenne Headly, American actress (d. 2017)
1955 – Olga Rukavishnikova, Russian pentathlete
1956 – Dana Delany, American actress and producer
1957 – John Hoeven, American banker and politician, 31st Governor of North Dakota
1957 – Moses Hogan, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
1958 – Mágico González, Salvadoran footballer
1958 – Rick Lazio, American lawyer and politician
1958 – Caryl Phillips, Caribbean-English author and playwright
1959 – Dirk Wellham, Australian cricketer
1960 – Adam Clayton, English-born Irish musician and songwriter
1960 – Joe Ranft, American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor (d. 2005)
1963 – Vance Johnson, American football player
1964 – Will Clark, American baseball player
1966 – Chico Science, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
1967 – Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (d. 1994)
1967 – Pieter Vink, Dutch footballer and referee
1970 – Tim Story, American director and producer
1971 – Annabeth Gish, American actress
1971 – Allan Nielsen, Danish international footballer, midfielder and manager
1972 – Common, American rapper and actor
1973 – Edgar Davids, Surinamese born Dutch international footballer midfielder and manager
1973 – Bobby Jackson, American basketball player and coach
1974 – Thomas Enqvist, Swedish tennis player and sportscaster
1975 – Mark Clattenburg, English football referee
1976 – Troy Hudson, American basketball player and rapper
1976 – Danny Masterson, American actor and producer
1978 – Tom Danielson, American cyclist
1978 – Kenny Watson, American football player
1979 – Johan Santana, Venezuelan-American baseball player
1979 – Cédric Van Branteghem, Belgian sprinter
1980 – Caron Butler, American basketball player
1982 – Nicole Ohlde, American basketball player
1983 – Kaitlin Sandeno, American swimmer
1984 – Geeta Basra, Indian actress
1985 – Alcides Araújo Alves, Brazilian footballer
1985 – Emile Hirsch, American actor
1986 – Neil Wagner, South African-New Zealand cricketer
1987 – Marco Andretti, American race car driver
1987 – Andreas Beck, German footballer
1988 – Furdjel Narsingh, Dutch footballer
1989 – Holger Badstuber, German footballer
1989 – Marko Marin, German footballer
1989 – Robert Wickens, Canadian racing driver
1990 – Anicet Abel, Malagasy footballer
1991 – Daniel Greig, Australian speed skater
1991 – Tristan Thompson, American basketball player
1994 – Gerard Deulofeu, Spanish footballer
1995 – Mikaela Shiffrin, American skier
1998 – Jay-Roy Grot, Dutch footballer

Deaths on March 13

1202 – Mieszko III the Old, king of Poland (b. c. 1121)
1271 – Henry of Almain, English knight (b. 1235)
1415 – Minye Kyawswa, Crown Prince of Ava (b. 1391)
1447 – Shah Rukh, Timurid ruler of Persia and Transoxania (b. 1377)
1573 – Michel de l’Hôpital, French politician (b. 1507)
1601 – Henry Cuffe, Politician (b. 1563)
1619 – Richard Burbage, English actor (b. 1567)
1711 – Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and critic (b. 1636)
1719 – Johann Friedrich Böttger, German chemist and potter (b. 1682)
1800 – Nana Fadnavis, Indian minister and politician (b. 1742)
1808 – Christian VII of Denmark (b. 1749)
1823 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (b. 1735)
1833 – William Bradley, English lieutenant and cartographer (b. 1757)
1842 – Henry Shrapnel, English general (b. 1761)
1854 – Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, French politician, 6th Prime Minister of France (b. 1773)
1873 – David Swinson Maynard, American physician, lawyer, and businessman (b. 1808)
1879 – Adolf Anderssen, German mathematician and chess player (b. 1818)
1881 – Alexander II of Russia (b. 1818)
1884 – Leland Stanford Jr., American son of Leland Stanford (b. 1868)
1885 – Giorgio Mitrovich, Maltese politician (b. 1795)
1901 – Benjamin Harrison, American general and politician, 23rd President of the United States (b. 1833)
1906 – Susan B. Anthony, American activist (b. 1820)
1912 – Eugène-Étienne Taché, Canadian engineer and architect, designed the Parliament Building (b. 1836)
1921 – Jenny Twitchell Kempton, American opera singer and educator (b. 1835)
1936 – Francis Bell, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1851)
1938 – Clarence Darrow, American lawyer and author (b. 1857)
1943 – Stephen Vincent Benét, American poet, short story writer, and novelist (b. 1898)
1946 – Werner von Blomberg, German field marshal (b. 1878)
1962 – Anne Acheson, Irish sculptor (d. 1882)
1965 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (b. 1891)
1965 – Fan Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1882)
1971 – Rockwell Kent, American painter and illustrator (b. 1882)
1972 – Tony Ray-Jones, English photographer (b. 1941)
1975 – Ivo Andrić, Yugoslav novelist, poet, and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
1976 – Ole Haugsrud, American sports executive (b. 1900)
1983 – Paul Citroen, German-Dutch illustrator and educator (b. 1896)
1990 – Bruno Bettelheim, Austrian-American psychologist and author (b. 1903)
1995 – Odette Hallowes, French nurse and spy (b. 1912)
1996 – Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish director and screenwriter (b. 1941)
1998 – Judge Dread, English singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
1998 – Hans von Ohain, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1911)
1999 – Lee Falk, American cartoonist, director, and producer (b. 1911)
1999 – Garson Kanin, American director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
2001 – John A. Alonzo, American actor and cinematographer (b. 1934)
2001 – Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (b. 1895)
2002 – Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (b. 1900)
2004 – Franz König, Austrian cardinal (b. 1905)
2006 – Robert C. Baker, American businessman, invented the chicken nugget (b. 1921)
2006 – Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (b. 1944)
2006 – Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b. 1925)
2007 – Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (b. 1925)
2009 – Betsy Blair, American actress (b. 1923)
2009 – Alan W. Livingston, American businessman (b. 1917)
2010 – Jean Ferrat, French singer-songwriter (b. 1930)
2011 – Rick Martin, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1951)
2014 – Reubin Askew, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of Florida (b. 1928)
2014 – Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond, Irish businessman and politician (b. 1944)
2014 – Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Sierra Leonean economist, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of Sierra Leone (b. 1932)
2014 – Icchokas Meras, Lithuanian-Israeli author and screenwriter (b. 1934)
2015 – Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (b. 1924)
2016 – Hilary Putnam, American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist (b. 1926)
2017 – Amy Krouse Rosenthal, American author (b. 1965)
2018 – Emily Nasrallah, Lebanese writer and women’s rights activist. (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances on March 13

Christian feast days:
- Ansovinus
- Gerald of Mayo
- James Theodore Holly (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Nicephorus
- Roderick
- March 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Kasuga Matsuri (Kasuga Grand Shrine, Nara, Japan)
National Elephant Day (Thailand)
Africa Scout Day

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