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May 28 in History
- 585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of Halys, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.
- 621 – Battle of Hulao: Li Shimin, the son of the Chinese emperor Gaozu, defeats the numerically superior forces of Dou Jiande near the Hulao Pass (Henan). This victory decides the outcome of the civil war that followed the Sui dynasty’s collapse in favour of the Tang dynasty.
- 1533 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid.
- 1588 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port.)
- 1644 – English Civil War: Bolton Massacre by Royalist troops under the command of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby.
- 1754 – French and Indian War: In the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old Lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
- 1802 – In Guadeloupe, 400 rebellious slaves, led by Louis Delgrès, blow themselves up rather than submit to Napoleon’s troops.
- 1830 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which denies Native Americans their land rights and forcibly relocates them.
- 1871 – The Paris Commune falls after two months.
- 1892 – In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
- 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
- 1907 – The first Isle of Man TT race was held.
- 1918 – The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the First Republic of Armenia declare their independence.
- 1926 – The 28 May 1926 coup d’état: Ditadura Nacional is established in Portugal to suppress the unrest of the First Republic.
- 1932 – In the Netherlands, construction of the Afsluitdijk is completed and the Zuiderzee bay is converted to the freshwater IJsselmeer.
- 1934 – Near Callander, Ontario, Canada, the Dionne quintuplets are born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne; they will be the first quintuplets to survive infancy.
- 1936 – Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
- 1937 – Volkswagen, the German automobile manufacturer is founded.
- 1940 – World War II: Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany to end the Battle of Belgium.
- 1940 – World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik in Norway. This is the first allied infantry victory of the War.
- 1948 – Daniel François Malan is elected as Prime Minister of South Africa. He later goes on to implement Apartheid.
- 1958 – Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, heavily reinforced by Frank Pais Militia, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero.
- 1961 – Peter Benenson’s article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
- 1974 – Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists.
- 1975 – Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.
- 1977 – In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 people inside.
- 1979 – Konstantinos Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.
- 1987 – A West German pilot, Mathias Rust, who was 18 years old, evades Soviet Union air defences and lands a private plane in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
- 1991 – The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War.
- 1995 – The 7.0 Mw Neftegorsk earthquake shook the former Russian settlement of Neftegorsk with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured. The settlement was not rebuilt.
- 1996 – U.S. President Bill Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
- 1998 – Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own codenamed Chagai-I, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions. Pakistan celebrates Youm-e-Takbir annually.
- 1999 – In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display.
- 2002 – The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.
- 2003 – Peter Hollingworth resigns as Governor-General of Australia following criticism of his handling of child sexual abuse allegations during his tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.
- 2004 – The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq’s interim government.
- 2008 – The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty.
- 2010 – In West Bengal, India, the Jnaneswari Express train derailment and subsequent collision kills 148 passengers.
- 2011 – Malta votes on the introduction of divorce; the proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year.
Births on May 28
- 1140 – Xin Qiji, Chinese poet, general, and politician (d. 1207)
- 1371 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1419)
- 1524 – Selim II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1574)
- 1588 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (d. 1672)
- 1589 – Robert Arnauld d’Andilly, French writer (d. 1674)
- 1663 – António Manoel de Vilhena, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (d. 1736)
- 1676 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1754)
- 1692 – Geminiano Giacomelli, Italian composer (d. 1740)
- 1738 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (d. 1814)
- 1759 – William Pitt the Younger, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1806)
- 1763 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (d. 1811)
- 1764 – Edward Livingston, American jurist and politician, 11th United States Secretary of State (d. 1836)
- 1779 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and composer (d. 1852)
- 1807 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American paleontologist and geologist (d. 1873)
- 1818 – P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (d. 1893)
- 1836 – Friedrich Baumfelder, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1916)
- 1836 – Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist and academic (d. 1918)
- 1837 – George Ashlin, Irish architect, co-designed St Colman’s Cathedral (d. 1921)
- 1837 – Tony Pastor, American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner (d. 1908)
- 1841 – Sakaigawa Namiemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 14th Yokozuna (d. 1887)
- 1853 – Carl Larsson, Swedish painter and author (d. 1919)
- 1858 – Carl Richard Nyberg, Swedish inventor and businessman, developed the blow torch (d. 1939)
- 1872 – Marian Smoluchowski, Polish physicist and mountaineer (d. 1917)
- 1878 – Paul Pelliot, French sinologist and explorer (d. 1945)
- 1879 – Milutin Milanković, Serbian mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (d. 1958)
- 1883 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (d. 1966)
- 1883 – Clough Williams-Ellis, English-Welsh architect, designed the Portmeirion Village (d. 1978)
- 1884 – Edvard Beneš, Czech academic and politician, 2nd President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1948)
- 1886 – Santo Trafficante, Sr., Italian-American mobster (d. 1954)
- 1888 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian journalist and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)
- 1888 – Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, English author and educator (d. 1947)
- 1888 – Jim Thorpe, American decathlete, football player, and coach (d. 1953)
- 1889 – Richard Réti, Slovak-Czech chess player and author (d. 1929)
- 1892 – Minna Gombell, American actress (d. 1973)
- 1900 – Tommy Ladnier, American trumpet player (d. 1939)
- 1903 – S. L. Kirloskar, Indian businessman, founded Kirloskar Group (d. 1994)
- 1906 – Henry Thambiah, Sri Lankan lawyer, judge, and diplomat, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Léo Cadieux, Canadian journalist and politician, 17th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2005)
- 1908 – Ian Fleming, English journalist and author, created James Bond (d. 1964)
- 1909 – Red Horner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
- 1910 – Georg Gaßmann, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (d. 2003)
- 1910 – T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
- 1911 – Bob Crisp, South African cricketer (d. 1994)
- 1911 – Thora Hird, English actress (d. 2003)
- 1911 – Fritz Hochwälder, Austrian playwright (d. 1986)
- 1912 – Herman Johannes, Indonesian scientist, academic, and politician (d. 1992)
- 1912 – Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (d. 1981)
- 1912 – Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
- 1914 – W. G. G. Duncan Smith, English captain and pilot (d. 1996)
- 1915 – Joseph Greenberg, American linguist and academic (d. 2001)
- 1916 – Walker Percy, American novelist and essayist (d. 1990)
- 1917 – Barry Commoner, American biologist, academic, and politician (d. 2012)
- 1918 – Johnny Wayne, Canadian comedian (d. 1990)
- 1921 – D. V. Paluskar, Indian Hindustani classical musician (d. 1955)
- 1921 – Heinz G. Konsalik, German journalist and author (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Tom Uren, Australian soldier, boxer, and politician (d. 2015)
- 1922 – Lou Duva, American boxer, trainer, and manager (d. 2017)
- 1922 – Roger Fisher, American author and academic (d. 2012)
- 1922 – Tuomas Gerdt, Finnish soldier
- 1923 – György Ligeti, Hungarian-Austrian composer and educator (d. 2006)
- 1923 – N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician, 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 1996)
- 1924 – Edward du Cann, English naval officer and politician (d. 2017)
- 1924 – Paul Hébert, Canadian actor (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Bülent Ecevit, Turkish journalist, scholar, and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German opera singer and conductor (d. 2012)
- 1928 – Sally Forrest, American actress and dancer (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Patrick McNair-Wilson, English politician
- 1930 – Edward Seaga, American-Jamaican academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Carroll Baker, American actress
- 1931 – Gordon Willis, American cinematographer (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Tim Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry, English politician, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
- 1933 – John Karlen, American actor
- 1933 – Zelda Rubinstein, American actress and activist (d. 2010)
- 1936 – Claude Forget, Canadian academic and politician
- 1936 – Ole K. Sara, Norwegian politician (d. 2013)
- 1936 – Betty Shabazz, American educator and activist (d. 1997)
- 1938 – Jerry West, American basketball player, coach, and executive
- 1939 – Maeve Binchy, Irish novelist (d. 2012)
- 1940 – David William Brewer, English politician, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London
- 1940 – Shlomo Riskin, American rabbi and academic, founded the Lincoln Square Synagogue
- 1941 – Beth Howland, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
- 1942 – Stanley B. Prusiner, American neurologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1943 – Terry Crisp, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1944 – Faith Brown, English actress and singer
- 1944 – Rudy Giuliani, American lawyer and politician, 107th mayor of New York City
- 1944 – Gladys Knight, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1944 – Rita MacNeil, Canadian singer and actress (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Gary Stewart, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1944 – Billy Vera, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1945 – Patch Adams, American physician and author, founded the Gesundheit! Institute
- 1945 – John N. Bambacus, American military veteran (USMC) and politician
- 1945 – John Fogerty, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1945 – Jean Perrault, Canadian politician, Mayor of Sherbrooke, Quebec
- 1945 – Helena Shovelton, English physician
- 1946 – Bruce Alexander, English actor
- 1946 – Skip Jutze, American baseball player
- 1946 – Janet Paraskeva, Welsh politician
- 1946 – K. Satchidanandan, Indian poet and critic
- 1946 – William Shawcross, English journalist and author
- 1947 – Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist and academic
- 1947 – Lynn Johnston, Canadian author and illustrator
- 1947 – Leland Sklar, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1948 – Michael Field, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Tasmania
- 1948 – Pierre Rapsat, Belgian singer and songwriter (d. 2002)
- 1949 – Martin Kelner, English journalist, author, comedian, singer, actor and radio presenter
- 1949 – Wendy O. Williams, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (d. 1998)
- 1952 – Roger Briggs, American pianist, composer, conductor, and educator
- 1953 – Pierre Gauthier, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1954 – João Carlos de Oliveira, Brazilian jumper (d. 1999)
- 1954 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1988)
- 1954 – Charles Saumarez Smith, English historian and academic
- 1954 – Péter Szilágyi, Hungarian conductor and politician (d. 2013)
- 1954 – John Tory, Canadian lawyer and politician, 65th Mayor of Toronto
- 1955 – Laura Amy Schlitz, American author and librarian
- 1955 – Mark Howe, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1956 – Jerry Douglas, American guitarist and producer
- 1956 – Jeff Dujon, Jamaican cricketer
- 1956 – Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1980)
- 1956 – Peter Wilkinson, English admiral
- 1957 – Colin Barnes, English footballer
- 1957 – Kirk Gibson, American baseball player and manager
- 1957 – Ben Howland, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Risto Mannisenmäki, Finnish racing driver
- 1960 – Mark Sanford, American military veteran (USAF) and politician, 115th Governor of South Carolina
- 1960 – Mary Portas, English journalist and author
- 1963 – Houman Younessi, Australian-American biologist and academic
- 1964 – Jeff Fenech, Australian boxer and trainer
- 1964 – Armen Gilliam, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
- 1964 – Zsa Zsa Padilla, Filipino singer and actress
- 1964 – Phil Vassar, American singer-songwriter
- 1965 – Chris Ballew, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1965 – Mary Coughlan, Irish politician
- 1966 – Roger Kumble, American director, screenwriter, and playwright
- 1966 – Miljenko Jergović, Bosnian novelist and journalist
- 1966 – Gavin Robertson, Australian cricketer
- 1967 – Glen Rice, American basketball player
- 1968 – Kylie Minogue, Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1969 – Mike DiFelice, American baseball player and manager
- 1969 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (d. 2016)
- 1970 – Glenn Quinn, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1971 – Isabelle Carré, French actress and singer
- 1971 – Ekaterina Gordeeva, Russian figure skater and sportscaster
- 1971 – Marco Rubio, American lawyer and politician
- 1972 – Doriva, Brazilian footballer and manager
- 1972 – Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist and manager
- 1973 – Marco Paulo Faria Lemos, Portuguese footballer and manager
- 1974 – Hans-Jörg Butt, German footballer
- 1974 – Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistani cricketer
- 1975 – Maura Johnston, American journalist, critic, and academic
- 1976 – Steven Bell, Australian rugby league player
- 1976 – Zaza Enden, Georgian-Turkish wrestler, basketball player, and coach
- 1976 – Roberto Goretti, Italian footballer
- 1976 – Glenn Morrison, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1977 – Elisabeth Hasselbeck, American talk show host and author
- 1978 – Jake Johnson, American actor
- 1979 – Abdulaziz al-Omari, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 11 (d. 2001)
- 1979 – Ronald Curry, American football player and coach
- 1980 – Miguel Pérez, Spanish footballer
- 1980 – Lucy Shuker, English tennis player
- 1981 – Daniel Cabrera, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1981 – Eric Ghiaciuc, American football player
- 1981 – Adam Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1982 – Alexa Davalos, French-American actress
- 1982 – Jhonny Peralta, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1983 – Steve Cronin, American soccer player
- 1983 – Humberto Sánchez, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1983 – Roman Atwood, American YouTube star
- 1985 – Colbie Caillat, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1985 – Pablo Andrés González, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Kostas Mendrinos, Greek footballer
- 1985 – Carey Mulligan, English actress and singer
- 1986 – Berrick Barnes, Australian rugby player
- 1986 – Seth Rollins, American wrestler
- 1986 – Ingmar Vos, Dutch decathlete
- 1987 – T.J. Yates, American football player
- 1988 – NaVorro Bowman, American football player
- 1988 – Percy Harvin, American football player
- 1988 – Craig Kimbrel, American baseball player
- 1990 – Kyle Walker, English international footballer, right-back
- 1991 – Sharrif Floyd, American football player
- 1991 – Alexandre Lacazette, French footballer
- 1991 – Kail Piho, Estonian skier
- 1992 – Tom Carroll, English footballer
- 1993 – Daniel Alvaro, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – Bárbara Luz, Portuguese tennis player
- 1994 – John Stones, English footballer
- 1994 – Son Yeon-jae, South Korean gymnast
- 1998 – Dahyun, Korean singer
- 1999 – Cameron Boyce, American actor (d. 2019)
- 2000 – Phil Foden, English footballer
Deaths on May 28
- 576 – Germain of Paris, French bishop and saint (b. 496)
- 741 – Ucha’an K’in B’alam, Mayan king
- 926 – Kong Qian, official of Later Tang
- 926 – Li Jiji, prince of Later Tang
- 1023 – Wulfstan, English archbishop
- 1279 – William Wishart, English bishop
- 1327 – Robert Baldock, Lord Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor of England
- 1357 – Afonso IV of Portugal (b. 1291)
- 1427 – Henry IV, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (b. 1397)
- 1556 – Saitō Dōsan, Japanese samurai (b. 1494)
- 1626 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (b. 1561)
- 1651 – Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent, English politician (b. 1594)
- 1672 – John Trevor, Welsh politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1626)
- 1747 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French author (b. 1715)
- 1750 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1720)
- 1787 – Leopold Mozart, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1719)
- 1805 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (b. 1743)
- 1808 – Richard Hurd, English bishop (b. 1720)
- 1811 – Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1742)
- 1831 – William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk, Scottish-English admiral (b. 1756)
- 1843 – Noah Webster, American lexicographer (b. 1758)
- 1849 – Anne Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1820)
- 1864 – Simion Bărnuțiu, Romanian historian and politician (b. 1808)
- 1878 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)
- 1904 – Kicking Bear, Native American tribal leader (b. 1846)
- 1916 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian economist, journalist, and poet (b. 1856)
- 1927 – Boris Kustodiev, Russian painter and stage designer (b. 1878)
- 1937 – Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish ophthalmologist and psychologist (b. 1870)
- 1946 – Carter Glass, American publisher and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1858)
- 1947 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (b. 1907)
- 1952 – Philippe Desranleau, Canadian archbishop (b. 1882)
- 1953 – Tatsuo Hori, Japanese author and poet (b. 1904)
- 1964 – Terry Dillon, American football player (b. 1941)
- 1968 – Fyodor Okhlopkov, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1908)
- 1971 – Audie Murphy, American soldier and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1925)
- 1972 – Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
- 1975 – Ezzard Charles, American boxer (b. 1921)
- 1976 – Zainul Abedin, Bangladeshi painter and sculptor (b. 1914)
- 1980 – Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician and academic (b. 1895)
- 1981 – Mary Lou Williams, American pianist and composer (b. 1910)
- 1981 – Stefan Wyszyński, Polish cardinal (b. 1901)
- 1982 – H. Jones, English colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1940)
- 1983 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American soldier and politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany (b. 1909)
- 1984 – Eric Morecambe, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)
- 1986 – Edip Cansever, Turkish poet and author (b. 1928)
- 1988 – Sy Oliver, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (b. 1910)
- 1990 – Julius Eastman, American composer (b. 1940)
- 1994 – Julius Boros, American golfer (b. 1920)
- 1994 – Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American author and academic (b. 1916)
- 1998 – Phil Hartman, Canadian-American actor and comedian (b. 1948)
- 1999 – Michael Barkai, Israeli commander (b. 1935)
- 1999 – B. Vittalacharya, Indian director and producer (b. 1920)
- 2000 – George Irving Bell, American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer (b. 1926)
- 2001 – Joe Moakley, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
- 2001 – Francisco Varela, Chilean biologist and philosopher (b. 1946)
- 2002 – Mildred Benson, American journalist and author (b. 1905)
- 2003 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1933)
- 2003 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Martha Scott, American actress (b. 1912)
- 2004 – Umberto Agnelli, Swiss-Italian businessman and politician (b. 1934)
- 2004 – Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (b. 1979)
- 2004 – John Tolos, Greek-Canadian wrestler (b. 1930)
- 2006 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian ski jumper and author (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Jörg Immendorff, German painter, sculptor, and academic (b. 1945)
- 2007 – Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Agriculture (b. 1945)
- 2008 – Beryl Cook, English painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
- 2010 – Gary Coleman, American actor (b. 1968)
- 2011 – Gino Valenzano, Italian racing driver (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Bob Edwards, English journalist (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Yuri Susloparov, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (b. 1958)
- 2013 – Viktor Kulikov, Russian commander (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Eddie Romero, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Gerd Schmückle, German general (b. 1917)
- 2014 – Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Stan Crowther, English footballer (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Oscar Dystel, American publisher (b. 1912)
- 2014 – Malcolm Glazer, American businessman (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Bob Houbregs, Canadian-American basketball player and manager (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer (b. 1971)
- 2015 – Steven Gerber, American pianist and composer (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Johnny Keating, Scottish trombonist, composer, and producer (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Reynaldo Rey, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1940)
- 2018 – Neale Cooper, Scottish footballer (b. 1963)
- 2018 – Jens Christian Skou, Danish medical doctor and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- 2018 – Cornelia Frances, English-Australian actress (b. 1941)
Holidays and observances on May 28
- Armed Forces Day (Croatia)
- Christian feast day:
- Bernard of Menthon
- Germain of Paris
- John Calvin (Episcopal Church)
- Lanfranc
- Margaret Pole
- William of Gellone
- May 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Downfall of the Derg Day (Ethiopia)
- Flag Day (Philippines)
- Menstrual Hygiene Day
- Republic Day (Nepal)
- TDFR Republic Day, celebrates the declaration of independence of the First Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918. (Azerbaijan and Armenia)
- Youm-e-Takbir (Pakistan)
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May 26 in History
- 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
- 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire takes place. The Sasanids defeat the Armenians militarily but guarantee them freedom to openly practice Christianity.
- 946 – King Edmund I of England is murdered by a thief whom he personally attacks while celebrating St Augustine’s Mass Day.
- 961 – King Otto I elects his 6-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda.
- 1135 – Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in León Cathedral as Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all of Spain).
- 1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 23,000.
- 1328 – William of Ockham, the Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena, and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
- 1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
- 1573 – The Battle of Haarlemmermeer, a naval engagement in the Dutch War of Independence.
- 1637 – Pequot War: A combined English and Mohegan force under John Mason attacks a village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Pequots.
- 1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo.
- 1736 – The Battle of Ackia was fought near the present site of Tupelo, Mississippi. British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the then-Chickasaw village of Ackia.
- 1770 – The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
- 1783 – A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated the end of fighting in the American Revolution.
- 1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
- 1821 – Establishment of the Peloponnesian Senate by the Greek rebels.
- 1822 – One hundred sixteen people die in the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway’s history.
- 1857 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
- 1864 – Montana is organized as a United States territory.
- 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
- 1868 – The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal by one vote.
- 1869 – Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- 1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
- 1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.
- 1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
- 1897 – Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
- 1897 – The original manuscript of William Bradford’s history, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1900 – Thousand Days’ War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
- 1908 – The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
- 1917 – Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon.
- 1918 – The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
- 1923 – The first 24 Hours of Le Mans was held and has since been run annually in June.
- 1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
- 1936 – In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for ten hours.
- 1937 – Walter Reuther and members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) clashed with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Complex complex in Dearborn, Michigan, during the Battle of the Overpass.
- 1938 – In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
- 1940 – World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
- 1940 – World War II: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
- 1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
- 1966 – British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana.
- 1967 – The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
- 1968 – H-dagurinn in Iceland: Traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight
- 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
- 1970 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
- 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army slaughters at least 71 Hindus in Burunga, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
- 1972 – The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
- 1981 – Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
- 1981 – An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
- 1983 – The 7.8 Mw Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.
- 1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.
- 1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.
- 1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes in the Phu Toei National Park in Thailand, killing all 223 people on board.
- 1998 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in New Jersey v. New York that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
- 1998 – The first “National Sorry Day” was held in Australia, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
- 2002 – The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
- 2004 – United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
- 2008 – Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.
Births on May 26
- 1264 – Koreyasu, Japanese prince and shōgun (d. 1326)
- 1478 – Clement VII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1534)
- 1562 – James III, margrave of Baden-Hachberg (d. 1590)
- 1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1603)
- 1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, Dutch-French painter (d. 1674)
- 1623 – William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687)
- 1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (d. 1722)
- 1667 – Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (d. 1754)
- 1669 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (d. 1722)
- 1700 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (d. 1760)
- 1799 – August Kopisch, German poet and painter (d. 1853)
- 1822 – Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic, founded the Académie Goncourt (d. 1896)
- 1863 – Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917)
- 1865 – Robert W. Chambers, American author and illustrator (d. 1933)
- 1867 – Mary of Teck, English-born queen consort of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)
- 1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
- 1876 – Percy Perrin, English cricketer (d. 1945)
- 1880 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)
- 1881 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (d. 1955)
- 1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer, actress, dancer, and pianist (d. 1946)
- 1886 – Al Jolson, American singer and actor (d. 1950)
- 1887 – Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963)
- 1893 – Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)
- 1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer and journalist (d. 1965)
- 1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor and singer (d. 1971)
- 1898 – Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
- 1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)
- 1899 – Antonio Barrette, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)
- 1899 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (d. 1997)
- 1900 – Karin Juel, Swedish singer, actor, and writer (d. 1976)
- 1904 – George Formby, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1961)
- 1904 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1983)
- 1904 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist and educator (d. 2002)
- 1907 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (d. 2006)
- 1907 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1979)
- 1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)
- 1908 – Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, Vietnamese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1976)
- 1909 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician, 48th President of Mexico (d. 1969)
- 1910 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist, boxer, and gymnast (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1992)
- 1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1989)
- 1912 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980)
- 1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
- 1913 – Pierre Daninos, French author (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Karin Ekelund, Swedish actress (d. 1976)
- 1913 – Josef Manger, German weightlifter (d. 1991)
- 1914 – Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
- 1915 – Vernon Alley, American bassist (d. 2004)
- 1915 – Antonia Forest, English author (d. 2003)
- 1916 – Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1972)
- 1919 – Rubén González, Cuban pianist (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Jack Cheetham, South African cricketer (d. 1980)
- 1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
- 1922 – Troy Smith, American businessman, founded Sonic Drive-In (d. 2009)
- 1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Roy Dotrice, English actor (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Carmen Montejo, Cuban-Mexican actress (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017)
- 1926 – Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
- 1927 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, author, and assisted suicide activist (d. 2011)
- 1929 – J. F. Ade Ajayi, Nigerian historian and academic (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Ernie Carroll, Australian television personality and producer
- 1929 – Hans Freeman, Australian bioinorganic chemist and protein crystallographer (d. 2008)
- 1929 – John Jackson, English lawyer and businessman
- 1929 – Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998)
- 1930 – Karim Emami, Indian-Iranian lexicographer and critic (d. 2005)
- 1933 – Edward Whittemore, American soldier and author (d. 1995)
- 1935 – Eero Loone, Estonian philosopher and academic
- 1936 – David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician
- 1937 – Manorama, Indian actress and singer (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Paul E. Patton, American politician, 59th Governor of Kentucky
- 1938 – William Bolcom, American pianist and composer
- 1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian author and playwright
- 1938 – K. Bikram Singh, Indian director and producer (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano and actress
- 1939 – Brent Musburger, American sportscaster
- 1939 – Herb Trimpe, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Canadian academic and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
- 1940 – Levon Helm, American singer-songwriter, drummer, producer, and actor (d. 2012)
- 1941 – Aldrich Ames, American CIA officer and criminal
- 1941 – Jim Dobbin, Scottish microbiologist and politician (d. 2014)
- 1941 – Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player and sportscaster
- 1941 – Imants Kalniņš, Latvian composer
- 1943 – Erica Terpstra, Dutch swimmer, journalist, and politician
- 1944 – Phil Edmonston, American-Canadian journalist and politician
- 1944 – Jan Kinder, Norwegian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Sam Posey, American race car driver and journalist
- 1945 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian lawyer and politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Alistair MacDuff, English lawyer and judge
- 1945 – Garry Peterson, Canadian-American drummer
- 1946 – Neshka Robeva, Bulgarian gymnast and coach
- 1946 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1993)
- 1947 – Carol O’Connell, American author and painter
- 1947 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricketer
- 1948 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter
- 1949 – Jeremy Corbyn, British journalist and politician
- 1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer, developed the first wiki
- 1949 – Pam Grier, American actress
- 1949 – Anne McGuire, Scottish educator and politician
- 1949 – Philip Michael Thomas, American actor
- 1949 – Hank Williams Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and businessman
- 1951 – Lou van den Dries, Dutch mathematician
- 1951 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut, founded Sally Ride Science (d. 2012)
- 1951 – Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Irish educator and politician
- 1952 – David Meece, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1953 – Kay Hagan, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
- 1953 – Don McAllister, English footballer and manager
- 1953 – Michael Portillo, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
- 1953 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (d. 2012)
- 1954 – Alan Hollinghurst, English novelist, poet, short story writer, and translator
- 1954 – Denis Lebel, Canadian businessman and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Transport
- 1955 – Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese-American chef
- 1955 – Paul Stoddart, Australian businessman
- 1955 – Wesley Walker, American football player and educator
- 1956 – Neil Parish, English politician
- 1956 – Fiona Shackleton, English lawyer
- 1957 – Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1957 – François Legault, Canadian businessman and politician
- 1957 – Roberto Ravaglia, Italian race car driver
- 1958 – Ronnie Black, American golfer
- 1958 – Arto Bryggare, Finnish hurdler and politician
- 1958 – Margaret Colin, American actress
- 1959 – Ole Bornedal, Danish actor, director, and producer
- 1960 – Doug Hutchison, American actor
- 1960 – Dean Lukin, Australian weightlifter
- 1960 – Masahiro Matsunaga, Japanese race car driver
- 1960 – Rob Murphy, American baseball player
- 1960 – Romas Ubartas, Lithuanian discus thrower
- 1961 – Steve Pate, American golfer
- 1961 – Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1962 – Black, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
- 1962 – Genie Francis, Canadian-American actress
- 1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Simon Armitage, English poet, playwright and novelist
- 1963 – Claude Legault, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1963 – Mary Nightingale, English journalist
- 1963 – Jamie Spence, English golfer
- 1964 – Caitlín R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author
- 1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor
- 1964 – Argiris Pedoulakis, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1965 – Hazel Irvine, Scottish sportscaster and journalist
- 1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
- 1966 – Zola Budd, South African runner
- 1967 – Philip Treacy, Irish milliner, hat designer
- 1967 – Mika Yamamoto, Japanese journalist (d. 2012)
- 1968 – Fernando León de Aranoa, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
- 1968 – Steve Sedgley, English footballer and manager
- 1969 – John Baird, Canadian politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1969 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete and coach
- 1969 – Dominic Mohan, English journalist
- 1970 – Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese illustrator
- 1971 – Zaher Andary, Lebanese footballer
- 1971 – Matt Stone, American actor, animator, screenwriter, producer, and composer
- 1973 – Naomi Harris, Canadian-American photographer
- 1974 – Lars Frölander, Swedish swimmer
- 1975 – Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1976 – Paul Collingwood, English cricketer and coach
- 1976 – Stephen Curry, Australian comedian and actor
- 1976 – Kenny Florian, American mixed martial artist and sportscaster
- 1976 – Justin Pierre, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1977 – Nikos Chatzivrettas, Greek basketball player
- 1977 – Raina Telgemeier, American author and cartoonist
- 1977 – Luca Toni, Italian footballer
- 1977 – Misaki Ito, Japanese actress and model
- 1978 – Phil Elvrum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Fabio Firmani, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Dan Parks, Australian-Scottish rugby player
- 1979 – Amanda Bauer, American astronomer and academic
- 1979 – Natalya Nazarova, Russian sprinter
- 1979 – Elisabeth Harnois, American actress
- 1979 – Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player
- 1980 – Louis-Jean Cormier, Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1981 – Robert Copeland, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Anthony Ervin, American swimmer
- 1981 – Jason Manford, English actor, screenwriter, and television host
- 1981 – Isaac Slade, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1981 – Ben Zobrist, American baseball player
- 1982 – Sten Lassmann, Estonian pianist
- 1982 – Hasan Kabze, Turkish footballer
- 1983 – Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer
- 1983 – Henry Holland, English fashion designer
- 1983 – Nathan Merritt, Australian rugby league player
- 1985 – Monika Christodoulou, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1985 – Ashley Vincent, English footballer
- 1986 – Michel Tornéus, Swedish long jumper
- 1987 – Olcay Şahan, Turkish footballer
- 1987 – Josh Thomas, Australian comedian and actor
- 1988 – Andrea Catellani, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Will Chambers, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
- 1988 – Dani Samuels, Australian discus thrower
- 1988 – Joel Selwood, Australian footballer
- 1988 – Damian Williams, American football player
- 1989 – Paula Findlay, Canadian triathlete
- 1991 – Ah Young, South Korean singer and actress
- 1992 – Curtis Rona, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1993 – Jason Adesanya, Belgian footballer
- 1993 – Dan Sarginson, Australian-English rugby league player
- 1993 – Katerine Savard, Canadian swimmer
- 1993 – Jimmy Vesey, American ice hockey player
- 1996 – Lara Goodall, South African cricketer
Deaths on May 26
- 604 – Augustine of Canterbury, Benedictine monk and archbishop
- 735 – Bede, English monk, historian, and theologian
- 818 – Ali al-Ridha, Saudi Arabian 8th of The Twelve Imams
- 926 – Yuan Xingqin, Chinese general and governor
- 946 – Edmund I, king of England (b. 921)
- 1035 – Berenguer Ramon I, Spanish nobleman (b. 1005)
- 1055 – Adalbert, margrave of Austria
- 1250 – Peter I, duke of Brittany
- 1339 – Aldona Ona, queen of Poland
- 1362 – Louis I, king of Naples (b. 1320)
- 1421 – Mehmed I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1389)
- 1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1447)
- 1536 – Francesco Berni, Italian poet (b. 1498)
- 1552 – Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)
- 1648 – Vincent Voiture, French poet and author (b. 1597)
- 1653 – Robert Filmer, English theorist and author (b. 1588)
- 1679 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636)
- 1685 – Charles II, German elector palatine (b. 1651)
- 1703 – Samuel Pepys, English politician (b. 1633)
- 1742 – Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1672)
- 1746 – Thomas Southerne, Irish playwright (b. 1660)
- 1762 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher and academic (b. 1714)
- 1799 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish linguist, biologist, and judge (b. 1714)
- 1818 – Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian field marshal and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1761)
- 1818 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and guerrilla leader (b. 1785)
- 1824 – Capel Lofft, English lawyer (b. 1751)
- 1840 – Sidney Smith, English admiral and politician (b. 1764)
- 1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist and academic (b. 1824)
- 1883 – Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian ruler (b. 1808)
- 1902 – Almon Brown Strowger, American soldier and inventor (b. 1839)
- 1904 – Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French physician and neurologist (b. 1857)
- 1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader, founded the Ahmadiyya movement (b. 1835)
- 1914 – Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer, and reformer (b. 1849)
- 1924 – Victor Herbert, Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor, founded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (b. 1859)
- 1926 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (b. 1904)
- 1933 – Horatio Bottomley, English financier, journalist, and politician (b. 1860)
- 1933 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1897)
- 1939 – Charles Horace Mayo, American physician, co-founded Mayo Clinic (b. 1865)
- 1943 – Edsel Ford, American businessman (b. 1893)
- 1943 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist, composer, and educator (b. 1864)
- 1944 – Christian Wirth, German SS officer (b. 1885)
- 1948 – Torsten Bergström, Swedish actor and director (b. 1896)
- 1951 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (b. 1880)
- 1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (b. 1900)
- 1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918)
- 1956 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (b. 1902)
- 1959 – Philip Kassel, American gymnast (b. 1876)
- 1966 – Elizabeth Dilling, American author and activist (b. 1894)
- 1969 – Paul Hawkins, Australian race car driver (b. 1937)
- 1969 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer, co-founded the Lockheed Corporation (b. 1889)
- 1974 – Silvio Moser, Swiss race car driver (b. 1941)
- 1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher and academic (b. 1889)
- 1978 – Cybele Andrianou, Greek actress (b. 1887)
- 1979 – George Brent, Irish-American actor (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (b. 1936)
- 1989 – Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
- 1994 – Sonny Sharrock, American guitarist (b. 1940)
- 1995 – Friz Freleng, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1906)
- 1997 – Ralph Horween, American football player and coach (b. 1896)
- 1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor and philanthropist (b. 1906)
- 1999 – Waldo Semon, American chemist and engineer (b. 1898)
- 2001 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian race car driver (b. 1937)
- 2001 – Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934)
- 2001 – Moven Mahachi, Zimbabwean soldier and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Defence (b. 1952)
- 2001 – Dona Massin, Canadian actress and choreographer (b. 1917)
- 2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American journalist and author (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Nikolai Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)
- 2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
- 2005 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist and educator (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Leslie Smith, English businessman, co-founded Lesney Products (b. 1918)
- 2006 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963)
- 2006 – Kevin O’Flanagan, Irish footballer and physician (b. 1919)
- 2007 – Jack Edward Oliver, English illustrator (b. 1942)
- 2007 – Howard Porter, American basketball player (b. 1948)
- 2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
- 2008 – Zita Urbonaitė, Lithuanian cyclist (b. 1973)
- 2009 – Mihalis Papagiannakis, Greek journalist and politician (b. 1941)
- 2009 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (b. 1965)
- 2010 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television host (b. 1912)
- 2010 – Chris Moran, English air marshal and pilot (b. 1956)
- 2010 – Kieran Phelan, Irish politician (b. 1949)
- 2011 – Arisen Ahubudu, Sri Lankan scholar, author, and playwright (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Arthur Decabooter, Belgian cyclist (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Leo Dillon, American illustrator (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Stephen Healey, Welsh captain and footballer (b. 1982)
- 2012 – Hiroshi Miyazawa, Japanese politician (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Jim Unger, English-Canadian illustrator (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Ray Barnhart, American businessman and politician (b. 1928)
- 2013 – John Bierwirth, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Roberto Civita, Italian-Brazilian businessman (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (b. 1940)
- 2013 – Otto Muehl, Austrian painter (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Jack Vance, American author (b. 1916)
- 2014 – Baselios Thoma Didymos I, Indian metropolitan (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Miodrag Radulovacki, Serbian-American academic and neuropharmacologist (b. 1933)
- 2014 – William R. Roy, American physician, journalist, and politician (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Hooshang Seyhoun, Iranian-Canadian architect, sculptor, and painter (b. 1920)
- 2015 – Vicente Aranda, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Les Johnson, Australian politician and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Robert Kraft, American astronomer and academic (b. 1927)
- 2015 – João Lucas, Portuguese footballer (b. 1979)
- 2015 – Dayton Waller, American soldier and politician (b. 1925)
- 2016 – Hedy Epstein, German-born American human rights activist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American politician (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances on May 26
- Christian feast day:
- Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox)
- Lambert of Vence
- Peter Sanz (one of Martyr Saints of China)
- Philip Neri
- Pope Eleuterus
- Quadratus of Athens
- Zachary, Bishop of Vienne
- May 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence Day, commemorates the day of the First Republic in 1918 (Georgia)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966.
- Mother’s Day (Poland)
- National Paper Airplane Day (United States)
- National Sorry Day (Australia)
-
May 24 in History
- 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
- 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
- 1276 – Magnus Ladulås is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
- 1487 – The ten-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland, with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII’s reign.
- 1567 – Erik XIV of Sweden and his guards murder five incarcerated Swedish nobles.
- 1595 – Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
- 1607 – One hundred English settlers disembark in Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America.
- 1621 – The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
- 1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
- 1667 – The French Royal Army crosses the border into the Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Devolution opposing France to the Spanish Empire and the Triple Alliance.
- 1683 – The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world’s first university museum.
- 1689 – The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting dissenting Protestants but excluding Roman Catholics.
- 1738 – John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day and a church service is generally held on the preceding Sunday.
- 1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins.
- 1813 – South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”).
- 1822 – Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
- 1832 – The First Kingdom of Greece is declared in the London Conference.
- 1844 – Samuel Morse sends the message “What hath God wrought” (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from a committee room in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, to inaugurate a commercial telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C.
- 1856 – John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
- 1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
- 1915 – World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, joining the conflict on the side of the Allies.
- 1930 – Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
- 1935 – The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2–1 at Crosley Field.
- 1940 – Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
- 1940 – Acting on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, NKVD agent Iosif Grigulevich orchestrates an unsuccessful assassination attempt on exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, Mexico.
- 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks then-pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.
- 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: Egypt captures the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai, but the five-day effort gives Israeli forces time to prepare enough to stop the Egyptian advance a week later.
- 1956 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.
- 1958 – United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
- 1960 – Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.
- 1961 – American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for “disturbing the peace” after disembarking from their bus.
- 1962 – Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
- 1967 – Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.
- 1976 – The Judgment of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.
- 1981 – Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife, and his presidential committee die in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.
- 1982 – Liberation of Khorramshahr: Iranians recapture of the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.
- 1988 – Section 28 of the United Kingdom’s Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted.
- 1991 – Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
- 1992 – The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.
- 1992 – The ethnic cleansing in Kozarac, Bosnia and Herzegovina begins when Serbian militia and police forces enter the town.
- 1993 – Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
- 1993 – Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and five other people are assassinated in a shootout at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport in Mexico.
- 1994 – Four men convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 are each sentenced to 240 years in prison.
- 1995 – While attempting to return to Leeds Bradford Airport in the United Kingdom, Knight Air Flight 816 crashes in Harewood, North Yorkshire, killing all 12 people on board.
- 1999 – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.
- 2000 – Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
- 2002 – Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.
- 2014 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurs in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, injuring 324 people.
- 2014 – At least three people are killed in a shooting at Brussels’ Jewish Museum of Belgium.
- 2019 – Twenty-two students die in a fire in Surat (India).
- 2019 – Under pressure over her handling of Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Leader of the Conservative Party, effective as of June 7.
Births on May 24
- 15 BC – Germanicus, Roman general (d. 19)
- 1335 – Margaret of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary (d. 1349)
- 1494 – Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
- 1522 – John Jewel, English bishop (d. 1571)
- 1544 – William Gilbert, English physician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1603)
- 1576 – Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley, English courtier (d. 1635)
- 1616 – John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, Scottish politician, Secretary of State, Scotland (d. 1682)
- 1628 – Marek Sobieski, Polish noble (d. 1652)
- 1669 – Emerentia von Düben, Swedish royal favorite (d. 1743)
- 1671 – Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
- 1686 – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Polish-German physicist and engineer, developed the Fahrenheit scale (d. 1736)
- 1689 – Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1769)
- 1743 – Jean-Paul Marat, Swiss-French physician, journalist, and politician (d. 1793)
- 1789 – Cathinka Buchwieser, German operatic singer and actress (d.1828)
- 1794 – William Whewell, English priest and philosopher (d. 1866)
- 1803 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist and paleontologist (d. 1866)
- 1810 – Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1816 – Emanuel Leutze, German-American painter (d. 1868)
- 1819 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
- 1830 – Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter and academic (d. 1897)
- 1855 – Arthur Wing Pinero, English actor, director, and playwright (d. 1934)
- 1861 – Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, Maltese lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1940)
- 1863 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
- 1868 – Charlie Taylor, American engineer and mechanic (d. 1956)
- 1870 – Benjamin N. Cardozo, American lawyer and judge (d. 1938)
- 1870 – Jan Smuts, South African lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
- 1874 – Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1878)
- 1875 – Robert Garrett, American discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1961)
- 1878 – Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American psychologist and engineer (d. 1972)
- 1879 – H. B. Reese, American candy maker, created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (d. 1956)
- 1886 – Paul Paray, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1979)
- 1887 – Mick Mannock, Irish soldier and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
- 1891 – William F. Albright, American archaeologist, philologist, and scholar (d. 1971)
- 1895 – Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., American publisher, founded Advance Publications (d. 1979)
- 1899 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
- 1899 – Henri Michaux, Belgian-French poet and painter (d. 1984)
- 1900 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1984)
- 1901 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer and manager (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (d. 1954)
- 1902 – Sylvia Daoust, Canadian sculptor (d. 2004)
- 1905 – George Nakashima, American woodworker and architect(d. 1990)
- 1905 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1909 – Wilbur Mills, American banker and politician (d. 1992)
- 1910 – Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (d. 1983)
- 1913 – Joe Abreu, American baseball player and soldier (d. 1993)
- 1914 – Lilli Palmer, German-American actress (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Roden Cutler, Australian lieutenant and politician, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (d. 2002)
- 1917 – Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, English lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Coleman Young, American politician, 66th Mayor of Detroit (d. 1997)
- 1923 – Siobhán McKenna, Irish actress (d. 1986)
- 1924 – Philip Pearlstein, American soldier and painter
- 1925 – Carmine Infantino, American illustrator and educator (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and director (d. 1994)
- 1926 – Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor and screenwriter
- 1928 – William Trevor, Irish novelist, playwright and short story writer (d. 2016)
- 1932 – Arnold Wesker, English playwright and producer (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Jane Byrne, American lawyer and politician, 50th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Réal Giguère, Canadian television host and actor
- 1933 – Aharon Lichtenstein, French-Israeli rabbi and author (d. 2015)
- 1935 – Joan Micklin Silver, American director and screenwriter
- 1936 – Harold Budd, American composer and poet
- 1937 – Maryvonne Dupureur, French runner and educator (d. 2008)
- 1937 – Archie Shepp, American saxophonist and composer
- 1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Tommy Chong, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1940 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- 1941 – Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist, writer, and producer; Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 – Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, English academic and politician
- 1942 – Ali Bacher, South African cricketer and manager
- 1942 – Hannu Mikkola, Finnish race car driver
- 1942 – Ichirō Ozawa, Japanese lawyer and politician, Japanese Minister of Home Affairs
- 1943 – Gary Burghoff, American actor
- 1944 – Patti LaBelle, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1944 – Dominique Lavanant, French actress
- 1945 – Terry Callier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Steven Norris, English engineer and politician
- 1945 – Richard Ottaway, English lieutenant and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- 1945 – Priscilla Presley, American actress and businesswoman
- 1946 – Tansu Çiller, Turkish economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1946 – Jesualdo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer and manager
- 1946 – Irena Szewińska, Russian-Polish sprinter
- 1947 – Albert Bouchard, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
- 1947 – Mike De Leon, Filipino director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer
- 1947 – Mike Reid, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and American football player
- 1947 – Waddy Wachtel, American guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer
- 1947 – Martin Winterkorn, German businessman
- 1948 – Richard Dembo, French director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1949 – Jim Broadbent, English actor
- 1949 – Roger Deakins , English cinematographer
- 1953 – Alfred Molina, English actor
- 1955 – Rosanne Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1955 – Philippe Lafontaine, Belgian singer and songwriter
- 1955 – Rajesh Roshan, Indian composer
- 1956 – R. B. Bernstein, American constitutional historian
- 1956 – Larry Blackmon, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1956 – Dominic Grieve, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
- 1956 – Michael Jackson, Irish archbishop
- 1958 – Chip Ganassi, American race car driver, team owner and businessman
- 1959 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish-American ice hockey player (d. 1985)
- 1959 – Barry O’Farrell, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of New South Wales
- 1960 – Guy Fletcher, English keyboard player, guitarist, and producer
- 1960 – Bill Harrigan, Australian rugby league referee and sportscaster
- 1960 – Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
- 1961 – Lorella Cedroni, Italian philosopher and theorist (d. 2013)
- 1961 – Alain Lemieux, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
- 1962 – Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican-American boxer (d. 2012)
- 1962 – Gene Anthony Ray, American actor, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2003)
- 1963 – Ivan Capelli, Italian race car driver and sportscaster
- 1963 – Michael Chabon, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Joe Dumars, American basketball player
- 1963 – Rich Rodriguez, American football player and coach
- 1963 – Valerie Taylor, American computer scientist and educator
- 1964 – Liz McColgan, Scottish educator and runner
- 1964 – Adrian Moorhouse, English swimmer
- 1964 – Isidro Pérez, Mexican boxer (d. 2013)
- 1964 – Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1965 – John C. Reilly, American actor
- 1965 – Shinichirō Watanabe, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Éric Cantona, French footballer, manager, and actor
- 1966 – Ricky Craven, American race car driver and sportscaster
- 1967 – Tamer Karadağlı, Turkish actor
- 1967 – Andrey Borodin, Russian-English economist and businessman
- 1967 – Eric Close, American actor
- 1967 – Heavy D, Jamaican-American rapper, producer, and actor (d. 2011)
- 1967 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
- 1969 – Martin McCague, Northern Irish-English cricketer
- 1969 – Jacob Rees-Mogg, English politician
- 1969 – Rich Robinson, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1971 – Kris Draper, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1972 – Greg Berlanti, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Rodrigo, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
- 1973 – Bartolo Colón, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1973 – Shirish Kunder, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Vladimír Šmicer, Czech footballer and manager
- 1974 – Sébastien Foucan, French runner and actor
- 1974 – Masahide Kobayashi, Japanese baseball player and coach
- 1974 – Magnus Manske, German biochemist and computer programmer, developed MediaWiki
- 1975 – Will Sasso, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1975 – Marc Gagnon, Canadian speed skater
- 1975 – Giannis Goumas, Greek footballer and coach
- 1975 – Maria Lawson, English singer-songwriter
- 1976 – Alessandro Cortini, Italian-American singer and keyboard player
- 1976 – Catherine Cox, New Zealand-Australian netball player
- 1976 – Silje Vige, Norwegian singer
- 1977 – Jeet Gannguli, Indian score composer, music director and singer
- 1978 – Elijah Burke, American wrestler
- 1978 – Johan Holmqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1978 – Brad Penny, American baseball player
- 1978 – Rose, French singer, songwriter and composer
- 1979 – Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
- 1979 – Kareem McKenzie, American football player
- 1980 – Jason Babin, American football player
- 1980 – Anthony Minichiello, Australian rugby league player
- 1981 – Andy Lee, Australian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1982 – Issah Gabriel Ahmed, Ghanaian footballer
- 1982 – Rian Wallace, American football player
- 1983 – Custódio Castro, Portuguese footballer
- 1983 – Pedram Javaheri, Iranian-American meteorologist and journalist
- 1983 – Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (d. 2009)
- 1984 – Sarah Hagan, American actress
- 1984 – Dmitri Kruglov, Estonian footballer
- 1985 – Tim Bridgman, English race car driver
- 1986 – Mark Ballas, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, dancer, and actor
- 1986 – Giannis Kontoes, Greek footballer
- 1987 – Guillaume Latendresse, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Artem Anisimov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Monica Lin Brown, American sergeant
- 1988 – Billy Gilman, American musician
- 1988 – Lucian Wintrich, American political artist and White House correspondent
- 1989 – G-Eazy, American rapper
- 1989 – Andrew Jordan, English race car driver
- 1990 – Mattias Ekholm, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1991 – Aled Davies, Welsh discus thrower
- 1991 – Cody Eakin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Marcus Bettinelli, English footballer, goalkeeper
- 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
- 1994 – Emily Nicholl, Scottish netball player
- 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
- 1994 – Emily Temple Wood, American 2016 Wikipedian of the Year award
- 1999 – Tarjei Sandvik Moe, Norwegian actor
Deaths on May 24
- 688 – Ségéne, bishop of Armagh (b. c. 610)
- 1089 – Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1136 – Hugues de Payens, first Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1070)
- 1153 – David I of Scotland (b. 1083)
- 1201 – Theobald III, Count of Champagne (b. 1179)
- 1351 – Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman, Moroccan sultan (b. 1297)
- 1408 – Taejo of Joseon (b. 1335)
- 1425 – Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
- 1456 – Ambroise de Loré, French commander (b. 1396)
- 1543 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (b. 1473)
- 1612 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1563)
- 1627 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet and cleric (b. 1561)
- 1632 – Robert Hues, English mathematician and geographer (b. 1553)
- 1665 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Spanish Franciscan abbess and mystic (b. 1602)
- 1734 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
- 1792 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1718)
- 1806 – John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, Scottish field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Argyllshire (b. 1723)
- 1843 – Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician and academic (b. 1765)
- 1848 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German author and composer (b. 1797)
- 1861 – Elmer E. Ellsworth, American colonel (b. 1837)
- 1872 – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter and illustrator (b. 1794)
- 1879 – William Lloyd Garrison, American journalist and activist (b. 1805)
- 1881 – Samuel Palmer, English painter and illustrator (b. 1805)
- 1901 – Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, Canadian bishop (b. 1824)
- 1908 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer and architect (b. 1821)
- 1915 – John Condon, Irish-English soldier (b. 1896)
- 1919 – Amado Nervo, Mexican poet, journalist, and educator (b. 1870)
- 1929 – Nikolai von Meck, Russian engineer (b. 1863)
- 1941 – Lancelot Holland, English admiral (b. 1887)
- 1945 – Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal and pilot (b. 1892)
- 1948 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1949 – Alexey Shchusev, Russian architect, designed Lenin’s Mausoleum and Moscow Kazanskaya railway station (b. 1873)
- 1950 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English field marshal and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (b. 1883)
- 1951 – Thomas N. Heffron, American actor, director, screenwriter (b. 1872)
- 1956 – Martha Annie Whiteley, English chemist and mathematician (b. 1866)
- 1958 – Frank Rowe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
- 1959 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- 1963 – Elmore James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
- 1965 – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (b. 1908)
- 1974 – Duke Ellington, American pianist and composer (b. 1899)
- 1976 – Denise Pelletier, Canadian actress (b. 1923)
- 1979 – Ernest Bullock, English organist, composer, and educator (b. 1890)
- 1981 – Herbert Müller, Swiss race car driver (b. 1940)
- 1984 – Vince McMahon Sr., American wrestling promoter and businessman, founded WWE (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Freddie Frith, English motorcycle road racer (b. 1909)
- 1990 – Arthur Villeneuve, Canadian painter (b. 1910)
- 1991 – Gene Clark, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
- 1992 – Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese race car driver (b. 1956)
- 1995 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
- 1996 – Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (b. 1934)
- 1996 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist and author (b. 1908)
- 1997 – Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
- 2000 – Kurt Schork, American journalist and scholar (b. 1947)
- 2000 – Majrooh Sultanpuri, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1919)
- 2002 – Wallace Markfield, American author (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (b. 1910)
- 2004 – Henry Ries, German-American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Milton Shulman, Canadian author and critic (b. 1913)
- 2004 – Edward Wagenknecht, American critic and educator (b. 1900)
- 2005 – Carl Amery, German activist and author (b. 1922)
- 2005 – Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and poet (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Guy Tardif, Canadian academic and politician (b. 1935)
- 2006 – Henry Bumstead, American art director and production designer (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Claude Piéplu, French actor (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Dick Martin, American actor, comedian, and director (b. 1922)
- 2008 – Jimmy McGriff, American organist and bandleader (b. 1936)
- 2009 – Jay Bennett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1963)
- 2010 – Ray Alan, English ventriloquist, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1972)
- 2010 – Raymond V. Haysbert, American businessman and activist (b. 1920)
- 2010 – Petr Muk, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1965)
- 2010 – Anneliese Rothenberger, German soprano and actress (b. 1926)
- 2011 – Huguette Clark, American heiress, painter, and philanthropist (b. 1906)
- 2011 – Hakim Ali Zardari, Indian-Pakistani businessman and politician (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Klaas Carel Faber, Dutch-German SS officer (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Kathi Kamen Goldmark, American journalist and author (b. 1948)
- 2012 – Jacqueline Harpman, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Juan Francisco Lombardo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Lee Rich, American production manager and producer (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Ron Davies, Welsh footballer (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Gotthard Graubner, German painter (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1925)
- 2014 – David Allen, English cricketer (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Stormé DeLarverie, known as the “Rosa Parks of the lesbian community” (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, Iranian businessman (b. 1969)
- 2014 – Knowlton Nash, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1927)
- 2014 – John Vasconcellos, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Dean Carroll, English rugby player (b. 1962)
- 2015 – Kenneth Jacobs, Australian lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
- 2015 – Tanith Lee, English author (b. 1947)
- 2018 – Gudrun Burwitz, daughter of Margarete Himmler and Heinrich Himmler (b. 1929)
- 2018 – John Bain (TotalBiscuit), English gaming commentator and critic (b. 1984)
Holidays and observances on May 24
- Aldersgate Day/Wesley Day (Methodism)
- Battle of Pichincha Day (Ecuador)
- Bermuda Day (Bermuda), celebrated on the nearest weekday if May 24 falls on the weekend.
- Christian feast day:
- Anna Pak Agi (one of The Korean Martyrs)
- Donatian and Rogatian
- Jackson Kemper (Episcopal Church)
- Joanna
- Mary, Help of Christians
- Sarah (celebrated by the Romani people of Camargue)
- Vincent of Lérins
- May 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Commonwealth Day (Belize)
- Earliest day on which El Colacho tradition can fall, while June 27 is the latest; celebrated on Sunday after Corpus Christi. (Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos)
- Independence Day (Eritrea), celebrates the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993.
- Lubiri Memorial Day (Buganda)
- Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Eastern Orthodox Church, Julian Calendar) and its related observance:
- Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day (Bulgaria)
- Saints Cyril and Methodius, Slavonic Enlighteners’ Day (North Macedonia)
- Victoria Day; celebrated on Monday on or before May 24. (Canada), and its related observance:
- National Patriots’ Day or Journée nationale des patriotes (Quebec)
-
May 13 in History
- 1373 – Julian of Norwich has visions of Jesus while suffering from a life-threatening illness, visions which are later described and interpreted in her book Revelations of Divine Love.
- 1515 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, are officially married at Greenwich.
- 1568 – Battle of Langside: The forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother.
- 1619 – Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after being convicted of treason.
- 1779 – War of the Bavarian Succession: Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives the part of its territory that was taken from it (the Innviertel).
- 1780 – The Cumberland Compact is signed by leaders of the settlers in the Cumberland River area of what would become the U.S. state of Tennessee, providing for democratic government and a formal system of justice.
- 1787 – Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England, with eleven ships full of convicts (the “First Fleet”) to establish a penal colony in Australia.
- 1804 – Forces sent by Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli to retake Derna from the Americans attack the city.
- 1830 – Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia.
- 1846 – Mexican–American War: The United States declares war on the Federal Republic of Mexico following a dispute over the American annexation of the Republic of Texas and a Mexican military incursion.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a “proclamation of neutrality” which recognizes the Confederacy as having belligerent rights.
- 1861 – The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.
- 1861 – Pakistan’s (then a part of British India) first railway line opens, from Karachi to Kotri.
- 1862 – The USS Planter, a steamer and gunship, steals through Confederate lines and is passed to the Union, by a southern slave, Robert Smalls, who later was officially appointed as captain, becoming the first black man to command a United States ship.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Resaca: The battle begins with Union General Sherman fighting toward Atlanta.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch: In far south Texas, the last land battle of the Civil War ends with a Confederate victory.
- 1880 – In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.
- 1888 – With the passage of the Lei Áurea (“Golden Law”), Empire of Brazil abolishes slavery.
- 1909 – The first Giro d’Italia starts from Milan. Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna will be the winner.
- 1912 – The Royal Flying Corps, the forerunner of the Royal Air Force, is established in the United Kingdom.
- 1917 – Three children report the first apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal.
- 1940 – World War II: Germany’s conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse. Winston Churchill makes his “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech to the House of Commons.
- 1940 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees her country to Great Britain after the German invasion. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety.
- 1941 – World War II: Yugoslav royal colonel Dragoljub Mihailović starts fighting against German occupation troops, beginning the Serbian resistance.
- 1943 – World War II: Operations Vulcan and Strike force the surrender of the last Axis troops in Tunisia.
- 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The Kfar Etzion massacre is committed by Arab irregulars, the day before the declaration of independence of the state of Israel on May 14.
- 1950 – The first round of the Formula One World Championship is held at Silverstone.
- 1951 – The 400th anniversary of the founding of the National University of San Marcos is commemorated by the opening of the first large-capacity stadium in Peru.
- 1952 – The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, holds its first sitting.
- 1954 – The anti-National Service Riots, by Chinese middle school students in Singapore, take place.
- 1954 – The original Broadway production of The Pajama Game opens and runs for another 1,063 performances. Later received three Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, and Best Choreography.
- 1958 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon’s car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
- 1958 – May 1958 crisis: A group of French military officers lead a coup in Algiers demanding that a government of national unity be formed with Charles de Gaulle at its head in order to defend French control of Algeria.
- 1958 – Ben Carlin becomes the first (and only) person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 17,000 kilometres (11,000 mi) by sea and 62,000 kilometres (39,000 mi) by land during a ten-year journey.
- 1960 – Hundreds of University of California, Berkeley students congregate for the first day of protest against a visit by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
- 1967 – Dr. Zakir Husain becomes the third President of India. He is the first Muslim President of the Indian Union. He holds this position until August 24, 1969.
- 1969 – May 13 Incident involving sectarian violence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- 1971 – Over 900 unarmed Bengali Hindus are murdered in the Demra massacre.
- 1972 – Faulty electrical wiring ignites a fire underneath the Playtown Cabaret in Osaka, Japan. Blocked exits and non-functional elevators lead to 118 fatalities, with many victims leaping to their deaths.
- 1972 – The Troubles: A car bombing outside a crowded pub in Belfast sparks a two-day gun battle involving the Provisional IRA, Ulster Volunteer Force and British Army. Seven people are killed and over 66 injured.
- 1980 – An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area.
- 1981 – Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The Pope is rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survives.
- 1985 – Police bombed MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia to end a stand-off, killing six adults and five children, and destroying the homes of 250 city residents.
- 1989 – Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike.
- 1990 – The Dinamo–Red Star riot took place at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, Croatia between the Bad Blue Boys (fans of Dinamo Zagreb) and the Delije (fans of Red Star Belgrade).
- 1992 – Li Hongzhi gives the first public lecture on Falun Gong in Changchun, People’s Republic of China.
- 1995 – Alison Hargreaves, a 33-year-old British mother, becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas.
- 1996 – Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.
- 1998 – Race riots break out in Jakarta, Indonesia, where shops owned by Indonesians of Chinese descent are looted and women raped.
- 1998 – India carries out two nuclear weapon tests at Pokhran, following the three conducted on May 11. The United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on India.
- 2005 – Andijan uprising, Uzbekistan; Troops open fire on crowds of protestors after a prison break; at least 187 people were killed according to official estimates.
- 2006 – São Paulo violence: Rebellions occur in several prisons in Brazil.
- 2011 – Two bombs explode in the Charsadda District of Pakistan killing 98 people and wounding 140 others.
- 2012 – Forty-nine dismembered bodies are discovered by Mexican authorities on Mexican Federal Highway 40.
- 2013 – American physician Kermit Gosnell is found guilty in Pennsylvania of murdering three infants born alive during attempted abortions, involuntary manslaughter of a woman during an abortion procedure, and other charges.
- 2014 – An explosion at an underground coal mine in southwest Turkey kills 301 miners.
Births on May 13
- 1024 – Hugh of Cluny, French abbot and saint (d. 1109)
- 1179 – Theobald III, Count of Champagne (d. 1201)
- 1221 – Alexander Nevsky, Russian prince and saint (d. 1263)
- 1254 – Marie of Brabant, Queen of France (d. 1321)
- 1453 – Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran, Scottish princess (d. 1488)
- 1588 – Ole Worm, Danish physician and historian (d. 1654)
- 1597 – Cornelis Schut, Flemish painter, draughtsman and engraver (d. 1655)
- 1638 – Richard Simon, French priest and scholar (d. 1712)
- 1699 – Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, Portuguese politician, Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1782)
- 1712 – Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, Danish politician and diplomat (d. 1772)
- 1713 – Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (d. 1765)
- 1717 – Maria Theresa, Archduchess, Queen, and Empress; Austrian wife of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1780)
- 1730 – Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1782)
- 1735 – Horace Coignet, French violinist and composer (d. 1821)
- 1742 – Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (d. 1798)
- 1753 – Lazare Carnot, French general, mathematician, and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 1823)
- 1792 – Pope Pius IX (d. 1878)
- 1794 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (d. 1835)
- 1795 – Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist and chronologist (d. 1875)
- 1811 – Juan Bautista Ceballos, President of Mexico (1853) (b. 1859)
- 1822 – Francis, Duke of Cádiz (d. 1902)
- 1830 – Zebulon Baird Vance, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of North Carolina (d. 1894)
- 1832 – Juris Alunāns, Latvian philologist and author (d. 1864)
- 1840 – Alphonse Daudet, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1897)
- 1842 – Arthur Sullivan, English composer (d. 1900)
- 1853 – Vaiben Louis Solomon, Australian politician, 21st Premier of South Australia (d. 1908)
- 1856 – Tom O’Rourke, American boxer and manager (d. 1938)
- 1857 – Ronald Ross, Indian-English physician and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
- 1868 – Sumner Paine, American target shooter (d. 1904)
- 1869 – Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Turkish writer (d. 1944)
- 1877 – Robert Hamilton, Scottish international footballer (d. 1948)
- 1881 – Lima Barreto, Brazilian journalist and author (d. 1922)
- 1881 – Joe Forshaw, American runner (d. 1964)
- 1882 – Georges Braque, French painter and sculptor (d. 1963)
- 1883 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek-American pathologist, invented the pap smear (d. 1962)
- 1884 – Oskar Rosenfeld, Jewish-Austrian writer and Holocaust victim (d.1944)
- 1885 – Mikiel Gonzi, Maltese archbishop (d. 1984)
- 1887 – Lorna Hodgkinson, Australian educator and educational psychologist (d. 1951)
- 1888 – Inge Lehmann, Danish seismologist and geophysicist (d. 1993)
- 1894 – Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, Icelandic politician, 2nd President of Iceland (d. 1972)
- 1895 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-American psychologist, parapsychologist, and author (d. 1964)
- 1901 – Murilo Mendes, Brazilian poet and telegrapher (d. 1975)
- 1904 – Louis Duffus, Australian-South African cricketer and journalist (d. 1984)
- 1905 – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th President of India (d. 1977)
- 1907 – Daphne du Maurier, English novelist and playwright (d. 1989)
- 1908 – Eugen Kapp, Estonian composer and educator (d. 1996)
- 1909 – Ken Darby, American composer and conductor (d. 1992)
- 1911 – Robert Middleton, American actor (d. 1977)
- 1911 – Maxine Sullivan, American singer and actress (d. 1987)
- 1912 – Gil Evans, Canadian-American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1988)
- 1912 – Judah Nadich, American colonel and rabbi (d. 2007)
- 1913 – Robert Dorning, English actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1989)
- 1913 – Theo Helfrich, German racing driver (d. 1978)
- 1913 – William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician, 20th President of Liberia (d. 1980)
- 1914 – Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
- 1914 – Johnnie Wright, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
- 1914 – Antonia Ferrín Moreiras, Spanish mathematician, academic, and astronomer (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Sachidananda Routray, Indian Oriya-language poet (d. 2004)
- 1918 – Balasaraswati, Indian dancer and instructor (d. 1984)
- 1918 – Gwyn Howells, Australian public servant (d. 1997)
- 1920 – Gareth Morris, English flute player (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Michael Ainsworth, English cricketer (d. 1978)
- 1922 – Otl Aicher, German graphic designer and typographer (d. 1991)
- 1922 – Bea Arthur, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
- 1923 – Ruth Adler Schnee, German-American textile designer and interior designer
- 1924 – Theodore Mann, American director and producer (d. 2012)
- 1924 – Harry Schwarz, South African anti-apartheid leader, lawyer, and Ambassador (d. 2010)
- 1927 – Archie Scott Brown, Scottish race car driver (d. 1958)
- 1927 – Fred Hellerman, American folk singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2016)
- 1927 – Herbert Ross, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2001)
- 1928 – Enrique Bolaños, Nicaraguan politician, President of Nicaragua
- 1928 – Édouard Molinaro, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1929 – John Galvin, American general (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Mike Gravel, American lieutenant and politician
- 1930 – José Jiménez Lozano, Spanish journalist and author
- 1930 – Vernon Shaw, Dominican politician, 5th President of Dominica (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Jim Jones, American cult leader, founder of the Peoples Temple (d. 1978)
- 1931 – Sydney Lipworth, South African-English lawyer, businessman, and philanthropist
- 1933 – John Roseboro, American baseball player and coach (d. 2002)
- 1934 – Ehud Netzer, Israeli archaeologist, architect, and academic (d. 2010)
- 1934 – Leon Wagner, American baseball player and actor (d. 2004)
- 1935 – Dominic Cossa, American opera singer
- 1935 – Jan Saudek, Czech photographer and painter
- 1935 – Kája Saudek, Czech author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1936 – Bill Rompkey, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2017)
- 1937 – Trevor Baylis, English inventor, invented the wind-up radio (d. 2018)
- 1937 – Roch Carrier, Canadian librarian and author
- 1937 – Zohra Lampert, American actress
- 1937 – Beverley Owen, American actress (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Roger Zelazny, American author and poet (d. 1995)
- 1938 – Giuliano Amato, Italian academic and politician, 48th Prime Minister of Italy
- 1938 – Laurent Beaudoin, Canadian businessman
- 1938 – Anna Cropper, British actress (d. 2007)
- 1938 – Francine Pascal, American author and playwright
- 1938 – Buck Taylor, American actor
- 1939 – Hildrun Claus, German long jumper
- 1939 – Peter Frenkel, German race walker and coach
- 1939 – Harvey Keitel, American actor
- 1940 – Bruce Chatwin, English author (d. 1989)
- 1940 – Kōkichi Tsuburaya, Japanese runner (d. 1968)
- 1941 – Senta Berger, Austrian actress
- 1941 – Joe Brown, English singer and musician
- 1941 – Jody Conradt, American basketball player and coach
- 1941 – Ritchie Valens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1959)
- 1942 – Leighton Gage, American author (d. 2013)
- 1942 – Roger Young, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1943 – Anthony Clarke, Baron Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, English lawyer and judge
- 1943 – Kurt Trampedach, Danish painter and sculptor (d. 2013)
- 1943 – Mary Wells, American singer-songwriter (d. 1992)
- 1944 – Sir Crispin Agnew, 11th Baronet, Scottish explorer, lawyer, and judge
- 1944 – Robert L. Crawford Jr., American actor
- 1944 – Carolyn Franklin, American R&B singer-songwriter (d. 1988)
- 1944 – Armistead Maupin, American author, screenwriter, and actor
- 1945 – Lasse Berghagen, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1945 – Magic Dick, American blues-rock harmonica, trumpet, and saxophone player
- 1945 – Lou Marini, American saxophonist and composer
- 1946 – Tim Pigott-Smith, English actor and author (d. 2017)
- 1946 – Jean Rondeau, French race car driver and constructor (d. 1985)
- 1946 – Marv Wolfman, American author
- 1947 – Charles Baxter, American novelist, essayist, and poet
- 1947 – Edgar Burcksen, Dutch-American film editor
- 1948 – Sheila Jeffreys, English-Australian political scientist, author, and academic
- 1948 – Dean Meminger, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1949 – Jane Glover, English conductor and scholar
- 1949 – Zoë Wanamaker, American-British actress
- 1949 – Philip Kruse, Norwegian trumpeter and orchestra leader
- 1950 – Andy Cunningham, English actor (d. 2011)
- 1950 – Danny Kirwan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
- 1950 – Joe Johnston, American film director and effects artist
- 1950 – Manning Marable, American author and academic (d. 2011)
- 1950 – Bobby Valentine, American baseball player and manager
- 1950 – Stevie Wonder, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1951 – Rosie Boycott, English journalist and author
- 1951 – Sharon Sayles Belton, American politician, 45th Mayor of Minneapolis
- 1951 – Anand Modak, Indian composer and director (d. 2014)
- 1951 – Herman Philipse, Dutch philosopher and academic
- 1951 – Selina Scott, English journalist, producer, and author
- 1951 – Paul Thompson, English drummer
- 1952 – John Kasich, American politician, 69th Governor of Ohio
- 1952 – Mary Walsh, Canadian actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1952 – Londa Schiebinger, American academic and author
- 1953 – Zlatko Burić, Croat-Danish actor
- 1953 – Gerry Sutcliffe, English politician, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
- 1953 – David Voelker, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
- 1953 – Harm Wiersma, Dutch draughts player and politician
- 1953 – Ruth A. David, American electrical engineer
- 1954 – Johnny Logan, Australian-Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1956 – Richard Madeley, English journalist and author
- 1956 – Fred Melamed, American actor
- 1956 – Kailash Vijayvargiya, National General Secretary of Bhartiya Janta Party
- 1957 – Alan Ball, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1957 – Frances Barber, English actress
- 1957 – Mark Heap, English actor
- 1957 – David Hill, English organist and conductor
- 1957 – Mar Roxas, Filipino economist and politician, 24th Filipino Secretary of the Interior
- 1957 – Koji Suzuki, Japanese author and screenwriter
- 1958 – Anthony Ray Parker, American actor
- 1961 – Siobhan Fallon Hogan, American actress
- 1961 – Dennis Rodman, American basketball player, wrestler, and actor
- 1962 – Paul Burstow, English politician
- 1962 – Nick Hurd, English businessman and politician, Minister for Civil Society
- 1963 – Andrea Leadsom, English politician
- 1963 – Wally Masur, Australian tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1964 – Stephen Colbert, American comedian and talk show host
- 1964 – Chris Maitland, English drummer
- 1964 – Tom Verica, American actor, television director, and producer
- 1965 – José Antonio Delgado, Venezuelan mountaineer (d. 2006)
- 1965 – Tasmin Little, English violinist and educator
- 1965 – János Marozsán, Hungarian footballer
- 1965 – Hikari Ōta, Japanese comedian and actor
- 1965 – José Rijo, Dominican baseball player
- 1965 – Lari White, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (d. 2018)
- 1966 – Alison Goldfrapp, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1966 – Darius Rucker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1967 – Tish Cyrus, American actress and film producer
- 1967 – Shon Greenblatt, American actor
- 1967 – Tommy Gunn, pornographic actor
- 1967 – Chuck Schuldiner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001)
- 1967 – Melanie Thornton, American-German singer (d. 2001)
- 1968 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, Spanish politician (d. 1997)
- 1968 – Susan Floyd, American actress
- 1968 – Scott Morrison, Australian politician, 30th Prime Minister of Australia
- 1968 – PMD, American rapper
- 1968 – Dmitriy Shevchenko, Russian discus thrower and coach
- 1969 – Buckethead, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1969 – Nikos Aliagas, French-Greek journalist and television host
- 1970 – Doug Evans, American football player
- 1970 – Robert Maćkowiak, Polish sprinter
- 1971 – Imogen Boorman, English actress and martial artist
- 1971 – Rob Fredrickson, American football player
- 1971 – Espen Lind, Norwegian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1971 – Tom Nalen, American football player and sportscaster
- 1972 – Stefaan Maene, Belgian swimmer
- 1972 – Darryl Sydor, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1972 – Pieta van Dishoeck, Dutch rower
- 1973 – Eric Lewis, American pianist
- 1973 – Bridgett Riley, American boxer and stuntwoman
- 1975 – Jamie Allison, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Cristian Bezzi, Italian rugby player and coach
- 1975 – Brian Geraghty, American actor
- 1976 – Mark Delaney, Welsh footballer and manager
- 1976 – Trajan Langdon, American basketball player and scout
- 1976 – Ana Popović, Serbian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1976 – Magdalena Walach, Polish actress
- 1977 – Ilse DeLange, Dutch singer-songwriter
- 1977 – Anthony Q. Farrell, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter
- 1977 – Robby Hammock, American baseball player and coach
- 1977 – Neil Hopkins, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1977 – James Middlebrook, English cricketer
- 1977 – Samantha Morton, English actress and director
- 1977 – Brian Thomas Smith, American actor and producer
- 1977 – Pusha T, American rapper
- 1978 – Brooke Anderson, American journalist
- 1978 – Mike Bibby, American basketball player and coach
- 1978 – Ryan Bukvich, American baseball player
- 1978 – Germán Magariños, Argentinian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1978 – Dilshan Vitharana, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1978 – Barry Zito, American baseball player
- 1978 – Nuwan Zoysa, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1979 – Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland
- 1979 – Steve Mildenhall, English footballer
- 1979 – Vyacheslav Shevchuk, Ukrainian footballer
- 1980 – L. J. Smith, American football player
- 1981 – Luciana Berger, English politician
- 1981 – Nicolas Jeanjean, French rugby player
- 1981 – Sunny Leone, Canadian American actress, model, and pornstar
- 1981 – Michael Mantenuto, American actor (d. 2017)
- 1981 – Shaun Phillips, American football player
- 1981 – Ryan Piers Williams, American actor and film director
- 1982 – Albert Crusat, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Larry Fonacier, Filipino basketball player
- 1982 – Oguchi Onyewu, American soccer player
- 1983 – Natalie Cassidy, English actress and singer
- 1983 – Anita Görbicz, Hungarian handball player
- 1983 – Johnny Hoogerland, Dutch cyclist
- 1983 – Grégory Lemarchal, French singer (d. 2007)
- 1983 – Jacob Reynolds, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1983 – Yaya Touré, Ivorian footballer
- 1984 – J. B. Cox, American baseball player
- 1984 – Benny Dayal, Indian singer
- 1984 – Dawn Harper, American hurdler
- 1984 – Caroline Rotich, Kenyan runner
- 1985 – Javier Balboa, Spanish-Equatoguinean footballer
- 1985 – Jaroslav Halák, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1985 – David Hernandez, American baseball player
- 1985 – Carolina Luján, Argentine chess player
- 1985 – Iwan Rheon, Welsh actor and singer
- 1985 – Travis Zajac, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Lena Dunham, American actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1986 – Eun-Hee Ji, South Korean golfer
- 1986 – Robert Pattinson, English actor
- 1986 – Alexander Rybak, Belarusian-Norwegian singer-songwriter, violinist, and actor
- 1986 – Scott Sutter, English footballer
- 1986 – Nino Schurter, Swiss cyclist
- 1986 – Kris Versteeg, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Antonio Adán, Spanish footballer
- 1987 – Hugo Becker, French actor
- 1987 – Matt Doyle, American actor and singer
- 1987 – Laura Izibor, Irish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1987 – Candice King, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1987 – Sandro Mareco, Argentine chess player
- 1987 – Hunter Parrish, American actor and singer
- 1987 – Marianne Vos, Dutch cyclist
- 1987 – Charlotte Wessels, Dutch singer-songwriter
- 1987 – Bobby Shuttleworth, American soccer player
- 1988 – Paulo Avelino, Filipino actor and singer
- 1988 – Didier Cohen, Australian DJ, producer and media personality
- 1988 – Casey Donovan, Australian singer-songwriter
- 1989 – P. K. Subban, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Mychal Givens, American baseball player
- 1991 – Jennifer Beattie, Scottish footballer
- 1991 – Anders Fannemel, Norwegian ski jumper
- 1992 – Bill Arnold, American ice hockey player
- 1992 – Willson Contreras, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1992 – Josh Papalii, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Georgina García Pérez, Spanish tennis player
- 1993 – Stefan Kraft, Austrian ski jumper
- 1993 – Debby Ryan, American actress and singer
- 1993 – Romelu Lukaku, Belgian footballer
- 1993 – Siim-Tanel Sammelselg, Estonian ski jumper
- 1993 – Tones and I, Australian singer-songwriter
- 1994 – Łukasz Moneta, Polish footballer
- 1997 – Reimis Smith, Australian rugby league player
Deaths on May 13
- 189 – Emperor Ling of Han, Chinese emperor (b. 156)
- 1112 – Ulric II, Margrave of Carniola
- 1176 – Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1119)
- 1285 – Robert de Ros, 1st Baron de Ros
- 1312 – Theobald II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1263)
- 1573 – Takeda Shingen, Japanese daimyō (b. 1521)
- 1619 – Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch politician (b. 1547)
- 1704 – Louis Bourdaloue, French preacher and author (b. 1632)
- 1726 – Francesco Antonio Pistocchi, Italian singer (b. 1659)
- 1782 – Daniel Solander, Swedish-English botanist and phycologist (b. 1736)
- 1807 – Eliphalet Dyer, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1721)
- 1809 – Beilby Porteus, English bishop (b. 1731)
- 1832 – Georges Cuvier, French zoologist and academic (b. 1769)
- 1835 – John Nash, English architect, designed the Royal Pavilion (b. 1752)
- 1866 – Nikolai Brashman, Czech-Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1796)
- 1878 – Joseph Henry, American physicist and academic (b. 1797)
- 1884 – Cyrus McCormick, American businessman, co-founded the International Harvester Company (b. 1809)
- 1885 – Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician, pathologist, and anatomist (b. 1809)
- 1903 – Apolinario Mabini, Filipino lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Philippines (b. 1864)
- 1916 – Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright (b. 1859)
- 1921 – Jean Aicard, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1848)
- 1926 – Libert H. Boeynaems, Belgian-American bishop (b. 1857)
- 1929 – Arthur Scherbius, German electrical engineer, invented the Enigma machine (b. 1878)
- 1930 – Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian scientist, explorer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- 1938 – Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- 1941 – Frederick Christian, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- 1941 – Ōnishiki Uichirō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 26th Yokozuna (b. 1891)
- 1945 – Tubby Hall, American drummer (b. 1895)
- 1946 – Zara DuPont, American suffragist (b. 1869)
- 1947 – Sukanta Bhattacharya, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1926)
- 1948 – Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington (b. 1920)
- 1957 – Michael Fekete, Hungarian-Israeli mathematician and academic (b. 1886)
- 1961 – Gary Cooper, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1962 – Henry Trendley Dean, American dentist (b. 1893)
- 1962 – Franz Kline, American painter and academic (b. 1910)
- 1963 – Alois Hudal, Austrian-Italian bishop (b. 1885)
- 1972 – Dan Blocker, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1974 – Jaime Torres Bodet, Mexican poet and diplomat (b. 1902)
- 1974 – Arthur J. Burks, American colonel and author (b. 1898)
- 1975 – Bob Wills, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1905)
- 1977 – Mickey Spillane, American mobster (b. 1934)
- 1985 – Leatrice Joy, American actress (b. 1893)
- 1985 – Richard Ellmann, American literary critic and biographer (b. 1918)
- 1988 – Chet Baker, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1929)
- 1992 – F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor (b. 1909)
- 1994 – Duncan Hamilton, Irish-English race car driver (b. 1920)
- 1994 – John Swainson, Canadian-American jurist and politician, 42nd Governor of Michigan (b. 1925)
- 1995 – Hao Wang, Chinese-American logician, philosopher, and mathematician (b. 1921)
- 1999 – Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, Saudi Arabian scholar and academic (b. 1910)
- 1999 – Gene Sarazen, American golfer and journalist (b. 1902)
- 2000 – Paul Bartel, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
- 2000 – Jumbo Tsuruta, Japanese wrestler (b. 1951)
- 2001 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (b. 1939)
- 2002 – Ruth Cracknell, Australian actress and author (b. 1925)
- 2002 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
- 2005 – Eddie Barclay, French record producer, founded Barclay Records (b. 1921)
- 2005 – George Dantzig, American mathematician and academic (b. 1914)
- 2006 – Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian and scholar (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American singer (b. 1949)
- 2008 – Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Ron Stone, American journalist and author (b. 1936)
- 2009 – Frank Aletter, American actor (b. 1926)
- 2009 – Meir Brandsdorfer, Belgian rabbi (b. 1934)
- 2009 – Achille Compagnoni, Italian skier and mountaineer (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Derek Boogaard, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1982)
- 2011 – Stephen De Staebler, American sculptor and educator (b. 1933)
- 2011 – Wallace McCain, Canadian businessman, co-founded McCain Foods (b. 1930)
- 2011 – Bruce Ricker, American director and producer (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Arsala Rahmani Daulat, Afghan politician (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Donald “Duck” Dunn, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Cuban-American theologian, author, and academic (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Lee Richardson, English speedway rider (b. 1979)
- 2012 – Don Ritchie, Australian humanitarian (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Nguyễn Văn Thiện, Vietnamese bishop (b. 1906)
- 2013 – Joyce Brothers, American psychologist, author, and actress (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Otto Herrigel, Namibian lawyer and politician (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Jagdish Mali, Indian photographer (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Chuck Muncie, American football player (b. 1953)
- 2013 – Fyodor Tuvin, Russian footballer (b. 1973)
- 2013 – Lynne Woolstencroft, Canadian politician (b. 1943)
- 2014 – David Malet Armstrong, Australian philosopher and author (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Malik Bendjelloul, Swedish director and producer (b. 1977)
- 2014 – J. F. Coleman, American soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Ron Stevens, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, American occultist and author (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Earl Averill, Jr., American baseball player (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Robert Drasnin, American clarinet player and composer (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Nina Otkalenko, Russian runner (b. 1928)
- 2015 – David Sackett, American-Canadian physician and academic (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Gainan Saidkhuzhin, Russian cyclist (b. 1937)
- 2018 – Margot Kidder, Canadian-American actress (b. 1948)
- 2019 – Doris Day, American singer and actress (b. 1922)
- 2019 – Unita Blackwell, American civil rights activist, and politician (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances on May 13
- Abbotsbury Garland Day (Dorset, England)
- Christian feast day:
- Our Lady of Fátima
- Gerard of Villamagna
- Glyceria
- John the Silent (Roman Catholic)
- Julian of Norwich (Roman Catholic)
- Frances Perkins (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Servatius
- May 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Rotuma Day (Rotuma)
-
May 9 in History
- 1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
- 1271 – Ninth Crusade, Edward I of England disembarks at Acre.
- 1386 – England and Portugal formally ratify their alliance with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, making it the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force.
- 1450 – ‘Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) is assassinated.
- 1540 – Hernando de Alarcón sets sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California.
- 1662 – The figure who later became Mr. Punch makes his first recorded appearance in England.
- 1671 – Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England’s Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
- 1726 – Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap’s molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.
- 1763 – The Siege of Fort Detroit begins during Pontiac’s War against British forces.
- 1864 – Second Schleswig War: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest surrenders his forces at Gainesville, Alabama.
- 1865 – American Civil War: President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.
- 1873 – Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds the Long Depression.
- 1874 – The first horsebus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, traveling two routes.
- 1877 – Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.
- 1877 – A magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Peru kills 2,541, including some as far away as Hawaii and Japan.
- 1887 – Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show opens in London.
- 1901 – Australia opens its first national parliament in Melbourne.
- 1904 – The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100 mph (160 km/h).
- 1911 – The works of Gabriele D’Annunzio are placed in the Index of Forbidden Books by the Vatican.
- 1915 – World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
- 1918 – World War I: Germany repels Britain’s second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium.
- 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk.
- 1926 – Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd’s diary appears to cast some doubt on the claim.)
- 1927 – Old Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.
- 1936 – Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
- 1940 – World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks the French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.
- 1941 – World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.
- 1942 – Holocaust: The SS executes 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported.
- 1945 – World War II: The final German Instrument of Surrender is signed at the Soviet headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst.
- 1945 – World War II: The German occupation of the Channel Islands comes to an end.
- 1946 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Umberto II.
- 1948 – Czechoslovakia’s Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect.
- 1949 – Rainier III becomes Prince of Monaco.
- 1950 – Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, which according to him was indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the “Schuman Declaration”, is considered by some people to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
- 1955 – Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
- 1958 – Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo has world premiere in San Francisco.
- 1960 – The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle’s Enovid, making Enovid the world’s first approved oral contraceptive pill.
- 1961 – FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow gives his Wasteland Speech.
- 1964 – Ngô Đình Cẩn, de facto ruler of central Vietnam under his brother President Ngô Đình Diệm before the family’s toppling, is executed.
- 1969 – Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks.
- 1970 – Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.
- 1974 – Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
- 1977 – Hotel Polen fire: A disastrous fire burns down the Hotel Polen in Amsterdam causing 33 deaths and 21 severe injuries.
- 1979 – Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran.
- 1980 – In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.
- 1980 – In Norco, California, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.
- 1987 – LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
- 1988 – New Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.
- 1992 – Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
- 1992 – Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada.
- 1994 – Disappearance of Cleashindra Hall in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
- 2001 – In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of tear gas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee.
- 2002 – The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected terrorists among them deported to several different countries.
- 2012 – A Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft crashes into Mount Salak in West Java, Indonesia, killing 45 people.
- 2015 – An Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft crashes near the Spanish city of Seville with three people on board killed.
- 2015 – Russia stages its biggest ever military parade in Moscow’s Red Square to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory Day.
- 2018 – The historic defeat for Barisan Nasional, the governing coalition of Malaysia since the country’s independence in 1957 in 2018 Malaysian general election.
- 2018 – At the height of the 2018 East Africa floods, the Patel dam breaks in Solai, Kenya, killing 48 people and displacing another 2000.
Births on May 9
- 1147 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shōgun (d. 1199)
- 1170 – Valdemar II of Denmark (d. 1241)
- 1540 – Maharana Pratap, Indian ruler (d. 1597)
- 1555 – Jerónima de la Asunción, Spanish Catholic nun and founder of the first monastery in Manila (d. 1630)
- 1594 – Louis Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg, military leader in the Thirty Years’ War (d. 1662)
- 1617 – Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege (d. 1655)
- 1740 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (probable; d. 1816)
- 1746 – Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (d. 1818)
- 1763 – János Batsányi, Hungarian-Austrian poet and author (d. 1845)
- 1800 – John Brown, American activist (d. 1859)
- 1801 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded the town of Fleetwood (d. 1866)
- 1814 – John Brougham, Irish-American actor and playwright (d. 1880)
- 1823 – Frederick Weld, English-New Zealand politician, 6th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)
- 1824 – Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, Polish apologist and author (d. 1896)
- 1825 – James Collinson, Victorian painter (d. 1881)
- 1836 – Ferdinand Monoyer, French ophthalmologist, invented the Monoyer chart (d. 1912)
- 1837 – Adam Opel, German engineer, founded the Opel Company (d. 1895)
- 1845 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman (d. 1913)
- 1850 – Edward Weston, English-American chemist (d. 1936)
- 1855 – Julius Röntgen, German-Dutch composer (d. 1932)
- 1860 – J. M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (d. 1937)
- 1866 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian economist and politician (d. 1915)
- 1870 – Harry Vardon, British golfer (d. 1937)
- 1873 – Anton Cermak, Czech-American captain and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1933)
- 1874 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (d. 1939)
- 1882 – George Barker, American painter (d. 1965)
- 1882 – Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder and businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards (d. 1967)
- 1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher, author, and critic (d. 1955)
- 1884 – Valdemar Psilander, Danish actor (d. 1917)
- 1885 – Gianni Vella, Maltese artist (d. 1977)
- 1888 – Francesco Baracca, Italian fighter pilot (d. 1918)
- 1888 – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector (d. 1964)
- 1892 – Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1989)
- 1893 – William Moulton Marston, American psychologist and author (d. 1947)
- 1895 – Richard Barthelmess, American actor (d. 1963)
- 1895 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1961)
- 1895 – Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (d. 1989)
- 1896 – Richard Day, Canadian-American art director and set decorator (d. 1972)
- 1900 – Maria Malicka, Polish stage and film actress (d. 1992)
- 1904 – Conrad Bernier, Canadian-American organist, composer, and educator (d. 1988)
- 1905 – Lilí Álvarez, Spanish tennis player, author, and feminist (d. 1998)
- 1906 – Eleanor Estes, American librarian, author, and illustrator (d. 1988)
- 1907 – Jackie Grant, Trinidadian cricketer (d. 1978)
- 1907 – Kathryn Kuhlman, American evangelist and author (d. 1976)
- 1907 – Baldur von Schirach, German politician (d. 1974)
- 1909 – Don Messer, Canadian violinist (d. 1973)
- 1909 – Gordon Bunshaft, American architect, designed the Solow Building (d. 1990)
- 1911 – Harry Simeone, American music arranger, conductor, and composer (d. 2005)
- 1912 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican-American actor (d. 1963)
- 1912 – Per Imerslund, Norwegian-German soldier and author (d. 1943)
- 1912 – Géza Ottlik, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (d. 1990)
- 1914 – Patricia Swift Blalock, American librarian (d.2011)
- 1914 – Denham Fouts, American prostitute (d. 1948)
- 1914 – Thanat Khoman, Thai politician and diplomat (d. 2016)
- 1914 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor and director (d. 2005)
- 1914 – Hank Snow, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
- 1916 – William Pène du Bois, American author and illustrator (d. 1993)
- 1917 – Fay Kanin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Moisis Michail Bourlas, Greek soldier and educator (d. 2011)
- 1918 – Orville Freeman, American soldier and politician, 16th United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 2003)
- 1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist, media personality and one-time game show host (d. 2012)
- 1919 – Clifford Chadderton, Canadian soldier and journalist (d. 2013)
- 1920 – William Tenn, English-American author and academic (d. 2010)
- 1920 – Richard Adams, English novelist (d. 2016)
- 1921 – Daniel Berrigan, American priest, poet, and activist (d. 2016)
- 1921 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (d. 1943)
- 1921 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet and academic (d. 2004)
- 1923 – Johnny Grant, American radio host and producer (d. 2008)
- 1924 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer, poet, and author (d. 1997)
- 1926 – John Middleton Murry, Jr., English soldier, pilot, and author (d. 2002)
- 1927 – Manfred Eigen, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
- 1928 – Ralph Goings, American painter (d. 2016)
- 1928 – Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (d. 1995)
- 1928 – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Joan Sims, English actress (d. 2001)
- 1930 – Kalifa Tillisi, Libyan historian and linguist (d. 2010)
- 1931 – Vance D. Brand, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut
- 1932 – Conrad Hunte, Barbadian cricketer (d. 1999)
- 1934 – Alan Bennett, English screenwriter, playwright, and novelist
- 1935 – Nokie Edwards, American guitarist (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Roger Hargreaves, English author and illustrator (d. 1988)
- 1936 – Terry Downes, British boxer and former world middle-weight champion (d. 2017)
- 1936 – Albert Finney, English actor (d. 2019)
- 1936 – Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
- 1937 – Sonny Curtis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1937 – Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect, designed the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and Valladolid Science Museum
- 1937 – Dave Prater, American singer (d. 1988)
- 1938 – Charles Simić, Serbian-American poet and editor
- 1939 – Ralph Boston, American long jumper
- 1939 – Ion Țiriac, Romanian tennis player and manager
- 1939 – Ken Warby, Australian motorboat racer
- 1939 – Giorgio Zancanaro, Italian baritone
- 1939 – John Ogbu, Nigerian-American anthropologist and professor (d. 2003)
- 1940 – James L. Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1941 – Dorothy Hyman, English sprinter
- 1941 – Danny Rapp, American musician (d. 1983)
- 1942 – John Ashcroft, American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General
- 1942 – Tommy Roe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Vince Cable, English economist and politician, former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
- 1943 – Anders Isaksson, Swedish historian and journalist (d. 2009)
- 1943 – Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Richie Furay, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1945 – Gamal El-Ghitani, Egyptian journalist and author (d. 2015)
- 1945 – Jupp Heynckes, German footballer and manager
- 1945 – Steve Katz, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1946 – Candice Bergen, American actress and producer
- 1946 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (d. 2002)
- 1947 – Yukiya Amano, Japanese diplomat (d. 2019)
- 1948 – Hans Georg Bock, German mathematician, computer scientist, and academic
- 1948 – John Mahaffey, American golfer
- 1948 – Steven W. Mosher, American social scientist and author
- 1948 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player and radio host
- 1949 – Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1949 – Richard S. Williamson, American lawyer and diplomat, 17th Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (d. 2013)
- 1951 – Alley Mills, American actress
- 1953 – Bruno Brokken, Belgian high jumper
- 1955 – Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (d. 2012)
- 1955 – Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish soprano and actress
- 1956 – Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress and producer
- 1956 – Jana Wendt, Australian television host
- 1958 – Graham Smith, Canadian swimmer
- 1959 – Andrew Jones, New Zealand cricketer
- 1960 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1961 – Sean Altman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1961 – John Corbett, American actor
- 1962 – Dave Gahan, English singer-songwriter
- 1962 – Paul Heaton, English singer-songwriter
- 1963 – Joe Cirella, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1965 – Ken Nomura, Japanese race car driver and sportscaster
- 1965 – Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1966 – Mark Tinordi, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1968 – Masahiko Harada, Japanese ski jumper
- 1968 – Graham Harman, American philosopher and academic
- 1968 – Ruth Kelly, British economist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
- 1968 – Marie-José Pérec, French sprinter
- 1968 – Neil Ruddock, English international footballer and television personality
- 1970 – Doug Christie, American basketball player
- 1970 – Hao Haidong, Chinese footballer & all time top scorer for Chinese national team
- 1970 – Ghostface Killah, American rapper and actor
- 1971 – Jason Lee, English footballer and manager
- 1971 – Dan Chiasson, American poet and critic
- 1972 – Megumi Odaka, Japanese actress and singer
- 1973 – Tegla Loroupe, Kenyan runner
- 1973 – Leonard Myles-Mills, Ghanaian sprinter
- 1975 – Tamia, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1975 – Brian Deegan, American motocross rider
- 1977 – Averno, Mexican wrestler
- 1977 – Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer
- 1977 – Svein Tuft, Canadian cyclist
- 1978 – Leandro Cufré, Argentinian footballer
- 1978 – Santiago Dellapè, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
- 1978 – Aaron Harang, American baseball player
- 1978 – Marwan al-Shehhi, Emirati terrorist (d. 2001)
- 1979 – Pierre Bouvier, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1979 – Rosario Dawson, American actress
- 1979 – Andrew W.K., American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, motivational speaker, and music producer
- 1980 – Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
- 1980 – Angela Nikodinov, American figure skater
- 1980 – Tony Schmidt, German race car driver
- 1980 – Jo Hyun-jae, South Korean actor
- 1981 – Bill Murphy, American baseball player
- 1981 – Evangelos Tsiolis, Greek footballer
- 1983 – Giacomo Brichetto, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Alan Campbell, British sculler
- 1983 – Christos Marangos, Cypriot footballer
- 1983 – Ryuhei Matsuda, Japanese actor
- 1983 – Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
- 1983 – Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player
- 1983 – Leandro Rinaudo, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Prince Fielder, American baseball player
- 1984 – Chase Headley, American baseball player
- 1985 – Jake Long, American football player
- 1985 – Henrique Andrade Silva, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – Scott Bolton, Australian rugby league player
- 1987 – Kevin Gameiro, French footballer
- 1987 – Vitaliy Pushkar, Ukrainian race car driver
- 1988 – J. R. Fitzpatrick, Canadian race car driver
- 1989 – Ellen White, English footballer
- 1991 – Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovar judoka
- 1992 – Dan Burn, English footballer
- 1996 – Saron Läänmäe, Estonian footballer
- 1996 – Grace Reid, Scottish diver
Deaths on May 9
- 729 – Osric, king of Northumbria
- 893 – Shi Pu, warlord of the Tang Dynasty
- 909 – Adalgar, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
- 934 – Wang Sitong, Chinese general and governor (b. 892)
- 1280 – Magnus VI of Norway
- 1315 – Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1282)
- 1329 – John Drokensford, Bishop of Bath and Wells
- 1443 – Niccolò Albergati, Italian Cardinal and diplomat (b. 1373)
- 1446 – Mary of Enghien (b. 1368)
- 1590 – Charles de Bourbon French cardinal and pretender to the throne (b. 1523)
- 1657 – William Bradford, English-American politician, 2nd Governor of Plymouth Colony (b. 1590)
- 1707 – Dieterich Buxtehude, German-Danish organist and composer (b. 1637)
- 1736 – Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Portuguese judge and politician (b. 1658)
- 1745 – Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1663)
- 1747 – John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish field marshal and diplomat, British Ambassador to France (b. 1673)
- 1760 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (b. 1700)
- 1789 – Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French general and engineer (b. 1715)
- 1790 – William Clingan, American politician (b. 1721)
- 1791 – Francis Hopkinson, American judge and politician (b. 1737)
- 1805 – Friedrich Schiller, German poet, playwright, and historian (b. 1759)
- 1850 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (b. 1778)
- 1850 – Garlieb Merkel, Estonian author and activist (b. 1769)
- 1861 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician (b. 1805)
- 1864 – John Sedgwick, American general and educator (b. 1813)
- 1889 – William S. Harney, American general (b. 1800)
- 1906 – Oscar von Gebhardt, German theologian and academic (b. 1844)
- 1914 – C. W. Post, American businessman, founded Post Foods (b. 1854)
- 1915 – François Faber, Luxembourgian-French cyclist and soldier (b. 1887)
- 1915 – Anthony Wilding, New Zealand tennis player and cricketer (b. 1883)
- 1918 – George Coșbuc, Romanian journalist and poet (b. 1866)
- 1931 – Albert Abraham Michelson, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- 1933 – John Arthur Jarvis, English swimmer (b. 1872)
- 1935 – Ernst Bresslau, German zoologist (b. 1877)
- 1938 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman (b. 1866)
- 1942 – Józef Cebula, Polish priest and saint (b. 1902)
- 1944 – Han Yong-un, Korean poet and social reformer (b. 1879)
- 1949 – Louis II, Prince of Monaco (b. 1870)
- 1950 – Esteban Terradas i Illa, Spanish mathematician and engineer (b. 1883)
- 1957 – Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan banker and businessman (b. 1887)
- 1957 – Ezio Pinza, Italian actor and singer (b. 1892)
- 1959 – Bhaurao Patil, Indian activist and educator (b. 1887)
- 1965 – Leopold Figl, Austrian engineer and politician, 18th Chancellor of Austria (b. 1902)
- 1968 – Mercedes de Acosta, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)
- 1968 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (b. 1894)
- 1968 – Marion Lorne, American actress (b. 1883)
- 1968 – Finlay Currie, British actor (b. 1878)
- 1970 – Walter Reuther, American union leader (b. 1907)
- 1976 – Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1920)
- 1976 – Ulrike Meinhof, German militant, co-founded the Red Army Faction (b. 1934)
- 1977 – James Jones, American novelist (b. 1921)
- 1978 – Giuseppe Impastato, Italian journalist and activist (b. 1948)
- 1978 – Aldo Moro, Italian lawyer and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916)
- 1979 – Cyrus S. Eaton, Canadian-American banker, businessman, and philanthropist (b. 1883)
- 1979 – Eddie Jefferson, American singer and lyricist (b. 1918)
- 1980 – Kate Molale, South African activist (b. 1928)
- 1981 – Nelson Algren, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1909)
- 1983 – Henry Bachtold, Australian soldier and railway engineer (b. 1891)
- 1985 – Edmond O’Brien, American actor and director (b. 1915)
- 1986 – Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese mountaineer (b. 1914)
- 1987 – Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
- 1993 – Penelope Gilliatt, English novelist, short story writer, and critic (b. 1932)
- 1994 – Elias Motsoaledi, South African activist (b. 1924)
- 1997 – Rawya Ateya, Egyptian captain and politician (b. 1926)
- 1997 – Marco Ferreri, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
- 1998 – Alice Faye, American actress and singer (b. 1915)
- 1998 – Talat Mahmood, Indian singer and actor (b. 1924)
- 2003 – Russell B. Long, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1918)
- 2004 – Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen cleric and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic (b. 1951)
- 2004 – Alan King, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Brenda Fassie, South African singer (b. 1964)
- 2007 – Dwight Wilson, Canadian soldier (b. 1901)
- 2008 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1929)
- 2008 – Baptiste Manzini, American football player (b. 1920)
- 2008 – Nuala O’Faolain, Irish journalist and producer (b. 1942)
- 2008 – Pascal Sevran, French singer, television host, and author (b. 1945)
- 2009 – Chuck Daly, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Lena Horne, American singer, actress, and activist (b. 1917)
- 2010 – Otakar Motejl, Czech lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
- 2011 – Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist (b. 1984)
- 2012 – Bertram Cohler, American psychologist, psychoanalyst, and academic (b. 1938)
- 2012 – Geoffrey Henry, Cook Islander lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Cook Islands (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Vidal Sassoon, English-American hairdresser and businessman (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Ramón Blanco Rodríguez, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1952)
- 2013 – George M. Leader, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Humberto Lugo Gil, Mexican lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Hidalgo (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Giacomo Bini, Italian priest and missionary (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy, Indian politician, 12th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Mary Stewart, English-Scottish author and poet (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Edward W. Estlow, American football player and journalist (b. 1920)
- 2015 – Kenan Evren, Turkish general and politician, 7th President of Turkey (b. 1917)
- 2015 – Elizabeth Wilson, American actress (b. 1921)
- 2017 – Robert Miles, a Swiss-born Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ (b. 1969)
- 2018 – Per Kirkeby, Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor (b. 1938)
- 2019 – Freddie Starr, English comedian, impressionist, singer and actor (1943)
- 2020 – Little Richard, American singer, songwriter, and pianist (b. 1932)
Holidays and observances on May 9
- Anniversary of Dianetics (Church of Scientology)
- Christian feast day:
- Beatus of Lungern
- Beatus of Vendome
- Christopher (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- George Preca
- Gerontius of Cervia
- Gregory of Nazianzen (The Episcopal Church (US) and traditional Roman Catholic calendar)
- Nicolaus Zinzendorf (Lutheran)
- Pachomius the Great
- Tudy of Landevennec
- May 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Commemoration of the end of the German occupation of the Channel Islands related observances:
- Liberation Day, commemorating the end of the German occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. (Guernsey and Jersey)
- National Day (Alderney)
- Europe Day, commemorating the Schuman Declaration. (European Union)
- Victory Day observances, celebration of the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany (Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan)
- Victory and Peace Day, marks the capture of Shusha (1992) in the Nagorno-Karabakh War, and the end of World War II. (Armenia)
- Victory Day over Nazism in World War II (Ukraine)
-
May 3 in History
- 752 – Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico assumes the throne.
- 1294 – John II becomes Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg.
- 1481 – The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties.
- 1491 – Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptized by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I.
- 1616 – Treaty of Loudun ends French civil war.
- 1715 – A total solar eclipse was visible across northern Europe, and northern Asia, as predicted by Edmond Halley to within 4 minutes accuracy.
- 1791 – The Constitution of May 3 (the first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Sejm of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- 1802 – Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city after Congress abolishes the Board of Commissioners, the District’s founding government. The “City of Washington” is given a mayor-council form of government.
- 1808 – Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia.
- 1808 – Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose up on May 2 are executed near Príncipe Pío hill.
- 1815 – Neapolitan War: Joachim Murat, King of Naples is defeated by the Austrians at the Battle of Tolentino, the decisive engagement of the war.
- 1830 – The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway is opened; it is the first steam-hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel.
- 1837 – The University of Athens is founded in Athens, Greece.
- 1848 – The boar-crested Anglo-Saxon Benty Grange helmet is discovered in a barrow on the Benty Grange farm in Derbyshire.
- 1849 – The May Uprising in Dresden begins: The last of the German revolutions of 1848–49.
- 1855 – American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.
- 1860 – Charles XV of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
- 1867 – The Hudson’s Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island.
- 1901 – The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, Florida.
- 1913 – Raja Harishchandra, the first full-length Indian feature film, is released, marking the beginning of the Indian film industry.
- 1920 – A Bolshevik coup fails in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
- 1921 – West Virginia becomes the first state to legislate a broad sales tax, but does not implement it until a number of years later due to enforcement issues.
- 1921 – The Government of Ireland Act 1920 is passed, dividing Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
- 1928 – The Jinan incident begins with the deaths of twelve Japanese civilians by Chinese forces in Jinan, China, which leads to Japanese retaliation and the deaths of over 2,000 Chinese civilians in the following days.
- 1939 – The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese naval troops invade Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands during the first part of Operation Mo that results in the Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese forces and forces from the United States and Australia.
- 1945 – World War II: Sinking of the prison ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay.
- 1947 – New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.
- 1948 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Shelley v. Kraemer that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities are legally unenforceable.
- 1951 – London’s Royal Festival Hall opens with the Festival of Britain.
- 1951 – The United States Senate Committee on Armed Services and United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations begin their closed door hearings into the relief of Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.
- 1952 – Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole.
- 1952 – The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time, on the CBS network.
- 1957 – Walter O’Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.
- 1960 – The Off-Broadway musical comedy The Fantasticks opens in New York City’s Greenwich Village, eventually becoming the longest-running musical of all time.
- 1960 – The Anne Frank House museum opens in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- 1963 – The police force in Birmingham, Alabama switches tactics and responds with violent force to stop the “Birmingham campaign” protesters. Images of the violent suppression are transmitted worldwide, bringing new-found attention to the civil rights movement.
- 1971 – Erich Honecker becomes First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, remaining in power until 1989
- 1973 – The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out at 1,451 feet as the world’s tallest building.
- 1978 – The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (which would later become known as “spam”) is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
- 1986 – Twenty-one people are killed and forty-one are injured after a bomb explodes on Air Lanka Flight 512 at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka.
- 1987 – A crash by Bobby Allison at the Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama fencing at the start-finish line would lead NASCAR to develop the restrictor plate for the following season both at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega.
- 1999 – The southwestern portion of Oklahoma City is devastated by an F5 tornado, killing forty-five people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado is one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. This tornado also produces the highest wind speed ever recorded, measured at 301 +/- 20 mph (484 +/- 32 km/h).
- 1999 – Infiltration of Pakistani soldiers on Indian side resulted into the kargil war.
- 2000 – The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.
- 2001 – The United States loses its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.
- 2002 – An Indian Air Force MiG-21 crashes into a bank in Jalandhar, killing eight and injuring 17.
- 2007 – The 3-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann disappears in Praia da Luz, Portugal, starting “the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history”.
- 2015 – Two gunmen launch an attempted attack on an anti-Islam event in Garland, Texas, which was held in response to the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
- 2016 – Eighty-eight thousand people were evacuated from their homes in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada as a wildfire ripped through the community, destroying approximately 2,400 homes and buildings.
Births on May 3
- 490 – K’an Joy Chitam I, ruler of Palenque (d. 565)
- 612 – Constantine III, Byzantine emperor (d. 641)
- 1238 – Emilia Bicchieri, Italian saint (d. 1314)
- 1276 – Louis, Count of Évreux, son of King Philip III of France (d. 1319)
- 1415 – Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (d. 1495)
- 1428 – Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal (d. 1495)
- 1446 – Margaret of York (d. 1503)
- 1461 – Raffaele Riario, Italian cardinal (d. 1521)
- 1469 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and philosopher (d. 1527)
- 1479 – Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1552)
- 1481 – Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez, Spanish abbess of the Franciscan Third Order Regular (d. 1534)
- 1536 – Stephan Praetorius, German theologian (d. 1603)
- 1632 – Catherine of St. Augustine, French-Canadian nurse and saint, founded the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec (d. 1668)
- 1662 – Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect, designed the Pillnitz Castle (d. 1736)
- 1678 – Amaro Pargo, Spanish corsair (d. 1747)
- 1695 – Henri Pitot, French physicist and engineer, invented the Pitot tube (d. 1771)
- 1729 – Florian Leopold Gassmann, Czech composer (d. 1774)
- 1761 – August von Kotzebue, German playwright and author (d. 1819)
- 1764 – Princess Élisabeth of France (d. 1794)
- 1768 – Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist and businessman (d. 1838)
- 1783 – José de la Riva Agüero, Peruvian soldier and politician, 1st President of Peru and 2nd President of North Peru (d. 1858)
- 1814 – Adams George Archibald, Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (d. 1892)
- 1826 – Charles XV of Sweden (d. 1872)
- 1844 – Richard D’Oyly Carte, English talent agent and composer (d. 1901)
- 1849 – Jacob Riis, Danish-American journalist and photographer (d. 1914)
- 1849 – Bernhard von Bülow, German soldier and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929)
- 1854 – George Gore, American baseball player and manager (d. 1933)
- 1859 – August Herrmann, American executive in Major League Baseball (d.1931)
- 1860 – Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1940)
- 1867 – Andy Bowen, American boxer (d. 1894)
- 1867 – J. T. Hearne, English cricketer (d. 1944)
- 1870 – Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1948)
- 1871 – Emmett Dalton, American criminal (d. 1937)
- 1873 – Pavlo Skoropadskyi, German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1945)
- 1874 – François Coty, French businessman and publisher, founded Coty, Inc. (d. 1934)
- 1874 – Vagn Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer and academic (d. 1954)
- 1877 – Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst and author (d. 1925)
- 1879 – Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman and soldier, co-founded Qantas (d. 1950)
- 1886 – Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (d. 1971)
- 1887 – Marika Kotopouli, Greek actress (d. 1954)
- 1889 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (d. 1981)
- 1889 – Gottfried Fuchs, German-Canadian Olympic soccer player (d. 1972)
- 1891 – Tadeusz Peiper, Polish poet and critic (d. 1969)
- 1891 – Eppa Rixey, American baseball pitcher (d. 1963)
- 1892 – George Paget Thomson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- 1892 – Jacob Viner, Canadian-American economist and academic (d. 1970)
- 1893 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian author (d. 1975)
- 1895 – Cornelius Van Til, Dutch philosopher, theologian, and apologist (d. 1987)
- 1896 – Karl Allmenröder, German soldier and pilot (d. 1917)
- 1896 – V. K. Krishna Menon, Indian lawyer, jurist, and politician, Indian Minister of Defence (d. 1974)
- 1896 – Dodie Smith, English author and playwright (d. 1990)
- 1897 – William Joseph Browne, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Solicitor General of Canada (d. 1989)
- 1898 – Septima Poinsette Clark, American educator and activist (d. 1987)
- 1898 – Golda Meir, Ukrainian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1978)
- 1902 – Alfred Kastler, German-French physicist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (d. 1977)
- 1905 – Edmund Black, American hammer thrower (d. 1996)
- 1905 – Werner Fenchel, German-Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1988)
- 1905 – Red Ruffing, American baseball pitcher and coach (d. 1986)
- 1906 – Mary Astor, American actress (d. 1987)
- 1906 – René Huyghe, French historian and author (d. 1997)
- 1906 – Anna Roosevelt Halsted, American journalist and author (d. 1975)
- 1906 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2005)
- 1910 – Norman Corwin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2011)
- 1912 – Virgil Fox, American organist and composer (d. 1980)
- 1912 – May Sarton, American poet, novelist and memoirist (d. 1995)
- 1913 – William Inge, American playwright and novelist (d. 1973)
- 1914 – Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, French journalist, author, and poet (d. 2018)
- 1915 – Stu Hart, Canadian wrestler and trainer, founded Stampede Wrestling (d. 2003)
- 1915 – Richard Lippold, American sculptor and academic (d. 2002)
- 1916 – Léopold Simoneau, Canadian tenor and actor (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Betty Comden, American screenwriter and librettist (d. 2006)
- 1917 – George Gaynes, Finnish-American actor (d. 2016)
- 1918 – Ted Bates, English footballer and manager (d. 2003)
- 1919 – John Cullen Murphy, American soldier and illustrator (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (d. 2014)
- 1920 – John Lewis, American pianist and composer (d. 2001)
- 1921 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (d. 1989)
- 1922 – Len Shackleton, English footballer and journalist (d. 2000)
- 1923 – George Hadjinikos, Greek pianist, conductor, and educator (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Ralph Hall, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (d. 2019)
- 1924 – Yehuda Amichai, German-Israeli author and poet (d. 2000)
- 1924 – Ken Tyrrell, English race car driver, founded Tyrrell Racing (d. 2001)
- 1925 – Jean Séguy, French sociologist and author (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Matt Baldwin, Canadian curler and engineer
- 1928 – Dave Dudley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1928 – Jacques-Louis Lions, French mathematician (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Denise Lor, American singer and actress (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Juan Gelman, Argentinian poet and author (d. 2014)
- 1930 – David Harrison, English chemist and academic
- 1931 – Vasily Rudenkov, Belarusian hammer thrower (d. 1982)
- 1931 – Sait Maden, Turkish translator, poet, painter and graphic designer (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Robert Osborne, American actor and historian (d. 2017)
- 1933 – James Brown, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2006)
- 1933 – Steven Weinberg, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1934 – Henry Cooper, English boxer and sportscaster (d. 2011)
- 1934 – Georges Moustaki, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
- 1934 – Frankie Valli, American singer and actor
- 1935 – Ron Popeil, American businessman, founded the Ronco Company
- 1937 – Nélida Piñon, Brazilian author and academic
- 1938 – Omar Abdel-Rahman, Egyptian terrorist
- 1938 – Chris Cannizzaro, American baseball player
- 1938 – Napoleon XIV, American singer, songwriter and record producer
- 1939 – Jonathan Harvey, English composer and educator (d. 2012)
- 1940 – David Koch, American engineer, businessman, and philanthropist (d. 2019)
- 1940 – Clemens Westerhof, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1941 – Alexander Harley, English general
- 1941 – Edward Malloy, American priest and academic
- 1942 – Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast and coach (d. 2016)
- 1942 – Dave Marash, American journalist and sportscaster
- 1942 – Butch Otter, American soldier and politician, 32nd Governor of Idaho
- 1943 – Yukio Hashi, Japanese singer and actor
- 1943 – Jim Risch, American lawyer and politician, 31st Governor of Idaho
- 1943 – Vicente Saldivar, Mexican boxer (d. 1985)
- 1944 – Peter Doyle, English bishop
- 1944 – Pete Staples, English bass player
- 1945 – Jörg Drehmel, German triple jumper and coach
- 1945 – Davey Lopes, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1946 – Norm Chow, American football player and coach
- 1946 – Silvino Francisco, South African snooker player
- 1946 – Greg Gumbel, American sportscaster
- 1947 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician (d. 2000)
- 1948 – Denis Cosgrove, British-American academic and geographer (d. 2008)
- 1948 – Chris Mulkey, American actor
- 1949 – Liam Donaldson, English physician and academic
- 1949 – Ruth Lister, Baroness Lister of Burtersett, English academic and politician
- 1949 – Ron Wyden, American academic and politician
- 1950 – Mary Hopkin, Welsh singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Dag Arnesen, Norwegian pianist and composer
- 1951 – Alan Clayson, English singer-songwriter and journalist
- 1951 – Christopher Cross, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1951 – Ashok Gehlot, Indian politician, 21st Chief Minister of Rajasthan
- 1951 – Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian author and publicist
- 1952 – Chuck Baldwin, American pastor and politician
- 1952 – Caitlin Clarke, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1952 – Joseph W. Tobin, American cardinal
- 1953 – Bruce Hall, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
- 1953 – Jake Hooker, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2014)
- 1954 – Angela Bofill, American singer-songwriter
- 1954 – Jean-Marc Roberts, French author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1955 – Stephen D. M. Brown, British geneticist
- 1955 – Colin Deans, Scottish rugby player
- 1955 – David Hookes, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2004)
- 1955 – Seishirō Nishida, Japanese actor
- 1956 – Marc Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1957 – Alain Côté, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1957 – Rod Langway, Taiwanese-American ice hockey player and coach
- 1958 – Bill Sienkiewicz, American author and illustrator
- 1958 – Sandi Toksvig, Danish-English comedian, writer, and broadcaster
- 1959 – David Ball, English keyboard player and producer
- 1959 – Uma Bharti, Indian activist and politician, 16th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
- 1959 – Ben Elton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1960 – Kathy Smallwood-Cook, English sprinter and educator
- 1961 – Steve McClaren, English footballer and manager
- 1961 – David Vitter, American lawyer and politician
- 1961 – Leyla Zana, Kurdish activist and politician
- 1962 – Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder
- 1963 – Jeff Hornacek, American basketball player and coach
- 1963 – Mona Siddiqui, Pakistani-Scottish journalist and academic
- 1964 – Sterling Campbell, American drummer and songwriter
- 1964 – Ron Hextall, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
- 1965 – Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian patriarch
- 1965 – Mark Cousins, Northern Irish director, writer, cinematographer
- 1965 – John Jensen, Danish footballer and coach
- 1965 – Mikhail Prokhorov, Russian businessman
- 1966 – Giorgos Agorogiannis, Greek footballer
- 1966 – Frank Dietrich, German politician (d. 2011)
- 1967 – Daniel Anderson, Australian rugby league coach and manager
- 1967 – Kenneth Joel Hotz, Canadian producer, writer, director, actor, and comedian
- 1968 – Viliami Ofahengaue, Tongan-Australian rugby player
- 1971 – Douglas Carswell, British politician, the first elected MP for the UK Independence Party
- 1972 – Stephen Barclay, English lawyer and politician
- 1973 – Jamie Baulch, Welsh sprinter and television host
- 1975 – Willie Geist, American television journalist and host
- 1976 – Jeff Halpern, American ice hockey player
- 1976 – Brad Scott, Australian footballer and coach
- 1976 – Chris Scott, Australian footballer and coach
- 1977 – Eric Church, American country music singer-songwriter
- 1977 – Ryan Dempster, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster
- 1977 – Tyronn Lue, American basketball player and coach
- 1977 – Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician (d. 2017)
- 1977 – Ben Olsen, American soccer player and coach
- 1978 – Christian Annan, Ghanaian-Hong Kong footballer
- 1978 – Paul Banks, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Dai Tamesue, Japanese hurdler
- 1978 – Lawrence Tynes, American football player
- 1979 – Steve Mack, American wrestler
- 1979 – Anastasiya Shvedova, Belarusian pole vaulter
- 1980 – Zuzana Ondrášková, Czech tennis player
- 1982 – Igor Olshansky, Ukrainian-American football player
- 1982 – Nick Stavinoha, American baseball player
- 1983 – Joseph Addai, American football player
- 1983 – Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer
- 1983 – Jérôme Clavier, French pole vaulter
- 1983 – Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer (d. 2015)
- 1985 – Ezequiel Lavezzi, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Kadri Lehtla, Estonian biathlete
- 1985 – Miko Mälberg, Estonian swimmer
- 1986 – Moon Byung-woo, South Korean footballer
- 1987 – Lina Grinčikaitė, Lithuanian sprinter
- 1988 – Ben Revere, American baseball player
- 1988 – Paddy Holohan, Irish mixed martial artist
- 1989 – Jesse Bromwich, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1989 – Katinka Hosszú, Hungarian swimmer
- 1990 – Brooks Koepka, American golfer
- 1991 – Samuel Seo, South Korean musician
- 1992 – Aaron Whitchurch, Australian rugby league player
- 1995 – Ivan Bukavshin, Russian chess player (d. 2016)
- 1996 – Mary Cain, American runner
- 1996 – Alex Iwobi, Nigerian football player
- 1996 – Domantas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1997 – Desiigner, American rapper
- 1997 – Dwayne Haskins, American football player
- 1997 – Ivana Jorović, Serbian tennis player
Deaths on May 3
- 678 – Tōchi, Japanese princess
- 738 – Uaxaclajuun Ub’aah K’awiil, Mayan ruler (ajaw)
- 1152 – Matilda of Boulogne (b. 1105)
- 1270 – Béla IV of Hungary (b. 1206)
- 1294 – John I, Duke of Brabant (b. 1252)
- 1330 – Alexios II Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1282)
- 1410 – Antipope Alexander V
- 1481 – Mehmed the Conqueror, Ottoman sultan (b. 1432)
- 1501 – John Devereux, 8th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, English Baron (b. 1463)
- 1524 – Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent, English peer (b. 1481)
- 1534 – Juana de la Cruz Vazquez Gutierrez, Spanish Roman Catholic nun and venerable (b. 1481)
- 1589 – Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1528)
- 1606 – Henry Garnet, English priest and author (b. 1555)
- 1621 – Elizabeth Bacon, English Tudor gentlewoman (b. 1541)
- 1679 – James Sharp, Scottish archbishop (b. 1613)
- 1693 – Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French courtier (b. 1607)
- 1704 – Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Czech-Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1644)
- 1724 – John Leverett the Younger, American lawyer, academic, and politician (b. 1662)
- 1750 – John Willison, Scottish minister and author (b. 1680)
- 1752 – Samuel Ogle, English-American captain and politician, 5th Governor of Restored Proprietary Government (b. 1692)
- 1758 – Pope Benedict XIV (b. 1675)
- 1763 – George Psalmanazar, French-English author (b. 1679)
- 1764 – Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher, poet, and critic (b. 1712)
- 1779 – John Winthrop, American mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1714)
- 1793 – Martin Gerbert, German historian and theologian (b. 1720)
- 1839 – Ferdinando Paer, Italian composer (b. 1771)
- 1856 – Adolphe Adam, French composer and critic (b. 1803)
- 1856 – Louis-Étienne Saint-Denis, Arab-French servant to Napoleon I (b. 1788)
- 1882 – Leonidas Smolents, Austrian–Greek general and army minister (b. 1806)
- 1910 – Howard Taylor Ricketts, American pathologist (b. 1871)
- 1916 – Tom Clarke, Irish rebel (b. 1858)
- 1916 – Thomas MacDonagh, Irish poet and rebel (b. 1878)
- 1916 – Patrick Pearse, Irish teacher and rebel leader (b. 1879)
- 1918 – Charlie Soong, Chinese businessman and missionary (b. 1863)
- 1919 – Elizabeth Almira Allen, American educator (b. 1854)
- 1921 – Théodore Pilette, Belgian race car driver (b. 1883)
- 1925 – Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III (b. 1841)
- 1932 – Charles Fort, American journalist and author (b. 1874)
- 1935 – Jessie Willcox Smith, American illustrator (b. 1863)
- 1939 – Madeleine Desroseaux, French author and poet (b. 1873)
- 1942 – Thorvald Stauning, Danish politician, 24th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1873)
- 1943 – Harry Miller, American engineer (b. 1875)
- 1948 – Ernst Tandefelt, Finnish assassin of Heikki Ritavuori (b. 1876)
- 1949 – Fanny Walden, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1888)
- 1958 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (b. 1889)
- 1969 – Zakir Husain, Indian academic and politician, 3rd President of India (b. 1897)
- 1970 – Cemil Gürgen Erlertürk, Turkish footballer, coach, and pilot (b. 1918)
- 1972 – Kenneth Bailey, Australian lawyer and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to Canada (b. 1898)
- 1972 – Emil Breitkreutz, American runner and coach (b. 1883)
- 1972 – Bruce Cabot, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1978 – Bill Downs, American journalist (b. 1914)
- 1981 – Nargis, Indian actress (b. 1929)
- 1986 – Robert Alda, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1987 – Dalida, Italian singer, actress, dancer, and model (b. 1933)
- 1988 – Lev Pontryagin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1908)
- 1989 – Christine Jorgensen, American trans woman (b. 1926)
- 1991 – Jerzy Kosiński, Polish-American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1933)
- 1992 – George Murphy, American actor, dancer, and politician (b. 1902)
- 1996 – Dimitri Fampas, Greek guitarist, composer, and educator (b. 1921)
- 1996 – Alex Kellner, American baseball player (b. 1924)
- 1996 – Jack Weston, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1997 – Sébastien Enjolras, French race car driver (b. 1976)
- 1997 – Narciso Yepes, Spanish guitarist and composer (b. 1927)
- 1998 – Gene Raymond, American actor (b. 1908)
- 1999 – Joe Adcock, American baseball player and manager (b. 1927)
- 1999 – Steve Chiasson, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1967)
- 1999 – Godfrey Evans, English cricketer (b. 1920)
- 2000 – Júlia Báthory, Hungarian glass designer (b. 1901)
- 2000 – John Joseph O’Connor, American cardinal (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Barbara Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, English politician, First Secretary of State (b. 1910)
- 2002 – Yevgeny Svetlanov, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1928)
- 2003 – Suzy Parker, American model and actress (b. 1932)
- 2004 – Ken Downing, English race car driver (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Darrell Johnson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1928)
- 2006 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet (b. 1921)
- 2006 – Pramod Mahajan, Indian politician (b. 1949)
- 2006 – Earl Woods, American colonel, baseball player, and author (b. 1932)
- 2007 – Warja Honegger-Lavater, Swiss illustrator (b. 1913)
- 2007 – Wally Schirra, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Knock Yokoyama, Japanese politician (b. 1932)
- 2008 – Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, Spanish engineer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1926)
- 2009 – Renée Morisset, Canadian pianist (b. 1928)
- 2009 – Ram Balkrushna Shewalkar, Indian author and critic (b. 1931)
- 2010 – Roy Carrier, American accordion player (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Peter O’Donnell, English soldier and author (b. 1920)
- 2010 – Guenter Wendt, German-American engineer (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Jackie Cooper, American actor, television director, producer and executive (b. 1922)
- 2011 – Sergo Kotrikadze, Georgian footballer and manager (b. 1936)
- 2011 – Thanasis Veggos, Greek actor and director (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Jorge Illueca, Panamanian politician, 30th President of Panama (b. 1918)
- 2012 – Felix Werder, German-Australian composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Joe Astroth, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Herbert Blau, American engineer and academic (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Cedric Brooks, Jamaican-American saxophonist and flute player (b. 1943)
- 2013 – Keith Carter, American swimmer and soldier (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Brad Drewett, Australian tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1958)
- 2013 – David Morris Kern, American pharmacist, co-invented Orajel (b. 1909)
- 2013 – Curtis Rouse, American football player (b. 1960)
- 2013 – Branko Vukelić, Croatian politician, 11th Minister of Defence for Croatia (b. 1958)
- 2014 – Gary Becker, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Francisco Icaza, Mexican painter (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Jim Oberstar, American educator and politician (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Revaz Chkheidze, Georgian director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Danny Jones, Welsh rugby player (b. 1986)
- 2015 – Warren Smith, American golfer and coach (b. 1915)
- 2016 – Ian Deans, Canadian politician (b. 1937)
- 2016 – Jadranka Stojaković, Yugoslav singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
- 2017 – Daliah Lavi, Israeli actress, singer and model (b. 1942)
Holidays and observances on May 3
- Christian feast day:
- Abhai (Syriac Orthodox Church)
- Antonia and Alexander
- Juvenal of Narni
- Moura (Coptic Church)
- Philip and James the Lesser
- Pope Alexander I
- Sarah the Martyr (Coptic Church)
- The Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland
- Theodosius of Kiev (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- May 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Constitution Memorial Day (Japan)
- Constitution Day (Poland)
- Finding of the Holy Cross-related observances:
- Fiesta de las Cruces (Spain and Hispanic America)
- Roodmas, or Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross (Gallican Rite of the Catholic Church)
- Sun Day (International)
- World Press Freedom Day
-
April 30 in history
- 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
- 313 – Battle of Tzirallum: Emperor Licinius defeats Maximinus II and unifies the Eastern Roman Empire.
- 642 – Chindasuinth is proclaimed king by the Visigothic nobility and bishops.
- 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois.
- 1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.
- 1513 – Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.
- 1557 – Mapuche leader Lautaro is killed by Spanish forces at the Battle of Mataquito in Chile.
- 1598 – Juan de Oñate begins the conquest of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.
- 1598 – Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots.
- 1636 – Eighty Years’ War: Dutch Republic forces recapture a strategically important fort from Spain after a nine-month siege.
- 1671 – Petar Zrinski, the Croatian Ban from the Zrinski family, is executed.
- 1789 – On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.
- 1803 – Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
- 1812 – The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.
- 1838 – Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.
- 1863 – A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.
- 1871 – The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.
- 1885 – Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York’s first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use.
- 1897 – J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
- 1900 – Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
- 1904 – The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair opens in St. Louis, Missouri.
- 1905 – Albert Einstein completes his doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich.
- 1925 – Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Co. for US$146 million plus $50 million for charity.
- 1927 – The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women’s federal prison in the United States.
- 1927 – Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
- 1937 – The Commonwealth of the Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative.
- 1938 – The animated cartoon short Porky’s Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit, an early version of Bugs Bunny.
- 1939 – The 1939–40 New York World’s Fair opens.
- 1939 – NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s N.Y. World’s Fair opening day ceremonial address.
- 1943 – World War II: The British submarine HMS Seraph surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and carrying false invasion plans.
- 1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building.
- 1945 – World War II: Stalag Luft I prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Germany is liberated by Soviet soldiers, freeing nearly 9000 American and British airmen.
- 1947 – In Nevada, Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam.
- 1948 – In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.
- 1956 – Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia.
- 1957 – Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery entered into force.
- 1961 – K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.
- 1963 – The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company’s refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.
- 1966 – The Church of Satan is formed in The Black House, San Francisco.
- 1973 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that White House Counsel John Dean has been fired and that other top aides, most notably H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, have resigned.
- 1975 – Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Dương Văn Minh.
- 1980 – Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana.
- 1980 – The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London.
- 1982 – The Bijon Setu massacre occurs in Calcutta, India.
- 1993 – CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.
- 1994 – Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy.
- 2000 – Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide.
- 2004 – U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
- 2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei and Anastasia, two of the children of the last Tsar of Russia, whose entire family was executed at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks.
- 2009 – Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- 2009 – Seven civilians and the perpetrator are killed and another ten injured at a Queen’s Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.
- 2012 – An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 103 people.
- 2013 – Willem-Alexander is inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Beatrix.
- 2014 – A bomb blast in Ürümqi, China kills three people and injures 79 others.
Births on April 30
- 1245 – Philip III of France (d. 1285)
- 1310 – King Casimir III of Poland (d. 1368)
- 1331 – Gaston III, Count of Foix (d. 1391)
- 1383 – Anne of Gloucester, English countess, granddaughter of King Edward III of England (d. 1438)
- 1425 – William III, Landgrave of Thuringia (d. 1482)
- 1504 – Francesco Primaticcio, Italian painter (d. 1570)
- 1553 – Louise of Lorraine (d. 1601)
- 1623 – François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop and saint (d. 1708)
- 1651 – Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest and saint (d. 1719)
- 1662 – Mary II of England (d. 1694)
- 1664 – François Louis, Prince of Conti (d. 1709)
- 1710 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (d. 1795)
- 1723 – Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French zoologist and philosopher (d. 1806)
- 1758 – Emmanuel Vitale, Maltese commander and politician (d. 1802)
- 1770 – David Thompson, English-Canadian cartographer and explorer (d. 1857)
- 1777 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1855)
- 1803 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (d. 1879)
- 1829 – Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic (d. 1884)
- 1857 – Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist (d. 1940)
- 1857 – Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist (d. 1920)
- 1865 – Max Nettlau, German historian and academic (d. 1944)
- 1866 – Mary Haviland Stilwell Kuesel, American pioneer dentist (d. 1936)
- 1869 – Hans Poelzig, German architect, designed the IG Farben Building and Großes Schauspielhaus (d. 1936)
- 1870 – Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (d. 1948)
- 1870 – Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1944)
- 1874 – Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish priest and author (d. 1949)
- 1876 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician (d. 1937)
- 1877 – Léon Flameng, French cyclist (d. 1917)
- 1877 – Alice B. Toklas, American memoirist (d. 1967)
- 1878 – Władysław Witwicki, Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian (of philosophy and art) and artist (d. 1948)
- 1880 – Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie, Scottish cartoonist (d. 1967)
- 1883 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech soldier and author (d. 1923)
- 1883 – Luigi Russolo, Italian painter and composer (d. 1947)
- 1884 – Olof Sandborg, Swedish actor (d. 1965)
- 1888 – John Crowe Ransom, American poet, critic, and academic (d. 1974)
- 1893 – Harold Breen, Australian public servant (d. 1966)
- 1893 – Joachim von Ribbentrop, German soldier and politician, 14th German Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1946)
- 1895 – Philippe Panneton, Canadian physician, academic, and diplomat (d. 1960)
- 1896 – Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist (d. 1972)
- 1896 – Hans List, Austrian scientist and businessman, founded the AVL Engineering Company (d. 1996)
- 1897 – Humberto Mauro, Brazilian director and screenwriter (d. 1983)
- 1900 – Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet (d. 1984)
- 1901 – Simon Kuznets, Belarusian-American economist, statistician, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
- 1902 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- 1905 – Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2012)
- 1908 – Eve Arden, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic professor of law and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1970)
- 1908 – Frank Robert Miller, Canadian air marshal and politician (d. 1997)
- 1909 – F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor and educator (d. 1992)
- 1909 – Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
- 1910 – Levi Celerio, Filipino pianist, violinist, and composer (d. 2002)
- 1914 – Charles Beetham, American middle-distance runner (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter (d. 2008)
- 1916 – Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (d. 2003)
- 1916 – Claude Shannon, American mathematician and engineer (d. 2001)
- 1916 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Bea Wain, American singer (d. 2017)
- 1920 – Duncan Hamilton, Irish-English race car driver and pilot (d. 1994)
- 1920 – Tom Moore, British army officer and fundraiser
- 1921 – Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Anton Murray, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
- 1923 – Percy Heath, American bassist (d. 2005)
- 1923 – Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (d. 2004)
- 1924 – Uno Laht, Estonian KGB officer and author (d. 2008)
- 1925 – Corinne Calvet, French actress (d. 2001)
- 1925 – Johnny Horton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1960)
- 1926 – Shrinivas Khale, Indian composer (d. 2011)
- 1926 – Cloris Leachman, American actress and comedian
- 1928 – Hugh Hood, Canadian author and academic (d. 2000)
- 1928 – Orlando Sirola, Italian tennis player (d. 1995)
- 1930 – Félix Guattari, French psychotherapist and philosopher (d. 1992)
- 1933 – Charles Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden, English politician
- 1934 – Jerry Lordan, English singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
- 1934 – Don McKenney, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1937 – Tony Harrison, English poet and playwright
- 1938 – Gary Collins, American actor and talk show host (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Juraj Jakubisko, Slovak director and screenwriter
- 1938 – Larry Niven, American author and screenwriter
- 1940 – Jeroen Brouwers, Dutch journalist and writer
- 1940 – Michael Cleary, Australian rugby player and politician
- 1941 – Stavros Dimas, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1941 – Max Merritt, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter
- 1942 – Sallehuddin of Kedah, Sultan of Kedah
- 1943 – Frederick Chiluba, Zambian politician, 2nd President of Zambia (d. 2011)
- 1943 – Bobby Vee, American pop singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
- 1944 – Jon Bing, Norwegian author, scholar, and academic (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Jill Clayburgh, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1945 – J. Michael Brady, British radiologist
- 1945 – Annie Dillard, American novelist, essayist, and poet
- 1945 – Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (d. 2001)
- 1945 – Michael J. Smith, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1946 – King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
- 1946 – Bill Plympton, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
- 1946 – Don Schollander, American swimmer
- 1947 – Paul Fiddes, English theologian and academic
- 1947 – Finn Kalvik, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Tom Køhlert, Danish footballer and manager
- 1947 – Mats Odell, Swedish economist and politician, Swedish Minister for Financial Markets
- 1948 – Wayne Kramer, American guitarist and singer-songwriter
- 1948 – Pierre Pagé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1948 – Margit Papp, Hungarian athlete
- 1949 – Phil Garner, American baseball player and manager
- 1949 – António Guterres, Portuguese academic and politician, 114th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations
- 1949 – Karl Meiler, German tennis player (d. 2014)
- 1952 – Jacques Audiard, French director and screenwriter
- 1952 – Jack Middelburg, Dutch motorcycle racer (d. 1984)
- 1953 – Merrill Osmond, American singer and bass player
- 1954 – Jane Campion, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1954 – Kim Darroch, English diplomat, UK Permanent Representative to the European Union
- 1954 – Frank-Michael Marczewski, German footballer
- 1955 – Nicolas Hulot, French journalist and environmentalist
- 1955 – David Kitchin, English lawyer and judge
- 1955 – Zlatko Topčić, Bosnian writer and screenwriter
- 1956 – Lars von Trier, Danish director and screenwriter
- 1957 – Wonder Mike, American rapper and songwriter
- 1958 – Charles Berling, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1959 – Stephen Harper, Canadian economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada
- 1960 – Geoffrey Cox, English lawyer and politician
- 1960 – Kerry Healey, American academic and politician, 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
- 1961 – Arnór Guðjohnsen, Icelandic footballer
- 1961 – Isiah Thomas, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1963 – Andrew Carwood, English tenor and conductor
- 1963 – Michael Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster
- 1964 – Tony Fernandes, Malaysian-Indian businessman, co-founded Tune Group
- 1964 – Ian Healy, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster
- 1964 – Lorenzo Staelens, Belgian footballer and manager
- 1964 – Abhishek Chatterjee, Indian actor
- 1965 – Daniela Costian, Romanian-Australian discus thrower
- 1965 – Adrian Pasdar, American actor
- 1966 – Jeff Brown, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1966 – Dave Meggett, American football player and coach
- 1967 – Phil Chang, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and actor
- 1969 – Warren Defever, American bass player and producer
- 1969 – Justine Greening, English accountant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development
- 1969 – Paulo Jr., Brazilian bass player
- 1972 – Takako Tokiwa, Japanese actress
- 1973 – Leigh Francis, English comedian and actor
- 1974 – Christian Tamminga, Dutch athlete
- 1975 – Johnny Galecki, American actor
- 1976 – Davian Clarke, Jamaican sprinter
- 1976 – Amanda Palmer, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1976 – Daniel Wagon, Australian rugby league player
- 1977 – Jeannie Haddaway, American politician
- 1977 – Meredith L. Patterson, American technologist, journalist, and author
- 1978 – Liljay, Taiwanese singer
- 1979 – Gerardo Torrado, Mexican footballer
- 1980 – Luis Scola, Argentinian basketball player
- 1980 – Jeroen Verhoeven, Dutch footballer
- 1981 – Nicole Kaczmarski, American basketball player
- 1981 – John O’Shea, Irish footballer
- 1981 – Kunal Nayyar, British-Indian actor
- 1981 – Justin Vernon, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer
- 1982 – Kirsten Dunst, American actress
- 1982 – Drew Seeley, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
- 1983 – Chris Carr, American football player
- 1983 – Tatjana Hüfner, German luger
- 1983 – Marina Tomić, Slovenian hurdler
- 1983 – Troy Williamson, American football player
- 1984 – Seimone Augustus, American basketball player
- 1984 – Shawn Daivari, American wrestler and manager
- 1984 – Risto Mätas, Estonian javelin thrower
- 1984 – Lee Roache, English footballer
- 1985 – Brandon Bass, American basketball player
- 1985 – Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model
- 1985 – Ashley Alexandra Dupré, American journalist, singer, and prostitute
- 1986 – Dianna Agron, American actress and singer
- 1986 – Martten Kaldvee, Estonian biathlete
- 1987 – Alipate Carlile, Australian footballer
- 1987 – Chris Morris, South African cricketer
- 1987 – Rohit Sharma, Indian cricketer
- 1988 – Andy Allen, Australian chef
- 1988 – Sander Baart, Dutch field hockey player
- 1988 – Liu Xijun, Chinese singer
- 1988 – Oh Hye-ri, South Korean taekwondo athlete
- 1989 – Jang Wooyoung, South Korean singer and actor
- 1990 – Jonny Brownlee, English triathlete
- 1990 – Mac DeMarco, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1990 – Kaarel Kiidron, Estonian footballer
- 1991 – Chris Kreider, American ice hockey player
- 1992 – Travis Scott, American rapper and producer
- 1992 – Marc-André ter Stegen, German footballer
- 1993 – Dion Dreesens, Dutch swimmer
- 1993 – Martin Fuksa, Czech canoeist
- 1994 – Chae Seo-jin, South Korean actress
- 1994 – Wang Yafan, Chinese tennis player
- 1996 – Luke Friend, English singer
- 1997 – Adam Ryczkowski, Polish footballer
- 1999 – Jorden van Foreest, Dutch chess grandmaster
- 2000 – Yui Hiwatashi, Japanese singer
- 2003 – Jung Yun-Seok, South Korean actor
Deaths on April 30
- AD 65 – Lucan, Roman poet (b. 39)
- 125 – An, Chinese emperor (b. 94)
- 535 – Amalasuntha, Ostrogothic queen and regent
- 783 – Hildegard of the Vinzgau, Frankish queen
- 1002 – Eckard I, German nobleman
- 1030 – Mahmud of Ghazni, Ghaznavid emir (b. 971)
- 1063 – Ren Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1010)
- 1131 – Adjutor, French knight and saint
- 1305 – Roger de Flor, Italian military adventurer (b. 1267)
- 1341 – John III, duke of Brittany (b. 1286)
- 1439 – Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, English commander (b. 1382)
- 1524 – Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, French soldier (b. 1473)
- 1544 – Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1488)
- 1550 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (b. 1516)
- 1632 – Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, Bavarian general (b. 1559)
- 1632 – Sigismund III Vasa, Swedish-Polish son of John III of Sweden (b. 1566)
- 1637 – Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyō (b. 1571)
- 1655 – Eustache Le Sueur, French painter (b. 1617)
- 1660 – Petrus Scriverius, Dutch historian and scholar (b. 1576)
- 1672 – Marie of the Incarnation, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Ursulines of Quebec (b. 1599)
- 1696 – Robert Plot, English chemist and academic (b. 1640)
- 1712 – Philipp van Limborch, Dutch theologian and author (b. 1633)
- 1736 – Johann Albert Fabricius, German scholar and author (b. 1668)
- 1758 – François d’Agincourt, French organist and composer (b. 1684)
- 1792 – John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1718)
- 1795 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and author (b. 1716)
- 1806 – Onogawa Kisaburō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 5th Yokozuna (b. 1758)
- 1841 – Peter Andreas Heiberg, Danish philologist and author (b. 1758)
- 1847 – Charles, Austrian commander and duke of Teschen (b. 1771)
- 1863 – Jean Danjou, French captain (b. 1828)
- 1865 – Robert FitzRoy, English admiral, meteorologist, and politician, 2nd Governor of New Zealand (b. 1805)
- 1870 – Thomas Cooke, Canadian bishop and missionary (b. 1792)
- 1875 – Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, French explorer, lithographer, and cartographer (b. 1766)
- 1879 – Emma Smith, American religious leader (b. 1804)
- 1883 – Édouard Manet, French painter (b. 1832)
- 1891 – Joseph Leidy, American paleontologist and author (b. 1823)
- 1900 – Casey Jones, American engineer (b. 1863)
- 1903 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (b. 1831)
- 1910 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (b. 1856)
- 1936 – A. E. Housman, English poet and scholar (b. 1859)
- 1939 – Frank Haller, American boxer (b. 1883)
- 1943 – Otto Jespersen, Danish linguist and academic (b. 1860)
- 1943 – Beatrice Webb, English sociologist and economist (b. 1858)
- 1953 – Jacob Linzbach, Estonian linguist and author (b. 1874)
- 1956 – Alben W. Barkley, American lawyer and politician, 35th Vice President of the United States (b. 1877)
- 1970 – Jacques Presser, Dutch historian, writer and poet (b. 1899)
- 1970 – Inger Stevens, Swedish-American actress (b. 1934)
- 1972 – Gia Scala, English-American model and actress (b. 1934)
- 1973 – Václav Renč, Czech poet and playwright (b. 1911)
- 1974 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1980 – Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican journalist and politician, 1st Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1898)
- 1982 – Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (b. 1949)
- 1983 – George Balanchine, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1904)
- 1983 – Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader (b. 1913)
- 1983 – Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (b. 1897)
- 1986 – Robert Stevenson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1905)
- 1989 – Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
- 1993 – Tommy Caton, English footballer (b. 1962)
- 1994 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (b. 1960)
- 1994 – Richard Scarry, American author and illustrator (b. 1919)
- 1995 – Maung Maung Kha, Burmese colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma (b. 1920)
- 1998 – Nizar Qabbani, Syrian-English poet, publisher, and diplomat (b. 1926)
- 2000 – Poul Hartling, Danish politician, 36th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, German philanthropist, founded the Gründerzeit Museum (b. 1928)
- 2003 – Mark Berger, American economist and academic (b. 1955)
- 2003 – Possum Bourne, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1956)
- 2005 – Phil Rasmussen, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1918)
- 2006 – Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author and academic (b. 1925)
- 2007 – Kevin Mitchell, American football player (b. 1971)
- 2007 – Tom Poston, American actor, comedian, and game show panelist (b. 1921)
- 2007 – Gordon Scott, American film and television actor (b. 1926)
- 2008 – John Cargher, English-Australian journalist and author (b. 1919)
- 2008 – Juancho Evertsz, Dutch Antillean politician (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Henk Nijdam, Dutch cyclist (b. 1935)
- 2011 – Dorjee Khandu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (b. 1955)
- 2011 – Evald Okas, Estonian painter (b. 1915)
- 2011 – Ernesto Sabato, Argentinian physicist, author, and painter (b. 1911)
- 2012 – Tomás Borge, Nicaraguan poet and politician, co-founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (b. 1985)
- 2012 – Giannis Gravanis, Greek footballer (b. 1958)
- 2012 – Benzion Netanyahu, Russian-Israeli historian and academic (b. 1910)
- 2012 – Sicelo Shiceka, South African politician (b. 1966)
- 2013 – Roberto Chabet, Filipino painter and sculptor (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Shirley Firth, Canadian skier (b. 1953)
- 2013 – Viviane Forrester, French author and critic (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Mike Gray, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Khaled Choudhury, Indian painter and set designer (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Julian Lewis, English biologist and academic (b. 1946)
- 2014 – Carl E. Moses, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Ian Ross, Australian journalist (b. 1940)
- 2015 – Lennart Bodström, Swedish politician (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1938)
- 2015 – Steven Goldmann, Canadian director and producer (b. 1961)
- 2016 – Daniel Berrigan, American priest and activist (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939)
- 2019 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (b. 1944)
- 2020 – Tony Allen, Nigerian drummer and composer (b. 1940)
Holidays and observances on April 30
- Armed Forces Day (Georgia)
- Birthday of the King Carl XVI Gustaf, one of the official flag days of Sweden.
- Camarón Day (French Foreign Legion)
- Children’s Day (Mexico)
- Christian feast day:
- Adjutor
- Aimo
- Amator, Peter and Louis
- Donatus of Evorea
- Eutropius of Saintes
- Marie Guyart (Anglican Church of Canada)
- Marie of the Incarnation (Ursuline)
- Maximus of Rome
- Blessed Miles Gerard
- Pomponius of Naples
- Pope Pius V
- Quirinus of Neuss
- Sarah Josepha Hale (Episcopal Church)
- Suitbert the Younger
- April 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Consumer Protection Day (Thailand)
- Earliest day on which Ascension Day can fall, while June 3 is the latest; celebrated 40 days after Easter (Christianity), and its related observances:
- Festa della Sensa (Venice)
- Global Day of Prayer (Western Christianity)
- Sheep Festival (Cameroon)
- Honesty Day (United States)
- International Jazz Day (UNESCO)
- Martyrs’ Day (Pakistan)
- May Eve, the eve of the first day of summer in the Northern hemisphere (see May 1):
- Beltane begins at sunset in the Northern hemisphere, Samhain begins at sunset in the Southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year)
- Carodejnice (Czech Republic and Slovakia)
- Walpurgis Night (Central and Northern Europe)
- National Persian Gulf Day (Iran)
- Reunification Day (Vietnam)
- Russian State Fire Service Day (Russia)
- Teachers’ Day (Paraguay)
-
April 21 in History
- 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 15 in History
- 769 – The Lateran Council condemned the Council of Hieria and anathematized its iconoclastic rulings.
- 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard.
- 1395 – Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde at the Battle of the Terek River. The Golden Horde capital city, Sarai, is razed to the ground and Timur installs a puppet ruler on the throne.
- 1450 – Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years’ War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.
- 1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War.
- 1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.
- 1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
- 1736 – Foundation of the Kingdom of Corsica.
- 1738 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel receives its premiere performance in London, England.
- 1755 – Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.
- 1783 – Preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence) are ratified.
- 1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf, the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.
- 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.
- 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes President upon Lincoln’s death.
- 1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.
- 1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.
- 1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.
- 1907 – Triangle Fraternity is founded at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
- 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew on board survive.
- 1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.
- 1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.
- 1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
- 1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
- 1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.
- 1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two-hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.
- 1942 – The George Cross is awarded “to the island fortress of Malta” by King George VI.
- 1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
- 1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball’s color line.
- 1952 – First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
- 1955 – McDonald’s restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
- 1960 – At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
- 1969 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 onboard.
- 1970 – During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.
- 1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.
- 1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.
- 1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang’s death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.
- 1994 – Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.
- 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
- 2013 – A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.
- 2014 – In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, at least 200 civilians were gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.
- 2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.
Births on April 15
- 68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)
- 1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)
- 1367 – Henry IV of England (d. 1413)
- 1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479)
- 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)
- 1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)
- 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)
- 1563 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)
- 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)
- 1592 – Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675)
- 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)
- 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)
- 1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
- 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
- 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)
- 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)
- 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)
- 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)
- 1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)
- 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)
- 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)
- 1795 – Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d.1847)
- 1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)
- 1808 – William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892)
- 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)
- 1817 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885)
- 1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)
- 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)
- 1841 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921)
- 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
- 1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916)
- 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)
- 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)
- 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)
- 1863 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914)
- 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)
- 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)
- 1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)
- 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)
- 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
- 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
- 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)
- 1887 – William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953)
- 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)
- 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975)
- 1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
- 1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat’s eye (d. 1976)
- 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)
- 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (d. 1983)
- 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
- 1894 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937)
- 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)
- 1895 – Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941)
- 1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)
- 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
- 1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)
- 1901 – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
- 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
- 1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983)
- 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
- 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
- 1908 – eden ahbez, Scottish-American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)
- 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)
- 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)
- 1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)
- 1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)
- 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
- 1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
- 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1917 – Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944)
- 1917 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)
- 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)
- 1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)
- 1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)
- 1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)
- 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
- 1922 – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)
- 1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)
- 1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)
- 1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)
- 1924 – Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004)
- 1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)
- 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
- 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
- 1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland
- 1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant
- 1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018)
- 1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995)
- 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)
- 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
- 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
- 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress
- 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)
- 1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1939 – Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009)
- 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician
- 1940 – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World
- 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)
- 1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic
- 1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician
- 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017)
- 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
- 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)
- 1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic
- 1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic
- 1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician
- 1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)
- 1944 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Russian-Chechen general and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (d. 1996)
- 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer, guitarist, and producer
- 1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author
- 1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff
- 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer
- 1947 – Martin Broughton, English businessman
- 1947 – Lois Chiles, American model and actress
- 1947 – David Omand, English civil servant and academic
- 1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security
- 1947 – Woolly Wolstenholme, English singer and keyboard player (d. 2010)
- 1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic
- 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
- 1948 – Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician
- 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
- 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
- 1950 – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player
- 1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author
- 1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut
- 1951 – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer
- 1951 – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut
- 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter
- 1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer
- 1952 – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic
- 1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
- 1955 – Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician
- 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
- 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach
- 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1958 – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer
- 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright
- 1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
- 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter
- 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter
- 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster
- 1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player
- 1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician
- 1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist
- 1961 – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer
- 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician
- 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
- 1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist
- 1963 – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer
- 1963 – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
- 1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player
- 1964 – Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
- 1965 – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player
- 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1966 – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)
- 1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter
- 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist
- 1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach
- 1968 – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner
- 1968 – Ed O’Brien, English guitarist
- 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
- 1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor
- 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach
- 1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach
- 1971 – Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player
- 1971 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer
- 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
- 1971 – Josia Thugwane, South African runner
- 1971 – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician
- 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
- 1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
- 1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director
- 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter
- 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
- 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer
- 1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player
- 1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist
- 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer
- 1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1976 – Steve Williams, English rower
- 1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor
- 1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
- 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
- 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
- 1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1978 – Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer
- 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
- 1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player
- 1980 – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player
- 1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author
- 1980 – Billy Yates, American football player
- 1981 – Andrés D’Alessandro, Argentinian footballer
- 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
- 1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
- 1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)
- 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
- 1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player
- 1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
- 1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
- 1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
- 1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher
- 1989 – Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress
- 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor
- 1991 – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater
- 1992 – Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player
- 1994 – Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player
- 1994 – Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter
- 1995 – Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer
- 1999 – Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player
- 2001 – Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper
Deaths on April 15
- 628 – Suiko, emperor of Japan (b. 554)
- 943 – Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (b. 920)
- 956 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch
- 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
- 1136 – Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094)
- 1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)
- 1237 – Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic
- 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355)
- 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)
- 1502 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (b. 1443)
- 1558 – Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500)
- 1610 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546)
- 1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580)
- 1652 – Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch
- 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605)
- 1719 – Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
- 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676)
- 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682)
- 1761 – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)
- 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)
- 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)
- 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
- 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)
- 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)
- 1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)
- 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
- 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)
- 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)
- 1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician
- 1912 – Victims of the Titanic disaster:
- Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (b. 1873)
- John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)
- Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)
- Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)
- Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)
- Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866)
- Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)
- James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (b. 1887)
- William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (b. 1873)
- Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887)
- Edward Smith, English Captain (b. 1850)
- William Thomas Stead, English journalist (b. 1849)
- Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)
- Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)
- John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (b. 1862)
- Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)
- 1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)
- 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)
- 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)
- 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880)
- 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)
- 1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)
- 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)
- 1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)
- 1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880)
- 1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912)
- 1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)
- 1966 – Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan
- 1967 – Totò, Italian comedian (b. 1898)
- 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
- 1971 – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)
- 1979 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1912)
- 1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904)
- 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- 1982 – Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915)
- 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)
- 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. 1915)
- 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905)
- 1993 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
- 1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908)
- 1998 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912)
- 1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)
- 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)
- 2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)
- 2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
- 2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)
- 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924)
- 2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
- 2009 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)
- 2010 – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)
- 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)
- 2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)
- 2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)
- 2013 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (b. 1928)
- 2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966)
- 2015 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928)
- 2017 – Clifton James, American actor (b. 1920)
- 2017 – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (b. 1899)
- 2018 – R. Lee Ermey, American actor (b. 1944)
- 2018 – Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances on April 15
- Christian feast day:
- Abbo II of Metz
- Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)
- Hunna
- Paternus of Avranches
- April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Sun (North Korea)
- Earliest day on which Sechseläuten can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in April. (Zürich)
- Father Damien Day (Hawaii)
- Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)
- Jackie Robinson Day (United States)
- National American Sign Language Day (United States)
- One Boston Day (United States)
- Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)
- Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)
- Universal Day of Culture
- World Art Day
-
April 10 in History
- 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 837 – Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
- 1407 – Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title “Great Treasure Prince of Dharma”.
- 1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
- 1606 – The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
- 1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, comes into force in Great Britain.
- 1741 – War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia gains control of Silesia at the Battle of Mollwitz.
- 1809 – Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.
- 1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth’s climate for the next two years.
- 1816 – The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
- 1821 – Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.
- 1826 – The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town of Missolonghi begin leaving the town after a year’s siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.
- 1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
- 1864 – Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico.
- 1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
- 1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
- 1868 – At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two British/Indian troops die.
- 1872 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.
- 1875 – India: Arya Samaj is founded in Mumbai by Swami Dayananda Saraswati to propagate his goal of social reform.
- 1887 – On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America.
- 1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.
- 1916 – The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.
- 1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
- 1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
- 1938 – The 1938 German parliamentary election and referendum seeks approval for a single list of Nazi candidates and the recent annexation of Austria.
- 1939 – Alcoholics Anonymous, A.A.’s “Big Book”, is first published.
- 1941 – World War II: The Axis powers establish the Independent State of Croatia.
- 1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.
- 1957 – The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.
- 1963 – One hundred twenty-nine American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.
- 1968 – The TEV Wahine, a New Zealand ferry sinks in Wellington harbour due to a fierce storm – the strongest winds ever in Wellington. Out of the 734 people on board, fifty-three died.
- 1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
- 1971 – Ping-pong diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a week-long visit.
- 1972 – Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Sun Bin’s lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
- 1973 – Invicta International Airlines Flight 435 crashes in a snowstorm on approach to Basel, Switzerland, killing 108 people.
- 1979 – Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
- 1988 – The Ojhri Camp explosion kills or injures more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.
- 1991 – Italian ferry MS Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy, killing 140.
- 1991 – A rare tropical storm develops in the South Atlantic Ocean near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
- 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Northern Ireland.
- 2009 – President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces the abrogation of the constitution and assumes all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis.
- 2010 – Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and dozens of other senior officials and dignitaries.
- 2016 – The Paravur temple accident in which a devastating fire caused by the explosion of firecrackers stored for Vishu, kills more than one hundred people out of the thousands gathered for seventh day of Bhadrakali worship.
- 2016 – An earthquake of 6.6 magnitude strikes 39 km west-southwest of Ashkasham, shakes up India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Srinagar and Pakistan.
- 2019 – Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project announce the first ever image of a black hole, located in the centre of the M87 galaxy.
Births on April 10
- 401 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (d. 450)
- 1018 – Nizam al-Mulk, Persian scholar and vizier (d. 1092)
- 1472 – Margaret of York, English princess (d. 1472)
- 1480 – Philibert II, duke of Savoy (d. 1504)
- 1487 – William I, count of Nassau-Dillenburg (d. 1559)
- 1512 – James V, king of Scotland (d. 1542)
- 1579 – Augustus II, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1666)
- 1583 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and jurist (d. 1645)
- 1603 – Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark (d. 1647)
- 1651 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician, physicist, and physician (d. 1708)
- 1656 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, French-Canadian settler, founded Rimouski (d. 1718)
- 1704 – Benjamin Heath, English scholar and author (d. 1766)
- 1707 – Michel Corrette, French organist, composer, and author (d. 1795)
- 1713 – John Whitehurst, English geologist and clockmaker (d. 1788)
- 1755 – Samuel Hahnemann, German-French physician and academic (d. 1843)
- 1762 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1834)
- 1769 – Jean Lannes, French marshal (d. 1809)
- 1778 – William Hazlitt, English essayist and critic (d. 1830)
- 1794 – Matthew C. Perry, English-Scottish American commander (d. 1858)
- 1806 – Juliette Drouet, French actress (d. 1883)
- 1806 – Leonidas Polk, Scottish-American general and bishop (d. 1884)
- 1827 – Lew Wallace, American general, lawyer, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (d. 1905)
- 1829 – William Booth, English minister, founded The Salvation Army (d. 1912)
- 1847 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American journalist, publisher, and politician, founded Pulitzer, Inc. (d. 1911)
- 1864 – Eugen d’Albert, Scottish-German pianist and composer (d. 1932)
- 1865 – Jack Miner, American-Canadian farmer, hunter, and environmentalist (d. 1944)
- 1867 – George William Russell, Irish author, poet, and painter (d. 1935)
- 1868 – George Arliss, English actor and playwright (d. 1946)
- 1868 – Asriel Günzig, Moravian rabbi (d. 1931)
- 1873 – Kyösti Kallio, Finnish farmer, banker, and politician, 4th President of Finland (d. 1940)
- 1875 – George Clawley, English footballer (d. 1920)
- 1877 – Alfred Kubin, Austrian author and illustrator (d. 1959)
- 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
- 1879 – Coenraad Hiebendaal, Dutch rower and physician (d. 1921)
- 1880 – Frances Perkins, American sociologist, academic, and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1965)
- 1880 – Montague Summers, English clergyman and author (d. 1948)
- 1886 – Johnny Hayes, American runner and trainer (d. 1965)
- 1887 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentinian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1889 – Louis Rougier, French philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1982)
- 1891 – Frank Barson, English footballer and coach (d. 1968)
- 1893 – Otto Steinböck, Austrian zoologist (d. 1969)
- 1894 – Ben Nicholson, British painter (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Prafulla Chandra Sen, Indian accountant and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1990)
- 1900 – Arnold Orville Beckman, American chemist, inventor, and philanthropist (d. 2004)
- 1901 – Dhananjay Ramchandra Gadgil, Indian economist (d. 1971)
- 1903 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (d. 1970)
- 1906 – Steve Anderson, American hurdler (d. 1988)
- 1910 – Margaret Clapp, American scholar and academic (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Helenio Herrera, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and publisher, founded the Monthly Review (d. 2004)
- 1911 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs for France (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Boris Kidrič, Austrian-Slovenian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Slovenia (d. 1953)
- 1913 – Stefan Heym, German-American soldier and author (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Jack Badcock, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
- 1915 – Harry Morgan, American actor and director (d. 2011)
- 1915 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (d. 2014)
- 1916 – Lee Jung-seob, Korean painter (d. 1956)
- 1917 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1919 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Chuck Connors, American baseball player and actor (d. 1992)
- 1921 – Jake Warren, Canadian soldier and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Sheb Wooley, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Roger Gaillard, Haitian historian and author (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Jane Kean, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Floyd Simmons, American decathlete and actor (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Sid Tickridge, English footballer (d. 1997)
- 1923 – John Watkins, South African cricketer
- 1924 – Kenneth Noland, American soldier and painter (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Linda Goodman, American astrologer and author (d. 1995)
- 1925 – Angelo Poffo, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Jacques Castérède, French pianist and composer (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Junior Samples, American comedian (d. 1983)
- 1927 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican-American actress (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1929 – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1929 – Liz Sheridan, American actress
- 1929 – Max von Sydow, Swedish-French actor (d. 2020)
- 1930 – Claude Bolling, French pianist, composer, and actor
- 1930 – Dolores Huerta, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers
- 1931 – Kishori Amonkar, Indian classical vocalist (d. 2017)
- 1932 – Delphine Seyrig, Swiss/Alsatian French actress (d. 1990)
- 1932 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Rokusuke Ei, Japanese composer and author (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (d. 2013)
- 1934 – David Halberstam, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
- 1935 – John A. Bennett, American soldier (d. 1961)
- 1935 – Patrick Garland, English actor and director (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Peter Hollingworth, Australian bishop, 23rd Governor General of Australia
- 1936 – John Howell, English long jumper
- 1936 – John Madden, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1936 – Bobby Smith, American singer (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Bella Akhmadulina, Soviet and Russian poet, short story writer, and translator (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Don Meredith, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Claudio Magris, Italian scholar, author, and translator
- 1940 – Gloria Hunniford, British radio and television host
- 1941 – Harold Long, Canadian politician (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Paul Theroux, American novelist, short story writer, and travel writer
- 1942 – Nick Auf der Maur, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1998)
- 1942 – Ian Callaghan, English footballer
- 1942 – Stuart Dybek, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
- 1943 – Andrzej Badeński, Polish-German sprinter (d. 2008)
- 1943 – Margaret Pemberton, English author
- 1945 – Kevin Berry, Australian swimmer (d. 2006)
- 1946 – David Angell, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2001)
- 1946 – Bob Watson, American baseball player and manager
- 1946 – Adolf Winkelmann, German director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1947 – David A. Adler, American author and educator
- 1947 – Bunny Wailer, Jamaican singer-songwriter and drummer
- 1948 – Mel Blount, American football player
- 1949 – Daniel Mangeas, French banker and sportscaster
- 1949 – Eric Troyer, American singer-songwriter, keyboardist and guitarist
- 1950 – Ken Griffey, Sr., American baseball player and manager
- 1950 – Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (d. 1992)
- 1951 – David Helvarg, American journalist and activist
- 1952 – Narayan Rane, Indian politician, 16th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
- 1952 – Masashi Sada, Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and producer
- 1952 – Steven Seagal, American actor, producer, and martial artist
- 1953 – David Moorcroft, English runner and businessman
- 1953 – Pamela Wallin, Swedish-Canadian journalist, academic, and politician
- 1954 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Anne Lamott, American author and educator
- 1954 – Peter MacNicol, American actor
- 1954 – Juan Williams, Panamanian-American journalist and author
- 1955 – Lesley Garrett, English soprano and actress
- 1956 – Carol V. Robinson, English chemist and academic
- 1957 – Aliko Dangote, Nigerian businessman, founded Dangote Group
- 1957 – John M. Ford, American author and poet (d. 2006)
- 1957 – Steve Gustafson, Spanish-American bass player
- 1957 – Rosemary Hill, English historian and author
- 1958 – Bob Bell, Northern Irish engineer
- 1958 – Yefim Bronfman, Uzbek-American pianist
- 1958 – Brigitte Holzapfel, German high jumper
- 1959 – Babyface, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1959 – Yvan Loubier, Canadian economist and politician
- 1959 – Brian Setzer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Steve Bisciotti, American businessman, co-founded Allegis Group
- 1960 – Katrina Leskanich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Terry Teagle, American basketball player
- 1961 – Nicky Campbell, Scottish broadcaster and journalist
- 1961 – Joe Cole, American roadie and author (d. 1991)
- 1961 – Carole Goble, English computer scientist and academic
- 1961 – Mark Jones, American basketball player
- 1962 – Steve Tasker, American football player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Warren DeMartini, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1963 – Jeff Gray, American baseball player and coach
- 1963 – Doris Leuthard, Swiss lawyer and politician, 162nd President of the Swiss Confederation
- 1965 – Tim Alexander, American drummer and songwriter
- 1966 – Steve Claridge, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
- 1967 – Donald Dufresne, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1967 – David Rovics, American singer-songwriter
- 1968 – Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer and journalist (d. 1996)
- 1968 – Orlando Jones, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1969 – Steve Glasson, Australian lawn bowler
- 1969 – Ekaterini Koffa, Greek sprinter
- 1970 – Enrico Ciccone, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Leonard Doroftei, Romanian-Canadian boxer
- 1970 – Kenny Lattimore, American singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Q-Tip, American rapper, producer, and actor
- 1971 – Brad William Henke, American football player and actor
- 1971 – Indro Olumets, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1971 – Al Reyes, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1972 – Ian Harvey, Australian cricketer
- 1972 – Priit Kasesalu, Estonian computer programmer, co-created Skype
- 1972 – Gordon Buchanan, Scottish film maker
- 1973 – Guillaume Canet, French actor and director
- 1973 – Roberto Carlos, Brazilian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Aidan Moffat, Scottish singer-songwriter
- 1973 – Christopher Simmons, Canadian-American graphic designer, author, and academic
- 1974 – Eric Greitens, American soldier, author and politician
- 1974 – Petros Passalis, Greek footballer
- 1975 – Chris Carrabba, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Terrence Lewis, Indian dancer and choreographer
- 1975 – David Harbour, American actor
- 1976 – Clare Buckfield, English actress
- 1976 – Yoshino Kimura, Japanese actress and singer
- 1976 – Sara Renner, Canadian skier
- 1977 – Stephanie Sheh, Taiwanese-American voice actress, director, and producer
- 1978 – Sir Christus, Finnish guitarist
- 1979 – Iván Alonso, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 – Kenyon Coleman, American football player
- 1979 – Rachel Corrie, American author and activist (d. 2003)
- 1979 – Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
- 1979 – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, English singer-songwriter
- 1979 – Peter Kopteff, Finnish footballer
- 1980 – Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player and model
- 1980 – Charlie Hunnam, English actor
- 1980 – Shao Jiayi, Chinese footballer
- 1980 – Kasey Kahne, American race car driver
- 1980 – Bryce Soderberg, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1981 – Laura Bell Bundy, American actress and singer
- 1981 – Liz McClarnon, English singer and dancer
- 1981 – Michael Pitt, American actor, model and musician
- 1981 – Alexei Semenov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Andre Ethier, American baseball player
- 1982 – Chyler Leigh, American actress and singer
- 1983 – Jamie Chung, American actress
- 1983 – Andrew Dost, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1983 – Ryan Merriman, American actor
- 1983 – Hannes Sigurðsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1984 – Faustina Agolley, Australian television host
- 1984 – Jeremy Barrett, American figure skater
- 1984 – Mandy Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1984 – David Obua, Ugandan footballer
- 1984 – Damien Perquis, French-Polish footballer
- 1984 – Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Barkhad Abdi, Somali-American actor and director
- 1985 – Willo Flood, Irish footballer
- 1985 – Jesús Gámez, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Dion Phaneuf, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Olivia Borlée, Belgian sprinter
- 1986 – Fernando Gago, Argentine footballer
- 1986 – Corey Kluber, American baseball pitcher
- 1986 – Vincent Kompany, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Tore Reginiussen, Norwegian footballer
- 1987 – Shay Mitchell, Canadian actress and model
- 1987 – Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano
- 1988 – Chris Heston, American baseball pitcher
- 1988 – Kareem Jackson, American football player
- 1988 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor
- 1990 – Ben Amos, English footballer
- 1990 – Andile Jali, South African footballer
- 1990 – Ricky Leutele, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- 1990 – Maren Morris, American singer
- 1990 – Alex Pettyfer, English actor
- 1991 – AJ Michalka, American actress and singer
- 1992 – Jack Buchanan, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Sadio Mané, Senegalese footballer
- 1992 – Daisy Ridley, English actress
- 1993 – Sofia Carson, American singer and actress
- 1994 – Siobhan Hunter, Scottish footballer
- 1995 – Ian Nelson, American actor
- 1996 – Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australian tennis player
- 1996 – Audrey Whitby, American actress
- 1998 – Anna Pogorilaya, Russian figure skater
- 2001 – Ky Baldwin, Australian singer and actor
- 2001 – Noa Kirel, Israeli singer
Deaths on April 10
- 879 – Louis the Stammerer, king of West Francia (b. 846)
- 943 – Landulf I, prince of Benevento and Capua
- 948 – Hugh of Arles, king of Italy
- 1008 – Notker of Liège, French bishop (b. 940)
- 1216 – Eric X, king of Sweden (b. 1180)
- 1282 – Ahmad Fanakati, chief minister under Kublai Khan
- 1309 – Elisabeth von Rapperswil, Swiss countess (b. 1261)
- 1362 – Maud, English noblewoman (b. 1339)
- 1500 – Michael Tarchaniota Marullus, Greek scholar and poet
- 1533 – Frederick I, king of Denmark and Norway (b. 1471)
- 1545 – Costanzo Festa, Italian composer
- 1585 – Gregory XIII, Pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1502)
- 1598 – Jacopo Mazzoni, Italian philosopher (b. 1548)
- 1599 – Gabrielle d’Estrées, French mistress of Henry IV of France (b. 1571)
- 1601 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish soldier and poet (b. 1562)
- 1619 – Thomas Jones, English-Irish archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Ireland (b. 1550)
- 1640 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1578)
- 1644 – William Brewster, English official and pilgrim leader (b. 1566)
- 1646 – Santino Solari, Swiss architect and sculptor (b. 1576)
- 1667 – Jan Marek Marci, Czech physician and author (b. 1595)
- 1704 – William Egon of Fürstenberg, German cardinal (b. 1629)
- 1756 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer (b. 1661)
- 1760 – Jean Lebeuf, French historian and author (b. 1687)
- 1786 – John Byron, English admiral and politician, 24th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1723)
- 1806 – Horatio Gates, English-American general (b. 1727)
- 1813 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1736)
- 1823 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher and academic (b. 1757)
- 1871 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1789)
- 1904 – Isabella II, Spanish queen (b. 1830)
- 1909 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic (b. 1837)
- 1919 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general (b. 1879)
- 1920 – Moritz Cantor, German mathematician and historian (b. 1829)
- 1931 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (b. 1883)
- 1935 – Rosa Campbell Praed, Australian novelist (b. 1851)
- 1938 – King Oliver, American cornet player and bandleader (b. 1885)
- 1942 – Carl Schenstrøm, Danish actor and director (b. 1881)
- 1943 – Andreas Faehlmann, Estonian-German sailor and engineer (b. 1898)
- 1945 – Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch printer and typographer (b. 1882)
- 1947 – Charles Nordhoff, English-American lieutenant and author (b. 1887)
- 1950 – Fevzi Çakmak, Turkish field marshal and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1876)
- 1954 – Auguste Lumière, French director and producer (b. 1862)
- 1954 – Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1888)
- 1955 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1881)
- 1958 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (b. 1928)
- 1960 – André Berthomieu, French director and screenwriter (b. 1903)
- 1962 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1886)
- 1962 – Stuart Sutcliffe, Scottish artist and musician (b. 1940)
- 1965 – Lloyd Casner, American race car driver, founded Casner Motor Racing Division (b. 1928)
- 1965 – Linda Darnell, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1966 – Evelyn Waugh, English soldier, novelist, journalist and critic (b. 1903)
- 1968 – Gustavs Celmiņš, Latvian lieutenant and politician (b. 1899)
- 1969 – Harley Earl, American businessman (b. 1893)
- 1975 – Walker Evans, American photographer (b. 1903)
- 1975 – Marjorie Main, American actress (b. 1890)
- 1978 – Hjalmar Mäe, Estonian politician (b. 1901)
- 1979 – Nino Rota, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1911)
- 1980 – Kay Medford, American actress and singer (b. 1919)
- 1981 – Howard Thurman, American author, philosopher and civil rights activist (b. 1899)
- 1983 – Issam Sartawi, Palestinian activist (b. 1935)
- 1985 – Zisis Verros, Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle (b. 1880)
- 1986 – Linda Creed, American singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (b. 1955)
- 1991 – Martin Hannett, English guitarist and producer (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1992 – Sam Kinison, American comedian and actor (b. 1953)
- 1993 – Chris Hani, South African activist and politician (b. 1942)
- 1994 – Sam B. Hall, Jr., American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1924)
- 1995 – Morarji Desai, Indian politician, 4th Prime Minister of India (b. 1896)
- 1997 – Michael Dorris, American author and academic (b. 1945)
- 1998 – Seraphim of Athens, Greek archbishop (b. 1913)
- 1999 – Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, German-American biochemist and physician (b. 1910)
- 1999 – Jean Vander Pyl, American actress and voice artist (b. 1919)
- 2000 – Peter Jones, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2000 – Larry Linville, American actor (b. 1939)
- 2003 – Little Eva, American singer (b. 1943)
- 2004 – Jacek Kaczmarski, Polish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and poet (b. 1957)
- 2004 – Sakıp Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist, founded Sabancı Holding (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Scott Gottlieb, American drummer (b. 1970)
- 2005 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Al Lucas, American football player (b. 1978)
- 2005 – Wally Tax, Dutch singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 2007 – Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2007 – Dakota Staton, American singer (b. 1930)
- 2009 – Deborah Digges, American poet and educator (b. 1950)
- 2010 – Casualties in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash included:
- Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish soldier and politician, 6th President of the Republic of Poland (b. 1919)
- Maria Kaczyńska, Polish economist, First Lady of Poland (b. 1942)
- Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 4th President of Poland (b. 1949)
- Anna Walentynowicz, Ukrainian-Polish journalist and activist (b. 1929)
- 2010 – Dixie Carter, American actress and singer (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Raymond Aubrac, French engineer and activist (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Barbara Buchholz, German theremin player and composer (b. 1959)
- 2012 – Lili Chookasian, Armenian-American operatic singer (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Luis Aponte Martínez, Puerto Rican cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Akin Omoboriowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Lorenzo Antonetti, Italian cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Raymond Boudon, French sociologist and academic (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Binod Bihari Chowdhury, Bangladeshi activist (b. 1911)
- 2013 – Robert Edwards, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Olive Lewin, Jamaican anthropologist, musicologist, and author (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Gordon Thomas, English cyclist (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Angela Voigt, German long jumper (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Dominique Baudis, French journalist and politician (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Jim Flaherty, Canadian lawyer and politician, 37th Canadian Minister of Finance (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Richard Hoggart, English author and academic (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (b. 1946)
- 2015 – Richie Benaud, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Raúl Héctor Castro, Mexican-American politician and diplomat, 14th Governor of Arizona (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Judith Malina, German-American actress and director, co-founded The Living Theatre (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Rose Francine Rogombé, Gabonese lawyer and politician, President of Gabon (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Peter Walsh, Australian farmer and politician, 6th Australian Minister for Finance (b. 1935)
- 2016 – Howard Marks, Welsh cannabis smuggler, writer, and legalisation campaigner (b. 1945)
Holidays and observances on April 10
- Christian feast day:
- Fulbert of Chartres
- James, Azadanus and Abdicius
- Mikael Agricola (Lutheran)
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (Episcopal Church)
- William of Ockham (Anglicanism)
- William Law (Anglicanism)
- April 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Builder (Azerbaijan)
- Feast of the Third Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema)
- Siblings Day (International observance)
- World Homeopathy Day