1749

  • June 6- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 913 – The 8-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, Constantine VII, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire, under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed by Constantine’s uncle Alexander III on his deathbed.
    • 1513 – Italian Wars: Battle of Novara. Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis II de la Trémoille, forcing the French to abandon Milan. Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored.
    • 1523 – Gustav Vasa, the Swedish regent, is elected King of Sweden, marking a symbolic end to the Kalmar Union. This is the Swedish national day.
    • 1586 – Francis Drake’s forces raid St. Augustine in Spanish Florida.
    • 1674 – Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire, is crowned.
    • 1749 – The Conspiracy of the Slaves in Malta is discovered.
    • 1762 – Seven Years’ War: British forces begin a siege of Havana, Cuba, and temporarily capture the city in the Battle of Havana.
    • 1808 – Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, is crowned King of Spain.
    • 1809 – Sweden promulgates a new Constitution, which restores political power to the Riksdag of the Estates after 20 years of enlightened absolutism. At the same time, Charles XIII is elected to succeed Gustav IV Adolf as King of Sweden.
    • 1813 – War of 1812: Battle of Stoney Creek: A British force of 700 under John Vincent defeats an American force twice its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
    • 1822 – Alexis St. Martin is accidentally shot in the stomach, leading to William Beaumont’s studies on digestion.
    • 1832 – The June Rebellion in Paris is put down by the National Guard.
    • 1844 – The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.
    • 1844 – The Glaciarium, the world’s first mechanically frozen ice rink, opens.
    • 1857 – Sophia of Nassau marries the future King Oscar II of Sweden–Norway.
    • 1859 – Australia: Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales (Queensland Day).
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Memphis: Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee, from the Confederates.
    • 1882 – The Shewan forces of Menelik II of Ethiopia defeat the Gojjame army in the Battle of Embabo. The Shewans capture Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, and their victory leads to a Shewan hegemony over the territories south of the Abay River.
    • 1889 – The Great Seattle Fire destroys all of downtown Seattle.
    • 1892 – The Chicago “L” elevated rail system begins operation.
    • 1894 – Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners’ strike.
    • 1909 – French troops capture Abéché (in modern-day Chad) and install a puppet sultan in the Ouaddai Empire.
    • 1912 – The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. It is the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
    • 1916 – The death of Yuan Shikai marks the beginning of China’s Warlord Era.
    • 1918 – World War I: Battle of Belleau Wood: The U.S. Marine Corps suffers its worst single day’s casualties while attempting to recapture the wood at Château-Thierry.
    • 1919 – After eight days of existence, the Republic of Prekmurje is conquered by the Hungarian Soviet Republic.
    • 1921 – Southwark Bridge in London is opened to traffic by King George V and Queen Mary.
    • 1932 – The Revenue Act of 1932 is enacted, creating the first gas tax in the United States, at a rate of 1 cent per US gallon (​1⁄4¢/L) sold.
    • 1933 – The first drive-in theater opens in Camden, New Jersey, United States.
    • 1934 – New Deal: The U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
    • 1939 – Judge Joseph Force Crater, known as the “Missingest Man in New York”, is declared legally dead.
    • 1942 – World War II: Battle of Midway. U.S. Navy dive bombers sink the Japanese cruiser Mikuma and four Japanese carriers.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Normandy—codenamed Operation Overlord—begins with the execution of Operation Neptune (commonly referred to as D-Day), the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The Allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
    • 1946 – The Basketball Association of America is founded in New York City; the BAA was the precursor to the modern National Basketball Association.
    • 1954 – The grand opening of the sculpture of Yuriy Dolgorukiy took place in Moscow. This statue is one of the main monuments of Moscow.
    • 1964 – Under a temporary order, the rocket launches at Cuxhaven, Germany are terminated. They never resume.
    • 1971 – Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 is launched.
    • 1971 – A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a United States Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet fighter near Duarte, California, claims 50 lives.
    • 1971 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Khanh between Australian and Vietnamese communist forces begins.
    • 1974 – A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.
    • 1981 – Bihar train disaster: A passenger train travelling between Mansi and Saharsa, India, jumps the tracks at a bridge crossing the Bagmati River. The government places the official death toll at 268 plus another 300 missing; however, it is generally believed that the death toll is closer to 1,000.
    • 1982 – The Lebanon War begins. Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Operation Peace for the Galilee, eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
    • 1985 – The grave of “Wolfgang Gerhard” is opened in Embu, Brazil; the exhumed remains are later proven to be those of Josef Mengele, Auschwitz’s “Angel of Death”; Mengele is thought to have drowned while swimming in February 1979.
    • 1993 – Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat wins the first presidential election in Mongolia.
    • 1994 – China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 crashes near Xi’an, China, killing all 160 people on board.
    • 2002 – Eastern Mediterranean event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
    • 2004 – Tamil is established as a “classical language” by the President of India, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, in a joint sitting of the two houses of the Indian Parliament.
    • 2005 – In Gonzales v. Raich, the United States Supreme Court upholds a federal law banning cannabis, including medical marijuana.

    Births on June 6

    pre-19th century

    • 1236 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (d. 1283)
    • 1243 – Alix of Brittany, Dame de Pontarcy, Breton noble (d. 1288)
    • 1296 – Władysław of Legnica (d. 1352)
    • 1436 – Regiomontanus, German mathematician, astronomer, and bishop (d. 1476)
    • 1519 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (d. 1603)
    • 1539 – Catherine Vasa, Regent of East Frisia (d. 1610)
    • 1553 – Bernardino Baldi, Italian mathematician and author (d. 1617)
    • 1556 – Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English politician and diplomat (d. 1625)
    • 1580 – Godefroy Wendelin, Belgian astronomer and author (d. 1667)
    • 1584 – Yuan Chonghuan, politician, military general and writer (d. 1630)
    • 1599 – Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter and educator (d. 1660)
    • 1606 – Pierre Corneille, French playwright and producer (d. 1684)
    • 1622 – Claude-Jean Allouez, French-American missionary and explorer (d. 1689)
    • 1646 – Hortense Mancini, favourite Italian niece of Cardinal Mazarin (d. 1699)
    • 1661 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer and educator (d. 1756)
    • 1699 – Johann Georg Estor, German historian and theorist (d. 1773)
    • 1714 – Joseph I of Portugal (d. 1777)
    • 1735 – Anton Schweitzer, German composer (d. 1787)
    • 1755 – Nathan Hale, American soldier (d. 1776)
    • 1756 – John Trumbull, American soldier and painter (d. 1843)
    • 1772 – Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily (d. 1807)
    • 1799 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian author and poet (d. 1837)

    19th century

    • 1807 – Thiệu Trị, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1847)
    • 1810 – Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin, German philologist and scholar (d. 1856)
    • 1829 – Honinbo Shusaku, Japanese Go player (d. 1862)
    • 1841 – Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author and publisher (d. 1910)
    • 1844 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter and academic (d. 1905)
    • 1850 – Karl Ferdinand Braun, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1918)
    • 1857 – Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1918)
    • 1862 – Henry Newbolt, English historian, author, and poet (d. 1938)
    • 1867 – David T. Abercrombie, American surveyor and businessman, founded Abercrombie & Fitch (d. 1931)
    • 1868 – Robert Falcon Scott, English sailor and explorer (d. 1912)
    • 1872 – Alix of Hesse, German princess and Russian empress (d.1918)
    • 1875 – Thomas Mann, German author and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
    • 1878 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer and politician (d. 1956)
    • 1884 – Jock Hutchison, Scottish-American golfer (d. 1977)
    • 1890 – Ted Lewis, American singer, clarinet player, and bandleader (d. 1971)
    • 1891 – Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, Indian author and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1891 – Erich Marcks, German general (d. 1944)
    • 1896 – Henry Allingham, English World War I soldier and supercentenarian (d. 2009).
    • 1896 – Italo Balbo, Italian air marshal and politician (d. 1940)
    • 1898 – Walter Abel, American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1898 – Jacobus Johannes Fouché, South African politician, 2nd State President of South Africa (d. 1980)
    • 1898 – Ninette de Valois, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (d. 2001)
    • 1900 – Manfred Sakel, Ukrainian-American psychiatrist and physician (d. 1957)

    1901–1930

    • 1901 – Jan Struther, English author and hymnwriter (d. 1953)
    • 1901 – Sukarno, Indonesian engineer and politician, 1st President of Indonesia (d. 1970)
    • 1902 – Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1947)
    • 1903 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor (d. 1978)
    • 1903 – Bakht Singh, Indian evangelist, well-known bible teacher and preacher (d. 2000)
    • 1906 – Max August Zorn, German mathematician and academic (d. 1993)
    • 1907 – Bill Dickey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1993)
    • 1907 – Robin Humphreys, British scholar of Latin America (d. 1999)
    • 1908 – Giovanni Bracco, Italian race car driver (d. 1968)
    • 1909 – Isaiah Berlin, Latvian-English historian and philosopher (d. 1997)
    • 1913 – Carlo L. Golino, Italian-American author, critic, and academic (d. 1991)
    • 1915 – Vincent Persichetti, American pianist and composer (d. 1987)
    • 1916 – Hamani Diori, Nigerien academic and politician, 1st President of Niger (d. 1989)
    • 1917 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation (d. 2015)
    • 1918 – Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, English army officer and politician, 6th Secretary General of NATO (d. 2018)
    • 1923 – V. C. Andrews, American author, illustrator, and painter (d. 1986)
    • 1923 – Jean Pouliot, Canadian broadcaster (d. 2004)
    • 1925 – Maxine Kumin, American poet and author (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Frank Chee Willeto, American soldier and politician, 4th Vice President of the Navajo Nation (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Torsten Andersson, Swedish painter and illustrator (d. 2009)
    • 1926 – Erdal İnönü, Turkish physicist and politician, Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2007)
    • 1926 – Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (d. 1998)
    • 1929 – Sunil Dutt, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (d. 2005)
    • 1930 – Frank Tyson, English-Australian cricketer, coach and journalist (d. 2015)

    1931–1945

    Tommie Smith, born 6 June 1944, at the 1968 Olympic medal ceremony where he and John Carlos (behind) protested against racism.

    • 1932 – David Scott, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
    • 1932 – Billie Whitelaw, English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Eli Broad, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded KB Home
    • 1933 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Albert II of Belgium
    • 1935 – Jon Henricks, Australian swimmer; winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1956.
    • 1936 – Mompati Merafhe, Botswana general and politician, Vice-President of Botswana (d. 2015)
    • 1936 – D. Ramanaidu, Indian actor, director, and producer, founded Suresh Productions (d. 2015)
    • 1936 – Levi Stubbs, American singer (d. 2008)
    • 1938 – Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza
    • 1938 – Ryuchi Matsuda, Japanese martial artist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Louis Andriessen, Dutch pianist and composer
    • 1939 – Gary U.S. Bonds, American singer-songwriter
    • 1939 – Eddie Giacomin, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1940 – Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya, Indian-English engineer and academic (d. 2019)
    • 1940 – Willie John McBride, Northern Irish rugby player, coach, and manager
    • 1941 – Alexander Cockburn, Scottish-American journalist and author (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – José de Jesús Gudiño Pelayo, Mexican lawyer and jurist (d. 2010)
    • 1943 – Richard Smalley, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
    • 1943 – Joe Stampley, American country music singer-songwriter
    • 1944 – Monty Alexander, Jamaican jazz pianist.
    • 1944 – Phillip Allen Sharp, American molecular biologist; 1993 Nobel Prize laureate (Physiology or Medicine).
    • 1944 – Tommie Smith, American sprinter and football player; winner of 1968 Olympic 200m gold medal in a world record time.

    1946–2000

    • 1946 – Tony Levin, American bass player and songwriter.[
    • 1947 – David Blunkett, British Labour politician; Home Secretary 2001–2004.
    • 1947 – Robert Englund, American actor; best known for Nightmare on Elm Street.
    • 1947 – Ada Kok, Dutch butterfly stroke swimmer; winner of three Olympic medals including gold in 1968.
    • 1948 – Arlene Harris, American entrepreneur, inventor, investor and policy advocate.
    • 1949 – Holly Near, American folk singer and songwriter.
    • 1954 – Harvey Fierstein, American actor and playwright; twice a winner at the Tony Awards.
    • 1954 – Wladyslaw Zmuda, Polish footballer and manager; 91 caps for Poland and voted Best Young Player at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
    • 1955 – Sam Simon, American director, producer and screenwriter; co-developer of The Simpsons (d. 2015).
    • 1956 – Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player; winner of eleven Grand Slam singles titles including five consecutive Wimbledons.
    • 1972 – Natalie Morales, American television journalist and NBC News anchor.

    Deaths

    • 184 – Qiao Xuan, Chinese official (b. c. 110).
    • 863 – Abu Musa Utamish, vizier to the Abbasid Caliphate.
    • 913 – Alexander III, Byzantine emperor (b. 870).
    • 1097 – Agnes of Aquitaine, Queen of Aragon and Navarre
    • 1134 – Norbert of Xanten, German bishop and saint (b. 1060)
    • 1217 – Henry I, King of Castile and Toledo (b. 1204)
    • 1237 – John of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon
    • 1251 – William III of Dampierre, Count of Flanders
    • 1252 – Robert Passelewe, Bishop of Chichester
    • 1333 – William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster (b. 1312)
    • 1393 – Emperor Go-En’yū of Japan (b. 1359)
    • 1480 – Vecchietta, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1412)
    • 1548 – João de Castro, Portuguese soldier and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1500)
    • 1561 – Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Italian painter (b. 1483)
    • 1583 – Nakagawa Kiyohide, Japanese daimyō (b. 1556)
    • 1659 – Nadira Banu Begum, Mughal princess (b. 1618)
    • 1661 – Martino Martini, Italian Jesuit missionary (b. 1614)
    • 1730 – Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon, French general (b. 1646)
    • 1740 – Alexander Spotswood, Moroccan-American colonial and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (b. 1676)
    • 1784 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch politician (b. 1741)
    • 1799 – Patrick Henry, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Virginia (b. 1736)
    • 1813 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect, designed the Hôtel de Mademoiselle de Condé (b. 1739)
    • 1813 – Antonio Cachia, Maltese architect, engineer and archaeologist (b. 1739)
    • 1832 – Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (b. 1748)
    • 1840 – Marcellin Champagnat, French priest and saint, founded the Marist Brothers (b. 1789)
    • 1843 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German poet and author (b. 1770)
    • 1861 – Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Italian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1810)
    • 1862 – Turner Ashby, American colonel (b. 1828)
    • 1865 – William Quantrill, American captain (b. 1837)
    • 1878 – Robert Stirling, Scottish minister and engineer, invented the stirling engine (b. 1790)
    • 1881 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (b. 1820)
    • 1883 – Ciprian Porumbescu, Romanian composer and poet (b. 1853)
    • 1891 – John A. Macdonald, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1815)
    • 1916 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese general and politician, 2nd President of the Republic of China (b. 1859)
    • 1922 – Lillian Russell, American actress and singer (b. 1860)
    • 1924 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (b. 1847)
    • 1934 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and author (b. 1864)
    • 1935 – Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, English field marshal and politician, 12th Governor-General of Canada (b. 1862)
    • 1941 – Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver and businessman, founded Chevrolet and Frontenac Motor Corporation (b. 1878)
    • 1943 – Pandelis Pouliopoulos, Greek politician (b. 1900)
    • 1946 – Gerhart Hauptmann, German novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
    • 1947 – James Agate, English author and critic (b. 1877)
    • 1948 – Louis Lumière, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1864)
    • 1951 – Olive Tell, American actress (b. 1894)
    • 1954 – Fritz Kasparek, Austrian mountaineer and author (b. 1910)
    • 1955 – Max Meldrum, Scottish-Australian painter and educator (b. 1875)
    • 1961 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist (b. 1875)
    • 1962 – Yves Klein, French painter (b. 1928)
    • 1962 – Tom Phillis, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1934)
    • 1963 – William Baziotes, American painter and academic (b. 1912)
    • 1968 – Randolph Churchill, English journalist and politician (b. 1911)
    • 1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 64th United States Attorney General (b. 1925)
    • 1968 – Kâzım Özalp, Turkish general and politician, 3rd Turkish Minister of National Defence (b. 1880)
    • 1975 – Larry Blyden, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 1976 – J. Paul Getty, American businessman, founded the Getty Oil Company (b. 1892)
    • 1979 – Jack Haley, American actor (b. 1897)
    • 1980 – Ruth Aarons, American table tennis player and manager (b. 1918)
    • 1982 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and academic (b. 1905)
    • 1983 – Hans Leip, German author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)
    • 1984 – A. Bertram Chandler, English-Australian soldier and author (b. 1912)
    • 1991 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (b. 1927)
    • 1994 – Barry Sullivan, American actor (b. 1912)
    • 1996 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1997 – Magda Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite (b. 1915)
    • 2000 – Frédéric Dard, French author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
    • 2001 – Suzanne Schiffman, French screenwriter and director (b. 1939)
    • 2003 – Ken Grimwood, American author (b. 1944)
    • 2003 – Dave Rowberry, English singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1940)
    • 2005 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (b. 1931)
    • 2005 – Dana Elcar, American actor (b. 1927)
    • 2006 – Arnold Newman, American photographer and educator (b. 1918)
    • 2006 – Billy Preston, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (b. 1946)
    • 2006 – Camille Sandorfy, Hungarian-Canadian chemist and academic (b. 1920)
    • 2009 – Jean Dausset, French-Spanish immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
    • 2009 – Jim Owens, American football player and coach (b. 1927)
    • 2010 – Marvin Isley, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1953)
    • 2012 – Vladimir Krutov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1960)
    • 2012 – Manuel Preciado Rebolledo, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1957)
    • 2012 – Mykola Volosyanko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1972)
    • 2013 – Jerome Karle, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Eugen Merzbacher, German-American physicist and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – Tom Sharpe, English-Spanish author and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Ado Bayero, Nigerian politician and diplomat (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Eric Hill, English-American author and illustrator (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Lorna Wing, English psychiatrist and physician (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Pierre Brice, French actor (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Vincent Bugliosi, American lawyer and author (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Ronnie Gilbert, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Ludvík Vaculík, Czech journalist and author (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Peter Shaffer, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2018 – Ralph Santolla, American guitarist (b. 1969)

    Holidays and observances on June 6

    • Christian feast day:
      • Claude the Thaumaturge
      • Gottschalk
      • Ini Kopuria (Church of England, Episcopal Church, Anglican Church of Melanesia)
      • Marcellin Champagnat
      • Norbert of Xanten
      • June 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Engineer’s Day (Taiwan)
    • Korean Children’s Union Foundation Day (North Korea)
    • Memorial Day (South Korea)
    • National Day, marks the end of the Danish-ruled Kalmar Union. (Sweden)
    • National Huntington’s Disease Awareness Day (United States)
    • Normandy landings of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (D-Day), a.k.a. Operation Neptune, part of Operation Overlord (1944)
    • Queensland Day (Queensland)
    • Teachers’ Day (Bolivia)
    • UN Russian Language Day (United Nations)

  • May 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1430 – Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to raise the Siege of Compiègne.
    • 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.
    • 1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.
    • 1568 – Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Arenberg, and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years’ War.
    • 1609 – Official ratification of the Second Virginia Charter takes place.
    • 1618 – The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years’ War.
    • 1701 – After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London.
    • 1706 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies.
    • 1788 – South Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution as the eighth American state.
    • 1793 – Battle of Famars during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
    • 1829 – Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna, Austrian Empire.
    • 1844 – Declaration of the Báb the evening before the 23rd: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement that would later be brutally crushed by the Persian government. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Bahá’í Faith; Bahá’ís celebrate the day as a holy day.
    • 1846 – Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.
    • 1863 – The General German Workers’ Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony.
    • 1873 – The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
    • 1900 – American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.
    • 1907 – The unicameral Parliament of Finland gathers for its first plenary session.
    • 1911 – The New York Public Library is dedicated.
    • 1915 – World War I: Italy joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London.
    • 1932 – In Brazil, four students are shot and killed during a manifestation against the Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas, which resulted in the outbreak of the Constitutionalist Revolution several weeks later.
    • 1934 – Infamous American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
    • 1934 – The Auto-Lite strike culminates in the “Battle of Toledo”, a five-day melée between 1,300 troops of the Ohio National Guard and 6,000 picketers.
    • 1939 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Squalus sinks off the coast of New Hampshire during a test dive, causing the death of 24 sailors and two civilian technicians. The remaining 32 sailors and one civilian naval architect are rescued the following day.
    • 1945 – World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.
    • 1945 – World War II: Germany’s Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces.
    • 1948 – Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel.
    • 1949 – Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany.
    • 1951 – Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement with China.
    • 1960 – A tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile the previous day kills 61 people in Hilo, Hawaii.
    • 1992 – Italy’s most prominent anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife and three body guards are killed by the Corleonesi clan with a half-ton bomb near Capaci, Sicily. His friend and colleague Paolo Borsellino will be assassinated less than two months later, making 1992 a turning point in the history of Italian Mafia prosecutions.
    • 1995 – The first version of the Java programming language is released.
    • 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes.
    • 2002 – The “55 parties” clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.
    • 2006 – Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts.
    • 2008 – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.
    • 2013 – A freeway bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington.
    • 2014 – Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed and another 14 injured in a killing spree near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.
    • 2015 – At least 46 people are killed as a result of floods caused by a tornado in Texas and Oklahoma.
    • 2016 – Two suicide bombings, conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, killed at least 45 potential army recruits in Aden, Yemen.
    • 2016 – Eight bombings were carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria. One hundred eighty-four people were killed and at least 200 people injured.
    • 2017 – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao, following the Maute’s attack in Marawi.

    Births on May 23

    • 635 – K’inich Kan Bahlam II, Mayan king (d. 702)
    • 675 – Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar II, King of Mutharaiyar dynasty, Tamil Nadu, India
    • 1052 – Philip I of France (d. 1108)
    • 1100 – Emperor Qinzong of Song (d. 1161)
    • 1127 – Uijong of Goryeo, Korean monarch of the Goryeo dynasty (d. 1173)
    • 1330 – Gongmin of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 1374)
    • 1586 – Paul Siefert, German composer and organist (d. 1666)
    • 1606 – Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish mathematician and philosopher (d. 1682)
    • 1614 – Bertholet Flemalle, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1675)
    • 1617 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (d. 1692)
    • 1629 – William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, noble of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1663)
    • 1707 – Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (d. 1778)
    • 1718 – William Hunter, Scottish-English anatomist and physician (d. 1783)
    • 1729 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and educator (d. 1799)
    • 1730 – Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Prussian prince and general (d. 1813)
    • 1734 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologer (d. 1815)
    • 1741 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian organist and composer (d. 1801)
    • 1789 – Franz Schlik, Austrian earl and general (d. 1862)
    • 1790 – Jules Dumont d’Urville, French admiral and explorer (d. 1842)
    • 1790 – James Pradier, French neoclassical sculptor (d. 1852)
    • 1794 – Ignaz Moscheles, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1870)
    • 1795 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed the Upper Brook Street Chapel and Halifax Town Hall (d. 1860)
    • 1800 – Rómulo Díaz de la Vega, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1877)
    • 1810 – Margaret Fuller, American journalist and critic (d. 1850)
    • 1817 – Manuel Robles Pezuela, Unconstitutional Mexican interim president (d. 1862)
    • 1820 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (d. 1887)
    • 1820 – Lorenzo Sawyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 1891)
    • 1824 – Ambrose Burnside, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1881)
    • 1834 – Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis, Latvian architect (d. 1891)
    • 1834 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (d. 1890)
    • 1837 – Anatole Mallet, Swiss mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1919)
    • 1837 – Józef Wieniawski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1912)
    • 1838 – Amaldus Nielsen, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
    • 1840 – George Throssell, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Western Australia (d. 1910)
    • 1844 – `Abdu’l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader (d. 1921)
    • 1848 – Otto Lilienthal, German pilot and engineer (d. 1896)
    • 1855 – Isabella Ford, English author and activist (d. 1924)
    • 1861 – József Rippl-Rónai, Hungarian painter (d. 1927)
    • 1863 – Władysław Horodecki, Polish architect (d. 1930)
    • 1864 – William O’Connor, American fencer (d. 1939)
    • 1865 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian jurist and politician, 11th President of Brazil (d. 1942)
    • 1875 – Alfred P. Sloan, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1966)
    • 1882 – William Halpenny, Canadian pole vaulter (d. 1960)
    • 1883 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1939)
    • 1884 – Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist and demographer (d. 1965)
    • 1887 – Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (d. 1963)
    • 1887 – Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian sailor and captain (d. 1951)
    • 1888 – Adriaan Roland Holst, Dutch writer (d. 1976)
    • 1888 – Zack Wheat, American baseball player and police officer (d. 1972)
    • 1889 – Ernst Niekisch, German educator and politician (d. 1967)
    • 1890 – Herbert Marshall, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
    • 1891 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
    • 1892 – Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, British peer and grandfather of Diana Spencer (d. 1975)
    • 1896 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motorcycle racer (d. 1937)
    • 1898 – Scott O’Dell, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1989)
    • 1898 – Josef Terboven, German soldier and politician (d. 1945)
    • 1899 – Jeralean Talley, American super-centenarian (d. 2015)
    • 1900 – Hans Frank, German lawyer and politician (d. 1946)
    • 1900 – Franz Leopold Neumann, German lawyer and theorist (d. 1954)
    • 1908 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
    • 1908 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (d. 1934)
    • 1910 – Margaret Wise Brown, American author and educator (d. 1952)
    • 1910 – Hugh Casson, English architect and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1910 – Scatman Crothers, American actor and comedian (d. 1986)
    • 1910 – Franz Kline, American painter and academic (d. 1962)
    • 1910 – Artie Shaw, American clarinet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2004)
    • 1911 – Lou Brouillard, Canadian boxer (d. 1984)
    • 1911 – Paul Augustin Mayer, German cardinal (d. 2010)
    • 1911 – Betty Nuthall, English tennis player (d. 1983)
    • 1912 – Jean Françaix, French pianist and composer (d. 1997)
    • 1912 – John Payne, American actor (d. 1989)
    • 1914 – Harold Hitchcock, English visionary landscape artist (d. 2009)
    • 1914 – Celestine Sibley, American journalist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1914 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist, journalist, and prominent Catholic layperson (d. 1981)
    • 1915 – S. Donald Stookey, American physicist and chemist, invented CorningWare (d. 2014)
    • 1917 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (d. 2008)
    • 1918 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1997)
    • 1919 – Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (d. 1988)
    • 1919 – Ruth Fernández, Puerto Rican contralto and a member of the Puerto Rican Senate (d. 2012)
    • 1919 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2011)
    • 1920 – Helen O’Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
    • 1923 – Alicia de Larrocha, Catalan-Spanish pianist (d. 2009)
    • 1923 – Irving Millman, American virologist and microbiologist (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Joshua Lederberg, American biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
    • 1926 – Basil Salvadore D’Souza, Indian bishop (d. 1996)
    • 1926 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African activist and politician (d. 1995)
    • 1928 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
    • 1928 – Nigel Davenport, English actor (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Nina Otkalenko, Russian runner (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish-Austrian actress (d. 1982)
    • 1930 – Friedrich Achleitner, German poet and critic (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Barbara Barrie, American actress
    • 1932 – Kevork Ajemian, Syrian-French journalist and author (d. 1998)
    • 1933 – Joan Collins, English actress
    • 1933 – Ove Fundin, Swedish motorcycle racer
    • 1934 – Robert Moog, electronic engineer and inventor of the Moog synthesizer (d. 2005)
    • 1935 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author (d. 2009)
    • 1936 – Ingeborg Hallstein, German soprano and actress
    • 1936 – Charles Kimbrough, American actor
    • 1939 – Michel Colombier, French-American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1939 – Reinhard Hauff, German director and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Bjorn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (d. 2002)
    • 1940 – Gérard Larrousse, French race car driver
    • 1940 – Cora Sadosky, Argentinian mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1941 – Zalman King, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Rod Thorn, American basketball player, coach, and executive
    • 1942 – Gabriel Liiceanu, Romanian philosopher, author, and academic
    • 1942 – Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao, Indian director, screenwriter, and choreographer
    • 1943 – Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (d. 2016)
    • 1944 – John Newcombe, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1945 – Padmarajan, Indian director, screenwriter, and author (d. 1991)
    • 1946 – David Graham, Australian golfer
    • 1947 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and translator (d. 1995)
    • 1948 – Myriam Boyer, French actress, director, and producer
    • 1949 – Daniel DiNardo, American cardinal
    • 1949 – Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 61st and 64th President of Peru (d. 2019)
    • 1950 – Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 2017)
    • 1951 – Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess player
    • 1951 – Antonis Samaras, Greek economist and politician, 185th Prime Minister of Greece
    • 1952 – Martin Parr, English photographer and journalist
    • 1954 – Gerry Armstrong, Northern Irish international footballer, striker
    • 1954 – Marvelous Marvin Hagler, American boxer and actor
    • 1955 – Luka Bloom, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1956 – Andrea Pazienza, Italian illustrator and painter (d. 1988)
    • 1956 – Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician and diplomat, Foreign Minister of Austria
    • 1956 – Buck Showalter, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1958 – Mitch Albom, American journalist, author, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Drew Carey, American actor, game show host, and entrepreneur
    • 1958 – Lea DeLaria, American actress and singer
    • 1959 – Marcella Mesker, Dutch tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Linden Ashby, American actor
    • 1961 – Daniele Massaro, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Norrie May-Welby, Scottish Australian gender activist
    • 1962 – Karen Duffy, American actress
    • 1963 – Viviane Baladi, Swiss mathematician
    • 1964 – Ruth Metzler, Swiss lawyer and politician
    • 1965 – Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo, Spanish footballer
    • 1965 – Tom Tykwer, German director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
    • 1965 – Melissa McBride, American actress
    • 1965 – Paul Sironen, Australian rugby league player
    • 1966 – Graeme Hick, Zimbabwean-English cricketer and coach
    • 1966 – Gary Roberts, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1967 – Luís Roberto Alves, Mexican footballer
    • 1967 – Anna Ibrisagic, Swedish politician
    • 1968 – Guinevere Turner, American actress and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Bryan Herta, American race car driver and businessman, co-founded Bryan Herta Autosport
    • 1971 – George Osborne, English journalist and politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer
    • 1972 – Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1972 – Martin Saggers, English cricketer and umpire
    • 1973 – Maxwell, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1974 – Jewel, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actress, and poet
    • 1974 – Manuela Schwesig, German politician, German Federal Minister of Family Affairs
    • 1976 – Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1977 – Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
    • 1978 – Scott Raynor, American drummer
    • 1979 – Rasual Butler, American basketball player (d. 2018)
    • 1979 – Brian Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – Theofanis Gekas, Greek footballer
    • 1980 – Ben Ross, Australian rugby league player
    • 1983 – Silvio Proto, Belgian-Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Hugo Almeida, Portuguese footballer
    • 1985 – Sebastián Fernández, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1985 – Teymuraz Gabashvili, Russian tennis player
    • 1985 – Wim Stroetinga, Dutch cyclist
    • 1985 – Ross Wallace, Scottish footballer
    • 1986 – Ryan Coogler, American film director and screenwriter
    • 1986 – Alexei Sitnikov, Russian-Azerbaijani figure skater
    • 1986 – Alice Tait, Australian swimmer
    • 1986 – Ruben Zadkovich, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Gracie Otto, Australian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1987 – Bray Wyatt, American wrestler
    • 1988 – Rosanna Crawford, Canadian biathlete
    • 1988 – Angelo Ogbonna, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Morgan Pressel, American golfer
    • 1989 – Ezequiel Schelotto, Italian footballer
    • 1990 – Dan Evans, British tennis player
    • 1990 – Kristina Kucova, Slovakian tennis player
    • 1990 – Oliver Venno, Estonian volleyball player
    • 1991 – Aaron Donald, American football player
    • 1991 – Lena Meyer-Landrut, German singer-songwriter
    • 1991 – César Pinares, Chilean footballer
    • 1996 – Katharina Althaus, German ski jumper
    • 1996 – Emmanuel Boateng, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1996 – Razvan Marin, Romanian footballer
    • 1997 – Pedro Chirivella, Spanish footballer
    • 1997 – Coy Craft, American footballer
    • 1997 – Joe Gomez, English footballer
    • 1997 – Gustaf Nilsson, Swedish footballer
    • 1997 – Sam Timmins, New Zealand basketball player
    • 1998 – Sérgio Sette Câmara, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1998 – Ross Cunningham, Scottish footballer
    • 1998 – Salwa Eid Naser, Bahraini track and field sprinter
    • 1998 – Luca De La Torre, American footballer
    • 1998 – Steve Lacy, American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer
    • 2000 – Felipe Drugovich, Brazilian race car driver
    • 2000 – Jaxson Hayes, American basketball player

    Deaths on May 23

    • 230 – Urban I, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 922 – Li Sizhao, Chinese general and governor
    • 962 – Guibert of Gembloux, Frankish abbot (b. 892)
    • 1125 – Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1081)
    • 1304 – Jehan de Lescurel, French poet and composer
    • 1338 – Alice de Warenne, Countess of Arundel, English noble (b. 1287)
    • 1370 – Toghon Temür, Mongol emperor (b. 1320)
    • 1423 – Antipope Benedict XIII (b. 1328)
    • 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian friar and preacher (b. 1452)
    • 1523 – Ashikaga Yoshitane, Japanese shōgun (b. 1466)
    • 1524 – Ismail I, First Emperor of Safavid Empire (b. 1487)
    • 1591 – John Blitheman, English organist and composer (b. 1525)
    • 1662 – John Gauden, English bishop (b. 1605)
    • 1670 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1610)
    • 1691 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (b. 1622)
    • 1701 – William Kidd, Scottish pirate (b. 1645)
    • 1749 – Abraham ben Abraham, Polish martyr (b. 1700)
    • 1752 – William Bradford, English-American printer (b. 1663)
    • 1754 – John Wood, the Elder, English architect, designed The Circus and Queen Square (b. 1704)
    • 1783 – James Otis, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1725)
    • 1813 – Géraud Duroc, French general and diplomat (b. 1772)
    • 1815 – Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, American clergyman and botanist (b. 1753)
    • 1841 – Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1765)
    • 1855 – Charles Robert Malden, English lieutenant and explorer (b. 1797)
    • 1857 – Augustin-Louis Cauchy, French mathematician and academic (b. 1789)
    • 1868 – Kit Carson, American general (b. 1809)
    • 1886 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian and academic (b. 1795)
    • 1893 – Anton von Schmerling, Austrian politician (b. 1805)
    • 1895 – Franz Ernst Neumann, German mineralogist, physicist, and mathematician (b. 1798)
    • 1906 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian director, playwright, and poet (b. 1828)
    • 1908 – François Coppée, French poet and author (b. 1842)
    • 1920 – Svetozar Boroević, Croatian-Austrian field marshal (b. 1856)
    • 1921 – August Nilsson, Swedish shot putter and tug of war competitor (b. 1872)
    • 1934 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (b. 1909)
    • 1934 – Mihkel Martna, Estonian journalist and politician (b. 1860)
    • 1934 – Bonnie Parker, American criminal (b. 1910)
    • 1937 – John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company and Rockefeller University (b. 1839)
    • 1938 – Frederick Ruple, Swiss-American painter (b. 1871)
    • 1942 – Panagiotis Toundas, Greek composer and conductor (b. 1886)
    • 1945 – Heinrich Himmler, German commander and politician, Reich Minister of the Interior (b. 1900)
    • 1947 – Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss author and poet (b. 1878)
    • 1949 – Jan Frans De Boever, Belgian painter and illustrator (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Gustav Suits, Latvian-Estonian poet and politician (b. 1883)
    • 1960 – Georges Claude, French engineer and inventor, created Neon lighting (b. 1870)
    • 1962 – Louis Coatalen, French engineer (b. 1879)
    • 1963 – August Jakobson, Estonian author and politician (b. 1904)
    • 1965 – David Smith, American sculptor (b. 1906)
    • 1975 – Moms Mabley, American comedian and actor (b. 1894)
    • 1979 – S. Selvanayagam, Sri Lankan geographer and academic (b. 1932)
    • 1981 – Gene Green, American baseball player (b. 1933)
    • 1981 – Rayner Heppenstall, English author and poet (b. 1911)
    • 1981 – George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1898)
    • 1981 – David Lewis, Belarusian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
    • 1986 – Sterling Hayden, American actor (b. 1916)
    • 1989 – Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian director and producer (b. 1915)
    • 1989 – Karl Koch, German computer hacker (b. 1965)
    • 1991 – Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist and composer (b. 1895)
    • 1991 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1907)
    • 1991 – Fletcher Markle, Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1921)
    • 1992 – Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (b. 1948)
    • 1992 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (b. 1939)
    • 1994 – Olav Hauge, Norwegian poet (b. 1908)
    • 1996 – Kronid Lyubarsky, Russian journalist and activist (b. 1934)
    • 1998 – Telford Taylor, American general and lawyer (b. 1908)
    • 1999 – Owen Hart, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1965)
    • 2002 – Sam Snead, American golfer and journalist (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1921)
    • 2006 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and manager (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Iñaki Ochoa de Olza, Spanish mountaineer (b. 1967)
    • 2008 – Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1935)
    • 2009 – Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean soldier and politician, 9th President of South Korea (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – José Lima, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1972)
    • 2010 – Simon Monjack, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1970)
    • 2011 – Xavier Tondo, Spanish cyclist (b. 1978)
    • 2012 – Paul Fussell, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Epy Guerrero, Dominican baseball player, coach, and scout (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Hayri Kozakçıoğlu, Turkish police officer and politician, 15th Governor of Istanbul Province (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Georges Moustaki, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
    • 2013 – Flynn Robinson, American basketball player (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Mikhail Egorovich Alekseev, Russian linguist and academic (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – Madhav Mantri, Indian cricketer (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Anne Meara, American actress, comedian and playwright (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Aleksey Mozgovoy, Ukrainian sergeant (b. 1975)
    • 2015 – Alicia Nash, Salvadoran-American physicist and engineer (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – John Forbes Nash, Jr., American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Roger Moore, English actor (b. 1927)
    • 2020 – Hana Kimura, Japanese professional wrestler (b. 1997)

    Holidays and observances on May 23

    • Christian feast day:
      • Aaron the Illustrious (Syriac Orthodox Church)
      • Desiderius of Vienne
      • Giovanni Battista de’ Rossi
      • Julia of Corsica
      • Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Quintian, Lucius and Julian
      • William of Perth
      • May 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Constitution Day (Germany)
    • Earliest day on which Declaration of the Báb can fall, while May 24 is the latest; observed on ‘Aẓamat 8 (Bahá’í Faith)
    • Earliest day on which National Heroes’ Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Monday of May. (Turks and Caicos Islands)
    • Labour Day (Jamaica)
    • Students’ Day (Mexico)
    • World Turtle Day

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

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

    Births on May 19

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

    Deaths on May 19

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

    Holidays and observances on May 19

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

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

    • 1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.
    • 1536 – George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason.
    • 1536 – Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s marriage is annulled.
    • 1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
    • 1642 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
    • 1673 – Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
    • 1792 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed under the Buttonwood Agreement.
    • 1805 – Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.
    • 1809 – Emperor Napoleon I orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
    • 1814 – Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
    • 1814 – The Constitution of Norway is signed and Crown Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.
    • 1859 – Members of the Melbourne Football Club codified the first rules of Australian rules football.
    • 1863 – Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.
    • 1865 – The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.
    • 1875 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby with the jockey Oliver Lewis (2:37.75)
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
    • 1900 – The children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, is first published in the United States. The first copy is given to the author’s sister.
    • 1902 – Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
    • 1914 – The Protocol of Corfu is signed, recognising full autonomy to Northern Epirus under nominal Albanian sovereignty.
    • 1915 – The last British Liberal Party government (led by H. H. Asquith) falls.
    • 1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
    • 1939 – The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States’ first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.
    • 1940 – World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
    • 1943 – World War II: Dambuster Raids commence by No. 617 Squadron RAF.
    • 1954 – The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, outlawing racial segregation in public schools.
    • 1967 – Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
    • 1969 – Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
    • 1973 – Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
    • 1974 – The Troubles: Thirty-three civilians are killed and 300 injured when the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) detonates four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Republic of Ireland.
    • 1974 – Police in Los Angeles raid the Symbionese Liberation Army’s headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
    • 1977 – Nolan Bushnell opened the first Chuck E. Cheese’s in San Jose, California.
    • 1980 – General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
    • 1980 – On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in Chuschi (a town in Ayacucho), starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
    • 1983 – The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world’s largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds , in response to the Appalachian Observer’s Freedom of Information Act request.
    • 1983 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
    • 1984 – Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”, sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
    • 1987 – Iran–Iraq War: An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
    • 1990 – The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.
    • 1992 – Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially confirmed deaths, hundreds of injuries, many disappearances, and more than 3,500 arrests.
    • 1994 – Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.
    • 1995 – Shawn Nelson steals an M60 tank from the California Army National Guard Armory in San Diego and proceeds to go on a rampage.
    • 1997 – Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.
    • 2000 – Arsenal and Galatasaray fans clash in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots in Copenhagen
    • 2004 – The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. are performed in the state of Massachusetts.
    • 2006 – The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.
    • 2007 – Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.
    • 2014 – A plane crash in northern Laos kills 17 people.

    Births on May 17

    • 1155 – Jien, Japanese monk, poet, and historian (d. 1225)
    • 1443 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland (d. 1460)
    • 1451 – Engelbert II of Nassau, Count of Nassau-Vianden and Lord of Breda (1475–1504) (d. 1504)
    • 1490 – Albert, Duke of Prussia, last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (d. 1568)
    • 1500 – Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (d. 1540)
    • 1551 – Martin Delrio, Belgian occultist and theologian (d. 1601)
    • 1568 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Swedish princess (d. 1625)
    • 1610 – Stefano della Bella, Italian engraver and etcher (d. 1664)
    • 1628 – Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria (d. 1662)
    • 1636 – Edward Colman, English Catholic courtier under Charles II (d. 1678)
    • 1682 – Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (d. 1722)
    • 1698 – Gio Nicola Buhagiar, Maltese painter (d. 1752)
    • 1706 – Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (d. 1780)
    • 1718 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1778)
    • 1732 – Francesco Pasquale Ricci, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1817)
    • 1743 – Seth Warner, American colonel (d. 1784)
    • 1749 – Edward Jenner, English physician and microbiologist (d. 1823)
    • 1758 – Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet, English politician (d. 1839)
    • 1768 – Caroline of Brunswick (d. 1821)
    • 1768 – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1854)
    • 1794 – Anna Brownell Jameson, Irish-English author (d. 1860)
    • 1818 – Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (d. 1899)
    • 1821 – Sebastian Kneipp, German priest and therapist (d. 1897)
    • 1835 – Thomas McIlwraith, Scottish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Queensland (d. 1900)
    • 1836 – Virginie Loveling, Belgian author and poet (d. 1923)
    • 1836 – Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian-American chess player (d. 1900)
    • 1845 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan priest and poet (d. 1902)
    • 1860 – Martin Kukučín, Slovak author and playwright (d. 1928)
    • 1860 – Charlotte Barnum, American mathematician and social activist (d. 1934)
    • 1863 – Léon Gérin, Canadian lawyer, sociologist, and civil servant (d. 1951)
    • 1864 – Louis Richardet, Swiss target shooter (d. 1923)
    • 1864 – Ante Trumbić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 27th Mayor of Split (d. 1938)
    • 1866 – Erik Satie, French pianist and composer (d. 1925)
    • 1868 – Horace Elgin Dodge, American businessman, co-founded Dodge (d. 1920)
    • 1868 – Panagis Tsaldaris, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936)
    • 1870 – Newton Moore, Australian politician, 8th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1936)
    • 1873 – Henri Barbusse, French author and journalist (d. 1935)
    • 1873 – Dorothy Richardson, English author and journalist (d. 1957)
    • 1874 – George Sheldon, American diver (d. 1907)
    • 1882 – Karl Burman, Estonian architect and painter (d. 1965)
    • 1886 – Alfonso XIII of Spain, Spanish monarch (d. 1941)
    • 1888 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (d. 1965)
    • 1889 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (d. 1946)
    • 1889 – Alfonso Reyes, Mexican author (d. 1959)
    • 1891 – Napoleon Zervas, Greek general and politician (d. 1957)
    • 1893 – Frederick McKinley Jones, American inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1961)
    • 1895 – Saul Adler, Belarusian-English captain and parasitologist (d. 1966)
    • 1895 – Reinhold Saulmann, Estonian sprinter and bandy player (d. 1936)
    • 1897 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
    • 1898 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (d. 1992)
    • 1899 – Carmen de Icaza, Spanish writer (d. 1979)
    • 1901 – Werner Egk, German pianist and composer (d. 1983)
    • 1903 – Cool Papa Bell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
    • 1904 – Marie-Anne Desmarest, French author (d. 1973)
    • 1906 – Zinka Milanov, Croatian-American soprano and educator (d. 1989)
    • 1909 – Julius Sumner Miller, American physicist and academic (d. 1987)
    • 1911 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-American model (d. 1992)
    • 1911 – Maureen O’Sullivan, Irish-American actress (d. 1998)
    • 1912 – Archibald Cox, American lawyer and politician, 31st United States Solicitor General (d. 2004)
    • 1912 – Ace Parker, American baseball and football player (d. 2013)
    • 1912 – Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner, American inventor (d. 2006)
    • 1913 – Hans Ruesch, Swiss racing driver and author (d. 2007)
    • 1914 – Robert N. Thompson, American-Canadian chiropractor and politician (d. 1997)
    • 1918 – Joan Benham, English actress (d. 1981)
    • 1918 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish operatic soprano (d. 2005)
    • 1919 – Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
    • 1919 – Merle Miller, American author and screenwriter (d. 1986)
    • 1919 – Gustav Naan, Russian-Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1994)
    • 1920 – Harry Männil, Estonian-Venezuelan businessman, co-founded ACO Group (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Dennis Brain, English composer (d. 1957)
    • 1921 – Bob Merrill, American composer and screenwriter (d. 1998)
    • 1922 – Jean Rédélé, French racing driver, founded Alpine (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Michael Beetham, English commander and pilot (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Roy Bentley, English footballer (d. 2018)
    • 1924 – Francis Tombs, Baron Tombs, English engineer and politician (d. 2020)
    • 1926 – David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, English-Scottish soldier and politician
    • 1926 – Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Franz Sondheimer, German-English chemist and academic (d. 1981)
    • 1929 – Branko Zebec, Yugoslav football player and coach (d. 1988)
    • 1931 – Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader, founded Heaven’s Gate (d. 1997)
    • 1931 – Dewey Redman, American saxophonist (d. 2006)
    • 1932 – Rodric Braithwaite, English soldier and diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia
    • 1932 – Peter Burge, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
    • 1933 – Yelena Gorchakova, Russian javelin thrower (d. 2002)
    • 1934 – Friedrich-Wilhelm Kiel, German educator and politician
    • 1934 – Earl Morrall, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1934 – Ronald Wayne, American computer scientist, co-founded Apple Inc.
    • 1935 – Dennis Potter, English voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
    • 1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and director (d. 2010)
    • 1937 – Hazel R. O’Leary, American lawyer and politician, 7th United States Secretary of Energy
    • 1938 – Jason Bernard, American actor (d. 1996)
    • 1938 – Marcia Freedman, Israeli activist
    • 1938 – Pervis Jackson, American R&B bass singer (d. 2008)
    • 1939 – Hugh Dykes, Baron Dykes, English politician
    • 1939 – Gary Paulsen, American author
    • 1940 – Alan Kay, American computer scientist and academic
    • 1940 – Reynato Puno, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 22nd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
    • 1941 – David Cope, American composer and author
    • 1941 – Ben Nelson, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Nebraska
    • 1942 – Taj Mahal, American blues singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1943 – Sirajuddin of Perlis, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
    • 1943 – Johnny Warren, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2004)
    • 1944 – Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1945 – B.S. Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer
    • 1945 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player and coach
    • 1946 – Udo Lindenberg, German singer-songwriter and drummer
    • 1947 – Stephen Platten, English bishop
    • 1948 – Dick Gaughan, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1949 – Bill Bruford, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1949 – Keith, American pop singer
    • 1950 – Howard Ashman, American playwright and composer (d. 1991)
    • 1950 – Keith Bradley, Baron Bradley, English accountant and politician
    • 1950 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian economist and politician, 2nd President of Slovenia (d. 2008)
    • 1950 – Alan Johnson, English politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
    • 1950 – Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Russian journalist and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1951 – Simon Hughes, English lawyer and politician
    • 1952 – Howard Hampton, Canadian lawyer and politician
    • 1954 – Michael Roberts, South African-English jockey
    • 1955 – Bill Paxton, American actor and director (d. 2017)
    • 1955 – David Townsend, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
    • 1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
    • 1956 – Annise Parker, American politician
    • 1956 – Bob Saget, American comedian, actor, and television host
    • 1956 – Dave Sim, Canadian cartoonist and author
    • 1957 – Pascual Pérez, Dominican baseball player (d. 2012)
    • 1958 – Paul Di’Anno, English rock singer-songwriter
    • 1959 – Marcelo Loffreda, Argentine rugby player and coach
    • 1960 – Lou DiBella, American boxing promoter, actor, and producer
    • 1960 – Simon Fuller, English talent manager and producer, created the Idols series
    • 1961 – Enya, Irish singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Jamil Azzaoui, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1961 – Justin King, English businessman
    • 1962 – Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish journalist and author
    • 1962 – Andrew Farrar, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1962 – Craig Ferguson, Scottish-American comedian, actor, and talk show host
    • 1962 – Jane Moore, English journalist and author
    • 1962 – Rosalind Picard, American computer scientist and engineer, co-founded Affectiva
    • 1963 – Jon Koncak, American basketball player
    • 1963 – Page McConnell, American keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1964 – Stratos Apostolakis, Greek footballer and coach
    • 1964 – Mauro Martini, Italian race car driver
    • 1964 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (d. 1999)
    • 1965 – Trent Reznor, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer
    • 1965 – Jeremy Vine, English journalist and author
    • 1966 – Qusay Hussein, Iraqi soldier and politician (d. 2003)
    • 1966 – Mark Kratzmann, Australian tennis player and coach
    • 1966 – Danny Manning, American basketball player and coach
    • 1966 – Gilles Quénéhervé, French sprinter
    • 1967 – Nancy Benoit, American professional wrestling valet and model (d. 2007)
    • 1967 – Mohamed Nasheed, Maldivian lawyer and politician 4th President of the Maldives
    • 1967 – Patrick Ortlieb, Austrian skier
    • 1968 – Dave Abbruzzese, American rock drummer and songwriter
    • 1969 – Keith Hill, English footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Hubert Davis, American basketball player and coach
    • 1970 – Jordan Knight, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1970 – Matt Lindland, American mixed martial artist, wrestler, and politician
    • 1970 – Jodie Rogers, Australian diver
    • 1970 – René Vilbre, Estonian director and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Mark Connors, Australian rugby player
    • 1971 – Shaun Hart, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Stella Jongmans, Dutch athlete
    • 1971 – Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Dutch royal
    • 1971 – Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island
    • 1972 – Barry Hayles, English born Jamaican international footballer
    • 1973 – Josh Homme, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1974 – Andrea Corr, Irish singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
    • 1974 – Wiki González, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1974 – Eddie Lewis, American international soccer player
    • 1975 – Marcelinho Paraíba, Brazilian footballer
    • 1975 – Alex Wright, German wrestler
    • 1976 – Kandi Burruss, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1976 – Shayne Dunley, Australian rugby league player
    • 1976 – José Guillén, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1976 – Daniel Komen, Kenyan runner
    • 1976 – Wang Leehom, American-Taiwanese singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
    • 1976 – Mayte Martínez, Spanish runner
    • 1976 – Kirsten Vlieghuis, Dutch freestyle swimmer
    • 1978 – John Foster, American baseball player and coach
    • 1978 – Paddy Kenny, English footballer
    • 1978 – Carlos Peña, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1978 – Magdalena Zděnovcová, Czech tennis player
    • 1979 – David Jarolím, Czech footballer
    • 1979 – Wayne Thomas, English footballer
    • 1980 – Davor Džalto, Bosnian historian and philosopher
    • 1980 – Fredrik Kessiakoff, Swedish cyclist
    • 1980 – Alistair Overeem, Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer
    • 1980 – Ariën van Weesenbeek, Dutch drummer
    • 1981 – Beñat Albizuri, Spanish cyclist
    • 1981 – Leon Osman, English footballer
    • 1981 – Lim Jeong-hee, South Korean singer
    • 1981 – Chris Skidmore, English historian and politician
    • 1981 – Giannis Taralidis, Greek footballer
    • 1982 – Matt Cassel, American football player
    • 1982 – Dan Hardy, English mixed martial artist
    • 1982 – Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
    • 1982 – Tony Parker, French-American basketball player
    • 1982 – Chloe Smith, English politician
    • 1983 – Channing Frye, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Chris Henry, American football player (d. 2009)
    • 1983 – Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer
    • 1983 – Kevin Kingston, Australian rugby league player
    • 1983 – Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Christian Bolaños, Costa Rican footballer
    • 1984 – Christine Ohuruogu, English runner
    • 1984 – Christine Robinson, Canadian water polo player
    • 1984 – Passenger, English singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1985 – Teófilo Gutiérrez, Colombian footballer
    • 1985 – Derek Hough, American actor, singer, and dancer
    • 1985 – Christine Nesbitt, Canadian speed skater
    • 1985 – Todd Redmond, American baseball player
    • 1985 – Matt Ryan, American football player
    • 1986 – Marius Činikas, Lithuanian footballer
    • 1986 – Timo Simonlatser, Estonian skier
    • 1986 – Jodie Taylor, English footballer
    • 1987 – Edvald Boasson Hagen, Norwegian cyclist
    • 1987 – Aleandro Rosi, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Nikki Reed, American actress, singer, and screenwriter
    • 1988 – Jennison Myrie-Williams, English footballer
    • 1989 – Mose Masoe, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1989 – Rain Raadik, Estonian basketball player
    • 1989 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
    • 1990 – Fabian Giefer, German footballer
    • 1990 – Charlie Gubb, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1990 – Katrina Hart, English runner
    • 1990 – Guido Pella, Argentine tennis player
    • 1991 – Johanna Konta, Australian-English tennis player
    • 1991 – Adil Omar, Pakistani rapper and music producer
    • 1991 – Abigail Raye, Canadian field hockey player

    Deaths on May 17

    • 528 – Empress Dowager Hu of Northern Wei
    • 528 – Yuan Yong, imperial prince of Northern Wei
    • 528 – Yuan Zhao, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 526)
    • 896 – Liu Jianfeng, Chinese warlord
    • 924 – Li Maozhen, Chinese warlord and king (b. 856)
    • 946 – Al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 893)
    • 1299 – Daumantas of Pskov, Lithuanian prince (b. c. 1240)
    • 1336 – Go-Fushimi, emperor of Japan (b. 1288)
    • 1365 – Louis II, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1328)
    • 1395 – Konstantin Dejanović/Constantine Dragaš, Serbian ruler (b. 1355)
    • 1464 – Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English politician (b. 1427)
    • 1510 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)
    • 1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, Welsh politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1478)
    • 1536 – George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford, English courtier and diplomat, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1504)
    • 1536 – William Brereton, English courtier (b. 1487)
    • 1536 – Henry Norris, English courtier (b. 1482)
    • 1546 – Philipp von Hutten, German explorer (b. 1511)
    • 1551 – Shin Saimdang, South Korean poet and calligraphist (b. 1504)
    • 1558 – Francisco de Sá de Miranda, Portuguese poet (b. 1485)
    • 1575 – Matthew Parker, English archbishop and academic (b. 1504)
    • 1606 – False Dmitriy I, pretender to the Russian throne (b. 1582)
    • 1607 – Anna d’Este, French princess (b. 1531)
    • 1626 – Joan Pau Pujol, Catalan organist and composer (b. 1570)
    • 1643 – Giovanni Picchi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1571)
    • 1727 – Catherine I of Russia (b. 1684)
    • 1729 – Samuel Clarke, English clergyman and philosopher (b. 1675)
    • 1765 – Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (b. 1713)
    • 1797 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French playwright and composer (b. 1719)
    • 1801 – William Heberden, English physician and scholar (b. 1710)
    • 1807 – John Gunby, American general (b. 1745)
    • 1809 – Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (b. 1722)
    • 1822 – Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French general and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of France (b. 1766)
    • 1829 – John Jay, American politician and diplomat, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745)
    • 1838 – René Caillié, French explorer and author (b. 1799)
    • 1838 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French bishop and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1754)
    • 1839 – Archibald Alison, Scottish priest and author (b. 1757)
    • 1868 – Kondō Isami, Japanese commander (b. 1834)
    • 1875 – John C. Breckinridge, American lawyer and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States, Confederate States general (b. 1821)
    • 1879 – Asa Packer, American businessman, founded Lehigh University (b. 1805)
    • 1880 – Ziya Pasha, Greek author and translator (b. 1826)
    • 1886 – John Deere, American blacksmith and businessman, founded the Deere & Company (b. 1804)
    • 1888 – Giacomo Zanella, Italian priest and poet (b. 1820)
    • 1911 – Frederick August Otto Schwarz, German-American businessman, founded FAO Schwarz (b. 1836)
    • 1916 – Boris Borisovich Golitsyn, Russian physicist and seismologist (b. 1862)
    • 1917 – Clara Ayres, American nurse (b. 1880)
    • 1917 – Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (b. 1829)
    • 1919 – Guido von List, Austrian-German journalist, author, and poet (b. 1848)
    • 1921 – Karl Mantzius, Danish actor and director (b. 1860)
    • 1922 – Dorothy Levitt, English racing driver and journalist (b. 1882)
    • 1927 – Harold Geiger, American pilot and lieutenant (b. 1884)
    • 1934 – Cass Gilbert, American architect (b. 1859)
    • 1935 – Paul Dukas, French composer, critic, and educator (b. 1865)
    • 1936 – Panagis Tsaldaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 124th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1868)
    • 1938 – Jakob Ehrlich, Czech-Austrian academic and politician (b. 1877)
    • 1943 – Johanna Elberskirchen, German author and activist (b. 1864)
    • 1947 – George Forbes, New Zealand farmer and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
    • 1951 – William Birdwood, Anglo-Indian field marshal (b. 1865)
    • 1960 – Jules Supervielle, Uruguayan-French poet and author (b. 1884)
    • 1963 – John Wilce, American football player, coach, and physician (b. 1888)
    • 1964 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-American psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1895)
    • 1974 – Ernest Nash, German-American photographer and scholar (b. 1898)
    • 1977 – Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral and pilot (b. 1892)
    • 1980 – Gündüz Kılıç, Turkish football player and coach (b. 1918)
    • 1985 – Abe Burrows, American director, composer, and author (b. 1910)
    • 1987 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, sociologist, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
    • 1992 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (b. 1903)
    • 1995 – Toe Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1912)
    • 1996 – Kevin Gilbert, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1966)
    • 1999 – Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian trumpet player and producer (b. 1949)
    • 1999 – Lembit Oll, Estonian chess Grandmaster (b. 1966)
    • 2000 – Donald Coggan, English archbishop (b. 1909)
    • 2001 – Jacques-Louis Lions, French mathematician (b. 1928)
    • 2001 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (b. 1908)
    • 2002 – László Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1927)
    • 2002 – Aşık Mahzuni Şerif, Turkish poet and composer (b. 1940)
    • 2004 – Jørgen Nash, Danish poet and painter (b. 1920)
    • 2004 – Tony Randall, American actor (b. 1920)
    • 2004 – Ezzedine Salim, Iraqi politician (b. 1943)
    • 2005 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (b. 1934)
    • 2006 – Cy Feuer, American director, producer, and composer (b. 1911)
    • 2007 – Lloyd Alexander, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
    • 2007 – T. K. Doraiswamy, Indian poet and author (b. 1921)
    • 2009 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan journalist, author, and poet (b. 1920)
    • 2009 – Jung Seung-hye, South Korean journalist and producer (b. 1965)
    • 2010 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1924)
    • 2010 – Walasse Ting, Chinese-American painter and poet (b. 1929)
    • 2011 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Gideon Ezra, Israeli geographer and politician, Israeli Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Patrick Mafisango, Congolese-Rwandan footballer (b. 1980)
    • 2012 – Donna Summer, American singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (b. 1973)
    • 2013 – Peter Schulz, German politician, Mayor of Hamburg (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Ken Venturi, American golfer and sportscaster (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentine general and politician, 42nd President of Argentina (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Gerald Edelman, American biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – C. P. Krishnan Nair, Indian businessman, founded The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Douangchay Phichit, Laotian politician (b. 1944)
    • 2014 – Thongbanh Sengaphone, Laotian politician (b. 1953)
    • 2017 – Todor Veselinović, Serbian football player and manager (b. 1930)
    • 2019 – Herman Wouk, American author (b. 1915)
    • 2020 – Lucky Peterson, American blues singer, keyboardist and guitarist (b. 1964)

    Holidays and observances on May 17

    • Birthday of the Raja (Perlis)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Giulia Salzano
      • Paschal Baylon
      • William Hobart Hare (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Restituta
      • May 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Children’s Day (Norway)
    • Constitution Day (Nauru)
    • Norwegian Constitution Day
    • The earliest date on which Trinity Sunday can fall, while June 20 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. (Western Christianity)
    • Feast of ‘Aẓamat (Bahá’í Faith, day shifts with March Equinox, see List of observances set by the Baháʼí calendar)
    • Galician Literature Day or Día das Letras Galegas (Galicia)
    • National Day Against Homophobia (Canada)
    • International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia also known as IDAHOT
    • Liberation Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
    • Navy Day (Argentina)
    • World Hypertension Day
    • World Information Society Day (International)

  • May 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 495 BC – A newly constructed temple in honour of the god Mercury was dedicated in ancient Rome on the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine hills. To spite the senate and the consuls, the people awarded the dedication to a senior military officer, Marcus Laetorius.
    • 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
    • 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. He is found hanging in his residence at Vienne.
    • 589 – King Authari marries Theodelinda, daughter of the Bavarian duke Garibald I. A Catholic, she has great influence among the Lombard nobility.
    • 908 – The three-year-old Constantine VII, the son of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire by Patriarch Euthymius I at Constantinople.
    • 1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
    • 1525 – Insurgent peasants led by Anabaptist pastor Thomas Müntzer were defeated at the Battle of Frankenhausen, ending the German Peasants’ War in the Holy Roman Empire.
    • 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest; she is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury.
    • 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, her third husband.
    • 1618 – Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).
    • 1648 – The Peace of Münster is ratified, by which Spain acknowledges Dutch sovereignty.
    • 1718 – James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world’s first machine gun.
    • 1776 – American Revolution: The Fifth Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.
    • 1791 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre proposes the Self-denying Ordinance.
    • 1792 – War of the First Coalition: France declares war on Kingdom of Sardinia.
    • 1793 – Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for “about 360 meters”, at a height of 5–6 meters, during one of the first attempted manned flights.
    • 1796 – War of the First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph.
    • 1800 – King George III of the United Kingdom survives an assassination attempt by James Hadfield, who is later acquitted by reason of insanity.
    • 1817 – Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
    • 1836 – Francis Baily observes “Baily’s beads” during an annular eclipse.
    • 1849 – The Sicilian revolution of 1848 is finally extinguished.
    • 1850 – The Bloody Island massacre takes place in Lake County, California, in which a large number of Pomo Indians are slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry.
    • 1850 – The Arana–Southern Treaty is ratified, ending “the existing differences” between Great Britain and Argentina.
    • 1851 – The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier.
    • 1858 – Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
    • 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia: Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.
    • 1867 – Canadian Bank of Commerce opens for business in Toronto, Ontario. The bank would later merge with Imperial Bank of Canada to become what is CIBC in 1961.
    • 1869 – Women’s suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association.
    • 1891 – Pope Leo XIII defends workers’ rights and property rights in the encyclical Rerum novarum, the beginning of modern Catholic social teaching.
    • 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian minelayer Amur lays a minefield about 15 miles off Port Arthur and sinks Japan’s battleships Hatsuse, 15,000 tons, with 496 crew and Yashima.
    • 1905 – Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres (0.45 km2), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off.
    • 1911 – In Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up.
    • 1911 – More than 300 Chinese immigrants are killed in the Torreón massacre when the forces of the Mexican Revolution led by Emilio Madero take the city of Torreón from the Federales.
    • 1914 – During a poker game at the Gaiety Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois, comedian Art Fisher nicknames Chicko, Harpo, Groucho, and Gummo Marx.
    • 1919 – The Winnipeg general strike begins. By 11:00, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job.
    • 1919 – Greek occupation of Smyrna. During the occupation, the Greek army kills or wounds 350 Turks; those responsible are punished by Greek commander Aristides Stergiades.
    • 1925 – Al-Insaniyyah, the first Arabic communist newspaper, is founded.
    • 1928 – Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse premieres in his first cartoon, “Plane Crazy”.
    • 1929 – A fire at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio kills 123.
    • 1932 – In an attempted coup d’état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is assassinated.
    • 1933 – All military aviation organizations within or under the control of the RLM of Germany were officially merged in a covert manner to form its Wehrmacht military’s air arm, the Luftwaffe.
    • 1934 – Kārlis Ulmanis establishes an authoritarian government in Latvia.
    • 1940 – USS Sailfish is recommissioned. It was originally the USS Squalus.
    • 1940 – World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation.
    • 1940 – Richard and Maurice McDonald open the first McDonald’s restaurant.
    • 1941 – First flight of the Gloster E.28/39 the first British and Allied jet aircraft.
    • 1941 – Joe DiMaggio begins a 56-game hitting streak.
    • 1942 – World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
    • 1943 – Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International).
    • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish in Europe is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia.
    • 1948 – Following the expiration of The British Mandate for Palestine, the Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
    • 1957 – At Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean, Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple.
    • 1958 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
    • 1960 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4.
    • 1963 – Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone.
    • 1966 – After a policy dispute, Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam’s ruling junta launches a military attack on the forces of General Tôn Thất Đính, forcing him to abandon his command.
    • 1969 – People’s Park: California Governor Ronald Reagan has an impromptu student park owned by the University of California at Berkeley fenced off from student anti-war protestors, sparking a riot.
    • 1970 – President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army generals.
    • 1970 – Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green are killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests.
    • 1972 – The Ryukyu Islands, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control.
    • 1972 – In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to become president.
    • 1974 – Ma’alot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school; a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren.
    • 1976 – Aeroflot Flight 1802 crashes in Viktorovka, Chernihiv Raion, killing all 52 people on board.
    • 1987 – The Soviet Union launches the Polyus prototype orbital weapons platform. It fails to reach orbit.
    • 1988 – Soviet–Afghan War: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins to withdraw 115,000 troops from Afghanistan.
    • 1991 – Édith Cresson becomes France’s first female Prime Minister.
    • 1997 – The United States government acknowledges the existence of the “Secret War” in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other “Secret War” veterans.
    • 1997 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-84 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
    • 2004 – Arsenal F.C. go an entire league campaign unbeaten in the English Premier League, joining Preston North End F.C with the right to claim the title “The Invincibles”.
    • 2008 – California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state’s own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional.
    • 2010 – Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo.
    • 2013 – An upsurge in violence in Iraq leaves more than 389 people dead over three days.

    Births on May 15

    • 1397 – Sejong the Great, Korean king (d. 1450)
    • 1531 – Maria of Austria, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (d. 1581)
    • 1565 – Hendrick de Keyser, Dutch sculptor and architect (d. 1621)
    • 1567 – Claudio Monteverdi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1643)
    • 1655 – Pope Innocent XIII (d. 1724)
    • 1608 – René Goupil, French-American missionary and saint (d. 1642)
    • 1633 – Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, French noble (d. 1707)
    • 1645 – George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, British judge (d. 1689)
    • 1689 – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (d. 1762)
    • 1720 – Maximilian Hell, Hungarian priest and astronomer (d. 1792)
    • 1749 – Levi Lincoln Sr., American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Attorney General (d. 1820)
    • 1759 – Maria Theresia von Paradis, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1824)
    • 1770 – Ezekiel Hart, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1843)
    • 1773 – Klemens von Metternich, German-Austrian politician, 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire (d. 1859)
    • 1786 – Dimitris Plapoutas, Greek general and politician (d. 1864)
    • 1803 – Juan Almonte, son of José María Morelos, was a Mexican soldier and diplomat who served as a regent in the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (d. 1869)
    • 1805 – Samuel Carter, Early English railway solicitor and MP (d. 1878)
    • 1808 – Michael William Balfe, Irish composer and conductor (d. 1870)
    • 1817 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher and author (d. 1905)
    • 1841 – Clarence Dutton, American commander and geologist (d. 1912)
    • 1845 – Élie Metchnikoff, Russian zoologist (d. 1916)
    • 1848 – Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1926)
    • 1854 – Ioannis Psycharis, Ukrainian-French philologist and author (d. 1929)
    • 1856 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (d. 1919)
    • 1856 – Matthias Zurbriggen, Swiss mountaineer (d. 1917)
    • 1857 – Williamina Fleming, Scottish-American astronomer and academic (d. 1911)
    • 1859 – Pierre Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
    • 1862 – Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian author and playwright (d. 1931)
    • 1863 – Frank Hornby, English businessman and politician, invented Meccano (d. 1936)
    • 1869 – Paul Probst, Swiss target shooter (d. 1945)
    • 1869 – John Storey, Australian politician, 20th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1921)
    • 1882 – Walter White, Scottish international footballer (d. 1950)
    • 1890 – Katherine Anne Porter, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist (d. 1980)
    • 1891 – Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist and playwright (d. 1940)
    • 1891 – Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist and academic (d. 1971)
    • 1892 – Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral (d. 1977)
    • 1892 – Jimmy Wilde, Welsh boxer (d. 1969)
    • 1893 – José Nepomuceno, Filipino filmmaker, founder of Philippine cinema (d. 1959)
    • 1894 – Feg Murray, American hurdler and cartoonist (d. 1973)
    • 1895 – Prescott Bush, American captain, banker, and politician (d. 1972)
    • 1895 – William D. Byron, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1941)
    • 1898 – Arletty, French model, actress, and singer (d. 1992)
    • 1899 – Jean Étienne Valluy, French general (d. 1970)
    • 1900 – Ida Rhodes, American mathematician, pioneer in computer programming (d. 1986)
    • 1901 – Xavier Herbert, Australian author (d. 1984)
    • 1901 – Luis Monti, Argentinian-Italian footballer and manager (d. 1983)
    • 1902 – Richard J. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1976)
    • 1902 – Sigizmund Levanevsky, Soviet aircraft pilot of Polish origin (d. 1937)
    • 1903 – Maria Reiche, German mathematician and archaeologist (d. 1998)
    • 1904 – Clifton Fadiman, American game show host and author (d. 1999)
    • 1905 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994)
    • 1905 – Albert Dubout, French cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor (d. 1976)
    • 1905 – Abraham Zapruder, American businessman and amateur photographer, filmed the Zapruder film (d. 1970)
    • 1907 – Sukhdev Thapar, Indian activist (d. 1931)
    • 1909 – James Mason, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1909 – Clara Solovera, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1992)
    • 1910 – Constance Cummings, British-based American actress (d. 2005)
    • 1911 – Max Frisch, Swiss playwright and novelist (d. 1991)
    • 1911 – Herta Oberheuser, German physician (d. 1978)
    • 1912 – Arthur Berger, American composer and educator (d. 2003)
    • 1914 – Turk Broda, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1972)
    • 1914 – Angus MacLean, Canadian farmer and politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Norrie Paramor, English composer, producer, and conductor (d. 1979)
    • 1915 – Hilda Bernstein, English-South African author and activist (d. 2006)
    • 1915 – Paul Samuelson, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
    • 1915 – Henrik Sandberg, Danish production manager and producer (d. 1993)
    • 1916 – Vera Gebuhr, Danish actress (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Eddy Arnold, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2008)
    • 1918 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (d. 2015)
    • 1918 – Joseph Wiseman, Canadian-American actor (d. 2009)
    • 1920 – Michel Audiard, French director and screenwriter (d. 1985)
    • 1922 – Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Jakucho Setouchi, Japanese nun and author
    • 1923 – Richard Avedon, American sailor and photographer (d. 2004)
    • 1923 – John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (d. 2003)
    • 1924 – Maria Koepcke, German-Peruvian ornithologist and zoologist (d. 1971)
    • 1925 – Andrei Eshpai, Russian pianist and composer (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Mary F. Lyon, English geneticist and biologist (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Carl Sanders, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 74th Governor of Georgia (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Roy Stewart, Jamaican-English actor and stuntman (d. 2008)
    • 1926 – Clermont Pépin, Canadian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 2006)
    • 1926 – Anthony Shaffer, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1926 – Peter Shaffer, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1930 – Jasper Johns, American painter and sculptor
    • 1931 – Ken Venturi, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2013)
    • 1935 – Don Bragg, American pole vaulter
    • 1935 – Ted Dexter, Italian-English cricketer
    • 1935 – Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
    • 1935 – Akihiro Miwa, Japanese singer, actor, director, composer, author and drag queen
    • 1936 – Anna Maria Alberghetti, Italian-American actress and singer
    • 1936 – Mart Laga, Estonian basketball player (d. 1977)
    • 1936 – Ralph Steadman, English painter and illustrator
    • 1936 – Paul Zindel, American playwright and novelist (d. 2003)
    • 1937 – Madeleine Albright, Czech-American politician and diplomat, 64th United States Secretary of State
    • 1937 – Karin Krog, Norwegian singer
    • 1937 – Trini Lopez, American singer, guitarist, and actor
    • 1938 – Mireille Darc, French actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
    • 1938 – Nancy Garden, American author (d. 2014)
    • 1939 – Dorothy Shirley, English high jumper and educator
    • 1940 – Roger Ailes, American businessman (d. 2017)
    • 1940 – Lainie Kazan, American actress and singer
    • 1940 – Don Nelson, American basketball player and coach
    • 1941 – Jaxon, American illustrator and publisher, co-founded the Rip Off Press (d. 2006)
    • 1942 – Lois Johnson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Jusuf Kalla, Indonesian businessman and politician, 10th Vice President of Indonesia
    • 1942 – Doug Lowe, Australian politician, 35th Premier of Tasmania
    • 1942 – K. T. Oslin, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1943 – Paul Bégin, Canadian lawyer and politician
    • 1943 – Freddie Perren, American songwriter, producer, and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1944 – Bill Alter, American police officer and politician
    • 1944 – Ulrich Beck, German sociologist and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1945 – Michael Dexter, English hematologist and academic
    • 1945 – Jerry Quarry, American boxer (d. 1999)
    • 1946 – Thadeus Nguyễn Văn Lý, Vietnamese priest and activist
    • 1947 – Graeham Goble, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
    • 1948 – Kate Bornstein, American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist
    • 1948 – Yutaka Enatsu, Japanese baseball player
    • 1948 – Brian Eno, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1948 – Kathleen Sebelius, American politician, 44th Governor of Kansas
    • 1949 – Frank L. Culbertson Jr., American captain, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1949 – Robert S.J. Sparks, English geologist and academic
    • 1950 – Jim Bacon, Australian politician, 41st Premier of Tasmania (d. 2004)
    • 1950 – Jim Simons, American golfer (d. 2005)
    • 1951 – Dennis Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1951 – Chris Ham, English political scientist and academic
    • 1951 – Frank Wilczek, American mathematician and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1952 – Chazz Palminteri, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1953 – George Brett, American baseball player and coach
    • 1953 – Athene Donald, English physicist and academic
    • 1953 – Mike Oldfield, English-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1954 – Diana Liverman, English-American geographer and academic
    • 1954 – Caroline Thomson, English journalist and broadcaster
    • 1955 – Mohamed Brahmi, Tunisian politician (d. 2013)
    • 1955 – Lia Vissi, Cypriot singer-songwriter and politician
    • 1956 – Andreas Loverdos, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Labour
    • 1956 – Dan Patrick, American television anchor and sportscaster
    • 1956 – Kevin Greenaugh, American nuclear engineer
    • 1957 – Meg Gardiner, American-English author and academic
    • 1957 – Juan José Ibarretxe, Spanish politician
    • 1957 – Kevin Von Erich, American football player and wrestler
    • 1958 – Jason Graae, American musical theater actor
    • 1958 – Ruth Marcus, American journalist
    • 1958 – Ron Simmons, American football player and wrestler
    • 1959 – Khaosai Galaxy, Thai boxer and politician
    • 1959 – Luis Pérez-Sala, Spanish race car driver
    • 1959 – Beverly Jo Scott, American-Belgian singer-songwriter
    • 1960 – Rhonda Burchmore, Australian actress, singer, and dancer
    • 1960 – Rob Bowman, American director and producer
    • 1960 – R. Kuhaneswaran, Sri Lankan politician
    • 1960 – Rimas Kurtinaitis, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
    • 1961 – Giselle Fernández, Mexican-American television journalist.
    • 1962 – Lisa Curry, Australian swimmer
    • 1963 – Gavin Nebbeling, South African footballer
    • 1964 – Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Danish lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Denmark
    • 1965 – André Abujamra, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1965 – Scott Tronc, Australian rugby league player
    • 1966 – Jiří Němec, Czech footballer
    • 1967 – Simen Agdestein, Norwegian chess grandmaster and football player
    • 1967 – Laura Hillenbrand, American journalist and author
    • 1967 – John Smoltz, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Madhuri Dixit, Indian actress
    • 1968 – Cecilia Malmström, Swedish academic and politician, 15th European Commissioner for Trade
    • 1968 – Sophie Raworth, English journalist and broadcaster
    • 1969 – Hideki Irabu, Japanese-American baseball player (d. 2011)
    • 1969 – Emmitt Smith, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1970 – Frank de Boer, Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Ronald de Boer, Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Desmond Howard, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1970 – Alison Jackson, English photographer, director, and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Rod Smith, American football player
    • 1970 – Ben Wallace, English captain and politician
    • 1971 – Karin Lušnic, Slovenian tennis player
    • 1972 – Danny Alexander, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
    • 1972 – David Charvet, French actor and singer
    • 1974 – Vasilis Kikilias, Greek basketball player and politician
    • 1974 – Matthew Sadler, English chess player and author
    • 1974 – Marko Tredup, German footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Ahmet Zappa, American musician and writer
    • 1975 – Ray Lewis, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Ales Michalevic, Belarusian lawyer and politician
    • 1976 – Torraye Braggs, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Mark Kennedy, Irish footballer
    • 1976 – Jacek Krzynówek, Polish footballer
    • 1976 – Ryan Leaf, American football player and coach
    • 1976 – Anže Logar, Slovenian politician
    • 1976 – Tyler Walker, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Amy Chow, American gymnast and pediatrician
    • 1978 – Dwayne De Rosario, Canadian soccer player
    • 1978 – Edu, Brazilian footballer
    • 1978 – David Krumholtz, American actor
    • 1979 – Adolfo Bautista, Mexican footballer
    • 1979 – Daniel Caines, English sprinter
    • 1979 – Chris Masoe, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1979 – Ryan Max Riley, American skier
    • 1979 – Robert Royal, American football player
    • 1979 – Dominic Scott, Irish guitarist
    • 1980 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Patrice Evra, French footballer
    • 1981 – Paul Konchesky, English international footballer
    • 1981 – Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player
    • 1981 – Zara Phillips, English equestrian
    • 1981 – Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress and singer
    • 1982 – Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican sprinter
    • 1982 – Segundo Castillo, Ecuadorian footballer
    • 1982 – Rafael Pérez, Dominican baseball player
    • 1982 – Layal Abboud, Lebanese singer
    • 1984 – Jeff Deslauriers, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Sérgio Jimenez, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1984 – Samantha Noble, Australian actress
    • 1984 – Beau Scott, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Mr Probz, Dutch singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
    • 1985 – Cristiane, Brazilian footballer
    • 1985 – Tania Cagnotto, Italian diver
    • 1985 – Laura Harvey, English football coach
    • 1985 – Tathagata Mukherjee, Indian actor
    • 1985 – Denis Onyango, Ugandan goalkeeper
    • 1985 – Justine Robbeson, South African javelin thrower
    • 1986 – Thomas Brown, American football player
    • 1986 – Matías Fernández, Chilean footballer
    • 1986 – Adam Moffat, Scottish footballer
    • 1987 – David Adams, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Michael Brantley, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Brian Dozier, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Mark Fayne, American ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Ersan İlyasova, Turkish basketball player
    • 1987 – Leonardo Mayer, Argentinian tennis player
    • 1987 – Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player
    • 1988 – Indrek Kajupank, Estonian basketball player
    • 1988 – Scott Laird, English footballer
    • 1989 – Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, French footballer
    • 1990 – Jordan Eberle, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Lee Jong-hyun, Korean guitarist
    • 1990 – Stella Maxwell, New Zealand model
    • 1993 – Jeremy Hawkins, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1993 – Tomáš Kalas, Czech international footballer
    • 1996 – Birdy, English singer-songwriter
    • 1997 – Ousmane Dembélé, French footballer

    Deaths on May 15

    • 392 – Valentinian II, Roman emperor (b. 371)
    • 558 – Hilary of Galeata, Christian monk (b. 476)
    • 884 – Narinus I, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 830)
    • 913 – Hatto I, German archbishop (b. 850)
    • 926 – Zhuang Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 885)
    • 973 – Byrhthelm, bishop of Wells
    • 1036 – Go-Ichijō, emperor of Japan (b. 1008)
    • 1157 – Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1099)
    • 1175 – Mleh, prince of Armenia
    • 1174 – Nur ad-Din, Seljuk emir of Syria (b. 1118)
    • 1268 – Peter II, count of Savoy (b. 1203)
    • 1461 – Domenico Veneziano, Italian painter (b. c. 1410)
    • 1464 – Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset (b. 1436)
    • 1470 – Charles VIII, king of Sweden (b. 1409)
    • 1585 – Niwa Nagahide, Japanese samurai (b. 1535)
    • 1609 – Giovanni Croce, Italian composer and educator (b. 1557)
    • 1615 – Henry Bromley, English politician (b. 1560)
    • 1634 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (b. 1585)
    • 1698 – Marie Champmeslé, French actress (b. 1642)
    • 1699 – Sir Edward Petre, 3rd Baronet, English politician (b. 1631)
    • 1700 – John Hale, American minister (b. 1636)
    • 1740 – Ephraim Chambers, English publisher (b. 1680)
    • 1773 – Alban Butler, English priest and hagiographer (b. 1710)
    • 1845 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, Head of State of Costa Rica (b. 1800)
    • 1879 – Gottfried Semper, German architect and educator, designed the Semper Opera House (b. 1803)
    • 1886 – Emily Dickinson, American poet and author (b. 1830)
    • 1914 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (b. 1863)
    • 1919 – Hasan Tahsin, Turkish journalist (b. 1888)
    • 1924 – Paul-Henri-Benjamin d’Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
    • 1926 – Joseph James Fletcher, Australian biologist (b. 1850)
    • 1928 – Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (b. 1845)
    • 1935 – Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian-Russian painter and theoretician (b. 1878)
    • 1937 – Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1864)
    • 1945 – Kenneth J. Alford, English soldier, bandmaster, and composer (b. 1881)
    • 1945 – Charles Williams, English author, poet, and critic (b. 1886)
    • 1948 – Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-American priest, founded Boys Town (b. 1886)
    • 1954 – William March, American soldier and author (b. 1893)
    • 1956 – Austin Osman Spare, English painter and magician (b. 1886)
    • 1957 – Keith Andrews, American race car driver (b. 1920)
    • 1957 – Dick Irvin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1892)
    • 1963 – John Aglionby, English-born Bishop of Accra and soldier (b. 1884)
    • 1964 – Vladko Maček, Croatian lawyer and politician (b. 1879)
    • 1965 – Pio Pion, Italian businessman (b. 1887)
    • 1967 – Edward Hopper, American painter (b. 1882)
    • 1967 – Italo Mus, Italian painter (b. 1892)
    • 1969 – Joe Malone, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1890)
    • 1971 – Tyrone Guthrie, English director, producer, and playwright (b. 1900)
    • 1978 – Robert Menzies, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
    • 1980 – Gordon Prange, American historian and author (b. 1910)
    • 1982 – Gordon Smiley, American race car driver (b. 1946)
    • 1984 – Francis Schaeffer, American pastor, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1912)
    • 1985 – Jackie Curtis, American actress and writer (b. 1947)
    • 1986 – Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
    • 1986 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (b. 1915)
    • 1989 – Johnny Green, American composer and conductor (b. 1908)
    • 1989 – Luc Lacourcière, Canadian ethnographer and author (b. 1910)
    • 1991 – Andreas Floer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1956)
    • 1991 – Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Malian ethnologist and author (b. 1901)
    • 1991 – Fritz Riess, German race car driver (b. 1922)
    • 1993 – Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, Sudanese poet and diplomat (b. 1933)
    • 1994 – Gilbert Roland, American actor (b. 1905)
    • 1995 – Eric Porter, English actor (b. 1928)
    • 1996 – Charles B. Fulton, American lawyer and judge (b. 1910)
    • 1998 – Earl Manigault, American basketball player (b. 1944)
    • 1998 – Naim Talu, Turkish economist, banker, politician, 15th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1919)
    • 2003 – June Carter Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (b. 1929)
    • 2006 – Nizar Abdul Zahra, Iraqi footballer (b. 1961)
    • 2007 – Jerry Falwell, American pastor, founded Liberty University (b. 1933)
    • 2008 – Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1956)
    • 2008 – Alexander Courage, American composer and conductor (b. 1919)
    • 2008 – Will Elder, American illustrator (b. 1921)
    • 2009 – Bud Tingwell, Australian actor, director, and producer (b. 1923)
    • 2009 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (b. 1964)
    • 2010 – Besian Idrizaj, Austrian footballer (b. 1987)
    • 2010 – Loris Kessel, Swiss race car driver (b. 1950)
    • 2012 – Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist and essayist (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Arno Lustiger, German historian and author (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Zakaria Mohieddin, Egyptian soldier and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Henrique Rosa, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Jean-Luc Dehaene, French-Belgian politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Noribumi Suzuki, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Elisabeth Bing, German-American physical therapist and author (b. 1914)
    • 2015 – Jackie Brookner, American sculptor and educator (b. 1945)
    • 2015 – Garo Yepremian, Cypriot-American football player (b. 1944)
    • 2020 – Fred Willard, American actor, comedian, and writer (b. 1933)[19]

    Holidays and observances on May 15

    • Aoi Matsuri (Kyoto)
    • Army Day (Slovenia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Achillius of Larissa
      • Athanasius of Alexandria (Coptic Church)
      • Dymphna
      • Hallvard Vebjørnsson (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Hesychius of Cazorla
      • Hilary of Galeata
      • Isidore the Laborer, celebrated with festivals in various countries, the beginning of bullfighting season in Madrid.
      • Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Peter, Andrew, Paul, and Denise (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Reticius (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Sophia of Rome (Roman Catholic church)
      • May 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Constituent Assembly Day (Lithuania)
    • Earliest date on which Armed Forces Day (United States) can fall, while May 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Saturday of May.
    • Independence Day (Paraguay), celebrates the independence of Paraguay from Spain in 1811. Celebrations for the anniversary of the independence begin on Flag Day, May 14.
    • International Conscientious Objectors Day
    • International Day of Families (International)
    • La Corsa dei Ceri begins on the eve of the feast day of Saint Ubaldo. (Gubbio)
    • Mother’s Day (Paraguay)
    • Nakba Day (Palestinian communities)
    • Peace Officers Memorial Day (United States)
    • Republic Day (Lithuania)
    • Teachers’ Day (Colombia, Mexico and South Korea)

  • May 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    This day marks the approximate midpoint of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the March equinox).

    May 5 in History

    • 553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins
    • 1215 – Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.
    • 1260 – Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
    • 1494 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain.
    • 1640 – King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
    • 1654 – Cromwell’s Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh.
    • 1672 – In preparation for the Franco-Dutch War, Louis XIV of France personally inspects his troops at Charleroi in one of the most magnificent displays of military power in the seventeenth century.
    • 1762 – Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg.
    • 1789 – In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614.
    • 1809 – Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
    • 1809 – The Swiss canton of Aargau allows citizenship to Jews.
    • 1811 – Peninsular War: In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, the British-Portuguese Army repels an attempt by the French Army of Portugal to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.
    • 1821 – Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
    • 1835 – The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
    • 1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi sets sail from Genoa, leading the expedition of the Thousand to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and giving birth to the Kingdom of Italy.
    • 1862 – Cinco de Mayo: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate District of the Gulf surrenders about 4,000 men at Citronelle, Alabama.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate government was declared dissolved at Washington, Georgia.
    • 1866 – Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.
    • 1877 – American Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
    • 1886 – The Bay View massacre: A militia fires into a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, killing seven.
    • 1891 – The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
    • 1904 – Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
    • 1905 – The trial in the Stratton Brothers case begins in London, England; it marks the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to gain a conviction for murder.
    • 1912 – Pravda, the “voice” of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publication in Saint Petersburg.
    • 1920 – Authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.
    • 1925 – Scopes Trial: Serving of an arrest warrant on John T. Scopes for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
    • 1927 – To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is first published.
    • 1936 – Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
    • 1940 – World War II: Norwegian refugees form a government-in-exile in London.
    • 1940 – World War II: Norwegian Campaign: Norwegian squads in Hegra Fortress and Vinjesvingen capitulate to German forces after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms.
    • 1941 – Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots’ Victory Day.
    • 1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath becomes effective, encompassing all German armed forces opposing the 21st Army Group in northwestern Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
    • 1945 – World War II: Dönitz gives Löhr permission to seek an armistice with the Western Allies to preserve a communist free Austria and recognising first, from a German standpoint, the separation of Austria from Germany undoing the Anschluss.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Prague uprising begins as an attempt by the Czech resistance to free the city from German occupation.
    • 1945 – World War II: A Fu-Go balloon bomb launched by the Japanese Army kills six people near Bly, Oregon.
    • 1945 – World War II: Battle of Castle Itter, the only battle in which American and German troops fought cooperatively.
    • 1946 – The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo with twenty-eight Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
    • 1950 – Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King of Thailand.
    • 1955 – The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into effect.
    • 1961 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight.
    • 1964 – The Council of Europe declares May 5 as Europe Day.
    • 1972 – Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy.
    • 1973 – Secretariat wins the 1973 Kentucky Derby in 1:59​2⁄5, an as-yet unbeaten record.
    • 1980 – Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege.
    • 1981 – Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27.
    • 1985 – Ronald Reagan visits the military cemetery at Bitburg and the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he makes a speech.
    • 1987 – Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America
    • 1991 – A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.
    • 1992 – Armand Césari Stadium disaster in Bastia (Corsica): Eighteen people are killed and 2,300 are injured when one of the terraces collapses before a football match between SC Bastia and Olympique de Marseille.
    • 1993 – Three eight-year-old boys are murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, Ultimately leading to the conviction of the West Memphis Three.
    • 1994 – The signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
    • 1994 – American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism.
    • 1998 – A Peruvian Air Force Boeing 737 operating for Occidental Petroleum crashes on approach to Alférez FAP Alfredo Vladimir Sara Bauer Airport in Andoas, Peru, killing 75 people.
    • 2006 – The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army.
    • 2007 – Kenya Airways Flight 507 crashes after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing all 114 aboard, making it the deadliest aircraft disaster in Cameroon.
    • 2010 – Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek government-debt crisis.
    • 2014 – Eleven people are missing after a Chinese cargo ship collides with a Marshall Islands registered container ship off the coast of Hong Kong.
    • 2014 – Twenty-two people die after two boats carrying refugees collide in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Greece.
    • 2019 – A Russian jet plane burst into flames while attempting an emergency landing at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow killing at least 41 people.
    • 2020 – The National Telecommunications Commission issued a Cease and desist order to ABS-CBN Corporation to stop the operation of it’s free TV and radio stations.

    Births on May 5

    • 1210 – Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1279)
    • 1282 – Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena (d. 1322)
    • 1310 – Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wrocław (d. 1376)
    • 1352 – Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (d. 1410)
    • 1479 – Guru Amar Das, Indian 3rd Sikh Guru (d. 1574)
    • 1504 – Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (d. 1579)
    • 1530 – Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, French nobleman (d. 1574)
    • 1542 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (d. 1623)
    • 1582 – John Frederick, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1628)
    • 1684 – Françoise Charlotte d’Aubigné, French wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles (d. 1739)
    • 1747 – Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
    • 1749 – Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, French pianist and composer (d. 1794)
    • 1764 – Robert Craufurd, Scottish general and politician (d. 1812)
    • 1800 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (d. 1864)
    • 1813 – Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher and author (d. 1855)
    • 1818 – Karl Marx, German philosopher, sociologist, and journalist (d. 1883)
    • 1826 – Eugénie de Montijo, French wife of Napoleon III (d. 1920)
    • 1830 – John Batterson Stetson, American businessman, founded the John B. Stetson Company (d. 1906)
    • 1832 – Hubert Howe Bancroft, American ethnologist and historian (d. 1918)
    • 1833 – Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer and academic (d. 1905)
    • 1834 – Viktor Hartmann, Russian painter and architect (d. 1873)
    • 1843 – William George Beers, Canadian dentist and patriot (d. 1900)
    • 1846 – Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1916)
    • 1858 – John L. Leal, American physician (d. 1914)
    • 1859 – Charles B. Hanford, American Shakespearean actor (d. 1926)
    • 1864 – Nellie Bly, American journalist and author (d. 1922)
    • 1865 – Helen Maud Merrill, American litterateur and poet (d. 1943)
    • 1866 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman (d. 1938)
    • 1869 – Fabián de la Rosa, Filipino painter and educator (d. 1937)
    • 1869 – Hans Pfitzner, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)
    • 1874 – Thomas Bavin, New Zealand-Australian politician, 24th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1941)
    • 1882 – Sylvia Pankhurst, English women’s suffrage movement leader and socialist activist (d. 1960)
    • 1883 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English general and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (d. 1950)
    • 1883 – Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler, American mathematician (d. 1966)
    • 1884 – Chief Bender, American baseball player and coach (d. 1954)
    • 1885 – Kingsley Fairbridge, South African-Australian scholar and politician (d. 1924)
    • 1887 – Mervyn S. Bennion, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1941)
    • 1889 – Herbie Taylor, South African cricketer and soldier (d. 1973)
    • 1890 – Christopher Morley, American journalist and author (d. 1957)
    • 1892 – Dorothy Garrod, British archaeologist (d. 1968)
    • 1898 – Elsie Eaves, American engineer (d. 1983)
    • 1898 – Blind Willie McTell, American Piedmont blues singer and guitar player (d. 1959)
    • 1899 – Freeman Gosden, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1900 – Helen Redfield, American geneticist (d. 1988)
    • 1903 – James Beard, American chef and author (d. 1985)
    • 1905 – Floyd Gottfredson, American author and illustrator (d. 1986)
    • 1906 – Charles Exbrayat, French author and screenwriter (d. 1989)
    • 1907 – Daryna Dmytrivna Polotniuk, Bukovinian (Ukrainian) journalist and author (d. 1982)
    • 1908 – Kurt Böhme, German opera singer (d. 1989)
    • 1909 – Miklós Radnóti, Hungarian poet and author (d. 1944)
    • 1910 – Leo Lionni, American author and illustrator (d. 1999)
    • 1911 – Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
    • 1911 – Andor Lilienthal, Russian-Hungarian chess player (d. 2010)
    • 1911 – Pritilata Waddedar, Indian educator and activist (d. 1932)
    • 1913 – Duane Carter, American race car driver (d. 1993)
    • 1914 – Tyrone Power, American actor (d. 1958)
    • 1915 – Alice Faye, American actress and singer (d. 1998)
    • 1916 – Zail Singh, Indian politician, 7th President of India (d. 1994)
    • 1917 – Pío Leyva, Cuban singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1918 – Egidio Galea, Maltese Roman Catholic priest (d. 2005)
    • 1919 – Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, 169th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Irene Gut Opdyke, Polish nurse and humanitarian (d. 2003)
    • 1923 – William C. Campbell, American golfer (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – James Gilbert, Scottish television producer and director (d. 2016)
    • 1923 – Cathleen Synge Morawetz, Canadian mathematician (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Richard Wollheim, English philosopher and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1925 – Leo Ryan, American soldier, educator, and politician (d. 1978)
    • 1927 – Pat Carroll, American actress
    • 1929 – Ilene Woods, American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1930 – Hans Abramson, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Greg, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1999)
    • 1932 – Stan Goldberg, American illustrator (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Bob Said, American race car driver and bobsled racer (d. 2002)
    • 1933 – Igor Kashkarov, Russian high jumper
    • 1933 – Collie Smith, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1959)
    • 1934 – Henri Konan Bédié, Ivorian politician, 2nd President of Côte d’Ivoire
    • 1934 – Victor Garland, Australian accountant and politician, 26th Australian Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
    • 1935 – Eddie Linden, Scottish poet and magazine editor
    • 1935 – Bernard Pivot, French journalist, talk show host, and producer
    • 1935 – Robert Rehme, American film producer
    • 1936 – Sandy Baron, American actor and comedian (d. 2001)
    • 1936 – Patrick Gowers, English composer and educator (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Ervin Lázár, Hungarian author (d. 2006)
    • 1937 – Delia Derbyshire, English musician, arranger and composer (d. 2001)
    • 1938 – Michael Murphy, American actor
    • 1938 – Barbara Wagner, Canadian figure skater and coach
    • 1939 – Ray Gosling, English journalist, author, and activist (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Lance Henriksen, American actor
    • 1940 – Michael Lindsay-Hogg, American director and producer
    • 1941 – Alexander Ragulin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
    • 1942 – István Bujtor, Hungarian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1942 – Jean Corston, Baroness Corston, English lawyer and politician
    • 1942 – Hugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon, English politician (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Tammy Wynette, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
    • 1943 – Michael Palin, English actor and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Ignacio Ramonet, Spanish journalist and author
    • 1944 – Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer
    • 1944 – John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor and screenwriter
    • 1944 – Roger Rees, Welsh-American actor and director (d. 2015)
    • 1945 – Kurt Loder, American journalist, author, and critic
    • 1945 – Dianne Willcocks, English sociologist and academic
    • 1946 – Jim Kelly, American actor, athlete, and martial artist
    • 1946 – Aydın Menderes, Turkish politician (d. 2011)
    • 1948 – Bella van der Spiegel-Hage, Dutch cyclist
    • 1948 – Bill Ward, English drummer and songwriter
    • 1949 – Eppie Bleeker, Dutch speed skater
    • 1950 – Rex Caldwell, American golfer
    • 1950 – Maggie MacNeal, Dutch singer
    • 1951 – Rudolf Finsterer, German rugby player and coach
    • 1951 – Toomas Vilosius, Estonian physician and politician, 2nd Minister of Social Affairs of Estonia
    • 1952 – Ed Lee, American politician and attorney, 43rd Mayor of San Francisco (d. 2017)
    • 1952 – Jorge Llopart, Spanish race walker
    • 1952 – Willem Witteveen, Dutch scholar and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1955 – Jon Butcher, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and freelance multimedia producer
    • 1956 – Steve Scott, American runner and coach
    • 1957 – Richard E. Grant, Swazi-English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Peter Howitt, English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Aad van Mil, Dutch water polo player
    • 1958 – Ron Arad, Israeli colonel and pilot (d. 1986)
    • 1958 – Robert DiPierdomenico, Australian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1958 – Vanessa Downing, Australian actress
    • 1958 – Jack Wishna, American businessman, co-founded Rockcityclub (d. 2012)
    • 1959 – Bobby Ellsworth, American singer and bass player
    • 1959 – Ian McCulloch, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1959 – Steve Stevens, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1959 – Brian Williams, American journalist
    • 1960 – Doug Hawkins, Australian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Marg Downey, Australian actress
    • 1961 – Hiroshi Hase, Japanese wrestler and politician
    • 1961 – Rob Williams, American basketball player (d. 2014)
    • 1962 – Kaoru Wada, Japanese composer and conductor
    • 1963 – James LaBrie, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1963 – Simon Rimmer, English chef and author
    • 1963 – Scott Westerfeld, American author and composer
    • 1964 – Jean-François Copé, French politician, French Minister of Budget
    • 1964 – Heike Henkel, German high jumper
    • 1964 – Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1964 – Minami Takayama, Japanese voice actress and singer
    • 1964 – Efrat Mishori, Israeli poet and filmmaker
    • 1965 – Glenn Seton, Australian race car driver
    • 1966 – Shawn Drover, Canadian drummer
    • 1966 – Sergei Stanishev, Bulgarian politician, 46th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
    • 1966 – Josh Weinstein, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1967 – Adam Hughes, American author and illustrator
    • 1967 – Alexis Sinduhije, Burundian journalist and politician
    • 1969 – Pieter Muller, South African rugby player
    • 1970 – Kyan Douglas, American television host and author
    • 1970 – Todd Newton, American game show host
    • 1971 – Harold Miner, American basketball player
    • 1971 – Mike Redmond, American baseball player and manager
    • 1972 – James Cracknell, English rower
    • 1972 – Žigmund Pálffy, Slovakian ice hockey player
    • 1972 – Mikael Renberg, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1975 – Meb Keflezighi, American runner
    • 1976 – Dieter Brummer, Australian actor
    • 1976 – Jean-François Dumoulin, Canadian race car driver
    • 1976 – Anastasios Pantos, Greek footballer
    • 1976 – Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentinian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Morgan Pehme, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1979 – Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
    • 1980 – Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer
    • 1980 – Hank Green, American entrepreneur, educator, and vlogger
    • 1980 – DerMarr Johnson, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Craig David, English singer-songwriter, musician and producer
    • 1981 – Danielle Fishel, American actress
    • 1982 – Ferrie Bodde, Dutch footballer
    • 1982 – Wouter D’Haene, Belgian sprinter
    • 1982 – Randall Gay, American football player
    • 1982 – Corey Parker, Australian rugby league footballer
    • 1983 – James Anyon, English cricketer
    • 1983 – Henry Cavill, English actor
    • 1983 – Mabel Gay, Cuban triple jumper
    • 1983 – Annie Villeneuve, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Scott Ware, American football player
    • 1984 – Johanna Hedva, Korean-American artist and genderqueer activist
    • 1984 – Wade MacNeil, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1984 – Christian Valdez, Mexican footballer
    • 1985 – Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese actress and singer
    • 1985 – Emanuele Giaccherini, Italian footballer
    • 1985 – Tsepo Masilela, South African footballer
    • 1985 – Marcos Rogério Oliveira Duarte, Brazilian footballer
    • 1985 – Terrence Wheatley, American football player
    • 1987 – Graham Dorrans, Scottish footballer
    • 1988 – Adele, English singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Mervyn Westfield, English cricketer
    • 1989 – Chris Brown, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
    • 1991 – Xenofon Fetsis, Greek footballer
    • 1991 – Raúl Jiménez, Mexican footballer
    • 1992 – Loïck Landre, French footballer
    • 1994 – Celeste, English singer
    • 1998 – Aryna Sabalenka, Belarusian tennis player
    • 1999 – Nathan Chen, American figure skater
    • 1999 – Justin Kluivert, Dutch footballer

    Deaths on May 5

    • 465 – Gerontius, Archbishop of Milan
    • 1194 – Casimir II the Just, Polish son of Bolesław III Wrymouth (b. 1138)
    • 1243 – Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, English justiciar (b. c. 1160)
    • 1306 – Constantine Palaiologos, Byzantine general (b. 1261)
    • 1309 – Charles II of Naples (b. 1254)
    • 1316 – Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of King Edward I of England (b. 1282)
    • 1338 – Prince Tsunenaga, son of the Japanese Emperor (b. 1324)
    • 1380 – Saint Philotheos, Coptic martyr
    • 1432 – Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola, Italian adventurer
    • 1525 – Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (b. 1463)
    • 1582 – Charlotte of Bourbon, Princess consort of Orange, married to William I of Orange (b. 1547)
    • 1586 – Henry Sidney, Irish politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1529)
    • 1671 – Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, English general and politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom (b. 1602)
    • 1672 – Samuel Cooper, English painter and linguist (b. 1609)
    • 1700 – Angelo Italia, Italian architect (b. 1628)
    • 1705 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
    • 1760 – Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English politician (b. 1720)
    • 1766 – Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
    • 1808 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (b. 1757)
    • 1821 – Napoleon, French general and emperor (b. 1769)
    • 1827 – Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
    • 1833 – Sophia Campbell, English-Australian painter (b. 1777)
    • 1855 – Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet, English politician (b. 1786)
    • 1859 – Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic (b. 1805)
    • 1860 – Jean-Charles Prince, Canadian bishop (b. 1804)
    • 1883 – John O’Shanassy, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Victoria (b. 1818)
    • 1892 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (b. 1818)
    • 1896 – Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
    • 1902 – Bret Harte, American short story writer and poet (b. 1836)
    • 1907 – Şeker Ahmed Pasha, Turkish soldier and painter (b. 1841)
    • 1913 – Henry Moret, French painter (b. 1856)
    • 1916 – John MacBride, Irish soldier and rebel (b. 1865)
    • 1916 – Maurice Raoul-Duval, French polo player (b. 1866)
    • 1921 – Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian journalist and publicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
    • 1924 – A. Sabapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and politician (b. 1853)
    • 1931 – Glen Kidston, English pilot and race car driver (b. 1899)
    • 1942 – Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (b. 1920)
    • 1947 – Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (b. 1917)
    • 1957 – Leopold Löwenheim, German mathematician and logician (b. 1878)
    • 1959 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentinian academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1878)
    • 1962 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (b. 1889)
    • 1965 – Nikos Gounaris, Greek tenor and composer (b. 1915)
    • 1965 – John Waters, American director and screenwriter (b. 1893)
    • 1971 – Violet Jessop, Argentinean-English nurse (b. 1887)
    • 1973 – Zekai Özger, Turkish poet and academic (b. 1948)
    • 1977 – Ludwig Erhard, German economist and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
    • 1981 – Bobby Sands, PIRA volunteer and hunger striker (b. 1954)
    • 1983 – Horst Schumann, German physician (b. 1901)
    • 1983 – John Williams, English-American actor (b. 1903)
    • 1985 – Donald Bailey, English engineer, designed the Bailey bridge (b. 1901)
    • 1988 – Michael Shaara, American author and academic (b. 1928)
    • 1993 – Irving Howe, American literary and social critic (b. 1920)
    • 1994 – Mário Quintana, Brazilian poet and translator (b. 1906)
    • 1995 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player and coach (b. 1911)
    • 1999 – Vasilis Diamantopoulos, Greek actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
    • 2000 – Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (b. 1914)
    • 2000 – Bill Musselman, American basketball player and coach (b. 1940)
    • 2001 – Morris Graves, American painter and educator (b. 1910)
    • 2001 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, created CliffsNotes (b. 1918)
    • 2002 – Hugo Banzer, Bolivian general and politician, 62nd President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
    • 2002 – Paul Wilbur Klipsch, American engineer, founded Klipsch Audio Technologies (b. 1904)
    • 2002 – George Sidney, American director and producer (b. 1916)
    • 2003 – Sam Bockarie, Sierra Leonean commander (b. 1964)
    • 2003 – Walter Sisulu, South African activist and politician (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Naushad Ali, Indian composer and producer (b. 1919)
    • 2006 – Atıf Yılmaz, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Theodore Harold Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer, created the laser (b. 1927)
    • 2008 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (b. 1917)
    • 2008 – Jerry Wallace, American singer and guitarist (b. 1928)
    • 2010 – Giulietta Simionato, Italian soprano (b. 1910)
    • 2010 – Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Nigerian academic and politician, 13th President of Nigeria (b. 1951)
    • 2011 – Claude Choules, English-Australian soldier (b. 1901)
    • 2011 – Yosef Merimovich, Israeli footballer and manager (b. 1924)
    • 2011 – Dana Wynter, British actress (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Surendranath, Indian cricketer (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Carl Johan Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Aatos Erkko, Finnish journalist and publisher (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – George Knobel, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Roy Padayachie, South African lawyer and politician, South African Minister of Communications (b. 1950)
    • 2013 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet and author (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Robert Ressler, American FBI agent and author (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Michael Otedola, Nigerian journalist and politician, 9th Governor of Lagos State (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Jobst Brandt, American cyclist, engineer, and author (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Hans Jansen, Dutch linguist, academic, and politician (b. 1942)
    • 2017 – Binyamin Elon, Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician (b. 1954)
    • 2017 – Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Mauritanian politician (b. 1953)

    Holidays and observances on May 5

    • Children’s Day (Japan, South Korea)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Angelus of Jerusalem
      • Aventinus of Tours
      • Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice
      • Frederick the Wise (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
      • Hilary of Arles
      • Jutta of Kulmsee
      • Stanisław Kazimierczyk
      • May 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Cinco de Mayo (Mexico, United States)
    • Constitution Day (Kyrgyzstan)
    • Europe Day (Council of Europe)
    • Feast of al-Khadr or Saint George (Palestinian)
    • Indian Arrival Day (Guyana)
    • International Midwives’ Day (International)
    • Liberation Day (Denmark, Netherlands)
    • Lusophone Culture Day (Community of Portuguese Language Countries)
    • World Portuguese language day (International)
    • Martyrs’ Day (Albania)
    • Patriots’ Victory Day (Ethiopia)
    • Senior Citizens Day (Palau)
    • Tango no sekku (Japan)

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

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

    Births on May 4

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

    Deaths on May 4

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

    Holidays and observances on May 4

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

  • April 11 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
    • 1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
    • 1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: French forces led by Gaston de Foix win the Battle of Ravenna.
    • 1544 – Italian War of 1542–46: A French army defeats Habsburg forces at the Battle of Ceresole, but fails to exploit its victory.
    • 1689 – William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Great Britain.
    • 1713 – War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne’s War): Treaty of Utrecht.
    • 1727 – Premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion BWV 244b at the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig
    • 1809 – An incomplete British victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Basque Roads results in the court-martial of James, Lord Gambier.
    • 1814 – The Treaty of Fontainebleau ends the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon Bonaparte, and forces him to abdicate unconditionally for the first time.
    • 1856 – Second Battle of Rivas: Juan Santamaría burns down the hostel where William Walker’s filibusters are holed up.
    • 1868 – Former shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu surrenders Edo Castle to Imperial forces, marking the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.
    • 1876 – The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized.
    • 1881 – Spelman College is founded in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, an institute of higher education for African-American women.
    • 1908 – SMS Blücher, the last armored cruiser to be built by the Imperial German Navy, is launched.
    • 1909 – The city of Tel Aviv is founded.
    • 1921 – Emir Abdullah establishes the first centralised government in the newly created British protectorate of Transjordan.
    • 1945 – World War II: American forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp.
    • 1951 – Korean War: President Harry Truman relieves General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of overall command in Korea.
    • 1951 – The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.
    • 1955 – The Air India Kashmir Princess is bombed and crashes in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang.
    • 1957 – United Kingdom agrees to Singaporean self-rule.
    • 1961 – The trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.
    • 1963 – Pope John XXIII issues Pacem in terris, the first encyclical addressed to all Christians instead of only Catholics, and which described the conditions for world peace in human terms.
    • 1964 – Brazilian Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco is elected President by the National Congress.
    • 1965 – The Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965: Fifty-one tornadoes hit in six Midwestern states, killing 256 people.
    • 1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
    • 1968 – Assassination attempt on Rudi Dutschke, leader of the German student movement.
    • 1970 – Apollo 13 is launched.
    • 1976 – The Apple I is created.
    • 1977 – London Transport’s Silver Jubilee AEC Routemaster buses are launched.
    • 1979 – Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.
    • 1981 – A massive riot in Brixton, south London results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries.
    • 1986 – FBI Miami Shootout: A gun battle in broad daylight in Dade County, Florida between two bank/armored car robbers and pursuing FBI agents. During the firefight, FBI agents Jerry L. Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan were killed, while five other agents were wounded. As a result, the popular .40 S&W cartridge was developed.
    • 1987 – The London Agreement is secretly signed between Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein of Jordan.
    • 1990 – Customs officers in Middlesbrough, England, seize what they believe to be the barrel of a massive gun on a ship bound for Iraq.
    • 1993 – Four hundred fifty prisoners rioted at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, and continued to do so for ten days, citing grievances related to prison conditions, as well as the forced vaccination of Nation of Islam prisoners (for tuberculosis) against their religious beliefs.
    • 2001 – The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, China after a collision with a J-8 fighter, is released.
    • 2002 – The Ghriba synagogue bombing by al-Qaeda kills 21 in Tunisia.
    • 2002 – Over two hundred thousand people march in Caracas towards the Presidential palace to demand the resignation of President Hugo Chávez. Nineteen protesters are killed.
    • 2006 – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces Iran’s claim to have successfully enriched uranium.
    • 2007 – Algiers bombings: Two bombings in Algiers kill 33 people and wound a further 222 others.
    • 2011 – An explosion in the Minsk Metro, Belarus kills 15 people and injures 204 others.
    • 2012 – A pair of great earthquakes occur in the Wharton Basin west of Sumatra in Indonesia. The maximum Mercalli intensity of this strike-slip doublet earthquake was VII (Very strong). Ten were killed, twelve were injured, and a non-destructive tsunami was observed on the island of Nias.
    • 2018 – An Ilyushin Il-76 which was owned and operated by the Algerian Air Force crashes near Boufarik, Algeria, killing 257.

    Births on April 11

    • 145 – Septimius Severus, Roman emperor (probable; d. 211)
    • 1184 – William of Winchester, Lord of Lüneburg (d. 1213)
    • 1348 – Andronikos IV Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (d. 1385)
    • 1357 – John I of Portugal (d. 1433)
    • 1370 – Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1428)
    • 1374 – Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, heir to the throne of England (d. 1398)
    • 1493 – George I, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1531)
    • 1591 – Bartholomeus Strobel, Silezian painter (d. 1650)
    • 1592 – John Eliot, English lawyer and politician (d. 1632)
    • 1644 – Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1724)
    • 1658 – James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish peer (d. 1712)
    • 1683 – Jean-Joseph Mouret, French composer and conductor (d. 1738)
    • 1715 – John Alcock, English organist and composer (d. 1806)
    • 1721 – David Zeisberger, Czech-American clergyman and missionary (d. 1808)
    • 1722 – Christopher Smart, English actor, playwright, and poet (d. 1771)
    • 1749 – Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, French miniaturist and portrait painter (d. 1803)
    • 1755 – James Parkinson, English surgeon, geologist, and paleontologist (d. 1824)
    • 1770 – George Canning, Irish-English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1827)
    • 1794 – Edward Everett, English-American educator and politician, 15th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1865)
    • 1798 – Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1854)
    • 1819 – Charles Hallé, German-English pianist and conductor (d. 1895)
    • 1825 – Ferdinand Lassalle, German philosopher and jurist (d. 1864)
    • 1827 – Jyotirao Phule, Indian scholar, philosopher, and activist (d. 1890)
    • 1854 – Hugh Massie, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
    • 1856 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1903)
    • 1859 – Stefanos Thomopoulos, Greek historian and author (d. 1939)
    • 1862 – William Wallace Campbell, American astronomer and academic (d. 1938)
    • 1862 – Charles Evans Hughes, American lawyer and politician, 44th United States Secretary of State (d. 1948)
    • 1864 – Johanna Elberskirchen, German author and activist (d. 1943)
    • 1866 – Bernard O’Dowd, Australian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1953)
    • 1867 – Mark Keppel, American educator (d. 1928)
    • 1869 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor, designed the Nobel Peace Prize medal (d. 1943)
    • 1871 – Gyula Kellner, Hungarian runner (d. 1940)
    • 1873 – Edward Lawson, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1955)
    • 1876 – Paul Henry, Irish painter (d. 1958)
    • 1876 – Ivane Javakhishvili, Georgian historian and academic (d. 1940)
    • 1879 – Bernhard Schmidt, Estonian-German astronomer and optician (d. 1935)
    • 1887 – Jamini Roy, Indian painter (d. 1972)
    • 1893 – Dean Acheson, American lawyer and politician, 51st United States Secretary of State (d. 1971)
    • 1896 – Léo-Paul Desrosiers, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1967)
    • 1899 – Percy Lavon Julian, African-American chemist and academic (d. 1975)
    • 1900 – Sándor Márai, Hungarian journalist and author (d. 1989)
    • 1903 – Misuzu Kaneko, Japanese poet (d. 1930)
    • 1904 – K. L. Saigal, Indian singer and actor (d. 1947)
    • 1905 – Attila József, Hungarian poet and educator (d. 1937)
    • 1906 – Dale Messick, American author and illustrator (d. 2005)
    • 1907 – Paul Douglas, American actor (d. 1959)
    • 1908 – Jane Bolin, American lawyer and judge (d. 2007)
    • 1908 – Masaru Ibuka, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1997)
    • 1908 – Dan Maskell, English tennis player and sportscaster (d. 1992)
    • 1908 – Leo Rosten, Polish-American author and academic (d. 1997)
    • 1910 – António de Spínola, Portuguese general and politician, 14th President of Portugal (d. 1996)
    • 1912 – John Levy, American bassist and businessman (d. 2012)
    • 1913 – Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (d. 2006)
    • 1914 – Norman McLaren, Scottish-Canadian animator, director, and producer (d. 1987)
    • 1914 – Robert Stanfield, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician, 17th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2003)
    • 1914 – Dorothy Lewis Bernstein, American mathematician (d. 1988)
    • 1916 – Alberto Ginastera, Argentinian-Swiss pianist and composer (d. 1983)
    • 1916 – Howard W. Koch, American director and producer (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – David Westheimer, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 2005)
    • 1918 – Richard Wainwright, English soldier and politician (d. 2003)
    • 1919 – Raymond Carr, English historian and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1920 – Emilio Colombo, Italian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – William Royer, American soldier and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Jim Hearn, American baseball player (d. 1998)
    • 1921 – Jack Rayner, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2008)
    • 1922 – Arved Viirlaid, Estonian-Canadian soldier and author (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – George J. Maloof, Sr., American businessman (d. 1980)
    • 1924 – Mohammad Naseem, Pakistani-English activist and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Yuriy Lituyev, Russian hurdler and commander (d. 2000)
    • 1925 – Viola Liuzzo, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
    • 1925 – Viktor Masing, Estonian botanist and ecologist (d. 2001)
    • 1925 – Pierre Péladeau, Canadian businessman, founded Quebecor (d. 1997)
    • 1926 – David Manker Abshire, American commander and diplomat, United States Permanent Representative to NATO (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Victor Bouchard, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 2011)
    • 1926 – Karl Rebane, Estonian physicist and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1927 – Lokesh Chandra, Indian historian
    • 1928 – Ethel Kennedy, American philanthropist
    • 1928 – Edwin Pope, American journalist and author (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Tommy Tycho, Hungarian-Australian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Nicholas F. Brady, American businessman and politician, 68th United States Secretary of the Treasury
    • 1930 – Walter Krüger, German javelin thrower (d. 2018)
    • 1930 – Anton LaVey, American occultist, founded the Church of Satan (d. 1997)
    • 1931 – Lewis Jones, Welsh rugby player and coach
    • 1932 – Joel Grey, American actor, singer, and dancer
    • 1933 – Tony Brown, American journalist and academic
    • 1934 – Mark Strand, Canadian-born American poet, essayist, and translator (d. 2014)
    • 1934 – Ron Pember, English actor, director and playwright
    • 1935 – Richard Berry, American singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1936 – Brian Noble, English bishop (d. 2019)
    • 1937 – Jill Gascoine, English actress and author
    • 1938 – Gerry Baker, American soccer player and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1938 – Michael Deaver, American politician, Deputy White House Chief of Staff (d. 2007)
    • 1938 – Reatha King, American chemist and businesswoman
    • 1939 – Luther Johnson, American singer and guitarist
    • 1939 – Louise Lasser, American actress
    • 1940 – Col Firmin, Australian politician (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Thomas Harris, American author and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Władysław Komar, Polish shot putter and actor (d. 1998)
    • 1941 – Ellen Goodman, American journalist and author
    • 1941 – Shirley Stelfox, English actress (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Anatoly Berezovoy, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Hattie Gossett, American writer
    • 1942 – James Underwood, English pathologist and academic
    • 1943 – John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich, English businessman and politician
    • 1943 – Harley Race, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2019)
    • 1944 – Peter Barfuß, German footballer
    • 1944 – John Milius, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1945 – John Krebs, Baron Krebs, English zoologist and academic
    • 1946 – Chris Burden, American sculptor, illustrator, and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1946 – Bob Harris, English journalist and radio host
    • 1947 – Lev Bulat, Ukrainian-Russian physicist and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1947 – Uli Edel, German director and screenwriter
    • 1947 – Frank Mantooth, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
    • 1947 – Peter Riegert, American actor, screenwriter and film director
    • 1947 – Michael T. Wright, English engineer and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1949 – Bernd Eichinger, German director and producer (d. 2011)
    • 1950 – Bill Irwin, American actor and clown
    • 1951 – Paul Fox, English singer and guitarist (d. 2007)
    • 1952 – Nancy Honeytree, American singer and guitarist
    • 1952 – Indira Samarasekera, Sri Lankan engineer and academic
    • 1952 – Peter Windsor, English-Australian journalist and sportscaster
    • 1953 – Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian politician, 47th Prime Minister of Belgium
    • 1953 – Andrew Wiles, English mathematician and academic
    • 1954 – Abdullah Atalar, Turkish engineer and academic
    • 1954 – Aleksandr Averin, Azerbaijani cyclist and coach
    • 1954 – Francis Lickerish, English guitarist and composer
    • 1954 – David Perrett, Scottish psychologist and academic
    • 1954 – Ian Redmond, English biologist and conservationist
    • 1954 – Willie Royster, American baseball player (d. 2015)
    • 1955 – Kevin Brady, American lawyer and politician
    • 1955 – Michael Callen, American singer-songwriter and AIDS activist (d. 1993)
    • 1955 – Micheal Ray Richardson, American basketball player and coach
    • 1958 – Stuart Adamson, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001)
    • 1958 – Lyudmila Kondratyeva, Russian sprinter
    • 1959 – Pierre Lacroix, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1959 – Ana María Polo, Cuban-American lawyer and judge
    • 1959 – Zahid Maleque, Bangladeshi politician
    • 1960 – Jeremy Clarkson, English journalist and television presenter
    • 1961 – Vincent Gallo, American actor, director, producer, and musician
    • 1961 – Doug Hopkins, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1993)
    • 1961 – Nobuaki Kakuda, Japanese martial artist
    • 1962 – Franck Ducheix, French fencer
    • 1962 – Mark Lawson, English journalist and author
    • 1963 – Billy Bowden, New Zealand cricketer and umpire
    • 1963 – Waldemar Fornalik, Polish footballer and manager
    • 1963 – Elizabeth Smylie, Australian tennis player
    • 1964 – Steve Azar, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – John Cryer, English journalist and politician
    • 1964 – Johann Sebastian Paetsch, American cellist
    • 1964 – Bret Saberhagen, American baseball player and coach
    • 1964 – Patrick Sang, Kenyan runner
    • 1966 – Steve Scarsone, American baseball player and manager
    • 1966 – Shin Seung-hun, South Korean singer-songwriter
    • 1966 – Lisa Stansfield, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1968 – Sergei Lukyanenko, Kazakh-Russian journalist and author
    • 1969 – Cerys Matthews, Welsh singer-songwriter
    • 1969 – Michael von Grünigen, Swiss skier
    • 1970 – Trevor Linden, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1970 – Delroy Pearson, English singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1971 – John Leech, English politician
    • 1971 – Oliver Riedel, German bass player
    • 1972 – Balls Mahoney, American wrestler (d. 2016)
    • 1972 – Allan Théo, French singer
    • 1972 – Jason Varitek, American baseball player and manager
    • 1973 – Jennifer Esposito, American actress
    • 1973 – Olivier Magne, French rugby player
    • 1974 – Àlex Corretja, Spanish tennis player and coach
    • 1974 – Ashot Danielyan, Armenian weightlifter
    • 1974 – David Jassy, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1974 – Zöe Lucker, English actress
    • 1974 – Tom Thacker, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1974 – Trot Nixon, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Olga Hostáková, Czech tennis player
    • 1975 – Walid Soliman, Tunisian author and translator
    • 1976 – Kelvim Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1977 – Ivonne Teichmann, German runner
    • 1978 – Josh Hancock, American baseball player (d. 2007)
    • 1979 – Malcolm Christie, English footballer
    • 1979 – Sebastien Grainger, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1979 – Michel Riesen, Swiss ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Josh Server, American actor
    • 1980 – Keiji Tamada, Japanese footballer
    • 1980 – Mark Teixeira, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Alessandra Ambrosio, Brazilian model
    • 1981 – Alexandre Burrows, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Veronica Pyke, Australian cricketer
    • 1982 – Ian Bell, English cricketer
    • 1982 – Peeter Kümmel, Estonian skier
    • 1983 – Jennifer Heil, Canadian skier
    • 1983 – Rubén Palazuelos, Spanish footballer
    • 1983 – Nicky Pastorelli, Dutch race car driver
    • 1984 – Kelli Garner, American actress
    • 1984 – Nikola Karabatić, French handball player
    • 1985 – Pablo Hernández Domínguez, Spanish footballer
    • 1985 – Will Minson, Australian footballer
    • 1986 – Sarodj Bertin, Haitian model and human rights lawyer
    • 1986 – Dai Greene, Welsh hurdler
    • 1986 – Lena Schöneborn, German pentathlete
    • 1987 – Joss Stone, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1987 – Lights, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Leland Irving, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Torrin Lawrence, American sprinter (d. 2014)
    • 1989 – Zola Jesus, American singer
    • 1990 – Dimitrios Anastasopoulos, Greek footballer
    • 1990 – Thulani Serero, South African footballer
    • 1991 – Thiago Alcântara, Spanish footballer
    • 1991 – Brennan Poole, American racing driver
    • 1996 – Dele Alli, English international footballer
    • 1997 – Georgia Bohl, Australian swimmer
    • 1997 – Miriam Kolodziejová, a Czech tennis player

    Deaths on April 11

    • 618 – Yang Guang, Chinese emperor of the Sui Dynasty (b. 569)
    • 678 – Donus, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 610)
    • 924 – Herman I, chancellor and archbishop of Cologne
    • 1034 – Romanos III Argyros, Byzantine emperor (b. 968)
    • 1077 – Anawrahta, king of Burma and founder of the Pagan Empire (b. 1014)
    • 1079 – Stanislaus of Szczepanów, bishop of Kraków (b. 1030)
    • 1165 – Stephen IV, king of Hungary and Croatia
    • 1240 – Llywelyn the Great, Welsh prince (b. 1172)
    • 1447 – Henry Beaufort, Cardinal, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1377)
    • 1512 – Gaston de Foix, French military commander (b. 1489)
    • 1554 – Thomas Wyatt the Younger, English rebel leader (b. 1521)
    • 1587 – Thomas Bromley, English lord chancellor (b. 1530)
    • 1609 – John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley, English noble (b. 1533)
    • 1612 – Emanuel van Meteren, Flemish historian and author (b. 1535)
    • 1612 – Edward Wightman, English minister and martyr (b. 1566)
    • 1626 – Marino Ghetaldi, Ragusan mathematician and physicist (b. 1568)
    • 1712 – Richard Simon, French priest and critic (b. 1638)
    • 1723 – John Robinson, English bishop and diplomat (b. 1650)
    • 1783 – Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Polish-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1718)
    • 1798 – Karl Wilhelm Ramler, German poet and academic (b. 1725)
    • 1856 – Juan Santamaría, Costa Rican soldier (b. 1831)
    • 1861 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet and composer (b. 1824)
    • 1873 – Edward Canby, American general (b. 1817)
    • 1890 – David de Jahacob Lopez Cardozo, Dutch Talmudist (b. 1808)
    • 1890 – Joseph Merrick, English man with severe deformities (b. 1862)
    • 1894 – Constantin Lipsius, German architect and theorist (b. 1832)
    • 1895 – Julius Lothar Meyer, German chemist (b. 1830)
    • 1902 – Wade Hampton III, American general and politician, 77th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1818)
    • 1903 – Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (b. 1878)
    • 1906 – James Anthony Bailey, American businessman, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (b. 1847)
    • 1906 – Francis Pharcellus Church, American journalist and publisher, co-founded Armed Forces Journal and The Galaxy Magazine (b. 1839)
    • 1908 – Henry Bird, English chess player and author (b. 1829)
    • 1916 – Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author (b. 1864)
    • 1918 – Otto Wagner, Austrian architect and urban planner (b. 1841)
    • 1926 – Luther Burbank, American botanist and academic (b. 1849)
    • 1939 – Kurtdereli Mehmet, Turkish wrestler (b. 1864)
    • 1953 – Kid Nichols, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
    • 1954 – Paul Specht, American violinist and bandleader (b. 1895)
    • 1958 – Konstantin Yuon, Russian painter and educator (b. 1875)
    • 1960 – Rosa Grünberg, Swedish actress (b. 1878)
    • 1962 – Ukichiro Nakaya, Japanese physicist and academic (b. 1900)
    • 1962 – George Poage, American hurdler and educator (b. 1880)
    • 1967 – Thomas Farrell, American general (b. 1891)
    • 1967 – Donald Sangster, Jamaican lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1911)
    • 1970 – Cathy O’Donnell, American actress (b. 1923)
    • 1970 – John O’Hara, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1905)
    • 1974 – Ernst Ziegler, German actor (b. 1894)
    • 1977 – Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (b. 1900)
    • 1977 – Phanishwar Nath ‘Renu’, Indian author and activist (b. 1921)
    • 1980 – Ümit Kaftancıoğlu, Turkish journalist and producer (b. 1935)
    • 1981 – Caroline Gordon, American author and critic (b. 1895)
    • 1983 – Dolores del Río, Mexican actress (b. 1904)
    • 1984 – Edgar V. Saks, Estonian historian and politician, Estonian Minister of Education (b. 1910)
    • 1985 – Bunny Ahearne, Irish-born English businessman (b. 1900)
    • 1985 – John Gilroy, English artist and illustrator (b. 1898)
    • 1985 – Enver Hoxha, Albanian educator and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1908)
    • 1987 – Erskine Caldwell, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1903)
    • 1987 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (b. 1919)
    • 1990 – Harold Ballard, Canadian businessman (b. 1903)
    • 1991 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player and manager (b. 1915)
    • 1991 – Bruno Hoffmann. German glass harp player (b. 1913)
    • 1992 – James Brown, American actor and singer (b. 1920)
    • 1992 – Eve Merriam, American author and poet (b. 1916)
    • 1992 – Alejandro Obregón, Colombian painter, sculptor, and engraver (b. 1920)
    • 1996 – Jessica Dubroff, American pilot (b. 1988)
    • 1997 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (b. 1899)
    • 1997 – Wang Xiaobo, contemporary Chinese novelist and essayist (b. 1952)
    • 1999 – William H. Armstrong, American author and educator (b. 1911)
    • 2000 – Diana Darvey, English actress, singer and dancer (b. 1945)
    • 2001 – Harry Secombe, Welsh-English actor (b. 1921)
    • 2003 – Cecil Howard Green, English-American geophysicist and businessman, founded Texas Instruments (b. 1900)
    • 2005 – André François, Romanian-French cartoonist, painter, and sculptor (b. 1915)
    • 2005 – Lucien Laurent, French footballer and coach (b. 1907)
    • 2006 – June Pointer, American singer (b. 1953)
    • 2006 – DeShaun Holton, American rapper and actor (b. 1973)
    • 2007 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (b. 1922)
    • 2007 – Loïc Leferme, French diver (b. 1970)
    • 2007 – Janet McDonald, American lawyer and author (b. 1954)
    • 2007 – Ronald Speirs, Scottish-American colonel (b. 1920)
    • 2007 – Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1922)
    • 2008 – Merlin German, American sergeant (b. 1985)
    • 2009 – Gerda Gilboe, Danish actress and singer (b. 1914)
    • 2009 – Vishnu Prabhakar, Indian author and playwright (b. 1912)
    • 2009 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (b. 1927)
    • 2010 – Julia Tsenova, Bulgarian pianist and composer (b. 1948)
    • 2011 – Larry Sweeney, American wrestler and manager (b. 1981)
    • 2012 – Ahmed Ben Bella, Algerian soldier and politician, 1st President of Algeria (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Roger Caron, Canadian criminal and author (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – Tippy Dye, American basketball player and coach (b. 1915)
    • 2012 – Hal McKusick, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and flute player (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Agustin Roman, American bishop (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Don Blackman, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1953)
    • 2013 – Grady Hatton, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Thomas Hemsley, English actor and singer (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Hilary Koprowski, Polish-American virologist and immunologist (b. 1916)
    • 2013 – Gilles Marchal, French singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
    • 2013 – Maria Tallchief, American ballerina (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Clorindo Testa, Italian-Argentinian architect (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Jonathan Winters, American comedian, actor and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Rolf Brem, Swiss sculptor and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Edna Doré, English actress (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Bill Henry, American baseball player (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Lou Hudson, American basketball player and sportscaster (b. 1944)
    • 2014 – Myer S. Kripke, American rabbi and scholar (b. 1914)
    • 2014 – Sergey Nepobedimy, Russian engineer (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
    • 2015 – Jimmy Gunn, American football player (b. 1948)
    • 2015 – Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Bangladeshi journalist and politician (b. 1952)
    • 2015 – François Maspero, French journalist and author (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Hanut Singh, Indian general (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Tekena Tamuno, Nigerian historian and academic (b. 1932)
    • 2017 – J. Geils, American singer and guitarist (b. 1946)
    • 2017 – Mark Wainberg, Canadian researcher and HIV/AIDS activist (b. 1945)
    • 2020 – John Horton Conway, English mathematician (b. 1937)

    Holidays and observances on April 11

    • Christian feast day:
      • Antipas of Pergamum (Greek Orthodox Church)
      • Gemma Galgani
      • Godeberta
      • Guthlac of Crowland
      • George Selwyn (Anglicanism)
      • Stanislaus of Szczepanów
      • April 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Juan Santamaría Day, anniversary of his death in the Second Battle of Rivas. (Costa Rica)
    • International Louie Louie Day
    • World Parkinson’s Day

  • April 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus.
    • 402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia.
    • 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids of Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur.
    • 1320 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.
    • 1327 – The poet Petrarch first sees his idealized love, Laura, in the church of Saint Clare in Avignon.
    • 1385 – John, Master of the Order of Aviz, an illegitimate son of Peter I of Portugal, is made king John I of Portugal.
    • 1453 – Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople (Istanbul), which falls on May 29.
    • 1580 – One of the largest earthquakes recorded in the history of England, Flanders, or Northern France, takes place.
    • 1652 – At the Cape of Good Hope, Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp that eventually becomes Cape Town.
    • 1712 – The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 begins near Broadway.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Ships of the Continental Navy fail in their attempt to capture a Royal Navy dispatch boat.
    • 1782 – King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Siam (modern day Thailand) establishes the Chakri dynasty.
    • 1793 – During the French Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic.
    • 1808 – John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company, that would eventually make him America’s first millionaire.
    • 1812 – British forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington assault the fortress of Badajoz. This would be the turning point in the Peninsular War against Napoleon-led France.
    • 1814 – Nominal beginning of the Bourbon Restoration; anniversary date that Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba.
    • 1830 – Church of Christ, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement, is organized by Joseph Smith and others at either Fayette or Manchester, New York.
    • 1841 – U.S. President John Tyler is sworn in, two days after having become President upon William Henry Harrison’s death.
    • 1860 – The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, later renamed Community of Christ, is organized by Joseph Smith III and others at Amboy, Illinois.
    • 1861 – First performance of Arthur Sullivan’s debut success, his suite of incidental music for The Tempest, leading to a career that included the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins: In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Sailor’s Creek: Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fights and loses its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia during the Appomattox Campaign.
    • 1866 – The Grand Army of the Republic, an American patriotic organization composed of Union veterans of the American Civil War, is founded. It lasts until 1956.
    • 1869 – Celluloid is patented.
    • 1888 – Thomas Green Clemson dies, bequeathing his estate to the State of South Carolina to establish Clemson Agricultural College.
    • 1893 – Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is dedicated by Wilford Woodruff.
    • 1895 – Oscar Wilde is arrested in the Cadogan Hotel, London, after losing a libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry.
    • 1896 – In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.
    • 1909 – Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first people to reach the North Pole; Peary’s claim has been disputed because of failings in his navigational ability.
    • 1911 – During the Battle of Deçiq, Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, leader of the Malësori Albanians, raises the Albanian flag in the town of Tuzi, Montenegro, for the first time after George Kastrioti (Skanderbeg).
    • 1917 – World War I: The United States declares war on Germany (see President Woodrow Wilson’s address to Congress).
    • 1926 – Varney Airlines makes its first commercial flight (Varney is the root company of United Airlines).
    • 1929 – Huey P. Long, Governor of Louisiana, is impeached by the Louisiana House of Representatives.
    • 1930 – At the end of the Salt March, Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, “With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire.”
    • 1936 – Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: Another tornado from the same storm system as the Tupelo tornado hits Gainesville, Georgia, killing 203.
    • 1941 – World War II: Nazi Germany launches Operation 25 (the invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece).
    • 1945 – World War II: Sarajevo is liberated from German and Croatian forces by the Yugoslav Partisans.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Slater’s Knoll on Bougainville comes to an end.
    • 1947 – The first Tony Awards are presented for theatrical achievement.
    • 1957 – Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis buys the Hellenic National Airlines (TAE) and founds Olympic Airlines.
    • 1965 – Launch of Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit.
    • 1968 – In Richmond, Indiana’s downtown district, a double explosion kills 41 and injures 150.
    • 1968 – Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins the Liberal Leadership Election, and becomes Prime Minister of Canada soon after.
    • 1970 – Newhall massacre: Four California Highway Patrol officers are killed in a shootout.
    • 1972 – Vietnam War: Easter Offensive: American forces begin sustained air strikes and naval bombardments.
    • 1973 – Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft.
    • 1973 – The American League of Major League Baseball begins using the designated hitter.
    • 1974 – The Swedish pop band ABBA wins the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Waterloo”, launching their international career.
    • 1979 – Student protests break out in Nepal.
    • 1984 – Members of Cameroon’s Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya.
    • 1992 – The Bosnian War begins.
    • 1994 – The Rwandan genocide begins when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down.
    • 1997 – In Greene County, Tennessee, the Lillelid murders occurs when a group of young people abduct and kidnap a religious family before shooting them dead on a rural suburban road.
    • 1998 – Nuclear weapons testing: Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of reaching India.
    • 1998 – Travelers Group announces an agreement to undertake the $76 billion merger between Travelers and Citicorp, and the merger is completed on October 8, of that year, forming Citibank.
    • 2004 – Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from office by impeachment.
    • 2005 – Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day.
    • 2008 – The 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activists.
    • 2009 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L’Aquila, Italy, killing 307.
    • 2010 – Maoist rebels kill 76 CRPF officers in Dantewada district, India.
    • 2011 – In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, over 193 victims of Los Zetas were exhumed from several mass graves.
    • 2012 – Azawad declares itself independent from the Republic of Mali.
    • 2017 – U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria. Russia describes the strikes as an “aggression”, adding they significantly damage US-Russia ties.
    • 2018 – A bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior ice hockey team collides with a semi-truck in Saskatchewan, Canada, killing 16 people and injuring 13 others.

    Births on April 6

    • 1135 – Maimonides, Jewish philosopher, Torah scholar, physician and astronomer (March 30 also proposed, d. 1204)
    • 1342 – Infanta Maria, Marchioness of Tortosa
    • 1483 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (d. 1520)
    • 1573 – Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg, German noble (d. 1643)
    • 1632 – Maria Leopoldine of Austria (d. 1649)
    • 1651 – André Dacier, French scholar and academic (d. 1722)
    • 1660 – Johann Kuhnau, German organist and composer (d. 1722)
    • 1664 – Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician, Governor of Västerbotten County (d. 1742)
    • 1671 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet and playwright (d. 1741)
    • 1672 – André Cardinal Destouches, French composer (d. 1749)
    • 1706 – Louis de Cahusac, French playwright and composer (d. 1759)
    • 1708 – Johann Georg Reutter, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1772)
    • 1725 – Pasquale Paoli, French soldier and politician (d. 1807)
    • 1726 – Gerard Majella, Italian saint (d. 1755)
    • 1741 – Nicolas Chamfort, French author and playwright (d. 1794)
    • 1766 – Wilhelm von Kobell, German painter and educator (d. 1853)
    • 1773 – James Mill, Scottish historian, economist, and philosopher (d. 1836)
    • 1787 – Celestina Cordero, Puerto Rican educator (d. 1862)
    • 1810 – Philip Henry Gosse, English biologist and academic (d. 1888)
    • 1812 – Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and author (d. 1870)
    • 1815 – Robert Volkmann, German organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1883)
    • 1818 – Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Norwegian journalist and poet (d. 1870)
    • 1820 – Nadar, French photographer, journalist, and author (d. 1910)
    • 1823 – Joseph Medill, Canadian-American publisher and politician, 26th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1899)
    • 1824 – George Waterhouse, English-New Zealand politician, 7th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1906)
    • 1826 – Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (d. 1898)
    • 1844 – William Lyne, Australian politician, 13th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1913)
    • 1851 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (d. 1932)
    • 1852 – Will Crooks, English trade unionist and politician (d. 1921)
    • 1855 – Charles Huot, Canadian painter and illustrator (d. 1930)
    • 1857 – Arthur Wesley Dow, American painter and photographer (d. 1922)
    • 1860 – René Lalique, French sculptor and jewellery designer (d. 1945)
    • 1861 – Stanislas de Guaita, French poet and author (d. 1897)
    • 1864 – William Bate Hardy, English biologist and academic (d. 1934)
    • 1866 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (d. 1931)
    • 1869 – Levon Shant, Armenian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1951)
    • 1878 – Erich Mühsam, German author, poet, and playwright (d. 1934)
    • 1881 – Karl Staaf, Swedish pole vaulter and hammer thrower (d. 1953)
    • 1884 – J. G. Parry-Thomas, Welsh race car driver and engineer (d. 1927)
    • 1886 – Athenagoras I of Constantinople (d. 1972)
    • 1886 – Walter Dandy, American physician and neurosurgeon (d. 1946)
    • 1886 – Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, Indian ruler (d. 1967)
    • 1888 – Hans Richter, Swiss painter, illustrator, and director (d. 1976)
    • 1888 – Gerhard Ritter, German historian and academic (d. 1967)
    • 1890 – Anthony Fokker, Dutch engineer and businessman, founded Fokker Aircraft Manufacturer (d. 1939)
    • 1892 – Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American businessman, founded the Douglas Aircraft Company (d. 1981)
    • 1892 – Lowell Thomas, American journalist and author (d. 1981)
    • 1895 – Dudley Nichols, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1960)
    • 1898 – Jeanne Hébuterne, French painter and author (d. 1920)
    • 1900 – Leo Robin, American composer and songwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1901 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian activist (d. 1925)
    • 1902 – Julien Torma, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1933)
    • 1903 – Mickey Cochrane, American baseball player and manager (d. 1962)
    • 1903 – Harold Eugene Edgerton, American engineer and academic (d. 1990)
    • 1904 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German lawyer, politician and Chancellor of Germany (d. 1988)
    • 1904 – Erwin Komenda, Austrian car designer and engineer (d. 1966)
    • 1908 – Marcel-Marie Desmarais, Canadian preacher, missionary, and author (d. 1994)
    • 1909 – William M. Branham, American minister and theologian (d. 1965)
    • 1909 – Hermann Lang, German race car driver (d. 1987)
    • 1910 – Barys Kit, Belarusian-American rocket scientist (d. 2018)
    • 1911 – Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
    • 1913 – Shannon Boyd-Bailey McCune, American geographer and academic (d. 1993)
    • 1915 – Tadeusz Kantor, Polish director, painter, and set designer (d. 1990)
    • 1916 – Phil Leeds, American actor (d. 1998)
    • 1916 – Vincent Ellis McKelvey, American geologist and author (d. 1987)
    • 1917 – Leonora Carrington, English-Mexican painter and author (d. 2011)
    • 1918 – Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian general and politician, 56th President of Bolivia (d. 1982)
    • 1919 – Georgios Mylonas, Greek politician, 11th Greek Minister of Culture (d. 1998)
    • 1920 – Jack Cover, American pilot and physicist, invented the Taser gun (d. 2009)
    • 1920 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1921 – Wilbur Thompson, American shot putter (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Gordon Chater, English-Australian comedian and actor (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Herb Thomas, American race car driver (d. 2000)
    • 1926 – Sergio Franchi, Italian-American singer and actor (d. 1990)
    • 1926 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (d. 2000)
    • 1926 – Ian Paisley, Northern Irish evangelical minister and politician, 2nd First Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Randy Weston, American jazz pianist and composer (d. 2018)
    • 1927 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer (d. 1996)
    • 1928 – James Watson, American biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1929 – Willis Hall, English playwright and author (d. 2005)
    • 1929 – Joi Lansing, American model, actress and nightclub singer (d. 1972)
    • 1929 – André Previn, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Ram Dass, American author and educator (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Ivan Dixon, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2008)
    • 1932 – Connie Broden, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
    • 1932 – Helmut Griem, German actor and director (d. 2004)
    • 1933 – Roy Goode, English lawyer and academic
    • 1933 – Tom C. Korologos, American journalist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Belgium
    • 1933 – Eduardo Malapit, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of Kauai (d. 2007)
    • 1934 – Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (d. 1996)
    • 1934 – Anton Geesink, Dutch martial artist and wrestler (d. 2010)
    • 1934 – Guy Peellaert, Belgian painter, illustrator, and photographer (d. 2008)
    • 1935 – Douglas Hill, Canadian author and critic (d. 2007)
    • 1936 – Helen Berman, Dutch-Israeli painter and illustrator
    • 1936 – Jean-Pierre Changeux, French neuroscientist, biologist, and academic
    • 1937 – Merle Haggard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
    • 1937 – Tom Veivers, Australian cricketer and politician
    • 1937 – Billy Dee Williams, American actor, singer, and writer
    • 1938 – Paul Daniels, English magician and television host (d. 2016)
    • 1938 – Roy Thinnes, American television and film actor
    • 1939 – André Ouellet, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1939 – John Sculley, American businessman, co-founded Zeta Interactive
    • 1940 – Homero Aridjis, Mexican journalist, author, and poet
    • 1940 – Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., Mexican-American actor and producer (d. 2011)
    • 1941 – Christopher Allsopp, English economist and academic
    • 1941 – Phil Austin, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1941 – Hans W. Geißendörfer, German director and producer
    • 1941 – Don Prudhomme, American race car driver and manager
    • 1941 – Gheorghe Zamfir, Romanian flute player and composer
    • 1942 – Barry Levinson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1942 – Anita Pallenberg, Italian-English model, actress, and fashion designer (d. 2017)
    • 1943 – Max Clifford, English journalist and publicist (d. 2017)
    • 1943 – Roger Cook, New Zealand-English journalist and academic
    • 1943 – Ian MacRae, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1943 – Mitchell Melton, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Felicity Palmer, English operatic soprano
    • 1945 – Rodney Bickerstaffe, English trade union leader (d. 2017)
    • 1945 – Peter Hill, English journalist
    • 1946 – Paul Beresford, New Zealand-English dentist and politician
    • 1947 – John Ratzenberger, American actor and director
    • 1947 – André Weinfeld, French-American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1947 – Mike Worboys, English mathematician and computer scientist
    • 1949 – Alyson Bailes, English academic and diplomat (d. 2016)
    • 1949 – Patrick Hernandez, French singer-songwriter
    • 1949 – Ng Ser Miang, Singaporean athlete, entrepreneur and diplomat
    • 1949 – Horst Ludwig Störmer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1950 – Claire Morissette, Canadian cycling activist (d. 2007)
    • 1950 – Cleo Odzer, American anthropologist and author (d. 2001)
    • 1951 – Bert Blyleven, Dutch-American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1951 – Jean-Marc Boivin, French skier, mountaineer, and pilot (d. 1990)
    • 1951 – Pascal Rogé, French pianist
    • 1951 – Phil Schaap, American jazz disc jockey and historian
    • 1952 – Udo Dirkschneider, German singer-songwriter
    • 1952 – Marilu Henner, Greek-Polish American actress and author
    • 1952 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 1992)
    • 1953 – Patrick Doyle, Scottish actor and composer
    • 1953 – Christopher Franke, German-American drummer and songwriter
    • 1955 – Rob Epstein, American director and producer
    • 1955 – Michael Rooker, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1955 – Cathy Jones, Canadian actress, comedian, and writer
    • 1956 – Michele Bachmann, American lawyer and politician
    • 1956 – Normand Corbeil, Canadian composer (d. 2013)
    • 1956 – Mudassar Nazar, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1956 – Lee Scott, English politician
    • 1956 – Sebastian Spreng, Argentinian-American painter and journalist
    • 1956 – Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer and coach
    • 1957 – Giorgio Damilano, Italian race walker and coach
    • 1957 – Maurizio Damilano, Italian race walker and coach
    • 1957 – Jaroslava Maxová, Czech soprano and educator
    • 1957 – Paolo Nespoli, Italian soldier, engineer, and astronaut
    • 1958 – Graeme Base, Australian author and illustrator
    • 1959 – Gail Shea, Canadian politician
    • 1960 – Warren Haynes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1960 – Richard Loe, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1960 – John Pizzarelli, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1961 – Rory Bremner, Scottish actor and screenwriter
    • 1961 – Peter Jackson, English footballer and manager
    • 1962 – Iris Häussler, German sculptor and academic
    • 1962 – Marco Schällibaum, Swiss footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1963 – Rafael Correa, Ecuadorian economist and politician, 54th President of Ecuador
    • 1965 – Black Francis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1965 – Sterling Sharpe, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1966 – Vince Flynn, American author (d. 2013)
    • 1966 – Young Man Kang, South Korean-American director and producer
    • 1967 – Julian Anderson, English composer and educator
    • 1967 – Kathleen Barr, Canadian voice actress and singer
    • 1967 – Tanya Byron, English psychologist and academic
    • 1967 – Jonathan Firth, English actor
    • 1968 – Archon Fung, American political scientist, author, and academic
    • 1968 – Affonso Giaffone, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1969 – Bret Boone, American baseball player and manager
    • 1969 – Bison Dele, American basketball player (d. 2002)
    • 1969 – Philipp Peter, Austrian race car driver
    • 1969 – Paul Rudd, American actor
    • 1969 – Spencer Wells, American geneticist and anthropologist
    • 1970 – Olaf Kölzig, South African-German ice hockey player and coach
    • 1970 – Roy Mayorga, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1970 – Huang Xiaomin, Chinese swimmer
    • 1972 – Anders Thomas Jensen, Danish director and screenwriter
    • 1972 – Dickey Simpkins, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1973 – Donnie Edwards, American football player
    • 1973 – Randall Godfrey, American football player
    • 1973 – Rie Miyazawa, Japanese model and actress
    • 1973 – Sun Wen, Chinese footballer
    • 1975 – Zach Braff, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1975 – Hal Gill, American ice hockey player
    • 1976 – Candace Cameron Bure, American actress and talk show panelist
    • 1976 – James Fox, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1976 – Chris Hoke, American football player
    • 1976 – Georg Hólm, Icelandic bass player
    • 1976 – Hirotada Ototake, Japanese author and educator
    • 1977 – Ville Nieminen, Finnish ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Andy Phillips, American baseball player and coach
    • 1978 – Imani Coppola, American singer-songwriter and violinist
    • 1978 – Robert Glasper, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1978 – Tim Hasselbeck, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Myleene Klass, Austrian/Filipino-English singer, pianist, and model
    • 1978 – Martín Méndez, Uruguayan bass player and songwriter
    • 1978 – Blaine Neal, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Igor Semshov, Russian footballer
    • 1979 – Lord Frederick Windsor, English journalist and financier
    • 1979 – Clay Travis, American sports journalist, blogger, and broadcaster
    • 1980 – Tommi Evilä, Finnish long jumper
    • 1980 – Tanja Poutiainen, Finnish skier
    • 1980 – Antonio Thomas, American wrestler
    • 1981 – Robert Earnshaw, Welsh footballer
    • 1981 – Jeff Faine, American football player
    • 1981 – Alex Suarez, American bass player
    • 1982 – Travis Moen, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Spanish actor
    • 1983 – Mehdi Ballouchy, Moroccan footballer
    • 1983 – Jerome Kaino, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1983 – Mitsuru Nagata, Japanese footballer
    • 1983 – Remi Nicole, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1983 – James Wade, English darts player
    • 1983 – Katie Weatherston, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Max Bemis, American singer-songwriter
    • 1984 – Michaël Ciani, French footballer
    • 1984 – Siboniso Gaxa, South African footballer
    • 1984 – Diana Matheson, Canadian soccer player
    • 1985 – Clarke MacArthur, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Frank Ongfiang, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1985 – Sinqua Walls, American basketball player and actor
    • 1986 – Nikolas Asprogenis, Cypriot footballer
    • 1986 – Aaron Curry, American football player
    • 1986 – Goeido Gotaro, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1986 – Ryota Moriwaki, Japanese footballer
    • 1987 – Benjamin Corgnet, French footballer
    • 1987 – Heidi Mount, American model
    • 1987 – Juan Adriel Ochoa, Mexican footballer
    • 1987 – Levi Porter, English footballer
    • 1987 – Hilary Rhoda, American model
    • 1988 – Jucilei, Brazilian footballer
    • 1988 – Leigh Adams, Australian footballer
    • 1988 – Daniele Gasparetto, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Carlton Mitchell, American football player
    • 1988 – Fabrice Muamba, Congolese-English footballer
    • 1988 – Ivonne Orsini, Puerto Rican-American model and television host, Miss World Puerto Rico 2008
    • 1990 – Lachlan Coote, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Charlie McDermott, American actor
    • 1990 – Andrei Veis, Estonian footballer
    • 1992 – Ken, South Korean singer
    • 1992 – Julie Ertz, American soccer player
    • 1994 – Adrián Alonso, Mexican actor
    • 1995 – Darya Lebesheva, Belarusian tennis player
    • 1998 – Peyton List, American actress and model

    Deaths on April 6

    • 861 – Prudentius, bishop of Troyes
    • 885 – Saint Methodius, Byzantine missionary and saint (b. 815)
    • 887 – Pei Che, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
    • 943 – Liu Churang, Chinese general and chief of staff (b. 881)
    • 943 – Nasr II, ruler (amir) of the Samanid Empire (b. 906)
    • 1147 – Frederick II, duke of Swabia (b. 1090)
    • 1199 – Richard I, king of England (b. 1157)
    • 1231 – William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
    • 1250 – Guillaume de Sonnac, Grand Master of the Knights Templar
    • 1252 – Peter of Verona, Italian priest and saint (b. 1206)
    • 1340 – Basil, emperor of Trebizond (Turkey)
    • 1362 – James I, count of La Marche (b. 1319)
    • 1376 – Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wrocław (b. 1310)
    • 1490 – Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490 (b. 1443)
    • 1520 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (b. 1483)
    • 1523 – Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1479)
    • 1528 – Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (b. 1471)
    • 1551 – Joachim Vadian, Swiss scholar and politician (b. 1484)
    • 1571 – John Hamilton, Scottish archbishop and academic (b. 1512)
    • 1590 – Francis Walsingham, English politician and diplomat, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1532)
    • 1593 – Henry Barrowe, English Puritan and separatist (b. 1550)
    • 1605 – John Stow, English historian and author (b. 1525)
    • 1621 – Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (b. 1539)
    • 1641 – Domenico Zampieri (Domenichino), Italian painter (b. 1581)
    • 1655 – David Blondel, French minister, historian, and scholar (b. 1591)
    • 1676 – John Winthrop the Younger, English politician, 1st Governor of Connecticut (b. 1606)
    • 1686 – Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, Irish-English politician (b. 1614)
    • 1707 – Willem van de Velde the Younger, Dutch-English painter (b. 1633)
    • 1755 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and historian (b. 1690)
    • 1790 – Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1719)
    • 1825 – Vladimir Borovikovsky, Ukrainian-Russian painter and educator (b. 1757)
    • 1829 – Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (b. 1802)
    • 1833 – Adamantios Korais, Greek philosopher and scholar (b. 1748)
    • 1838 – José Bonifácio de Andrada, Brazilian poet, academic, and politician (b. 1763)
    • 1860 – James Kirke Paulding, American author and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1778)
    • 1862 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (b. 1803)
    • 1883 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, American merchant and politician, 3rd Mayor of Chicago (b. 1801)
    • 1886 – William Edward Forster, English businessman, philanthropist, and politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1818)
    • 1899 – Alvan Wentworth Chapman, American physician and botanist (b. 1809)
    • 1906 – Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author, playwright, and politician, 6th County Governor of Møre og Romsdal (b. 1849)
    • 1913 – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore (b. 1835)
    • 1923 – Kabalega, King of Bunyoro (b.1853)
    • 1927 – Florence Earle Coates, American poet (b. 1850)
    • 1935 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet and playwright (b. 1869)
    • 1944 – Rose O’Neill, American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer (b. 1874)
    • 1947 – Herbert Backe, German agronomist and politician (b. 1896)
    • 1950 – Louis Wilkins, American pole vaulter (b. 1882)
    • 1953 – Idris Davies, Welsh poet and author (b. 1905)
    • 1959 – Leo Aryeh Mayer, Polish-Israeli scholar and academic (b. 1895)
    • 1961 – Jules Bordet, Belgian microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
    • 1963 – Otto Struve, Ukrainian-American astronomer and academic (b. 1897)
    • 1970 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (b. 1933)
    • 1971 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian-American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1882)
    • 1974 – Willem Marinus Dudok, Dutch architect (b. 1884)
    • 1974 – Hudson Fysh, Australian pilot and businessman, co-founded Qantas Airways Limited (b. 1895)
    • 1977 – Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (b. 1889)
    • 1979 – Ivan Vasilyov, Bulgarian architect, designed the SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library (b. 1893)
    • 1983 – Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, Indian General who served as the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1962 to 1966 and the Military Governor of Hyderabad State from 1948 to 1949. (b. 1908)
    • 1992 – Isaac Asimov, American science fiction writer (b. 1920)
    • 1994 – Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan banker and politician, 3rd President of Rwanda (b. 1937)
    • 1994 – Cyprien Ntaryamira, Burundian politician, 5th President of Burundi (b. 1955)
    • 1995 – Ioannis Alevras, Greek banker and politician, President of Greece (b. 1912)
    • 1996 – Greer Garson, English-American actress (b. 1904)
    • 1998 – Norbert Schmitz, German footballer (b. 1958)
    • 1998 – Tammy Wynette, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
    • 1999 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (b. 1908)
    • 2000 – Habib Bourguiba, Tunisian politician, 1st President of Tunisia (b. 1903)
    • 2001 – Charles Pettigrew, American singer-songwriter (b. 1963)
    • 2003 – David Bloom, American journalist (b. 1963)
    • 2003 – Anita Borg, American computer scientist and educator; founded Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (b. 1949)
    • 2003 – Gerald Emmett Carter, Canadian cardinal (b. 1912)
    • 2003 – Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian drummer, educator, and activist (b. 1927)
    • 2004 – Lou Berberet, American baseball player (b. 1929)
    • 2004 – Larisa Bogoraz, Russian linguist and activist (b. 1929)
    • 2005 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1923)
    • 2006 – Maggie Dixon, American basketball player and coach (b. 1977)
    • 2006 – Francis L. Kellogg, American soldier and diplomat (b. 1917)
    • 2006 – Stefanos Stratigos, Greek actor and director (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Luigi Comencini, Italian director and producer (b. 1916)
    • 2009 – J. M. S. Careless, Canadian historian and academic (b. 1919)
    • 2009 – Shawn Mackay, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1982)
    • 2010 – Wilma Mankiller, American tribal leader (b. 1945)
    • 2010 – Corin Redgrave, English actor (b. 1939)
    • 2011 – Gerald Finnerman, American director and cinematographer (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Roland Guilbault, American admiral (b. 1934)
    • 2012 – Thomas Kinkade, American painter and illustrator (b. 1958)
    • 2012 – Fang Lizhi, Chinese astrophysicist and academic (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Sheila Scotter, Australian fashion designer and journalist (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Reed Whittemore, American poet and critic (b. 1919)
    • 2013 – Hilda Bynoe, Grenadian physician and politician, 2nd Governor of Grenada (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – Bill Guttridge, English footballer and manager (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Bigas Luna, Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1946)
    • 2013 – Ottmar Schreiner, German lawyer and politician (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Mary Anderson, American actress (b. 1918)
    • 2014 – Jacques Castérède, French pianist and composer (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Liv Dommersnes, Norwegian actress (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Mickey Rooney, American soldier, actor, and dancer (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Chuck Stone, American soldier, journalist, and academic (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Massimo Tamburini, Italian motorcycle designer, co-founded Bimota (b. 1943)
    • 2015 – Giovanni Berlinguer, Italian lawyer and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – James Best, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter and conductor (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Merle Haggard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1937)
    • 2017 – Don Rickles, American actor and comedian (b. 1926)
    • 2019 – Michael O’Donnell, British physician, journalist, author and broadcaster (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances on April 6

    • Chakri Day, commemorating the establishment of the Chakri dynasty. (Thailand)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach (Lutheran Church).
      • Brychan
      • Eutychius of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Marcellinus of Carthage
      • Pope Celestine I (Catholic Church)
      • Pope Sixtus I
      • April 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • International Day of Sport for Development and Peace
    • National Fisherman Day (Indonesia)
    • New Beer’s Eve (United States)
    • Tartan Day (United States & Canada)

  • April 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sights land in what is now the United States state of Florida.
    • 1755 – Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India.
    • 1792 – The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
    • 1800 – Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
    • 1800 – The Treaty of Constantinople establishes the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire.
    • 1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: The British capture the Danish fleet.
    • 1851 – Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia.
    • 1885 – Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine.
    • 1900 – The United States Congress passes the Foraker Act, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
    • 1902 – Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Marie Palace, Saint Petersburg.
    • 1902 – “Electric Theatre”, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.
    • 1911 – The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country’s first national census.
    • 1912 – The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials.
    • 1917 – World War I: United States President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
    • 1921 – The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established.
    • 1930 – After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
    • 1956 – As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.
    • 1964 – The Soviet Union launches Zond 1.
    • 1972 – Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
    • 1973 – Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
    • 1975 – Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
    • 1976 – Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.
    • 1979 – A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock.
    • 1980 – United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
    • 1982 – Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
    • 1986 – Alabama governor George Wallace, a former segregationist, best known for the “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door”, announces that he will not seek a fifth four-year term and will retire from public life upon the end of his term in January 1987.
    • 1989 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
    • 1989 – ASUS corporation is founded.
    • 1991 – Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm (who had resigned) as Premier of British Columbia.
    • 1992 – In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
    • 1992 – Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
    • 2002 – Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians had retreated.
    • 2004 – Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid; the attack is thwarted.
    • 2006 – Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed.
    • 2012 – A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured.
    • 2014 – A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured.
    • 2015 – Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others.
    • 2015 – Four men steal items worth up to £200 million from an underground safe deposit facility in London’s Hatton Garden area in what has been called the “largest burglary in English legal history.”

    Births on April 2

    • 742 – Charlemagne, Frankish king (d. 814)
    • 1473 – John Corvinus, Hungarian noble (d. 1504)
    • 1545 – Elisabeth of Valois (d. 1568)
    • 1565 – Cornelis de Houtman, Dutch explorer (d. 1599)
    • 1586 – Pietro Della Valle, Italian traveler (d. 1652)
    • 1602 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Franciscan abbess (d. 1665)
    • 1618 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1663)
    • 1647 – Maria Sibylla Merian, German-Dutch botanist and illustrator (d. 1717)
    • 1653 – Prince George of Denmark (d. 1708)
    • 1696 – Francesca Cuzzoni, Italian operatic soprano (d. 1778)
    • 1719 – Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (d. 1803)
    • 1725 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian explorer and author (d. 1798)
    • 1788 – Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet and author (d. 1862)
    • 1788 – Wilhelmine Reichard, German balloonist (d. 1848)
    • 1789 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (d. 1871)
    • 1792 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (d. 1840)
    • 1798 – August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and academic (d. 1874)
    • 1805 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1875)
    • 1814 – Henry L. Benning, American general and judge (d. 1875)
    • 1814 – Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor (d. 1879)
    • 1827 – William Holman Hunt, English soldier and painter (d. 1910)
    • 1835 – Jacob Nash Victor, American engineer (d. 1907)
    • 1838 – Léon Gambetta, French lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of France (d. 1882)
    • 1840 – Émile Zola, French novelist, playwright, journalist (d. 1902)
    • 1841 – Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III (d. 1926)
    • 1842 – Dominic Savio, Italian Catholic saint, adolescent student of Saint John Bosco (d. 1857)
    • 1861 – Iván Persa, Slovenian priest and author (d. 1935)
    • 1862 – Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
    • 1869 – Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (d. 1928)
    • 1875 – Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founded Chrysler (d. 1940)
    • 1875 – William Donne, English cricketer and captain (d. 1942)
    • 1884 – J. C. Squire, English poet, author, and historian (d. 1958)
    • 1891 – Jack Buchanan, Scottish entertainer (d. 1957)
    • 1891 – Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor, and poet (d. 1976)
    • 1891 – Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Indian nationalist and anti-colonial activist from Goa (d. 1958)
    • 1896 – Johnny Golden, American golfer (d. 1936)
    • 1898 – Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Indian poet, actor and politician (d. 1990)
    • 1898 – Chiungtze C. Tsen, Chinese mathematician (d. 1940)
    • 1900 – Roberto Arlt, Argentinian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1942)
    • 1900 – Anis Fuleihan, Cypriot-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1970)
    • 1900 – Alfred Strange, English footballer (d. 1978)
    • 1902 – Jan Tschichold, German-Swiss graphic designer and typographer (d. 1974)
    • 1903 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1987)
    • 1906 – Alphonse-Marie Parent, Canadian priest and educator (d. 1970)
    • 1907 – Harald Andersson, American-Swedish discus thrower (d. 1985)
    • 1907 – Luke Appling, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
    • 1908 – Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer (d. 2003)
    • 1910 – Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1980)
    • 1910 – Chico Xavier, Brazilian spiritual medium (d. 2002)
    • 1914 – Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)
    • 1919 – Delfo Cabrera, Argentinian runner and soldier (d. 1981)
    • 1920 – Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and civil servant (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Jack Stokes, English animator and director (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Jack Webb, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1922 – John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Gloria Henry, American actress
    • 1923 – Johnny Paton, Scottish footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – G. Spencer-Brown, English mathematician, psychologist, and author (d. 2016)
    • 1924 – Bobby Ávila, Mexican baseball player (d. 2004)
    • 1925 – George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish author and screenwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1925 – Hans Rosenthal, German radio and television host (d. 1987)
    • 1926 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (d. 2006)
    • 1927 – Carmen Basilio, American boxer and soldier (d. 2012)
    • 1927 – Howard Callaway, American soldier and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Army (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Rita Gam, American actress (d. 2016)
    • 1927 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Kenneth Tynan, English author and critic (d. 1980)
    • 1928 – Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal (d. 1996)
    • 1928 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (d. 1991)
    • 1928 – Roy Masters, English-American radio host
    • 1928 – David Robinson, Northern Irish horticulturist and academic (d. 2004)
    • 1929 – Ed Dorn, American poet and educator (d. 1999)
    • 1930 – Roddy Maude-Roxby, English actor
    • 1931 – Vladimir Kuznetsov, Russian javelin thrower (d. 1986)
    • 1932 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (d. 2015)
    • 1933 – György Konrád, Hungarian sociologist and author
    • 1934 – Paul Cohen, American mathematician and theorist (d. 2007)
    • 1934 – Brian Glover, English wrestler and actor (d. 1997)
    • 1934 – Carl Kasell, American journalist and game show host (d. 2018)
    • 1934 – Richard Portman, American sound engineer (d. 2017)
    • 1934 – Dovid Shmidel, Austrian-born Israeli rabbi
    • 1936 – Shaul Ladany, Serbian-Israeli race walker and engineer
    • 1937 – Dick Radatz, American baseball player (d. 2005)
    • 1938 – John Larsson, Swedish 17th General of The Salvation Army
    • 1938 – Booker Little, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1961)
    • 1938 – Al Weis, American baseball player
    • 1939 – Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1939 – Anthony Lake, American academic and diplomat, 18th United States National Security Advisor
    • 1939 – Lise Thibault, Canadian journalist and politician, 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
    • 1940 – Donald Jackson, Canadian figure skater and coach
    • 1940 – Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer (d. 1981)
    • 1940 – Penelope Keith, English actress
    • 1941 – Dr. Demento, American radio host
    • 1941 – Sonny Throckmorton, American country singer-songwriter
    • 1942 – Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2016)
    • 1942 – Roshan Seth, Indian-English actor
    • 1943 – Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce, South African-English admiral and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
    • 1943 – Caterina Bueno, Italian singer (d. 2007)
    • 1943 – Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (d. 2017)
    • 1943 – Antonio Sabàto, Sr., Italian actor
    • 1944 – Bill Malinchak, American football player
    • 1945 – Jürgen Drews, German singer-songwriter
    • 1945 – Guy Fréquelin, French race car driver
    • 1945 – Linda Hunt, American actress
    • 1945 – Reggie Smith, American baseball player and coach
    • 1945 – Don Sutton, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1945 – Anne Waldman, American poet
    • 1946 – Richard Collinge, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1946 – David Heyes, English politician
    • 1946 – Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (d. 2014)
    • 1946 – Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist and songwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1947 – Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer-songwriter
    • 1947 – Tua Forsström, Finnish writer
    • 1947 – Emmylou Harris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Camille Paglia, American author and critic
    • 1948 – Roald Als, Danish author and illustrator
    • 1948 – Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (d. 2012)
    • 1948 – Daniel Okrent, American journalist and author
    • 1948 – Joan D. Vinge, American author
    • 1949 – Paul Gambaccini, American-English radio and television host
    • 1949 – Bernd Müller, German footballer
    • 1949 – Pamela Reed, American actress
    • 1949 – David Robinson, American drummer
    • 1950 – Lynn Westmoreland, American politician
    • 1951 – Ayako Okamoto, Japanese golfer
    • 1952 – Lennart Fagerlund, Swedish cyclist
    • 1952 – Will Hoy, English race car driver (d. 2002)
    • 1952 – Leon Wilkeson, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1953 – Jim Allister, Northern Irish lawyer and politician
    • 1953 – Rosemary Bryant Mariner, 20th and 21st-century U.S. Navy aviator
    • 1953 – Malika Oufkir, Moroccan Berber writer
    • 1953 – Debralee Scott, American actress (d. 2005)
    • 1953 – James Vance, American author and playwright (d. 2017)
    • 1954 – Gregory Abbott, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1954 – Donald Petrie, American actor and director
    • 1955 – Michael Stone, Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary
    • 1957 – Caroline Dean, English biologist and academic
    • 1957 – Hank Steinbrenner, American businessman, co-owner of the New York Yankees
    • 1958 – Stefano Bettarello, Italian rugby player
    • 1958 – Larry Drew, American basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Gelindo Bordin, Italian runner
    • 1959 – David Frankel, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1959 – Juha Kankkunen, Finnish race car driver
    • 1959 – Yves Lavandier, French director and producer
    • 1959 – Badou Ezzaki, Moroccan footballer and manager
    • 1960 – Linford Christie, Jamaican-English sprinter
    • 1960 – Brad Jones, Australian race car driver
    • 1960 – Pascale Nadeau, Canadian journalist
    • 1961 – Buddy Jewell, American singer-songwriter
    • 1961 – Christopher Meloni, American actor
    • 1961 – Keren Woodward, English singer-songwriter
    • 1962 – Pierre Carles, French director and producer
    • 1962 – Billy Dean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1962 – Clark Gregg, American actor
    • 1963 – Karl Beattie, English director and producer
    • 1963 – Mike Gascoyne, English engineer
    • 1964 – Pete Incaviglia, American baseball player and coach
    • 1964 – Jonathon Sharkey, American wrestler
    • 1965 – Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (d. 2012)
    • 1966 – Bill Romanowski, American football player and actor
    • 1966 – Teddy Sheringham, English international footballer, striker and coach
    • 1967 – Greg Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1967 – Phil Demmel, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1969 – Ajay Devgan, Indian actor, director, and producer
    • 1971 – Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto, Brazilian footballer
    • 1971 – Jason Lewry, English cricketer
    • 1971 – Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1972 – Remo D’Souza, Indian choreographer and dancer
    • 1972 – Calvin Davis, American sprinter and hurdler
    • 1972 – Zane Lamprey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Dmitry Lipartov, Russian footballer
    • 1973 – Roselyn Sánchez, Puerto Rican-American actress
    • 1973 – Aleksejs Semjonovs, Latvian footballer
    • 1974 – Tayfun Korkut, Turkish football manager and former player
    • 1975 – Randy Livingston, American basketball player
    • 1975 – Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski, German rower
    • 1976 – Andreas Anastasopoulos, Greek shot putter
    • 1976 – Rory Sabbatini, South African golfer
    • 1976 – Pattie Mallette, Canadian author and film producer
    • 1977 – Per Elofsson, Swedish skier
    • 1977 – Michael Fassbender, German-Irish actor and producer
    • 1977 – Hanno Pevkur, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice
    • 1978 – Scott Lynch, American author
    • 1978 – Ethan Smith, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1979 – Jesse Carmichael, American keyboard player
    • 1980 – Avi Benedi, Israeli singer and songwriter
    • 1980 – Adam Fleming, Scottish journalist
    • 1980 – Gavin Heffernan, Canadian director and screenwriter
    • 1980 – Ricky Hendrick, American race car driver (d. 2004)
    • 1980 – Wairangi Koopu, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1980 – Carlos Salcido, Mexican international footballer, defender
    • 1981 – Michael Clarke, Australian cricketer
    • 1981 – Kapil Sharma, Indian stand-up comedian, television presenter and actor
    • 1982 – Marco Amelia, Italian footballer
    • 1982 – Jeremy Bloom, American football player and skier
    • 1982 – Jack Evans, American wrestler
    • 1982 – David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player
    • 1983 – Yung Joc, American rapper
    • 1983 – Maksym Mazuryk, Ukrainian pole vaulter
    • 1984 – Engin Atsür, Turkish basketball player
    • 1984 – Nóra Barta, Hungarian diver
    • 1984 – Jérémy Morel, French footballer
    • 1985 – Thom Evans, Zimbabwean-Scottish rugby player
    • 1985 – Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater
    • 1986 – Ibrahim Afellay, Dutch footballer
    • 1986 – Andris Biedriņš, Latvian basketball player
    • 1986 – Lee DeWyze, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1987 – Pablo Aguilar, Paraguayan footballer
    • 1987 – Marc Pugh, English footballer
    • 1988 – Jesse Plemons, American actor
    • 1990 – Yevgeniya Kanayeva, Russian gymnast
    • 1990 – Miralem Pjanić, Bosnian footballer
    • 1991 – Quavo, American rapper
    • 1993 – Keshorn Walcott, Trinidadian javelin thrower
    • 1997 – Dillon Bassett, American race car driver
    • 1997 – Abdelhak Nouri, Dutch footballer

    Deaths on April 2

    • 670 – Hasan ibn Ali the second Shia Imam (b. 624)
    • 870 – Æbbe the Younger, Frankish abbess
    • 872 – Muflih al-Turki, Turkish general
    • 968 – Yuan Dezhao, Chinese chancellor (b. 891)
    • 991 – Bardas Skleros, Byzantine general
    • 1118 – Baldwin I, king of Jerusalem
    • 1244 – Henrik Harpestræng, Danish botanical and medical author
    • 1272 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English husband of Sanchia of Provence (b. 1209)
    • 1335 – Henry of Bohemia (b. 1265)
    • 1412 – Ruy González de Clavijo, Spanish explorer and author
    • 1416 – Ferdinand I, king of Aragon (b. 1379)
    • 1502 – Arthur, prince of Wales (b. 1486)
    • 1507 – Francis of Paola, Italian friar and saint, founded the Order of the Minims (b. 1416)
    • 1511 – Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe, German nobleman (b. 1428)
    • 1640 – Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet (b. 1595)
    • 1657 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1608)
    • 1657 – Jean-Jacques Olier, French priest, founded the Society of Saint-Sulpice (b. 1608)
    • 1672 – Pedro Calungsod, Filipino missionary and saint (b. 1654)
    • 1672 – Diego Luis de San Vitores, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1627)
    • 1720 – Joseph Dudley, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1647)
    • 1742 – James Douglas, Scottish physician and anatomist (b. 1675)
    • 1747 – Johann Jacob Dillenius, German-English botanist and mycologist (b. 1684)
    • 1754 – Thomas Carte, English historian and author (b. 1686)
    • 1787 – Thomas Gage, English general and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1719)
    • 1791 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French journalist and politician (b. 1749)
    • 1801 – Thomas Dadford, Jr., English engineer (b. 1761)
    • 1803 – Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, Scottish judge and politician (b. 1721)
    • 1817 – Johann Heinrich Jung, German author and academic (b. 1740)
    • 1827 – Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus, German physician and educator (b. 1776)
    • 1845 – Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician (b. 1763)
    • 1865 – A. P. Hill, American general (b. 1825)
    • 1872 – Samuel Morse, American painter and academic, invented the Morse code (b. 1791)
    • 1891 – Albert Pike, American lawyer and general (b. 1809)
    • 1891 – Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Greek playwright and politician, 249th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1823)
    • 1894 – Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (b. 1803)
    • 1896 – Theodore Robinson, American painter and academic (b. 1852)
    • 1914 – Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
    • 1917 – Bryn Lewis, Welsh international rugby player (b.1891)
    • 1923 – Topal Osman, Turkish colonel (b. 1883)
    • 1928 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
    • 1930 – Zewditu I of Ethiopia (b. 1876)
    • 1933 – Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer (b. 1872)
    • 1936 – Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, French general (b. 1860)
    • 1942 – Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (b. 1862)
    • 1948 – Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (b. 1907)
    • 1953 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (b. 1885)
    • 1966 – C. S. Forester, English novelist (b. 1899)
    • 1972 – Franz Halder, German general (b. 1884)
    • 1972 – Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese martial artist and educator (b. 1887)
    • 1974 – Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France (b. 1911)
    • 1977 – Walter Wolf, German academic and politician (b. 1907)
    • 1987 – Buddy Rich, American drummer, songwriter, and bandleader (b. 1917)
    • 1989 – Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer (b. 1939)
    • 1992 – Juanito, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1954)
    • 1992 – Jan van Aartsen, Dutch politician (b. 1909)
    • 1994 – Betty Furness, American actress, consumer advocate, game show panelist, television journalist and television personality (b. 1916)
    • 1994 – Marc Fitch, British historian and philanthropist (b. 1908)
    • 1995 – Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
    • 1997 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese director and producer (b. 1910)
    • 1998 – Rob Pilatus, American-German singer-songwriter (b. 1965)
    • 2001 – Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor and painter (b. 1920)
    • 2002 – Levi Celerio, Filipino composer and songwriter (b. 1910)
    • 2002 – John R. Pierce, American engineer and author (b. 1910)
    • 2003 – Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
    • 2004 – John Argyris, Greek computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1913)
    • 2005 – Lillian O’Donnell, American crime novelist (b. 1926)
    • 2005 – Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)
    • 2006 – Lloyd Searwar, Guyanese anthologist and diplomat (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Henry L. Giclas, American astronomer and academic (b. 1910)
    • 2008 – Yakup Satar, Turkish World War I veteran(b. 1898)
    • 2009 – Albert Sanschagrin, Canadian bishop (b. 1911)
    • 2009 – Bud Shank, American saxophonist and flute player (b. 1926)
    • 2010 – Chris Kanyon, American wrestler (b. 1970)
    • 2011 – John C. Haas, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Jesús Aguilarte, Venezuelan captain and politician (b. 1959)
    • 2012 – Elizabeth Catlett, American-Mexican sculptor and illustrator (b. 1915)
    • 2012 – Mauricio Lasansky, American graphic designer and academic (b. 1914)
    • 2013 – Fred, French author and illustrator (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Jesús Franco, Spanish director, screenwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Milo O’Shea, Irish-American actor (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Glyn Jones, South African actor and screenwriter (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Urs Widmer, Swiss author and playwright (b. 1938)
    • 2015 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
    • 2015 – Robert H. Schuller, American pastor and author (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician, Governor of Limburg (b. 1954)
    • 2016 – Gallieno Ferri, Italian comic book artist and illustrator (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Robert Abajyan, Armenian sergeant (b. 1996)

    Holidays and observances on April 2

    • Christian feast day:
      • Abundius of Como
      • Amphianus of Lycia
      • Æbbe the Younger
      • Bronach of Glen-Seichis (Irish martyrology)
      • Francis of Paola
      • Francisco Coll Guitart
      • Henry Budd (Anglican Church of Canada)
      • Nicetius of Lyon
      • Pedro Calungsod
      • Theodosia of Tyre
      • Urban of Langres
      • April 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • International Children’s Book Day (International)
    • Thai Heritage Conservation Day (Thailand)
    • Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day (Belarus)
    • World Autism Awareness Day (International)