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1990

April 9 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.
  • 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (Enkyklikon) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysite Christological position.
  • 537 – Siege of Rome: The Byzantine general Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements, 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. He starts, despite shortages, raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges is forced into a stalemate.
  • 1241 – Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol forces defeat the Polish and German armies.
  • 1288 – Mongol invasions of Vietnam: Yuan forces are defeated by Trần forces in the Battle of Bach Dang in present-day northern Vietnam.
  • 1388 – Despite being outnumbered 16 to 1, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy are victorious over the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Näfels.
  • 1413 – Henry V is crowned King of England.
  • 1440 – Christopher of Bavaria is appointed King of Denmark.
  • 1454 – The Treaty of Lodi is signed, establishing a balance of power among northern Italian city-states for almost 50 years.
  • 1511 – St John’s College, Cambridge, England, founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, receives its charter.
  • 1585 – The expedition organised by Sir Walter Raleigh departs England for Roanoke Island (now in North Carolina) to establish the Roanoke Colony.
  • 1609 – Eighty Years’ War: Spain and the Dutch Republic sign the Treaty of Antwerp to initiate twelve years of truce.
  • 1609 – Philip III of Spain issues the decree of the “Expulsion of the Moriscos”.
  • 1682 – Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.
  • 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of the Saintes begins.
  • 1784 – The Treaty of Paris, ratified by the United States Congress on January 14, 1784, is ratified by King George III of the Kingdom of Great Britain, ending the American Revolutionary War. Copies of the ratified documents are exchanged on May 12, 1784.
  • 1860 – On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville makes the oldest known recording of an audible human voice.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
  • 1909 – The U.S. Congress passes the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act.
  • 1914 – Mexican Revolution: One of the world’s first naval/air skirmishes takes place off the coast of western Mexico.
  • 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun: German forces launch their third offensive of the battle.
  • 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Arras: The battle begins with Canadian Corps executing a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.
  • 1918 – World War I: The Battle of the Lys: The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps is crushed by the German forces during what is called the Spring Offensive on the Belgian region of Flanders.
  • 1937 – The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London. It is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
  • 1939 – African-American singer Marian Anderson gives a concert at the Lincoln Memorial after being denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
  • 1940 – World War II: Operation Weserübung: Germany invades Denmark and Norway.
  • 1940 – Vidkun Quisling seizes power in Norway.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Bataan ends. An Indian Ocean raid by Japan’s 1st Air Fleet sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and the Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire.
  • 1945 – Execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, anti-Nazi dissident and spy, by the Nazi regime.
  • 1945 – World War II: The German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer is sunk by the Royal Air Force.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Königsberg, in East Prussia, ends.
  • 1945 – The United States Atomic Energy Commission is formed.
  • 1947 – The Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes kill 181 and injure 970 in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
  • 1947 – The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride begins through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court’s 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.
  • 1947 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 22 relating to Corfu Channel incident is adopted.
  • 1948 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán’s assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in Colombia.
  • 1948 – Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing over 100.
  • 1952 – Hugo Ballivián’s government is overthrown by the Bolivian National Revolution, starting a period of agrarian reform, universal suffrage and the nationalization of tin mines
  • 1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping following the Suez Crisis.
  • 1959 – Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States’ first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the “Mercury Seven”.
  • 1960 – Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa and architect of apartheid, narrowly survives an assassination attempt by a white farmer, David Pratt in Johannesburg.
  • 1961 – The Pacific Electric Railway in Los Angeles, once the largest electric railway in the world, ends operations.
  • 1965 – Astrodome opens. First indoor baseball game is played.
  • 1967 – The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) makes its maiden flight.
  • 1969 – The first British-built Concorde 002 makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford.
  • 1975 – The first game of the Philippine Basketball Association, the second oldest professional basketball league in the world.
  • 1976 – The EMD F40PH diesel locomotive enters revenue service with Amtrak.
  • 1980 – The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture.
  • 1981 – The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it.
  • 1989 – Tbilisi massacre: an anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strike in Tbilisi, demanding restoration of Georgian independence, is dispersed by the Soviet Army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
  • 1990 – An IRA bombing in County Down, Northern Ireland, kills three members of the UDR.
  • 1990 – Thirteen thousand members of the Dene and Métis tribes sign a land claim agreement for 180,000 square kilometres (69,000 sq mi) in the Mackenzie Valley of the western Arctic.
  • 1991 – Georgia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
  • 1992 – A U.S. Federal Court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of drug and racketeering charges. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison.
  • 1999 – Kosovo War: The Battle of Košare begins.
  • 2003 – Iraq War: Baghdad falls to American forces.
  • 2005 – Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at Windsor’s Guildhall.
  • 2009 – In Tbilisi, Georgia, up to 60,000 people protest against the government of Mikheil Saakashvili.
  • 2013 – A 6.1–magnitude earthquake strikes Iran killing 32 people and injuring over 850 people.
  • 2013 – At least 13 people are killed and another three injured after a man goes on a spree shooting in the Serbian village of Velika Ivanča.
  • 2014 – A student stabs 20 people at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
  • 2017 – The Palm Sunday church bombings at Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt, take place.
  • 2017 – After refusing to give up his seat on an overbooked United Airlines flight, Dr. David Dao Duy Anh is forcibly dragged off the flight by aviation security officers, leading to major criticism of United Airlines.

Births on April 9

  • 1285 – Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, Emperor Renzong of Yuan (d. 1320)
  • 1458 – Camilla Battista da Varano, Italian saint (d. 1524)
  • 1498 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (d. 1550)
  • 1586 – Julius Henry, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1665)
  • 1597 – John Davenport, English minister, co-founded the New Haven Colony (d. 1670)
  • 1598 – Johann Crüger, Sorbian-German composer and theorist (d. 1662)
  • 1624 – Henrik Rysensteen, Dutch military engineer (d. 1679)
  • 1627 – Johann Caspar Kerll, German organist and composer (d. 1693)
  • 1634 – Countess Albertine Agnes of Nassau (d. 1696)
  • 1648 – Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1720)
  • 1649 – James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire (d. 1685)
  • 1654 – Samuel Fritz, Czech Jesuit missionary to South America (d. 1725?)
  • 1680 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French playwright (d. 1754)
  • 1686 – James Craggs the Younger, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1721)
  • 1691 – Johann Matthias Gesner, German scholar and academic (d. 1761)
  • 1717 – Georg Matthias Monn, Austrian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1750)
  • 1770 – Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist and academic (d. 1831)
  • 1773 – Étienne Aignan, French author and academic (d. 1824)
  • 1794 – Theobald Boehm, German flute player and composer (d. 1881)
  • 1802 – Elias Lönnrot, Finnish physician and philologist (d. 1884)
  • 1806 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, English engineer, designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge (d. 1859)
  • 1807 – James Bannerman, Scottish theologian and academic (d. 1868)
  • 1821 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet and critic (d. 1867)
  • 1830 – Eadweard Muybridge, English photographer and cinematographer (d. 1904)
  • 1835 – Leopold II of Belgium (d. 1909)
  • 1835 – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore (d. 1913)
  • 1846 – Paolo Tosti, Italian-English composer and educator (d. 1916)
  • 1848 – Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz, Spanish Augustinian Recollect priest and saint (d. 1906)
  • 1865 – Erich Ludendorff, German general and politician (d. 1937)
  • 1865 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Polish-American mathematician and engineer (d. 1923)
  • 1867 – Chris Watson, Chilean-Australian journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1941)
  • 1867 – Charles Winckler, Danish tug of war competitor, discus thrower, and shot putter (d. 1932)
  • 1872 – Léon Blum, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1950)
  • 1875 – Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (d. 1912)
  • 1880 – Jan Letzel, Czech architect (d. 1925)
  • 1882 – Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1946)
  • 1882 – Otz Tollen, German actor (d. 1965)
  • 1883 – Frank King, American cartoonist (d. 1969)
  • 1887 – Konrad Tom, Polish actor, writer, singer, and director (d. 1957)
  • 1888 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American talent manager (d. 1974)
  • 1893 – Charles E. Burchfield, American painter (d.1967)
  • 1893 – Victor Gollancz, English publisher, founded Victor Gollancz Ltd (d. 1967)
  • 1893 – Rahul Sankrityayan, Indian linguist, author, and scholar (d. 1963)
  • 1895 – Mance Lipscomb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976)
  • 1895 – Michel Simon, Swiss-French actor (d. 1975)
  • 1897 – John B. Gambling, American radio host (d. 1974)
  • 1898 – Curly Lambeau, American football player and coach (d. 1965)
  • 1898 – Paul Robeson, American singer, actor, and activist (d. 1976)
  • 1900 – Allen Jenkins, American actor and singer (d. 1974)
  • 1901 – Jean Bruchési, Canadian historian and author (d. 1979)
  • 1901 – Paul Willis, American actor and director (d. 1960)
  • 1902 – Théodore Monod, French explorer and scholar (d. 2000)
  • 1903 – Ward Bond, American actor (d. 1960)
  • 1904 – Sharkey Bonano, American singer, trumpet player, and bandleader (d. 1972)
  • 1905 – J. William Fulbright, American lawyer and politician (d. 1995)
  • 1906 – Rafaela Aparicio, Spanish actress (d. 1996)
  • 1906 – Antal Doráti, Hungarian-American conductor and composer (d. 1988)
  • 1906 – Hugh Gaitskell, British politician and leader of the Labour Party (d. 1963)
  • 1906 – Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter (d. 1997)
  • 1908 – Joseph Krumgold, American author and screenwriter (d. 1980)
  • 1909 – Robert Helpmann, Australian dancer, actor, and choreographer (d. 1986)
  • 1910 – Abraham A. Ribicoff, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (d. 1998)
  • 1912 – Lev Kopelev, Ukrainian-German author and academic (d. 1997)
  • 1915 – Daniel Johnson Sr., Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)
  • 1916 – Julian Dash, American swing music jazz tenor saxophonist (d. 1974)
  • 1916 – Heinz Meyer, German Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) during World War II (d. 1987)
  • 1916 – Bill Leonard, American journalist (d. 1994)
  • 1917 – Johannes Bobrowski, German songwriter and poet (d. 1965)
  • 1917 – Ronnie Burgess, Welsh international footballer left-half and manager (d. 2005)
  • 1917 – Brad Dexter, American actor (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Henry Hewes, American theater writer (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Jørn Utzon, Danish architect, designed the Sydney Opera House (d. 2008)
  • 1919 – J. Presper Eckert, American engineer, invented the ENIAC (d. 1995)
  • 1921 – Jean-Marie Balestre, French businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1921 – Yitzhak Navon, Israeli politician (d. 2015)
  • 1921 – Frankie Thomas, American actor (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Mary Jackson, African-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (d. 2005)
  • 1922 – Carl Amery, German author and activist (d. 2005)
  • 1923 – Leonard Levy, American historian and author (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Arthur Shaw, English professional footballer (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Virginia Gibson, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Art Kane, American photographer (d. 1995)
  • 1926 – Gerry Fitt, Northern Irish soldier and politician; British life peer (d. 2005)
  • 1926 – Hugh Hefner, American publisher, founded Playboy Enterprises (d. 2017)
  • 1926 – Harris Wofford, American politician, author and civil rights activist (d. 2019)
  • 1927 – Tiny Hill, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Paul Arizin, American basketball player (d. 2006)
  • 1928 – Tom Lehrer, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and mathematician
  • 1929 – Sharan Rani Backliwal, Indian sarod player and scholar (d. 2008)
  • 1929 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist (d. 1993)
  • 1929 – Paule Marshall, American author and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Nathaniel Branden, Canadian-American psychotherapist and author (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – F. Albert Cotton, American chemist and academic (d. 2007)
  • 1930 – Jim Fowler, American zoologist and television host (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Wallace McCain, Canadian businessman, founded McCain Foods (d. 2011)
  • 1931 – Richard Hatfield, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1991)
  • 1932 – Armin Jordan, Swiss conductor (d. 2006)
  • 1932 – Peter Moores, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
  • 1932 – Carl Perkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
  • 1933 – Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor and producer
  • 1933 – René Burri, Swiss photographer and journalist (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Fern Michaels, American author
  • 1933 – Richard Rose, American political scientist and academic
  • 1933 – Gian Maria Volonté, Italian actor (d. 1994)
  • 1934 – Bill Birch, New Zealand surveyor and politician, 38th New Zealand Minister of Finance
  • 1934 – Tom Phillis, Australian motorcycle racer (d. 1962)
  • 1934 – Mariya Pisareva, Russian high jumper
  • 1935 – Aulis Sallinen, Finnish composer and academic
  • 1935 – Avery Schreiber, American actor and comedian (d. 2002)
  • 1936 – Jerzy Maksymiuk, Polish pianist, composer, and conductor
  • 1936 – Valerie Solanas, American radical feminist author, attempted murderer (d. 1988)
  • 1937 – Simon Brown, Baron Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
  • 1937 – Marty Krofft, Canadian screenwriter and producer
  • 1937 – Valerie Singleton, English television and radio host
  • 1938 – Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian businessman and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Russia (d. 2010)
  • 1939 – Michael Learned, American actress
  • 1940 – Hans-Joachim Reske, German sprinter
  • 1940 – Jim Roberts, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1941 – Kay Adams, American singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – Brandon deWilde, American actor (d. 1972)
  • 1942 – Margo Smith, American singer-songwriter
  • 1943 – Leila Khaled, Palestinian activist
  • 1943 – Terry Knight, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
  • 1944 – Joe Brinkman, American baseball player and umpire
  • 1944 – Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg, German shot putter
  • 1945 – Steve Gadd, American drummer and percussionist[9]
  • 1946 – Nate Colbert, American baseball player[10]
  • 1946 – Alan Knott, English cricketer[11]
  • 1946 – Sara Parkin, Scottish activist and politician[12]
  • 1946 – David Webb, English footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1947 – Giovanni Andrea Cornia, Italian economist and academic
  • 1948 – Jaya Bachchan, Indian actress and politician
  • 1948 – Michel Parizeau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1948 – Patty Pravo, Italian singer
  • 1949 – Tony Cragg, English sculptor
  • 1952 – Robert Clark, American author
  • 1952 – Bruce Robertson, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1952 – Tania Tsanaklidou, Greek singer and actress
  • 1953 – John Howard, English singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1953 – Hal Ketchum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1953 – Stephen Paddock, American mass murderer responsible for the 2017 Las Vegas shooting (d. 2017)
  • 1954 – Ken Kalfus, American journalist and author
  • 1954 – Dennis Quaid, American actor
  • 1954 – Iain Duncan Smith, British soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
  • 1955 – Yamina Benguigui, Algerian-French director and politician
  • 1955 – Joolz Denby, English poet and author
  • 1956 – Miguel Ángel Russo, Argentinian footballer and coach
  • 1956 – Nigel Shadbolt, English computer scientist and academic
  • 1956 – Vahur Sova, Estonian architect
  • 1956 – Marina Zoueva, Russian ice dancer and coach
  • 1957 – Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer and architect (d. 2011)
  • 1957 – Martin Margiela, Belgian fashion designer
  • 1957 – Jamie Redfern, English-born Australian television presenter, and pop singer
  • 1958 – Tony Sibson, English boxer
  • 1958 – Nigel Slater, English food writer and author
  • 1959 – Bernard Jenkin, English businessman and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
  • 1960 – Jaak Aab, Estonian educator and politician, Minister of Social Affairs of Estonia
  • 1961 – Mark Kelly, Irish keyboard player
  • 1961 – Kirk McCaskill, Canadian-American baseball and hockey player
  • 1962 – John Eaves, American production designer and illustrator
  • 1962 – Ihor Podolchak, Ukrainian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Imran Sherwani, English field hockey player
  • 1962 – Jeff Turner, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Marc Jacobs, American-French fashion designer
  • 1963 – Joe Scarborough, American journalist, lawyer, and politician
  • 1964 – Rob Awalt, German-American football player
  • 1964 – Juliet Cuthbert, Jamaican sprinter
  • 1964 – Peter Penashue, Canadian businessman and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
  • 1964 – Margaret Peterson Haddix, American author
  • 1964 – Rick Tocchet, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1965 – Helen Alfredsson, Swedish golfer
  • 1965 – Paulina Porizkova, Czech-born Swedish-American model and actress
  • 1965 – Jeff Zucker, American businessman
  • 1966 – John Hammond, English weather forecaster
  • 1966 – Cynthia Nixon, American actress
  • 1967 – Natascha Engel, German-English translator and politician
  • 1967 – Sam Harris, American author, philosopher, and neuroscientist
  • 1968 – Jay Chandrasekhar, American actor, comedian, writer and director
  • 1969 – Barnaby Kay, English actor
  • 1969 – Linda Kisabaka, German runner
  • 1970 – Chorão, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1971 – Peter Canavan, Irish footballer and manager
  • 1971 – Leo Fortune-West, English footballer and manager
  • 1971 – Austin Peck, American actor
  • 1971 – Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver
  • 1972 – Bernard Ackah, German-Japanese martial artist and kick-boxer
  • 1972 – Siiri Vallner, Estonian architect
  • 1974 – Megan Connolly, Australian actress (d. 2001)
  • 1974 – Jenna Jameson, American actress and pornographic performer
  • 1975 – Robbie Fowler, English footballer and manager
  • 1975 – David Gordon Green, American director and screenwriter
  • 1976 – Kyle Peterson, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Gerard Way, American singer-songwriter and comic book writer
  • 1978 – Kousei Amano, Japanese actor
  • 1978 – Jorge Andrade, Portuguese footballer
  • 1978 – Rachel Stevens, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
  • 1979 – Jeff Reed, American football player
  • 1979 – Keshia Knight Pulliam, American actress
  • 1980 – Sarah Ayton, English sailor
  • 1980 – Luciano Galletti, Argentinian footballer
  • 1980 – Albert Hammond Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1981 – Milan Bartovič, Slovak ice hockey player
  • 1981 – A. J. Ellis, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish footballer
  • 1981 – Dennis Sarfate, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Eric Harris, American mass murderer, responsible for the Columbine High School massacre (d. 1999)
  • 1982 – Jay Baruchel, Canadian actor
  • 1982 – Carlos Hernández, Costa Rican footballer
  • 1982 – Kathleen Munroe, Canadian-American actress
  • 1983 – Ryan Clark, Australian actor
  • 1984 – Habiba Ghribi, Tunisian runner[13]
  • 1984 – Adam Loewen, Canadian baseball player
  • 1984 – Óscar Razo, Mexican footballer
  • 1985 – Antonio Nocerino, Italian footballer
  • 1985 – David Robertson, American baseball player
  • 1986 – Mike Hart, American football player
  • 1986 – Leighton Meester, American actress
  • 1987 – Kassim Abdallah, French-Comorian footballer
  • 1987 – Graham Gano, American football player
  • 1987 – Craig Mabbitt, American singer
  • 1987 – Jesse McCartney, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1987 – Jarrod Mullen, Australian rugby league player
  • 1987 – Jazmine Sullivan, American singer-songwriter
  • 1988 – Michel Alves Baroni, Brazilian footballer
  • 1988 – Jeremy Metcalfe, English racing driver
  • 1989 – Danielle Kahle, American figure skater
  • 1990 – Kristen Stewart, American actress
  • 1990 – Ryan Williams, American football player
  • 1991 – Ryan Kelly, American basketball player
  • 1991 – Mary Killman, American synchronized swimmer
  • 1992 – Joshua Ledet, American singer
  • 1994 – Joey Pollari, American actor
  • 1995 – Domagoj Bošnjak, Croatian basketball player
  • 1995 – Robert Bauer, German-Kazakhstani footballer
  • 1996 – Jayden Brailey, Australian rugby league player[14]
  • 1996 – Giovani Lo Celso, Argentinian international footballer, midfielder[15]
  • 1998 – Elle Fanning, American actress[16]
  • 1999 – Montero Lamar Hill, American rapper[17]
  • 2000 – Jackie Evancho, American singer[18]

Deaths on April 9

  • 585 BC – Jimmu, emperor of Japan (b. 711 BC)
  • AD 93 – Yuan An, Chinese scholar and politician
  • 436 – Tan Daoji, Chinese general and politician
  • 491 – Zeno, emperor of the Byzantine Empire (b. 425)
  • 682 – Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari, Egyptian politician, Governor of Egypt (b. 616)
  • 715 – Constantine, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 664)
  • 1024 – Benedict VIII, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 980)
  • 1137 – William X, duke of Aquitaine (b. 1099)
  • 1241 – Henry II, High Duke of Poland (b. 1196)
  • 1283 – Margaret of Scotland, queen of Norway (b. 1261)
  • 1327 – Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, Scottish nobleman (ca. 1296)
  • 1483 – Edward IV, king of England (b. 1442)
  • 1484 – Edward of Middleheim, prince of Wales (b. 1473)
  • 1550 – Alqas Mirza, Safavid prince (b. 1516)[19]
  • 1553 – François Rabelais, French monk and scholar (b. 1494)
  • 1557 – Mikael Agricola, Finnish priest and scholar (b. 1510)
  • 1626 – Francis Bacon, English jurist and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1561)
  • 1654 – Matei Basarab, Romanian prince (b. 1588)
  • 1693 – Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French author (b. 1618)
  • 1747 – Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1667)
  • 1754 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (b. 1679)
  • 1761 – William Law, English priest and theologian (b. 1686)
  • 1768 – Sarah Fielding, English author (b. 1710)
  • 1804 – Jacques Necker, Swiss-French politician, Chief Minister to the French Monarch (b. 1732)
  • 1806 – William V, stadtholder of the Dutch Republic (b. 1748)
  • 1872 – Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (b. 1794)
  • 1876 – Charles Goodyear, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1804)
  • 1882 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (b. 1828)
  • 1889 – Michel Eugène Chevreul, French chemist and academic (b. 1786)
  • 1909 – Helena Modjeska, Polish-American actress (b. 1840)
  • 1915 – Raymond Whittindale, English rugby player (b. 1883)
  • 1917 – James Hope Moulton, English philologist and scholar (b. 1863)
  • 1922 – Hans Fruhstorfer, German entomologist and explorer (b. 1866)
  • 1926 – Zip the Pinhead, American freak show performer (b. 1857)
  • 1936 – Ferdinand Tönnies, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1855)
  • 1940 – Mrs Patrick Campbell, English actress (b. 1865)
  • 1944 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Ukrainian lieutenant and pilot (b. 1920)
  • 1945 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (b. 1906)
  • 1945 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (b. 1887)
  • 1945 – Johann Georg Elser, German carpenter (b. 1903)
  • 1945 – Hans Oster, German general (b. 1887)
  • 1945 – Karl Sack, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1896)
  • 1945 – Hans von Dohnányi, Austrian-German lawyer and jurist (b. 1902)
  • 1948 – George Carpenter, Australian 5th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1872)
  • 1948 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian lawyer and politician, 16th Colombian Minister of National Education (b. 1903)
  • 1951 – Vilhelm Bjerknes, Norwegian physicist and meteorologist (b. 1862)
  • 1953 – Eddie Cochems, American football player and coach (b. 1877)
  • 1953 – C. E. M. Joad, English philosopher and television host (b. 1891)
  • 1953 – Hans Reichenbach, German philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1891)
  • 1959 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater (b. 1867)
  • 1961 – Zog I of Albania (b. 1895)
  • 1963 – Eddie Edwards, American trombonist (b. 1891)
  • 1963 – Xul Solar, Argentinian painter and sculptor (b. 1887)
  • 1970 – Gustaf Tenggren, Swedish-American illustrator and animator (b. 1896)
  • 1976 – Dagmar Nordstrom, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1903)
  • 1976 – Phil Ochs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940)
  • 1976 – Renato Petronio, Italian rower (b. 1891)
  • 1978 – Clough Williams-Ellis, English-Welsh architect, designed Portmeirion (b. 1883)
  • 1980 – Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Iraqi cleric and philosopher (b. 1935)
  • 1982 – Wilfrid Pelletier, Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1896)
  • 1988 – Brook Benton, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1931)
  • 1988 – Hans Berndt, German footballer (b. 1913)
  • 1988 – Dave Prater, American singer (b. 1937)
  • 1991 – Forrest Towns, American hurdler and coach (b. 1914)
  • 1993 – Joseph B. Soloveitchik, American rabbi and philosopher (b. 1903)
  • 1996 – Richard Condon, American author and publicist (b. 1915)
  • 1997 – Mae Boren Axton, American singer-songwriter (b. 1914)
  • 1997 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (b. 1916)
  • 1998 – Tom Cora, American cellist and composer (b. 1953)
  • 1999 – Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, Nigerien general and politician, President of Niger (b. 1949)
  • 2001 – Willie Stargell, American baseball player and coach (b. 1940)
  • 2002 – Pat Flaherty, American race car driver (b. 1926)
  • 2002 – Leopold Vietoris, Austrian soldier, mathematician, and academic (b. 1891)
  • 2003 – Jerry Bittle, American cartoonist (b. 1949)
  • 2006 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, manager (b. 1916)
  • 2006 – Vilgot Sjöman, Swedish director and screenwriter (b. 1924)
  • 2007 – Egon Bondy, Czech philosopher and poet (b. 1930)
  • 2007 – Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer and academic (b. 1907)
  • 2009 – Nick Adenhart, American baseball player (b. 1986)
  • 2010 – Zoltán Varga, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1945)
  • 2011 – Zakariya Rashid Hassan al-Ashiri, Bahraini journalist (b. 1971)
  • 2011 – Sidney Lumet, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Malcolm Thomas, Welsh rugby player and cricketer (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – David Hayes, American sculptor and painter (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Greg McCrary, American football player (b. 1952)
  • 2013 – Mordechai Mishani, Israeli lawyer and politician (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – McCandlish Phillips, American journalist and author (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Paolo Soleri, Italian-American architect, designed the Cosanti (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Gil Askey, American trumpet player, composer, and producer (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Chris Banks, American football player (b. 1973)
  • 2014 – Rory Ellinger, American lawyer and politician (b. 1941)
  • 2014 – Norman Girvan, Jamaican economist, academic, and politician (b. 1941)
  • 2014 – Aelay Narendra, Indian politician (b. 1946)
  • 2014 – A. N. R. Robinson, Trinbagonian politician, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Svetlana Velmar-Janković, Serbian author (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Paul Almond, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Margaret Rule, British marine archaeologist (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Nina Companeez, French director and screenwriter (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Alexander Dalgarno, English physicist and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Ivan Doig, American journalist and author (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Tsien Tsuen-hsuin, Chinese-American academic (b. 1909)
  • 2016 – Duane Clarridge, American spy (b. 1932)
  • 2016 – Will Smith, American football player (b. 1981)
  • 2017 – John Clarke, New Zealand-Australian comedian, writer, and satirist (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances on April 9

  • Christian feast day:
    • Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Anglicanism, Lutheranism)
    • Gaucherius
    • Materiana
    • Waltrude
    • April 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Anniversary of the German Invasion of Denmark (Denmark)
  • Baghdad Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
  • Bataan Day or Araw ng Kagitingan (Philippines)
  • Constitution Day (Kosovo)
  • Day of National Unity (Georgia)
  • Day of the Finnish Language (Finland)
  • Feast of the Second Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema)
  • Martyr’s Day (Tunisia)
  • National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day (United States)
  • Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson (The Troth)
  • Vimy Ridge Day (Canada)

April 9 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day /
  • 217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated. He is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
  • 632 – King Charibert II is assassinated at Blaye (Gironde), along with his infant son Chilperic.
  • 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-‘Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.
  • 1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin.
  • 1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated.
  • 1149 – Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.
  • 1232 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their siege on Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty.
  • 1271 – In Syria, sultan Baibars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers.
  • 1665 – English colonial patents are granted for the establishment of the Monmouth Tract, for what would eventually become Monmouth County in northeastern New Jersey.
  • 1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, is dedicated.
  • 1740 – War of Jenkins’ Ear: Three British ships capture the Spanish third-rate Princesa, taken into service as HMS Princess.
  • 1808 – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore is promoted to an archdiocese, with the founding of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (now Louisville) by Pope Pius VII.
  • 1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.
  • 1832 – Black Hawk War: Around three-hundred United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield: Union forces are thwarted by the Confederate army at Mansfield, Louisiana.
  • 1866 – Italy and Prussia ally against the Austrian Empire.
  • 1886 – William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
  • 1895 – In Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.
  • 1904 – The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.
  • 1904 – Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
  • 1906 – Auguste Deter, the first person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, dies.
  • 1908 – H. H. Asquith of the Liberal Party takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, succeeding Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
  • 1908 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School.
  • 1911 – Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovers superconductivity.
  • 1913 – The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, becomes law.
  • 1916 – In Corona, California, race car driver Bob Burman crashes, killing three (including himself), and badly injuring five spectators.
  • 1918 – World War I: Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell war bonds on the streets of New York City’s financial district.
  • 1924 – Sharia courts are abolished in Turkey, as part of Atatürk’s Reforms.
  • 1929 – Indian independence movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to court arrest.
  • 1935 – The Works Progress Administration is formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 becomes law.
  • 1942 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad: Soviet forces open a much-needed railway link to Leningrad.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Japanese take Bataan in the Philippines.
  • 1943 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.
  • 1943 – Otto and Elise Hampel are executed in Berlin for their anti-Nazi activities.
  • 1945 – World War II: After an air raid accidentally destroys a train carrying about 4,000 Nazi concentration camp internees in Prussian Hanover, the survivors are massacred by Nazis.
  • 1946 – Électricité de France, the world’s largest utility company, is formed as a result of the nationalisation of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors.
  • 1950 – India and Pakistan sign the Liaquat–Nehru Pact.
  • 1952 – U.S. President Harry Truman calls for the seizure of all domestic steel mills in an attempt to prevent the 1952 steel strike.
  • 1953 – Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by British Kenya’s rulers.
  • 1954 – A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
  • 1954 – South African Airways Flight 201 A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.
  • 1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
  • 1959 – The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.
  • 1960 – The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.
  • 1961 – A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian Gulf kills 238.
  • 1964 – The Gemini 1 test flight is conducted.
  • 1968 – BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after takeoff. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.
  • 1970 – Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. Forty-six children are killed.
  • 1974 – At Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run to surpass Babe Ruth’s 39-year-old record.
  • 1975 – Frank Robinson manages the Cleveland Indians in his first game as major league baseball’s first African American manager.
  • 1987 – Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns amid controversy over racially charged remarks he had made while on Nightline.
  • 1992 – Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.
  • 1993 – The Republic of North Macedonia joins the United Nations.
  • 1999 – Haryana Gana Parishad, a political party in the Indian state of Haryana, merges with the Indian National Congress.
  • 2004 – War in Darfur: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.
  • 2006 – Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Shedden, Elgin County, Ontario. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos Motorcycle Club.
  • 2008 – The construction of the world’s first skyscraper to integrate wind turbines is completed in Bahrain.
  • 2013 – The Islamic State of Iraq enters the Syrian Civil War and begins by declaring a merger with the Al-Nusra Front under the name Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham.

Births on April 8

  • 1320 – Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367)
  • 1408 – Jadwiga of Lithuania, Polish princess (d. 1431)
  • 1435 – John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford, English noble (d. 1461)
  • 1533 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (d. 1604)
  • 1536 – Barbara of Hesse (d. 1597)
  • 1541 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician and archaeologist (d. 1593)
  • 1580 – William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, English noble, courtier and patron of the arts (d. 1630)
  • 1596 – Juan van der Hamen, Spanish artist (d. 1631)
  • 1605 – Philip IV of Spain (d. 1665)
  • 1605 – Mary Stuart, English-Scottish princess (d. 1607)
  • 1641 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1704)
  • 1692 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1770)
  • 1726 – Lewis Morris, American judge and politician (d. 1798)
  • 1732 – David Rittenhouse, American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1796)
  • 1761 – William Joseph Chaminade, French priest, founded the Society of Mary (d. 1850)
  • 1770 – John Thomas Campbell, Irish-Australian banker and politician (d. 1830)
  • 1798 – Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and author (d. 1857)
  • 1818 – Christian IX of Denmark (d. 1906)
  • 1818 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (d. 1892)
  • 1826 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier (d. 1890)
  • 1827 – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican ophthalmologist, journalist, and politician (d. 1898)
  • 1842 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American author and educator (d. 1933)
  • 1859 – Edmund Husserl, German Jewish-Austrian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1938)
  • 1864 – Carlos Deltour, French rower and rugby player (d. 1920)
  • 1867 – Allen Butler Talcott, American painter and educator (d. 1908)
  • 1869 – Harvey Cushing, American surgeon and academic (d. 1939)
  • 1871 – Clarence Hudson White, American photographer and educator (d. 1925)
  • 1874 – Manuel Díaz, Cuban fencer (d. 1929)
  • 1874 – Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
  • 1875 – Albert I of Belgium (d. 1934)
  • 1882 (O.S. 27 March) – Dmytro Doroshenko, Lithuanian-Ukrainian historian and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Prime Minister of Ukraine (d. 1951)
  • 1883 – R. P. Keigwin, English cricketer and academic (d. 1972)
  • 1883 – Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia (d. 1936)
  • 1885 – Dimitrios Levidis, Greek-French soldier, composer, and educator (d. 1951)
  • 1886 – Margaret Ayer Barnes, American author and playwright (d. 1967)
  • 1888 – Dennis Chávez, American journalist and politician (d. 1962)
  • 1889 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (d. 1983)
  • 1892 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (d. 1970)
  • 1892 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded United Artists (d. 1979)
  • 1896 – Yip Harburg, American composer (d. 1981)
  • 1900 – Marie Byles, Australian solicitor (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Andrew Irvine, English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1924)
  • 1902 – Maria Maksakova Sr., Russian soprano (d. 1974)
  • 1904 – John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
  • 1904 – Hirsch Jacobs, American horse trainer (d. 1970)
  • 1905 – Joachim Büchner, German sprinter and graphic designer (d. 1978)
  • 1905 – Helen Joseph, English-South African activist (d. 1992)
  • 1905 – Erwin Keller, German field hockey player (d. 1971)
  • 1906 – Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor and educator (d. 1974)
  • 1908 – Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
  • 1909 – John Fante, American author and screenwriter (d. 1983)
  • 1910 – George Musso, American football player and police officer (d. 2000)
  • 1911 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
  • 1911 – Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and academic (d. 1995)
  • 1912 – Alois Brunner, Austrian-German SS officer (d. 2001 or 2010)
  • 1912 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian-American figure skater and actress (d. 1969)
  • 1914 – María Félix, Yaqui/Basque-Mexican actress (d. 2002)
  • 1915 – Ivan Supek, Croatian physicist, philosopher and writer (d. 2007)
  • 1917 – Winifred Asprey, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2007)
  • 1917 – Lloyd Bott, Australian public servant (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Hubertus Ernst, Dutch bishop (d. 2017)
  • 1917 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer (d. 1988)
  • 1918 – Betty Ford, American wife of Gerald Ford, 40th First Lady of the United States (d. 2011)
  • 1918 – Glendon Swarthout, American author and academic (d. 1992)
  • 1919 – Ian Smith, Zimbabwean lieutenant and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Rhodesia (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Franco Corelli, Italian tenor and actor (d. 2003)
  • 1921 – Jan Novák, Czech composer (d. 1984)
  • 1921 – Herman van Raalte, Dutch footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Carmen McRae, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – George Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
  • 1923 – Edward Mulhare, Irish-American actor (d. 1997)
  • 1924 – Frédéric Back, German-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English general and historian (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Kumar Gandharva, Hindustani classical singer (d. 1992)
  • 1924 – Sara Northrup Hollister, American occultist (d. 1997)
  • 1926 – Henry N. Cobb, American architect and academic, co-founded Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (d. 2020)
  • 1926 – Shecky Greene, American actor
  • 1926 – Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian and academic
  • 1927 – Tilly Armstrong, English author (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Ollie Mitchell, American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Fred Ebb, American lyricist (d. 2004)
  • 1929 – Jacques Brel, Belgian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1978)
  • 1929 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian and author (d. 1996)
  • 1930 – Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (d. 2010)
  • 1931 – John Gavin, American actor and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Mexico (d. 2018)
  • 1932 – Iskandar of Johor (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – James Lockhart, American scholar of colonial Latin America, especially Nahua peoples (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect, designed the Nakagin Capsule Tower and Singapore Flyer (d. 2007)
  • 1935 – Oscar Zeta Acosta, American lawyer and politician (d. 1974)
  • 1935 – Albert Bustamante, American soldier, educator, and politician
  • 1937 – Tony Barton, English footballer, outside right and manager (d. 1993)
  • 1937 – Seymour Hersh, American journalist and author
  • 1937 – Momo Kapor, Serbian author and painter (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Kofi Annan, Ghanaian economist and diplomat, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – John Hamm, Canadian physician and politician, 25th Premier of Nova Scotia
  • 1938 – Mary W. Gray, American mathematician, statistician, and lawyer
  • 1939 – John Arbuthnott, Scottish microbiologist and academic
  • 1939 – Trina Schart Hyman, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
  • 1940 – John Havlicek, American basketball player (d. 2019)
  • 1941 – J. J. Jackson, American soul/R&B singer, songwriter, and arranger
  • 1941 – Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer
  • 1942 – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Northern Irish politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics (d. 2006)
  • 1942 – Roger Chapman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1942 – Douglas Trumbull, American director, producer, and special effects artist
  • 1943 – Michael Bennett, American dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 1987)
  • 1943 – Miller Farr, American football player
  • 1943 – James Herbert, English author and illustrator (d. 2013)
  • 1943 – Chris Orr, English painter and illustrator
  • 1944 – Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor (d. 2017)
  • 1944 – Odd Nerdrum, Swedish-Norwegian painter and illustrator
  • 1945 – Derrick Walker, Scottish businessman
  • 1945 – Jang Yong, South Korean actor
  • 1946 – Catfish Hunter, American baseball player (d. 1999)
  • 1946 – Tim Thomerson, American actor and producer
  • 1947 – Tom DeLay, American lawyer and politician
  • 1947 – Steve Howe, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1947 – Robert Kiyosaki, American businessman, co-founded Cashflow Technologies
  • 1947 – Pascal Lamy, French businessman and politician, European Commissioner for Trade
  • 1947 – Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter, and producer (d. 2008)
  • 1948 – Barbara Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, Scottish academic and politician
  • 1949 – K. C. Kamalasabayson, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 39th Attorney General of Sri Lanka (d. 2007)
  • 1949 – John Madden, English director and producer
  • 1949 – Brenda Russell, African-American-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1949 – John Scott, English sociologist and academic
  • 1950 – Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer and coach
  • 1951 – Gerd Andres, German politician
  • 1951 – Geir Haarde, Icelandic economist, journalist, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Iceland
  • 1951 – Mel Schacher, American bass player
  • 1951 – Joan Sebastian, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2015)
  • 1952 – Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician (d. 2004)
  • 1954 – Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Princess Lalla Amina of Morocco (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – G.V. Loganathan, Indian-American engineer and academic (d. 2007)
  • 1955 – Ricky Bell, American football player (d. 1984)
  • 1955 – Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer
  • 1955 – Ron Johnson, American businessman and politician
  • 1955 – Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist, essayist and poet
  • 1955 – David Wu, Taiwanese-American lawyer and politician
  • 1956 – Michael Benton, Scottish-English paleontologist and academic
  • 1956 – Christine Boisson, French actress
  • 1956 – Roman Dragoun, Czech singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1956 – Jim Piddock, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Fred Smerlas, American football player and radio host
  • 1958 – Detlef Bruckhoff, German footballer
  • 1958 – Tom Petranoff, American javelin thrower and coach
  • 1959 – Alain Bondue, French cyclist
  • 1960 – John Schneider, American actor and country singer
  • 1961 – Richard Hatch, American reality contestant
  • 1961 – Brian McDermott, English footballer and manager
  • 1962 – Paddy Lowe, English engineer
  • 1962 – Izzy Stradlin, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1963 – Tine Asmundsen, Norwegian bassist
  • 1963 – Julian Lennon, English singer-songwriter
  • 1963 – Terry Porter, American basketball player and coach
  • 1963 – Donita Sparks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1963 – Alec Stewart, English cricketer
  • 1963 – Seth Tobias, American businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1964 – Biz Markie, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1964 – John McGinlay, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Steven Blaney, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Public Safety
  • 1965 – Michael Jones, New Zealand rugby player and coach
  • 1966 – Iveta Bartošová, Czech singer and actress (d. 2014)
  • 1966 – Mark Blundell, English race car driver
  • 1966 – Andy Currier, English rugby league player
  • 1966 – Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand-Australian television host (d. 2014)
  • 1966 – Dalton Grant, English high jumper
  • 1966 – Mazinho, Brazilian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1966 – Harri Rovanperä, Finnish race car driver
  • 1966 – Evripidis Stylianidis, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for the Interior
  • 1966 – Robin Wright, American actress, director, producer
  • 1967 – Kenny Benjamin, Antiguan cricketer
  • 1968 – Patricia Arquette, French-Canadian Russian/Polish Jewish-American actress and director
  • 1968 – Patricia Girard, French runner and hurdler
  • 1968 – Tracy Grammer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – Darren Jessee, American singer-songwriter and drummer
  • 1972 – Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1972 – Sergei Magnitsky, Russian lawyer and accountant (d. 2009)
  • 1973 – Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer
  • 1973 – Emma Caulfield, American actress
  • 1974 – Toutai Kefu, Tongan-Australian rugby player
  • 1974 – Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian-American author and educator
  • 1975 – Anouk, Dutch singer
  • 1975 – Francesco Flachi, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Timo Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1975 – Funda Arar, Turkish singer
  • 1977 – Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress
  • 1977 – Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist and author (d. 2008)
  • 1977 – Mark Spencer, American computer programmer and engineer
  • 1978 – Daigo, Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, and voice actor
  • 1978 – Bernt Haas, Austrian-Swiss footballer
  • 1978 – Rachel Roberts, Canadian model and actress
  • 1978 – Jocelyn Robichaud, Canadian tennis player and coach
  • 1978 – Evans Rutto, Kenyan runner
  • 1979 – Alexi Laiho, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1979 – Amit Trivedi, Indian singer-songwriter
  • 1980 – Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer
  • 1980 – Katee Sackhoff, American actress
  • 1980 – Mariko Seyama, Japanese announcer, photographer, and model
  • 1981 – Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer
  • 1981 – Ofer Shechter, Israeli model, actor, and screenwriter
  • 1982 – Gennady Golovkin, Kazakhstani boxer
  • 1982 – Brett White, Australian rugby league player
  • 1983 – Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova, Russian runner
  • 1984 – Michelle Donelan, British politician
  • 1984 – Ezra Koenig, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1984 – Pablo Portillo, Mexican singer and actor
  • 1984 – Taran Noah Smith, American actor
  • 1985 – Patrick Schliwa, German rugby player
  • 1985 – Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopian runner
  • 1986 – Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer
  • 1986 – Félix Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
  • 1987 – Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer
  • 1987 – Jeremy Hellickson, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Sam Rapira, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1988 – Jenni Asserholt, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Kim Myung-sung, South Korean baseball player
  • 1990 – Kim Jong-hyun, South Korean singer (d. 2017)
  • 1993 – Viktor Arvidsson, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1993 – Zac Santo, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Josh Chudleigh, Australian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Cedi Osman, Turkish professional basketball player
  • 1997 – Saygrace, Australian singer and songwriter
  • 1997 – Arno Verschueren, Belgian professional football player

Deaths on April 8

  • 217 – Caracalla, Roman emperor (b. 188)
  • 622 – Shōtoku, Japanese prince (b. 572)
  • 632 – Charibert II, Frankish king (b. 607)
  • 894 – Adalelm, Frankish nobleman
  • 944 – Wang Yanxi, Chinese emperor
  • 956 – Gilbert, Frankish nobleman
  • 967 – Mu’izz al-Dawla, Buyid emir (b. 915)
  • 1143 – John II Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1087)
  • 1150 – Gertrude of Babenberg , duchess of Bohemia (b. 1118)
  • 1321 – Thomas of Tolentino, Italian-Franciscan missionary (b. c. 1255)
  • 1338 – Stephen Gravesend, bishop of London
  • 1364 – John II, French king (b. 1319)
  • 1450 – Sejong the Great, Korean king (b. 1397)
  • 1461 – Georg von Peuerbach, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1423)
  • 1492 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian ruler (b. 1449)
  • 1551 – Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)
  • 1586 – Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran theologian and reformer (b. 1522)
  • 1608 – Magdalen Dacre, English noble (b. 1538)
  • 1612 – Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (b. 1575)
  • 1691 – Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect, designed the Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto (b. 1611)
  • 1697 – Niels Juel, Norwegian-Danish admiral (b. 1629)
  • 1704 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (b. 1624)
  • 1704 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English colonel and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1641)
  • 1709 – Wolfgang Dietrich of Castell-Remlingen, German nobleman (b. 1641)
  • 1725 – John Wise, American minister (b. 1652)
  • 1735 – Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian prince (b. 1676)
  • 1848 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (b. 1797)
  • 1860 – István Széchenyi, Hungarian statesman and reformer (b.1791)
  • 1861 – Elisha Otis, American businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company (b. 1811)
  • 1870 – Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (b. 1802)
  • 1894 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1838)
  • 1906 – Auguste Deter, German woman, first person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (b. 1850)
  • 1919 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist, academic, and politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (b. 1848)
  • 1920 – Charles Griffes, American pianist and composer (b. 1884)
  • 1931 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish poet Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
  • 1936 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
  • 1936 – Božena Benešová, Czech poet and novelist (b. 1873)
  • 1941 – Marcel Prévost, French novelist and playwright (b. 1862)
  • 1942 – Kostas Skarvelis, Greek guitarist and composer (b. 1880)
  • 1947 – Olaf Frydenlund, Norwegian target shooter (b. 1862)
  • 1950 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish dancer and choreographer (b. 1890)
  • 1959 – Marios Makrionitis, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Athens (b. 1913)
  • 1961 – Joseph Carrodus, Australian public servant (b. 1885)
  • 1962 – Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1892)
  • 1965 – Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (b. 1886)
  • 1969 – Zinaida Aksentyeva, Ukrainian astronomer (b. 1900)
  • 1973 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1881)
  • 1974 – James Charles McGuigan, Canadian cardinal (b. 1894)
  • 1979 – Breece D’J Pancake, American short story writer (b. 1952)
  • 1981 – Omar Bradley, American general (b. 1893)
  • 1983 – Isamu Kosugi, Japanese actor and director (b. 1904)
  • 1984 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1894)
  • 1985 – John Frederick Coots, American pianist and composer (b. 1897)
  • 1990 – Ryan White, American activist, inspired the Ryan White Care Act (b. 1971)
  • 1991 – Per Ohlin, Swedish musician (b. 1969)
  • 1992 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
  • 1993 – Marian Anderson, American operatic singer (b. 1897)
  • 1994 – François Rozet, French-Canadian actor (b. 1899)
  • 1996 – Ben Johnson, American actor and stuntman (b. 1918)
  • 1996 – León Klimovsky, Argentinian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
  • 1996 – Mick Young, Australian politician (b. 1936)
  • 1997 – Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1947)
  • 2000 – František Šťastný, Czech motorcycle racer (b. 1927)
  • 2000 – Claire Trevor, American actress (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – María Félix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
  • 2002 – Harvey Quaytman, American painter (b. 1937)
  • 2004 – Werner Schumacher, German actor (b. 1921)
  • 2005 – Onna White, Canadian choreographer and dancer (b. 1922)
  • 2006 – Gerard Reve, Dutch author and poet (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Sol LeWitt, American painter and sculptor (b. 1928)
  • 2008 – Kazuo Shiraga, Japanese painter (b. 1924)
  • 2009 – Richard de Mille, American Scientologist, author, investigative journalist, and psychologist (b. 1922)
  • 2009 – Piotr Morawski, Polish mountaineer (b. 1976)
  • 2010 – Malcolm McLaren, English singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Teddy Scholten, Dutch singer (b. 1926)
  • 2011 – Hedda Sterne, Romanian-American painter and photographer (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Blair Kiel, American football player and coach (b. 1961)
  • 2012 – Jack Tramiel, Polish-American businessman, founded Commodore International (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Janusz K. Zawodny, Polish-American soldier, historian, and political scientist (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Mikhail Beketov, Russian journalist (b. 1958)
  • 2013 – Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Sara Montiel, Spanish-Mexican actress and singer (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – José Luis Sampedro, Spanish economist and author (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Margaret Thatcher, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Emmanuel III Delly, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Ivan Mercep, New Zealand architect, designed the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Jayakanthan, Indian journalist and author (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Rayson Huang, Hong Kong chemist and academic (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Sergei Lashchenko, Ukrainian kick-boxer (b. 1987)
  • 2015 – David Laventhol, American journalist and publisher (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Jean-Claude Turcotte, Canadian cardinal (b. 1936)

Holidays and observances on April 8

  • Buddha’s Birthday, also known as Hana Matsuri, “Flower Festival” (Japan)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Anne Ayres (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Constantina
    • Julie Billiart of Namur
    • Perpetuus
    • Walter of Pontoise
    • William Augustus Muhlenberg (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • April 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Fast and Prayer Day can fall, while April 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Friday in April (Liberia)
  • International Romani Day

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

On This Day

April 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 451 – Attila the Hun sacks the town of Metz and attacks other cities in Gaul.
  • 529 – First draft of the Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I.
  • 611 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul sacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico.
  • 1141 – Empress Matilda became the first female ruler of England, adopting the title ‘Lady of the English’.
  • 1348 – Charles University is founded in Prague.
  • 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.
  • 1541 – Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.
  • 1724 – Premiere performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion, BWV 245, at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig.
  • 1767 – End of Burmese–Siamese War (1765–67).
  • 1776 – Captain John Barry and the USS Lexington captures the Edward.
  • 1788 – American pioneers to the Northwest Territory establish Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory.
  • 1789 – Selim III became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
  • 1798 – The Mississippi Territory is organized from disputed territory claimed by both the United States and Spain. It is expanded in 1804 and again in 1812.
  • 1805 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery breaks camp among the Mandan tribe and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River.
  • 1805 – German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
  • 1827 – John Walker, an English chemist, sells the first friction match that he had invented the previous year.
  • 1829 – Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, commences translation of the Book of Mormon, with Oliver Cowdery as his scribe.
  • 1831 – Emperor Pedro I of Brazil resigns. He goes to his native Portugal to become King Pedro IV.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: The Union’s Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi near Shiloh, Tennessee.
  • 1868 – Thomas D’Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers of Confederation, is assassinated by a Fenian activist.
  • 1890 – Completion of the first Lake Biwa Canal.
  • 1906 – Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
  • 1906 – The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco.
  • 1922 – The United States Secretary of the Interior leases federal petroleum reserves to private oil companies on excessively generous terms.
  • 1927 – The first long-distance public television broadcast (from Washington, D.C., to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).
  • 1933 – Prohibition in the United States is repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the XXI amendment. (Now celebrated as National Beer Day in the United States.)
  • 1940 – Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
  • 1943 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: In Terebovlia, Germans order 1,100 Jews to undress and march through the city to the nearby village of Plebanivka, where they are shot and buried in ditches.
  • 1943 – Ioannis Rallis becomes collaborationist Prime Minister of Greece during the Axis Occupation.
  • 1945 – World War II: The battleship Yamato, one of the two largest ever constructed, is sunk by American aircraft during Operation Ten-Go.
  • 1945 – World War II: Visoko is liberated by the 7th, 9th, and 17th Krajina brigades from the Tenth division of Yugoslav Partisan forces.
  • 1948 – The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
  • 1949 – The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific opened on Broadway; it would run for 1,925 performances and win ten Tony Awards.
  • 1954 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his “domino theory” speech during a news conference.
  • 1955 – Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health.
  • 1964 – IBM announces the System/360.
  • 1964 – A bulldozer kills Rev. Bruce W. Klunder, a civil rights activist, during a school segregation protest in Cleveland, Ohio, sparking a riot.
  • 1965 – Representatives of the National Congress of American Indians testify before members of the US Senate against the termination of the Colville tribe in Washington DC.
  • 1968 – Motor racing world champion Jim Clark is killed in an accident during a Formula Two race at Hockenheim.
  • 1969 – The Internet’s symbolic birth date: Publication of RFC 1.
  • 1971 – President Richard Nixon announces his decision to quicken the pace of Vietnamization.
  • 1976 – Member of Parliament and suspected spy John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party (UK) after being arrested for faking his own death.
  • 1977 – German Federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by two Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light.
  • 1978 – Development of the neutron bomb is canceled by President Jimmy Carter.
  • 1980 – During the Iran hostage crisis, the United States severs relations with Iran.
  • 1983 – During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first Space Shuttle spacewalk.
  • 1989 – Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway killing 42 sailors.
  • 1990 – Iran–Contra affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal (the conviction is later reversed on appeal).
  • 1990 – A fire breaks out on the passenger ferry Scandinavian Star, killing 159 people.
  • 1994 – Rwandan genocide: Massacres of Tutsis begin in Kigali, Rwanda.
  • 1994 – Auburn Calloway attempts to destroy Federal Express Flight 705 in order to allow his family to benefit from his life insurance policy.
  • 1995 – First Chechen War: Russian paramilitary troops begin a massacre of civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.
  • 1999 – The World Trade Organization rules in favor of the United States in its long-running trade dispute with the European Union over bananas.
  • 2001 – Mars Odyssey is launched.
  • 2003 – U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein’s regime falls two days later.
  • 2009 – Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.
  • 2009 – Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent.
  • 2017 – A man deliberately drives a hijacked truck into a crowd of people, killing five people and injuring fifteen others.

Births on April 7

  • 1206 – Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1253)
  • 1330 – John, 3rd Earl of Kent, English nobleman (d. 1352)
  • 1470 – Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire (d. 1498)
  • 1506 – Francis Xavier, Spanish missionary and saint, co-founded the Society of Jesus (d. 1552)
  • 1539 – Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and illustrator (d. 1584)
  • 1613 – Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (d. 1675)
  • 1644 – François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, French general (d. 1730)
  • 1648 – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English poet and politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1721)
  • 1652 – Pope Clement XII (d. 1740)
  • 1713 – Nicola Sala, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1801)
  • 1718 – Hugh Blair, Scottish minister and author (d. 1800)
  • 1727 – Michel Adanson, French botanist, entomologist, and mycologist (d. 1806)
  • 1763 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (d. 1846)
  • 1770 – William Wordsworth, English poet (d. 1850)
  • 1772 – Charles Fourier, French philosopher and author (d. 1837)
  • 1780 – William Ellery Channing, American preacher and theologian (d. 1842)
  • 1803 – James Curtiss, American journalist and politician, 11th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1859)
  • 1803 – Flora Tristan, French author and activist (d. 1844)
  • 1811 – Hasan Tahsini, Albanian astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1881)
  • 1817 – Francesco Selmi, Italian chemist and patriot (d. 1881)
  • 1848 – Randall Davidson, Scottish archbishop (d. 1930)
  • 1859 – Walter Camp, American football player and coach (d. 1925)
  • 1860 – Will Keith Kellogg, American businessman, founded the Kellogg Company (d. 1951)
  • 1867 – Holger Pedersen, Danish linguist and academic (d. 1953)
  • 1870 – Gustav Landauer, Jewish-German theorist and activist (d. 1919)
  • 1871 – Epifanio de los Santos, Filipino jurist, historian, and scholar (d. 1927)
  • 1873 – John McGraw, American baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
  • 1874 – Frederick Carl Frieseke, German-American painter (d. 1939)
  • 1876 – Fay Moulton, American sprinter, football player, coach, and lawyer (d. 1945)
  • 1882 – Bert Ironmonger, Australian cricketer (d. 1971)
  • 1882 – Kurt von Schleicher, German general and politician, 23rd Chancellor of Germany (d. 1934)
  • 1883 – Gino Severini, Italian-French painter and author (d. 1966)
  • 1884 – Clement Smoot, American golfer (d. 1963)
  • 1886 – Ed Lafitte, American baseball player and soldier (d. 1971)
  • 1889 – Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
  • 1890 – Paul Berth, Danish footballer (d. 1969)
  • 1890 – Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American journalist and activist (d. 1998)
  • 1891 – Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman, founded the Lego Group (d. 1958)
  • 1893 – Allen Dulles, American lawyer and diplomat, 5th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1969)
  • 1895 – John Flannagan, American soldier and sculptor (d. 1942)
  • 1895 – Margarete Schön, German actress (d. 1985)
  • 1896 – Frits Peutz, Dutch architect, designed the Glaspaleis (d. 1974)
  • 1897 – Erich Löwenhardt, Polish-German lieutenant and pilot (d. 1918)
  • 1897 – Walter Winchell, American journalist and radio host (d. 1972)
  • 1899 – Robert Casadesus, French pianist and composer (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – Adolf Dymsza, Polish actor (d. 1975)
  • 1900 – Tebbs Lloyd Johnson, English race walker (d. 1984)
  • 1902 – Eduard Eelma, Estonian footballer (d. 1941)
  • 1903 – M. Balasundaram, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1965)
  • 1903 – Edwin T. Layton, American admiral (d. 1984)
  • 1904 – Roland Wilson, Australian economist and statistician (d. 1996)
  • 1908 – Percy Faith, Canadian composer, conductor, and bandleader (d. 1976)
  • 1908 – Pete Zaremba, American hammer thrower (d. 1994)
  • 1909 – Robert Charroux, French author and critic (d. 1978)
  • 1913 – Louise Currie, American actress (d. 2013)
  • 1913 – Charles Vanik, American soldier, judge, and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1914 – Ralph Flanagan, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1995)
  • 1915 – Stanley Adams, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1977)
  • 1915 – Billie Holiday, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1959)
  • 1915 – Henry Kuttner, American author (d. 1958)
  • 1916 – Anthony Caruso, American actor (d. 2003)
  • 1917 – R. G. Armstrong, American actor and playwright (d. 2012)
  • 1918 – Bobby Doerr, American baseball player and coach (d. 2017)
  • 1919 – Roger Lemelin, Canadian author and screenwriter (d. 1992)
  • 1919 – Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italian fencer (d. 2012)
  • 1920 – Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (d. 2012)
  • 1921 – Feza Gürsey, Turkish mathematician and physicist (d. 1992)
  • 1922 – Mongo Santamaría, Cuban-American drummer (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian-English author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1925 – Chaturanan Mishra, Indian trade union leader and politician (d. 2011)
  • 1925 – Jan van Roessel, Dutch footballer (d. 2011)
  • 1927 – Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian-American drummer, educator, and activist (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – Leonid Shcherbakov, Russian triple jumper
  • 1928 – James Garner, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Alan J. Pakula, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
  • 1928 – James White, Northern Irish author and educator (d. 1999)
  • 1929 – Bob Denard, French soldier (d. 2007)
  • 1929 – Joe Gallo, American gangster (d. 1972)
  • 1930 – Jane Priestman, English interior designer
  • 1930 – Yves Rocher, French businessman, founded the Yves Rocher Company (d. 2009)
  • 1930 – Andrew Sachs, German-English actor and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1930 – Roger Vergé, French chef and restaurateur (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Donald Barthelme, American short story writer and novelist (d. 1989)
  • 1931 – Daniel Ellsberg, American activist and author
  • 1932 – Cal Smith, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Wayne Rogers, American actor, investor, and producer (d. 2015)
  • 1933 – Sakıp Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist (d. 2004)
  • 1934 – Ian Richardson, Scottish-English actor (d. 2007)
  • 1935 – Bobby Bare, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1935 – Hodding Carter III, American journalist and politician, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
  • 1937 – Charlie Thomas, American singer
  • 1938 – Jerry Brown, American lawyer and politician, 34th and 39th Governor of California
  • 1938 – Spencer Dryden, American drummer (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – Freddie Hubbard, American trumpet player and composer (d. 2008)
  • 1938 – Iris Johansen, American author
  • 1939 – Francis Ford Coppola, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1939 – David Frost, English journalist and game show host (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Gary Kellgren, American record producer, co-founded Record Plant (d. 1977)
  • 1939 – Brett Whiteley, Australian painter (d. 1992)
  • 1940 – Marju Lauristin, Estonian academic and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Social Affairs
  • 1941 – James Di Pasquale, American composer
  • 1941 – Peter Fluck, English puppet maker and illustrator
  • 1941 – Cornelia Frances, English-Australian actress (d. 2018)
  • 1941 – Gorden Kaye, English actor (d. 2017)
  • 1942 – Jeetendra, Indian actor, TV and film producer
  • 1943 – Mick Abrahams, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Dennis Amiss, English cricketer and manager
  • 1944 – Shel Bachrach, American insurance broker, investor, businessman and philanthropist
  • 1944 – Warner Fusselle, American sportscaster (d. 2012)
  • 1944 – Oshik Levi, Israeli singer and actor
  • 1944 – Julia Phillips, American film producer and author (d. 2002)
  • 1944 – Gerhard Schröder, German lawyer and politician, 7th Chancellor of Germany
  • 1944 – Bill Stoneman, American baseball player and manager
  • 1945 – Megas, Icelandic singer-songwriter
  • 1945 – Gerry Cottle, English businessman
  • 1945 – Marilyn Friedman, American philosopher and academic
  • 1945 – Martyn Lewis, Welsh journalist and author
  • 1945 – Joël Robuchon, French chef and author (d. 2018)
  • 1945 – Werner Schroeter, German director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1945 – Hans van Hemert, Dutch songwriter and producer
  • 1946 – Zaid Abdul-Aziz, American basketball player
  • 1946 – Colette Besson, French runner and educator (d. 2005)
  • 1946 – Herménégilde Chiasson, Canadian poet, playwright, and politician, 29th Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
  • 1946 – Dimitrij Rupel, Slovenian politician and diplomate
  • 1946 – Stan Winston, American special effects designer and makeup artist (d. 2008)
  • 1947 – Patricia Bennett, American singer
  • 1947 – Florian Schneider, German singer and drummer (d. 2020)
  • 1947 – Michèle Torr, French singer and author
  • 1948 – John Oates, American singer-songwriter guitarist, and producer
  • 1949 – Mitch Daniels, American academic and politician, 49th Governor of Indiana
  • 1950 – Brian J. Doyle, American press secretary
  • 1951 – Bruce Gary, American drummer (d. 2006)
  • 1951 – Janis Ian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1952 – David Baulcombe, English geneticist and academic
  • 1952 – Jane Frederick, American hurdler and heptathlete
  • 1952 – Gilles Valiquette, Canadian actor, singer, and producer
  • 1952 – Dennis Hayden, American actor
  • 1953 – Santa Barraza, American mixed media artist
  • 1953 – Douglas Kell, English biochemist and academic
  • 1954 – Jackie Chan, Hong Kong martial artist, actor, stuntman, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1954 – Tony Dorsett, American football player
  • 1955 – Tim Cochran, American mathematician and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1955 – Gregg Jarrett, American lawyer and journalist
  • 1956 – Annika Billström, Swedish businesswoman and politician, 16th Mayor of Stockholm
  • 1956 – Christopher Darden, American lawyer and author
  • 1956 – Georg Werthner, Austrian decathlete
  • 1957 – Kim Kap-soo, South Korean actor
  • 1957 – Thelma Walker, British politician
  • 1958 – Brian Haner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1958 – Hindrek Kesler, Estonian architect
  • 1960 – Buster Douglas, American boxer and actor
  • 1960 – Sandy Powell, English costume designer
  • 1961 – Thurl Bailey, American basketball player and actor
  • 1961 – Pascal Olmeta, French footballer
  • 1961 – Brigitte van der Burg, Tanzanian-Dutch geographer and politician
  • 1962 – Jon Cruddas, English lawyer and politician
  • 1962 – Andrew Hampsten, American cyclist
  • 1963 – Jaime de Marichalar, Spanish businessman
  • 1963 – Nick Herbert, English businessman and politician, Minister for Policing
  • 1963 – Dave Johnson, American decathlete and educator
  • 1964 – Jace Alexander, American actor and director
  • 1964 – Russell Crowe, New Zealand-Australian actor
  • 1964 – Steve Graves, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1965 – Bill Bellamy, American comedian, actor, and producer
  • 1965 – Rozalie Hirs, Dutch composer and poet
  • 1965 – Alison Lapper, English painter and photographer
  • 1965 – Nenad Vučinić, Serbian-New Zealand basketball player and coach
  • 1966 – Richard Gomez, Filipino actor and politician
  • 1966 – Zvika Hadar, Israeli entertainer
  • 1966 – Béla Mavrák, Hungarian tenor singer
  • 1966 – Gary Wilkinson, English snooker player
  • 1967 – Artemis Gounaki, Greek-German singer-songwriter
  • 1967 – Bodo Illgner, German footballer
  • 1967 – Simone Schilder, Dutch tennis player
  • 1968 – Duncan Armstrong, Australian swimmer and sportscaster
  • 1968 – Jennifer Lynch, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1968 – Jože Možina, Slovenian historian, sociologist and journalist
  • 1968 – Vasiliy Sokov, Russian triple jumper
  • 1969 – Ricky Watters, American football player
  • 1970 – Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian pianist and educator
  • 1971 – Guillaume Depardieu, French actor (d. 2008)
  • 1971 – Victor Kraatz, German-Canadian figure skater
  • 1972 – Tim Peake, British astronaut
  • 1973 – Marco Delvecchio, Italian footballer
  • 1973 – Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Defence
  • 1973 – Carole Montillet, French skier
  • 1973 – Christian O’Connell, British radio DJ and presenter
  • 1973 – Brett Tomko, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Karin Dreijer Andersson, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1975 – Ronde Barber, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Tiki Barber, American football player and journalist
  • 1975 – Ronnie Belliard, American baseball player
  • 1975 – John Cooper, American singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1975 – Simon Woolford, Australian rugby league player
  • 1976 – Kevin Alejandro, American actor and producer
  • 1976 – Martin Buß, German high jumper
  • 1976 – Jessica Lee, English lawyer and politician
  • 1976 – Aaron Lohr, American actor
  • 1976 – Barbara Jane Reams, American actress
  • 1976 – Gang Qiang, Chinese anchor
  • 1978 – Jo Appleby, English soprano
  • 1978 – Duncan James, English singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1978 – Lilia Osterloh, American tennis player
  • 1979 – Adrián Beltré, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1979 – Patrick Crayton, American football player
  • 1979 – Pascal Dupuis, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Danny Sandoval, Venezuelan-American baseball player
  • 1980 – Dragan Bogavac, Montenegrin footballer
  • 1980 – Tetsuji Tamayama, Japanese actor
  • 1981 – Hitoe Arakaki, Japanese singer
  • 1981 – Kazuki Watanabe, Japanese songwriter and guitarist (d. 2000)
  • 1981 – Vanessa Olivarez, American singer-songwriter, and actress
  • 1981 – Suzann Pettersen, Norwegian golfer
  • 1982 – Silvana Arias, Peruvian actress
  • 1982 – Sonjay Dutt, American wrestler
  • 1982 – Kelli Young, English singer
  • 1983 – Hamish Davidson, Australian musician
  • 1983 – Franck Ribéry, French footballer
  • 1983 – Jon Stead, English footballer
  • 1983 – Jakub Smrž, Czech motorcycle rider
  • 1983 – Janar Talts, Estonian basketball player
  • 1984 – Hiroko Shimabukuro, Japanese singer
  • 1985 – KC Concepcion, Filipino actress and singer
  • 1985 – Humza Yousaf, Scottish politician
  • 1986 – Brooke Brodack, American comedian
  • 1986 – Jack Duarte, Mexican actor, singer, and guitarist
  • 1986 – Andi Fraggs, English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1986 – Christian Fuchs, Austrian footballer
  • 1987 – Martín Cáceres, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1987 – Eelco Sintnicolaas, Dutch decathlete
  • 1987 – Jamar Smith, American football player
  • 1988 – Antonio Piccolo, Italian footballer
  • 1988 – Ed Speleers, English actor and producer
  • 1989 – Alexa Demara, American actress, model and writer
  • 1989 – Franco Di Santo, Argentinian footballer
  • 1989 – Mitchell Pearce, Australian rugby league player
  • 1989 – Teddy Riner, French judoka
  • 1990 – Nickel Ashmeade, Jamaican sprinter
  • 1990 – Anna Bogomazova, Russian-American kick-boxer, martial artist, and wrestler
  • 1990 – Sorana Cîrstea, Romanian tennis player
  • 1990 – Trent Cotchin, Australian footballer
  • 1991 – Luka Milivojević, Serbian footballer
  • 1991 – Anne-Marie, English singer-songwriter
  • 1992 – Andreea Acatrinei, Romanian gymnast
  • 1992 – Guilherme Negueba, Brazilian footballer
  • 1993 – Ichinojō Takashi, Mongolian sumo wrestler
  • 1994 – Johanna Allik, Estonian figure skater
  • 1994 – Aaron Gray, Australian rugby league player
  • 1996 – Emerson Hyndman, American international soccer player[5]
  • 1997 – Rafaela Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player

Deaths on April 7

  • AD 30 – Jesus Christ, (possible date of the crucifixion) (b. circa 4 BC)
  • 821 – George the Standard-Bearer, archbishop of Mytilene (b. c. 776)
  • 924 – Berengar I of Italy (b. 845)
  • 1206 – Frederick I, Duke of Lorraine
  • 1340 – Bolesław Jerzy II of Mazovia (b. 1308)
  • 1498 – Charles VIII of France (b. 1470)
  • 1499 – Galeotto I Pico, Duke of Mirandola (b. 1442)
  • 1501 – Minkhaung II, king of Ava (b. 1446)
  • 1606 – Edward Oldcorne, English martyr (b. 1561)
  • 1614 – El Greco, Greek-Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1541)
  • 1638 – Shimazu Tadatsune, Japanese daimyō (b. 1576)
  • 1651 – Lennart Torstensson, Swedish field marshal and engineer (b. 1603)
  • 1658 – Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, Spanish mystic and philosopher (b. 1595)
  • 1661 – Sir William Brereton, 1st Baronet, English commander and politician (b. 1604)
  • 1663 – Francis Cooke, English-American settler (b. 1583)
  • 1668 – William Davenant, English poet and playwright (b. 1606)
  • 1719 – Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest and saint, founded the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (b. 1651)
  • 1739 – Dick Turpin, English criminal (b. 1705)
  • 1747 – Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (b. 1676)
  • 1761 – Thomas Bayes, English minister and mathematician (b. 1701)
  • 1766 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (b. 1685)
  • 1767 – Franz Sparry, Austrian composer and director (b. 1715)
  • 1782 – Taksin, Thai king (b. 1734)
  • 1789 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1725)
  • 1789 – Petrus Camper, Dutch physician, anatomist, and physiologist (b. 1722)
  • 1801 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer and author (b. 1724)
  • 1804 – Toussaint Louverture, Haitian general (b. 1743)
  • 1811 – Garsevan Chavchavadze, Georgian diplomat and politician (b. 1757)
  • 1823 – Jacques Charles, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1746)
  • 1833 – Antoni Radziwiłł, Lithuanian composer and politician (b. 1775)
  • 1836 – William Godwin, English journalist and author (b. 1756)
  • 1849 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentinian priest and politician (b. 1777)
  • 1850 – William Lisle Bowles, English poet and critic (b. 1762)
  • 1858 – Anton Diabelli, Austrian composer and publisher (b. 1781)
  • 1868 – Thomas D’Arcy McGee, Irish-Canadian journalist, activist, and politician (b. 1825)
  • 1879 – Begum Hazrat Mahal, Begum of Awadh, was the second wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (b. 1820)
  • 1885 – Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist and zoologist (b. 1804)
  • 1889 – Youssef Bey Karam, Lebanese soldier and politician (b. 1823)
  • 1889 – Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Mexican politician and president, 1872-1876 (b. 1823)
  • 1891 – P. T. Barnum, American businessman and politician, co-founded The Barnum & Bailey Circus (b. 1810)
  • 1917 – Spyridon Samaras, Greek composer and playwright (b. 1861)
  • 1918 – David Kolehmainen, Finnish wrestler (b. 1885)
  • 1918 – George E. Ohr, American potter (b. 1857)
  • 1920 – Karl Binding, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1841)
  • 1922 – James McGowen, Australian politician, 18th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1855)
  • 1928 – Alexander Bogdanov, Russian physician, philosopher, and author (b. 1873)
  • 1932 – Grigore Constantinescu, Romanian priest and journalist (b. 1875)
  • 1938 – Suzanne Valadon, French painter (b. 1865)
  • 1939 – Joseph Lyons, Australian educator and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1879)
  • 1943 – Jovan Dučić, Serbian-American poet and diplomat (b. 1871)
  • 1943 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (b. 1859)
  • 1947 – Henry Ford, American engineer and businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (b. 1863)
  • 1949 – John Gourlay, Canadian soccer player (b. 1872)
  • 1950 – Walter Huston, Canadian-American actor and singer (b. 1883)
  • 1955 – Theda Bara, American actress (b. 1885)
  • 1956 – Fred Appleby, English runner (b. 1879)
  • 1960 – Henri Guisan, Swiss general (b. 1874)
  • 1965 – Roger Leger, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1919)
  • 1966 – Walt Hansgen, American race car driver (b. 1919)
  • 1968 – Edwin Baker, Canadian co-founder of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) (b. 1893)
  • 1968 – Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (b. 1936)
  • 1972 – Joe Gallo, American gangster (b. 1929)
  • 1972 – Abeid Karume, Tanzanian politician, 1st President of Zanzibar (b. 1905)
  • 1981 – Kit Lambert, English record producer and manager (b. 1935)
  • 1981 – Norman Taurog, American director and screenwriter (b. 1899)
  • 1982 – Harald Ertl, Austrian race car driver and journalist (b. 1948)
  • 1984 – Frank Church, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1924)
  • 1985 – Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and jurist (b. 1888)
  • 1986 – Leonid Kantorovich, Russian mathematician and economist (b. 1912)
  • 1990 – Ronald Evans, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1933)
  • 1991 – Memduh Ünlütürk, Turkish general (b. 1913)
  • 1992 – Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1903)
  • 1992 – Antonis Tritsis, Greek high jumper and politician, 71st Mayor of Athens (b. 1937)
  • 1994 – Lee Brilleaux, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
  • 1994 – Albert Guðmundsson, Icelandic footballer, manager, and politician (b. 1923)
  • 1994 – Golo Mann, German historian and author (b. 1909)
  • 1994 – Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Rwandan chemist, academic, and politician, Prime Minister of Rwanda (b. 1953)
  • 1995 – Philip Jebb, English architect and politician (b. 1927)
  • 1997 – Luis Aloma, Cuban-American baseball player (b. 1923)
  • 1997 – Georgy Shonin, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1935)
  • 1998 – Alex Schomburg, Puerto Rican-American painter and illustrator (b. 1905)
  • 1999 – Heinz Lehmann, German-Canadian psychiatrist and academic (b. 1911)
  • 2001 – David Graf, American actor (b. 1950)
  • 2001 – Beatrice Straight, American actress (b. 1914)
  • 2002 – John Agar, American actor (b. 1921)
  • 2003 – Cecile de Brunhoff, French pianist and author (b. 1903)
  • 2003 – David Greene, English-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
  • 2004 – Victor Argo, American actor (b. 1934)
  • 2004 – Konstantinos Kallias, Greek politician (b. 1901)
  • 2005 – Cliff Allison, English race car driver (b. 1932)
  • 2005 – Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1922)
  • 2005 – Bob Kennedy, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Melih Kibar, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1951)
  • 2007 – Johnny Hart, American author and illustrator (b. 1931)
  • 2007 – Barry Nelson, American actor (b. 1917)
  • 2008 – Ludu Daw Amar, Burmese journalist and author (b. 1915)
  • 2009 – Dave Arneson, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (b. 1947)
  • 2011 – Pierre Gauvreau, Canadian painter (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Steven Kanumba, Tanzanian actor and director (b. 1984)
  • 2012 – Satsue Mito, Japanese zoologist and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2012 – Ignatius Moses I Daoud, Syrian cardinal (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – David E. Pergrin, American colonel and engineer (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Bashir Ahmed Qureshi, Pakistani politician (b. 1959)
  • 2012 – Mike Wallace, American television news journalist (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Marty Blake, American businessman (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Les Blank, American director and producer (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Andy Johns, English-American record producer (b. 1950)
  • 2013 – Lilly Pulitzer, American fashion designer (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Irma Ravinale, Italian composer and educator (b. 1937)
  • 2013 – Mickey Rose, American screenwriter (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Carl Williams, American boxer (b. 1959)
  • 2014 – George Dureau, American painter and photographer (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – James Alexander Green, American-English mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – V. K. Murthy, Indian cinematographer (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Zeituni Onyango, Kenyan-American computer programmer (b. 1952)
  • 2014 – John Shirley-Quirk, English opera singer (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – George Shuffler, American guitarist (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Royce Waltman, American basketball player and coach (b. 1942)
  • 2015 – Tim Babcock, American soldier and politician, 16th Governor of Montana (b. 1919)
  • 2015 – José Capellán, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1981)
  • 2015 – Stan Freberg, American puppeteer, voice actor, and singer (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Richard Henyekane, South African footballer (b. 1983)
  • 2015 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor (b. 1935)
  • 2016 – Blackjack Mulligan, American professional wrestler (b. 1942)
  • 2019 – Seymour Cassel, American actor (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances on April 7

  • Christian feast days:
    • Aibert of Crespin
    • Blessed Alexander Rawlins
    • Blessed Edward Oldcorne and Blessed Ralph Ashley
    • Blessed Notker the Stammerer
    • Brynach
    • Hegesippus
    • Henry Walpole
    • Hermann Joseph
    • Jean-Baptiste de La Salle
    • Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow (Eastern Orthodox Church, Episcopal Church (USA))
    • April 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Flag Day (Slovenia)
  • Genocide Memorial Day (Rwanda), and its related observance:
    • International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwanda Genocide (United Nations)
  • Motherhood and Beauty Day (Armenia)
  • National Beer Day (United States)
  • Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume Day (Tanzania)
  • Women’s Day (Mozambique)
  • World Health Day (International observance)

April 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

On This Day

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

On This Day /
  • 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
  • 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his army.
  • 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos is crowned Byzantine emperor at Constantinople, bringing the Komnenian dynasty to full power.
  • 1242 – During the Battle on the Ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
  • 1536 – Royal Entry of Charles V into Rome: The last Roman triumph.
  • 1566 – Two hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrick van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Seventeen Provinces.
  • 1609 – Daimyō (Lord) Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa.
  • 1614 – In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
  • 1621 – The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to England.
  • 1710 – The Statute of Anne receives the royal assent establishing the Copyright law of the United Kingdom.
  • 1722 – The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island.
  • 1792 – United States President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States.
  • 1795 – Peace of Basel between France and Prussia is made.
  • 1818 – In the Battle of Maipú, Chile’s independence movement, led by Bernardo O’Higgins and José de San Martín, win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins.
  • 1879 – Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
  • 1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they call Linear B.
  • 1904 – The first international rugby league match is played between England and an Other Nationalities team (Welsh and Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan, England.
  • 1915 – Boxing challenger Jess Willard knocks out Jack Johnson in Havana, Cuba to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
  • 1922 – The American Birth Control League, forerunner of Planned Parenthood, is incorporated.
  • 1932 – Dominion of Newfoundland: Ten thousand rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
  • 1933 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs two executive orders: 6101 to establish the Civilian Conservation Corps, and 6102 “forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates” by U.S. citizens.
  • 1936 – Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado kills 233 in Tupelo, Mississippi.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid. Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
  • 1943 – World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally cause more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1,300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. Their target was the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit.
  • 1944 – World War II: Two hundred seventy inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by the Germans.
  • 1945 – Cold War: Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito signs an agreement with the Soviet Union to allow “temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory”.
  • 1946 – Soviet troops end their year-long occupation of the Danish island of Bornholm.
  • 1946 – A Fleet Air Arm Vickers Wellington crashes into a residential area in Rabat, Malta during a training exercise, killing all 4 crew members and 16 civilians on the ground.
  • 1949 – A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements in the United States.
  • 1951 – Cold War: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for spying for the Soviet Union.
  • 1956 – Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro declares himself at war with Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.
  • 1956 – In Sri Lanka, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna win the general elections in a landslide and S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Ceylon.
  • 1957 – In India, Communists win the first elections in united Kerala and E. M. S. Namboodiripad is sworn in as the first Chief Minister.
  • 1958 – Ripple Rock, an underwater threat to navigation in the Seymour Narrows in Canada is destroyed in one of the largest non-nuclear controlled explosions of the time.
  • 1969 – Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities.
  • 1971 – In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches a revolt against the United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
  • 1976 – In China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen Incident.
  • 1977 – The US Supreme Court rules that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people’s reservation thereby destroyed the tribe’s jurisdictional authority over the area in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip.
  • 1986 – Three people are killed in the bombing of the La Belle discotheque in West Berlin, Germany.
  • 1991 – An ASA EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 aboard including Sen. John Tower and astronaut Sonny Carter.
  • 1992 – Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolves the Peruvian congress by military force.
  • 1992 – Peace protesters Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sučić are killed on the Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo, becoming the first casualties of the Bosnian War.
  • 1998 – In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opens to traffic, becoming the longest bridge span in the world.
  • 1999 – Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
  • 2000 – UEFA Cup semi-final violence: Four Galatasaray fans are arrested for the stabbings to death of two Leeds United fans.
  • 2009 – North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of Six-party talks.
  • 2010 – Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.

Births on April 5

  • 1170 – Isabella of Hainault (d. 1190)
  • 1219 – Wonjong of Goryeo, 24th ruler of Goryeo (d. 1274)
  • 1279 – Al-Nuwayri, Egyptian Muslim historian (d. 1333)
  • 1288 – Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (d. 1336)
  • 1315 – James III of Majorca (d. 1349)
  • 1365 – William II, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1417)
  • 1472 – Bianca Maria Sforza, Italian wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1510)
  • 1521 – Francesco Laparelli, Italian architect (d. 1570)
  • 1523 – Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer and diplomat (d. 1596)
  • 1533 – Giulio della Rovere, Italian Catholic Cardinal (d. 1578)
  • 1539 – George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1603)
  • 1549 – Princess Elizabeth of Sweden, (d. 1597)
  • 1568 – Pope Urban VIII (d. 1644)
  • 1588 – Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d. 1679)
  • 1591 – Frederick Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (d. 1634)
  • 1595 – John Wilson, English composer and educator (d. 1674)
  • 1604 – Charles IV (d. 1675)
  • 1616 – Frederick, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1661)
  • 1622 – Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1703)
  • 1649 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (d. 1721)
  • 1656 – Nikita Demidov, Russian industrialist (d. 1725)
  • 1664 – Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine, French noblewoman and Princess of Epinoy (d. 1748)
  • 1674 – Margravine Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg, (d. 1748)
  • 1691 – Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (d. 1768)
  • 1692 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (d. 1730)
  • 1719 – Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish field marshal and politician, Lord Marshal of Sweden (d. 1794)
  • 1726 – Benjamin Harrison V, American politician, planter and merchant (d. 1791)
  • 1727 – Pasquale Anfossi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1797)
  • 1729 – Frederick Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1809)
  • 1730 – Jean Baptiste Seroux d’Agincourt, French archaeologist and historian (d. 1814)
  • 1732 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French painter and etcher (d. 1806)
  • 1735 – Franziskus Herzan von Harras, Czech Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1804)
  • 1739 – Philemon Dickinson, American lawyer and politician (d. 1809)
  • 1752 – Sébastien Érard, French instrument maker (d. 1831)
  • 1761 – Sybil Ludington, American heroine of the American Revolutionary War (d. 1839)
  • 1769 – Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1839)
  • 1773 – José María Coppinger, governor of Spanish East Florida (d. 1844)
  • 1773 – Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, (d. 1839)
  • 1777 – Marie Jules César Savigny, French zoologist (d. 1851)
  • 1782 – Wincenty Krasiński, Polish nobleman (d. 1858)
  • 1784 – Louis Spohr, German violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1859)
  • 1788 – Franz Pforr, German painter (d. 1812)
  • 1793 – Casimir Delavigne, French poet and dramatist (d. 1843)
  • 1793 – Felix de Muelenaere, Belgian politician (d. 1862)
  • 1795 – Henry Havelock, British general (d. 1857)
  • 1799 – Jacques Denys Choisy, Swiss clergyman and botanist (d. 1859)
  • 1801 – Félix Dujardin, French biologist (d. 1860)
  • 1801 – Vincenzo Gioberti, Italian philosopher, publicist and politician (d. 1852)
  • 1804 – Matthias Jakob Schleiden, German botanist (d. 1881)
  • 1809 – Karl Felix Halm, German scholar and critic (d. 1882)
  • 1810 – Sir Henry Rawlinson, British East India Company army officer and politician (d. 1895)
  • 1811 – Jules Dupré, French painter (d. 1889)
  • 1814 – Felix Lichnowsky, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1848)
  • 1822 – Émile Louis Victor de Laveleye, Belgian economist (d. 1892)
  • 1827 – Joseph Lister, English surgeon and academic (d. 1912)
  • 1832 – Jules Ferry, French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (d. 1893)
  • 1834 – Prentice Mulford, American humorist and author (d. 1891)
  • 1834 – Wilhelm Olbers Focke, German medical doctor and botanist (d. 1922)
  • 1834 – Frank R. Stockton, American writer and humorist (d. 1902)
  • 1835 – Vítězslav Hálek, Czech poet, writer, journalist, dramatist and theatre critic. (d. 1874)
  • 1837 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic (d. 1909)
  • 1839 – Robert Smalls, African-American ship’s pilot, sea captain, and politician (d. 1915)
  • 1840 – Ghazaros Aghayan, Armenian historian and linguist (d. 1911)
  • 1842 – Hans Hildebrand, Swedish archaeologist (d. 1913)
  • 1845 – Friedrich Sigmund Merkel, German anatomist and histopathologist (d. 1919)
  • 1845 – Jules Cambon, French diplomat (d. 1935)
  • 1846 – Sigmund Exner, Austrian physiologist (d. 1926)
  • 1846 – Henry Wellesley, British peer and politician (d. 1900)
  • 1848 – Thure de Thulstrup, American illustrator (d. 1930)
  • 1848 – Ulrich Wille, Swiss army general (d. 1925)
  • 1850 – Enrico Mazzanti, Italian engineer and cartoonist (d. 1910)
  • 1852 – Émile Billard, French sailor (d. 1930)
  • 1852 – Walter W. Winans, American marksman and sculptor (d. 1920)
  • 1852 – Franz Eckert, German composer and musician (d. 1916)
  • 1856 – Booker T. Washington, African-American educator, essayist and historian (d. 1915)
  • 1857 – Alexander of Battenberg (d. 1893)
  • 1858 – Washington Atlee Burpee, Canadian businessman, founded Burpee Seeds (d. 1915)
  • 1859 – Reinhold Seeberg, German theologian (d. 1935)
  • 1860 – Harry S. Barlow, British tennis player (d. 1917)
  • 1862 – Louis Ganne, French conductor (d. 1923)
  • 1862 – Leo Stern, English cellist (d. 1904)
  • 1863 – Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1950)
  • 1867 – Ernest Lewis, British tennis player (d. 1930)
  • 1869 – Sergey Chaplygin, Russian physicist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 1942)
  • 1869 – Albert Roussel, French composer (d. 1937)
  • 1870 – Motobu Chōki, Japanese karateka (d. 1944)
  • 1871 – Stanisław Grabski, Polish economist and politician (d. 1949)
  • 1872 – Samuel Cate Prescott, American microbiologist and chemist (d. 1962)
  • 1873 – Joseph Rheden, Austrian astronomer (d. 1946)
  • 1874 – Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, French Cardinal of the Catholic Church (d. 1949)
  • 1874 – Manuel María Ponce Brousset, President of Peru (d. 1966)
  • 1878 – Albert Champion, French cyclist (d. 1927)
  • 1878 – Georg Misch, German philosopher (d. 1965)
  • 1878 – Paul Weinstein, German high jumper (d. 1964)
  • 1879 – Arthur Berriedale Keith, Scottish lawyer (d. 1944)
  • 1879 – Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien, German naval officer and author (d. 1956)
  • 1880 – Eric Carlberg, Swedish Army officer, diplomat, shooter, fencer and modern pentathlete (d. 1963)
  • 1880 – Vilhelm Carlberg, Swedish Army officer and shooter (d. 1970)
  • 1882 – Song Jiaoren, Chinese revolutionary (d. 1913)
  • 1882 – Natalia Sedova, 2nd wife of Leon Trotsky (d. 1962)
  • 1883 – Walter Huston, Canadian-American actor and singer (d. 1950)
  • 1884 – Ion Inculeț, Bessarabian academic and politician, President of Moldova (d. 1940)
  • 1885 – Dimitrie Cuclin, Romanian composer (d. 1978)
  • 1886 – Gotthelf Bergsträsser, German linguist (d. 1933)
  • 1886 – Frederick Lindemann, British physicist (d. 1957)
  • 1886 – Gustavo Jiménez, Peruvian colonel and politician, 73rd President of Peru (d. 1933)
  • 1887 – William Cowhig, British gymnast (d. 1964)
  • 1889 – Vicente Ferreira Pastinha, Brazilian martial artist (d. 1981)
  • 1890 – Karl Kirk, Danish gymnast (d. 1955)
  • 1890 – William Moore, British track and field athlete (d. 1956)
  • 1891 – Arnold Jackson, English runner, soldier, and lawyer (d. 1972)
  • 1891 – Laura Vicuña, Chilean nun (d. 1904)
  • 1892 – Raymond Bonney, American ice hockey player (d. 1964)
  • 1893 – Frithjof Andersen, Norwegian wrestler (d. 1975)
  • 1893 – Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (d. 1973)
  • 1894 – Lawrence Dale Bell, American industrialist and founder of Bell Aircraft Corporation (d. 1956)
  • 1894 – Hans Hüttig, German SS officer (d. 1980)
  • 1894 – Carl Rudolf Florin, Swedish botanist (d. 1965)
  • 1895 – Mike O’Dowd, American boxer (d. 1957)
  • 1896 – Einar Lundborg, Swedish aviator (d. 1931)
  • 1897 – Hans Schuberth, German politician (d. 1976)
  • 1899 – Alfred Blalock, American surgeon and academic (d. 1964)
  • 1900 – Herbert Bayer, Austrian-American graphic designer, painter, and photographer (d. 1985)
  • 1900 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrestler (d. 1928)
  • 1900 – Spencer Tracy, American actor (d. 1967)
  • 1901 – Curt Bois, German actor (d. 1991)
  • 1901 – Chester Bowles, American diplomat and ambassador (d. 1986)
  • 1901 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (d. 1981)
  • 1901 – Doggie Julian, American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach (d. 1967)
  • 1902 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Russian-American rabbi (d. 1994)
  • 1903 – Marion Aye, American actress (d. 1951)
  • 1904 – Richard Eberhart, American poet and academic (d. 2005)
  • 1906 – Albert Charles Smith, American botanist (d. 1999)
  • 1906 – Fernando Germani, Italian organist (d. 1998)
  • 1906 – Ted Morgan, New Zealand boxer (d. 1952)
  • 1907 – Sanya Dharmasakti, Thai jurist (d. 2002)
  • 1908 – Bette Davis, American actress (d. 1989)
  • 1908 – Kurt Neumann, German director (d. 1958)
  • 1908 – Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1986)
  • 1908 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor and manager (d. 1989)
  • 1909 – Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer, co-founded Eon Productions (d. 1996)
  • 1909 – Giacomo Gentilomo, Italian film director and painter (d. 2001)
  • 1909 – Károly Sós, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1991)
  • 1909 – Erwin Wegner, German hurdler (d. 1945)
  • 1910 – Sven Andersson, Swedish politician (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – Oronzo Pugliese, Italian football manager (d. 1990)
  • 1911 – Hedi Amara Nouira, Tunisian politician (d. 1993)
  • 1911 – Johnny Revolta, American golfer (d. 1991)
  • 1912 – Jehan Buhan, French fencer (d. 1999)
  • 1912 – Habib Elghanian, Iranian businessman (d. 1979)
  • 1912 – Antonio Ferri, Italian scientist (d. 1975)
  • 1912 – Carlos Guastavino, Argentine composer (d. 2000)
  • 1912 – Makar Honcharenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 1997)
  • 1912 – John Le Mesurier, English actor (d. 1983)
  • 1912 – István Örkény, Hungarian author and playwright (d. 1979)
  • 1912 – Bill Roberts, English sprinter and soldier (d. 2001)
  • 1913 – Antoni Clavé, Catalan artist (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Nicolas Grunitzky, 2nd President of Togo (d. 1969)
  • 1913 – Ruth Smith, Faroese artist (d. 1958)
  • 1914 – Felice Borel, Italian footballer (d. 1993)
  • 1916 – Gregory Peck, American actor, political activist, and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1917 – Robert Bloch, American author (d. 1994)
  • 1917 – Frans Gommers, Belgian footballer (d. 1996)
  • 1919 – Lester James Peries, Sri Lankan director, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2018)
  • 1920 – Barend Biesheuvel, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2001)
  • 1920 – Arthur Hailey, English-Canadian soldier and author (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Alfonso Thiele, Turkish-Italian race car driver (d. 1986)
  • 1920 – John Willem Gran, Swedish bishop (d. 2008)
  • 1921 – Christopher Hewett, English actor and theatre director (d. 2001)
  • 1922 – Tom Finney, English footballer (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Harry Freedman, Polish-Canadian horn player, composer, and educator (d. 2005)
  • 1922 – Andy Linden, American race car driver (d. 1987)
  • 1922 – Gale Storm, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
  • 1923 – Ernest Mandel, German-born Belgian Marxist economist, Trotskyist activist and theorist (d. 1995)
  • 1923 – Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (d. 1995)
  • 1923 – Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, Vietnamese general and politician, 5th President of South Vietnam (d. 2001)
  • 1924 – Igor Borisov, Soviet rower (d. before 2005)
  • 1925 – Janet Rowley, American human geneticist (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Pierre Nihant, Belgian cyclist (d. 1993)
  • 1926 – Roger Corman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1926 – Liang Yusheng, Chinese writer (d. 2009)
  • 1927 – Thanin Kraivichien, Thai lawyer and politician
  • 1927 – Arne Hoel, Norwegian ski jumper (d. 2006)
  • 1928 – Enzo Cannavale, Italian actor (d. 2011)
  • 1928 – Tony Williams, American singer (d. 1992)
  • 1929 – Hugo Claus, Belgian author, poet, and painter (d. 2008)
  • 1929 – Ivar Giaever, Norwegian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1929 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor and producer (d. 2001)
  • 1929 – Joe Meek, English songwriter and producer (d. 1967)
  • 1929 – Mahmoud Mollaghasemi, Iranian wrestler
  • 1930 – Mary Costa, American singer and actress
  • 1930 – Pierre Lhomme, French director of photography (d. 2019)
  • 1931 – Jack Clement, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Héctor Olivera, Argentine director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1933 – Feridun Buğeker, Turkish footballer (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1933 – Barbara Holland, American author (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – K. Kailasapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and academic (d. 1982)
  • 1934 – John Carey, English author and critic
  • 1934 – Roman Herzog, German lawyer and politician, 7th President of Germany (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Moise Safra, Brazilian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Banco Safra (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Stanley Turrentine, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2000)
  • 1935 – Giovanni Cianfriglia, Italian actor
  • 1935 – Peter Grant, English talent manager (d. 1995)
  • 1935 – Donald Lynden-Bell, English astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 2018)
  • 1935 – Frank Schepke, German rower (d. 2017)
  • 1936 – Ronnie Bucknum, American race car driver (d. 1992)
  • 1936 – Glenn Jordan, American director and producer
  • 1936 – Dragoljub Minić, Yugoslavian chess Grandmaster (d. 2005)
  • 1937 – Joseph Lelyveld, American journalist and author
  • 1937 – Jean-Pierre Petit, French scientist
  • 1937 – Colin Powell, American general and politician, 65th United States Secretary of State
  • 1937 – Andrzej Schinzel, Polish mathematician
  • 1937 – Arie Selinger, Israeli volleyball player and manager
  • 1937 – Juan Vicente Lezcano, Paraguayan footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1938 – Colin Bland, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – Mal Colston, Australian educator and politician (d. 2003)
  • 1938 – Nancy Holt, American sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
  • 1938 – Natalya Kustinskaya, Soviet actress (d. 2012)
  • 1939 – Leka I, Crown Prince of Albania (d. 2011)
  • 1939 – Crispian St. Peters, English singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1939 – Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas, Prime Minister of Yemen
  • 1939 – Ronald White, American singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
  • 1939 – David Winters, English-American actor, choreographer and producer (d. 2019)
  • 1940 – Tommy Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1940 – Gilles Proulx, Canadian journalist, historian, and radio host
  • 1941 – Michael Moriarty, American-Canadian actor
  • 1941 – Dave Swarbrick, English singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 2016)
  • 1942 – Allan Clarke, English singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – Pascal Couchepin, Swiss politician
  • 1942 – Juan Gisbert Sr., Spanish tennis player
  • 1942 – Peter Greenaway, Welsh director and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Dean Brown, Australian politician, 41st Premier of South Australia
  • 1943 – Max Gail, American actor and director
  • 1943 – Fighting Harada, Japanese boxer
  • 1943 – Miet Smet, Belgian politician
  • 1943 – Jean-Louis Tauran, French cardinal (d. 2018)
  • 1944 – Willeke van Ammelrooy, Dutch actress and director
  • 1944 – János Martonyi, Hungarian politician
  • 1944 – Evan Parker, British musician
  • 1944 – Douangchay Phichit, Laotian politician (d. 2014)
  • 1944 – Willy Planckaert, Belgian cyclist
  • 1944 – Pedro Rosselló, Puerto Rican physician and politician, 7th Governor of Puerto Rico
  • 1944 – Peter T. King, American soldier, lawyer, and politician
  • 1945 – Ove Bengtson, Swedish tennis player
  • 1945 – Steve Carver, American director and producer
  • 1945 – Cem Karaca, Turkish musician (d. 2004)
  • 1945 – Tommy Smith, English footballer (d. 2019)
  • 1946 – Jane Asher, English actress
  • 1946 – Julio Ángel Fernández, Uruguayan astronomer
  • 1946 – Björn Granath, Swedish actor (d. 2017)
  • 1946 – Georgi Markov, Bulgarian Greco-Roman wrestler
  • 1947 – Đurđica Bjedov, Yugoslav swimmer
  • 1947 – Willy Chirino, Cuban-American musician
  • 1947 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Filipino academic and politician, 14th President of the Philippines
  • 1947 – Ramón Mifflin, Peruvian footballer
  • 1947 – Virendra Sharma, Indian-English lawyer and politician
  • 1948 – Pierre-Albert Chapuisat, Swiss footballer
  • 1948 – Dave Holland, English drummer (d. 2018)
  • 1948 – Roy McFarland, English footballer and manager
  • 1949 – Stanley Dziedzic, American wrestler
  • 1949 – Larry Franco, American film producer
  • 1949 – Judith Resnik, Ukrainian-American engineer and astronaut (d. 1986)
  • 1950 – Ann C. Crispin, American writer (d. 2013)
  • 1950 – Franklin Chang Díaz, Costa Rican-Chinese American astronaut and physicist
  • 1950 – Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1950 – Toshiko Fujita, Japanese actress, singer and narrator (d. 2018)
  • 1950 – Miki Manojlović, Serbian actor
  • 1951 – Les Binks, Irish drummer and songwriter
  • 1951 – Yevgeniy Gavrilenko, Belarusian hurdler
  • 1951 – Nedim Gürsel, Turkish writer
  • 1951 – Dean Kamen, American inventor and businessman, founded Segway Inc.
  • 1951 – Dave McArtney, New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
  • 1951 – Ubol Ratana, Thai Princess
  • 1952 – Alfie Conn, Scottish international footballer, midfielder
  • 1952 – John C. Dvorak, American author and editor
  • 1952 – Sandy Mayer, American tennis player
  • 1952 – Dennis Mortimer, English footballer
  • 1952 – Mitch Pileggi, American actor
  • 1953 – Frank Gaffney, American journalist and radio host
  • 1953 – Keiko Han, Japanese actress
  • 1953 – Tae Jin-ah, South Korean singer
  • 1953 – Raleb Majadele, Israeli politician
  • 1953 – Ian Swales, English accountant and politician
  • 1954 – Guy Bertrand, Canadian linguist and radio host
  • 1954 – Peter Case, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – Mohamed Ben Mouza, Tunisian footballer
  • 1954 – Stan Ridgway, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – Yoshiichi Watanabe, Japanese footballer
  • 1955 – Charlotte de Turckheim, French actress, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Ricardo Ferrero, Argentine footballer (d. 2015)
  • 1955 – Christian Gourcuff, French footballer and manager
  • 1955 – Anthony Horowitz, English author and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Bernard Longley, English prelate
  • 1955 – Akira Toriyama, Japanese illustrator
  • 1955 – Takayoshi Yamano, Japanese footballer
  • 1956 – Diamond Dallas Page, American wrestler and actor
  • 1956 – Leonid Fedun, Russian businessman
  • 1956 – Reid Ribble, American politician
  • 1957 – Sebastian Adayanthrath, Indian bishop
  • 1957 – Karin Roßley, German hurdler
  • 1958 – Henrik Dettmann, Finnish basketball coach
  • 1958 – Ryoichi Kawakatsu, Japanese footballer
  • 1958 – Johan Kriek, South African-American tennis player
  • 1958 – Daniel Schneidermann, French journalist
  • 1958 – Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan lawyer and journalist (d. 2009)
  • 1959 – Paul Chung, Hong Kong actor and host (d. 1989)
  • 1960 – Asteris Koutoulas, Romanian-German record producer, manager, and author
  • 1960 – Larry McCray, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1960 – Ian Redford, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1960 – Hiromi Taniguchi, Japanese long-distance runner
  • 1960 – Adnan Terzić, Bosnian politician
  • 1961 – Andrea Arnold, English filmmaker and actress
  • 1961 – Anna Caterina Antonacci, Italian soprano
  • 1961 – Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Bahraini-Danish human rights activist
  • 1961 – Lisa Zane, American actress and singer
  • 1962 – Lana Clarkson, American actress and model (d. 2003)
  • 1962 – Sara Danius, Swedish scholar of literature and aesthetics
  • 1962 – Richard Gough, Swedish born Scottish international footballer
  • 1962 – Arild Monsen, Norwegian cross-country skier
  • 1962 – Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Russian businessman and politician, 1st President of Kalmykia
  • 1963 – Arthur Adams, American comic book artist and writer
  • 1964 – Neil Eckersley, British judoka
  • 1964 – Vakhtang Iagorashvili, Soviet modern pentathlete
  • 1964 – Levon Julfalakyan, Soviet Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler
  • 1964 – Marius Lăcătuș, Romanian footballer and coach
  • 1965 – Aykut Kocaman, Turkish footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Lang Tzu-yun, Taiwanese actress
  • 1965 – Elizabeth McIntyre, American freestyle skier
  • 1965 – Svetlana Paramygina, Belarusian biathlete
  • 1966 – Yoon Hyun, South Korean judoka
  • 1966 – Mike McCready, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1967 – Troy Gentry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
  • 1967 – Franck Silvestre, French footballer
  • 1967 – Erland Johnsen, Norwegian footballer
  • 1967 – Laima Zilporytė, Soviet cyclist
  • 1968 – Paula Cole, American singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1969 – Dinos Angelidis, Greek basketball player
  • 1969 – Viatcheslav Djavanian, Russian cyclist
  • 1969 – Pontus Kåmark, Swedish footballer
  • 1969 – Pavlo Khnykin, Ukrainian swimmer
  • 1969 – Tomislav Piplica, Bosnian footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Ravindra Prabhat, Indian writer and journalist
  • 1970 – Soheil Ayari, French race car driver
  • 1970 – Valérie Bonneton, French actress
  • 1970 – Diamond D, American hip hop producer
  • 1970 – Petar Genov, Bulgarian chess grandmaster
  • 1970 – Thea Gill, Canadian actress
  • 1970 – Miho Hatori, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1970 – Irina Timofeyeva, Russian long-distance runner
  • 1971 – Dong Abay, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – Austin Berry, Costa Rican footballer
  • 1971 – Simona Cavallari, Italian actress
  • 1971 – Victoria Hamilton, English actress
  • 1971 – Nelson Parraguez, Chilean footballer
  • 1971 – Kim Soo-nyung, South Korean archer
  • 1972 – Krista Allen, American actress
  • 1972 – Nima Arkani-Hamed, American-Canadian theoretical physicist
  • 1972 – Tom Coronel, Dutch race car driver
  • 1972 – Paul Okon, Australian footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Yasuhiro Takemoto, Japanese animator and director (d. 2019)
  • 1972 – Junko Takeuchi, Japanese actress
  • 1973 – Élodie Bouchez, French-American actress
  • 1973 – Lidia Trettel, Italian snowboarder
  • 1973 – Pharrell Williams, American singer, songwriter and rapper
  • 1974 – Sandra Bagarić, Croatian opera singer and actress
  • 1974 – Julien Boutter, French tennis player
  • 1974 – Katja Holanti, Finnish biathlete
  • 1974 – Oleg Khodkov, Russian handball player
  • 1974 – Ariel López, Argentine footballer
  • 1974 – Lukas Ridgeston, Slovak actor and director
  • 1974 – Vyacheslav Voronin, Russian high jumper
  • 1975 – Sarah Baldock, English organist and conductor
  • 1975 – John Hartson, Welsh footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Juicy J, American rapper and producer
  • 1975 – Serhiy Klymentiev, Ukrainian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Caitlin Moran, English journalist, author, and critic
  • 1975 – Marcos Vales, Spanish footballer
  • 1975 – Shammond Williams, American basketball player and coach
  • 1976 – Luis de Agustini, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1976 – Péter Biros, Hungarian water polo player
  • 1976 – Sterling K. Brown, American actor
  • 1976 – Aleksei Budõlin, Estonian judoka
  • 1976 – Simone Inzaghi, Italian footballer
  • 1976 – Fernando Morientes, Spanish footballer and coach
  • 1976 – Natascha Ragosina, Russian boxer
  • 1976 – Henrik Stenson, Swedish golfer
  • 1976 – Valeria Straneo, Italian long-distance runner
  • 1976 – Indrek Tobreluts, Estonian biathlete
  • 1976 – Anouska van der Zee, Dutch cyclist
  • 1977 – Jonathan Erlich, Israeli tennis player
  • 1977 – Trevor Letowski, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1977 – Daniel Majstorović, Swedish footballer
  • 1978 – Dwain Chambers, British track sprinter
  • 1978 – Marcone Amaral Costa, Qatari footballer
  • 1978 – Tarek El-Said, Egyptian footballer
  • 1978 – Jairo Patiño, Colombian footballer
  • 1978 – Sohyang, South Korean singer
  • 1978 – Stephen Jackson, American basketball player
  • 1978 – Arnaud Tournant, French cyclist
  • 1978 – Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
  • 1978 – Günther Weidlinger, Austrian long-distance runner
  • 1979 – Vlada Avramov, Serbian footballer
  • 1979 – Josh Boone, American screenwriter and director
  • 1979 – Song Dae-nam, South Korean judoka
  • 1979 – Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
  • 1979 – Imany, French singer
  • 1979 – Barel Mouko, Congolese footballer
  • 1979 – Cesare Natali, Italian footballer
  • 1979 – Mitsuo Ogasawara, Japanese footballer
  • 1979 – Alexander Resch, German luger
  • 1979 – Andrius Velička, Lithuanian footballer
  • 1979 – Dante Wesley, American football player
  • 1979 – Chen Yanqing, Chinese weightlifter
  • 1980 – Matt Bonner, American basketball player
  • 1980 – Alberta Brianti, Italian tennis player
  • 1980 – Rafael Cavalcante, Brazilian mixed martial artist
  • 1980 – David Chocarro, Argentinian baseball player and actor
  • 1980 – Mike Glumac, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Mario Kasun, Croatian basketball player
  • 1980 – Lee Jae-won, South Korean DJ and singer
  • 1980 – Joris Mathijsen, Dutch footballer
  • 1980 – Rasmus Quist Hansen, Danish rower
  • 1980 – Odlanier Solís, Cuban boxer
  • 1981 – Matthew Emmons, American rifle shooter
  • 1981 – Michael A. Monsoor, American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
  • 1981 – Mariqueen Maandig, Filipino-American musician and singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Daba Modibo Keïta, Malian taekwondo athlete
  • 1981 – Marissa Nadler, American musician
  • 1981 – Tom Riley, English actor and producer
  • 1981 – Mompati Thuma, Botswana footballer
  • 1981 – Pieter Weening, Dutch cyclist
  • 1982 – Hayley Atwell, English-American actress
  • 1982 – Matheus Coradini Vivian, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Thomas Hitzlsperger, German footballer
  • 1982 – Kelly Pavlik, American boxer
  • 1982 – Matt Pickens, American soccer player
  • 1982 – Alexandre Prémat, French race car driver
  • 1982 – Danylo Sapunov, Ukrainian-Kazakhstani triathlete
  • 1982 – Hubert Schwab, Swiss cyclist
  • 1982 – Marcel Seip, Dutch former footballer
  • 1983 – Jaime Castrillón, Colombian footballer
  • 1983 – Jorge Andrés Martínez, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1983 – Brock Radunske, Canadian-South Korean ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Yohann Sangaré, French basketball player
  • 1983 – Cécile Storti, French cross-country skier
  • 1983 – Shikha Uberoi, Indian-American tennis player
  • 1984 – Marshall Allman, American actor
  • 1984 – Aram Mp3, Armenian singer and comedian
  • 1984 – Rune Brattsveen, Norwegian biathlete
  • 1984 – Alexei Glukhov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Maartje Goderie, Dutch field hockey player
  • 1984 – Darija Jurak, Croatian tennis player
  • 1984 – Dejan Kelhar, Slovenian footballer
  • 1984 – Dmitry Kozonchuk, Russian cyclist
  • 1984 – Shin Min-a, South Korean actress
  • 1984 – Jess Sum, Hong Kong actress
  • 1984 – Peter Penz, Austrian luger
  • 1984 – Samuele Preisig, Swiss footballer
  • 1984 – Cristian Săpunaru, Romanian footballer
  • 1984 – Fabio Vitaioli, San Marinese footballer
  • 1984 – Kisho Yano, Japanese footballer
  • 1984 – Saba Qamar, Pakistani actress-model
  • 1985 – Daniel Congré, French footballer
  • 1985 – Erwin l’Ami, Dutch chess player
  • 1985 – Jolanda Keizer, Dutch heptathlete
  • 1985 – Sergey Khachatryan, Armenian violinist
  • 1985 – Linas Pilibaitis, Lithuanian footballer
  • 1985 – Jan Smeets, Dutch chess grandmaster
  • 1985 – Kristof Vandewalle, Belgian cyclist
  • 1986 – Anna Sophia Berglund, American model and actress
  • 1986 – Anzor Boltukayev, Chechen wrestler
  • 1986 – Diego Chará, Colombian footballer
  • 1986 – Charlotte Flair, American wrestler, author and actress
  • 1986 – Róbert Kasza, Hungarian Modern pentathlete
  • 1986 – Eetu Muinonen, Finnish footballer
  • 1986 – Manuel Ruz, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Albert Selimov, Azerbaijani boxer
  • 1987 – Max Grün, German footballer
  • 1987 – Balázs Hárai, Hungarian water polo player
  • 1987 – Anton Kokorin, Russian sprint athlete
  • 1987 – Fyodor Kudryashov, Russian footballer
  • 1987 – Etiënne Reijnen, Dutch footballer
  • 1988 – Gerson Acevedo, Chilean footballer
  • 1988 – Teresa Almeida, Angolan handball player
  • 1988 – Quade Cooper, New Zealand rugby player and boxer
  • 1988 – Jonathan Davies, Welsh rugby union player
  • 1988 – Gevorg Ghazaryan, Armenian footballer
  • 1988 – Alisha Glass, American ex-indoor volleyball player
  • 1988 – Vurğun Hüseynov, Azerbaijani footballer
  • 1988 – Matthias Jaissle, German footballer and manager
  • 1988 – Jon Kwang-ik, North Korean footballer
  • 1988 – Christopher Papamichalopoulos, Cypriot skier
  • 1988 – Zack Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Pape Sy, French basketball player
  • 1988 – Alexey Volkov, Russian biathlete
  • 1989 – Kader Amadou, Nigerien footballer
  • 1989 – Yémi Apithy, Beninese fencer
  • 1989 – Liemarvin Bonevacia, Dutch sprinter
  • 1989 – Freddie Fox, English actor
  • 1989 – Emre Güral, Turkish footballer
  • 1989 – Justin Holiday, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Rachel Homan, Canadian curler
  • 1989 – Lily James, English actress
  • 1989 – Trevor Marsicano, American speed skater
  • 1989 – Jonathan Rossini, Swiss footballer
  • 1989 – Kiki Sukezane, Japanese actress
  • 1989 – Sosuke Takatani, Japanese wrestler
  • 1990 – Alex Cuthbert, Welsh rugby player
  • 1990 – Amer Said Al-Shatri, Omani footballer
  • 1990 – Fredy Hinestroza, Colombian footballer
  • 1990 – Chen Huijia, Chinese swimmer
  • 1990 – Haruma Miura, Japanese actor and singer
  • 1990 – Ismaeel Mohammad, Qatari footballer
  • 1990 – Iryna Pamialova, Belarusian canoeist
  • 1990 – Jakub Sedláček, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Sercan Yıldırım, Turkish footballer
  • 1990 – Género Zeefuik, Dutch footballer
  • 1991 – Yassine Bounou, Moroccan footballer
  • 1991 – Nathaniel Clyne, English footballer
  • 1991 – Adriano Grimaldi, Italian-German footballer
  • 1991 – Joël Mall, Swiss footballer
  • 1991 – Guilherme dos Santos Torres, Brazilian footballer
  • 1992 – Emmalyn Estrada, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1992 – Shintaro Kurumaya, Japanese footballer
  • 1992 – Kaveh Rezaei, Iranian footballer
  • 1992 – Dmytro Ryzhuk, Ukrainian footballer
  • 1993 – Andreas Bouchalakis, Greek footballer
  • 1993 – Maya DiRado, American swimmer
  • 1993 – Laura Feiersinger, Austrian footballer
  • 1993 – Scottie Wilbekin, American-born naturalized Turkish basketball player
  • 1994 – Mateusz Bieniek, Polish volleyball player
  • 1994 – Edem Rjaïbi, Tunisian footballer
  • 1994 – Richard Sánchez, Mexican footballer
  • 1995 – Viliame Kikau, Fijian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Sei Muroya, Japanese footballer
  • 1995 – Gleb Rassadkin, Belarusian footballer
  • 1995 – Sebastian Starke Hedlund, Swedish footballer
  • 1996 – Nicolas Beer, Danish race car driver
  • 1996 – Raouf Benguit, Algerian footballer
  • 1997 – Borja Mayoral, Spanish footballer
  • 1998 – Jeremy Olson
  • 1999 – Andrea Buwalda
  • 2000 – Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Indian actor
  • 2001 – Thylane Blondeau, French model and actress

Deaths on April 5

  • 517 – Timothy I, Byzantine patriarch
  • 582 – Eutychius, Byzantine patriarch
  • 584 – Ruadán of Lorrha, Irish abbot
  • 828 – Nikephoros I, Byzantine patriarch
  • 902 – Al-Mu’tadid, Abbasid caliph
  • 1168 – Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1104)
  • 1183 – Ramon Berenguer III, Spanish count of Cerdanya and Provence
  • 1205 – Isabella I of Jerusalem, queen regent of Jerusalem (b. 1172)
  • 1258 – Juliana of Liège, Belgian canoness and saint
  • 1308 – Ivan Kőszegi, Hungarian baron and oligarch
  • 1325 – Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron of Monthermer and Earl of Gloucester (b. c.1270)
  • 1419 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1350)
  • 1431 – Bernard I, margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1364)
  • 1512 – Lazzaro Bastiani, Italian painter (b. 1429)
  • 1534 – Jan Matthys, Dutch anabaptist reformer
  • 1594 – Catherine of Palma, Spanish nun (b. 1533)
  • 1617 – Alonso Lobo, Spanish composer (b. 1555)
  • 1626 – Anna Koltovskaya, Russian tsarina
  • 1673 – François Caron, Belgian-French explorer and politician, 8th Governor of Formosa (b. 1600)
  • 1674 – George Frederick, prince of Nassau-Siegen (b. 1606)
  • 1679 – Anne Geneviève de Bourbon, French princess (b. 1619)
  • 1684 – William Brouncker, English mathematician (b. 1620)
  • 1684 – Karl Eusebius, prince of Liechtenstein (b. 1611)
  • 1693 – Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, French noblewoman (b. 1627)
  • 1693 – Philip William August, German nobleman (b. 1668)
  • 1695 – George Savile, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1633)
  • 1697 – Charles XI, king of Sweden (b. 1655)
  • 1704 – Christian Ulrich I, German nobleman and Duke of Württemberg-Oels (b. 1652)
  • 1708 – Christian Heinrich, German prince and member of the House of Hohenzollern (b. 1661)
  • 1709 – Roger de Piles, French painter, engraver, art critic and diplomat (b. 1635)
  • 1712 – Jan Luyken, Dutch poet, illustrator and engraver (b. 1649)
  • 1717 – Jean Jouvenet, French painter (b. 1647)
  • 1723 – Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Austrian architect, sculptor and historian (b. 1656)
  • 1735 – William Derham, English minister and philosopher (b. 1657)
  • 1751 – Frederick I, prince consort and king of Sweden (b. 1676)
  • 1765 – Edward Young, English poet and author (b. 1683)
  • 1767 – Princess Charlotte Wilhelmine of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, German princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1685)
  • 1768 – Egidio Forcellini, Italian philologist (b. 1688)
  • 1769 – Marc-Antoine Laugier, Jesuit priest (b. 1713)
  • 1794 – Georges Danton, French lawyer and politician, French Minister of Justice (b. 1759)
  • 1794 – François Chabot, French politician (b. 1756)
  • 1794 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1760)
  • 1794 – Fabre d’Églantine, French actor, dramatist, poet and politician (b. 1750)
  • 1794 – Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles, French judge and politician (b. 1759)
  • 1794 – Pierre Philippeaux, French lawyer (b. 1754)
  • 1794 – François Joseph Westermann, French general (b. 1751)
  • 1799 – Johann Christoph Gatterer, German historian (b. 1727)
  • 1804 – Jean-Charles Pichegru, French general (b. 1761)
  • 1808 – Johann Georg Wille, German engraver (b. 1715)
  • 1830 – Richard Chenevix, Irish chemist and playwright (b. 1774)
  • 1831 – Pierre Léonard Vander Linden, Belgian entomologist (b. 1797)
  • 1842 – Shah Shujah Durrani, 5th Emir of Afghanistan (b. 1785)
  • 1852 – Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, (b. 1800)
  • 1861 – Ferdinand Joachimsthal, German mathematician (b. 1818)
  • 1862 – Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Dutch artist (b. 1803)
  • 1865 – Manfredo Fanti, Italian general (b. 1806)
  • 1866 – Thomas Hodgkin, British physician (b. 1798)
  • 1868 – Karel Purkyně, Czech painter (b. 1834)
  • 1871 – Paolo Savi, Italian geologist and ornithologist (b. 1798)
  • 1872 – Paul-Auguste-Ernest Laugier, French astronomer (b. 1812)
  • 1873 – Milivoje Blaznavac, Serbian soldier and politician (b. 1824)
  • 1882 – Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play, (b. 1806)
  • 1888 – Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
  • 1891 – Johann Hermann Bauer, (b. 1861)
  • 1900 – Joseph Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (b. 1822)
  • 1900 – Osman Nuri Pasha, Ottoman field marshal and the hero of the Siege of Plevna in 1877 (b. 1832)
  • 1901 – Angelo Messedaglia, Italian social scientist and statistician (b. 1820)
  • 1902 – Hans Ernst August Buchner, German bacteriologist (b. 1850)
  • 1904 – Ernst Leopold, 4th Prince of Leiningen (b. 1830)
  • 1904 – Frances Power Cobbe, Irish writer (b. 1822)
  • 1906 – Eastman Johnson, American painter (b. 1824)
  • 1914 – Bernard Borggreve, German forestry scientist (b. 1836)
  • 1916 – Maksim Kovalevsky, Russian sociologist (b. 1851)
  • 1918 – George Tupou II, King of Tonga (b. 1874)
  • 1918 – Paul Vidal de La Blache, French geographer (b. 1845)
  • 1920 – Laurent Marqueste, French sculptor (b. 1848)
  • 1921 – Alphons Diepenbrock, Dutch composer (b. 1862)
  • 1921 – Sophie Elkan, Swedish-Jewish writer and translator (b. 1853)
  • 1923 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English archaeologist and businessman (b. 1866)
  • 1924 – Victor Hensen, German zoologist (b. 1835)
  • 1928 – Roy Kilner, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1890)
  • 1928 – Viktor Oliva, Czech painter and illustrator (b. 1861)
  • 1929 – Francis Aidan Gasquet, English Benedictine monk (b. 1846)
  • 1929 – Ludwig von Sybel, German archeologist (b. 1846)
  • 1932 – María Blanchard, Spanish painter (b. 1881)
  • 1933 – Earl Derr Biggers, American novelist and playwright (b. 1884)
  • 1933 – Hjalmar Mellin, Finnish mathematician and functional theorist (b. 1854)
  • 1934 – Salvatore Di Giacomo, Italian poet, playwright, songwriter and fascist intellectual (b. 1860)
  • 1934 – Jiro Sato, Japanese tennis player (b. 1908)
  • 1935 – Achille Locatelli, Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1856)
  • 1935 – Emil Młynarski, Polish conductor, violinist, composer, and pedagogue (b. 1870)
  • 1935 – Franz von Vecsey, Hungarian violinist and composer (b. 1893)
  • 1936 – Chandler Egan, American golfer and architect (b. 1884)
  • 1937 – Gustav Adolf Deissmann, (b. 1866)
  • 1937 – José Benlliure y Gil, Spanish painter (b. 1858)
  • 1938 – Helena Westermarck, Finnish artist and writer (b. 1857)
  • 1938 – Verner Lehtimäki, Finnish revolutionary (b. 1890)
  • 1940 – Charles Freer Andrews, English-Indian priest, missionary, and educator (b. 1871)
  • 1940 – Robert Maillart, Swiss civil engineer (b. 1872)
  • 1940 – Jay O’Brien, American bobsledder (b. 1883)
  • 1940 – Song Zheyuan, Chinese general (b. 1885)
  • 1941 – Parvin E’tesami, Persian poet (b. 1907)
  • 1941 – Nigel Gresley, Scottish-English engineer (b. 1876)
  • 1941 – Franciszek Kleeberg, Polish general (b. 1888)
  • 1945 – Heinrich Borgmann, German officer (b. 1912)
  • 1945 – Karl-Otto Koch, German SS officer (b. 1897)
  • 1946 – Vincent Youmans, American composer and producer (b. 1898)
  • 1947 – Bernhard Pankok, German painter, artist and architect (b. 1872)
  • 1947 – Elis Strömgren, Swedish-Danish astronomer (b. 1870)
  • 1948 – Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, American socialite and philanthropist (b. 1874)
  • 1949 – Erich Zeigner, Prime Minister of Saxony (b. 1886)
  • 1950 – Hiroshi Yoshida, Japanese painter (b. 1876)
  • 1952 – Agnes Morton, British tennis player (b.
  • 1954 – Princess Märtha of Sweden, (b. 1901)
  • 1954 – Claude Delvincourt, French pianist and composer (b. 1888)
  • 1956 – William Titt, British gymnast (b. 1881)
  • 1958 – Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, (b. 1884)
  • 1958 – Ásgrímur Jónsson, Icelandic painter (b. 1876)
  • 1958 – Isidora Sekulić, Serbian writer (b. 1877)
  • 1961 – Nikolai Kryukov, Russian composer (b. 1908)
  • 1962 – Boo Kullberg, Swedish gymnast (b. 1889)
  • 1963 – Jacobus Oud, Dutch architect (b. 1890)
  • 1964 – James Chapin, American ornithologist (b. 1889)
  • 1964 – Aloïse Corbaz, Swiss artist (b. 1886)
  • 1964 – Douglas MacArthur, American general (b. 1880)
  • 1965 – Pedro Sernagiotto, Italian-Brazilian footballer (b. 1908)
  • 1965 – Sándor Szalay, Hungarian figure skater (b. 1893)
  • 1967 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (b. 1891)
  • 1967 – Johan Falkberget, Norwegian author (b. 1879)
  • 1967 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
  • 1967 – Herbert Johnston, British runner (b. 1902)
  • 1968 – Félix Couchoro, Togolese writer (b. 1900)
  • 1968 – Lajos Csordás, Hungarian footballer
  • 1968 – Giuseppe Paris, Italian gymnast (b. 1895)
  • 1969 – Alberto Bonucci, Italian actor and director (b. 1918)
  • 1969 – Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan novelist and politician (b. 1917)
  • 1969 – Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian SS officer (b. 1903)
  • 1970 – Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist (b. 1877)
  • 1970 – Alfred Sturtevant, American geneticist and academic (b. 1891)
  • 1970 – Karl von Spreti, German diplomat (b. 1907)
  • 1971 – José Cubiles, Spanish pianist and conductor (b. 1894)
  • 1972 – Brian Donlevy, American actor and producer (b. 1901)
  • 1973 – David Murray, British race car driver (b. 1909)
  • 1973 – Isabel Jewell, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
  • 1973 – Alla Tarasova, Russian ballerina (b. l898)
  • 1974 – Bino Bini, Italian fencer (b. 1900)
  • 1974 – A. Y. Jackson, Canadian painter (b. 1882)
  • 1975 – Tell Berna, American middle and long-distance runner (b. 1891)
  • 1975 – Victor Marijnen, Dutch politician (b. 1917)
  • 1975 – Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese general and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1887)
  • 1975 – Harold Osborn, American track and fielder (b. 1899)
  • 1976 – Howard Hughes, American pilot, engineer, and director (b. 1905)
  • 1976 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian surgeon and academic (b. 1891)
  • 1976 – Harry Wyld, British cyclist (b. 1900)
  • 1977 – Carlos Prío Socarrás, President of Cuba, (b. 1903)
  • 1977 – Yuri Zavadsky, Russian actor and director (b. 1894)
  • 1981 – Émile Hanse, Belgian footballer (b. 1892)
  • 1981 – Bob Hite, American singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
  • 1981 – Pinchus Kremegne, French artist (b. 1890)
  • 1982 – Abe Fortas, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1910)
  • 1984 – Hans Lunding, Danish military officer (b. 1899)
  • 1984 – Giuseppe Tucci, Italian scholar of oriental cultures (b. 1894)
  • 1986 – Manly Wade Wellman, American writer (b. 1903)
  • 1987 – Leabua Jonathan, 2nd Prime Minister of Lesotho (b. 1914)
  • 1988 – Alf Kjellin, Swedish actor and director (b. 1920)
  • 1989 – Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (b. 1895)
  • 1989 – Karel Zeman, Czech director, artist, production designer and animator (b. 1910)
  • 1991 – Sonny Carter, American soccer player, physician, and astronaut (b. 1947)
  • 1991 – Jay Miller, American basketball player (b. 1943)
  • 1991 – Jiří Mucha, Czech journalist, writer and screenwriter (b. 1915)
  • 1991 – William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L’Isle (b. 1909)
  • 1991 – John Tower, American soldier, academic, and politician (b. 1925)
  • 1992 – Takeshi Inoue, Japanese footballer (b. 1928)
  • 1992 – Molly Picon, American actress (b. 1898)
  • 1992 – Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam’s Club (b. 1918)
  • 1993 – Divya Bharti, Indian actress (b. 1974)
  • 1994 – Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1967)
  • 1995 – Nicolaas Cortlever, Dutch chess player (b. 1915)
  • 1995 – Emilio Greco, Italian sculptor and engraver (b. 1913)
  • 1995 – Christian Pineau, French Resistance fighter (b. 1904)
  • 1996 – Charlene Holt, American actress (b. 1928)
  • 1997 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
  • 1998 – Frederick Charles Frank, British theoretical physicist (b. 1911)
  • 1998 – Cozy Powell, English drummer (b. 1947)
  • 1999 – Giulio Einaudi, Italian book publisher (b. 1912)
  • 2000 – Heinrich Müller, Austrian footballer (b. 1909)
  • 2000 – Lee Petty, American race car driver (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Aldo Olivieri, Italian footballer (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – Layne Staley, American singer-songwriter (b. 1967)
  • 2002 – Kim Won-gyun, North Korean composer and politician (b. 1917)
  • 2003 – Keizo Morishita, Japanese painter (b. 1944)
  • 2004 – Fernand Goyvaerts, Belgian footballer (b. 1938)
  • 2004 – Sławomir Rawicz, Polish lieutenant (b. 1915)
  • 2004 – Heiner Zieschang, German mathematician and academic (b. 1936)
  • 2005 – Saul Bellow, Canadian-American novelist, essayist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Robert Borg, American military officer and equestrian (b. 1913)
  • 2005 – Chung Nam-sik, South Korean footballer (b. 1917)
  • 2006 – Allan Kaprow, American painter and educator (b. 1927)
  • 2006 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
  • 2006 – Yevgeny Seredin, Russian swimmer (b. 1958)
  • 2006 – Pasquale Macchi, Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Maria Gripe, Swedish journalist and author (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Leela Majumdar, Indian author and academic (b. 1908)
  • 2007 – Werner Maser, German historian and journalist (b. 1922)
  • 2007 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (b. 1956)
  • 2007 – Thomas Stoltz Harvey, American pathologist (b. 1912)
  • 2008 – Charlton Heston, American actor, director, and political activist (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – I. J. Good, British mathematician (b. 1916)
  • 2010 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Soviet cosmonaut and engineer (b. 1935)
  • 2011 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician and geneticist (b. 1925)
  • 2011 – Ange-Félix Patassé, Central African politician (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, German designer (b. 1935)
  • 2012 – Pedro Bartolomé Benoit, Dominican Republican politician military officer
  • 2012 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification (b. 1923)
  • 2012 – Barney McKenna, Irish musician (b. 1939)
  • 2012 – Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawian economist and politician, 3rd President of Malawi (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Regina Bianchi, Italian actress (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Piero de Palma, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Alan Davie, Scottish saxophonist and painter (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Mariano Díaz, Spanish cyclist (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – John Pinette, American comedian (b. 1964)
  • 2014 – José Wilker, Brazilian actor, director, and producer (b. 1947)
  • 2015 – Fredric Brandt, American dermatologist and author (b. 1949)
  • 2015 – Juan Carlos Cáceres, Argentinian singer and pianist (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Koço Kasapoğlu, Turkish footballer (b. 1936)
  • 2017 – Attilio Benfatto, Italian cyclist (b. 1943)
  • 2017 – Arthur Bisguier, American chess Grandmaster (b. 1929)
  • 2017 – Paul G. Comba, Italian-American computer scientist and astronomer (b. 1926)
  • 2017 – Makoto Ōoka, Japanese poet and literary critic (b. 1931)
  • 2017 – Paul O’Neill, American rock composer and producer (b. 1956)
  • 2017 – Tim Parnell, British race car driver (b. 1932)
  • 2017 – Memè Perlini, Italian actor and director (b. 1947)
  • 2017 – Atanase Sciotnic, Romanian sprint canoeist (b. 1942)
  • 2017 – Ilkka Sinisalo, Finnish ice hockey player (b. 1958)
  • 2018 – Isao Takahata, Japanese director (b. 1935)
  • 2019 – Sydney Brenner, South African biologist (b. 1927)[16]

Holidays and observances on April 5

  • Christian feast day:
    • Albert of Montecorvino
    • Derfel Gadarn
    • Æthelburh of Kent
    • Gerald of Sauve-Majeure
    • Juliana of Liège
    • Maria Crescentia Höss
    • Blessed Mariano de la Mata
    • Pandita Mary Ramabai (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Ruadhán of Lorrha
    • Vincent Ferrer
    • April 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Cold Food Festival, held on April 4 if it is a leap year (China); and its related observances:
  • Earliest day on which Sham el-Nessim can fall, while May 9 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after the Orthodox Easter (Egypt)
  • Children’s Day (Palestinian territories)
  • Sikmogil (South Korea)
  • National Maritime Day is observed in India, in commemoration of the first voyage of SS Loyalty of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd. in 1919.

April 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day /

On the Roman calendar, this was known as the day before the nones of April (Latin: Prid. Non. Apr.).

April 4 in History

  • 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
  • 1147 – Moscow is mentioned for the first time in the historical record, when it is named as a meeting place for two princes.
  • 1268 – A five-year Byzantine–Venetian peace treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
  • 1460 – Basel University is founded.
  • 1581 – Francis Drake is knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world.
  • 1609 – Moriscos are expelled from the Kingdom of Valencia.
  • 1660 – Declaration of Breda by King Charles II of Great Britain promises, among other things, a general pardon to all royalists for crimes committed during the English Civil War and the Interregnum.
  • 1721 – Sir Robert Walpole becomes the first British prime minister.
  • 1768 – In London, Philip Astley stages the first modern circus.
  • 1796 – Georges Cuvier delivers the first paleontological lecture.
  • 1814 – Napoleon abdicates for the first time and names his son Napoleon II as Emperor of the French.
  • 1818 – The United States Congress, affirming the Second Continental Congress, adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (20 at that time).
  • 1841 – William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office, and setting the record for the briefest administration. Vice President John Tyler succeeds Harrison as President.
  • 1850 – A large part of the English village of Cottenham burns to the ground in suspicious circumstances.
  • 1850 – Los Angeles is incorporated as a city.
  • 1859 – Bryant’s Minstrels debut “Dixie” in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.
  • 1866 – Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Dmitry Karakozov in the city of Saint Petersburg.
  • 1873 – The Kennel Club is founded, the oldest and first official registry of purebred dogs in the world.
  • 1875 – Vltava, composed by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana and also known by its German name Die Moldau, premiered in Prague.
  • 1887 – Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.
  • 1905 – In India, an earthquake hits the Kangra Valley, killing 20,000, and destroying most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala.
  • 1913 – First Balkan War: Greek aviator Emmanouil Argyropoulos becomes the first pilot to die in the Hellenic Air Force when his plane crashes.
  • 1925 – The Schutzstaffel (SS) is founded under Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party in Germany.
  • 1933 – U.S. Navy airship USS Akron is wrecked off the New Jersey coast due to severe weather.
  • 1939 – Faisal II becomes King of Iraq.
  • 1944 – World War II: First bombardment of oil refineries in Bucharest by Anglo-American forces kills 3000 civilians.
  • 1945 – World War II: American troops liberate Ohrdruf forced labor camp in Germany.
  • 1945 – World War II: American troops capture Kassel.
  • 1945 – World War II: Soviet troops liberate Hungary from German occupation and occupy the country themselves.
  • 1949 – Cold War: Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
  • 1958 – The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time in London.
  • 1960 – France agrees to grant independence to the Mali Federation, a union of Senegal and French Sudan.
  • 1964 – The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
  • 1965 – The first model of the new Saab Viggen fighter aircraft is unveiled.
  • 1967 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech in New York City’s Riverside Church.
  • 1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
  • 1968 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 6.
  • 1968 – A.E.K. Athens B.C. becomes the first Greek team to win the European Basketball Cup.
  • 1969 – Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.
  • 1973 – The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City are officially dedicated.
  • 1973 – A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, makes the last flight of Operation Homecoming.
  • 1975 – Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
  • 1975 – Vietnam War: A United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy transporting orphans, crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, killing 172 people.
  • 1979 – Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.
  • 1981 – Iran–Iraq War: The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force mounts an attack on H-3 Airbase and destroys about 50 Iraqi aircraft.
  • 1983 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space.
  • 1984 – President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.
  • 1988 – Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.
  • 1990 – The current flag of Hong Kong is adopted for post-colonial Hong Kong during the Third Session of the Seventh National People’s Congress.
  • 1991 – Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collides with their airplane over an elementary school in Merion, Pennsylvania.
  • 1994 – Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark found Netscape Communications Corporation under the name Mosaic Communications Corporation.
  • 1996 – Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.
  • 2002 – The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War.
  • 2009 – France announces its return to full participation of its military forces within NATO.
  • 2013 – More than 70 people are killed in a building collapse in Thane, India.
  • 2020 – China holds a National day of mourning for martyrs who died in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease outbreak.

Births on April 4

  • 188 – Caracalla, Roman emperor (d. 217)
  • 1436 – Amalia of Saxony, Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut (d. 1501)
  • 1490 – Vojtěch I of Pernstein, Bohemian nobleman (d. 1534)
  • 1492 – Ambrosius Blarer, German-Swiss theologian and reformer (d. 1564)
  • 1572 – William Strachey, English author (d. 1621)
  • 1586 – Richard Saltonstall, English diplomat (d. 1661)
  • 1593 – Edward Nicholas, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1669)
  • 1640 – Gaspar Sanz, Spanish guitarist, composer, and priest (d. 1710)
  • 1646 – Antoine Galland, French orientalist and archaeologist (d. 1715)
  • 1648 – Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-English sculptor (d. 1721)
  • 1676 – Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, Italian composer (d. 1760)
  • 1688 – Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, French astronomer and cartographer (d. 1768)
  • 1718 – Benjamin Kennicott, English theologian and scholar (d. 1783)
  • 1752 – Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, Italian composer (d. 1837)
  • 1760 – Juan Manuel Olivares, Venezuelan organist and composer (d. 1797)
  • 1762 – Stephen Storace, English actor and composer (d. 1796)
  • 1772 – Nachman of Breslov, Ukrainian founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement (d. 1810)
  • 1780 – Edward Hicks, American minister and painter (d. 1849)
  • 1785 – Bettina von Arnim, German author, illustrator, and composer (d. 1859)
  • 1792 – Thaddeus Stevens, American lawyer and politician (d. 1868)
  • 1802 – Dorothea Dix, American nurse and activist (d. 1887)
  • 1818 – Thomas Mayne Reid, Irish-American author and poet (d. 1883)
  • 1819 – Maria II of Portugal (d. 1853)
  • 1821 – Linus Yale, Jr., American engineer and businessman (d. 1868)
  • 1826 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (d. 1901)
  • 1829 – Owen Suffolk, Australian bushranger, poet, confidence-man and author
  • 1835 – John Hughlings Jackson, English physician and neurologist (d. 1911)
  • 1842 – Édouard Lucas, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1891)
  • 1843 – William Henry Jackson, American painter and photographer (d. 1942)
  • 1846 – Comte de Lautréamont, Uruguayan-French poet and educator (d. 1870)
  • 1851 – James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, Irish lawyer and politician (d. 1931)
  • 1853 – Remy de Gourmont, French poet, novelist, and critic (d. 1915)
  • 1868 – Philippa Fawcett, English mathematician and educator (d. 1948)
  • 1869 – Mary Colter, American architect, designed the Desert View Watchtower (d. 1958)
  • 1875 – Pierre Monteux, Sephardic Jewish French-American viola player and conductor (d. 1964)
  • 1876 – Maurice de Vlaminck, French painter and poet (d. 1958)
  • 1878 – Stylianos Lykoudis, Greek admiral and historian (d. 1958)
  • 1879 – Gustav Goßler, German rower (d. 1940)
  • 1884 – James Alberione, Italian priest, founded the Society of St. Paul (d. 1971)
  • 1884 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (d. 1943)
  • 1886 – Frank Luther Mott, American historian and journalist (d. 1964)
  • 1888 – Tris Speaker, American baseball player and manager (d. 1958)
  • 1888 – Zdzisław Żygulski, Sr., Polish historian and academic (d. 1975)
  • 1889 – Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Indian journalist, poet, and playwright (d. 1968)
  • 1892 – Italo Mus, Italian painter (d. 1967)
  • 1895 – Arthur Murray, American dancer and educator (d. 1991)
  • 1896 – Robert E. Sherwood, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1955)
  • 1897 – Pierre Fresnay, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1975)
  • 1898 – Agnes Ayres, American actress (d. 1940)
  • 1899 – Hillel Oppenheimer, German-Israeli botanist and academic (d. 1971)
  • 1902 – Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin, French journalist and author (d. 1969)
  • 1902 – Stanley G. Weinbaum, American author and poet (d. 1935)
  • 1905 – Eugène Bozza, French composer and conductor (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect and engineer (d. 1987)
  • 1906 – Bea Benaderet, Turkish-Jewish Irish-American television, radio, and voice actress (d. 1968)
  • 1906 – John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (d. 1995)
  • 1907 – Robert Askin, Australian sergeant and politician, 32nd Premier of New South Wales (d. 1981)
  • 1910 – Đặng Văn Ngữ, Vietnamese physician and academic (d. 1967)
  • 1911 – Max Dupain, Australian photographer (d. 1992)
  • 1913 – Dave Brown, Australian rugby league player (d. 1974)
  • 1913 – Rosemary Lane, American actress and singer (d. 1974)
  • 1913 – Frances Langford, American actress and singer (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Jules Léger, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Governor General of Canada (d. 1980)
  • 1913 – Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1983)
  • 1914 – Richard Coogan, American actor (d. 2014)
  • 1914 – Marguerite Duras, French novelist, screenwriter, and director (d. 1996)
  • 1914 – David W. Goodall, Australian ecologist and botanist (d. 2018)
  • 1915 – Louis Archambault, Canadian sculptor (d. 2003)
  • 1916 – Nikola Ljubičić, Serbian general and politician, 10th President of Serbia (d. 2005)
  • 1916 – Mickey Owen, American baseball player and coach (d. 2005)
  • 1916 – David White, American actor (d. 1990)
  • 1918 – George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, English soldier and politician, Leader of the House of Lords (d. 2007)
  • 1920 – Orunamamu, American-Canadian author and educator (d. 2014)
  • 1920 – Ignatius IV of Antioch, Greek patriarch (d. 2012)
  • 1921 – Elizabeth Wilson, American actress (d. 2015)
  • 1922 – Elmer Bernstein, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
  • 1923 – Peter Vaughan, English actor (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Gene Reynolds, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2020)
  • 1924 – Bob Christie, American race car driver (d. 2009)
  • 1924 – Gil Hodges, American baseball player and manager (d. 1972)
  • 1925 – Dettmar Cramer, German footballer and manager (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Frank Truitt, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Claude Wagner, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1979)
  • 1925 – Emmett Williams, American poet and author (d. 2007)
  • 1926 – Mildred Fay Jefferson, American physician and activist (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Ronnie Masterson, Irish actress (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Joe Orlando, Italian-American author and illustrator (d. 1998)
  • 1928 – Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Estelle Harris, American actress and comedian
  • 1928 – Jimmy Logan, Scottish actor, director, and producer (d. 2001)
  • 1928 – Monty Norman, English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1929 – Humbert Allen Astredo, American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1930 – Netty Herawaty, Indonesian actress (d. 1989)
  • 1931 – James Dickens, English politician (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Bobby Ray Inman, American admiral and intelligence officer
  • 1931 – Catherine Tizard, New Zealand politician, 16th Governor-General of New Zealand
  • 1932 – Clive Davis, American record producer, founded Arista Records and J Records
  • 1932 – Richard Lugar, American lieutenant and politician, 44th Mayor of Indianapolis (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Anthony Perkins, American actor (d. 1992)
  • 1932 – Johanna Reiss, Dutch-American author
  • 1932 – Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian director and producer (d. 1986)
  • 1933 – Bill France, Jr., American businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1933 – Brian Hewson, English runner
  • 1933 – Bapu Nadkarni, Indian cricketer (d. 2020)
  • 1934 – Helen Hanft, American actress (d. 2013)
  • 1934 – Kronid Lyubarsky, Russian journalist and activist (d. 1996)
  • 1935 – Geoff Braybrooke, English-New Zealand soldier and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Kenneth Mars, American actor and comedian (d. 2011)
  • 1935 – Trevor Griffiths, English playwright and educator
  • 1938 – A. Bartlett Giamatti, American businessman and academic (d. 1989)
  • 1939 – JoAnne Carner, American golfer
  • 1939 – Darlene Hooley, American educator and politician
  • 1939 – Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer (d. 2018)
  • 1940 – Richard Attwood, English race car driver
  • 1940 – Sharon Sheeley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
  • 1942 – Jim Fregosi, American baseball player and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1942 – Kitty Kelley, American journalist and biographer
  • 1942 – Elizabeth Levy, American author
  • 1944 – Magda Aelvoet, Belgian politician
  • 1944 – Mary Kenny, Irish journalist, author, and playwright
  • 1944 – Bob McDill, American country music songwriter
  • 1944 – Craig T. Nelson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1944 – Nelson Prudêncio, Brazilian triple jumper and educator (d. 2012)
  • 1944 – Toktamış Ateş, Turkish academician, political commentator, columnist and writer (d. 2013)
  • 1945 – Daniel Cohn-Bendit, French-German educator and politician
  • 1945 – Caroline McWilliams, American actress (d. 2010)
  • 1946 – Colin Coates, Australian speed skater
  • 1946 – Dave Hill, English guitarist
  • 1946 – Katsuaki Satō, Japanese martial artist and coach
  • 1946 – György Spiró, Hungarian author and playwright
  • 1946 – Bubba Wyche, American football player and coach
  • 1947 – Wiranto, Indonesian general and politician
  • 1947 – Ray Fosse, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1947 – Eliseo Soriano, Filipino minister and television host
  • 1948 – Abdullah Öcalan, Turkish activist
  • 1948 – Berry Oakley, American bass player (d. 1972)
  • 1948 – Richard Parsons, American lawyer and businessman
  • 1948 – Dan Simmons, American author
  • 1948 – Derek Thompson, Northern Irish actor
  • 1948 – Pick Withers, English drummer
  • 1949 – Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican-American singer (d. 1999)
  • 1949 – Shing-Tung Yau, Chinese-American mathematician and academic
  • 1950 – Christine Lahti, American actress and director
  • 1951 – John Hannah, American football player and coach
  • 1952 – Rosemarie Ackermann, German high jumper
  • 1952 – Pat Burns, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2010)
  • 1952 – Gregg Hansford, Australian race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 1995)
  • 1952 – Cherie Lunghi, English actress and dancer
  • 1952 – Karen Magnussen, Canadian figure skater and coach
  • 1952 – Gary Moore, Northern Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1952 – Villy Søvndal, Danish educator and politician, Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1953 – Robert Bertrand, Canadian politician
  • 1953 – Henry Fotheringham, South African cricketer
  • 1953 – Simcha Jacobovici, Canadian director, producer, journalist, and author
  • 1953 – Sammy Wilson, Northern Irish politician, 31st Lord Mayor of Belfast
  • 1953 – Chen Yi, Chinese violinist and composer
  • 1956 – Evelyn Hart, Canadian ballerina
  • 1956 – Tom Herr, American baseball player and manager
  • 1956 – David E. Kelley, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1957 – Paul Downton, English cricketer
  • 1957 – Aki Kaurismäki, Finnish director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Graeme Kelling, Scottish guitarist (d. 2004)
  • 1957 – Nobuyoshi Kuwano, Japanese singer and trumpet player
  • 1958 – Peter Baltes, German bass player
  • 1958 – Cazuza, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 1990)
  • 1958 – Rodney Eade, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1959 – Phil Morris, American actor and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Jonathan Agnew, English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1960 – Jane Eaglen, English soprano
  • 1960 – Hugo Weaving, Nigerian-Australian actor and producer
  • 1960 – Godknows Igali, Nigerian diplomat, civil servant and technocrat
  • 1961 – Hildi Santo-Tomas, American interior decorator
  • 1962 – Craig Adams, English bass player and songwriter
  • 1962 – Kailasho Devi, Indian social worker and politician
  • 1963 – A. Michael Baldwin, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1963 – Jack Del Rio, American football player and coach
  • 1963 – Dale Hawerchuk, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1963 – Jane McDonald, English singer and broadcaster
  • 1963 – Graham Norton, Irish actor and talk show host
  • 1964 – Branco, Brazilian footballer and coach
  • 1964 – Dr. Chud, American drummer and singer
  • 1964 – Anthony Clark, American actor
  • 1964 – David Cross, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Paul Parker, England international footballer, right-back and TV pundit
  • 1964 – Đặng Thân, Vietnamese writer and poet
  • 1965 – Vinny Burns, English guitarist and producer
  • 1965 – Robert Downey Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Nancy McKeon, American actress
  • 1966 – Mike Starr, American bass player (d. 2011)
  • 1966 – Christos Tsekos, Greek basketball player
  • 1967 – Edith Masai, Kenyan-German runner
  • 1967 – George Mavrotas, Greek water polo player and politician
  • 1968 – Jesús Rollán, Spanish water polo player (d. 2006)
  • 1969 – Piotr Anderszewski, Polish pianist and composer
  • 1969 – Karren Brady, English journalist and businesswoman
  • 1970 – Georgios Amanatidis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Greg Garcia, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1970 – Barry Pepper, Canadian actor and producer
  • 1970 – Jason Stoltenberg, Australian tennis player
  • 1970 – Josh Todd, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1970 – Yelena Yelesina, Russian high jumper
  • 1971 – Yanic Perreault, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1971 – Malik Yusef, American actor, producer, and poet
  • 1971 – John Zandig, American wrestler and promoter
  • 1972 – Jim Dymock, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1972 – Jill Scott, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1972 – Magnus Sveningsson, Swedish bass player
  • 1973 – Chris Banks, American football player (d. 2014)
  • 1973 – David Blaine, American magician and producer
  • 1973 – Loris Capirossi, Italian motorcycle racer
  • 1973 – Peter Hoekstra, Dutch footballer and coach
  • 1973 – Chris McCormack, Australian triathlete and coach
  • 1973 – Kelly Price, American singer-songwriter
  • 1975 – Delphine Arnault, French businesswoman
  • 1975 – Thobias Fredriksson, Swedish skier
  • 1975 – Joyce Giraud, Puerto Rican-American model, television actress and producer, Miss Puerto Rico 1994
  • 1975 – Pamela Ribon, American actress, screenwriter, and author
  • 1975 – Miranda Lee Richards, American singer-songwriter
  • 1975 – Scott Rolen, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Kevin Weekes, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1976 – Nathan Blacklock, Australian rugby player
  • 1976 – Sébastien Enjolras, French race car driver (d. 1997)
  • 1976 – Emerson Ferreira da Rosa, Brazilian footballer
  • 1976 – James Roday, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1977 – Stephan Bonnar, American mixed martial artist
  • 1977 – Keith Bulluck, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Adam Dutkiewicz, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1977 – Stephen Mulhern, English magician and television host
  • 1977 – Omarr Smith, American football player and coach
  • 1978 – Jason Ellison, American baseball player and scout
  • 1978 – Alan Mahon, Irish footballer
  • 1979 – Heath Ledger, Australian actor (d. 2008)
  • 1979 – Roberto Luongo, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Natasha Lyonne, American actress
  • 1979 – Andy McKee, American guitarist
  • 1979 – Maksim Opalev, Russian canoeist
  • 1980 – Johnny Borrell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1980 – Trevor Moore, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1980 – Eric Steinbach, American football player
  • 1980 – Björn Wirdheim, Swedish race car driver
  • 1981 – Currensy, American rapper
  • 1981 – Eduardo Luís Carloto, Brazilian footballer
  • 1981 – Casey Daigle, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Anna Pyatykh, Russian triple jumper
  • 1981 – Ned Vizzini, American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1982 – Justin Cook, American voice actor and producer
  • 1982 – Magnus Lindgren, Swedish chef (d. 2012)
  • 1983 – Evgeny Artyukhin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Eric Andre, American comedian
  • 1983 – Ben Gordon, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Doug Lynch, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Natalie Pike, Scottish-English model and actress
  • 1983 – Amanda Righetti, American actress
  • 1984 – Sean May, American basketball player
  • 1984 – Arkady Vyatchanin, Russian swimmer
  • 1985 – Rudy Fernández, Spanish basketball player
  • 1985 – Dudi Sela, Israeli tennis player
  • 1985 – Ricardo Vilar, Brazilian footballer
  • 1986 – Eunhyuk, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1986 – Cameron Barker, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Maurice Manificat, French skier
  • 1986 – Aiden McGeady, Scottish-born Irish footballer
  • 1986 – Alexander Tettey, Norwegian footballer
  • 1987 – Sami Khedira, German footballer
  • 1987 – McDonald Mariga, Kenyan footballer
  • 1987 – Cameron Maybin, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Marcos Vellidis, Greek footballer
  • 1987 – Sarah Gadon, Canadian actress
  • 1988 – Frank Fielding, English footballer
  • 1989 – Vurnon Anita, Dutch footballer
  • 1989 – Steven Finn, English cricketer
  • 1989 – Chris Herd, Australian footballer
  • 1991 – Yui Koike, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1991 – Justin O’Neill, Australian rugby league player
  • 1991 – Jamie Lynn Spears, American actress and singer
  • 1991 – Marlon Stöckinger, Filipino race car driver
  • 1992 – Lucy May Barker, English actress and singer
  • 1992 – Christina Metaxa, Cypriot singer-songwriter
  • 1992 – Ricky Dillon, American youtuber and singer
  • 1993 – Samir Carruthers, English footballer
  • 1993 – Frank Kaminsky, American basketball player
  • 1994 – Shunsuke Nishikawa, Japanese actor
  • 1994 – Risako Sugaya, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1996 – Austin Mahone, American singer-songwriter and actor

Deaths on April 4

  • 397 – Ambrose, Roman archbishop and saint (b. 338)
  • 636 – Isidore of Seville, Spanish archbishop and saint (b. 560)
  • 814 – Plato of Sakkoudion, Byzantine monk and saint (b. 735)
  • 896 – Formosus, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 816)
  • 911 – Liu Yin, Chinese warlord and governor (b. 874)
  • 931 – Kong Xun, Chinese official and governor (b. 884)
  • 968 – Abu Firas al-Hamdani, Arab prince and poet (b. 932)
  • 991 – Reginold, bishop of Eichstätt
  • 1284 – Alfonso X, king of Castile and León (b. 1221)
  • 1292 – Nicholas IV, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1227)
  • 1406 – Robert III, king of Scotland (b.1337)
  • 1483 – Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (b. c. 1405)
  • 1536 – Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (b. 1460)
  • 1538 – Elena Glinskaya, Grand Princess and regent of Russia
  • 1588 – Frederick II, king of Denmark and Norway (b. 1534)
  • 1596 – Philip II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (b. 1533)
  • 1609 – Carolus Clusius, Flemish botanist, mycologist, and academic (b. 1526)
  • 1617 – John Napier, Scottish mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1550)
  • 1643 – Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian and academic (b. 1583)
  • 1661 – Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, Scottish field marshal (b. 1580)
  • 1743 – Daniel Neal, English historian and author (b. 1678)
  • 1761 – Théodore Gardelle, Swiss painter (b. 1722)
  • 1766 – John Taylor, English librarian and scholar (b. 1704)
  • 1774 – Oliver Goldsmith, Irish novelist, playwright and poet (b. 1728)
  • 1792 – James Sykes, American lawyer and politician (b. 1725)
  • 1807 – Jérôme Lalande, French astronomer and academic (b. 1732)
  • 1817 – André Masséna, French general (b. 1758)
  • 1841 – William Henry Harrison, American general and politician, 9th President of the United States (b. 1773)
  • 1846 – Solomon Sibley, American lawyer and politician, 1st Mayor of Detroit (b. 1769)
  • 1861 – John McLean, American jurist and politician, 6th United States Postmaster General (b. 1785)
  • 1863 – Ludwig Emil Grimm, German painter and engraver (b. 1790)
  • 1864 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American commander and paleontologist (b. 1808)
  • 1870 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (b. 1802)
  • 1874 – Charles Ernest Beulé, French archaeologist and politician (b. 1826)
  • 1875 – Karl Mauch, German geographer and explorer (b. 1837)
  • 1878 – Richard M. Brewer, American criminal (b. 1850)
  • 1879 – Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, German physicist and meteorologist (b. 1803)
  • 1883 – Peter Cooper, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Cooper Union (b. 1791)
  • 1890 – Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of Quebec (b. 1820)
  • 1890 – Edmond Hébert, French geologist and academic (b. 1812)
  • 1912 – Charles Brantley Aycock, American lawyer and politician, 50th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1859)
  • 1912 – Isaac K. Funk, American minister, lexicographer, and publisher, co-founded Funk & Wagnalls (b. 1839)
  • 1919 – William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (b. 1832)
  • 1919 – Francisco Marto, Portuguese saint (b. 1908)
  • 1923 – John Venn, English mathematician and philosopher, created the Venn diagram (b. 1834)
  • 1929 – Karl Benz, German engineer and businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz (b. 1844)
  • 1931 – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (b. 1853)
  • 1932 – Wilhelm Ostwald, Latvian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
  • 1933 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American author and educator (b. 1842)
  • 1941 – Emine Nazikedâ Kadınefendi, the first wife and chief consort of Sultan Mehmed VI (b. 1866)
  • 1944 – Morris H. Whitehouse, American architect (b. 1878)[14]
  • 1951 – George Albert Smith, American religious leader, 8th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1870)
  • 1953 – Carol II of Romania (b. 1893)
  • 1957 – E. Herbert Norman, Canadian historian and diplomat (b. 1909)
  • 1958 – Johnny Stompanato, American soldier and bodyguard (b. 1925)
  • 1961 – Harald Riipalu, Estonian military commander (b. 1912)
  • 1961 – Simion Stoilow, Romanian mathematician and academic (b. 1873)
  • 1967 – Al Lewis, American songwriter (b. 1901)
  • 1967 – Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer and manager (b. 1898)
  • 1968 – Martin Luther King Jr., American minister and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (assassinated)(b. 1929)
  • 1972 – Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., American pastor and politician (b. 1908)
  • 1972 – Stefan Wolpe, German-American composer and academic (b. 1902)
  • 1976 – Harry Nyquist, Swedish engineer and theorist (b. 1889)
  • 1977 – Andrey Dikiy, Ukrainian-American journalist, historian, and politician (b. 1893)
  • 1979 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th President of Pakistan (b. 1928)
  • 1979 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (b. 1903)
  • 1980 – Red Sovine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1917)
  • 1983 – Gloria Swanson, American actress (b. 1899)
  • 1983 – Bernard Vukas, Croatian football player, played for 1953 FIFA’s “Rest of the World” team against England at Wembley (b. 1927)
  • 1984 – Oleg Antonov, Russian-Ukrainian engineer and businessman, founded Antonov (b. 1906)
  • 1985 – Kate Roberts, Welsh author and activist (b. 1891)
  • 1987 – C. L. Moore, American author and academic (b. 1911)
  • 1987 – Chögyam Trungpa, Tibetan guru, poet, and scholar (b. 1939)
  • 1987 – Sachchidananda Vatsyayan, Indian journalist and author (b. 1911)
  • 1991 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (b. 1920)
  • 1991 – Max Frisch, Swiss playwright and novelist (b. 1911)
  • 1991 – H. John Heinz III, American soldier and politician (b. 1938)
  • 1991 – Graham Ingels, American illustrator (b. 1915)
  • 1992 – Yvette Brind’Amour, Canadian actress and director (b. 1918)
  • 1992 – Jack Hamilton, Australian footballer (b. 1928)
  • 1992 – Arthur Russell, American singer-songwriter and cellist (b. 1951)
  • 1993 – Alfred Mosher Butts, American game designer, invented Scrabble (b. 1899)
  • 1993 – Douglas Leopold, Canadian radio and television host (b. 1947)
  • 1995 – Kenny Everett, English radio and television host (b. 1944)
  • 1995 – Priscilla Lane, American actress (b. 1915)
  • 1996 – Barney Ewell, American runner and long jumper (b. 1918)
  • 1996 – Boone Guyton, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1913)
  • 1997 – Leo Picard, German-Israeli geologist and academic (b. 1900)
  • 1997 – Alparslan Türkeş, Turkish colonel and politician, 39th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1917)
  • 1999 – Lucille Lortel, American actress, artistic director and producer (b. 1900)
  • 1999 – Early Wynn, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1920)
  • 2001 – Liisi Oterma, Finnish astronomer (b. 1915)
  • 2001 – Ed Roth, American illustrator and engineer (b. 1932)
  • 2001 – Maury Van Vliet, American-Canadian academic (b. 1913)
  • 2003 – Anthony Caruso, American actor (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Briek Schotte, Belgian cyclist and coach (b. 1919)
  • 2005 – Edward Bronfman, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1924)
  • 2007 – Bob Clark, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1941)
  • 2007 – Karen Spärck Jones, English computer scientist and academic (b. 1935)
  • 2008 – Francis Tucker, South African race car driver (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Maxine Cooper, American actress, activist and photographer (b. 1924)
  • 2011 – Scott Columbus, American drummer (b. 1956)
  • 2011 – Juliano Mer-Khamis, Israeli actor, director, and activist (b. 1958)
  • 2012 – A. Dean Byrd, American psychologist and academic (b. 1948)
  • 2012 – Anne Karin Elstad, Norwegian author and educator (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – Claude Miller, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
  • 2012 – Dubravko Pavličić, Croatian footballer (b. 1967)
  • 2012 – Roberto Rexach Benítez, American-Puerto Rican academic and politician, 10th President of the Senate of Puerto Rico (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Bengt Blomgren, Swedish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Roger Ebert, American journalist, critic, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Carmine Infantino, American illustrator (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Tommy Tycho, Hungarian-Australian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – Ian Walsh, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Noboru Yamaguchi, Japanese author (b. 1972)
  • 2014 – İsmet Atlı, Turkish wrestler and trainer (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Wayne Henderson, American trombonist and producer (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Kumba Ialá, Bissau-Guinean soldier and politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1953)
  • 2014 – Margo MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician (b. 1943)
  • 2014 – Curtis Bill Pepper, American journalist and author (b. 1917)
  • 2014 – Muhammad Qutb, Egyptian author and academic (b. 1919)
  • 2015 – Jamaluddin Jarjis, Malaysian engineer and politician (b. 1951)
  • 2015 – Elmer Lach, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1918)
  • 2015 – Donald N. Levine, American sociologist and academic (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Klaus Rifbjerg, Danish author and poet (b. 1931)
  • 2016 – Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances on April 4

  • Children’s Day (Hong Kong, Taiwan)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Benedict the Moor
    • Gaetano Catanoso
    • Isidore of Seville
    • Martin Luther King Jr. (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Reginald Heber (Anglican Church of Canada)
    • Tigernach of Clones
    • April 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Senegal from France (1960).
  • Peace Day (Angola)[15]
  • One of the possible days for Qingming Festival.

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on April 3

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

Deaths on April 3

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

Holidays and observances on April 3

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

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

On This Day

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

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)

April 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

It is the first day of the second quarter of the year, and the midway point of the first half of the year.

  • 33 – According to one historian’s account, Jesus Christ’s Last Supper is held.
  • 286 – Emperor Diocletian elevates his general Maximian to co-emperor with the rank of Augustus and gives him control over the Western regions of the Roman Empire.
  • 325 – Crown Prince Jin Chengdi, age four, succeeds his father Jin Mingdi as emperor of the Eastern Jin dynasty.
  • 457 – Majorian is acclaimed emperor by the Roman army after defeating 900 Alemanni near Lake Maggiore (Italy).
  • 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
  • 528 – The daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei was made the “Emperor” as a male heir of the late emperor by Empress Dowager Hu. Deposed and replaced by Yuan Zhao the next day, she was the first female monarch in the History of China, but is not widely recognised.
  • 988 – Robert II of France is married to Rozala of Italy. The marriage is arranged by his father, King Hugh Capet.
  • 1234 – Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, is defeated by knights loyal to King Henry III of England in the Battle of the Curragh in Ireland.
  • 1293 – Robert Winchelsey leaves England for Rome, to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • 1318 – Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured by Scotland from England.
  • 1340 – Niels Ebbesen kills Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg in his bedroom, ending the 1332-1340 interregnum in Denmark.
  • 1545 – Potosí, Bolivia, is founded after the discovery of huge silver deposits in the area.
  • 1572 – In the Eighty Years’ War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Seventeen Provinces, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic.
  • 1625 – A combined Spanish and Portuguese fleet of 52 ships commences the recapture of Bahia from the Dutch during the Dutch–Portuguese War.
  • 1789 – In New York City, the United States House of Representatives achieves its first quorum and elects Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first Speaker.
  • 1826 – Samuel Morey received a patent for a compressionless “Gas or Vapor Engine”.
  • 1833 – The Convention of 1833, a political gathering of settlers in Mexican Texas to help draft a series of petitions to the Mexican government, begins in San Felipe de Austin.
  • 1854 – Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times begins serialisation in his magazine Household Words.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: Union troops led by Philip Sheridan decisively defeat Confederate troops led by George Pickett, cutting the Army of Northern Virginia’s last supply line.
  • 1867 – Singapore becomes a British crown colony.
  • 1871 – The 3rd Duke of Buckingham opened the Brill Tramway, a short railway line to transport goods between his lands and the national rail network.
  • 1873 – The White Star steamer RMS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, killing 547 in one of the worst marine disasters of the 19th century.
  • 1889 – The University of Northern Colorado was established, as the Colorado State Normal School.
  • 1891 – The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
  • 1893 – The rank of Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy is established.
  • 1908 – The Territorial Force (renamed Territorial Army in 1920) is formed as a volunteer reserve component of the British Army.
  • 1918 – The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.
  • 1924 – Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years imprisonment for his participation in the “Beer Hall Putsch” but spends only nine months in jail.
  • 1924 – The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.
  • 1933 – The recently elected Nazis under Julius Streicher organize a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany, ushering in a series of anti-Semitic acts.
  • 1933 – English cricketer Wally Hammond set a record for the highest individual Test innings of 336 not out, during a Test match against New Zealand.
  • 1935 – India’s central banking institution, The Reserve Bank of India, is formed.
  • 1937 – Aden becomes a British crown colony.
  • 1937 – The Royal New Zealand Air Force is formed as an independent service.
  • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Jaén, Spain is bombed by German fascist forces, supporting Francoist Nationalists.
  • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Generalísimo Francisco Franco of the Spanish State announces the end of the Spanish Civil War, when the last of the Republican forces surrender.
  • 1941 – Fântâna Albă massacre: Between 200 and 2,000 Romanian civilians are killed by Soviet Border Troops.
  • 1941 – A military coup in Iraq overthrows the regime of ‘Abd al-Ilah and installs Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as Prime Minister.
  • 1944 – Navigation errors lead to an accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Tenth United States Army attacks the Thirty-Second Japanese Army on Okinawa.
  • 1946 – The 8.6 Mw  Aleutian Islands earthquake shakes the Aleutian Islands with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). A destructive tsunami reaches the Hawaiian Islands resulting in dozens of deaths, mostly in Hilo, Hawaii.
  • 1947 – The only mutiny in the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy begins.
  • 1948 – Cold War: Communist forces respond to the introduction of the Deutsche Mark by attempting to force the western powers to withdraw from Berlin.
  • 1948 – Faroe Islands gain autonomy from Denmark.
  • 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Chinese Communist Party holds unsuccessful peace talks with the Nationalist Party in Beijing, after three years of fighting.
  • 1949 – The Government of Canada repeals Japanese-Canadian internment after seven years.
  • 1954 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
  • 1955 – The EOKA rebellion against the British Empire begins in Cyprus, with the goal of unifying with Greece.
  • 1960 – The TIROS-1 satellite transmits the first television picture from space.
  • 1969 – The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing capabilities, enters service with the Royal Air Force.
  • 1970 – President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General’s warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertising on television and radio in the United States, effective 1 January 1971.
  • 1970 – The first of over 670,000 AMC Gremlins are released into North America to compete with foreign imported cars.
  • 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army massacre over 1,000 people in Keraniganj Upazila, Bangladesh.
  • 1973 – Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, is launched in the Jim Corbett National Park, India.
  • 1974 – The Local Government Act 1972 of England and Wales comes into effect.
  • 1976 – Apple Inc. is formed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in Cupertino, California, USA.
  • 1978 – The Philippine College of Commerce, through a presidential decree, becomes the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
  • 1979 – Iran becomes an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah.
  • 1979 – Nickelodeon was launched in United States.
  • 1986 – Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) cadres attack a number of police stations in Kathmandu, seeking to incite a popular rebellion.
  • 1989 – Margaret Thatcher’s new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the “poll tax”), is introduced in Scotland.
  • 1993 – Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is founded in Los Angeles, California, USA.
  • 1996 – The government of Nova Scotia amalgamated the City of Halifax and the over 200 communities around the area to create the Halifax Regional Municipality.
  • 1997 – Comet Hale–Bopp is seen passing at perihelion.
  • 1999 – Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories.
  • 2001 – An EP-3E United States Navy surveillance aircraft collides with a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Shenyang J-8 fighter jet. The Navy crew makes an emergency landing in Hainan, China and is detained.
  • 2001 – Former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on war crimes charges.
  • 2001 – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first contemporary country to allow it.
  • 2004 – Google announces Gmail to the public.
  • 2006 – Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) of the Government of the United Kingdom is enforced, but later merged into National Crime Agency on 7 October 2013.
  • 2011 – After protests against the burning of the Quran turn violent, a mob attacks a United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of thirteen people, including eight foreign workers.
  • 2016 – Nagorno-Karabakh clashes: The Four Day War or April War begins along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact on April 1.

Births on April 1

  • 1220 – Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (d. 1272)
  • 1282 – Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1347)
  • 1328 – Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans (d. 1382)
  • 1543 – François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières (d. 1626)
  • 1578 – William Harvey, English physician and academic (d. 1657)
  • 1610 – Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier and critic (d. 1703)
  • 1629 – Jean-Henri d’Anglebert, French organist and composer (d. 1691)
  • 1640 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1697)
  • 1647 – John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet and courtier (d. 1680)
  • 1697 – Antoine François Prévost, French novelist and translator (d. 1763)
  • 1721 – Pieter Hellendaal, Dutch-English organist, violinist, and composer (d. 1799)
  • 1741 – George Dance the Younger, English architect and surveyor (d. 1825)
  • 1753 – Joseph de Maistre, French philosopher, lawyer, and diplomat (d. 1821)
  • 1755 – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French lawyer and politician (d. 1826)
  • 1765 – Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver and etcher (d. 1810)
  • 1776 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (d. 1831)
  • 1786 – William Mulready, Irish genre painter (d. 1863)
  • 1815 – Otto von Bismarck, German lawyer and politician, 1st Chancellor of the German Empire (d. 1898)
  • 1815 – Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (d. 1880)
  • 1823 – Simon Bolivar Buckner, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Kentucky (d. 1891)
  • 1824 – Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, Canadian bishop (d. 1901)
  • 1834 – James Fisk, American businessman (d. 1872)
  • 1852 – Edwin Austin Abbey, American painter and illustrator (d. 1911)
  • 1865 – Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1929)
  • 1866 – William Blomfield, New Zealand cartoonist and politician (d. 1938)
  • 1866 – Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1924)
  • 1866 – Ève Lavallière, French actress (d. 1929)
  • 1868 – Edmond Rostand, French poet and playwright (d. 1918)
  • 1868 – Walter Mead, English cricketer (d. 1954)
  • 1871 – F. Melius Christiansen, Norwegian-American violinist and conductor (d. 1955)
  • 1873 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1943)
  • 1874 – Ernest Barnes, English mathematician and theologian (d. 1953)
  • 1874 – Prince Karl of Bavaria (d. 1927)
  • 1875 – Edgar Wallace, English journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1932)
  • 1878 – C. Ganesha Iyer, Ceylon Tamil philologist (d. 1958)
  • 1879 – Stanislaus Zbyszko, Polish wrestler and strongman (d. 1967)
  • 1881 – Octavian Goga, Romanian Prime Minister (d. 1938)
  • 1883 – Lon Chaney, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1930)
  • 1883 – Edvard Drabløs, Norwegian actor and director (d. 1976)
  • 1883 – Laurette Taylor, Irish-American actress (d. 1946)
  • 1885 – Wallace Beery, American actor (d. 1949)
  • 1885 – Clementine Churchill, English wife of Winston Churchill (d. 1977)
  • 1889 – K. B. Hedgewar, Indian physician and activist (d. 1940)
  • 1893 – Cicely Courtneidge, Australian-English actress (d. 1980)
  • 1895 – Alberta Hunter, African-American singer-songwriter and nurse (d. 1984)
  • 1898 – William James Sidis, Ukrainian-Russian Jewish American mathematician, anthropologist, and historian (d. 1944)
  • 1899 – Gustavs Celmiņš, Latvian academic and politician (d. 1968)
  • 1900 – Stefanie Clausen, Danish Olympic diver (d. 1981)
  • 1901 – Whittaker Chambers, American journalist and spy (d. 1961)
  • 1905 – Gaston Eyskens, Belgian economist and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1988)
  • 1905 – Paul Hasluck, Australian historian, poet, and politician, 17th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1993)
  • 1906 – Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev, Russian engineer, founded the Yakovlev Design Bureau (d. 1989)
  • 1907 – Shivakumara Swami, Indian religious leader and philanthropist (d. 2019)
  • 1908 – Abraham Maslow, American psychologist and academic (d. 1970)
  • 1908 – Harlow Rothert, American shot putter, lawyer, and academic (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – Abner Biberman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
  • 1909 – Eddy Duchin, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1951)
  • 1910 – Harry Carney, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1974)
  • 1910 – Bob Van Osdel, American high jumper and soldier (d. 1987)
  • 1911 – Augusta Braxton Baker, African American librarian (d. 1998)
  • 1913 – Memos Makris, Greek sculptor (d. 1993)
  • 1915 – O. W. Fischer, Austrian-Swiss actor and director (d. 2004)
  • 1916 – Sheila May Edmonds, British mathematician (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Sydney Newman, Canadian screenwriter and producer, co-created Doctor Who (d. 1997)
  • 1917 – Melville Shavelson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1919 – Joseph Murray, American surgeon and soldier, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
  • 1920 – Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997)
  • 1921 – William Bergsma, American composer and educator (d. 1994)
  • 1921 – Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith, American guitarist, fiddler, and composer (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Duke Jordan, American pianist and composer (d. 2006)
  • 1922 – William Manchester, American historian and author (d. 2004)
  • 1924 – Brendan Byrne, American lieutenant, judge, and politician, 47th Governor of New Jersey (d. 2018)
  • 1926 – Anne McCaffrey, American-Irish author (d. 2011)
  • 1927 – Walter Bahr, American soccer player, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Amos Milburn, American R&B singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1980)
  • 1927 – Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Jonathan Haze, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and production manager
  • 1929 – Milan Kundera, Czech-born novelist, poet, and playwright
  • 1929 – Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator and director (d. 2010)
  • 1929 – Jane Powell, American actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1930 – Grace Lee Whitney, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – George Baker, Bulgarian-English actor and screenwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1931 – Rolf Hochhuth, German author and playwright (d. 2020)
  • 1932 – Debbie Reynolds, Scottish-Irish American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2016)
  • 1933 – Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Algerian-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1933 – Dan Flavin, American sculptor and educator (d. 1996)
  • 1934 – Vladimir Posner, French-American journalist and radio host
  • 1935 – Larry McDonald, American physician and politician (d. 1983)
  • 1936 – Peter Collinson, English-American director and producer (d. 1980)
  • 1936 – Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, Swiss politician, 80th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1998)
  • 1936 – Tarun Gogoi, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Assam
  • 1936 – Abdul Qadeer Khan, Indian-Pakistani physicist, chemist, and engineer
  • 1937 – Jordan Charney, American actor
  • 1939 – Ali MacGraw, American model and actress
  • 1939 – Phil Niekro, American baseball player and manager
  • 1940 – Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
  • 1941 – Gideon Gadot, Israeli journalist and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1941 – Ajit Wadekar, Indian cricketer, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
  • 1942 – Samuel R. Delany, American author and critic
  • 1942 – Richard D. Wolff, American economist and academic
  • 1943 – Dafydd Wigley, Welsh academic and politician
  • 1946 – Nikitas Kaklamanis, Greek academic and politician, Greek Minister of Health and Social Security
  • 1946 – Ronnie Lane, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (d. 1997)
  • 1946 – Arrigo Sacchi, Italian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1947 – Alain Connes, French mathematician and academic
  • 1947 – Philippe Kirsch, Canadian lawyer and judge
  • 1947 – Francine Prose, American novelist, short story writer, and critic
  • 1947 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2009)
  • 1948 – Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican singer and musician
  • 1948 – Javier Irureta, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1948 – Peter Law, Welsh politician and independent Member of parliament(d. 2006)
  • 1949 – Gérard Mestrallet, French businessman
  • 1949 – Paul Manafort, American lobbyist, political consultant, and convicted felon
  • 1949 – Sammy Nelson, Northern Irish footballer and coach
  • 1949 – Gil Scott-Heron, American singer-songwriter and author (d. 2011)
  • 1950 – Samuel Alito, American lawyer and jurist
  • 1950 – Loris Kessel, Swiss racing driver (d. 2010)
  • 1950 – Daniel Paillé, Canadian academic and politician
  • 1951 – John Abizaid, American general
  • 1951 – Frederic Schwartz, American architect, co-designed Empty Sky (d. 2014)
  • 1952 – Annette O’Toole, American actress
  • 1952 – Bernard Stiegler, French philosopher and academic
  • 1953 – Barry Sonnenfeld, American cinematographer, director, and producer
  • 1953 – Alberto Zaccheroni, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1954 – Jeff Porcaro, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 1992)
  • 1955 – Don Hasselbeck, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1955 – Humayun Akhtar Khan, Pakistani politician, 5th Commerce Minister of Pakistan
  • 1955 – Terry Nichols, American criminal
  • 1957 – David Gower, English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1957 – Denise Nickerson, American actress (d. 2019)
  • 1958 – D. Boon, American singer and musician (d. 1985)
  • 1959 – Helmuth Duckadam, Romanian footballer
  • 1961 – Susan Boyle, Scottish singer
  • 1961 – Sergio Scariolo, Italian professional basketball head coach
  • 1961 – Mark White, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Mark Shulman, American author
  • 1962 – Chris Grayling, English journalist and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
  • 1962 – Samboy Lim, Filipino basketball player and manager
  • 1962 – Phillip Schofield, English television host
  • 1963 – Teodoro de Villa Diaz, Filipino guitarist and songwriter (d. 1988)
  • 1963 – Aprille Ericsson-Jackson, American aerospace engineer
  • 1964 – Erik Breukink, Dutch cyclist and manager
  • 1964 – Kevin Duckworth, American basketball player (d. 2008)
  • 1964 – John Morris, English cricketer
  • 1964 – José Rodrigues dos Santos, Portuguese journalist, author, and educator
  • 1965 – Jane Adams, American film, television, and stage actress
  • 1965 – Mark Jackson, American basketball player and coach
  • 1966 – Chris Evans, English radio and television host
  • 1966 – Mehmet Özdilek, Turkish footballer and manager
  • 1967 – Nicola Roxon, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Attorney-General for Australia
  • 1968 – Mike Baird, Australian politician, 44th Premier of New South Wales
  • 1968 – Andreas Schnaas, German actor and director
  • 1968 – Alexander Stubb, Finnish academic and politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Finland
  • 1969 – Lev Lobodin, Ukrainian-Russian decathlete
  • 1969 – Andrew Vlahov, Australian basketball player
  • 1969 – Dean Windass, English footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Brad Meltzer, American author, screenwriter, and producer
  • 1971 – Sonia Bisset, Cuban javelin thrower
  • 1971 – Shinji Nakano, Japanese racing driver
  • 1972 – Darren McCarty, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1972 – Jesse Tobias, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1973 – Christian Finnegan, American comedian and actor
  • 1973 – Stephen Fleming, New Zealand cricketer and coach
  • 1973 – Rachel Maddow, American journalist and author
  • 1974 – Hugo Ibarra, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1975 – John Butler, American-Australian singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1975 – Magdalena Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player
  • 1976 – Hazem El Masri, Lebanese-Australian rugby league player and educator
  • 1976 – David Gilliland, American race car driver
  • 1976 – David Oyelowo, English actor
  • 1976 – Clarence Seedorf, Dutch-Brazilian footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Yuka Yoshida, Japanese tennis player
  • 1977 – Vitor Belfort, Brazilian-American boxer and mixed martial artist
  • 1977 – Haimar Zubeldia, Spanish cyclist
  • 1978 – Antonio de Nigris, Mexican footballer (d. 2009)
  • 1978 – Mirka Federer, Slovak-Swiss tennis player
  • 1978 – Anamaria Marinca, Romanian-English actress
  • 1978 – Etan Thomas, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Ruth Beitia, Spanish high jumper
  • 1980 – Dennis Kruppke, German footballer
  • 1980 – Randy Orton, American wrestler
  • 1980 – Bijou Phillips, American actress and model
  • 1981 – Antonis Fotsis, Greek basketball player
  • 1981 – Bjørn Einar Romøren, Norwegian ski jumper
  • 1982 – Taran Killam, American actor, voice artist, comedian, and writer
  • 1982 – Andreas Thorkildsen, Norwegian javelin thrower
  • 1983 – Ólafur Ingi Skúlason, Icelandic footballer
  • 1983 – Sean Taylor, American football player (d. 2007)
  • 1984 – Gilberto Macena, Brazilian footballer
  • 1985 – Daniel Murphy, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Beth Tweddle, English gymnast
  • 1986 – Hillary Scott, American country singer-songwriter
  • 1987 – Ding Junhui, Chinese professional snooker player
  • 1987 – Gianluca Musacci, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Oliver Turvey, English racing driver
  • 1988 – Brook Lopez, American basketball player
  • 1988 – Robin Lopez, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Jan Blokhuijsen, Dutch speed skater
  • 1989 – David N’Gog, French footballer
  • 1989 – Christian Vietoris, German racing driver
  • 1990 – Julia Fischer, German discus thrower
  • 1992 – Deng Linlin, Chinese gymnast
  • 1995 – Logan Paul, American Youtuber and actor
  • 1997 – Álex Palou, Spanish racing driver

Deaths on April 1

  • 996 – John XV, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 1085 – Shen Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1048)
  • 1132 – Hugh of Châteauneuf, French bishop (b. 1053)
  • 1204 – Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of France and England (b. 1122)
  • 1205 – Amalric II, king of Cyprus and Jerusalem
  • 1282 – Abaqa Khan, ruler of the Mongol Ilkhanate (b. 1234)
  • 1431 – Nuno Álvares Pereira, Portuguese general (b. 1360)
  • 1441 – Blanche I, queen of Navarre and Sicily (b. 1387)
  • 1455 – Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Polish cardinal and statesman (b. 1389)
  • 1528 – Francisco de Peñalosa, Spanish composer (b. 1470)
  • 1548 – Sigismund I, king of Poland (b. 1467)
  • 1580 – Alonso Mudarra, Spanish guitarist and composer (b. 1510)
  • 1601 – Françoise d’Orléans-Longueville, French princess (b. 1549)
  • 1621 – Cristofano Allori, Italian painter and educator (b. 1577)
  • 1682 – Franz Egon of Fürstenberg, Bavarian bishop (b. 1625)
  • 1787 – Floyer Sydenham, English scholar and academic (b. 1710)
  • 1839 – Benjamin Pierce, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1757)
  • 1865 – Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (b. 1797)
  • 1872 – Frederick Denison Maurice, English theologian and academic (b. 1805)
  • 1878 – John C.W. Daly, English-Canadian soldier and politician (b. 1796)
  • 1890 – David Wilber, American politician (b. 1820)
  • 1890 – Alexander Mozhaysky, Russian soldier, pilot, and engineer (b. 1825)
  • 1914 – Rube Waddell, American baseball player (b. 1876)
  • 1914 – Charles Wells, English founder of Charles Wells Ltd (b. 1842)
  • 1917 – Scott Joplin, American pianist and composer (b. 1868)
  • 1920 – Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist (b. 1857)
  • 1922 – Charles I, emperor of Austria (b. 1887)
  • 1922 – Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychologist and author (b. 1884)
  • 1924 – Jacob Bolotin, American physician (b. 1888)
  • 1924 – Lloyd Hildebrand, English cyclist (b. 1870)
  • 1924 – Stan Rowley, Australian sprinter (b. 1876)
  • 1946 – Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (b. 1882)
  • 1947 – George II, king of Greece (b. 1890)
  • 1950 – Charles R. Drew, American physician and surgeon (b. 1904)
  • 1950 – Recep Peker, Turkish soldier and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1889)
  • 1962 – Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish captain and businessman (b. 1910)
  • 1965 – Helena Rubinstein, Polish-American businesswoman (b. 1870)
  • 1966 – Brian O’Nolan, Irish author (b. 1911)
  • 1968 – Lev Landau, Azerbaijani-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
  • 1976 – Max Ernst, German painter and sculptor (b. 1891)
  • 1981 – Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai singer-songwriter and bandleader (b. 1910)
  • 1984 – Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (b. 1939)
  • 1984 – Elizabeth Goudge, English author (b. 1900)
  • 1986 – Erik Bruhn, Danish actor, director, and choreographer (b. 1928)
  • 1987 – Henri Cochet, French tennis player (b. 1901)
  • 1991 – Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1894)
  • 1991 – Jaime Guzmán, Chilean lawyer and politician (b. 1946)
  • 1992 – Michael Havers, Baron Havers, English lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1923)
  • 1993 – Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (b. 1954)
  • 1994 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer (b. 1912)
  • 1995 – H. Adams Carter, American mountaineer, journalist, and educator (b. 1914)
  • 1995 – Francisco Moncion, Dominican American ballet dancer, choreographer, charter member of the New York City Ballet (b. 1918)
  • 1995 – Lucie Rie, Austrian-English potter (b. 1902)
  • 1997 – Makar Honcharenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1912)
  • 1998 – Rozz Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1963)
  • 1999 – Jesse Stone, American pianist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1901)
  • 2001 – Trịnh Công Sơn, Vietnamese guitarist and composer (b. 1939)
  • 2002 – Simo Häyhä, Finnish soldier and sniper (b. 1905)
  • 2003 – Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1956)
  • 2004 – Ioannis Kyrastas, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1952)
  • 2004 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (b. 1945)
  • 2005 – Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and diplomat, 1st Tanzanian Minister of Finance (b 1925)
  • 2005 – Robert Coldwell Wood, American political scientist and academic (b. 1923)
  • 2006 – In Tam, Cambodian general and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1916)
  • 2010 – John Forsythe, American actor (b. 1918)
  • 2010 – Tzannis Tzannetakis, Greek soldier and politician, 175th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Lionel Bowen, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian-American soccer player and radio host (b. 1947)
  • 2012 – Miguel de la Madrid, Mexican banker, academic, and politician, 52nd President of Mexico (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (b. 1947)
  • 2013 – Karen Muir, South African swimmer and physician (b. 1952)
  • 2014 – King Fleming, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Jacques Le Goff, French historian and author (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Rolf Rendtorff, German theologian and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Nicolae Rainea, Romanian footballer and referee (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Lonnie Brooks, American blues singer and guitarist (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Soviet and Russian poet and writer (b. 1932)
  • 2018 – Steven Bochco, American television writer and producer (b. 1943)
  • 2019 – Vonda N. McIntyre, American science fiction author (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances on April 1

  • Christian feast day:
    • Cellach of Armagh
    • Hugh of Grenoble
    • Frederick Denison Maurice (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Mary of Egypt
    • Melito of Sardis
    • Nuno Álvares Pereira
    • Tewdrig
    • Theodora
    • Walric, abbot of Leuconay
    • April 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Sizdah Be-dar can fall, while April 2 is the latest; celebrated on the 13th day after vernal equinox. (Iran)
  • Iranian Islamic Republic Day (Iran) falls on this day if the Vernal Equinox falls on March 21.
  • Veneralia was held on April 1 during Ancient Rome, however this date does not lock into the modern Gregorian calendar.
  • April Fools’ Day
  • Odisha Day (Odisha, India)
  • Arbor Day (Tanzania)
  • Civil Service Day (Thailand)
  • Cyprus National Day (Cyprus)
  • Edible Book Day
  • Fossil Fools Day
  • Kha b-Nisan, the Assyrian New Year (Assyrian people)
  • National Civil Service Day (Thailand)

April 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

It is the last day of the first quarter of the year.

March 31 in History

  • 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian.
  • 1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.
  • 1492 – Queen Isabella of Castile issues the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.
  • 1561 – The city of San Cristóbal, Táchira is founded.
  • 1717 – A sermon on “The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ” by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, preached in the presence of King George I of Great Britain, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.
  • 1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
  • 1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
  • 1885 – The United Kingdom establishes the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
  • 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.
  • 1899 – Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by American forces.
  • 1906 – The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.
  • 1909 – Serbia formally withdraws its opposition to Austro-Hungarian actions in the Bosnian Crisis.
  • 1913 – The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert.
  • 1917 – According to the terms of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, the islands become American possessions.
  • 1918 – Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed.
  • 1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
  • 1921 – The Royal Australian Air Force is formed.
  • 1930 – The Motion Picture Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years.
  • 1931 – An earthquake in Nicaragua destroys Managua; killing 2,000.
  • 1931 – A Transcontinental & Western Air airliner crashes near Bazaar, Kansas, killing eight, including University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne.
  • 1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States.
  • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.
  • 1945 – World War II: A defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world’s first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands.
  • 1949 – The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.
  • 1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
  • 1957 – Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta are held. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government.
  • 1958 – In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265.
  • 1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
  • 1964 – Brazilian General Olímpio Mourão Filho orders his troops to move towards Rio de Janeiro, beginning the coup d’état.
  • 1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
  • 1968 – American President Lyndon B. Johnson speaks to the nation of “Steps to Limit the War in Vietnam” in a television address. At the conclusion of his speech, he announces: “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
  • 1970 – Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
  • 1980 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.
  • 1985 – The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
  • 1990 – Approximately 200,000 protesters take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax.
  • 1991 – Georgian independence referendum: Nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.
  • 1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
  • 1992 – The Treaty of Federation is signed in Moscow.
  • 1995 – TAROM Flight 371, an Airbus A310-300, crashes near Balotesti, Romania, killing all 60 people on board.
  • 1995 – Selena is murdered by her fan club’s president Yolanda Saldívar at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas after accusations of Saldívar embezzling money from Selena’s fan club.
  • 1998 – Netscape releases Mozilla source code under an open source license.
  • 2004 – Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.
  • 2018 – Start of the 2018 Armenian revolution.

Births on March 31

  • 1360 – Philippa of Lancaster (d. 1415)
  • 1499 – Pope Pius IV (d. 1565)
  • 1504 – Guru Angad, Indian religious leader (d. 1552)
  • 1519 – Henry II of France (d. 1559)
  • 1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun (d. 1565)
  • 1596 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1650)
  • 1601 – Jakov Mikalja, Italian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1654)
  • 1621 – Andrew Marvell, English poet and politician (d. 1678)
  • 1651 – Charles II, Elector Palatine, German husband of Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark (d. 1685)
  • 1675 – Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758)
  • 1718 – Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781)
  • 1723 – Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766)
  • 1730 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1783)
  • 1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1809)
  • 1740 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (d. 1849)
  • 1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German pianist and composer (d. 1800)
  • 1777 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer (d. 1859)
  • 1778 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist and ornithologist (d. 1858)
  • 1794 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1852)
  • 1809 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet and translator (d. 1883)
  • 1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright (d. 1852)
  • 1809 – Otto Lindblad, Swedish composer (d. 1864)
  • 1813 – Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (1858 and 1860–1862) (d. 1898)
  • 1819 – Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (d. 1901)
  • 1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886)
  • 1833 – Mary Abigail Dodge, American writer and essayist (d. 1896)
  • 1835 – John La Farge, American artist (d. 1910)
  • 1847 – Hermann de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (d. 1904)
  • 1847 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1878)
  • 1851 – Francis Bell, Jewish New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936)
  • 1855 – Alfred E. Hunt, American businessman (d. 1899)
  • 1859 – Emil Fenyvessy, Hungarian actor and screenwriter (d. 1924)
  • 1865 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, Indian physician (d. 1887)
  • 1871 – Arthur Griffith, Irish journalist and politician, 3rd President of Dáil Éireann (d. 1922)
  • 1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet manager and critic, founded the Ballets Russes (d. 1929)
  • 1874 – Benjamín G. Hill, Mexican revolutionary general, governor of Sonora (d. 1920)
  • 1874 – Henri Marteau, French violinist and composer (d. 1934)
  • 1876 – Borisav Stanković, Serbian author (d. 1927)
  • 1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
  • 1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (d. 1946)
  • 1885 – Pascin, Sephardi Jewish Bulgarian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1930)
  • 1890 – Ben Adams, American jumper (d. 1961)
  • 1890 – William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
  • 1891 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian-American actor and director (d. 1976)
  • 1893 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor and manager (d. 1954)
  • 1893 – Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt, German physician and historian (d. 1982)
  • 1895 – Vardis Fisher, American author and academic (d. 1968)
  • 1900 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974)
  • 1905 – Robert Stevenson, English director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
  • 1905 – George Treweek, Australian rugby league player (d. 1991)
  • 1906 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
  • 1908 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (d. 1999)
  • 1911 – Freddie Green, American guitarist (d. 1987)
  • 1911 – Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano (d. 1986)
  • 1912 – William Lederer, American soldier and author (d. 2009)
  • 1913 – Etta Baker, African-American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
  • 1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
  • 1914 – Dagmar Lange, Swedish author (d. 1991)
  • 1915 – Albert Hourani, English historian and author (d. 1993)
  • 1915 – Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese sergeant (d. 1997)
  • 1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress (d. 2012)
  • 1916 – Tommy Bolt, American golfer (d. 2008)
  • 1916 – John H. Wood, Jr., American lawyer and judge (d. 1979)
  • 1917 – Dorothy DeLay, American violinist and educator (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Ted Post, American director (d. 2013)
  • 1919 – Frank Akins, American football player (d. 1993)
  • 1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, British aristocrat, socialite and author (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Lowell Fulson, African-American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
  • 1921 – Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director (d. 2011)
  • 1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (d. 1999)
  • 1922 – Patrick Magee, Irish actor (d. 1982)
  • 1923 – Don Barksdale, American basketball player (d. 1993)
  • 1923 – François Sermon, Belgian footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and academic (d. 1998)
  • 1924 – Charles Guggenheim, American director and producer (d. 2002)
  • 1925 – Jean Coutu, Canadian actor and director (d. 1999)
  • 1926 – John Fowles, English novelist (d. 2005)
  • 1926 – Beni Montresor, Italian director, set designer, author, and illustrator (d. 2001)
  • 1926 – Rocco Petrone, American colonel and engineer (d. 2006)
  • 1927 – Cesar Chavez, American labor union leader and activist (d. 1993)
  • 1927 – William Daniels, American actor
  • 1927 – Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Spanish cardinal
  • 1927 – Vladimir Ilyushin, Russian pilot (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Elmer Diedtrich, American businessman and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Bud MacPherson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988)
  • 1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
  • 1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
  • 1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne Inc. (d. 2007)
  • 1929 – Bert Fields, American lawyer and author
  • 1930 – Yehuda Nir, Polish Jewish-American psychiatrist (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Jim Mutscheller, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Miller Barber, American golfer (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Tamara Tyshkevich, Belarusian shot putter (d. 1997)
  • 1932 – John Jakes, American author
  • 1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist (d. 1999)
  • 1933 – Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983)
  • 1934 – Richard Chamberlain, American actor
  • 1934 – Shirley Jones, American actress and singer
  • 1934 – John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1934 – Kamala Surayya, Indian poet and author (d. 2009)
  • 1935 – Herb Alpert, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer
  • 1935 – Judith Rossner, Jewish-American author (d. 2005)
  • 1936 – Marge Piercy, American poet and novelist
  • 1936 – Walter E. Williams, American economist and academic
  • 1938 – Patrick Bateson, English biologist and academic (d. 2017)
  • 1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician, 22nd Governor of Kerala (d. 2019)
  • 1938 – Antje Gleichfeld, German runner
  • 1938 – Bill Hicke, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – Arthur B. Rubinstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – David Steel, Scottish academic and politician
  • 1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia (d. 1993)
  • 1939 – Israel Horovitz, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1939 – Walker David Miller, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Volker Schlöndorff, German director and producer
  • 1939 – Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
  • 1940 – Brian Ackland-Snow, English production designer and art director (d. 2013)
  • 1940 – Barney Frank, American lawyer and politician
  • 1940 – Patrick Leahy, American lawyer and politician
  • 1941 – Franco Bonvicini, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995)
  • 1941 – Faith Leech, Australian swimmer (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician
  • 1942 – Hugh McCracken, American guitarist and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Michael Savage, far-right American radio host and author
  • 1943 – Roy Andersson, Swedish director and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Deirdre Clancy, English costume designer
  • 1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor
  • 1944 – Pascal Danel, French singer-songwriter
  • 1944 – Angus King, American politician
  • 1944 – Mick Ralphs, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1945 – Edwin Catmull, American computer scientist and engineer
  • 1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian
  • 1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995)
  • 1946 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1984)
  • 1946 – Bob Russell, English politician
  • 1947 – Augustin Banyaga, Rwandan-American mathematician and academic
  • 1947 – Wendy Overton, American tennis player
  • 1947 – Kristian Blak, Danish-Faroese pianist, composer, and producer
  • 1947 – Don Foster, English academic and politician
  • 1947 – César Gaviria, Colombian economist and politician, 36th President of Colombia
  • 1947 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist and economist (d. 2011)
  • 1948 – Gary Doer, Canadian politician and diplomat, 20th Premier of Manitoba
  • 1948 – Al Gore, American soldier and politician, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress
  • 1948 – Gustaaf Van Cauter, Belgian cyclist
  • 1949 – Gilles Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1950 – András Adorján, Hungarian chess player and author
  • 1950 – Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor
  • 1950 – Sandra Morgen, American anthropologist and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1953 – Dennis Kamakahi, American guitarist and composer (d. 2014)
  • 1955 – Svetozar Marović, President of Serbia and Montenegro
  • 1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter
  • 1957 – Alan Duncan, English businessman and politician, former Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
  • 1959 – Markus Hediger, Swiss poet and translator
  • 1959 – Anita Dillen, Dutch socialite and member of wealthy Dillen family, niece of Cor Dillen, Coen Dillen
  • 1961 – Ron Brown, American sprinter and football player
  • 1961 – Howard Gordon, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1962 – Olli Rehn, Finnish footballer and politician
  • 1963 – Paul Mercurio, Australian actor and dancer
  • 1964 – Mark Hoban, English accountant and politician
  • 1965 – Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1965 – Patty Fendick, American tennis player and coach
  • 1965 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (d. 2006)
  • 1965 – William McNamara, American actor and producer
  • 1965 – Steven T. Seagle, American author and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Roger Black, English runner and journalist
  • 1966 – Nick Firestone, American race car driver
  • 1968 – César Sampaio, Brazilian footballer
  • 1969 – Nyamko Sabuni, Burundian-Swedish politician
  • 1969 – Steve Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Alenka Bratušek, Slovenian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Slovenia
  • 1971 – Demetris Assiotis, Cypriot footballer
  • 1971 – Martin Atkinson, English footballer and referee
  • 1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1971 – Craig McCracken, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
  • 1972 – Alejandro Amenábar, Chilean-Spanish director and screenwriter
  • 1972 – Andrew Bowen, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1972 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1972 – Evan Williams, American businessman, co-founded Twitter and Pyra Labs
  • 1973 – Christopher Hampson, English ballet dancer and choreographer
  • 1974 – Benjamin Eicher, German director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Natali, Russian singer, composer and songwriter
  • 1974 – Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bass player
  • 1974 – Jani Sievinen, Finnish swimmer
  • 1975 – Adam Green, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1975 – Nathan Grey, Australian rugby player and coach
  • 1975 – Cameron Murray, Scottish rugby player
  • 1975 – Ryan Rupe, American baseball player
  • 1976 – Howard Frier, American basketball player
  • 1976 – Igors Sļesarčuks, Latvian-Russian footballer
  • 1976 – Graeme Smith, Scottish swimmer
  • 1977 – Toshiya, Japanese bass player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1977 – Garth Tander, Australian race car driver
  • 1978 – Michael Clark, Australian cricketer and footballer
  • 1978 – Stephen Clemence, English footballer, midfeider and manager
  • 1978 – Jarrod Cooper, American football player
  • 1978 – Jérôme Rothen, French footballer
  • 1979 – Omri Afek, Israeli footballer
  • 1979 – Euan Burton, Scottish martial artist and coach
  • 1979 – Alexis Ferrero, Argentinian footballer
  • 1979 – Charlie Manning, American baseball player
  • 1979 – Jonna Mendes, American skier
  • 1979 – Rhys Wesser, Australian rugby league player
  • 1980 – Martin Albrechtsen, Danish footballer
  • 1980 – Karolina Lassbo, Swedish lawyer and blogger
  • 1980 – Matias Concha, Swedish footballer
  • 1980 – Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
  • 1980 – Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Ryan Bingham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1981 – Thomas Chatelle, Belgian footballer
  • 1981 – Han Tae-you, South Korean footballer
  • 1981 – Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer
  • 1981 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer
  • 1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer
  • 1982 – Bam Childress, American football player
  • 1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter
  • 1983 – Hashim Amla, South African cricketer
  • 1983 – Ashleigh Ball, Canadian voice actress and musician
  • 1983 – Sophie Hunger, Swiss-German musician
  • 1983 – Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast
  • 1983 – Nigel Plum, Australian rugby league player
  • 1984 – David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Eddie Johnson, American soccer player
  • 1984 – James Jones, American football player
  • 1984 – Martins Dukurs, Latvian sled racer
  • 1984 – Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete
  • 1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer
  • 1984 – Ed Williamson, English rugby player
  • 1985 – Steve Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Jo-Lonn Dunbar, American football player
  • 1985 – Jesper Hansen, Danish footballer
  • 1985 – Ivan Mishyn, Ukrainian race car driver
  • 1985 – Kory Sheets, American football player
  • 1985 – Jalmar Sjöberg, Swedish wrestler
  • 1986 – Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer
  • 1986 – James King, Scottish rugby player
  • 1986 – Paulo Machado, Portuguese footballer
  • 1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer
  • 1987 – Hugo Ayala, Mexican footballer
  • 1987 – Amaury Bischoff, Portuguese footballer
  • 1987 – Humpy Koneru, Indian chess player
  • 1987 – Kirill Starkov, Danish ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Nelli Zhiganshina, Russian figure skater
  • 1988 – Thomas De Corte, Belgian footballer
  • 1988 – Conrad Sewell, Australian singer and songwriter
  • 1988 – Dorin Dickerson, American football player
  • 1988 – DeAndre Liggins, American basketball player
  • 1988 – Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer
  • 1989 – Alberto Martín Romo García Adámez, Spanish footballer
  • 1989 – Nejc Vidmar, Slovenian footballer
  • 1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
  • 1990 – George Iloka, American football player
  • 1990 – Sandra Roma, Swedish tennis player
  • 1990 – Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper
  • 1991 – Milan Milanović, Serbian footballer
  • 1991 – Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer
  • 1992 – Stijn de Looijer, Dutch footballer
  • 1992 – Adam Zampa, Australian cricketer
  • 1993 – Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer
  • 1994 – Samira Asghari, Afghan member of the International Olympic Committee
  • 1994 – Tyler Wright, Australian surfer
  • 1994 – Mads Würtz Schmidt, Danish road cyclist
  • 1995 – Fiona Brown, footballer
  • 1998 – Jakob Chychrun, American-born Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1999 – Japhet Tanganga, English footballer

Deaths on March 31

  • 32 BC – Titus Pomponius Atticus, Roman nobleman of the Equestrian order (b. 109 BC)
  • 528 – Xiaoming, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 510)
  • 963 – Abu Ja’far Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Saffarid emir (b. 906)
  • 1241 – Pousa, voivode of Transylvania
  • 1251 – William of Modena, Italian bishop and diplomat
  • 1340 – Ivan I of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1288)
  • 1342 – Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro, Italian Augustinian monk
  • 1462 – Isidore II of Constantinople, patriarch of Constantinople
  • 1491 – Bonaventura Tornielli, Italian Roman Catholic priest (b. 1411)
  • 1547 – Francis I, French king (b. 1494)
  • 1567 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1504)
  • 1621 – Philip III, Spanish king (b. 1578)
  • 1622 – Gonzalo Méndez de Canço, Royal Governor of La Florida (b. 1554)
  • 1631 – John Donne, English lawyer and poet (b. 1572)
  • 1671 – Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (b. 1637)
  • 1723 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English soldier and politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1661)
  • 1741 – Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch scholar and author (b. 1668)
  • 1751 – Frederick, Prince of Wales, Hanoverian-born heir to the British throne (b. 1707)better source needed
  • 1797 – Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian merchant, author, and activist (b.1745)
  • 1837 – John Constable, English painter and educator (b. 1776)
  • 1850 – John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (b. 1782)
  • 1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1816)
  • 1877 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1801)
  • 1880 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1835)
  • 1885 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (b. 1819)
  • 1907 – Galusha A. Grow, American lawyer and politician, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1823)
  • 1910 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet, essayist and art critic (b. 1856)
  • 1913 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier (b. 1837)
  • 1915 – Wyndham Halswelle, English-Scottish runner and captain (b. 1882)
  • 1917 – Emil von Behring, German physiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854)
  • 1924 – George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator (b. 1855)
  • 1927 – Kang Youwei, Chinese scholar and political reformer (b. 1858)
  • 1930 – Ludwig Schüler, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1836)
  • 1931 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (b. 1888)
  • 1935 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman and diplomat, founded Prince Matchabelli perfume (b. 1885)
  • 1939 – Ioannis Tsangaridis, Greek general (b. 1887)
  • 1944 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (b. 1885)
  • 1945 – Frank Findlay, New Zealand banker and politician (b. 1884)
  • 1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
  • 1950 – Robert Natus, Estonian architect (b. 1890)
  • 1952 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1956 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-American race car driver and actor (b. 1884)
  • 1968 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885)
  • 1970 – Semyon Timoshenko, Soviet Commander during the Winter War and the Eastern Front of World War II (b. 1894)
  • 1975 – Percy Alliss, English golfer (b. 1897)
  • 1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer and director (b. 1890)
  • 1978 – Astrid Allwyn, American actress (b. 1905)
  • 1978 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (b. 1899)
  • 1980 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author (b. 1905)
  • 1980 – Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (b. 1913)
  • 1981 – Enid Bagnold, English author and playwright (b. 1889)
  • 1983 – Christina Stead, Australian author and academic (b. 1902)
  • 1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (b. 1925)
  • 1988 – William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
  • 1993 – Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1965)
  • 1993 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (b. 1900)
  • 1995 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (b. 1971)
  • 1996 – Dante Giacosa, Italian automobile designer and engineer (b. 1905)
  • 1996 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
  • 1998 – Bella Abzug, American lawyer, activist, and politician (b. 1920)
  • 1998 – Tim Flock, American race car driver (b. 1924)
  • 1998 – Joel Ryce-Menuhin, American pianist (b. 1933)
  • 1999 – Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist and ethnographer (b. 1922)
  • 2001 – David Rocastle, English footballer (b. 1967)
  • 2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
  • 2002 – Barry Took, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
  • 2002 – Moturu Udayam, Indian activist and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2003 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (b. 1907)
  • 2003 – Anne Gwynne, American actress (b. 1918)
  • 2003 – Tommy Seebach, Danish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1949)
  • 2004 – Scott Helvenston, American soldier (b. 1965)
  • 2005 – Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist and academic (b. 1951)
  • 2005 – Justiniano Montano, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
  • 2005 – Frank Perdue, American businessman (b. 1920)
  • 2006 – Jackie McLean, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1931)
  • 2007 – Paul Watzlawick, Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Jules Dassin, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1911)
  • 2008 – Bill Keightley, American equipment manager (b. 1926)
  • 2009 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (b. 1927)
  • 2009 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and judge (b. 1911)
  • 2011 – Gil Clancy, American boxer and trainer (b. 1922)
  • 2011 – Alan Fitzgerald, Australian journalist and author (b. 1935)
  • 2011 – Mary Greyeyes, the first First Nations woman to join the Canadian Armed Forces (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Oddvar Hansen, Norwegian footballer and coach (b. 1921)
  • 2011 – Ishbel MacAskill, Scottish singer and actress (b. 1941)
  • 2011 – Henry Taub, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Judith Adams, New Zealand-Australian nurse and politician (b. 1943)
  • 2012 – Dale R. Corson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2012 – Bernard O. Gruenke, American stained glass artist (b. 1914)
  • 2012 – Jerry Lynch, American baseball player (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Alberto Sughi, Italian painter (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Halbert White, American economist and academic (b. 1950)
  • 2013 – Charles Amarin Brand, French archbishop (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Ernie Bridge, Australian singer and politician (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Bob Clarke, American illustrator (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Ahmad Sayyed Javadi, Iranian lawyer and politician, Iranian Minister of Interior (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Dmitri Uchaykin, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1980)
  • 2014 – Gonzalo Anes, Spanish economist, historian, and academic (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Roger Somville, Belgian painter (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Betty Churcher, Australian painter, historian, and curator (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Cocoa Fujiwara, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1983)
  • 2015 – Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian lawyer and politician (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Dalibor Vesely, Czech-English historian, author, and academic (b. 1934)
  • 2016 – Ronnie Corbett, Scottish comedian, actor and screenwriter (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician (b. 1927)
  • 2016 – Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-born English architect and academic, designed the Bridge Pavilion (b. 1950)
  • 2016 – Imre Kertész, Hungarian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
  • 2016 – Denise Robertson, British writer and television broadcaster (b. 1932)
  • 2017 – Gilbert Baker, American artist and LGBT rights activist (b. 1951)
  • 2017 – James Rosenquist, American artist (b. 1933)
  • 2019 – Nipsey Hussle, American rapper (b. 1985)

Holidays and observances on March 31

  • Cesar Chavez Day (United States)
  • Christian feast day
    • Abdas of Susa
    • Acathius of Melitene (Eastern Orthodox Church)
    • Anesius and companions
    • Benjamin
    • Balbina
    • John Donne (Anglican Communion, Lutheran)
    • March 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijan)
  • Freedom Day (Malta)
  • International Transgender Day of Visibility
  • King Nangklao Memorial Day (Thailand)
  • Thomas Mundy Peterson Day (New Jersey, United States)
  • Transfer Day (US Virgin Islands)
  • World Backup Day

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