272

  • May 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
    • 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
    • 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
    • 1176 – The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo.
    • 1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
    • 1246 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV.
    • 1254 – Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.
    • 1370 – Brussels massacre: Hundreds of Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host.
    • 1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
    • 1455 – Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
    • 1520 – The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.
    • 1629 – Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War.
    • 1762 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
    • 1762 – Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.
    • 1766 – A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region.
    • 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri.
    • 1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
    • 1809 – On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is repelled by an enemy army for the first time.
    • 1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day.
    • 1819 – SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
    • 1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
    • 1840 – The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
    • 1848 – Slavery is abolished in Martinique.
    • 1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent.
    • 1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army’s Red River Campaign ends in failure.
    • 1872 – Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
    • 1900 – The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative.
    • 1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their “Flying-Machine”.
    • 1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century.
    • 1915 – Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246.
    • 1926 – Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China.
    • 1927 – Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world’s most destructive earthquakes.
    • 1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
    • 1941 – During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah.
    • 1942 – Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies.
    • 1943 – Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern.
    • 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece.
    • 1957 – South Africa’s government approves of racial separation in universities.
    • 1958 – The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths is estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.
    • 1960 – The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
    • 1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.
    • 1963 – Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is shot in an assassination attempt, and dies five days later.
    • 1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson launches the Great Society.
    • 1967 – Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
    • 1967 – L’Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.
    • 1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
    • 1969 – Apollo 10’s lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon’s surface.
    • 1972 – Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
    • 1972 – Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave.
    • 1987 – Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India.
    • 1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
    • 1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
    • 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
    • 1994 – A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country’s ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
    • 1996 – The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.
    • 1998 – A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
    • 2000 – In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
    • 2002 – Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
    • 2010 – Air India Express Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737.
    • 2010 – Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the Uefa Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
    • 2011 – An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
    • 2012 – Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
    • 2014 – General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d’état, following six months of political turmoil.
    • 2014 – An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China’s far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
    • 2015 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum.
    • 2017 – Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
    • 2017 – United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.

    Births on May 22

    • 626 – Itzam K’an Ahk I, Mayan king (d. 686)
    • 1009 – Su Xun, Chinese writer (d. 1066)
    • 1408 – Annamacharya, Hindu saint (d. 1503)
    • 1539 – Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (d. 1621)
    • 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French soldier and governor (d. 1698)
    • 1644 – Gabriël Grupello, Flemish Baroque sculptor (d. 1730)
    • 1650 – Richard Brakenburgh, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1702)
    • 1694 – Daniel Gran, Austrian painter (d. 1757)
    • 1715 – François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and diplomat (d. 1794)
    • 1733 – Hubert Robert, French painter (d. 1808)
    • 1752 – Louis Legendre, French butcher and politician (d. 1797)
    • 1762 – Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, English politician (d. 1834)
    • 1770 – Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (d. 1840)
    • 1772 – Ram Mohan Roy, Indian philosopher and reformer (d. 1833)
    • 1782 – Hirose Tansō, Japanese neo-Confucian scholar, teacher, writer (d. 1856)
    • 1783 – William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (d. 1850)
    • 1808 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (d. 1855)
    • 1811 – Giulia Grisi, Italian soprano (d. 1869)
    • 1811 – Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, English politician (d. 1864)
    • 1813 – Richard Wagner, German composer (d. 1883)
    • 1814 – Amalia Lindegren, Swedish painter (d. 1891)
    • 1820 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter (d. 1910)
    • 1828 – Albrecht von Graefe, German ophthalmologist and academic (d. 1870)
    • 1831 – Henry Vandyke Carter, English anatomist and surgeon (d. 1897)
    • 1833 – Félix Bracquemond, French painter and etcher (d. 1914)
    • 1833 – Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1895)
    • 1841 – Catulle Mendès, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1909)
    • 1844 – Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (d. 1926)
    • 1846 – Rita Cetina Gutiérrez, Mexican poet, educator, and activist (d. 1908)
    • 1848 – Fritz von Uhde, German painter and educator (d. 1911)
    • 1849 – Aston Webb, English architect and academic (d. 1930)
    • 1858 – Belmiro de Almeida, Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor (d. 1935)
    • 1859 – Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (d. 1930)
    • 1859 – Tsubouchi Shōyō, Japanese author, playwright, and educator (d. 1935)
    • 1864 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (d. 1931)
    • 1868 – Augusto Pestana, Brazilian engineer and politician (d. 1934)
    • 1874 – Daniel François Malan, South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1959)
    • 1876 – Julius Klinger, Austrian painter and illustrator (d. 1942)
    • 1879 – Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 1947)
    • 1879 – Jean Cras, French admiral and composer (d. 1932)
    • 1879 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman and independence leader (d. 1926)
    • 1880 – Francis de Miomandre, French author and translator (d. 1959)
    • 1885 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian lawyer and politician (d. 1924)
    • 1885 – Soemu Toyoda, Japanese admiral (d. 1957)
    • 1887 – A. W. Sandberg, Danish film director and screenwriter (d. 1938)
    • 1891 – Johannes R. Becher, German politician, novelist, and poet (d. 1958)
    • 1894 – Friedrich Pollock, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1970)
    • 1897 – Robert Neumann, German and English-speaking author (d. 1975)
    • 1900 – Juan Arvizu, Mexican lyric opera tenor and bolero vocalist (d.1985)
    • 1901 – Maurice J. Tobin, American politician, 6th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1953)
    • 1902 – Jack Lambert, English footballer and manager (d. 1940)
    • 1902 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (d. 1956)
    • 1904 – Uno Lamm, Swedish electrical engineer and inventor (d. 1989)
    • 1905 – Bodo von Borries, German physicist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (d. 1956)
    • 1905 – Tom Driberg, British politician (d. 1976)
    • 1907 – Hergé, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1983)
    • 1907 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1989)
    • 1908 – Horton Smith, American golfer and captain (d. 1963)
    • 1909 – Margaret Mee, English illustrator and educator (d. 1988)
    • 1912 – Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
    • 1913 – Rafael Gil, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
    • 1913 – Dominique Rolin, Belgian author (d. 2012)
    • 1914 – Max Kohnstamm, Dutch historian and diplomat (d. 2010)
    • 1914 – Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet (d. 1993)
    • 1917 – George Aratani, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
    • 1917 – Jean-Louis Curtis, French author (d. 1995)
    • 1919 – Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian businessman and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2001)
    • 1920 – Thomas Gold, Austrian-American astrophysicist and academic (d. 2004)
    • 1921 – George S. Hammond, American scientist (d. 2005)
    • 1922 – Quinn Martin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1987)
    • 1924 – Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2018)
    • 1925 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1991)
    • 1927 – Michael Constantine, American actor
    • 1927 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Serge Doubrovsky, French theorist and author (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – John Mackenzie, Scottish director and producer (d. 2011)
    • 1928 – T. Boone Pickens, American businessman (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Hiroshi Sano, Japanese novelist (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Ahmed Fouad Negm, Egyptian poet (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Kenny Ball, English jazz trumpet player, vocalist, and bandleader (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Marisol Escobar, French-American sculptor (d. 2016)
    • 1930 – Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1978)
    • 1932 – Robert Spitzer, American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1933 – Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician and academic (d. 1996)
    • 1934 – Peter Nero, American pianist and conductor
    • 1936 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (d. 2014)
    • 1937 – Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
    • 1938 – Richard Benjamin, American actor and director
    • 1938 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (d. 1999)
    • 1939 – Paul Winfield, American actor (d. 2004)
    • 1940 – Kieth Merrill, American filmmaker
    • 1940 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (d. 2011)
    • 1940 – Bernard Shaw, American journalist
    • 1940 – Mick Tingelhoff, American Pro Football Hall of Famer
    • 1941 – Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician
    • 1942 – Roger Brown, American basketball player (d. 1997)
    • 1942 – Ted Kaczynski, American academic and mathematician turned anarchist and serial murderer (Unabomber)
    • 1942 – Barbara Parkins, Canadian actress
    • 1942 – Richard Oakes, Native American civil rights activist (d. 1972)
    • 1943 – Betty Williams, Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2020)
    • 1943 – Tommy John, American baseball player
    • 1944 – John Flanagan, Australian fantasy author
    • 1945 – Bob Katter, Australian politician
    • 1946 – George Best, Northern Irish footballer and manager (d. 2005)
    • 1946 – Michael Green, English physicist and academic
    • 1946 – Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager (d. 2015)
    • 1946 – Andrei Marga, Romanian philosopher, political scientist, politician
    • 1946 – Lyudmila Zhuravleva, Russian-Ukrainian astronomer
    • 1948 – Tomás Sánchez, Cuban painter and engraver
    • 1948 – Nedumudi Venu, Indian actor and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Cheryl Campbell, English actress
    • 1949 – Valentin Inzko, Austrian diplomat
    • 1950 – Bernie Taupin, English singer-songwriter and poet
    • 1953 – François Bon, French writer
    • 1953 – Cha Bum-kun, South Korean footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Paul Mariner, English footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1954 – Barbara May Cameron, Native American human rights activist (d. 2002)
    • 1954 – Shuji Nakamura, Japanese-American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1956 – Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet (d. 2018)
    • 1957 – Lisa Murkowski, American lawyer and politician
    • 1959 – David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Morrissey, English singer-songwriter and performer
    • 1959 – Kwak Jae-yong, South Korean director and screenwriter
    • 1959 – Mehbooba Mufti, Indian politician
    • 1960 – Hideaki Anno, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
    • 1962 – Brian Pillman, American football player and wrestler (d. 1997)
    • 1963 – Claude Closky, French contemporary artist
    • 1965 – Jay Carney, American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary
    • 1966 – Johnny Gill, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1966 – Wang Xiaoshuai, Chinese director and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Graham Linehan, Irish comedian, actor, and author
    • 1969 – Cathy McMorris Rodgers, American lawyer and politician
    • 1970 – Naomi Campbell, English model
    • 1970 – Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (d. 2019)
    • 1972 – Max Brooks, American author and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Danish actor
    • 1974 – Garba Lawal, Nigerian footballer
    • 1974 – Henrietta Ónodi, Hungarian Olympic gymnast
    • 1974 – Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian politician
    • 1975 – Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1976 – Christian Vande Velde, American cyclist
    • 1978 – Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress
    • 1978 – Katie Price, English television personality and glamour model
    • 1979 – Maggie Q, American actress
    • 1979 – Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-American actress
    • 1980 – Sharice Davids, American politician
    • 1980 – Lucy Gordon, British actress and model (d. 2009)
    • 1981 – Daniel Bryan, American wrestler
    • 1981 – Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer (d. 2015)
    • 1981 – Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
    • 1982 – Erin McNaught, Australian model and actress
    • 1982 – Apolo Ohno, American speed skater
    • 1982 – Hong Yong-jo, North Korean footballer
    • 1983 – Natasha Kai, American soccer player and Olympic medalist
    • 1984 – Karoline Herfurth, German actress
    • 1984 – Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer
    • 1984 – Dustin Moskovitz, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook
    • 1985 – Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer
    • 1985 – Tao Okamoto, Japanese model and actress
    • 1986 – Julian Edelman, American football player
    • 1986 – Matt Jarvis, English footballer
    • 1986 – Tatiana Volosozhar, Russian figure skater
    • 1987 – Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player
    • 1987 – Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer
    • 1988 – Heida Reed, Icelandic-British actress
    • 1989 – Corey Dickerson, American baseball player
    • 1990 – Wyatt Roy, Australian politician
    • 1991 – Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer
    • 1991 – Suho, South Korean singer and actor
    • 1992 – Anna Baryshnikov, American actress
    • 1994 – Florian Luger, Austrian male model
    • 1998 – Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model
    • 1999 – Camren Bicondova, American actress
    • 1999 – Femke Huijzer, Dutch model

    Deaths on May 22

    • 192 – Dong Zhuo, Chinese warlord and politician (b. 138)
    • 337 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (b. 272)
    • 748 – Empress Genshō of Japan (b. 683)
    • 1067 – Constantine X, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1006)
    • 1068 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (b. 1025)
    • 1310 – Saint Humility, founder of the Vallumbrosan religious order of nuns (b. c.1226)
    • 1409 – Blanche of England, sister of King Henry V (b. 1392)
    • 1455 – Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1406)
    • 1455 – Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, Lancastrian commander (b. 1414)
    • 1455 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English commander (b. 1393)
    • 1457 – Rita of Cascia, Italian nun and saint (b. 1381)
    • 1490 – Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, English administrator, nobleman and magnate (b. 1416)
    • 1538 – John Forest, English friar and martyr (b. 1471)
    • 1540 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (b. 1483)
    • 1545 – Sher Shah Suri, Indian ruler (b. 1486)
    • 1553 – Giovanni Bernardi, Italian sculptor and engraver (b. 1495)
    • 1602 – Renata of Lorraine (b. 1544)
    • 1609 – Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff, Dutch captain (b. 1573)
    • 1666 – Gaspar Schott, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1608)
    • 1667 – Pope Alexander VII (b. 1599)
    • 1745 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general (b. 1671)
    • 1760 – Baal Shem Tov, Polish rabbi and author (b. 1700)
    • 1772 – Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian and academic (b. 1687)
    • 1795 – Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg, Prussian politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (b. 1725)
    • 1802 – Martha Washington, First, First Lady of the United States (b. 1731)
    • 1851 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist and diplomat (b. 1755)
    • 1859 – Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (b. 1810)
    • 1861 – Thornsbury Bailey Brown, American soldier (b. 1829)
    • 1868 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
    • 1885 – Victor Hugo, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1802)
    • 1901 – Gaetano Bresci, Italian-American anarchist, assassin of Umberto I of Italy (b. 1869)
    • 1910 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (b. 1864)
    • 1932 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish activist, landlord, and playwright, co-founded the Abbey Theatre (b. 1852)
    • 1933 – Tsengeltiin Jigjidjav, Mongolian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1894)
    • 1938 – William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (b. 1870)
    • 1939 – Ernst Toller, German playwright and author (b. 1893)
    • 1939 – Jiří Mahen, Czech author and playwright (b. 1882)
    • 1954 – Chief Bender, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1884)
    • 1965 – Christopher Stone, English radio host (b. 1882)
    • 1966 – Tom Goddard, English cricketer (b. 1900)
    • 1967 – Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright (b. 1902)
    • 1967 – Charlotte Serber, American Librarian of the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos site (b. 1911)
    • 1972 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet and author (b. 1904)
    • 1972 – Margaret Rutherford, English actress (b. 1892)
    • 1974 – Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (b. 1903)
    • 1975 – Lefty Grove, American baseball player (b. 1900)
    • 1982 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (b. 1899)
    • 1983 – Albert Claude, Belgian biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
    • 1985 – Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator, director, and producer (b. 1909)
    • 1988 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1914)
    • 1989 – Steven De Groote, South African pianist and educator (b. 1953)
    • 1990 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer (b. 1922)
    • 1991 – Shripad Amrit Dange, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1899)
    • 1991 – Stan Mortensen, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
    • 1992 – Zellig Harris, American linguist and academic (b. 1909)
    • 1993 – Mieczysław Horszowski, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1892)
    • 1997 – Alziro Bergonzo, Italian architect and painter (b. 1906)
    • 1997 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
    • 1998 – John Derek, American actor, director, and photographer (b. 1926)
    • 1998 – José Enrique Moyal, Israeli physicist and engineer (b. 1910)
    • 2000 – Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Richard Biggs, American actor (b. 1960)
    • 2004 – Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (b. 1945)
    • 2005 – Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (b. 1914)
    • 2005 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (b. 1914)
    • 2006 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (b. 1945)
    • 2007 – Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (b. 1970)
    • 2008 – Robert Asprin, American soldier and author (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – Martin Gardner, American mathematician, cryptographer, and author (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – Muzafar Bhutto, Pakistani politician (b. 1970)
    • 2012 – Wesley A. Brown, American lieutenant and engineer (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Marques Haynes, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Vladimir Katriuk, Ukrainian-Canadian SS officer (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Velimir “Bata” Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (b. 1981)
    • 2019 – Judith Kerr, German-born British writer and illustrator (b. 1923)
    • 2020 – Denise Cronenberg, Canadian costume designer (b. 1938)

    Holidays and observances on May 22

    • Abolition Day (Martinique)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Castus and Emilius
      • Fulk
      • Humilita
      • Michael Hồ Đình Hy (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)
      • Quiteria
      • Rita of Cascia
      • Romanus of Subiaco
      • May 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Harvey Milk Day (California)
    • International Day for Biological Diversity (International)
    • United States National Maritime Day
    • National Sovereignty Day (Haiti)
    • Republic Day (Sri Lanka)
    • Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari (Ukraine)
    • Unity Day (Yemen), celebrates the unification of North and South Yemen into the Republic of Yemen in 1990.
    • World Goth Day

  • April 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances 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)
  • |

    February 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
    • 425 – The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
    • 907 – Abaoji, a Khitan chieftain, is enthroned as Emperor Taizu, establishing the Liao dynasty in northern China.
    • 1560 – The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Lords of the Congregation of Scotland.
    • 1594 – Henry IV is crowned King of France.
    • 1617 – Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.
    • 1626 – Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after leading the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci.
    • 1700 – The island of New Britain is discovered by Europeans.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
    • 1782 – American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America.
    • 1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
    • 1809 – Action of 27 February 1809: Captain Bernard Dubourdieu captures HMS Proserpine.
    • 1812 – Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.
    • 1812 – Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
    • 1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
    • 1860 – Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that is largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
    • 1870 – The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.
    • 1881 – First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
    • 1898 – King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.
    • 1900 – The British Labour Party is founded.
    • 1900 – Fußball-Club Bayern München is founded.
    • 1902 – Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria after being convicted of war crimes.
    • 1916 – Ocean liner SS Maloja strikes a mine near Dover and sinks with the loss of 155 lives.
    • 1921 – The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.
    • 1922 – A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.
    • 1933 – Reichstag fire: Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire; Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch Communist claims responsibility.
    • 1939 – United States labor law: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. that the National Labor Relations Board has no authority to force an employer to rehire workers who engage in sit-down strikes.
    • 1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14.
    • 1942 – World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.
    • 1943 – The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.
    • 1943 – In Berlin, the Gestapo arrest 1,800 Jewish men with German wives, leading to the Rosenstrasse protest.
    • 1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
    • 1961 – The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated.
    • 1962 – Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngô Đình Diệm.
    • 1963 – The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.
    • 1964 – The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
    • 1971 – Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start performing artificially-induced abortions.
    • 1973 – The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government.
    • 1976 – The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
    • 1988 – Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent pogrom.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that “Kuwait is liberated”.
    • 2002 – Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport. Subsequent investigations criticize Ryanair’s handling of the evacuation.
    • 2002 – Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims.
    • 2004 – A bombing of a Superferry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines’ worst terrorist attack kills 116.
    • 2004 – Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is sentenced to death for masterminding the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.
    • 2007 – The Chinese Correction: The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest drop in ten years.
    • 2010 – An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale strikes central parts of Chile leaving over 500 victims, and thousands injured. The quake triggers a tsunami which strikes Hawaii shortly after.
    • 2013 – A shooting takes place at a factory in Menznau, Switzerland, in which five people (including the perpetrator) are killed and five others injured.
    • 2015 – Russian politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated.

    Births on February 27

    • 272 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (d. 337)
    • 1343 – Alberto d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara (d. 1393)
    • 1427 – Ruprecht, Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1480)
    • 1500 – João de Castro, Portuguese nobleman and fourth viceroy of Portuguese India (d. 1548)
    • 1535 – Min Phalaung, Burmese monarch (d. 1593)
    • 1567 – William Alabaster, English poet (d. 1640)
    • 1572 – Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1632)
    • 1575 – John Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1616)
    • 1622 – Carel Fabritius, Dutch painter (d. 1654)
    • 1630 – Roche Braziliano, Dutch pirate (d. 1671)
    • 1659 – William Sherard, English botanist (d. 1728)
    • 1667 – Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł, Prussian-Lithuanian wife of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1695)
    • 1689 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian composer, director, historian, and geographer (d. 1775)
    • 1703 – Lord Sidney Beauclerk, English politician (d. 1744)
    • 1711 – Constantine Mavrocordatos, Ottoman ruler (d. 1769)
    • 1724 – Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1767)
    • 1732 – Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin, French cardinal (d. 1804)
    • 1746 – Louis-Jérôme Gohier, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1830)
    • 1748 – Anders Sparrman, Swedish physician and activist (d. 1820)
    • 1767 – Jacques-Charles Dupont de l’Eure, French lawyer and politician, 24th Prime Minister of France (d. 1855)
    • 1779 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English businessman, founded Hazlehurst & Sons (d. 1842)
    • 1789 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (d. 1818)
    • 1795 – José Antonio Navarro, American merchant and politician (d. 1871)
    • 1799 – Edward Belcher, British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer (d. 1877)
    • 1799 – Frederick Catherwood, British artist, architect and explorer (d. 1854)
    • 1807 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (d. 1882)
    • 1809 – Jean-Charles Cornay, French missionary and saint (d. 1837)
    • 1816 – William Nicholson, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Victoria (d. 1865)
    • 1847 – Ellen Terry, English actress (d. 1928)
    • 1848 – Hubert Parry, English composer and historian (d. 1918)
    • 1859 – Bertha Pappenheim, Austrian-German activist and author (d. 1936)
    • 1863 – Joaquín Sorolla, Spanish painter (d. 1923)
    • 1863 – George Herbert Mead, American sociologist and philosopher (d. 1930)
    • 1864 – Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1935)
    • 1867 – Irving Fisher, American economist and statistician (d. 1947)
    • 1867 – Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Swedish composer and critic (d. 1942)
    • 1869 – Alice Hamilton, American physician and academic (d. 1970)
    • 1872 – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Romanian politician, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1950)
    • 1875 – Vladimir Filatov, Russian-Ukrainian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1956)
    • 1877 – Adela Verne, English pianist and composer (d. 1952)
    • 1877 – Joseph Grinnell, American zoologist and biologist (d. 1939)
    • 1878 – Alvan T. Fuller, American businessman and politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
    • 1880 – Xenophon Kasdaglis, Greek-Egyptian tennis player (d. 1943)
    • 1881 – Sveinn Björnsson, Danish-Icelandic lawyer and politician, 1st President of Iceland (d. 1952)
    • 1881 – L. E. J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1886 – Hugo Black, American captain, jurist, and politician (d. 1971)
    • 1887 – Pyotr Nesterov, Russian captain, pilot, and engineer (d. 1914)
    • 1888 – Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist and psychologist (d. 1974)
    • 1888 – Lotte Lehmann, German-American soprano and actress (d. 1976)
    • 1890 – Mabel Keaton Staupers, American nurse and advocate (d. 1989)
    • 1891 – David Sarnoff, American businessman, founded RCA (d. 1971)
    • 1892 – William Demarest, American actor (d. 1983)
    • 1895 – Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1943)
    • 1897 – Marian Anderson, American singer (d. 1993)
    • 1899 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (d. 1978)
    • 1901 – Marino Marini, Italian sculptor and academic (d. 1980)
    • 1901 – Kotama Okada, Japanese religious leader (d. 1974)
    • 1902 – Lúcio Costa, French-Brazilian architect and engineer, designed Gustavo Capanema Palace (d. 1998)
    • 1902 – Gene Sarazen, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1999)
    • 1902 – John Steinbeck, American journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
    • 1903 – Reginald Gardiner, English-American actor and singer (d. 1980)
    • 1903 – Hans Rohrbach, German mathematician (d. 1993)
    • 1903 – Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Belorussian-American rabbi and philosopher (d. 1993)
    • 1904 – James T. Farrell, American author and poet (d. 1979)
    • 1904 – André Leducq, French cyclist (d. 1980)
    • 1904 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1996)
    • 1905 – Franchot Tone, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1968)
    • 1907 – Mildred Bailey, American singer (d. 1951)
    • 1907 – Momčilo Đujić, Serbian-American priest and commander (d. 1999)
    • 1910 – Joan Bennett, American actress (d. 1990)
    • 1910 – Peter De Vries, American journalist and author (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Genrikh Kasparyan, Armenian chess player and composer (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Kelly Johnson, American engineer, co-founded Skunk Works (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Oscar Heidenstam, English bodybuilder (d. 1991)
    • 1912 – Kusumagraj, Indian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1999)
    • 1912 – Lawrence Durrell, Indian-French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1990)
    • 1913 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish soldier and politician, President of Poland (d. 1989)
    • 1913 – Irwin Shaw, American author and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1915 – Denis Whitaker, Canadian general, football player, and businessman (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – John Connally, American lieutenant and politician, 61st United States Secretary of Treasury (d. 1993)
    • 1920 – Reg Simpson, English cricketer (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Hans Rookmaaker, Dutch historian, author, and scholar (d. 1977)
    • 1923 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (d. 1990)
    • 1925 – Pia Sebastiani, Argentine pianist and composer (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Kenneth Koch, American poet, playwright and professor (d. 2002)
    • 1926 – David H. Hubel, Canadian-American neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Peter Whittle, English-New Zealand mathematician and theorist
    • 1928 – René Clemencic, Austrian composer, recorder player, harpsichordist, conductor and clavichord player
    • 1929 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Patricia Ward Hales, British tennis player (d. 1985)
    • 1930 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Peter Stone, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2003)
    • 1930 – Paul von Ragué Schleyer, American chemist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Joanne Woodward, American actress
    • 1932 – Dame Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress and humanitarian (d. 2011)
    • 1932 – David Young, Baron Young of Graffham, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
    • 1933 – Raymond Berry, American football player and coach
    • 1933 – Malcolm Wallop, American politician (d. 2011)
    • 1934 – Vincent Fourcade, French interior designer (d. 1992)
    • 1934 – Ralph Nader, American lawyer, politician, and activist
    • 1935 – Mirella Freni, Italian soprano and actress (d. 2020)
    • 1935 – Uri Shulevitz, American author and illustrator
    • 1936 – Sonia Johnson, American feminist activist and author
    • 1936 – Ron Barassi, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1936 – Roger Mahony, American cardinal
    • 1937 – Barbara Babcock, American actress
    • 1938 – Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist (d. 2002)
    • 1939 – Don McKinnon, English-New Zealand farmer and politician, 12th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1939 – Peter Revson, American race car driver (d. 1974)
    • 1940 – Pierre Duchesne, Canadian lawyer and politician, 28th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
    • 1940 – Howard Hesseman, American actor
    • 1940 – Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
    • 1941 – Paddy Ashdown, British captain and politician (d. 2018)
    • 1942 – Jimmy Burns, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1942 – Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1942 – Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist
    • 1942 – Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (d. 2011)
    • 1943 – Mary Frann, American actress (d. 1998)
    • 1943 – Morten Lauridsen, American composer and conductor
    • 1943 – Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1944 – Ken Grimwood, American author (d. 2003)
    • 1944 – Graeme Pollock, South African cricketer and coach
    • 1944 – Sir Roger Scruton, English philosopher and writer (d. 2020)
    • 1947 – Alan Guth, American physicist and cosmologist
    • 1947 – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist and conductor
    • 1950 – Annabel Goldie, Scottish lawyer and politician
    • 1950 – Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, English rabbi and politician
    • 1951 – Carl A. Anderson, 13th Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus
    • 1951 – Lee Atwater, American journalist, activist and political strategist (d. 1991)
    • 1951 – Walter de Silva, Italian car designer
    • 1951 – Steve Harley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1953 – Gavin Esler, Scottish journalist and author
    • 1953 – Ian Khama, English-Botswanan lieutenant and politician, 4th President of Botswana
    • 1953 – Stelios Kouloglou, Greek journalist, author, director and politician
    • 1954 – Neal Schon, American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter
    • 1956 – Belus Prajoux, Chilean tennis player
    • 1957 – Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Kevin Curran, American screenwriter and television producer (d. 2016)
    • 1957 – Robert de Castella, Australian runner
    • 1957 – Adrian Smith, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1957 – Timothy Spall, English actor
    • 1958 – Naas Botha, South African rugby player and sportscaster
    • 1958 – Maggie Hassan, American politician, 81st Governor and United States Senator of New Hampshire
    • 1960 – Andrés Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player
    • 1960 – Johnny Van Zant, American singer-songwriter
    • 1961 – James Worthy, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1962 – Adam Baldwin, American actor
    • 1963 – Nasty Suicide, Finnish musician and pharmacist
    • 1964 – Jeffrey Pasley, American educator and academic
    • 1965 – Noah Emmerich, American actor
    • 1965 – Pedro Chaves, Portuguese race car driver
    • 1966 – Donal Logue, Canadian actor and director
    • 1966 – Oliver Reck, German footballer and manager
    • 1966 – Baltasar Kormákur, Icelandic actor, director, and producer
    • 1967 – Dănuț Lupu, Romanian footballer
    • 1967 – Jony Ive, English industrial designer, former chief design officer (CDO) of Apple
    • 1968 – Matt Stairs, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Gareth Llewellyn, Welsh rugby union player
    • 1969 – Juan E. Gilbert, American computer scientist, inventor, and academic
    • 1970 – Kent Desormeaux, American jockey
    • 1970 – Patricia Petibon, French soprano and actress
    • 1971 – Sara Blakely, American businesswoman, founded Spanx
    • 1971 – Derren Brown, English magician and painter
    • 1971 – David Rikl, Czech-English tennis player
    • 1971 – Roman Giertych, Polish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
    • 1971 – Rozonda Thomas, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (TLC)
    • 1973 – Peter Andre, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1973 – Mark Taylor, Welsh rugby player and manager
    • 1974 – Carte Goodwin, American lawyer and politician
    • 1975 – Aitor González, Spanish racing driver
    • 1975 – Prodromos Korkizoglou, Greek decathlete
    • 1976 – Sergei Semak, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
    • 1976 – Ludovic Capelle, Belgian cyclist
    • 1978 – James Beattie, English footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer and politician
    • 1978 – Emelie Öhrstig, Swedish skier and cyclist
    • 1978 – Simone Di Pasquale, Italian ballet dancer
    • 1980 – Chelsea Clinton, American journalist and academic
    • 1980 – Scott Prince, Australian rugby league player
    • 1981 – Josh Groban, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1981 – Natalie Grandin, English-South African tennis player
    • 1981 – Élodie Ouédraogo, Belgian sprinter
    • 1982 – Ali Bastian, English actress
    • 1982 – Pat Richards, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Bruno Soares, Brazilian tennis player
    • 1983 – Devin Harris, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Kate Mara, American actress
    • 1984 – Aníbal Sánchez, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Lotta Schelin, Swedish footballer
    • 1984 – Akseli Kokkonen, Norwegian ski jumper
    • 1985 – Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Russian footballer
    • 1985 – Braydon Coburn, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Vladislav Kulik, Ukrainian-Russian footballer
    • 1985 – Asami Abe, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1985 – Thiago Neves, Brazilian footballer
    • 1985 – Brett Stewart, Australian rugby league player
    • 1986 – Yovani Gallardo, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Jonathan Moreira, Brazilian footballer
    • 1986 – Sandeep Singh, Indian field hockey player
    • 1987 – Scott Davies, English footballer
    • 1987 – Bridie Kean, Australian wheelchair basketball player
    • 1987 – Florence Kiplagat, Kenyan runner
    • 1987 – Sandy Paillot, French footballer
    • 1987 – Valeriy Andriytsev, Ukrainian wrestler
    • 1987 – Maximiliano Moralez, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Iain Ramsay, Australian footballer
    • 1988 – Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – David Button, English footballer, goalkeeper
    • 1989 – Lloyd Rigby, English footballer
    • 1990 – Elijah Taylor, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1991 – Azeem Rafiq, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1992 – Ty Dillon, American race car driver
    • 1992 – Meyers Leonard, American basketball player
    • 1992 – Filip Krajinović, Serbian tennis player
    • 1992 – Ioannis Potouridis, Greek footballer
    • 1992 – Jonjo Shelvey, English footballer
    • 1995 – Laura Gulbe, Latvian tennis player
    • 1998 – Todd Cantwell, English footballer

    Deaths on February 27

    • 640 – Pepin of Landen, Frankish lord (b. 580)
    • 906 – Conrad the Elder, Frankish nobleman
    • 956 – Theophylact, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 917)
    • 1167 – Robert of Melun, English theologian and bishop
    • 1416 – Eleanor of Castile, queen consort of Navarre (b. c. 1363)
    • 1425 – Prince Vasily I of Moscow (b. 1371)
    • 1483 – William VIII of Montferrat (b. 1420)
    • 1558 – Johann Faber of Heilbronn, controversial Catholic preacher (b. 1504)
    • 1558 – Kunigunde of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, German Noblewoman (b. 1524)
    • 1659 – Henry Dunster, English-American clergyman and academic (b. 1609)
    • 1699 – Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (b. 1625)
    • 1706 – John Evelyn, English gardener and author (b. 1620)
    • 1712 – Sir William Villiers, 3rd Baronet, English politician (b. 1645)
    • 1720 – Samuel Parris, English-American minister (b. 1653)
    • 1735 – John Arbuthnot, Scottish physician and polymath (b. 1667)
    • 1784 – Count of St. Germain, European adventurer (b. 1710)
    • 1795 – Tanikaze Kajinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1750)
    • 1844 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and politician (b. 1786)
    • 1887 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer and chemist (b. 1833)
    • 1892 – Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer and businessman, founded Louis Vuitton (b. 1821)
    • 1902 – Harry “Breaker” Morant, English-Australian lieutenant (b. 1864)
    • 1921 – Schofield Haigh, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1871)
    • 1931 – Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian revolutionary (b. 1906)
    • 1936 – Joshua W. Alexander, American judge and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1852)
    • 1936 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1849)
    • 1937 – Hosteen Klah, Navajo artist, medicine man, and weaver (b. 1867)
    • 1937 – Emily Malbone Morgan, American saint, foundress of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross (b. 1862)
    • 1943 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet and playwright (b. 1859)
    • 1956 – Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Speaker of the Lok Sabha (b. 1888)
    • 1964 – Orry-Kelly, Australian-American costume designer (b. 1897)
    • 1968 – Frankie Lymon, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
    • 1969 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (b. 1883)
    • 1973 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (b. 1917)
    • 1977 – John Dickson Carr, American author and playwright (b. 1905)
    • 1980 – George Tobias, American actor (b. 1901)
    • 1985 – Ray Ellington, English singer and drummer (b. 1916)
    • 1985 – Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American politician and diplomat, 3rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1902)
    • 1985 – J. Pat O’Malley, English-American actor and singer (b. 1904)
    • 1986 – Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1929)
    • 1987 – Bill Holman, American cartoonist (b. 1903)
    • 1987 – Joan Greenwood, English actress (b. 1921)
    • 1989 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1992 – S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American linguist and politician (b. 1906)
    • 1993 – Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
    • 1998 – George H. Hitchings, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
    • 1998 – J. T. Walsh, American actor (b. 1943)
    • 1999 – Horace Tapscott, American pianist and composer (b. 1934)
    • 2002 – Spike Milligan, Irish soldier, actor, comedian, and author (b. 1918)
    • 2003 – John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (b. 1923)
    • 2003 – Fred Rogers, American minister and television host (b. 1928)
    • 2004 – Yoshihiko Amino, Japanese historian and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2004 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and journalist (b. 1910)
    • 2006 – Otis Chandler, American publisher (b. 1927)
    • 2006 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American general and author (b. 1908)
    • 2006 – Linda Smith, English comedian and author (b. 1958)
    • 2007 – Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, German general (b. 1914)
    • 2008 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and journalist, founded the National Review (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – Ivan Rebroff, German vocalist of Russian descent with four and a half octave range (b. 1931)
    • 2010 – Nanaji Deshmukh, Indian educator and activist (b. 1916)
    • 2011 – Frank Buckles, American soldier (b. 1901)
    • 2011 – Necmettin Erbakan, Turkish engineer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Duke Snider, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Gary Winick, American director and producer (b. 1961)
    • 2012 – Ma Jiyuan, Chinese general (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Tina Strobos, Dutch physician and psychiatrist (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Helga Vlahović, Croatian journalist and producer (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Van Cliburn, American pianist (b. 1934)
    • 2013 – Ramon Dekkers, Dutch mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (b. 1969)
    • 2013 – Dale Robertson, American actor (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Adolfo Zaldívar, Chilean lawyer and politician (b. 1943)
    • 2014 – Aaron Allston, American game designer and author (b. 1960)
    • 2014 – Terry Rand, American basketball player (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Boris Nemtsov, Russian academic and politician, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1959)
    • 2015 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Julio César Strassera, Argentinian lawyer and jurist (b. 1933)
    • 2016 – Yi Cheol-seung, South Korean lawyer and politician (b. 1922)
    • 2016 – James Z. Davis, American lawyer and judge (b. 1943)
    • 2018 – Steve Folkes, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1959)
    • 2019 – France-Albert René, Seychellois politician, 2nd President of Seychelles (b. 1935)

    Holidays and observances on February 27

    • Christian feast day:
      • Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
      • George Herbert (Anglicanism)
      • Honorina
      • Leander
      • February 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • The second day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Note: this observance is only on this date in the Gregorian calendar if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it does not in all years)
    • Doctors’ Day (Vietnam)
    • Independence Day (Dominican Republic), celebrates the first independence of Dominican Republic from Haiti in 1844.
    • Majuba Day (some Afrikaners in South Africa)
    • Marathi Language Day (Maharashtra, India)
    • World NGO Day
    • International Polar Bear Day