June 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 226 – Cao Rui succeeds his father as emperor of the Kingdom of Wei.
  • 1149 – Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi.
  • 1194 – Sverre is crowned King of Norway, leading to his excommunication by the Catholic Church and civil war.
  • 1444 – Skanderbeg defeats an Ottoman invasion force at Torvioll.
  • 1534 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to reach Prince Edward Island.
  • 1613 – The Globe Theatre in London, built by William Shakespeare‘s playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, burns to the ground.
  • 1644 – Charles I of England defeats a Parliamentarian detachment at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge.
  • 1659 – At the Battle of Konotop the Ukrainian armies of Ivan Vyhovsky defeat the Russians led by Prince Trubetskoy.
  • 1786 – Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario.
  • 1807 – Russo-Turkish War: Admiral Dmitry Senyavin destroys the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Athos.
  • 1850 – Autocephaly officially granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to the Church of Greece.
  • 1864 – At least 99 people, mostly German and Polish immigrants, are killed in Canada’s worst railway disaster after a train fails to stop for an open drawbridge and plunges into the Rivière Richelieu near St-Hilaire, Quebec.
  • 1874 – Greek politician Charilaos Trikoupis publishes a manifesto in the Athens daily Kairoi entitled “Who’s to Blame?” leveling complaints against King George. Trikoupis is elected Prime Minister of Greece the next year.
  • 1880 – France annexes Tahiti, renaming the independent Kingdom of Tahiti as “Etablissements de français de l’Océanie”.
  • 1881 – In Sudan, Muhammad Ahmad declares himself to be the Mahdi, the messianic redeemer of Islam.
  • 1888 – George Edward Gouraud records Handel’s Israel in Egypt onto a phonograph cylinder, thought for many years to be the oldest known recording of music.
  • 1889 – Hyde Park and several other Illinois townships vote to be annexed by Chicago, forming the largest United States city in area and second largest in population at the time.
  • 1915 – The North Saskatchewan River flood of 1915 is the worst flood in Edmonton history.
  • 1916 – British diplomat turned Irish nationalist Roger Casement is sentenced to death for his part in the Easter Rising.
  • 1922 – France grants 1 km2 at Vimy Ridge “freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes”.
  • 1927 – The Bird of Paradise, a U.S. Army Air Corps Fokker tri-motor, completes the first transpacific flight, from the mainland United States to Hawaii.
  • 1945 – The Soviet Union annexes the Czechoslovak province of Carpathian Ruthenia.
  • 1950 – Korean War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman authorizes a sea blockade of Korea.
  • 1956 – The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 is signed by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, officially creating the United States Interstate Highway System.
  • 1972 – The United States Supreme Court rules in the case Furman v. Georgia that arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
  • 1974 – Vice President Isabel Perón assumes powers and duties as Acting President of Argentina, while her husband President Juan Peron is terminally ill.
  • 1974 – Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from the Soviet Union to Canada while on tour with the Kirov Ballet.
  • 1975 – Steve Wozniak tested his first prototype of Apple I computer.
  • 1976 – The Seychelles become independent from the United Kingdom.
  • 1976 – The Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Europe convenes in East Berlin.
  • 1987 – Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, the Le Pont de Trinquetaille, was bought for $20.4 million at an auction in London, England.
  • 1995 – Space Shuttle program: STS-71 Mission (Atlantis) docks with the Russian space station Mir for the first time.
  • 1995 – The Sampoong Department Store collapses in the Seocho District of Seoul, South Korea, killing 501 and injuring 937.
  • 2002 – Naval clashes between South Korea and North Korea lead to the death of six South Korean sailors and sinking of a North Korean vessel.
  • 2006 – Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that President George W. Bush’s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates U.S. and international law.
  • 2007 – Apple Inc. releases its first mobile phone, the iPhone.
  • 2012 – A derecho sweeps across the eastern United States, leaving at least 22 people dead and millions without power.
  • 2014 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant self-declared its caliphate in Syria and northern Iraq.

Births on June 29

  • 1136 – Petronilla of Aragon (d. 1173)
  • 1326 – Murad I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1389)
  • 1398 – John II of Aragon and Navarre (d. 1479)
  • 1443 – Anthony Browne, English knight (d. 1506)
  • 1482 – Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (d. 1517)
  • 1488 – Pedro Pacheco de Villena, Catholic cardinal (d. 1560)
  • 1517 – Rembert Dodoens, Flemish physician and botanist (d. 1585)
  • 1525 – Peter Agricola, German humanist, theologian, diplomat and statesman (d. 1585)
  • 1528 – Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1589)
  • 1543 – Christine of Hesse, Duchess consort of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1604)
  • 1596 – Emperor Go-Mizunoo of Japan (d. 1680)
  • 1621 – Willem van der Zaan, Dutch Admiral (d. 1669)
  • 1686 – Pietro Paolo Troisi, Maltese artist (d. 1743)
  • 1746 – Joachim Heinrich Campe, German linguist, author, and educator (d. 1818)
  • 1768 – Vincenzo Dimech, Maltese sculptor (d. 1831)
  • 1787 – Lavinia Stoddard, American poet, school founder (d. 1820)
  • 1793 – Josef Ressel, Czech-Austrian inventor, invented the propeller (d. 1857)
  • 1798 – Willibald Alexis, German author and poet (d. 1871)
  • 1798 – Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet and philosopher (d. 1837)
  • 1801 – Frédéric Bastiat, French economist and theorist (d. 1850)
  • 1803 – John Newton Brown, American minister and author (d. 1868)
  • 1818 – Angelo Secchi, Italian astronomer and academic (d. 1878)
  • 1819 – Thomas Dunn English, American poet, playwright, and politician (d. 1902)
  • 1833 – Peter Waage, Norwegian chemist and academic (d. 1900)
  • 1835 – Celia Thaxter, American poet and story writer (d. 1894)
  • 1844 – Peter I of Serbia (d. 1921)
  • 1849 – Pedro Montt, Chilean lawyer and politician, 15th President of Chile (d. 1910)
  • 1849 – Sergei Witte, Russian politician, 1st Chairmen of Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire (d. 1915)
  • 1849 – John Hunn, American businessman and politician, 51st Governor of Delaware (d. 1926)
  • 1858 – George Washington Goethals, American general and engineer, co-designed the Panama Canal (d. 1928)
  • 1858 – Julia Lathrop, American activist and politician (d. 1932)
  • 1861 – William James Mayo, American physician and surgeon, co-founded the Mayo Clinic (d. 1939)
  • 1863 – Wilbert Robinson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1934)
  • 1866 – Bartholomeus Roodenburch, Dutch swimmer (d. 1939)
  • 1868 – George Ellery Hale, American astronomer and journalist (d. 1938)
  • 1870 – Joseph Carl Breil, American tenor, composer, and director (d. 1926)
  • 1873 – Leo Frobenius, German ethnologist and archaeologist (d. 1938)
  • 1879 – Benedetto Aloisi Masella, Italian cardinal (d. 1970)
  • 1880 – Ludwig Beck, German general (d. 1944)
  • 1881 – Harry Frazee, American director, producer, and agent (d. 1929)
  • 1881 – Curt Sachs, German-American composer and musicologist (d. 1959)
  • 1882 – Henry Hawtrey, English runner (d. 1961)
  • 1882 – Franz Seldte, German captain and politician, Reich Minister for Labour (d. 1947)
  • 1886 – Robert Schuman, Luxembourgian-French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1963)
  • 1888 – Squizzy Taylor, Australian gangster (d. 1927)
  • 1889 – Willie Macfarlane, Scottish-American golfer (d. 1961)
  • 1890 – Robert Laurent, American sculptor and academic (d. 1970)
  • 1890 – Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, Dutch supercentenarian (d. 2005)
  • 1893 – Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Indian economist and statistician (d. 1972)
  • 1893 – Aarre Merikanto, Finnish composer and educator (d. 1958)
  • 1897 – Fulgence Charpentier, Canadian journalist and publisher (d. 2001)
  • 1898 – Yvonne Lefébure, French pianist and educator (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French poet and pilot (d. 1944)
  • 1901 – Nelson Eddy, American singer and actor (d. 1967)
  • 1903 – Alan Blumlein, English engineer, developed the H2S radar (d. 1942)
  • 1904 – Witold Hurewicz, Polish mathematician (d. 1956)
  • 1906 – Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Ukrainian general (d. 1945)
  • 1906 – Heinz Harmel, German general (d. 2000)
  • 1908 – Leroy Anderson, American composer and conductor (d. 1975)
  • 1908 – Erik Lundqvist, Swedish javelin thrower (d. 1963)
  • 1910 – Frank Loesser, American composer and conductor (d. 1969)
  • 1910 – Burgess Whitehead, American baseball player (d. 1993)
  • 1911 – Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (d. 2004)
  • 1911 – Katherine DeMille, Canadian-American actress (d. 1995)
  • 1911 – Bernard Herrmann, American composer and conductor (d. 1975)
  • 1912 – José Pablo Moncayo, Mexican pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1958)
  • 1912 – Émile Peynaud, French oenologist and academic (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – John Toland, American historian and author (d. 2004)
  • 1913 – Earle Meadows, American pole vaulter (d. 1992)
  • 1914 – Rafael Kubelík, Czech-American conductor and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1914 – Christos Papakyriakopoulos, Greek-American mathematician and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1916 – Ruth Warrick, American actress and activist (d. 2005)
  • 1917 – Ling Yun, Chinese politician (d. 2018)
  • 1918 – Heini Lohrer, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 2011)
  • 1918 – Gene La Rocque, U.S admiral (d. 2016)
  • 1918 – Francis W. Nye, United States Air Force major general (d. 2019)
  • 1919 – Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, Mexican cardinal (d. 2008)
  • 1919 – Walter Babington Thomas, Commander of British Far East Land Forces (d. 2017)
  • 1919 – Slim Pickens, American actor and rodeo performer (d. 1983)
  • 1920 – César Rodríguez Álvarez, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – Ray Harryhausen, American animator and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Nicole Russell, Duchess of Bedford (d. 2012)
  • 1921 – Frédéric Dard, French author and screenwriter (d. 2000)
  • 1921 – Jean Kent, English actress (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Reinhard Mohn, German businessman (d. 2009)
  • 1921 – Harry Schell, French-American race car driver (d. 1960)
  • 1922 – Ralph Burns, American songwriter, bandleader, composer, conductor, arranger and pianist (d. 2001)
  • 1922 – Vasko Popa, Serbian poet and academic (d. 1991)
  • 1922 – John William Vessey, Jr., American general (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Chou Wen-chung, Chinese-American composer and educator (d. 2019)
  • 1924 – Ezra Laderman, American composer and educator (d. 2015)
  • 1924 – Roy Walford, American pathologist and gerontologist (d. 2004)
  • 1924 – Philip H. Hoff, American politician (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Francis S. Currey, American World War II Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Giorgio Napolitano, Italian journalist and politician, 11th President of Italy
  • 1925 – Chan Parker, American dancer and author (d. 1999)
  • 1925 – Jackie Lynn Taylor, American actress (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Cara Williams, American actress
  • 1926 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler, 3rd Emir of Kuwait (d. 2006)
  • 1926 – Julius W. Becton, Jr., U.S lieutenant general
  • 1926 – Roger Stuart Bacon, Nova Scotia politician
  • 1926 – Bobby Morgan, American professional baseball player
  • 1927 – Pierre Perrault, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1927 – Marie Thérèse Killens, Canadian politician
  • 1928 – Ian Bannen, Scottish actor (d. 1999)
  • 1928 – Jean-Louis Pesch, French author and illustrator
  • 1928 – Radius Prawiro, Indonesian economist and politician (d. 2005)
  • 1929 – Pat Crawford Brown, American actress
  • 1929 – Pete George, American weightlifter
  • 1929 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist and author (d. 2006)
  • 1930 – Ernst Albrecht, German economist and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Robert Evans, American actor and producer (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Viola Léger, American-Canadian actress and politician
  • 1930 – Sławomir Mrożek, Polish-French author and playwright (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Sevim Burak, Turkish author (d. 1983)
  • 1932 – Brian Hutton, Baron Hutton, British jurist; Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
  • 1933 – Bob Shaw, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – John Bradshaw, American theologian and author (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Corey Allen, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1935 – Vassilis C. Constantakopoulos, Greek captain and businessman (d. 2011)
  • 1935 – Katsuya Nomura, Japanese baseball player and manager
  • 1936 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2011)
  • 1939 – Alan Connolly, Australian cricketer
  • 1939 – Amarildo Tavares da Silveira, Brazilian footballer and coach
  • 1940 – Vyacheslav Artyomov, Russian composer
  • 1940 – John Dawes, Welsh rugby player and coach
  • 1941 – John Boccabella, American baseball player
  • 1941 – Stokely Carmichael, Trinidadian-American activist (d. 1998)
  • 1942 – Charlotte Bingham, English author and screenwriter
  • 1942 – Mike Willesee, Australian journalist and producer (d. 2019)
  • 1943 – Little Eva, American singer (d. 2003)
  • 1943 – Louis Nicollin, French entrepreneur and chairman of Montpellier HSC (d. 2017)
  • 1944 – Gary Busey, American actor
  • 1944 – Andreu Mas-Colell, Spanish economist, academic, and politician
  • 1944 – Seán Patrick O’Malley, American cardinal
  • 1945 – Chandrika Kumaratunga, Sri Lankan journalist and politician, 5th President of Sri Lanka
  • 1946 – Ernesto Pérez Balladares, Panamanian politician, 33rd President of Panama
  • 1946 – Egon von Fürstenberg, Swiss fashion designer (d. 2004)
  • 1947 – Richard Lewis, American actor and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Sean Bergin, South African-Dutch saxophonist and flute player (d. 2012)
  • 1948 – Fred Grandy, American actor and politician
  • 1948 – Ian Paice, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
  • 1948 – Usha Prashar, Baroness Prashar, Kenyan-English politician
  • 1949 – Dan Dierdorf, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1949 – Joan Clos, Spanish anesthesiologist and politician, 116th Mayor of Barcelona
  • 1949 – Ann Veneman, American lawyer and politician, 27th United States Secretary of Agriculture
  • 1950 – Bobby London, American illustrator
  • 1951 – Craig Sager, American sportscaster (d. 2016)
  • 1953 – Don Dokken, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1953 – Colin Hay, Scottish-Australian singer and guitarist
  • 1954 – Rick Honeycutt, American baseball player and coach
  • 1954 – Leovegildo Lins da Gama Júnior, Brazilian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1955 – Charles J. Precourt, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1956 – Nick Fry, English economist and businessman
  • 1956 – David Burroughs Mattingly, American illustrator and painter
  • 1956 – Pedro Guerrero, Dominican-American baseball player and manager
  • 1956 – Pedro Santana Lopes, Portuguese lawyer and politician, 118th Prime Minister of Portugal
  • 1956 – Pyotr Vasilevsky, Belarusian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
  • 1957 – Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Turkmen dentist and politician, 2nd President of Turkmenistan
  • 1957 – María Conchita Alonso, Cuban-Venezuelan singer and actress
  • 1957 – Robert Forster, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1957 – Michael Nutter, American politician, 98th Mayor of Philadelphia
  • 1957 – Terry Wyatt, English physicist and academic
  • 1958 – Dieter Althaus, German politician
  • 1958 – Rosa Mota, Portuguese runner
  • 1961 – Sharon Lawrence, American actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1962 – Amanda Donohoe, English actress
  • 1962 – Joan Laporta, Spanish lawyer and politician
  • 1962 – George D. Zamka, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1963 – Anne-Sophie Mutter, German violinist
  • 1964 – Stedman Pearson, English singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1965 – Tripp Eisen, American guitarist
  • 1965 – Paul Jarvis, English cricketer
  • 1966 – Yoko Kamio, Japanese author and comic artist
  • 1967 – Jeff Burton, American race car driver
  • 1967 – Melora Hardin, American actress and singer
  • 1967 – Seamus McGarvey, Northern Irish cinematographer
  • 1968 – Brian d’Arcy James, American actor and musician
  • 1968 – Theoren Fleury, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1968 – Judith Hoag, American actress and educator
  • 1969 – Claude Béchard, Canadian politician (d. 2010)
  • 1969 – Pavlos Dermitzakis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Tōru Hashimoto, Japanese lawyer and politician
  • 1970 – Melanie Paschke, German sprinter
  • 1970 – Emily Skinner, American actress and singer
  • 1971 – Matthew Good, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1973 – George Hincapie, American cyclist
  • 1976 – Daniel Carlsson, Swedish race car driver
  • 1976 – Bret McKenzie, New Zealand comedian, actor, musician, songwriter, and producer
  • 1977 – Sotiris Liberopoulos, Greek footballer
  • 1977 – Zuleikha Robinson, English actress
  • 1978 – Nicole Scherzinger, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
  • 1979 – Matthew Bode, Australian footballer
  • 1979 – Andy O’Brien, English footballer
  • 1979 – Marleen Veldhuis, Dutch swimmer
  • 1980 – Katherine Jenkins, Welsh soprano and actress
  • 1981 – Luke Branighan, Australian rugby league player
  • 1981 – Joe Johnson, American basketball player
  • 1981 – Nicolás Vuyovich, Argentinian race car driver (d. 2005)
  • 1981 – Shmuly Yanklowitz, American rabbi, author, and educator
  • 1982 – Dusty Hughes, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Lily Rabe, American actress
  • 1983 – Aundrea Fimbres, American singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1983 – Jeremy Powers, American cyclist
  • 1984 – Aleksandr Shustov, Russian high jumper
  • 1985 – Quintin Demps, American football player
  • 1986 – José Manuel Jurado, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Edward Maya, Romanian singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1988 – Éver Banega, Argentinian footballer
  • 1990 – Kim Little, Scottish footballer
  • 1990 – Yann M’Vila, French footballer
  • 1991 – Suk Hyun-jun, South Korean footballer
  • 1991 – Kawhi Leonard, American basketball player
  • 1991 – Addison Timlin, American actress
  • 1993 – Harrison Gilbertson, Australian actor
  • 1994 – Camila Mendes, American actress and model
  • 1996 – Joseph Manu, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1998 – Michael Porter Jr., American basketball player
  • 2006 – Sam Lavagnino, American child voice actor

Deaths on June 29

  • 226 – Cao Pi, Chinese emperor (b. 187)
  • 884 – Yang Shili, general of the Tang Dynasty
  • 976 – Gero, archbishop of Cologne
  • 1059 – Bernard II, Duke of Saxony (b. 995)
  • 1149 – Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch (b. 1115)
  • 1153 – Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles
  • 1252 – Abel, King of Denmark (b. 1218)
  • 1293 – Henry of Ghent, philosopher (b. c.1217)
  • 1315 – Ramon Llull, Spanish philosopher (b. 1235)
  • 1344 – Joan of Savoy, duchess consort of Brittany, throne claimant of Savoy (b. 1310)
  • 1374 – Jan Milíč of Kroměříž, Czech priest and reformer
  • 1432 – Janus of Cyprus (b. 1375)
  • 1509 – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (b. 1443)
  • 1520 – Moctezuma II, Aztec ruler (b. 1466)
  • 1575 – Baba Nobuharu, Japanese samurai (b. 1515)
  • 1594 – Niels Kaas, Danish politician, Chancellor of Denmark (b. 1535)
  • 1626 – Scipione Cobelluzzi, Italian cardinal and archivist (b. 1564)
  • 1646 – Laughlin Ó Cellaigh, Gaelic-Irish Lord
  • 1725 – Arai Hakuseki, Japanese philosopher, academic, and politician (b. 1657)
  • 1729 – Edward Taylor, American-English poet, pastor, and physician (b. circa 1642)
  • 1744 – André Campra, French composer and conductor (b. 1660)
  • 1764 – Ralph Allen, English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1693)
  • 1779 – Anton Raphael Mengs, German painter (b. 1728)
  • 1831 – Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein, Prussian minister and politician (b. 1757)
  • 1840 – Lucien Bonaparte, French prince (b. 1775)
  • 1852 – Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (b. 1777)
  • 1853 – Adrien-Henri de Jussieu, French botanist and academic (b. 1797)
  • 1855 – John Gorrie, American physician and humanitarian (b. 1803)
  • 1860 – Thomas Addison, English physician and endocrinologist (b. 1793)
  • 1861 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet and translator (b. 1806)
  • 1873 – Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1824)
  • 1875 – Ferdinand I of Austria (b. 1793)
  • 1895 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist (b. 1825)
  • 1900 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1827)
  • 1907 – Konstantinos Volanakis, Greek painter and academic (b. 1837)
  • 1919 – José Gregorio Hernández Venezuelan physician and educator (b. 1864)
  • 1931 – Nérée Beauchemin, Canadian poet and physician (b. 1850)
  • 1933 – Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1887)
  • 1935 – Jack O’Neill, Irish-American baseball player and manager (b. 1873)
  • 1936 – János Szlepecz, Slovene priest and missionary (b. 1872)
  • 1940 – Paul Klee, Swiss painter and illustrator (b. 1879)
  • 1941 – Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish pianist, composer, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1860)
  • 1942 – Paul Troje, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1864)
  • 1949 – Themistoklis Sofoulis, Greek politician, 115th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1860)
  • 1955 – Max Pechstein, German painter and academic (b. 1881)
  • 1960 – Frank Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1885)
  • 1962 – Charles Lyon Chandler, American historian (b. 1883)
  • 1964 – Eric Dolphy, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1928)
  • 1967 – Primo Carnera, Italian boxer and actor (b. 1906)
  • 1967 – Jayne Mansfield, American actress (b. 1933)
  • 1969 – Moise Tshombe, Congolese accountant and politician, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1919)
  • 1971 – Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (b. 1908)
  • 1975 – Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)
  • 1978 – Bob Crane, American actor (b. 1928)
  • 1979 – Lowell George, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1945)
  • 1980 – Jorge Basadre, Peruvian historian (b. 1903)
  • 1981 – Russell Drysdale, English-Australian painter (b. 1912)
  • 1982 – Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer, founded Balmain (b. 1914)
  • 1982 – Henry King, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1886)
  • 1986 – Frank Wise, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1897)
  • 1990 – Irving Wallace, American author and screenwriter (b. 1916)
  • 1992 – Mohamed Boudiaf, Algerian soldier and politician, President of Algeria (b. 1919)
  • 1993 – Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
  • 1994 – Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor and educator (b. 1908)
  • 1995 – Lana Turner, American actress (b. 1921)
  • 1997 – William Hickey, American actor (b. 1927)
  • 1998 – Horst Jankowski, German pianist and composer (b. 1936)
  • 1999 – Karekin I, Syrian-Armenian patriarch (b. 1950)
  • 1999 – Allan Carr, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1937)
  • 2000 – Vittorio Gassman, Italian actor and director (b. 1922)
  • 2002 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (b. 1928)
  • 2003 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress (b. 1907)
  • 2004 – Bernard Babior, American physician and biochemist (b. 1935)
  • 2004 – Alvin Hamilton, Canadian lieutenant and politician, 18th Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1912)
  • 2006 – Fabián Bielinsky, Argentinian director and screenwriter (b. 1959)
  • 2006 – Randy Walker, American football player and coach (b. 1954)
  • 2007 – Fred Saberhagen, American soldier and author (b. 1930)
  • 2007 – Joel Siegel, American journalist and critic (b. 1943)
  • 2009 – Joe Bowman, American, target shooter and boot-maker (b. 1925)
  • 2011 – K. D. Sethna, Indian poet, scholar, writer, philosopher, and cultural critic (b. 1904)
  • 2012 – Yong Nyuk Lin, Singaporean politician, Singaporean Minister of Health (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Vincent Ostrom, American political scientist and academic (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Juan Reccius, Chilean triple jumper (b. 1911)
  • 2012 – Floyd Temple, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Peter Fitzgerald, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1937)
  • 2013 – Jack Gotta, American-Canadian football player, coach, and manager (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Margherita Hack, Italian astrophysicist and author (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Gilma Jiménez, Colombian politician (b. 1956)
  • 2014 – Damian D’Oliveira, South African cricketer (b. 1960)
  • 2014 – Dermot Healy, Irish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1947)
  • 2015 – Hisham Barakat, Egyptian lawyer and judge (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Josef Masopust, Czech footballer and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Charles Pasqua, French businessman and politician, French Minister of the Interior (b. 1927)
  • 2016 – Jan Hettema, Springbok cyclist and five times South African National Rally Champion (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Louis Nicollin, French entrepreneur and chairman of Montpellier HSC from 1974 to his death (b. 1943)
  • 2017 – Dave Semenko, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1957)
  • 2018 – Steve Ditko, American comic writer and illustrator (b. 1927)
  • 2020 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances on June 29

  • Christian feast day:
    • Cassius of Narni
    • Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
      • Haro Wine Festival (Haro, La Rioja)
      • l-Imnarja (Malta)
    • June 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Engineer’s Day (Ecuador)
  • Independence Day (Seychelles), celebrates the independence of Seychelles from the United Kingdom in 1976.
  • Veterans’ Day (Netherlands)

May 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometers.
  • 1381 – Beginning of the Peasants’ Revolt in England.
  • 1416 – The Council of Constance, called by Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.
  • 1431 – Hundred Years’ War: In Rouen, France, the 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. The Roman Catholic Church remembers this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.
  • 1434 – Hussite Wars: Battle of Lipany: Effectively ending the war, Utraquist forces led by Diviš Bořek of Miletínek defeat and almost annihilate Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great.
  • 1510 – During the reign of the Zhengde Emperor, Ming dynasty rebel leader Zhu Zhifan is defeated by commander Qiu Yue, ending the Prince of Anhua rebellion.
  • 1536 – King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.
  • 1539 – In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.
  • 1574 – Henry III becomes King of France.
  • 1588 – The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.
  • 1631 – Publication of Gazette de France, the first French newspaper.
  • 1635 – Thirty Years’ War: The Peace of Prague is signed.
  • 1642 – From this date all honors granted by Charles I of England are retroactively annulled by Parliament.
  • 1806 – Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel.
  • 1814 – The First Treaty of Paris is signed, returning the French frontiers to their 1792 extent, and restoring the House of Bourbon to power.
  • 1815 – The East Indiaman Arniston is wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, in present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives.
  • 1834 – Minister of Justice Joaquim António de Aguiar issues a law seizing “all convents, monasteries, colleges, hospices and any other houses” from the Catholic religious orders in Portugal, earning him the nickname of “The Friar-Killer”.
  • 1842 – John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill in London with Prince Albert.
  • 1845 – The Fatel Razack coming from India, lands in the Gulf of Paria in Trinidad and Tobago carrying the first Indians to the country.
  • 1854 – The Kansas–Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the US territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
  • 1868 – Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern “Memorial Day”) is observed in the United States for the first time after a proclamation by John A. Logan, head of the Grand Army of the Republic (a veterans group).
  • 1876 – Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murad V.
  • 1883 – In New York City, a stampede on the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge killed twelve people.
  • 1899 – Pearl Hart, a female outlaw of the Old West, robs a stage coach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona.
  • 1911 – At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race.
  • 1913 – The Treaty of London is signed, ending the First Balkan War; Albania becomes an independent nation.
  • 1914 – The new, and then the largest, Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sets sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City.
  • 1922 – The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C..
  • 1925 – May Thirtieth Movement: Shanghai Municipal Police Force shoot and kill 13 protesting workers.
  • 1937 – Memorial Day massacre: Chicago police shoot and kill ten labor demonstrators.
  • 1941 – World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb the Athenian Acropolis and tear down the German flag.
  • 1942 – World War II: One thousand British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.
  • 1943 – The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp.
  • 1948 – A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
  • 1958 – Memorial Day: The remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
  • 1959 – The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham.
  • 1961 – The long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
  • 1963 – A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis is held outside South Vietnam’s National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year rule of Ngo Dinh Diem.
  • 1966 – Former Congolese Prime Minister, Évariste Kimba, and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.
  • 1967 – The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.
  • 1968 – Charles de Gaulle reappears publicly after his flight to Baden-Baden, Germany, and dissolves the French National Assembly by a radio appeal. Immediately after, less than one million of his supporters march on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is the turning point of May 1968 events in France.
  • 1971 – Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.
  • 1972 – The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom.
  • 1972 – In Ben Gurion Airport (at the time: Lod Airport), Israel, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
  • 1974 – The Airbus A300 passenger aircraft first enters service.
  • 1979 – Downeast Flight 46 crashes on approach to Knox County Regional Airport in Rockland, Maine, killing 17.
  • 1975 – European Space Agency is established.
  • 1982 – Cold War: Spain joins NATO.
  • 1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10-metre high “Goddess of Democracy” statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
  • 1990 – Croatian Parliament is constituted after the first free, multi-party elections, today celebrated as the National Day of Croatia.
  • 1998 – The 6.5 Mw  Afghanistan earthquake shook the Takhar Province of northern Afghanistan with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), killing around 4,000–4,500.
  • 1998 – Nuclear Testing: Pakistan conducts an underground test in the Kharan Desert. It is reported to be a plutonium device with yield of 20kt TNT equivalent.
  • 2003 – Depayin massacre: At least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy are killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi flees the scene, but is arrested soon afterwards.
  • 2008 – Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted.
  • 2008 – TACA Flight 390 overshoots the runway at Toncontín International Airport, killing five people.
  • 2012 – Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
  • 2013 – Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage.
  • 2020 – The Crew Dragon Demo-2 launches from the Kennedy Space Center, becoming the first crewed rocket to launch from the United States since 2011.

Births on May 30

  • 1010 – Ren Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1063)
  • 1201 – Theobald IV, count of Champagne (d. 1253)
  • 1423 – Georg von Peuerbach, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1461)
  • 1464 – Barbara of Brandenburg, Bohemian queen (d. 1515)
  • 1580 – Fadrique de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Villanueva de Valdueza (d. 1634)
  • 1599 – Samuel Bochart, French Protestant biblical scholar (d. 1667)
  • 1623 – John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire (d. 1686)
  • 1686 – Antonina Houbraken, Dutch illustrator (d. 1736)
  • 1718 – Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1793)
  • 1719 – Roger Newdigate, English politician (d. 1806)
  • 1757 – Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1844)
  • 1768 – Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty, French general (d. 1815)
  • 1797 – Georg Amadeus Carl Friedrich Naumann, German mineralogist and geologist (d. 1873)
  • 1800 – Henri-Marie-Gaston Boisnormand de Bonnechose, French cardinal (d. 1883)
  • 1814 – Mikhail Bakunin, Russian philosopher and theorist (d. 1876)
  • 1814 – Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian-French mathematician and academic (d. 1894)
  • 1819 – William McMurdo, English general (d. 1894)
  • 1820 – Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of Quebec (d. 1890)
  • 1835 – Alfred Austin, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1913)
  • 1844 – Félix Arnaudin, French poet and photographer (d. 1921)
  • 1845 – Amadeo I, Spanish king (d. 1890)
  • 1846 – Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweler (d. 1920)
  • 1862 – Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Azerbaijani philosopher and poet (d. 1911)
  • 1869 – Grace Andrews, American mathematician (d. 1951)
  • 1874 – Ernest Duchesne, French physician (d. 1912)
  • 1875 – Giovanni Gentile, Italian philosopher and academic (d. 1944)
  • 1879 – Colin Blythe, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1917)
  • 1879 – Konstantin Ramul, Estonian psychologist and academic (d. 1975)
  • 1881 – Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (d. 1968)
  • 1882 – Wyndham Halswelle, English runner and soldier (d. 1915)
  • 1883 – Sandy Pearce, Australian rugby league player (d. 1930)
  • 1884 – Siegmund Glücksmann, German soldier and politician (d. 1942)
  • 1885 – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet and linguist (d. 1942)
  • 1886 – Laurent Barré, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1964)
  • 1886 – Randolph Bourne, American theorist and author (d. 1918)
  • 1887 – Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 1964)
  • 1887 – Emil Reesen, Danish pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1964)
  • 1890 – Roger Salengro, French soldier and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 1936)
  • 1892 – Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (d. 1972)
  • 1894 – Hubertus van Mook, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1965)
  • 1895 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (d. 1956)
  • 1896 – Howard Hawks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
  • 1897 – Frank Wise, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1986)
  • 1898 – John Gilroy, English artist and illustrator (d. 1985)
  • 1899 – Irving Thalberg, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1936)
  • 1901 – Alfred Karindi, Estonian pianist and composer (d. 1969)
  • 1901 – Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Stepin Fetchit, American actor and dancer (d. 1985)
  • 1903 – Countee Cullen, American poet and author (d. 1946)
  • 1906 – Bruno Gröning, German mystic and author (d. 1959)
  • 1907 – Germaine Tillion, French anthropologist and academic (d. 2008)
  • 1908 – Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
  • 1908 – Mel Blanc, American voice actor (d. 1989)
  • 1909 – Jacques Canetti, French music executive and talent agent (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – Freddie Frith, English motorcycle road racer (d. 1988)
  • 1909 – Benny Goodman, American clarinet player, songwriter, and bandleader (d. 1986)
  • 1910 – Harry Bernstein, English-American journalist and author (d. 2011)
  • 1912 – Julius Axelrod, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Erich Bagge, German physicist and academic (d. 1996)
  • 1912 – Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (d. 1980)
  • 1912 – Millicent Selsam, American author and academic (d. 1996)
  • 1912 – Joseph Stein, American playwright and author (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Akinoumi Setsuo, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 37th Yokozuna (d. 1979)
  • 1915 – Len Carney, English footballer and soldier (d. 1996)
  • 1916 – Justin Catayée, French soldier and politician (d. 1962)
  • 1916 – Mort Meskin, American illustrator (d. 1995)
  • 1918 – Pita Amor, Mexican poet and author (d. 2000)
  • 1918 – Bob Evans, American businessman, founded Bob Evans Restaurants (d. 2007)
  • 1919 – René Barrientos, Bolivian general and politician, 55th President of Bolivia (d. 1969)
  • 1920 – Franklin J. Schaffner, Japanese-American director and producer (d. 1989)
  • 1922 – Hal Clement, American author and educator (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – Anthony Dryden Marshall, American CIA officer and diplomat (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – John Henry Marks, English physician and author
  • 1926 – Johnny Gimble, American country/western swing musician (Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys) (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Joan Birman, American mathematician
  • 1927 – Clint Walker, American actor and singer (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Billy Wilson, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1993)
  • 1928 – Pro Hart, Australian painter (d. 2006)
  • 1928 – Agnès Varda, Belgian-French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
  • 1929 – Georges Gilson, French archbishop
  • 1930 – Mark Birley, English businessman, founded Annabel’s (d. 2007)
  • 1930 – Robert Ryman, American painter (d. 2019)
  • 1931 – Larry Silverstein, American real estate magnate
  • 1932 – Ray Cooney, English actor and playwright
  • 1932 – Pauline Oliveros, American accordion player and composer (d. 2016)
  • 1932 – Ivor Richard, Baron Richard, Welsh politician and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2018)
  • 1934 – Alexei Leonov, Russian general, pilot, and cosmonaut (d. 2019)
  • 1934 – Alketas Panagoulias, Greek footballer and manager (d. 2012)
  • 1935 – Ruta Lee, Canadian-American actress and dancer
  • 1935 – Guy Tardif, Canadian academic and politician (d. 2005)
  • 1936 – Keir Dullea, American actor
  • 1937 – Christopher Haskins, Anglo-Irish businessman, life peer, and British politician
  • 1937 – Rick Mather, American-English architect (d. 2013)
  • 1938 – Billie Letts, American author and educator (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Michael J. Pollard, American actor (d. 2019)
  • 1939 – Dieter Quester, Austrian race car driver
  • 1939 – Tim Waterstone, Scottish businessman, founded Waterstones
  • 1940 – Jagmohan Dalmiya, Indian cricket administrator (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Gilles Villemure, Canadian-American ice hockey player
  • 1942 – John Gladwin, English bishop
  • 1942 – Carole Stone, English journalist and author
  • 1943 – Anders Michanek, Swedish motorcycle racer
  • 1943 – Gale Sayers, American football player and philanthropist
  • 1944 – Lenny Davidson, English guitarist and songwriter (The Dave Clark Five)
  • 1944 – Meredith MacRae, American actress (d. 2000)
  • 1944 – Stav Prodromou, Greek-American engineer and businessman
  • 1945 – Gladys Horton, American singer (d. 2011)
  • 1946 – Allan Chapman, English historian and author
  • 1946 – Dragan Džajić, Serbian and Yugoslav footballer
  • 1947 – Jocelyne Bourassa, Canadian golfer
  • 1948 – Johan De Muynck, Belgian former professional road racing cyclist
  • 1948 – Michael Piller, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2005)
  • 1948 – David Thorpe, Australian rules footballer
  • 1949 – P.J. Carlesimo, American basketball player and coach
  • 1949 – Paul Coleridge, English lawyer and judge
  • 1949 – Bob Willis, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2019)
  • 1950 – Bertrand Delanoë, French politician, 14th Mayor of Paris
  • 1950 – Paresh Rawal, Indian actor, producer, and politician
  • 1950 – Joshua Rozenberg, English lawyer, journalist, and author
  • 1951 – Zdravko Čolić, Bosnian Serb singer-songwriter
  • 1951 – Fernando Lugo, Paraguayan bishop and politician, President of Paraguay
  • 1951 – Stephen Tobolowsky, American actor, singer, and director
  • 1952 – Daniel Grodnik, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1952 – Kerry Fraser, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and sportscaster
  • 1953 – Jim Hunter, Canadian skier
  • 1953 – Colm Meaney, Irish actor
  • 1955 – Topper Headon, English drummer and songwriter (The Clash)
  • 1955 – Jacqueline McGlade, English-Canadian biologist, ecologist, and academic
  • 1955 – Caroline Swift, English lawyer and judge
  • 1955 – Colm Tóibín, Irish novelist, poet, playwright, and critic
  • 1956 – Tim Lucas, American author, screenwriter, and critic
  • 1957 – Michael Clayton, Australian golfer
  • 1958 – Eugene Belliveau, Canadian football player
  • 1958 – Marie Fredriksson, Swedish singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2019)
  • 1958 – Steve Israel, American lawyer and politician
  • 1958 – Michael López-Alegría, Spanish-American captain, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1958 – Ted McGinley, American actor
  • 1959 – Phil Brown, English footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1959 – Randy Ferbey, Canadian curler
  • 1959 – Frank Vanhecke, Belgian politician
  • 1961 – Harry Enfield, English actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1961 – Bob Yari, Iranian-American director and producer
  • 1962 – Kevin Eastman, American author and illustrator, co-created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • 1962 – Richard Fuller, English lawyer and politician
  • 1962 – Tim Loughton, English businessman and politician
  • 1962 – Tonya Pinkins, American actress and singer
  • 1963 – Michel Langevin, Canadian drummer and songwriter
  • 1963 – Élise Lucet, French journalist
  • 1963 – Helen Sharman, English chemist and astronaut
  • 1964 – Wynonna Judd, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
  • 1964 – Andrea Montermini, Italian race car driver
  • 1964 – Tom Morello, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1965 – Troy Coker, Australian rugby player
  • 1965 – Billy Donovan, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Iginio Straffi, Italian animator and producer, founded Rainbow S.r.l.
  • 1966 – Thomas Häßler, German footballer and manager
  • 1966 – Stephen Malkmus, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Tim Burgess, English singer-songwriter
  • 1967 – Rechelle Hawkes, Australian hockey player
  • 1967 – Sven Pipien, German-American bass player
  • 1968 – Jason Kenney, Canadian lawyer and politician, 40th Canadian Minister of National Defence
  • 1968 – Zacarias Moussaoui, French citizen, sentenced to life in prison related to September 11 attacks
  • 1969 – Naomi Kawase, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1969 – Ryuhei Kitamura, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Paul Grayson, English rugby player and coach
  • 1971 – Duncan Jones, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Idina Menzel, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1971 – Jiří Šlégr, Czech ice hockey player and politician
  • 1971 – Adrian Vowles, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1972 – Manny Ramirez, Dominican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1974 – Big L, American rapper (d. 1999)
  • 1974 – Kostas Chalkias, Greek footballer
  • 1974 – CeeLo Green, American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor
  • 1974 – David Wilkie, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1975 – Evan Eschmeyer, American basketball player
  • 1975 – Brian Fair, American singer-songwriter
  • 1975 – Andy Farrell, English rugby player and coach
  • 1975 – Marissa Mayer, American computer scientist and businesswoman
  • 1976 – Radoslav Nesterović, Slovenian-Greek basketball player
  • 1976 – Magnus Norman, Swedish tennis player and coach
  • 1976 – Margaret Okayo, Kenyan runner
  • 1977 – Rachael Stirling, English actress
  • 1977 – Federico Vilar, Argentinian-Italian footballer
  • 1979 – Mike Bishai, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Clint Bowyer, American race car driver
  • 1979 – Francis Lessard, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Steven Gerrard, English international footballer, midfielder and manager
  • 1980 – Ilona Korstin, Russian basketball player
  • 1980 – Ryōgo Narita, Japanese author
  • 1981 – Devendra Banhart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1981 – Gianmaria Bruni, Italian race car driver
  • 1981 – Ahmad Elrich, Australian footballer
  • 1981 – Remy Ma, American rapper
  • 1981 – Lars Møller Madsen, Danish handball player
  • 1981 – Hisanori Takada, Japanese footballer
  • 1982 – Eddie Griffin, American basketball player (d. 2007)
  • 1982 – James Simpson-Daniel, English rugby player
  • 1984 – Sham Kwok Fai, Hong Kong footballer
  • 1984 – Matt Maguire, Australian footballer
  • 1984 – Alexander Sulzer, German ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Igor Kurnosov, Russian chess player (d. 2013)
  • 1985 – Igor Lewczuk, Polish footballer
  • 1985 – Aaron Volpatti, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Nikolay Bodurov, Bulgarian international footballer, centre-back
  • 1989 – Ailee, Korean-American singer and songwriter
  • 1989 – Lesia Tsurenko, Ukrainian tennis player
  • 1990 – Andrei Loktionov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1991 – Jonathan Fox, English swimmer
  • 1992 – Harrison Barnes, American basketball player
  • 1992 – Danielle Harold, English actress
  • 1994 – Scott Laughton, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths on May 30

  • 531 – Xiao Tong, prince of the Liang Dynasty (b. 501)
  • 727 – Hubertus, bishop Liège
  • 947 – Ma Xifan, king of Chu (b. 899)
  • 1035 – Baldwin IV, count of Flanders (b. 980)
  • 1159 – Władysław II the Exile, High Duke of Poland and Duke of Silesia (b. 1105)
  • 1252 – Ferdinand III, king of Castile and León (b. 1199)
  • 1347 – John Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Knayth, English peer (b. 1290)
  • 1376 – Joan of Ponthieu, Dame of Epernon, French noblewoman
  • 1416 – Jerome of Prague, Czech martyr and theologian (b. 1379)
  • 1431 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (b. 1412)
  • 1434 – Prokop the Great, Czech general (b. 1380)
  • 1469 – Lope de Barrientos, Castilian bishop (b. 1389)
  • 1472 – Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of Pierre de Luxembourg (b. 1416)
  • 1574 – Charles IX of France (b. 1550)
  • 1593 – Christopher Marlowe, English poet and playwright (b. 1564)
  • 1606 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth of the Sikh gurus (executed) (b. 1563)
  • 1640 – Peter Paul Rubens, German-Belgian painter (b. 1577)
  • 1696 – Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Tewkesbury, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1638)
  • 1670 – John Davenport, English minister, co-founded the New Haven Colony (b. 1597)
  • 1712 – Andrea Lanzani, Italian painter (b. 1645)
  • 1718 – Arnold van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, Dutch-English general (b. 1670)
  • 1744 – Alexander Pope, English poet, essayist, and translator (b. 1688)
  • 1770 – François Boucher, French painter and set designer (b. 1703)
  • 1778 – Voltaire, French philosopher and author (b. 1694)
  • 1778 – José de la Borda, French/Spanish mining magnate in colonial Mexico (b. ca. 1700)
  • 1829 – Philibert Jean-Baptiste Curial, French general (b. 1774)
  • 1832 – James Mackintosh, Scottish historian, jurist, and politician (b. 1765)
  • 1855 – Mary Reibey, Australian businesswoman, (b. 1777)
  • 1892 – Mary Hannah Gray Clarke, American author, correspondent, and poet (b. 1835)
  • 1865 – John Catron, American lawyer and judge (b. 1786)
  • 1901 – Victor D’Hondt, Belgian mathematician, lawyer, and jurist (b. 1841)
  • 1911 – Milton Bradley, American businessman, founded the Milton Bradley Company (b. 1836)
  • 1912 – Wilbur Wright, American pilot and businessman, co-founded the Wright Company (b. 1867)
  • 1918 – Georgi Plekhanov, Russian philosopher and theorist (b. 1856)
  • 1925 – Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian and author (b. 1876)
  • 1926 – Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician and physicist (b. 1864)
  • 1934 – Tōgō Heihachirō, Japanese admiral (b. 1848)
  • 1939 – Floyd Roberts, American race car driver (b. 1904)
  • 1941 – Prajadhipok, Thai king (b. 1893)
  • 1946 – Louis Slotin, Canadian physicist and chemist (b. 1910)
  • 1947 – Georg von Trapp, Austrian captain (b. 1880)
  • 1948 – József Klekl, Slovene-Hungarian priest and politician (b. 1874)
  • 1949 – Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, French cardinal (b. 1874)
  • 1951 – Hermann Broch, Austrian-American author (b. 1886)
  • 1953 – Dooley Wilson, American actor and singer (b. 1886)
  • 1955 – Bill Vukovich, American race car driver (b. 1918)
  • 1957 – Piero Carini, Italian race car driver (b. 1921)
  • 1960 – Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
  • 1961 – Rafael Trujillo, Dominican soldier and politician, 36th President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1891)
  • 1964 – Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian king (b. 1882)
  • 1964 – Eddie Sachs, American race car driver (b. 1927)
  • 1964 – Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-American physicist and engineer (b. 1898)
  • 1965 – Louis Hjelmslev, Danish linguist and academic (b. 1899)
  • 1967 – Claude Rains, English-American actor (b. 1889)
  • 1967 – Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Austrian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
  • 1971 – Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (b. 1886)
  • 1975 – Steve Prefontaine, American runner (b. 1951)
  • 1975 – Tatsuo Shimabuku, Japanese martial artist, founded Isshin-ryū (b. 1908)
  • 1975 – Michel Simon, Swiss-born French actor (b. 1895)
  • 1976 – Max Carey, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1890)
  • 1976 – Mitsuo Fuchida, Japanese captain (b. 1902)
  • 1978 – Jean Deslauriers, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1909)
  • 1980 – Carl Radle, American bass player and producer (b. 1942)
  • 1981 – Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1955)
  • 1981 – Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi general and politician, 7th President of Bangladesh (b. 1936)
  • 1982 – Albert Norden, German journalist and politician (b. 1904)
  • 1986 – Perry Ellis, American fashion designer, founded his own eponymous fashion brand (b. 1940)
  • 1993 – Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1914)
  • 1994 – Ezra Taft Benson, American religious leader, 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1899)
  • 1994 – Marcel Bich, Italian-French businessman, co-founded Société Bic (b. 1914)
  • 1994 – Agostino Di Bartolomei, Italian footballer (b. 1955)
  • 1995 – Ted Drake, English footballer and manager (b. 1912)
  • 1995 – Lofty England, English-Austrian engineer (b. 1911)
  • 1995 – Bobby Stokes, English footballer (b. 1951)
  • 1996 – Léon-Étienne Duval, French cardinal (b. 1903)
  • 1996 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (b. 1961)
  • 1999 – Kalju Lepik, Estonian poet and author (b. 1920)
  • 2000 – Tex Beneke, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Denis Whitaker, Canadian general and historian (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Gérald Leblanc, Acadian poet (b. 1945)
  • 2005 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1958)
  • 2005 – Alma Ziegler, American baseball player and stenographer (b. 1918)
  • 2006 – Shohei Imamura, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2006 – David Lloyd, New Zealand biologist and academic (b. 1938)
  • 2006 – Robert Sterling, American actor (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Jean-Claude Brialy, Algerian-French actor and director (b. 1933)
  • 2007 – Birgit Dalland, Norwegian politician (b. 1907)
  • 2007 – Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, Indian poet and critic (b. 1927)
  • 2009 – Torsten Andersson, Swedish painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
  • 2009 – Susanna Haapoja, Finnish politician (b. 1966)
  • 2009 – Ephraim Katzir, Israeli biophysicist and politician, 4th President of Israel (b. 1916)
  • 2010 – Yuri Chesnokov, Russian volleyball player and coach (b. 1933)
  • 2010 – Dufferin Roblin, Canadian commander and politician, 14th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1917)
  • 2011 – Isikia Savua, Fijian police officer and diplomat (b. 1952)
  • 2011 – Saleem Shahzad, Pakistani journalist (b. 1970)
  • 2011 – Marek Siemek, Polish philosopher and historian (b. 1942)
  • 2011 – Clarice Taylor, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2011 – Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – John Fox, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1957)
  • 2012 – Andrew Huxley, English physiologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Gerhard Pohl, German economist and politician (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – Jack Twyman, American basketball player and sportscaster (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Jayalath Jayawardena, Sri Lankan physician and politician (b. 1953)
  • 2013 – Larry Jones, American football player and coach (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Hienadz Buraukin, Belarusian poet, journalist, and diplomat (b. 1936)
  • 2014 – Henning Carlsen, Danish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Joan Lorring, British actress (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Leonidas Vasilikopoulos, Greek admiral (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Beau Biden, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 44th Attorney General of Delaware (b. 1969)
  • 2015 – Joël Champetier, Canadian author and screenwriter (b. 1957)
  • 2015 – L. Tom Perry, American religious leader and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1922)
  • 2016 – Tom Lysiak, Polish-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1953)
  • 2016 – Rick MacLeish, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1950)
  • 2019 – Jason Marcano, Trinidadian footballer (b. 1983)

Holidays and observances on May 30

  • Anguilla Day, commemorates the beginning of the Anguillian Revolution in 1967. (Anguilla)
  • Canary Islands Day (Spain)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Earliest day on which Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary can fall, while July 3 is the latest; celebrated 20 days after Pentecost. (Catholic Church)
    • Ferdinand III of Castile
    • Isaac of Dalmatia
    • Joan of Arc
    • Joseph Marello
    • May 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Indian Arrival Day (Trinidad and Tobago)
  • Lod Massacre Remembrance Day (Puerto Rico)
  • Mother’s Day (Nicaragua)
  • Statehood Day (Croatia)

April 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.
  • 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire.
  • 799 – After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection.
  • 1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094.
  • 1607 – Eighty Years’ War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
  • 1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
  • 1707 – A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
  • 1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
  • 1792 – “La Marseillaise” (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
  • 1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire.
  • 1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.
  • 1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
  • 1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal’s English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
  • 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks’ Mills.
  • 1882 – French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry.
  • 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
  • 1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
  • 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
  • 1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.
  • 1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class “A” League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
  • 1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
  • 1940 – Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands is approved by the British occupation government.
  • 1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
  • 1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two.
  • 1945 – Liberation Day (Italy): The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini is captured after trying to escape. This day was set as a public holiday to celebrate the Liberation of Italy.
  • 1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.
  • 1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland’s soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland.
  • 1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong.
  • 1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” describing the double helix structure of DNA.
  • 1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
  • 1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
  • 1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
  • 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
  • 1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
  • 1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government.
  • 1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
  • 1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
  • 1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
  • 1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
  • 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto’s orbit.
  • 1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
  • 1988 – In Israel, John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
  • 1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position.
  • 2001 – Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.
  • 2004 – The March for Women’s Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion.
  • 2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
  • 2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
  • 2007 – Boris Yeltsin’s funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
  • 2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.

Births on April 25

  • 1214 – Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
  • 1228 – Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
  • 1284 – Edward II of England (d. 1327)
  • 1287 – Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1330)
  • 1502 – Georg Major, German theologian and academic (d. 1574)
  • 1529 – Francesco Patrizi, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1597)
  • 1599 – Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (d. 1658)
  • 1621 – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, English soldier and politician (d. 1679)
  • 1666 – Johann Heinrich Buttstett, German organist and composer (d. 1727)
  • 1694 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (d. 1753)
  • 1710 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer and author (d. 1776)
  • 1723 – Giovanni Marco Rutini, Italian composer (d. 1797)
  • 1725 – Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, English admiral and politician (d. 1786)
  • 1767 – Nicolas Oudinot, French general (d. 1847)
  • 1770 – Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist and academic (d. 1850)
  • 1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1857)
  • 1843 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
  • 1849 – Felix Klein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1925)
  • 1850 – Luise Adolpha Le Beau, German composer and educator (d. 1927)
  • 1851 – Leopoldo Alas, Spanish author, critic, and academic (d. 1901)
  • 1854 – Charles Sumner Tainter, American engineer and inventor (d. 1940)
  • 1862 – Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, English ornithologist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1933)
  • 1868 – John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (d. 1910)
  • 1871 – Lorne Currie, French-English sailor (d. 1926)
  • 1872 – C. B. Fry, English cricketer, footballer, educator, and politician (d. 1956)
  • 1873 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (d. 1956)
  • 1873 – Howard Garis, American author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily series of children’s stories (d. 1962)
  • 1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian businessman and inventor, developed Marconi’s law, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
  • 1874 – Ernest Webb, English-Canadian race walker (d. 1937)
  • 1876 – Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician (d. 1958)
  • 1878 – William Merz, American gymnast and triathlete (d. 1946)
  • 1882 – Fred McLeod, Scottish golfer (d. 1976)
  • 1887 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and critic (d. 1936)
  • 1892 – Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (d. 1980)
  • 1896 – Fred Haney, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1977)
  • 1897 – Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (d. 1965)
  • 1900 – Gladwyn Jebb, English politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1996)
  • 1900 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-Swiss-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
  • 1902 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (d. 1964)
  • 1902 – Mary Miles Minter, American actress (d. 1984)
  • 1903 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1987)
  • 1905 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player and referee (d. 1986)
  • 1906 – William J. Brennan Jr., American colonel and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1997)
  • 1908 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
  • 1909 – William Pereira, American architect, designed the Transamerica Pyramid (d. 1985)
  • 1910 – Arapeta Awatere, New Zealand interpreter, military leader, politician, and murderer (d. 1976)
  • 1911 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1912 – Earl Bostic, African-American saxophonist (d. 1965)
  • 1913 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (d. 1944)
  • 1914 – Ross Lockridge Jr., American author and academic (d. 1948)
  • 1915 – Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
  • 1916 – Jerry Barber, American golfer (d. 1994)
  • 1917 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
  • 1917 – Jean Lucas, French racing driver (d. 2003)
  • 1918 – Graham Payn, South African-born English actor and singer (d. 2005)
  • 1918 – Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French-American astronomer and academic (d. 1995)
  • 1918 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish-American soprano and actress (d. 2006)
  • 1919 – Finn Helgesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter and sculptor (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Francis Graham-Smith, English astronomer and academic
  • 1923 – Melissa Hayden, Canadian ballerina (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Albert King, African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1992)
  • 1924 – Ingemar Johansson, Swedish race walker (d. 2009)
  • 1924 – Franco Mannino, Italian pianist, composer, director, and playwright (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Tony Christopher, Baron Christopher, English trade union leader and businessman
  • 1925 – Sammy Drechsel, German comedian and journalist (d. 1986)
  • 1925 – Louis O’Neil, Canadian academic and politician (d. 2018)
  • 1926 – Johnny Craig, American author and illustrator (d. 2001)
  • 1926 – Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (d. 2008)
  • 1926 – Patricia Castell, Argentine actress (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (d. 2009)
  • 1927 – Albert Uderzo, French author and illustrator (d. 2020)
  • 1928 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper, shot putter, and discus thrower (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Godfrey Milton-Thompson, English admiral and surgeon (d. 2012)
  • 1930 – Peter Schulz, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Hamburg (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1980)
  • 1931 – David Shepherd, English painter and author (d. 2017)
  • 1932 – Nikolai Kardashev, Russian astrophysicist (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Meadowlark Lemon, African-American basketball player and minister (d. 2015)
  • 1932 – Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower and politician (d. 1998)
  • 1933 – Jerry Leiber, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1933 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (d. 1992)
  • 1934 – Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer and manager
  • 1935 – Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter (d. 1960)
  • 1935 – Reinier Kreijermaat, Dutch footballer (d. 2018)
  • 1936 – Henck Arron, Surinamese banker and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (d. 2000)
  • 1938 – Roger Boisjoly, American aerodynamicist and engineer (d. 2012)
  • 1938 – Ton Schulten, Dutch painter and graphic designer
  • 1939 – Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1939 – Michael Llewellyn-Smith, English academic and diplomat
  • 1939 – Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, English historian and academic
  • 1939 – Veronica Sutherland, English academic and British diplomat
  • 1940 – Al Pacino, American actor and director
  • 1941 – Bertrand Tavernier, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1942 – Jon Kyl, American lawyer and politician
  • 1943 – Tony Christie, English singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1944 – Len Goodman, English dancer
  • 1944 – Mike Kogel, German singer-songwriter
  • 1944 – Stephen Nickell, English economist and academic
  • 1944 – Bruce Ponder, English geneticist and cancer researcher
  • 1945 – Stu Cook, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1945 – Richard C. Hoagland, American theorist and author
  • 1945 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1946 – Talia Shire, American actress
  • 1946 – Peter Sutherland, Irish lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Ireland
  • 1946 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian colonel, lawyer, and politician
  • 1947 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2016)
  • 1947 – Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
  • 1948 – Mike Selvey, English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1948 – Yu Shyi-kun, Taiwanese politician, 39th Premier of the Republic of China
  • 1949 – Vicente Pernía, Argentinian footballer and race car driver
  • 1949 – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician, French Minister of Finance
  • 1949 – James Fenton, English poet, journalist and literary critic
  • 1950 – Donnell Deeny, Northern Irish lawyer and judge
  • 1950 – Steve Ferrone, English drummer
  • 1950 – Peter Hintze, German politician (d. 2016)
  • 1950 – Valentyna Kozyr, Ukrainian high jumper
  • 1951 – Ian McCartney, Scottish politician, Minister of State for Trade
  • 1952 – Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
  • 1952 – Vladislav Tretiak, Russian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1952 – Jacques Santini, French footballer and coach
  • 1953 – Ron Clements, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1953 – Gary Cosier, Australian cricketer
  • 1953 – Anthony Venables, English economist, author, and academic
  • 1954 – Melvin Burgess, English author
  • 1954 – Randy Cross, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1954 – Róisín Shortall, Irish educator and politician
  • 1955 – Américo Gallego, Argentinian footballer and coach
  • 1955 – Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor and singer
  • 1955 – Zev Siegl, American businessman, co-founded Starbucks
  • 1956 – Dominique Blanc, French actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Abdalla Uba Adamu, Nigerian professor, media scholar
  • 1957 – Theo de Rooij, Dutch cyclist and manager
  • 1958 – Fish, Scottish singer-songwriter
  • 1958 – Misha Glenny, British journalist
  • 1959 – Paul Madden, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to Australia
  • 1959 – Daniel Kash, Canadian actor and director
  • 1959 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player (d. 2016)
  • 1960 – Paul Baloff, American singer (d. 2002)
  • 1960 – Robert Peston, English journalist
  • 1960 – Bruce Redman, Australian director, producer, and critic
  • 1961 – Dinesh D’Souza, Indian-American journalist and author
  • 1961 – Miran Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper
  • 1962 – Foeke Booy, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Joy Covey, American businesswoman (d. 2013)
  • 1963 – Dave Martin, English footballer
  • 1963 – David Moyes, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Bernd Müller, German footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Paul Wassif, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1964 – Hank Azaria, American actor, voice artist, comedian and producer
  • 1964 – Andy Bell, English singer-songwriter
  • 1965 – Eric Avery, American bass player and songwriter
  • 1965 – Mark Bryant, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – John Henson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2014)
  • 1966 – Diego Domínguez, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
  • 1966 – Femke Halsema, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician
  • 1966 – Darren Holmes, American baseball player and coach
  • 1966 – Erik Pappas, American baseball player and coach
  • 1967 – Angel Martino, American swimmer
  • 1968 – Vitaliy Kyrylenko, Ukrainian long jumper
  • 1968 – Thomas Strunz, German footballer
  • 1969 – Joe Buck, American sportscaster
  • 1969 – Martin Koolhoven, Dutch director and screenwriter
  • 1969 – Jon Olsen, American swimmer
  • 1969 – Darren Woodson, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer
  • 1970 – Jason Lee, American skateboarder, actor, comedian and producer
  • 1971 – Sara Baras, Spanish dancer
  • 1971 – Brad Clontz, American baseball player
  • 1973 – Carlota Castrejana, Spanish triple jumper
  • 1973 – Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer
  • 1973 – Barbara Rittner, German tennis player
  • 1975 – Jacque Jones, American baseball player and coach
  • 1976 – Gilberto da Silva Melo, Brazilian footballer
  • 1976 – Tim Duncan, American basketball player
  • 1976 – Breyton Paulse, South African rugby player
  • 1976 – Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player and coach
  • 1977 – Constantinos Christoforou, Cypriot singer-songwriter
  • 1977 – Ilias Kotsios, Greek footballer
  • 1977 – Marguerite Moreau, American actress and producer
  • 1977 – Matthew West, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1978 – Matt Walker, English swimmer
  • 1980 – Ben Johnston, Scottish drummer and songwriter
  • 1980 – James Johnston, Scottish bass player and songwriter
  • 1980 – Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor and television host
  • 1980 – Bruce Martin, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1980 – Kazuhito Tadano, Japanese baseball player
  • 1980 – Alejandro Valverde, Spanish cyclist
  • 1981 – Dwone Hicks, American football player
  • 1981 – Felipe Massa, Brazilian racing driver
  • 1981 – John McFall, English sprinter
  • 1981 – Anja Pärson, Swedish skier
  • 1982 – Brian Barton, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Monty Panesar, English cricketer
  • 1982 – Marco Russo, Italian footballer
  • 1983 – Johnathan Thurston, Australian rugby league player
  • 1983 – DeAngelo Williams, American football player
  • 1984 – Robert Andino, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Isaac Kiprono Songok, Kenyan runner
  • 1985 – Giedo van der Garde, Dutch racing driver
  • 1986 – Alexei Emelin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Thin Seng Hon, Cambodian Paralympic athlete
  • 1986 – Gwen Jorgensen, American triathlete
  • 1986 – Claudia Rath, German heptathlete
  • 1987 – Razak Boukari, Togolese footballer
  • 1987 – Jay Park, American-South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1987 – Johann Smith, American soccer player
  • 1988 – James Sheppard, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Canadian skier
  • 1989 – Michael van Gerwen, Dutch darts player
  • 1989 – Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, one of the highest-ranking spiritual leaders in Tibet
  • 1990 – Jean-Éric Vergne, French racing driver
  • 1990 – Taylor Walker, Australian footballer
  • 1991 – Alex Shibutani, American ice dancer
  • 1993 – Alex Bowman, American race car driver
  • 1993 – Daniel Norris, American baseball player
  • 1994 – Omar McLeod, Jamaican hurdler
  • 1995 – Lewis Baker, English footballer
  • 1996 – Mack Horton, Australian swimmer
  • 1997 – Julius Ertlthaler, Austrian footballer

Deaths on April 25

  • 501 – Rusticus, saint and archbishop of Lyon (b. 455)
  • 775 – Smbat VII Bagratuni, Armenian prince
  • 775 – Mushegh VI Mamikonian, Armenian prince
  • 908 – Zhang Wenwei, Chinese chancellor
  • 1074 – Herman I, Margrave of Baden
  • 1077 – Géza I of Hungary (b. 1040)
  • 1185 – Emperor Antoku of Japan (b. 1178)
  • 1217 – Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia
  • 1228 – Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem (b. 1212)
  • 1243 – Boniface of Valperga, Bishop of Aosta
  • 1264 – Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, medieval English nobleman; Earl of Winchester (b. 1195)
  • 1295 – Sancho IV of Castile (b. 1258)
  • 1342 – Pope Benedict XII (b. 1285)
  • 1397 – Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, English nobleman
  • 1472 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian author, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)
  • 1516 – John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
  • 1566 – Louise Labé, French poet and author (b. 1520)
  • 1566 – Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France (b. 1499)
  • 1595 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet and songwriter (b. 1544)
  • 1605 – Naresuan, Siamese King of Ayutthaya Kingdom (b. c. 1555)
  • 1644 – Chongzhen Emperor of China (b. 1611)
  • 1660 – Henry Hammond, English cleric and theologian (b. 1605)
  • 1690 – David Teniers the Younger, Flemish painter and educator (b. 1610)
  • 1744 – Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (b. 1701)
  • 1770 – Jean-Antoine Nollet, French minister, physicist, and academic (b. 1700)
  • 1800 – William Cowper, English poet (b. 1731)
  • 1840 – Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1781)
  • 1873 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1783)
  • 1875 – 12th Dalai Lama (b. 1857)
  • 1878 – Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
  • 1890 – Crowfoot, Canadian tribal chief (b. 1830)
  • 1891 – Nathaniel Woodard, English priest and educator (b. 1811)
  • 1892 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (b. 1840)
  • 1892 – Karl von Ditmar, Estonian-German geologist and explorer (b. 1822)
  • 1906 – John Knowles Paine, American composer and educator (b. 1839)
  • 1911 – Emilio Salgari, Italian journalist and author (b. 1862)
  • 1913 – Joseph-Alfred Archambeault, Canadian bishop (b. 1859)
  • 1915 – Frederick W. Seward, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1830)
  • 1919 – Augustus D. Juilliard, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1836)
  • 1923 – Louis-Olivier Taillon, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Premier of Quebec (b. 1840)
  • 1928 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian general (b. 1878)
  • 1941 – Salih Bozok, Turkish commander and politician (b. 1881)
  • 1943 – Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian director, producer, and playwright (b. 1858)
  • 1944 – George Herriman, American cartoonist (b. 1880)
  • 1944 – Tony Mullane, Irish-American baseball player (b. 1859)
  • 1944 – William Stephens, American engineer and politician, 24th Governor of California (b. 1859)
  • 1945 – Huldreich Georg Früh, Swiss composer (b. 1903)
  • 1961 – Robert Garrett, American discus thrower and shot putter (b. 1875)
  • 1970 – Anita Louise, American actress (b. 1915)
  • 1972 – George Sanders, English actor (b. 1906)
  • 1973 – Olga Grey, Hungarian-American actress (b. 1896)
  • 1974 – Gustavo R. Vincenti, Maltese architect and developer (b. 1888)
  • 1975 – Mike Brant, Israeli singer and songwriter (b.1947)
  • 1976 – Carol Reed, English director and producer (b. 1906)
  • 1976 – Markus Reiner, Israeli engineer and educator (b. 1886)
  • 1982 – John Cody, American cardinal (b. 1907)
  • 1983 – William S. Bowdern, American priest and author (b. 1897)
  • 1988 – Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
  • 1988 – Clifford D. Simak, American journalist and author (b. 1904)
  • 1990 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (b. 1923)
  • 1992 – Yutaka Ozaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1965)
  • 1995 – Art Fleming, American game show host (b. 1925)
  • 1995 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
  • 1995 – Lev Shankovsky, Ukrainian military historian (b. 1903)
  • 1996 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer and director (b. 1920)
  • 1998 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (b. 1910)
  • 1999 – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, Irish journalist and author (b. 1914)
  • 1999 – Roger Troutman, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1951)
  • 2000 – Lucien Le Cam, French mathematician and statistician (b. 1924)
  • 2000 – David Merrick, American director and producer (b. 1911)
  • 2001 – Michele Alboreto, Italian racing driver (b. 1956)
  • 2002 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (b. 1971)
  • 2003 – Samson Kitur, Kenyan runner (b. 1966)
  • 2004 – Thom Gunn, English-American poet and academic (b. 1929)
  • 2005 – Jim Barker, American politician (b. 1935)
  • 2005 – Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk and educator (b. 1908)
  • 2006 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1916)
  • 2006 – Peter Law, Welsh politician and independent member of parliament (b. 1948)
  • 2007 – Alan Ball Jr., English footballer and manager (b. 1945)
  • 2007 – Arthur Milton, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1928)
  • 2007 – Bobby Pickett, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
  • 2008 – Humphrey Lyttelton, English trumpet player, composer, and radio host (b. 1921)
  • 2009 – Bea Arthur, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
  • 2010 – Dorothy Provine, American actress and singer (b. 1935)
  • 2010 – Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (b. 1928)
  • 2011 – Poly Styrene, British musician (b. 1957)
  • 2012 – Gerry Bahen, Australian footballer (b. 1929)
  • 2012 – Denny Jones, American rancher and politician (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Moscelyne Larkin, American ballerina and educator (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Louis le Brocquy, Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1916)
  • 2013 – Brian Adam, Scottish biochemist and politician (b. 1948)
  • 2013 – Jacob Avshalomov, American composer and conductor (b. 1919)
  • 2013 – György Berencsi, Hungarian virologist and academic (b. 1941)
  • 2013 – Rick Camp, American baseball player (b. 1953)
  • 2014 – Dan Heap, Canadian priest and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – William Judson Holloway Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and judge (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Earl Morrall, American football player and coach (b. 1934)
  • 2014 – Tito Vilanova, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1968)
  • 2014 – Stefanie Zweig, German journalist and author (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Jim Fanning, American-Canadian baseball player and manager (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Matthias Kuhle, German geographer and academic (b. 1948)
  • 2015 – Don Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and novelist (b. 1922)
  • 2015 – Mike Phillips, American basketball player (b. 1956)
  • 2016 – Tom Lewis, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of New South Wales (b. 1922)
  • 2018 – Madeeha Gauhar, Pakistani actress, playwright and director of social theater, and women’s rights activist (b. 1956)
  • 2019 – John Havlicek, American basketball player (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances on April 25

  • Anniversary of the First Cabinet of Kurdish Government (Iraqi Kurdistan)
  • Anzac Day (Australia, New Zealand)
  • Arbor Day (Germany)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Giovanni Battista Piamarta
    • Major Rogation (Western Christianity)
    • Mark the Evangelist
    • Maughold
    • Philo and Agathopodes
    • Anianus of Alexandria
    • April 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • DNA Day
  • Flag Day (Faroe Islands)
  • Freedom Day (Portugal)
  • Liberation Day (Italy)
  • Liberation Day (South Georgia)
  • Military Foundation Day (North Korea)
  • Parental Alienation Awareness Day
  • Red Hat Society Day
  • Sinai Liberation Day (Egypt)
  • World Malaria 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)