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

    • 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
    • 1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burnt in Paris.
    • 1397 – The Kalmar Union is formed under the rule of Margaret I of Denmark.
    • 1462 – Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack at Târgovişte), forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.
    • 1497 – Battle of Deptford Bridge: Forces under King Henry VII defeat troops led by Michael An Gof.
    • 1565 – Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
    • 1579 – Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.
    • 1596 – The Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz discovers the Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen.
    • 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
    • 1665 – Battle of Montes Claros: Portugal definitively secured independence from Spain in the last battle of the Portuguese Restoration War.
    • 1673 – French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reach the Mississippi River and become the first Europeans to make a detailed account of its course.
    • 1767 – Samuel Wallis, a British sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.
    • 1773 – Cúcuta, Colombia, is founded by Juana Rangel de Cuéllar.
    • 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.
    • 1789 – In France, the Third Estate declares itself the National Assembly.
    • 1794 – Foundation of Anglo-Corsican Kingdom.
    • 1795 – The burghers of Swellendam expel the Dutch East India Company magistrate and declare a republic.
    • 1839 – In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace are established as a result.
    • 1843 – The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers in the New Zealand Wars, takes place.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Vienna, Virginia.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign.
    • 1876 – American Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud: 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook’s forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.
    • 1877 – American Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon: The Nez Perce defeat the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.
    • 1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
    • 1898 – The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.
    • 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: Western Allied and Japanese forces capture the Taku Forts in Tianjin, China.
    • 1901 – The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
    • 1910 – Aurel Vlaicu pilots an A. Vlaicu nr. 1 on its first flight.
    • 1922 – Portuguese naval aviators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral complete the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic.
    • 1929 – The town of Murchison, New Zealand Is rocked by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killing 17. At the time it was New Zealand’s worst natural disaster.
    • 1930 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act into law.
    • 1932 – Bonus Army: Around a thousand World War I veterans amass at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would give them certain benefits.
    • 1933 – Union Station massacre: In Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash are gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.
    • 1939 – Last public guillotining in France: Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is executed in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre prison.
    • 1940 – World War II: RMS Lancastria is attacked and sunk by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France. At least 3,000 are killed in Britain’s worst maritime disaster.
    • 1940 – World War II: The British Army’s 11th Hussars assault and take Fort Capuzzo in Libya, Africa from Italian forces.
    • 1940 – The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union.
    • 1944 – Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic.
    • 1948 – United Airlines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
    • 1952 – Guatemala passes Decree 900, ordering the redistribution of uncultivated land.
    • 1953 – Cold War: East Germany Workers Uprising: In East Germany, the Soviet Union orders a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion.
    • 1958 – The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, in the process of being built to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver (Canada), collapses into the Burrard Inlet killing 18 ironworkers and injuring others.
    • 1960 – The Nez Perce tribe is awarded $4 million for 7 million acres (28,000 km2) of land undervalued at four cents/acre in the 1863 treaty.
    • 1963 – The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.
    • 1963 – A day after South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm announced the Joint Communiqué to end the Buddhist crisis, a riot involving around 2,000 people breaks out. One person is killed.
    • 1967 – Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon.
    • 1972 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process
    • 1985 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-G mission: Space Shuttle Discovery launches carrying Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist.
    • 1987 – With the death of the last individual of the species, the dusky seaside sparrow becomes extinct.
    • 1991 – Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
    • 1992 – A “joint understanding” agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).
    • 1994 – Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
    • 2015 – Nine people are killed in a mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
    • 2017 – A series of wildfires in central Portugal kill at least 64 people and injure 204 others.

    Births on June 17

    • 801 – Drogo of Metz, Frankish bishop (d. 855)
    • 1239 – Edward I, English king (d. 1307)
    • 1530 – François de Montmorency, French nobleman (d. 1579)
    • 1571 – Thomas Mun, English writer on economics (d. 1641)
    • 1603 – Joseph of Cupertino, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1663)
    • 1604 – John Maurice, Dutch nobleman (d. 1679)
    • 1610 – Birgitte Thott, Danish scholar, writer and translator (b. 1662)
    • 1631 – Gauharara Begum, Mughal princess (d. 1706)
    • 1682 – Charles XII, Swedish king (d. 1718)
    • 1691 – Giovanni Paolo Panini, Italian painter and architect (d. 1765)
    • 1693 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian and author (d. 1775)
    • 1704 – John Kay, English engineer, invented the Flying shuttle (d. 1780)
    • 1714 – César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer and cartographer (d. 1784)
    • 1718 – George Howard, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Minorca (d. 1796)
    • 1778 – Gregory Blaxland, English-Australian explorer (d. 1853)
    • 1800 – William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, English-Irish astronomer and politician (d. 1867)
    • 1808 – Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian poet, playwright, and linguist (d. 1845)
    • 1810 – Ferdinand Freiligrath, German poet and translator (d. 1876)
    • 1811 – Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic scholar and politician (d. 1879)
    • 1818 – Charles Gounod, French composer and academic (d. 1893)
    • 1818 – Sophie of Württemberg, queen of the Netherlands (d. 1877)
    • 1821 – E. G. Squier, American archaeologist and journalist (d. 1888)
    • 1832 – William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (d. 1919)
    • 1833 – Manuel González Flores, Mexican general and president (d. 1893)
    • 1858 – Eben Sumner Draper, American businessman and politician, 44th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1914)
    • 1861 – Pete Browning, American baseball player (d. 1905)
    • 1861 – Omar Bundy, American general (d. 1940)
    • 1863 – Charles Michael, duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1934)
    • 1865 – Susan La Flesche Picotte, Native American physician (d. 1915)
    • 1867 – Flora Finch, English-American actress (d. 1940)
    • 1867 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born American educator, publisher, and humanitarian (d. 1948)
    • 1867 – Henry Lawson, Australian poet and author (d. 1922)
    • 1871 – James Weldon Johnson, American author, journalist, and activist (d. 1938)
    • 1876 – William Carr, American rower (d. 1942)
    • 1876 – Edward Anthony Spitzka, American anatomist and author (d. 1922)
    • 1880 – Carl Van Vechten, American author and photographer (d. 1964)
    • 1881 – Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer and promoter (d. 1955)
    • 1882 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1918)
    • 1882 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1971)
    • 1888 – Heinz Guderian, German general (d. 1954)
    • 1897 – Maria Izilda de Castro Ribeiro, Brazilian girl, popular saint (d. 1911)
    • 1898 – M. C. Escher, Dutch illustrator (d. 1972)
    • 1898 – Carl Hermann, German physicist and academic (d. 1961)
    • 1898 – Harry Patch, English soldier and firefighter (d. 2009)
    • 1900 – Martin Bormann, German politician (d. 1945)
    • 1900 – Evelyn Irons, Scottish journalist and war correspondent (d. 2000)
    • 1902 – Sammy Fain, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
    • 1902 – Alec Hurwood, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
    • 1903 – Ruth Graves Wakefield, American chef, created the chocolate chip cookie (d. 1977)
    • 1904 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (d. 1991)
    • 1904 – J. Vernon McGee, American pastor and theologian (d. 1988)
    • 1904 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian farmer and politician (d. 1989)
    • 1907 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
    • 1909 – Elmer L. Andersen, American businessman and politician, 30th Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
    • 1909 – Ralph E. Winters, Canadian-American film editor (d. 2004)
    • 1910 – Red Foley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1968)
    • 1910 – George Hees, Canadian football player and politician (d. 1996)
    • 1914 – John Hersey, American journalist and author (d. 1993)
    • 1915 – David “Stringbean” Akeman, American singer and banjo player (d. 1973)
    • 1915 – Marcel Cadieux, Canadian civil servant and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 1981)
    • 1916 – Terry Gilkyson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
    • 1917 – Dufferin Roblin, Canadian politician, 14th Premier of Manitoba (d. 2010)
    • 1918 – Ajahn Chah, Thai monk and educator (d. 1992)
    • 1919 – William Kaye Estes, American psychologist and academic (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – John Moffat, Scottish lieutenant and pilot (d. 2016)
    • 1919 – Beryl Reid, English actress (d. 1996)
    • 1920 – Jacob H. Gilbert, American lawyer and politician (d. 1981)
    • 1920 – Setsuko Hara, Japanese actress (d. 2015)
    • 1920 – François Jacob, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Peter Le Cheminant, English air marshal and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey (d. 2018)
    • 1922 – John Amis, English journalist and critic (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Elroy Hirsch, American football player (d. 2004)
    • 1923 – Arnold S. Relman, American physician and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Dale C. Thomson, Canadian historian and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1925 – Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Martin Böttcher, German composer and conductor (d. 2019)
    • 1927 – Wally Wood, American author, illustrator, and publisher (d. 1981)
    • 1928 – Juan María Bordaberry, President of Uruguay (d. 2011)
    • 1929 – Bud Collins, American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – Tigran Petrosian, Armenian chess player (d. 1984)
    • 1930 – Cliff Gallup, American rock & roll guitarist (d. 1988)
    • 1930 – Brian Statham, English cricketer (d. 2000)
    • 1931 – John Baldessari, American painter and illustrator (d. 2020)
    • 1932 – Derek Ibbotson, English runner (d. 2017)
    • 1932 – John Murtha, American colonel and politician (d. 2010)
    • 1933 – Harry Browne, American soldier and politician (d. 2006)
    • 1933 – Christian Ferras, French violinist (d. 1982)
    • 1933 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (d. 1970)
    • 1936 – Vern Harper, Canadian tribal leader and activist (d. 2018)
    • 1936 – Ken Loach, English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1937 – Peter Fitzgerald, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – Ted Nelson, American sociologist and philosopher
    • 1937 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian fashion designer, television presenter and politician (d. 2009)
    • 1940 – George Akerlof, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1940 – Bobby Bell, American football player
    • 1940 – Chuck Rainey, American bassist
    • 1941 – Nicholas C. Handy, English chemist and academic (d. 2012)
    • 1942 – Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian politician, Vice President of Egypt, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1942 – Doğu Perinçek, Turkish lawyer and politician
    • 1942 – Roger Steffens, American actor and producer
    • 1943 – Newt Gingrich, American historian and politician, 58th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
    • 1943 – Barry Manilow, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1943 – Chantal Mouffe, Belgian theorist and author
    • 1943 – Burt Rutan, American engineer and pilot
    • 1944 – Randy Johnson, American football player (d. 2009)
    • 1944 – Chris Spedding, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1945 – Tommy Franks, American general
    • 1945 – Ken Livingstone, English politician, 1st Mayor of London
    • 1945 – Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1945 – Art Bell, American broadcaster and author (d. 2018)
    • 1946 – Peter Rosei, Austrian author, poet, and playwright
    • 1947 – Christopher Allport, American actor (d. 2008)
    • 1947 – Timothy Wright, American gospel singer, pastor (d. 2009)
    • 1947 – Linda Chavez, American journalist and author
    • 1947 – George S. Clinton, American composer and songwriter
    • 1947 – Gregg Rolie, American rock singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1947 – Paul Young, English singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1948 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball player and manager
    • 1948 – Jacqueline Jones, American historian and academic
    • 1948 – Aurelio López, Mexican baseball player and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1948 – Karol Sikora, English physician and academic
    • 1949 – Snakefinger, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1987)
    • 1949 – John Craven, English economist and academic
    • 1949 – Russell Smith, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
    • 1950 – Lee Tamahori, New Zealand film director
    • 1951 – Starhawk, American author and activist
    • 1951 – John Garrett, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1951 – Joe Piscopo, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Mike Milbury, American ice hockey player, coach, and manager
    • 1952 – Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, English educator and politician, Secretary of State for Education
    • 1953 – Vernon Coaker, English educator and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
    • 1953 – Juan Muñoz, Spanish sculptor and storyteller (d. 2001)
    • 1954 – Mark Linn-Baker, American actor and director
    • 1955 – Mati Laur, Estonian historian, author, and academic
    • 1955 – Bob Sauvé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1955 – Cem Hakko, Turkish fashion designer and businessman
    • 1956 – Iain Milne, Scottish rugby player
    • 1957 – Philip Chevron, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1957 – Martin Dillon, American tenor and educator (d. 2005)
    • 1957 – Uģis Prauliņš, Latvian composer
    • 1958 – Pierre Berbizier, French rugby player and coach
    • 1958 – Jello Biafra, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1958 – Bobby Farrelly, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Sam Hamad, Syrian-Canadian academic and politician
    • 1958 – Jon Leibowitz, American lawyer and politician
    • 1958 – Daniel McVicar, American actor
    • 1959 – Carol Anderson, American author and historian
    • 1959 – Lawrence Haddad, South African-English economist and academic
    • 1959 – Nikos Stavropoulos, Greek basketball player and coach
    • 1960 – Adrián Campos, Spanish race car driver
    • 1960 – Thomas Haden Church, American actor
    • 1961 – Kōichi Yamadera, Japanese actor and singer
    • 1962 – Michael Monroe, Finnish singer-songwriter and saxophonist
    • 1963 – Greg Kinnear, American actor, television presenter, and producer
    • 1964 – Rinaldo Capello, Italian race car driver
    • 1964 – Michael Gross, German swimmer
    • 1964 – Steve Rhodes, English cricketer and coach
    • 1965 – Dermontti Dawson, American football player and coach
    • 1965 – Dan Jansen, American speed skater and sportscaster
    • 1965 – Dara O’Kearney, Irish runner and poker player
    • 1966 – Mohammed Ghazy Al-Akhras, Iraqi journalist and author
    • 1966 – Tory Burch, American fashion designer and philanthropist
    • 1966 – Ken Clark, American football player (d. 2013)
    • 1966 – Diane Modahl, English runner
    • 1966 – Jason Patric, American actor
    • 1967 – Dorothea Röschmann, German soprano and actress
    • 1967 – Eric Stefani, American keyboard player and composer
    • 1968 – Steve Georgallis, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1968 – Minoru Suzuki, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
    • 1969 – Paul Tergat, Kenyan runner
    • 1969 – Geoff Toovey, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1969 – Ilya Tsymbalar, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1970 – Stéphane Fiset, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1970 – Will Forte, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Jason Hanson, American football player
    • 1970 – Popeye Jones, American basketball player and coach
    • 1970 – Michael Showalter, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Alan Dowson, English football manager and former professional player
    • 1971 – Paulina Rubio, Mexican pop singer
    • 1971 – Mildred Fox, Irish politician
    • 1973 – Leander Paes, Indian tennis player
    • 1974 – Evangelia Psarra, Greek archer
    • 1975 – Joshua Leonard, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1975 – Juan Carlos Valerón, Spanish footballer
    • 1975 – Phiyada Akkraseranee, Thai actress and model
    • 1976 – Scott Adkins, English actor and martial artist
    • 1976 – Sven Nys, Belgian cyclist
    • 1977 – Tjaša Jezernik, Slovenian tennis player
    • 1977 – Mark Tauscher, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Isabelle Delobel, French ice dancer
    • 1978 – Travis Roche, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Nick Rimando, American soccer player
    • 1979 – Tyson Apostol, American television personality
    • 1979 – Young Maylay, American rapper, producer, and voice actor
    • 1980 – Elisa Rigaudo, Italian race walker
    • 1980 – Jeph Jacques, American author and illustrator
    • 1980 – Venus Williams, American tennis player
    • 1981 – Kyle Boller, American football player
    • 1981 – Shane Watson, Australian cricketer
    • 1982 – Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Marek Svatoš, Slovak ice hockey player (d. 2016)
    • 1982 – Stanislava Hrozenská, Slovak tennis player
    • 1982 – Stefan Hodgetts, English racing driver
    • 1982 – Arthur Darvill, English actor
    • 1982 – Jodie Whittaker, English actress
    • 1983 – Lee Ryan, English singer/actor
    • 1983 – Vlasis Kazakis, Greek footballer
    • 1984 – Michael Mathieu, Bahamian sprinter
    • 1984 – Si Tianfeng, Chinese race walker
    • 1985 – Özge Akın, Turkish sprinter
    • 1985 – Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player
    • 1985 – Rafael Sóbis, Brazilian footballer
    • 1986 – Apoula Edel, Armenian footballer
    • 1986 – Helen Glover, English rower
    • 1987 – Kendrick Lamar, American rapper
    • 1987 – Nozomi Tsuji, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1988 – Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player
    • 1988 – Shaun MacDonald, Welsh footballer
    • 1988 – Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer
    • 1989 – Georgios Tofas, Cypriot footballer
    • 1989 – Simone Battle, American singer and actress (d. 2014)
    • 1990 – Jordan Henderson, English footballer
    • 1990 – Josh Mansour, Australian rugby league player
    • 1991 – Daniel Tupou, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
    • 1994 – Amari Cooper, American football player
    • 1995 – Clément Lenglet, French footballer

    Deaths on June 17

    • 656 – Uthman, caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate (b. 579)
    • 676 – Adeodatus, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 811 – Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, Japanese shōgun (b. 758)
    • 850 – Tachibana no Kachiko, Japanese empress (b. 786)
    • 900 – Fulk, French archbishop and chancellor
    • 1025 – Bolesław I the Brave, Polish king (b. 967)
    • 1091 – Dirk V, count of Holland (b. 1052)
    • 1207 – Daoji, Chinese buddhist monk (b. 1130)
    • 1219 – David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
    • 1361 – Ingeborg of Norway, princess consort and regent of Sweden (b. 1301)
    • 1400 – Jan of Jenštejn, archbishop of Prague (b. 1348)
    • 1463 – Catherine of Portugal, Portuguese princess (b. 1436)
    • 1501 – John I Albert, Polish king (b. 1459)
    • 1565 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun (b. 1536)
    • 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal, Mughal princess (b. 1593)
    • 1649 – Injo of Joseon, Korean king (b. 1595)
    • 1674 – Jijabai, Dowager Queen, mother of Shivaji (b. 1598)
    • 1694 – Philip Howard, English cardinal (b. 1629)
    • 1696 – John III Sobieski, Polish king (b. 1629)
    • 1719 – Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician (b. 1672)
    • 1734 – Claude Louis Hector de Villars, French general and politician, French Secretary of State for War (b. 1653)
    • 1740 – Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1687)
    • 1762 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French poet and playwright (b. 1674)
    • 1771 – Daskalogiannis, Greek rebel leader (b. 1722)
    • 1775 – John Pitcairn, Scottish-English soldier (b. 1722)
    • 1797 – Mohammad Khan Qajar, Persian tribal chief (b. 1742)
    • 1813 – Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, Scottish-English admiral and politician (b. 1726)
    • 1821 – Martín Miguel de Güemes, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1785)
    • 1839 – Lord William Bentinck, English general and politician, 14th Governor-General of India (b. 1774)
    • 1866 – Joseph Méry, French poet and author (b. 1798)
    • 1889 – Lozen, Chiracaua Apache warrior woman (b. ~1840)
    • 1898 – Edward Burne-Jones, English soldier and painter (b. 1833)
    • 1904 – Nikolay Bobrikov, Russian soldier and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1839)
    • 1936 – Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist, politician, and diplomat, Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
    • 1939 – Allen Sothoron, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1893)
    • 1939 – Eugen Weidmann, German criminal (b. 1908)
    • 1940 – Arthur Harden, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
    • 1941 – Johan Wagenaar, Dutch organist and composer (b. 1862)
    • 1942 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1853)
    • 1952 – Jack Parsons, American chemist and engineer (b. 1914)
    • 1954 – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (b. 1920)
    • 1956 – Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry, English businessman (b. 1878)
    • 1956 – Paul Rostock, German surgeon and academic (b. 1892)
    • 1956 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (b. 1926)
    • 1957 – Dorothy Richardson, English journalist and author (b. 1873)
    • 1957 – J. R. Williams, Canadian-American cartoonist (b. 1888)
    • 1961 – Jeff Chandler, American actor (b. 1918)
    • 1963 – Aleksander Kesküla, Estonian politician (b. 1882)
    • 1968 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer and manager (b. 1901)
    • 1974 – Refik Koraltan, Turkish lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1889)
    • 1975 – James Phinney Baxter III, American historian and academic (b. 1893)
    • 1979 – Hubert Ashton, English cricketer and politician (b. 1898)
    • 1979 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888)
    • 1981 – Richard O’Connor, Indian-English general (b. 1889)
    • 1981 – Zerna Sharp, American author and educator (b. 1889)
    • 1982 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (b. 1920)
    • 1983 – Peter Mennin, American composer and educator (b. 1923)
    • 1985 – John Boulting, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1913)
    • 1986 – Kate Smith, American singer (b. 1907)
    • 1987 – Dick Howser, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1936)
    • 1996 – Thomas Kuhn, American historian and philosopher (b. 1922)
    • 1996 – Curt Swan, American illustrator (b. 1920)
    • 1999 – Basil Hume, English cardinal (b. 1923)
    • 2000 – Ismail Mahomed, South African lawyer and jurist, 17th Chief Justice of South Africa (b. 1931)
    • 2001 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
    • 2001 – Thomas Winning, Scottish cardinal (b. 1925)
    • 2002 – Willie Davenport, American sprinter and hurdler (b. 1943)
    • 2002 – Fritz Walter, German footballer (b. 1920)
    • 2004 – Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
    • 2006 – Bussunda, Brazilian comedian (b. 1962)
    • 2007 – Gianfranco Ferré, Italian fashion designer (b. 1944)
    • 2007 – Serena Wilson, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1933)
    • 2008 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (b. 1922)
    • 2009 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-English sociologist and politician (b. 1929)
    • 2009 – Darrell Powers, American sergeant (b. 1923)
    • 2011 – Rex Mossop, Australian rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Stéphane Brosse, French mountaineer (b. 1971)
    • 2012 – Patricia Brown, American baseball player (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Nathan Divinsky, Canadian mathematician and chess player (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (b. 1965)
    • 2012 – Fauzia Wahab, Pakistani actress and politician (b. 1956)
    • 2013 – Michael Baigent, New Zealand-English theorist and author (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – Atiqul Haque Chowdhury, Bangladeshi playwright and producer (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Pierre F. Côté, Canadian lawyer and civil servant (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Bulbs Ehlers, American basketball player (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – James Holshouser, American politician, 68th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1934)
    • 2014 – Patsy Byrne, English actress (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Éric Dewailly, Canadian epidemiologist and academic (b. 1954)
    • 2014 – Stanley Marsh 3, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1938)
    • 2014 – Arnold S. Relman, American physician and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Larry Zeidel, Canadian-American ice hockey player and sportscaster (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Ron Clarke, Australian runner and politician, Mayor of the Gold Coast (b. 1937)
    • 2015 – John David Crow, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Süleyman Demirel, Turkish engineer and politician, 9th President of Turkey (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Roberto M. Levingston, Argentinian general and politician, 36th President of Argentina (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Clementa C. Pinckney, American minister and politician (b. 1973)
    • 2017 – Baldwin Lonsdale, president of Vanuatu (b. 1948)

    Holidays and observances on June 17

    • Christian feast day:
      • Albert Chmielowski
      • Botolph (England and Scandinavia)
      • Gondulphus of Berry
      • Hervé
      • Hypatius of Bithynia (Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches)
      • Rainerius
      • Samuel and Henrietta Barnett (Church of England)
      • June 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Father’s Day (El Salvador, Guatemala)
    • Icelandic National Day, celebrates the independence of Iceland from Kingdom of Denmark in 1944.
    • Occupation of the Latvian Republic Day (Latvia)
    • Remembrance to East German uprising of 1953, public holiday in West Germany between 1954 and 1990 (today German Unity Day) is the public holiday day)
    • World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (International)
    • Zemla Intifada Day (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)

  • April 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th dynasty).
    • 1183 BC – Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy marking the end of the legendary Trojan War, given by chief librarian of the Library of Alexandria Erastothenes, among others.
    • 1547 – Battle of Mühlberg. Duke of Alba, commanding Spanish-Imperial forces of Charles I of Spain, defeats the troops of Schmalkaldic League.
    • 1558 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Dauphin of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris.
    • 1704 – The first regular newspaper in British Colonial America, The Boston News-Letter, is published.
    • 1800 – The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 to purchase “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress”.
    • 1877 – Russo-Turkish War: Russian Empire declares war on Ottoman Empire.
    • 1885 – American sharpshooter Annie Oakley is hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
    • 1895 – Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail single-handedly around the world, sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts aboard the sloop “Spray”.
    • 1913 – The Woolworth Building, a skyscraper in New York City, is opened.
    • 1914 – The Franck–Hertz experiment, a pillar of quantum mechanics, is presented to the German Physical Society.
    • 1915 – The arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul marks the beginning of the Armenian Genocide.
    • 1916 – Easter Rising: Irish rebels, led by Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, launch an uprising in Dublin against British rule and proclaim an Irish Republic.
    • 1916 – Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the crew of the sunken Endurance.
    • 1918 – World War I: First tank-to-tank combat, during the second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux. Three British Mark IVs meet three German A7Vs.
    • 1922 – The first segment of the Imperial Wireless Chain providing wireless telegraphy between Leafield in Oxfordshire, England, and Cairo, Egypt, comes into operation.
    • 1926 – The Treaty of Berlin is signed. Germany and the Soviet Union each pledge neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party for the next five years.
    • 1932 – Benny Rothman leads the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, leading to substantial legal reforms in the United Kingdom.
    • 1933 – Nazi Germany begins its persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses by shutting down the Watch Tower Society office in Magdeburg.
    • 1944 – World War II: The SBS launches a raid against the garrison of Santorini in Greece.
    • 1953 – Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
    • 1955 – The Bandung Conference ends: Twenty-nine non-aligned nations of Asia and Africa finish a meeting that condemns colonialism, racism, and the Cold War.
    • 1957 – Suez Crisis: The Suez Canal is reopened following the introduction of UNEF peacekeepers to the region.
    • 1963 – Marriage of Princess Alexandra of Kent to Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.
    • 1965 – Civil war breaks out in the Dominican Republic when Colonel Francisco Caamaño overthrows the triumvirate that had been in power since the coup d’état against Juan Bosch.
    • 1967 – Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission.
    • 1967 – Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had “gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily”.
    • 1970 – China launches Dong Fang Hong I, becoming the fifth nation to put an object into orbit using its own booster.
    • 1970 – The Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as its first President.
    • 1980 – Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis.
    • 1990 – STS-31: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery.
    • 1990 – Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine.
    • 1993 – An IRA bomb devastates the Bishopsgate area of London.
    • 1996 – In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is passed into law.
    • 2004 – The United States lifts economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously, as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
    • 2005 – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
    • 2011 – WikiLeaks starts publishing the Guantanamo Bay files leak.
    • 2013 – A building collapses near Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,129 people and injuring 2,500 others.
    • 2013 – Violence in Bachu County, Kashgar Prefecture, of China’s Xinjiang results in death of 21 people.

    Births on April 24

    • 1086 – Ramiro II of Aragon (d. 1157)
    • 1492 – Sabina of Bavaria, Bavarian duchess and noblewoman (d. 1564)
    • 1532 – Thomas Lucy, English politician (d. 1600)
    • 1533 – William I of Orange, founding father of the Netherlands (d. 1584)
    • 1538 – Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (d. 1587)
    • 1545 – Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, English Earl (d. 1581)
    • 1562 – Xu Guangqi, Ming Dynasty Chinese politician, scholar and lay Catholic leader (d. 1633)
    • 1581 – Vincent de Paul, French priest and saint (d. 1660)
    • 1608 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans, third son of King Henry IV of France (d. 1660)
    • 1620 – John Graunt, English demographer and statistician (d. 1674)
    • 1706 – Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1780)
    • 1718 – Nathaniel Hone the Elder, Irish-English painter and educator (d. 1784)
    • 1743 – Edmund Cartwright, English clergyman and engineer, invented the power loom (d. 1823)
    • 1784 – Peter Vivian Daniel, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1860)
    • 1815 – Anthony Trollope, English novelist, essayist, and short story writer (d. 1882)
    • 1823 – Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Mexican politician, President of Mexico (d. 1889)
    • 1845 – Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
    • 1856 – Philippe Pétain, French general and politician, 119th Prime Minister of France (d. 1951)
    • 1860 – Queen Marau, last Queen of Tahiti (d.1935)
    • 1862 – Tomitaro Makino, Japanese botanist (d. 1957)
    • 1868 – Sandy Herd, Scottish golfer (d. 1944)
    • 1876 – Erich Raeder, German admiral (d. 1960)
    • 1878 – Jean Crotti, Swiss-French painter (d. 1958)
    • 1879 – Susanna Bokoyni, Hungarian-American circus performer (d. 1984)
    • 1880 – Gideon Sundback, Swedish-American engineer and businessman, developed the zipper (d. 1954)
    • 1880 – Josef Müller, Croatian entomologist (d. 1964)
    • 1882 – Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, Scottish-English air marshal (d. 1970)
    • 1885 – Thomas Cronan, American triple jumper (d. 1962)
    • 1885 – Con Walsh, Irish-Canadian hammer thrower and footballer (d. 1961)
    • 1887 – Denys Finch Hatton, English hunter (d. 1931)
    • 1888 – Pe Maung Tin, Burma-based scholar and educator (d. 1973)
    • 1889 – Stafford Cripps, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1952)
    • 1889 – Lyubov Popova, Russian painter and academic (d. 1924)
    • 1897 – Manuel Ávila Camacho, Mexican colonel and politician, 45th President of Mexico (d. 1955)
    • 1897 – Benjamin Lee Whorf, American linguist, anthropologist, and engineer (d. 1941)
    • 1899 – Oscar Zariski, Russian-American mathematician and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1900 – Elizabeth Goudge, English author and educator (d. 1984)
    • 1903 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Spanish lawyer and politician, founded the Falange (d. 1936)
    • 1904 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch-American painter and educator (d. 1997)
    • 1905 – Al Bates, American long jumper (d. 1999)
    • 1905 – Robert Penn Warren, American novelist, poet, and literary critic (d. 1989)
    • 1906 – William Joyce, American-born Irish-British Nazi propaganda broadcaster (d. 1946)
    • 1906 – Mimi Smith, English nurse (d. 1991)
    • 1907 – Gabriel Figueroa, Mexican cinematographer (d. 1997)
    • 1908 – Marceline Day, American actress (d. 2000)
    • 1908 – Inga Gentzel, Swedish runner (d. 1991)
    • 1908 – Józef Gosławski, Polish sculptor (d. 1963)
    • 1912 – Ruth Osburn, American discus thrower (d. 1994)
    • 1913 – Dieter Grau, German-American scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
    • 1914 – William Castle, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
    • 1914 – Phil Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991)
    • 1914 – Justin Wilson, American chef and author (d. 2001)
    • 1916 – Lou Thesz, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2002)
    • 1919 – David Blackwell, American mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1919 – Glafcos Clerides, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 4th President of Cyprus (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Gino Valenzano, Italian race car driver (d. 2011)
    • 1922 – Marc-Adélard Tremblay, Canadian anthropologist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Gus Bodnar, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
    • 1923 – Doris Burn, American author and illustrator (d. 2011)
    • 1924 – Clement Freud, German-English radio host, academic, and politician (d. 2009)
    • 1924 – Ruth Kobart, American actress and singer (d. 2002)
    • 1925 – Franco Leccese, Italian sprinter (d. 1992)
    • 1926 – Marilyn Erskine, American actress
    • 1926 – Thorbjörn Fälldin, Swedish farmer and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 2016)
    • 1927 – Josy Barthel, Luxembourgian runner and politician, Luxembourgian Minister for Energy (d. 1992)
    • 1928 – Tommy Docherty, Scottish footballer and manager
    • 1928 – Johnny Griffin, American saxophonist (d. 2008)
    • 1928 – Anahit Perikhanian, Russian-born Armenian Iranologist (d. 2012)
    • 1929 – Dr. Rajkumar, Indian actor and singer (d. 2006)
    • 1930 – Jerome Callet, American instrument designer, educator, and author (d. 2019)
    • 1930 – Richard Donner, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1930 – José Sarney, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 31st President of Brazil
    • 1931 – Abdelhamid Kermali, Algerian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Bridget Riley, English painter and illustrator
    • 1934 – Jayakanthan, Indian journalist and author (d. 2015)
    • 1934 – Shirley MacLaine, American actress, singer, and dancer
    • 1936 – David Crombie, Canadian educator and politician, 56th Mayor of Toronto
    • 1936 – Jill Ireland, English actress (d. 1990)
    • 1937 – Joe Henderson, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2001)
    • 1940 – Sue Grafton, American author (d. 2017)
    • 1941 – Richard Holbrooke, American journalist, banker, and diplomat, 22nd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2010)
    • 1941 – John Williams, Australian-English guitarist and composer
    • 1942 – Richard M. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 54th Mayor of Chicago
    • 1942 – Barbra Streisand, American singer, actress, activist, and producer
    • 1943 – Richard Sterban, American country & gospel bass singer
    • 1943 – Gordon West, English footballer (d. 2012)
    • 1944 – Peter Cresswell, English judge
    • 1944 – Maarja Nummert, Estonian architect
    • 1944 – Tony Visconti, American record producer, musician and singer
    • 1945 – Doug Clifford, American drummer and songwriter
    • 1946 – Doug Christie, Canadian lawyer and activist (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Josep Borrell, Spanish engineer and politician, 22nd President of the European Parliament
    • 1947 – João Braz de Aviz, Brazilian cardinal
    • 1947 – Claude Dubois, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Denise Kingsmill, Baroness Kingsmill, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician
    • 1947 – Roger D. Kornberg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1948 – Paul Cellucci, American soldier and politician, 69th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 2013)
    • 1948 – Eliana Gil, Ecuadorian-American psychiatrist, therapist, and author
    • 1949 – Eddie Hart, American sprinter
    • 1949 – Véronique Sanson, French singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1950 – Rob Hyman, American singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1951 – Ron Arad, Israeli architect and academic
    • 1951 – Christian Bobin, French author and poet
    • 1951 – Nigel Harrison, English bass player and songwriter
    • 1951 – Enda Kenny, Irish educator and politician, 13th Taoiseach of Ireland
    • 1952 – Jean Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
    • 1952 – Ralph Winter, American film producer
    • 1953 – Eric Bogosian, American actor and writer
    • 1954 – Mumia Abu-Jamal, American journalist, activist, and convicted murderer
    • 1954 – Jack Blades, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1955 – Marion Caspers-Merk, German politician
    • 1955 – John de Mol Jr., Dutch businessman, co-founded Endemol
    • 1955 – Eamon Gilmore, Irish trade union leader and politician, 25th Tánaiste of Ireland
    • 1955 – Margaret Moran, British politician and criminal
    • 1955 – Guy Nève, Belgian race car driver (d. 1992)
    • 1955 – Michael O’Keefe, American actor
    • 1955 – Bill Osborne, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1956 – James A. Winnefeld, Jr., American admiral
    • 1957 – Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed, Pakistani-English businessman and politician
    • 1958 – Brian Paddick, English police officer and politician
    • 1959 – Paula Yates, British-Australian television host and author (d. 2000)
    • 1961 – Andrew Murrison, English physician and politician, Minister for International Security Strategy
    • 1962 – Clemens Binninger, German politician
    • 1962 – Stuart Pearce, English footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1962 – Steve Roach, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Paula Frazer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1963 – Billy Gould, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1963 – Mano Solo, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1964 – Helga Arendt, German sprinter (d. 2013)
    • 1964 – Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian, actor, and producer
    • 1964 – Djimon Hounsou, Beninese-American actor and producer
    • 1964 – Witold Smorawiński, Polish guitarist, composer, and educator
    • 1965 – Jeff Jackson, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1966 – Pierre Brassard, Canadian comedian and actor
    • 1966 – Alessandro Costacurta, Italian footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1966 – David Usher, English-Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1967 – Dino Rađa, Croatian basketball player
    • 1967 – Omar Vizquel, Venezuelan-American baseball player and coach
    • 1968 – Aidan Gillen, Irish actor
    • 1968 – Todd Jones, American baseball player
    • 1968 – Roxanna Panufnik, English composer
    • 1968 – Hashim Thaçi, Kosovan soldier and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Kosovo
    • 1969 – Elias Atmatsidis, Greek footballer
    • 1969 – Rory McCann, Scottish actor
    • 1969 – Eilidh Whiteford, Scottish academic and politician
    • 1970 – Damien Fleming, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lankan cricketer and umpire
    • 1971 – Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1972 – Rab Douglas, Scottish footballer
    • 1972 – Chipper Jones, American baseball player
    • 1972 – Jure Košir, Slovenian skier and singer
    • 1973 – Gabby Logan, English gymnast, television and radio host
    • 1973 – Damon Lindelof, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1973 – Brian Marshall, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1973 – Eric Snow, American basketball player and coach
    • 1973 – Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer
    • 1973 – Toomas Tohver, Estonian footballer
    • 1973 – Lee Westwood, English golfer
    • 1974 – Eric Kripke, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1974 – Stephen Wiltshire, English illustrator
    • 1975 – Dejan Savić, Yugoslavian and Serbian water polo player
    • 1976 – Steve Finnan, Irish international footballer
    • 1976 – Frédéric Niemeyer, Canadian tennis player and coach
    • 1977 – Carlos Beltrán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
    • 1977 – Diego Placente, Argentine footballer
    • 1978 – Diego Quintana, Argentine footballer
    • 1980 – Fernando Arce, Mexican footballer
    • 1980 – Karen Asrian, Armenian chess player (d. 2008)
    • 1981 – Taylor Dent, American tennis player
    • 1981 – Yuko Nakanishi, Japanese swimmer
    • 1982 – Kelly Clarkson, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1982 – David Oliver, American hurdler
    • 1982 – Simon Tischer, German volleyball player
    • 1983 – Hanna Melnychenko, Ukrainian heptathlete
    • 1985 – Mike Rodgers, American sprinter
    • 1986 – Aaron Cunningham, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Ben Howard, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1987 – Kris Letang, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Rein Taaramäe, Estonian cyclist
    • 1987 – Jan Vertonghen, Belgian international footballer
    • 1987 – Varun Dhawan, Indian actor
    • 1989 – Elīna Babkina, Latvian basketball player
    • 1989 – David Boudia, American diver
    • 1989 – Taja Mohorčič, Slovenian tennis player
    • 1990 – Kim Tae-ri, South Korean actress
    • 1990 – Jan Veselý, Czech basketball player
    • 1991 – Sigrid Agren, French-Swedish model
    • 1991 – Morgan Ciprès, French figure skater
    • 1991 – Batuhan Karadeniz, Turkish footballer
    • 1992 – Joe Keery, American actor
    • 1992 – Laura Kenny, English cyclist
    • 1993 – Ben Davies, Welsh international footballer
    • 1994 – Jordan Fisher, American singer, dancer, and actor
    • 1994 – Caspar Lee, British-South African Youtuber
    • 1996 – Ashleigh Barty, Australian tennis player
    • 1997 – Lydia Ko, New Zealand golfer
    • 1997 – Veronika Kudermetova, Russian tennis player
    • 1998 – Ryan Newman, American actress
    • 1999 – Jerry Jeudy, American football player

    Deaths on April 24

    • 624 – Mellitus, saint, and archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1149 – Petronille de Chemillé, abbess of Fontevrault
    • 1288 – Gertrude of Austria (b. 1226)
    • 1338 – Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat (b. 1291)
    • 1479 – Jorge Manrique, Spanish poet (b. 1440)
    • 1513 – Şehzade Ahmet, Ottoman prince (b. 1465)
    • 1617 – Concino Concini, Italian-French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1575)
    • 1622 – Fidelis of Sigmaringen, German friar and saint (b. 1577)
    • 1656 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (b. 1561)
    • 1731 – Daniel Defoe, English journalist, novelist, and spy (b. 1660)
    • 1748 – Anton thor Helle, German-Estonian clergyman and translator (b. 1683)
    • 1779 – Eleazar Wheelock, American minister and academic, founded Dartmouth College (b. 1711)
    • 1794 – Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish field marshal and politician (b. 1719)
    • 1852 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and translator (b. 1783)
    • 1889 – Zulma Carraud, French author (b. 1796)
    • 1891 – Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, German field marshal (b. 1800)
    • 1924 – G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist and academic (b. 1844)
    • 1931 – David Kldiashvili, Georgian author and playwright (b. 1862)
    • 1935 – Anastasios Papoulas, Greek general (b. 1857)
    • 1938 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (b. 1863)
    • 1939 – Louis Trousselier, French cyclist (b. 1881)
    • 1941 – Karin Boye, Swedish author and poet (b. 1900)
    • 1942 – Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (b. 1874)
    • 1944 – Charles Jordan, American magician (b. 1888)
    • 1945 – Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician (b. 1899)
    • 1947 – Hans Biebow, German SS officer (b. 1902)
    • 1947 – Willa Cather, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (b. 1873)
    • 1948 – Jāzeps Vītols, Latvian composer (b. 1863)
    • 1954 – Guy Mairesse, French race car driver (b. 1910)
    • 1960 – Max von Laue, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
    • 1961 – Lee Moran, American actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1888)
    • 1962 – Milt Franklyn, American composer (b. 1897)
    • 1964 – Gerhard Domagk, German pathologist and bacteriologist (b. 1895)
    • 1965 – Louise Dresser, American actress (b. 1878)
    • 1966 – Simon Chikovani, Georgian poet and author (b. 1902)
    • 1967 – Vladimir Komarov, Russian pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1927)
    • 1967 – Robert Richards, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of South Australia (b. 1885)
    • 1968 – Walter Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876)
    • 1970 – Otis Spann, American singer and pianist (b. 1930)
    • 1972 – Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (b. 1892)
    • 1974 – Bud Abbott, American comedian and producer (b. 1895)
    • 1975 – Pete Ham, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)
    • 1976 – Mark Tobey, American-Swiss painter and educator (b. 1890)
    • 1980 – Alejo Carpentier, Swiss-Cuban musicologist and author (b. 1904)
    • 1982 – Ville Ritola, Finnish runner (b. 1896)
    • 1983 – Erol Güngör, Turkish sociologist, psychologist, and academic (b. 1938)
    • 1983 – Rolf Stommelen, German race car driver (b. 1943)
    • 1984 – Rafael Pérez y Pérez, Spanish author (b. 1891)
    • 1993 – Oliver Tambo, South African lawyer and activist (b. 1917)
    • 1993 – Tran Duc Thao, Vietnamese philosopher and theorist (b. 1917)
    • 1995 – Lodewijk Bruckman, Dutch painter (b. 1903)
    • 1997 – Allan Francovich, American director and producer (b. 1941)
    • 1997 – Pat Paulsen, American comedian and activist (b. 1927)
    • 1997 – Eugene Stoner, American engineer, designed the AR-15 rifle (b. 1922)
    • 2001 – Josef Peters, German race car driver (b. 1914)
    • 2001 – Johnny Valentine, American wrestler (b. 1928)
    • 2002 – Lucien Wercollier, Luxembourgian sculptor (b. 1908)
    • 2004 – José Giovanni, French-Swiss director and producer (b. 1923)
    • 2004 – Estée Lauder, American businesswoman, co-founded Estée Lauder Companies (b. 1906)
    • 2005 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli general and politician, 7th President of Israel (b. 1924)
    • 2005 – Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist and academic (b. 1910)
    • 2006 – Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940)
    • 2006 – Moshe Teitelbaum, Romanian-American rabbi and author (b. 1914)
    • 2008 – Jimmy Giuffre, American clarinet player, and saxophonist, and composer (b. 1921)
    • 2011 – Sathya Sai Baba, Indian guru and philanthropist (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Hans Hollein, Austrian architect, designed Haas House (b. 1934)
    • 2014 – Sandy Jardine, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Shobha Nagi Reddy, Indian politician (b. 1968)
    • 2014 – Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1922)
    • 2016 – Tommy Kono, American weightlifter and coach (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Robert Pirsig, American author and philosopher (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances on April 24

    • Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia, France)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Benedict Menni
      • Dermot of Armagh
      • Dyfnan of Anglesey
      • Ecgberht of Ripon
      • Fidelis of Sigmaringen
      • Gregory of Elvira
      • Ivo of Ramsey
      • Johann Walter (Lutheran)
      • Mary of Clopas
      • Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
      • Mellitus
      • Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur
      • Salome (disciple)
      • Wilfrid (Church of England)
      • William Firmatus
      • April 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Concord Day (Niger)
    • Democracy Day (Nepal)
    • Earliest day on which Arbor Day can fall, while April 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Friday in April. (United States)
    • Earliest day on which Turkmen Racing Horse Festival can fall, while April 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in April. (Turkmenistan)
    • Fashion Revolution Day, and its related observances:
      • Labour Safety Day (Bangladesh, proposed)
    • Kapyong Day (Australia, Canada)
    • National Panchayati Raj Day (India)
    • St Mark’s Eve
    • Republic Day (The Gambia)
    • World Day for Laboratory Animals

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

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

    Births on April 2

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

    Deaths on April 2

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

    Holidays and observances on April 2

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

  • March 17- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
    • 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of eighteen, following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius.
    • 455 – Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire; he forces Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of his predecessor, Valentinian III, to marry him.
    • 1001 – The Raja of Butuan in what is now the Philippines sends a tributary mission to the Song dynasty.
    • 1337 – Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
    • 1452 – The Battle of Los Alporchones is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the Emirate of Granada and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Castile and Murcia resulting in a Christian victory.
    • 1560 – Fort Coligny on Villegagnon Island in Rio de Janeiro is attacked and destroyed during the Portuguese campaign against France Antarctique.
    • 1677 – The Siege of Valenciennes, during the Franco-Dutch War, ends with France’s taking of the city.
    • 1776 – American Revolution: The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
    • 1780 – American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence”.
    • 1805 – The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King of Italy.
    • 1824 – The Anglo-Dutch Treaty is signed in London, dividing the Malay archipelago. As a result, the Malay Peninsula is dominated by the British, while Sumatra and Java and surrounding areas are dominated by the Dutch.
    • 1842 – The Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed.
    • 1852 – Annibale De Gasparis discovers in Naples the asteroid Psyche from the north dome of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte
    • 1860 – The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand Wars.
    • 1861 – The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
    • 1891 – SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.
    • 1921 – The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.
    • 1939 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins.
    • 1941 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
    • 1942 – Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
    • 1945 – The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture.
    • 1947 – First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
    • 1948 – Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.
    • 1950 – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name “californium”.
    • 1957 – A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
    • 1958 – The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite.
    • 1960 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
    • 1963 – Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.
    • 1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
    • 1968 – As a result of nerve gas testing by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.
    • 1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
    • 1973 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
    • 1979 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
    • 1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree.
    • 1988 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
    • 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.
    • 1992 – Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.
    • 1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
    • 2000 – Five hundred and thirty members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead.
    • 2003 – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
    • 2004 – Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. Thirty-five Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Serbia are destroyed.

    Births on March 17

    • 763 – Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph (d. 809)
    • 1231 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
    • 1473 – James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
    • 1523 – Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Catholic cardinal (d. 1584)
    • 1537 – Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese daimyō (d. 1598)
    • 1611 – Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, Swedish field marshal (d. 1662)
    • 1665 – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichord player and composer (d. 1729)
    • 1676 – Thomas Boston, Scottish philosopher and theologian (d. 1732)
    • 1686 – Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French painter and engraver (d. 1755)
    • 1725 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (d. 1806)
    • 1777 – Patrick Brontë, Irish-English priest and author (d. 1861)
    • 1777 – Roger B. Taney, American politician and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1864)
    • 1780 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister, economist, and educator (d. 1847)
    • 1781 – Ebenezer Elliott, English poet and educator (d. 1849)
    • 1804 – Jim Bridger, American fur trader and explorer (d. 1881)
    • 1806 – Norbert Rillieux, African American inventor and chemical engineer (d. 1894)
    • 1820 – Jean Ingelow, English poet and author (d. 1897)
    • 1834 – Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (d. 1900)
    • 1839 – Josef Rheinberger, Liechtensteiner-German organist and composer (d. 1901)
    • 1846 – Kate Greenaway, English author and illustrator (d. 1901)
    • 1849 – Charles F. Brush, American businessman and philanthropist, co-invented the Arc lamp (d. 1929)
    • 1849 – Cornelia Clapp, American marine biologist (d. 1934)
    • 1856 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
    • 1862 – Silvio Gesell, Belgian merchant and economist (d. 1930)
    • 1864 – Joseph Baptista, Indian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1930)
    • 1866 – Pierce Butler, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1939)
    • 1867 – Patrice Contamine de Latour, Spanish poet (d. 1926)
    • 1877 – Edith New, British militant suffragette (d. 1951)
    • 1877 – Otto Gross, Austrian-German psychoanalyst and philosopher (d. 1920)
    • 1880 – Patrick Hastings, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1952)
    • 1880 – Lawrence Oates, English lieutenant and explorer (d. 1912)
    • 1881 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
    • 1884 – Alcide Nunez, American clarinet player (d. 1934)
    • 1885 – Ralph Rose, American track and field athlete (d. 1913)
    • 1886 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (d. 1974)
    • 1888 – Paul Ramadier, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1961)
    • 1889 – Harry Clarke, Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator (d. 1931)
    • 1891 – Ross McLarty, Australian politician, 17th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1962)
    • 1892 – Sayed Darwish, Egyptian singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1923)
    • 1894 – Paul Green, American playwright and academic (d. 1981)
    • 1895 – Lloyd Rees, Australian painter (d. 1988)
    • 1901 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (d. 1970)
    • 1902 – Bobby Jones, American golfer and lawyer (d. 1971)
    • 1904 – Chaim Gross, Austrian-American sculptor and educator (d. 1991)
    • 1906 – Brigitte Helm, German-Swiss actress (d. 1996)
    • 1907 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1991)
    • 1907 – Takeo Miki, Japanese politician, 41st Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1988)
    • 1910 – Sonny Werblin, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1991)
    • 1912 – Bayard Rustin, American activist (d. 1987)
    • 1914 – Sammy Baugh, American football player and coach (d. 2008)
    • 1915 – Robert S. Arbib Jr., American ornithologist, writer and conservationist (d. 1987)
    • 1915 – Ray Ellington, English drummer and bandleader (d. 1985)
    • 1915 – Bill Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host (d. 1965)
    • 1920 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
    • 1921 – Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician, 12th Israeli Minister of Communications (d. 2009)
    • 1922 – Patrick Suppes, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Stephen Dodgson, English composer and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian actor (d. 2015)
    • 1926 – Siegfried Lenz, Polish-German author and playwright (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Betty Allen, American soprano and educator (d. 2009)
    • 1928 – William John McKeag, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2007)
    • 1930 – Paul Horn, American-Canadian flute player and saxophonist (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1991)
    • 1931 – Patricia Breslin, American actress (d. 2011)
    • 1931 – David Peakall, English-American chemist and toxicologist (d. 2001)
    • 1933 – Myrlie Evers-Williams, American journalist and activist
    • 1933 – Penelope Lively, English author
    • 1935 – Fred T. Mackenzie, American biologist and academic
    • 1935 – Adam Wade, American singer, drummer, and actor
    • 1936 – Ida Kleijnen, Dutch chef (d. 2019)
    • 1936 – Ladislav Kupkovič, Slovakian composer and conductor (d. 2016)
    • 1936 – Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1937 – Galina Samsova, Russian ballerina
    • 1938 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
    • 1938 – Keith O’Brien, Northern Ireland-born Scottish cleric, theologian, and cardinal (d. 2018)
    • 1938 – Zola Taylor, American singer (d. 2007)
    • 1939 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
    • 1939 – Bill Graham, Canadian academic and politician, 4th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1939 – Robin Knox-Johnston, English sailor and first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe
    • 1939 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1940 – Mark White, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Texas (d. 2017)
    • 1941 – Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese soldier and politician
    • 1941 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
    • 1941 – Max Stafford-Clark, English director and academic
    • 1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer and rapist (d. 1994)
    • 1943 – Jeff Banks, Welsh fashion designer
    • 1943 – Andrew Brook, Canadian philosopher, author, and academic
    • 1944 – Pattie Boyd, English model, author, and photographer
    • 1944 – Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
    • 1944 – John Sebastian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1945 – Michael Hayden, American general, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
    • 1947 – Dennis Bond, English footballer, midfielder
    • 1947 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-American songwriter and producer
    • 1948 – William Gibson, American-Canadian author and screenwriter
    • 1948 – Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1949 – Pat Rice, Irish footballer and coach
    • 1949 – Stuart Rose, English businessman
    • 1951 – Scott Gorham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor and producer
    • 1952 – Barry Horne, English activist (d. 2001)
    • 1953 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino activist (d. 2001)
    • 1953 – Chuck Muncie, American football player (d. 2013)
    • 1954 – Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
    • 1955 – Cynthia McKinney, American activist and politician
    • 1955 – Paul Overstreet, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1955 – Gary Sinise, American actor, director, and bass player
    • 1956 – Patrick McDonnell, American author and illustrator
    • 1956 – Rory McGrath, British comedian, television personality, and writer
    • 1957 – Michael Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 2003)
    • 1958 – Christian Clemenson, American actor
    • 1959 – Danny Ainge, American baseball and basketball player
    • 1959 – Paul Black, American singer-songwriter and drummer
    • 1960 – Arye Gross, American actor
    • 1960 – Vicki Lewis, American actress and singer
    • 1961 – Sam Bowie, American basketball player
    • 1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2006)
    • 1961 – Casey Siemaszko, American actor
    • 1962 – Carsten Almqvist, Swedish business executive
    • 1962 – Ank Bijleveld, Dutch politician
    • 1962 – Janet Gardner, American singer and guitarist
    • 1962 – Clare Grogan, Scottish singer and actress
    • 1962 – Rob Sitch, Australian actor, director, and producer
    • 1963 – Roger Harper, Guyanese cricketer and coach
    • 1964 – Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1964 – Lee Dixon, English footballer and journalist
    • 1964 – Rob Lowe, American actor and producer
    • 1964 – Jacques Songo’o, Cameroonian footballer and coach
    • 1965 – Andrew Hudson, South African cricketer
    • 1966 – Andrew Rosindell, English journalist and politician
    • 1967 – Jason Alchin, Australian rugby league player
    • 1967 – Billy Corgan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and producer
    • 1967 – Barry Minkow, American pastor and businessman
    • 1968 – Eri Nitta, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1968 – Mathew St. Patrick, American actor and producer
    • 1969 – Edgar Grospiron, French skier
    • 1969 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founded own eponymous brand (d. 2010)
    • 1970 – Patrick Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1970 – Gene Ween, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1971 – Bill Mueller, American baseball player and coach
    • 1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1972 – Torquil Campbell, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1972 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player
    • 1973 – Rico Blanco, Filipino singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
    • 1973 – Caroline Corr, Irish singer and drummer
    • 1973 – Vance Wilson, American baseball player and manager
    • 1974 – Mark Dolan, English comedian and television host
    • 1975 – Justin Hawkins, English singer-songwriter
    • 1975 – Puneeth Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer
    • 1975 – Test, Canadian-American wrestler (d. 2009)
    • 1975 – Natalie Zea, American actress
    • 1976 – Scott Downs, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2009)
    • 1976 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1977 – Tamar Braxton, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1978 – Zachery Kouwe, American journalist
    • 1979 – Stormy Daniels, born Stephanie Gregory, American adult film actress
    • 1979 – Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and fashion designer
    • 1979 – Samoa Joe, American professional wrestler
    • 1980 – Danny Califf, American soccer player
    • 1980 – Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Pakistani tennis player
    • 1981 – Aaron Baddeley, American-Australian golfer
    • 1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer
    • 1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Nicky Jam, American-Puerto-Rican singer and songwriter
    • 1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
    • 1983 – James Heath, English golfer
    • 1983 – Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
    • 1983 – Attila Vajda, Hungarian sprint canoeist
    • 1984 – Ryan Rottman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1985 – Tuğba Karademir, Turkish-Canadian figure skater
    • 1986 – Chris Davis, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Edin Džeko, Bosnian footballer
    • 1986 – Miles Kane, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1986 – Silke Spiegelburg, German pole vaulter
    • 1987 – Federico Fazio, Argentinian international footballer, centre backland rugby league player
    • 1987 – Ryan Parent, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Emmanuel Sanders, American football player
    • 1988 – Rasmus Elm, Swedish footballer
    • 1988 – Fraser Forster, English footballer
    • 1988 – Grimes, Canadian artist, musician and music video director
    • 1988 – Ryan White, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Shinji Kagawa, Japanese footballer
    • 1990 – Hozier, Irish singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1990 – Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player
    • 1991 – Jack De Belin, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Patrick Cantlay, American golfer
    • 1992 – John Boyega, English actor
    • 1993 – Matteo Bianchetti, Italian footballer
    • 1994 – Dean Britt, Australian rugby league player
    • 1995 – Ashley Taylor, Australian rugby league player
    • 1997 – Katie Ledecky, American swimmer

    Deaths on March 17

    • 45 BC – Titus Labienus, Roman general (b. 100 BC)
    • 45 BC – Publius Attius Varus, Roman governor of Africa
    • 180 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
    • 624 – Amr ibn Hishām, Arab polytheist
    • 659 – Gertrude of Nivelles, Frankish abbess
    • 836 – Haito, bishop of Basel
    • 905 – Li Yu, Prince of De, prince and emperor of the Tang Dynasty
    • 1008 – Kazan, emperor of Japan (b. 968)
    • 1040 – Harold Harefoot, king of England
    • 1058 – Lulach, king of Scotland
    • 1199 – Jocelin of Glasgow, Scottish monk and bishop (b. 1130)
    • 1267 – Pierre de Montreuil, French architect
    • 1270 – Philip of Montfort, French knight and nobleman
    • 1272 – Go-Saga, emperor of Japan (b. 1220)
    • 1361 – An-Nasir Hasan, Mamluk sultan of Egypt
    • 1394 – Louis of Enghien, French nobleman
    • 1406 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian sociologist, historian, and scholar (b. 1332)
    • 1425 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1407)
    • 1516 – Giuliano de’ Medici, Italian nobleman (b. 1479)
    • 1527 – Rana Sanga, Indian ruler (b. 1482)
    • 1565 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian and academic (b. 1500)
    • 1611 – Sophia of Sweden, duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1547)
    • 1620 – John Sarkander, Polish-Moravian priest and saint (b. 1576)
    • 1640 – Philip Massinger, English playwright (b. 1583)
    • 1649 – Gabriel Lalemant, French missionary and saint (b. 1610)
    • 1663 – Jerome Weston, 2nd Earl of Portland, English diplomat (b. 1605)
    • 1680 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French author (b. 1613)
    • 1704 – Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch soldier and engineer (b. 1641)
    • 1715 – Gilbert Burnet, Scottish bishop and historian (b. 1643)
    • 1741 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet and playwright (b. 1671)
    • 1764 – George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer and politician (b. 1695)
    • 1782 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (b. 1700)
    • 1828 – James Edward Smith, English botanist and entomologist (b. 1759)
    • 1829 – Sophia Albertina, princess-abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1753)
    • 1830 – Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French general and politician (b. 1764)
    • 1846 – Friedrich Bessel, German astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1784)
    • 1849 – William II, Dutch sovereign prince and king (b. 1792)
    • 1853 – Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist and mathematician (b. 1803)
    • 1871 – Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (b. 1802)
    • 1875 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1832)
    • 1893 – Jules Ferry, French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (b. 1832)
    • 1917 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
    • 1926 – Aleksei Brusilov, Georgian-Russian general (b. 1853)
    • 1937 – Austen Chamberlain, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1863)
    • 1940 – Philomène Belliveau, Canadian artist (b. 1854)
    • 1946 – Dai Li, Chinese general (b. 1897)
    • 1949 – Aleksandra Ekster, Russian-French painter and set designer (b. 1882)
    • 1956 – Fred Allen, American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and author (b. 1894)
    • 1956 – Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
    • 1957 – Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino captain and politician, 7th President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
    • 1958 – John Pius Boland, Irish tennis player and politician (b. 1870)
    • 1958 – Bertha De Vriese, Belgian physician (b. 1877)
    • 1961 – Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (b. 1860)
    • 1965 – Amos Alonzo Stagg, American football player and coach (b. 1862)
    • 1974 – Louis Kahn, American architect and academic, designed Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (b. 1901)
    • 1976 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
    • 1981 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
    • 1983 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1983 – Louisa E. Rhine, American botanist and parapsychologist (b. 1891)
    • 1986 – Clarence D. Lester, African-American fighter pilot (b.1923)
    • 1990 – Capucine, French model and actress (b. 1928)
    • 1992 – Grace Stafford, American actress (b. 1903)
    • 1993 – Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
    • 1994 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish-English actress and director (b. 1925)
    • 1996 – René Clément, French director and screenwriter (b. 1913)
    • 1996 – Terry Stafford, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
    • 1997 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1957)
    • 1999 – Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer (b. 1921)
    • 1999 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French activist (b. 1905)
    • 2002 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress and producer (b. 1911)
    • 2002 – Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (b. 1917)
    • 2002 – Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, American television broadcaster and producer (b. 1908)
    • 2005 – Royce Frith, Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat, Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (b. 1923)
    • 2005 – George F. Kennan, American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (b. 1904)
    • 2005 – Andre Norton, American author (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (b. 1913)
    • 2006 – Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1913)
    • 2006 – İstemihan Taviloğlu, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1945)
    • 2007 – John Backus, American mathematician and computer scientist, designed Fortran (b. 1924)
    • 2007 – Roger Bennett, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1959)
    • 2008 – Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (b. 1939)
    • 2009 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian television host and politician (b. 1937)
    • 2010 – Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1950)
    • 2010 – Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (b. 1920)
    • 2011 – Michael Gough, English actor (b. 1916)
    • 2011 – Ferlin Husky, American country music singer (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Margaret Whitlam, Australian swimmer and author (b. 1919)
    • 2013 – William B. Caldwell III, American general (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Lawrence Fuchs, American scholar and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – A.B.C. Whipple, American journalist and historian (b. 1918)
    • 2014 – Marek Galiński, Polish cyclist (b. 1974)
    • 2014 – Joseph Kerman, American musicologist and critic (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Rachel Lambert Mellon, American gardener, philanthropist, art collector and political patron (b. 1910)
    • 2015 – Frank Perris, Canadian motorcycle racer (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Meir Dagan, Israeli general (b. 1945)
    • 2016 – Zoltán Kamondi, Hungarian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1960)
    • 2018 – Mike MacDonald, Canadian comedian (b. 1954)
    • 2018 – Phan Văn Khải, the fifth Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1933)

    Holidays and observances on March 17

    • Children’s Day (Bangladesh)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Alexius of Rome (Eastern Church)
      • Gertrude of Nivelles
      • John Sarkander
      • Joseph of Arimathea (Western Church)
      • Patrick of Ireland
      • March 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Evacuation Day (Suffolk County, Massachusetts)
    • Saint Patrick’s Day, a public holiday in Ireland, Montserrat and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, widely celebrated in the English-speaking world and to a lesser degree in other parts of the world.

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

    February 17 in History

    • 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
    • 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.
    • 1500 – Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.
    • 1600 – On his way to be burned at the stake for heresy, at Campo de’ Fiori in Rome, the philosopher Giordano Bruno has a wooden vise put on his tongue to prevent him continuing to speak.
    • 1621 – Myles Standish is appointed as first military commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.
    • 1676 – Sixteen men of Pascual de Iriate’s expedition are lost at Evangelistas Islets at the western end of the Strait of Magellan.
    • 1739 – The Battle of Vasai commences as the Marathas move to invade Portuguese-occupied territory.
    • 1753 – In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
    • 1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr, Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
    • 1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormant.
    • 1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
    • 1838 – Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
    • 1854 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
    • 1859 – Cochinchina Campaign: The French Navy captured the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress that was manned by 1,000 Nguyễn dynasty soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon and other regions of southern Viet Nam.
    • 1863 – A group of citizens of Geneva founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
    • 1867 – The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.
    • 1871 – The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France, after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
    • 1904 – Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.
    • 1913 – The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
    • 1919 – The Ukrainian People’s Republic asks Entente and the US for help fighting the Bolsheviks.
    • 1933 – Newsweek magazine is first published.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins: The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
    • 1944 – World War II: Operation Hailstone begins: U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan’s main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.
    • 1949 – Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
    • 1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
    • 1964 – In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
    • 1964 – Gabonese president Léon M’ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
    • 1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the “Sea of Tranquility” would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
    • 1968 – In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
    • 1972 – Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
    • 1974 – Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
    • 1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants.
    • 1979 – The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
    • 1980 – First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
    • 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians during the Capture of Garadaghly.
    • 1995 – The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.
    • 1996 – In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
    • 1996 – NASA’s Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
    • 1996 – The 8.2 Mw  Biak earthquake shakes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A large tsunami followed, leaving one-hundred sixty-six people dead or missing and 423 injured.
    • 2006 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
    • 2008 – Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
    • 2011 – Arab Spring: Libyan protests against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime begin. In Bahrain, security forces launched a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
    • 2015 – Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.
    • 2016 – Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 29 people and injuring 61 others.

    Births on February 17

    • 624 – Wu Zetian, Chinese empress consort (d. 705)
    • 1028 – Al-Juwayni, Persian scholar and imam (d. 1085)
    • 1490 – Charles III, duke of Bourbon (d. 1527)
    • 1519 – Francis, French Grand Chamberlain (d. 1563)
    • 1524 – Charles de Lorraine, French cardinal (d. 1574)
    • 1646 – Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (d. 1714)
    • 1653 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1713)
    • 1723 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (d. 1762)
    • 1740 – Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, Swiss physicist and meteorologist (d. 1799)
    • 1752 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German author and playwright (d. 1831)
    • 1754 – Nicolas Baudin, French cartographer and explorer (d. 1803)
    • 1758 – John Pinkerton, Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist and historian (d. 1826)
    • 1781 – René Laennec, French physician, invented the stethoscope (d. 1826)
    • 1796 – Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician and botanist (d. 1866)
    • 1817 – Édouard Thilges, Luxembourgian jurist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1904)
    • 1820 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1881)
    • 1821 – Lola Montez, Irish-American actress and dancer (d. 1861)
    • 1832 – Richard Henry Park, American sculptor (d. 1902)
    • 1836 – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1870)
    • 1843 – Aaron Montgomery Ward, American businessman, founded Montgomery Ward (d. 1913)
    • 1848 – Louisa Lawson, Australian poet and publisher (d. 1920)
    • 1854 – Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German businessman (d. 1902)
    • 1861 – Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont, duchess of Albany (d. 1922)
    • 1862 – Mori Ōgai, Japanese general, author, and poet (d. 1922)
    • 1864 – Jozef Murgaš, Slovak priest, botanist, and painter (d. 1929)
    • 1864 – Banjo Paterson, Australian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1941)
    • 1874 – Thomas J. Watson, American businessman (d. 1956)
    • 1877 – Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and author (d. 1904)
    • 1877 – André Maginot, French sergeant and politician (d. 1932)
    • 1881 – Mary Carson Breckinridge, American nurse midwife, founded Frontier Nursing Service (d. 1965)
    • 1887 – Joseph Bech, Luxembourgian lawyer and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1975)
    • 1887 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer and critic (d. 1947)
    • 1888 – Otto Stern, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
    • 1890 – Ronald Fisher, English-Australian statistician, biologist, and geneticist (d. 1962)
    • 1891 – Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician and academic (d. 1965)
    • 1893 – Wally Pipp, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1965)
    • 1899 – Jibanananda Das, Bangladeshi-Indian poet and author (d. 1954)
    • 1900 – Ruth Clifford, American actress (d. 1998)
    • 1903 – Sadegh Hedayat, Iranian-French author and translator (d. 1951)
    • 1904 – Hans Morgenthau, German-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1980)
    • 1905 – Ruth Baldwin, British socialite (d. 1937)
    • 1905 – Rózsa Politzer, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1977)
    • 1906 – Mary Brian, American actress (d. 2002)
    • 1908 – Red Barber, American sportscaster (d. 1992)
    • 1908 – Bo Yibo, Chinese general and politician, Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (d. 2007)
    • 1910 – Marc Lawrence, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1911 – Oskar Seidlin, German-American author, poet, and scholar (d. 1984)
    • 1912 – Andre Norton, American author (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – Wayne Morris, American actor and producer (d. 1959)
    • 1916 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian rugby player and pilot (d. 1940)
    • 1916 – Don Tallon, Australian cricketer (d. 1984)
    • 1916 – Raf Vallone, Italian footballer and actor (d. 2002)
    • 1918 – William Bronk, American poet and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1918 – Jacqueline Ferrand, French mathematician (d. 2014)
    • 1919 – J. M. S. Careless, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
    • 1919 – Joe Hunt, American tennis player (d. 1945)
    • 1920 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian director and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1920 – Annie Castor, American disability and communication disorder advocate (d. 2020)
    • 1920 – Curt Swan, American soldier and illustrator (d. 1996)
    • 1921 – Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Tommy Edwards, American R&B singer-songwriter (d. 1969)
    • 1923 – John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (d. 1988)
    • 1923 – Buddy DeFranco, American clarinet player and bandleader (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Margaret Truman, American singer and author (d. 2008)
    • 1925 – Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (d. 2003)
    • 1925 – Hal Holbrook, American actor and director
    • 1928 – Marta Romero, Puerto Rican actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean-French director and screenwriter
    • 1929 – Chaim Potok, American rabbi and author (d. 2002)
    • 1929 – Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (d. 1993)
    • 1929 – Patricia Routledge, English actress and singer
    • 1930 – Roger Craig, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1930 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Ruth Rendell, English author (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Jiřina Jirásková, Czech actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Buddy Ryan, American football coach (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Craig L. Thomas, American captain and politician (d. 2007)
    • 1934 – Alan Bates, English actor (d. 2003)
    • 1934 – Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage), Australian comedian, actor, and author
    • 1935 – Christina Pickles, English-American actress
    • 1936 – Jim Brown, American football player and actor
    • 1937 – Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress, Miss America 1959 (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Vicente Fernández, Mexican singer-songwriter, actor, and producer
    • 1941 – Julia McKenzie, English actress, singer, and director
    • 1941 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1942 – Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (d. 1989)
    • 1944 – Karl Jenkins, Welsh saxophonist, keyboard player, and composer (Soft Machine)
    • 1945 – Zina Bethune, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2012)
    • 1945 – Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
    • 1946 – Shahrnush Parsipur, Iranian-American author and academic
    • 1948 – José José, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2019)
    • 1948 – Rick Majerus, American basketball player and coach (d. 2012)
    • 1949 – Fred Frith, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1949 – Dennis Green, American football player and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1951 – Rashid Minhas, Pakistani soldier and pilot (d. 1971)
    • 1952 – Karin Büttner-Janz, German gymnast and physician
    • 1952 – Vladimír Padrůněk, Czech bass player (d. 1991)
    • 1954 – Lou Ann Barton, American blues singer-songwriter
    • 1954 – Miki Berkovich, Israeli basketball player
    • 1954 – Rene Russo, American actress
    • 1955 – Mo Yan, Chinese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1956 – Richard Karn, American actor and game show host
    • 1957 – Loreena McKennitt, Canadian singer-songwriter, accordion player, and pianist
    • 1959 – Aryeh Deri, Moroccan-Israeli rabbi and politician, Israeli Minister of Internal Affairs
    • 1959 – Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Lindy Ruff, Canadian hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – Angela Eagle, English politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
    • 1961 – Maria Eagle, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
    • 1961 – Andrey Korotayev, Russian anthropologist, historian, and sociologist
    • 1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor and director
    • 1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and voice actor
    • 1963 – Alison Hargreaves, English mountaineer (d. 1995)
    • 1963 – Jen-Hsun Huang, Taiwanese-American businessman, co-founded Nvidia
    • 1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player and actor
    • 1964 – Sherry Hawco, Canadian gymnast (d. 1991)
    • 1965 – Michael Bay, American director and producer
    • 1965 – Danny Lee, Australian rugby league player
    • 1966 – Quorthon, Swedish guitarist and songwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1966 – Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player, manager, and actor
    • 1968 – Wu’erkaixi, Chinese journalist and activist
    • 1968 – Giuseppe Signori, Italian footballer
    • 1969 – David Douillet, French martial artist and politician
    • 1969 – Vasily Kudinov, Russian handball player (d. 2017)
    • 1970 – Dominic Purcell, English-born Irish-Australian actor and producer
    • 1971 – Denise Richards, American model and actress
    • 1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
    • 1972 – Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
    • 1972 – Taylor Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and drummer
    • 1972 – Valeria Mazza, Argentinian model and businesswoman
    • 1972 – Lars Göran Petrov, Swedish singer and drummer
    • 1973 – Goran Bunjevčević, Serbian FR Yugoslavia international footballer, defender (d. 2018)
    • 1973 – Raphaël Ibañez, French rugby player
    • 1974 – Kaoru, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1974 – Jerry O’Connell, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1975 – Václav Prospal, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Rory Kinnear, English actor and playwright
    • 1980 – Al Harrington, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Klemi Saban, Israeli footballer
    • 1981 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1981 – Paris Hilton, American model, media personality, actress, singer, DJ, author and businesswoman
    • 1981 – Pontus Segerström, Swedish footballer (d. 2014)
    • 1982 – Adriano, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Brian Bruney, American baseball player
    • 1982 – Daniel Merriweather, Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Kevin Rudolf, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1984 – AB de Villiers, South African cricketer
    • 1984 – Jimmy Jacobs, American wrestler
    • 1984 – Katie Hill, Australian 3.0 point wheelchair basketball player
    • 1984 – Drew Miller, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Marcin Gortat, Polish basketball player
    • 1985 – Anders Jacobsen, Norwegian ski jumper
    • 1988 – Vasyl Lomachenko, Ukrainian boxer
    • 1989 – Rebecca Adlington, English swimmer
    • 1989 – Chord Overstreet, American actor and singer
    • 1990 – Marianne St-Gelais, Canadian speed skater
    • 1991 – Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1991 – Bonnie Wright, English actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1993 – Nicola Leali, Italian footballer
    • 1993 – Marc Márquez, Spanish motorcycle racer

    Deaths on February 17

    • 364 – Jovian, Roman emperor (b. 331)
    • 440 – Mesrop Mashtots, Armenian monk, linguist, and theologian (b. 360)
    • 923 – Al-Tabari, Persian scholar (b. 839)
    • 1178 – Evermode of Ratzeburg, bishop of Ratzeburg
    • 1220 – Theobald I, Duke of Lorraine
    • 1339 – Otto, Duke of Austria (b. 1301)
    • 1371 – Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
    • 1500 – Adolph, Count of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst, German noble (b. before 1463)
    • 1600 – Giordano Bruno, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (b. 1548)
    • 1609 – Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)
    • 1624 – Juan de Mariana, Spanish priest and historian (b. 1536)
    • 1659 – Abel Servien, French politician, French Minister of Finance (b. 1593)
    • 1673 – Molière, French actor and playwright (b. 1622)
    • 1680 – Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English politician (b. 1599)
    • 1680 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist, zoologist, and entomologist (b. 1637)
    • 1715 – Antoine Galland, French orientalist and archaeologist (b. 1646)
    • 1732 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (b. 1669)
    • 1768 – Arthur Onslow, English lawyer and politician, Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1691)
    • 1841 – Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist and composer (b. 1770)
    • 1849 – María de las Mercedes Barbudo, Puerto Rican political activist, the first woman Independentista in the island (b. 1773)
    • 1854 – John Martin, English painter, engraver, and illustrator (b. 1789)
    • 1856 – Heinrich Heine, German journalist and poet (b. 1797)
    • 1874 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian astronomer, mathematician, and sociologist (b. 1796)
    • 1890 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American publisher and politician (b. 1819)
    • 1905 – William Bickerton, English-American religious leader, leader in the Latter Day Saint movement (b. 1815)
    • 1909 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (b. 1829)
    • 1912 – Edgar Evans, Welsh sailor and explorer (b. 1876)
    • 1919 – Wilfrid Laurier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
    • 1934 – Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
    • 1934 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (b. 1862)
    • 1939 – Willy Hess, German violinist and educator (b. 1859)
    • 1946 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (b. 1889)
    • 1961 – Lütfi Kırdar, Turkish physician and politician, Turkish Minister of Health (b. 1887)
    • 1961 – Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1894)
    • 1962 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (b. 1907)
    • 1962 – Bruno Walter, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1876)
    • 1966 – Hans Hofmann, German-American painter (b. 1880)
    • 1970 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Ukrainian-Israeli novelist, short story writer, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
    • 1970 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (b. 1900)
    • 1972 – Friday Hassler, American race car driver (b. 1935)
    • 1977 – Janani Luwum, Ugandan archbishop and saint (b. 1922)
    • 1979 – William Gargan, American actor (b. 1905)
    • 1982 – Nestor Chylak, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1922)
    • 1982 – Thelonious Monk, American pianist and composer (b. 1917)
    • 1982 – Lee Strasberg, American actor and director (b. 1901)
    • 1986 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian-American philosopher and author (b. 1895)
    • 1988 – John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (b. 1923)
    • 1988 – Karpoori Thakur, Indian educator and politician, 11th Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1924)
    • 1989 – Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
    • 1990 – Jean-Marc Boivin, French mountaineer, skier, and pilot (b. 1951)
    • 1994 – Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (b. 1951)
    • 1998 – Ernst Jünger, German soldier, philosopher, and author (b. 1895)
    • 2003 – Steve Bechler, American baseball player (b. 1979)
    • 2004 – José López Portillo, Mexican lawyer and politician, 51st President of Mexico, 1976-1982 (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Dan O’Herlihy, Irish-American actor (b. 1919)
    • 2005 – Omar Sívori, Argentinian footballer and manager (b. 1935)
    • 2006 – Ray Barretto, American drummer (b. 1929)
    • 2006 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)
    • 2009 – Conchita Cintrón, Chilean bullfighter and journalist (b. 1922)
    • 2010 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Robert Carr, English engineer and politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Michael Davis, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician and theorist (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Ulric Neisser, German-American psychologist and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Richard Briers, English actor (b. 1934)
    • 2013 – Shmulik Kraus, Israeli singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Sophie Kurys, American baseball player (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Mindy McCready, American singer-songwriter (b. 1975)
    • 2014 – Bob Casale, American guitarist, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1952)
    • 2014 – Peter Florin, German politician and diplomat, President of the United Nations General Assembly (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Wayne Smith, Jamaican singer (b. 1965)
    • 2015 – John Barrow, American-Canadian football player and manager (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Cathy Ubels-Veen, Dutch politician (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Liu Yudi, Chinese general and pilot (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – Andy Ganteaume, Trinidadian cricketer (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Egyptian journalist (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – Claude Jeancolas, French historian, author, and journalist (b. 1949)
    • 2016 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player (b. 1959)
    • 2016 – Andrzej Żuławski, Polish film director (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Robert H. Michel, American politician (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Michael Novak, American Roman Catholic theologian (b. 1933)
    • 2020 – Ror Wolf, German writer, poet, and artist (b. 1932)

    Holidays and observances on February 17

    • Christian feast day:
      • Seven Founders of the Servite Order
        • Alexis Falconieri
      • Constabilis
      • Donatus, Romulus, Secundian, and Companions
      • Fintan of Clonenagh
      • Janani Luwum (Anglican Communion)
      • Lommán of Trim
      • February 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence declaration of Kosovo in 2008, still partially recognized.
    • Revolution Day (Libya)
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    Manipur Quiz

    1. When did Manipur become a state?
    • Correct Answer: 21 July 1972

    2. What does Manipur mean?

    • Correct Answer: City of gems

    3. Which state is to the north of Manipur?

    • Correct Answer: Nagaland

    4. Which state is to the west of Manipur?

    • Correct Answer: Assam

    5. Which country is to the east of Manipur?

    • Correct Answer: Burma

    6. Which is the capital of Manipur?

    • Correct Answer: Imphal

    7. Which lake is the source of Manipur River?

    • Correct Answer: Loktak Lake

    8. What is the area of Manipur?

    • Correct Answer: 8,621 sq. mi.

    9. When was Manipuri added to the eighth schedule of the constitution?

    • Correct Answer: 1992

    10. Who was Manipur’s chief minister in 1995?

    • Correct Answer: Rishang Keishing