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

    • 587 BC – The Neo-Babylonian Empire sacks Jerusalem and destroys the First Temple.
    • 238 – The Praetorian Guard storm the palace and capture Pupienus and Balbinus. They are dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day, Gordian III, age 13, is proclaimed emperor.
    • 615 – Pakal ascends the throne of Palenque at the age of 12.
    • 904 – Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire’s second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week.
    • 923 – Battle of Firenzuola: Lombard forces under King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, defeat the dethroned Emperor Berengar I of Italy at Firenzuola (Tuscany).
    • 1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of a heart attack less than three months later, on October 6.
    • 1018 – Count Dirk III defeats an army sent by Emperor Henry II in the Battle of Vlaardingen.
    • 1030 – Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad: King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.
    • 1148 – The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
    • 1565 – The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland.
    • 1567 – James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
    • 1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
    • 1693 – War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen: France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.
    • 1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps: General George Washington appoints William Tudor as Judge Advocate of the Continental Army.
    • 1818 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel submits his prizewinning “Memoir on the Diffraction of Light”, precisely accounting for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishing the oldest objection to the wave theory of light.
    • 1836 – Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.
    • 1848 – Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt: In County Tipperary, Ireland, then in the United Kingdom, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.
    • 1851 – Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.
    • 1858 – United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.
    • 1871 – The Connecticut Valley Railroad opens between Old Saybrook, Connecticut and Hartford, Connecticut in the United States.
    • 1899 – The First Hague Convention is signed.
    • 1900 – In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
    • 1907 – Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9, 1907, and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.
    • 1914 – The Cape Cod Canal opened.
    • 1920 – Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
    • 1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.
    • 1932 – Great Depression: In Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans.
    • 1937 – Tōngzhōu Incident: In Tōngzhōu, China, the East Hopei Army attacks Japanese troops and civilians.
    • 1945 – The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.
    • 1948 – Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad: After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, open in London.
    • 1950 – Korean War: After four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn.
    • 1957 – The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
    • 1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
    • 1959 – First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.
    • 1965 – Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.
    • 1967 – Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.
    • 1967 – During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.
    • 1973 – Greeks vote to abolish the monarchy, beginning the first period of the Metapolitefsi.
    • 1973 – During the Dutch Grand Prix driver Roger Williamson was killed in the race, after a suspected tire failure caused the car to pitch into the barriers at high speed.
    • 1976 – In New York City, David Berkowitz (a.k.a. the “Son of Sam”) kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.
    • 1980 – Iran adopts a new “holy” flag after the Islamic Revolution.
    • 1981 – A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
    • 1981 – After impeachment on June 21, Abolhassan Banisadr flees with Massoud Rajavi to Paris, in an Iranian Air Force Boeing 707, piloted by Colonel Behzad Moezzi, to form the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
    • 1987 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
    • 1987 – Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayewardene sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord on ethnic issues.
    • 1993 – The Supreme Court of Israel acquits alleged Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.
    • 1996 – The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act is struck down by a U.S. federal court as too broad.
    • 2005 – Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.
    • 2010 – An overloaded passenger ferry capsizes on the Kasai River in Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in at least 80 deaths.
    • 2013 – Two passenger trains collide in the Swiss municipality of Granges-près-Marnand near Lausanne injuring 25 people.
    • 2019 – Prison riot between rival gangs broke out in Brazil, at least 57 people have been killed.

    Births on July 29 

    • 869 – Muhammad al-Mahdi, Iraqi 12th Imam (d. 941)
    • 996 – Fujiwara no Norimichi, Japanese nobleman (d. 1075)
    • 1166 – Henry II, French nobleman and king of Jerusalem (d. 1197)
    • 1356 – Martin the Elder, king of Aragon, Valencia and Majorca (d. 1410)
    • 1537 – Pedro Téllez-Girón, Spanish nobleman (d. 1590)
    • 1573 – Philip II, duke of Pomerania-Stettin (d. 1618)
    • 1580 – Francesco Mochi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
    • 1605 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymn-writer (d. 1659)
    • 1646 – Johann Theile, German organist and composer (d. 1724)
    • 1744 – Giulio Maria della Somaglia, Italian cardinal (d. 1830)
    • 1763 – Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician (d. 1845)
    • 1797 – Daniel Drew, American businessman and financier (d. 1879)
    • 1801 – George Bradshaw, English cartographer and publisher (d. 1853)
    • 1805 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher (d. 1859)
    • 1806 – Horace Abbott, American businessman and banker (d. 1887)
    • 1817 – Ivan Aivazovsky, Armenian-Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1900)
    • 1817 – Martin Körber, Baltic German pastor, composer, and conductor (d. 1893)
    • 1841 – Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Norwegian physician (d. 1912)
    • 1843 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist and academic (d. 1901)
    • 1846 – Sophie Menter, German pianist and composer (d. 1918)
    • 1846 – Isabel, Brazilian princess (d. 1921)
    • 1849 – Max Nordau, Hungarian physician, author, and critic, co-founded the World Zionist Organization (d. 1923)
    • 1860 – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, English politician, 8th Governor of Queensland (d. 1940)
    • 1867 – Berthold Oppenheim, Moravian rabbi (d. 1942)
    • 1869 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (d. 1946)
    • 1871 – Jakob Mändmets, Estonian writer and journalist (d. 1930)
    • 1872 – Eric Alfred Knudsen, American author, lawyer, and politician (d. 1957)
    • 1874 – J. S. Woodsworth, Canadian minister and politician (d. 1942)
    • 1876 – Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-American actress and acting teacher (d. 1949)
    • 1878 – Don Marquis, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
    • 1883 – Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and author (d. 1942)
    • 1883 – Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist revolutionary and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1945)
    • 1884 – Ralph Austin Bard, American financier and politician, 2nd Under Secretary of the Navy (d. 1975)
    • 1885 – Theda Bara, American actress (d. 1955)
    • 1887 – Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-American pianist and composer (d. 1951)
    • 1888 – Vladimir K. Zworykin, Russian-American engineer, invented the Iconoscope (d. 1982)
    • 1891 – Bernhard Zondek, German-Israeli gynecologist and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1892 – William Powell, American actor and singer (d. 1984)
    • 1896 – Maria L. de Hernández, Mexican-American rights activist (d. 1986)
    • 1897 – Neil Ritchie, Guyanese-English general (d. 1983)
    • 1898 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1988)
    • 1899 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (d. 1959)
    • 1900 – Mary V. Austin, Australian community worker and political activist (d. 1986)
    • 1900 – Eyvind Johnson, Swedish novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1976)
    • 1900 – Teresa Noce, Italian labor leader, activist, and journalist (d. 1980)
    • 1900 – Don Redman, American composer, and bandleader (d. 1964)
    • 1904 – Mahasi Sayadaw, Burmese monk and philosopher (d. 1982)
    • 1904 – J. R. D. Tata, French-Indian pilot and businessman, founded Tata Motors and Tata Global Beverages (d. 1993)
    • 1905 – Clara Bow, American actress (d. 1965)
    • 1905 – Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish economist and diplomat, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1961)
    • 1905 – Stanley Kunitz, American poet and translator (d. 2006)
    • 1906 – Thelma Todd, American actress and singer (d. 1935)
    • 1907 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (d. 1996)
    • 1909 – Samm Sinclair Baker, American author (d. 1997)
    • 1909 – Chester Himes, American-Spanish author (d. 1984)
    • 1910 – Gale Page, American actress (d. 1983)
    • 1911 – Foster Furcolo, American lawyer and politician, 60th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1995)
    • 1911 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Erich Priebke, German war criminal, leader of the 1944 Ardeatine massacre (d. 2013)
    • 1914 – Irwin Corey, American actor and activist (d. 2017)
    • 1915 – Bruce R. McConkie, American colonel and religious leader (d. 1985)
    • 1915 – Francis W. Sargent, American soldier and politician, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1998)
    • 1916 – Budd Boetticher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1916 – Charlie Christian, American guitarist (d. 1942)
    • 1916 – Rupert Hamer, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (d. 2004)
    • 1917 – Rochus Misch, German SS officer (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Don Ingalls, American writer and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Edwin O’Connor, American journalist and author (d. 1968)
    • 1918 – Mary Lee Settle, American novelist, essayist, and memoirist (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Neville Jeffress, Australian businessman (d. 2007)
    • 1921 – Richard Egan, American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1921 – Chris Marker, French photographer and journalist (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – George Burditt, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – Gordon Mitchell, American bodybuilder and actor (d. 2003)
    • 1924 – Lloyd Bochner, Canadian-American actor (d. 2005)
    • 1924 – Robert Horton, American actor (d. 2016)
    • 1925 – Harold W. Kuhn, American mathematician and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Ted Lindsay, Canadian ice hockey player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2019)
    • 1925 – Mikis Theodorakis, Greek composer
    • 1926 – Robert Kilpatrick, Baron Kilpatrick of Kincraig, Scottish physician, academic, and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Harry Mulisch, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (d. 2010)
    • 1930 – Paul Taylor, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2018)
    • 1931 – Kjell Karlsen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2020)
    • 1932 – Leslie Fielding, English diplomat
    • 1932 – Nancy Kassebaum, American businesswoman and politician
    • 1933 – Lou Albano, Italian-American wrestler, manager, and actor (d. 2009)
    • 1933 – Colin Davis, English race car driver (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – Robert Fuller, American actor and rancher
    • 1933 – Randy Sparks, American folk singer-songwriter and musician (The New Christy Minstrels)
    • 1935 – Peter Schreier, German tenor and conductor (d. 2019)
    • 1936 – Elizabeth Dole, American lawyer and politician, 20th United States Secretary of Labor
    • 1937 – Daniel McFadden, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate
    • 1938 – Peter Jennings, Canadian-American journalist and author (d. 2005)
    • 1938 – Jean Rochon, Canadian physician and politician
    • 1940 – Betty Harris, American chemist
    • 1940 – Winnie Monsod, Filipina economist and political commentator
    • 1941 – Jennifer Dunn, American engineer and politician (d. 2007)
    • 1941 – Goenawan Mohamad, Indonesian poet and playwright
    • 1941 – David Warner, English actor
    • 1942 – Doug Ashdown, Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1943 – David Taylor, English snooker player and sportscaster
    • 1944 – Jim Bridwell, American rock climber and mountaineer
    • 1945 – Sharon Creech, American author and educator
    • 1945 – Mircea Lucescu, Romanian footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1946 – Ximena Armas, Chilean painter
    • 1946 – Stig Blomqvist, Swedish race car driver
    • 1946 – Neal Doughty, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1946 – Alessandro Gogna, Italian mountaineer and adventurer
    • 1946 – Diane Keen, English actress
    • 1946 – Aleksei Tammiste, Estonian basketball player
    • 1947 – Dick Harmon, American golfer and coach (d. 2006)
    • 1948 – John Clarke, New Zealand-Australian comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
    • 1949 – Leslie Easterbrook, American actress
    • 1949 – Jamil Mahuad, Ecuadorian lawyer and politician, 51st President of Ecuador
    • 1950 – Jenny Holzer, American painter, author, and dancer
    • 1951 – Susan Blackmore, English psychologist and theorist
    • 1951 – Dan Driessen, American baseball player and coach
    • 1951 – Dean Pitchford, American actor, director, screenwriter, and composer
    • 1952 – Norman Blackwell, Baron Blackwell, English businessman and politician
    • 1952 – Joe Johnson, English snooker player and sportscaster
    • 1952 – Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Greek politician
    • 1953 – Ken Burns, American director and producer
    • 1953 – Geddy Lee, Canadian musician
    • 1953 – Frank McGuinness, Irish poet and playwright
    • 1953 – Tim Gunn, American television host and actor
    • 1954 – Patti Scialfa, American musician
    • 1955 – Jean-Hugues Anglade, French actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Dave Stevens, American illustrator (d. 2008)
    • 1955 – Stephen Timms, English politician, Minister of State for Competitiveness
    • 1956 – Teddy Atlas, American boxer, trainer, and sportscaster
    • 1956 – Ronnie Musgrove, American lawyer and politician, 62nd Governor of Mississippi
    • 1956 – Faustino Rupérez, Spanish cyclist
    • 1957 – Liam Davison, Australian author and educator (d. 2014)
    • 1957 – Viktor Gavrikov, Lithuanian-Swiss chess player (d. 2016)
    • 1957 – Nellie Kim, Russian gymnast and coach
    • 1958 – Gail Dines, English-American author, activist, and academic
    • 1958 – Simon Nye, English screenwriter and producer
    • 1958 – Cynthia Rowley, American fashion designer
    • 1959 – Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor, singer, and producer
    • 1959 – Ruud Janssen, Dutch blogger and illustrator
    • 1959 – Dave LaPoint, American baseball player and manager
    • 1959 – John Sykes, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1960 – Didier Van Cauwelaert, French author
    • 1962 – Carl Cox, English DJ and producer
    • 1962 – Frank Neubarth, German footballer and manager
    • 1962 – Scott Steiner, American wrestler
    • 1962 – Vincent Rousseau, Belgian runner
    • 1963 – Hans-Holger Albrecht, Belgian-German businessman
    • 1963 – Jim Beglin, Irish footballer and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Julie Elliott, English politician
    • 1963 – Azeem Hafeez, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1963 – Alexandra Paul, American actress and producer
    • 1963 – Graham Poll, English footballer, referee, and journalist
    • 1964 – Jaanus Veensalu, Estonian footballer
    • 1965 – Luis Alicea, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
    • 1965 – Dean Haglund, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1965 – Adam Holloway, English captain and politician
    • 1965 – Stan Koziol, American soccer player (d. 2014)
    • 1965 – Chang-Rae Lee, South Korean-American author and academic
    • 1965 – Xavier Waterkeyn, Australian author
    • 1965 – Woody Weatherman, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1966 – Sally Gunnell, English hurdler and sportscaster
    • 1966 – Stuart Lampitt, English cricketer
    • 1966 – Martina McBride, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1968 – Gideon Henderson, English geologist and academic
    • 1968 – Paavo Lötjönen, Finnish cellist and educator
    • 1970 – Adele Griffin, American author
    • 1970 – Andi Peters, English journalist, actor, and producer
    • 1970 – John Rennie, Zimbabwean cricketer
    • 1971 – Andrea Philipp, German sprinter
    • 1972 – Wil Wheaton, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Stephen Dorff, American actor and producer
    • 1973 – Denis Urubko, Kazakh mountaineer
    • 1975 – Yoshihiro Akiyama, Japanese mixed martial artist
    • 1975 – Lanka de Silva, Sri Lankan cricketer
    • 1975 – Corrado Grabbi, Italian footballer
    • 1975 – Jaanus Sirel, Estonian footballer
    • 1978 – Mike Adams, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Marina Lazarovska, Macedonian tennis player
    • 1979 – Karim Essediri, Tunisian footballer
    • 1979 – Ronald Murray, American basketball player
    • 1979 – Juris Umbraško, Latvian basketball player
    • 1980 – Ryan Braun, Canadian-American baseball player
    • 1980 – Fernando González, Chilean tennis player
    • 1980 – Ben Koller, American drummer
    • 1980 – John Morris, Australian rugby league player
    • 1981 – Fernando Alonso, Spanish race car driver
    • 1981 – Andrés Madrid, Argentinian footballer
    • 1981 – Troy Perkins, American soccer player
    • 1982 – Janez Aljančič, Slovenian footballer
    • 1982 – Jônatas Domingos, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Allison Mack, American actress and criminal
    • 1983 – Jason Belmonte, Australian bowler
    • 1983 – Inés Gómez Mont, Mexican journalist and actress
    • 1983 – Alexei Kaigorodov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Jerious Norwood, American football player
    • 1983 – Elise Testone, American singer-songwriter
    • 1984 – Oh Beom-seok, South Korean footballer
    • 1984 – Chad Billingsley, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Wilson Palacios, Honduran footballer
    • 1985 – Besart Berisha, Albanian footballer
    • 1985 – Okinoumi Ayumi, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1985 – Simon Santoso, Indonesian badminton player
    • 1988 – Tarjei Bø, Norwegian biathlete
    • 1989 – Grit Šadeiko, Estonian heptathlete
    • 1991 – Dale Copley, Australian rugby league player
    • 1991 – Irakli Logua, Russian footballer
    • 1992 – Karen Torrez, Bolivian swimmer
    • 1993 – Nicole Melichar, American tennis player
    • 1994 – Liam O’Brien, Canadian ice hockey player

    Deaths on July 29

    • 238 – Balbinus, Roman emperor (b. 165)
    • 238 – Pupienus, Roman emperor (b. 178)
    • 451 – Tuoba Huang, prince of Northern Wei (b. 428)
    • 796 – Offa of Mercia (b. 730)
    • 846 – Li Shen, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
    • 1030 – Olaf II of Norway (b. 995)
    • 1095 – Ladislaus I of Hungary (b. 1040)
    • 1099 – Pope Urban II (b. 1042)
    • 1108 – Philip I of France (b. 1052)
    • 1236 – Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of France (b. 1175)
    • 1326 – Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster (b. 1259)
    • 1504 – Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (b. 1435)
    • 1507 – Martin Behaim, German-Bohemian geographer and astronomer (b. 1459)
    • 1573 – John Caius, English physician and academic (b. 1510)
    • 1612 – Jacques Bongars, French scholar and diplomat (b. 1554)
    • 1644 – Pope Urban VIII (b. 1568)
    • 1752 – Peter Warren, Irish admiral and politician (b. 1703)
    • 1781 – Johann Kies, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1713)
    • 1792 – René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French lawyer and politician, Chancellor of France (b. 1714)
    • 1813 – Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (b. 1771)
    • 1833 – William Wilberforce, English philanthropist and politician (b. 1759)
    • 1839 – Gaspard de Prony, French mathematician and engineer (b. 1755)
    • 1844 – Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1791)
    • 1856 – Robert Schumann, German composer and critic (b. 1810)
    • 1857 – Thomas Dick, Scottish minister, astronomer, and author (b. 1774)
    • 1887 – Agostino Depretis, Italian politician, 9th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1813)
    • 1890 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1853)
    • 1895 – Floriano Peixoto, Brazilian general and politician, 2nd President of Brazil (b. 1839)
    • 1900 – Umberto I of Italy (b. 1844)
    • 1908 – Marie Adam-Doerrer (b. 1838)
    • 1913 – Tobias Asser, Dutch lawyer and jurist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1838)
    • 1918 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (b. 1863)
    • 1924 – Sotirios Krokidas, Greek educator and politician, 110th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1852)
    • 1934 – Didier Pitre, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1883)
    • 1938 – Nikolai Krylenko, Russian lawyer, jurist, and politician, Prosecutor General of the Russian SFSR (b. 1885)
    • 1950 – Joe Fry, English race car driver (b. 1915)
    • 1951 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded Galatasaray S.K. (b. 1886)
    • 1954 – Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
    • 1960 – Hasan Saka, Turkish politician, 7th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1885)
    • 1962 – Ronald Fisher, English biologist and statistician (b. 1890)
    • 1962 – Leonardo De Lorenzo, Italian-American flute player and educator (b. 1875)
    • 1964 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player (b. 1885)
    • 1966 – Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigerian general and politician, 2nd Head of State of Nigeria (b. 1924)
    • 1966 – Adekunle Fajuyi, Nigerian colonel (b. 1926)
    • 1970 – John Barbirolli, English cellist and conductor (b. 1899)
    • 1973 – Norm Smith, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1915)
    • 1973 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (b. 1948)
    • 1974 – Cass Elliot, American singer (b. 1941)
    • 1974 – Erich Kästner, German author and poet (b. 1899)
    • 1976 – Mickey Cohen, American gangster (b. 1913)
    • 1978 – Andrzej Bogucki, Polish actor, operetta singer, and songwriter (b. 1904)
    • 1979 – Herbert Marcuse, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1898)
    • 1979 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1916)
    • 1981 – Robert Moses, American urban planner, designed the Northern State Parkway and Southern State Parkway (b. 1888)
    • 1982 – Harold Sakata, American wrestler and actor (b. 1920)
    • 1982 – Vladimir K. Zworykin, Russian-American engineer, invented the Iconoscope (b. 1889)
    • 1983 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
    • 1983 – Raymond Massey, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1896)
    • 1983 – David Niven, English military officer and actor (b. 1910)
    • 1984 – Fred Waring, American television host and bandleader (b. 1900)
    • 1987 – Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1894)
    • 1990 – Bruno Kreisky, Austrian academic and politician, 22nd Chancellor of Austria (b. 1911)
    • 1992 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1952)
    • 1994 – John Britton, American physician (b. 1925)
    • 1994 – Dorothy Hodgkin, Egyptian-English biochemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
    • 1995 – Les Elgart, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1917)
    • 1996 – Ric Nordman, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1919)
    • 1996 – Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1920)
    • 1996 – Jason Thirsk, American singer and bass player (b. 1967)
    • 1998 – Jerome Robbins, American director, producer, and choreographer (b. 1918)
    • 2001 – Edward Gierek, Polish soldier and politician (b. 1913)
    • 2001 – Wau Holland, German computer scientist, co-founded Chaos Computer Club (b. 1951)
    • 2003 – Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leonean soldier, founded the Revolutionary United Front (b. 1937)
    • 2004 – Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress and singer (b. 1923)
    • 2007 – Mike Reid, English comedian, actor, and author (b. 1940)
    • 2007 – Michel Serrault, French actor (b. 1928)
    • 2007 – Tom Snyder, American journalist and talk show host (b. 1936)
    • 2007 – Marvin Zindler, American journalist (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Bruce Edward Ivins, American scientist and bio-defense researcher (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – Charles E. Wicks, American chemist and academic (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Tatiana Egorova, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1970)
    • 2012 – August Kowalczyk, Polish actor and director (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Chris Marker, French photographer and journalist (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – James Mellaart, English archaeologist and author (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – John Stampe, Danish footballer and coach (b. 1957)
    • 2013 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1986)
    • 2013 – Peter Flanigan, American banker and civil servant (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Tony Gaze, Australian soldier, pilot, and race car driver (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Munir Hussain, Indian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – M. Caldwell Butler, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Jon R. Cavaiani, English-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1943)
    • 2014 – Giorgio Gaslini, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – María Antonia Iglesias, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1945)
    • 2014 – Péter Kiss, Hungarian engineer and politician (b. 1959)
    • 2014 – Idris Muhammad, American drummer and composer (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Thomas R. St. George, American soldier and author (b. 1919)
    • 2015 – Antony Holland, English-Canadian actor, director, and playwright (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Peter O’Sullevan, Anglo-Irish sportscaster (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Mike Pyle, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Franklin H. Westervelt, American computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1930)
    • 2018 – Oliver Dragojević, a Croatian recording artist (b. 1947)
    • 2018 – Josip Peruzovic, Yugoslav-born American professional wrestler (b. 1947)

    Holidays and observances on July 29

    • Christian feast day:
      • Lupus of Troyes
      • Martha of Bethany (Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Church)
      • Mary of Bethany
      • Olaf II of Norway
      • Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix
      • July 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Somer’s Day can fall, while August 4 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before the first Monday in August. (Bermuda)
    • International Tiger Day
    • Mohun Bagan Day (India)
    • National Anthem Day (Romania)
    • National Thai Language Day (Thailand)
    • Ólavsøka or Olsok, opening of the Løgting session. (Faroe Islands and the Nordic countries)

  • June 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 910 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors.
    • 1240 – At the instigation of Louis IX of France, an inter-faith debate, known as the Disputation of Paris, starts between a Christian monk and four rabbis.
    • 1381 – Peasants’ Revolt: In England, rebels assemble at Blackheath, just outside London.
    • 1418 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Parisians slaughter Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and his suspected sympathizers, along with all prisoners, foreign bankers, and students and faculty of the College of Navarre.
    • 1429 – Hundred Years’ War: On the second day of the Battle of Jargeau, Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
    • 1550 – The city of Helsinki, Finland (belonging to Sweden at the time) is founded by King Gustav I of Sweden.
    • 1653 – First Anglo-Dutch War: The Battle of the Gabbard begins, lasting until the following day.
    • 1665 – Thomas Willett is appointed the first mayor of New York City.
    • 1758 – French and Indian War: Siege of Louisbourg: James Wolfe’s attack at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, commences
    • 1772 – French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne and 25 of his men killed by Māori in New Zealand.
    • 1775 – American Revolution: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged.
    • 1776 – The Virginia Declaration of Rights is adopted.
    • 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battle of Ballynahinch.
    • 1817 – The earliest form of bicycle, the dandy horse, is driven by Karl von Drais.
    • 1821 – Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Isma’il Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of that Sudanese kingdom.
    • 1830 – Beginning of the Invasion of Algiers: Thiry-four thousand French soldiers land 27 kilometers west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch.
    • 1864 – American Civil War, Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: Ulysses S. Grant gives the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee a victory when he pulls his Union troops from their position at Cold Harbor, Virginia and moves south.
    • 1898 – Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines’ independence from Spain.
    • 1899 – New Richmond tornado: The eighth deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200.
    • 1914 – Massacre of Phocaea: Turkish irregulars slaughter 50 to 100 Greeks and expel thousands of others in an ethnic cleansing operation in the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1921 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky orders the use of chemical weapons against the Tambov Rebellion, bringing an end to the peasant uprising.
    • 1935 – A ceasefire is negotiated between Bolivia and Paraguay, ending the Chaco War.
    • 1939 – Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures’ Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor.
    • 1939 – The Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, New York.
    • 1940 – World War II: Thirteen thousand British and French troops surrender to Major General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux.
    • 1942 – Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday.
    • 1943 – The Holocaust: Germany liquidates the Jewish Ghetto in Brzeżany, Poland (now Berezhany, Ukraine). Around 1,180 Jews are led to the city’s old Jewish graveyard and shot.
    • 1944 – World War II: Operation Overlord: American paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division secure the town of Carentan, Normandy, France.
    • 1954 – Pope Pius XII canonises Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old at the time of his death, as a saint, making him at the time the youngest unmartyred saint in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2017, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged ten and nine at the time of their deaths, are declared saints.
    • 1963 – NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers is murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith during the civil rights movement.
    • 1964 – Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.
    • 1967 – The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.
    • 1975 – India, Judge Jagmohanlal Sinha of the city of Allahabad ruled that India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had used corrupt practices to win her seat in the Indian Parliament, and that she should be banned from holding any public office. Mrs. Gandhi sent word that she refused to resign.
    • 1979 – Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.
    • 1987 – The Central African Republic’s former emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13-year rule.
    • 1987 – Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
    • 1988 – Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 46, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81, crashes short of the runway at Libertador General José de San Martín Airport, killing all 22 people on board.
    • 1990 – Russia Day: The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty.
    • 1991 – Russians first democratically elected Boris Yeltsin as the President of Russia.
    • 1991 – Kokkadichcholai massacre: The Sri Lankan Army massacres 152 minority Tamil civilians in the village of Kokkadichcholai near the eastern province town of Batticaloa.
    • 1993 – An election takes place in Nigeria and is won by Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. Its results are later annulled by the military Government of Ibrahim Babangida.
    • 1994 – Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman are murdered outside Simpson’s home in Los Angeles. Her estranged husband, O.J. Simpson is later charged with the murders, but is acquitted by a jury.
    • 1997 – Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London.
    • 1999 – Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins when a NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force (KFor) enters the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
    • 2009 – Analog television stations (excluding low-powered stations) switch to digital television following the DTV Delay Act.
    • 2009 – A disputed presidential election in Iran leads to wide-ranging local and international protests.
    • 2016 – Forty-nine civilians are killed and 58 others injured in an attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida; the gunman, Omar Mateen, is killed in a gunfight with police.
    • 2017 – American student Otto Warmbier returns home in a coma after spending 17 months in a North Korean prison and dies a week later.
    • 2018 – United States President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea held the first meeting between leaders of their two countries in Singapore.

    Births on June 12

    • 950 – Reizei, Japanese emperor (d. 1011)
    • 1107 – Gao Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1187)
    • 1161 – Constance, Duchess of Brittany (d. 1201)
    • 1519 – Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1574)
    • 1561 – Anna of Württemberg, German princess (d. 1616)
    • 1564 – John Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg (d. 1633)
    • 1573 – Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex, soldier (d. 1629)
    • 1577 – Paul Guldin, Swiss astronomer and mathematician (d. 1643)
    • 1580 – Adriaen van Stalbemt, Flemish painter (d. 1662)
    • 1653 – Maria Amalia of Courland, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1711)
    • 1686 – Marie-Catherine Homassel Hecquet, French writer (d. 1764)
    • 1711 – Louis Legrand, French priest and theologian (d. 1780)
    • 1760 – Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai, French author, playwright, journalist, and politician (d. 1797)
    • 1771 – Patrick Gass, American sergeant (Lewis and Clark Expedition) and author (d. 1870)
    • 1775 – Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (d. 1851)
    • 1777 – Robert Clark, American physician and politician (d. 1837)
    • 1795 – John Marston, American sailor (d. 1885)
    • 1798 – Samuel Cooper, American general (d. 1876)
    • 1800 – Samuel Wright Mardis, American politician (d. 1836)
    • 1802 – Harriet Martineau, English sociologist and author (d. 1876)
    • 1806 – John A. Roebling, German-American engineer, designed the Brooklyn Bridge (d. 1869)
    • 1807 – Ante Kuzmanić, Croatian physician and journalist (d. 1879)
    • 1812 – Edmond Hébert, French geologist and academic (d. 1890)
    • 1819 – Charles Kingsley, English priest, historian, and author (d. 1875)
    • 1827 – Johanna Spyri, Swiss author, best known for Heidi (d. 1901)
    • 1831 – Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (d. 1905)
    • 1841 – Watson Fothergill, English architect, designed the Woodborough Road Baptist Church (d. 1928)
    • 1843 – David Gill, Scottish-English astronomer and author (d. 1914)
    • 1851 – Oliver Lodge, English physicist and academic (d. 1940)
    • 1857 – Maurice Perrault, Canadian architect, engineer, and politician, 15th Mayor of Longueuil (d. 1909)
    • 1858 – Harry Johnston, English botanist and explorer (d. 1927)
    • 1858 – Henry Scott Tuke, English painter and photographer (d. 1929)
    • 1861 – William Attewell, English cricketer and umpire (d. 1927)
    • 1864 – Frank Chapman, American ornithologist, photographer, and author (d. 1945)
    • 1877 – Thomas C. Hart, American admiral and politician (d. 1971)
    • 1883 – Fernand Gonder, French pole vaulter (d. 1969)
    • 1883 – Robert Lowie, Austrian-American anthropologist and academic (d. 1957)
    • 1888 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1920)
    • 1890 – Egon Schiele, Austrian soldier and painter (d. 1918)
    • 1892 – Djuna Barnes, American novelist, journalist, and playwright (d. 1982)
    • 1895 – Eugénie Brazier, French chef (d. 1977)
    • 1897 – Anthony Eden, English soldier and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1977)
    • 1899 – Fritz Albert Lipmann, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
    • 1899 – Weegee, Ukrainian-American photographer and journalist (d. 1968)
    • 1902 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian lawyer and politician, Mayor of Ghent (d. 1973)
    • 1905 – Ray Barbuti, American sprinter and football player (d. 1988)
    • 1906 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet (d. 1977)
    • 1908 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian broadcaster (d. 1988)
    • 1908 – Marina Semyonova, Russian ballerina and educator (d. 2010)
    • 1908 – Otto Skorzeny, German SS officer (d. 1975)
    • 1910 – Bill Naughton, Irish-English playwright and author (d. 1992)
    • 1912 – Bill Cowley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1993)
    • 1912 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist and academic (d. 1961)
    • 1913 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian general (d. 1996)
    • 1913 – Desmond Piers, Canadian admiral (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – William Lundigan, American actor (d. 1975)
    • 1914 – Go Seigen, Chinese-Japanese Go player (d. 2014)
    • 1915 – Priscilla Lane, American actress (d. 1995)
    • 1915 – Christopher Mayhew, English soldier and politician (d. 1997)
    • 1915 – David Rockefeller, American banker and businessman (d. 2017)
    • 1916 – Irwin Allen, American director and producer (d. 1991)
    • 1916 – Raúl Héctor Castro, Mexican-American politician and diplomat, 14th Governor of Arizona (d. 2015)
    • 1918 – Samuel Z. Arkoff, American film producer (d. 2001)
    • 1918 – Georgia Louise Harris Brown, American architect (d. 1999)
    • 1918 – Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, Sri Lankan-Australian mathematician and academic (d. 2001)
    • 1919 – Uta Hagen, German-American actress and educator (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Dave Berg, American soldier and cartoonist (d. 2002)
    • 1920 – Peter Jones, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1921 – Luis García Berlanga, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Christopher Derrick, English author, critic, and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1921 – James Archibald Houston, Canadian author and illustrator (d. 2005)
    • 1922 – Margherita Hack, Italian astrophysicist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – George H. W. Bush, American lieutenant and politician, 41st President of the United States (d. 2018)
    • 1924 – Grete Dollitz, German-American guitarist and radio host (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Vic Damone, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2018)
    • 1928 – Petros Molyviatis, Greek politician and diplomat, Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
    • 1928 – Richard M. Sherman, American composer and director
    • 1929 – Brigid Brophy, English author and critic (d. 1995)
    • 1929 – Anne Frank, German-Dutch diarist; victim of the Holocaust (d. 1945)
    • 1929 – Jameel Jalibi, Pakistani linguist and academic
    • 1929 – John McCluskey, Baron McCluskey, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Solicitor General for Scotland (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – Jim Burke, Australian cricketer (d. 1979)
    • 1930 – Donald Byrne, American chess player (d. 1976)
    • 1930 – Innes Ireland, Scottish race car driver and engineer (d. 1993)
    • 1930 – Jim Nabors, American actor and singer (d. 2017)
    • 1931 – Trevanian, American author and scholar (d. 2005)
    • 1931 – Rona Jaffe, American novelist (d. 2005)
    • 1932 – Mimi Coertse, South African soprano and producer
    • 1932 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (d. 2002)
    • 1933 – Eddie Adams, American photographer and journalist (d. 2004)
    • 1934 – John A. Alonzo, American actor and cinematographer (d. 2001)
    • 1934 – Kevin Billington, English director and producer
    • 1935 – Ian Craig, Australian cricketer (d. 2014)
    • 1935 – Paul Kennedy, English lawyer and judge
    • 1937 – Vladimir Arnold, Russian-French mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1937 – Klaus Basikow, German footballer and manager (d. 2015)
    • 1937 – Antal Festetics, Hungarian-Austrian biologist and zoologist
    • 1937 – Chips Moman, American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1938 – Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (d. 2016)
    • 1938 – Tom Oliver, English-Australian actor
    • 1939 – Ron Lynch, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1939 – Frank McCloskey, American sergeant and politician (d. 2003)
    • 1940 – Jacques Brassard, Canadian educator and politician
    • 1941 – Marv Albert, American sportscaster
    • 1941 – Chick Corea, American pianist and composer
    • 1941 – Roy Harper, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1941 – Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – Lucille Roybal-Allard, American politician
    • 1942 – Len Barry, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1942 – Bert Sakmann, German physiologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1945 – Pat Jennings, Irish footballer and coach
    • 1946 – Michel Bergeron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1946 – Bobby Gould, English footballer and manager
    • 1946 – Catherine Bréchignac, French physicist and academic
    • 1948 – Hans Binder, Austrian race car driver
    • 1948 – Herbert Meyer, German footballer
    • 1948 – Len Wein, American comic book writer and editor (d. 2017)
    • 1949 – Jens Böhrnsen, German judge and politician
    • 1949 – Marc Tardif, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1949 – John Wetton, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1950 – Oğuz Abadan, Turkish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1950 – Michael Fabricant, English politician
    • 1950 – Sonia Manzano, American actress of Puerto Rican descent, noted for playing Maria on Sesame Street
    • 1950 – Bun E. Carlos, American drummer
    • 1951 – Brad Delp, American musician and singer (d. 2007)
    • 1951 – Andranik Margaryan, Armenian engineer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 2007)
    • 1952 – Spencer Abraham, American academic and politician, 10th United States Secretary of Energy
    • 1952 – Junior Brown, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1952 – Pete Farndon, English bass player and songwriter (d. 1983)
    • 1953 – Rocky Burnette, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1954 – Tim Razzall, Baron Razzall, English lawyer and politician
    • 1956 – Terry Alderman, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Timothy Busfield, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1957 – Javed Miandad, Pakistani cricketer and coach
    • 1958 – Meredith Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1959 – John Linnell, American singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1959 – Scott Thompson, Canadian actor and comedian
    • 1960 – Joe Kopicki, American basketball player and coach
    • 1962 – Jordan Peterson, Canadian psychologist, professor and cultural critic
    • 1963 – Philippe Bugalski, French race car driver (d. 2012)
    • 1963 – Warwick Capper, Australian footballer, coach, and actor
    • 1963 – Tim DeKay, American actor
    • 1963 – Jerry Lynn, American wrestler
    • 1964 – Derek Higgins, Irish race car driver
    • 1964 – Kent Jones, American journalist
    • 1964 – Paula Marshall, American actress
    • 1964 – Peter Such, Scottish-born, English cricketer
    • 1965 – Adrian Toole, Australian rugby league player
    • 1965 – Gwen Torrence, American sprinter
    • 1965 – Cathy Tyson, English actress
    • 1966 – Marc Glanville, Australian rugby league player
    • 1966 – Tom Misteli, Swiss cell biologist
    • 1967 – Aivar Kuusmaa, Estonian basketball player and coach
    • 1967 – Frances O’Connor, English-Australian actress
    • 1968 – Scott Aldred, American baseball player and coach
    • 1968 – Htay Kywe, Burmese activist
    • 1968 – Bobby Sheehan, American bass player and songwriter (d. 1999)
    • 1969 – Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian guitarist (d. 2007)
    • 1969 – Héctor Garza, Mexican wrestler (d. 2013)
    • 1969 – Mathieu Schneider, American ice hockey player
    • 1969 – Heinz-Christian Strache, Austrian politician
    • 1971 – Mark Henry, American weightlifter and wrestler
    • 1971 – Ryan Klesko, American baseball player
    • 1971 – Jérôme Romain, Caribbean-Dominican triple jumper and coach
    • 1973 – Jason Caffey, American basketball player and coach
    • 1973 – Darryl White, Australian footballer
    • 1974 – Flávio Conceição, Brazilian footballer
    • 1974 – Hideki Matsui, Japanese baseball player
    • 1974 – Jason Mewes, American actor and producer
    • 1974 – Kerry Kittles, American basketball player
    • 1975 – Bryan Alvarez, American wrestler and journalist
    • 1975 – Stéphanie Szostak, French-American actress
    • 1976 – Antawn Jamison, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1976 – Ray Price, Zimbabwean cricketer
    • 1976 – Thomas Sørensen, Danish footballer
    • 1977 – Wade Redden, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Kenny Wayne Shepherd, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1978 – Lewis Moody, English rugby player
    • 1979 – Dallas Clark, American football player
    • 1979 – Martine Dugrenier, Canadian wrestler
    • 1979 – Diego Milito, Argentine footballer
    • 1979 – Robyn, Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer
    • 1979 – Earl Watson, American basketball player and coach
    • 1980 – Marco Bortolami, Italian rugby player
    • 1980 – Larry Foote, American football player
    • 1980 – Ifet Taljević, German footballer
    • 1981 – Raitis Grafs, Latvian basketball player
    • 1981 – Paul Hasleby, Australian footballer
    • 1981 – Adriana Lima, Brazilian model and actress
    • 1982 – Ben Blackwell, American drummer
    • 1982 – Diem Brown, German-American journalist and activist (d. 2014)
    • 1982 – Jason David, American football player
    • 1982 – Shailaja Pujari, Indian weightlifter
    • 1982 – James Tomlinson, English cricketer
    • 1983 – Bryan Habana, South African rugby player
    • 1983 – Alexander Pipa, German rugby player
    • 1983 – Christine Sinclair, Canadian soccer player
    • 1984 – James Kwalia, Kenyan-Qatari runner
    • 1984 – Bruno Soriano, Spanish footballer
    • 1985 – Blake Ross, American computer programmer, co-created Mozilla Firefox
    • 1985 – Sam Thaiday, Australian rugby league player
    • 1985 – Kendra Wilkinson, American model, actress, and author
    • 1985 – Chris Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1986 – Salim Mehajer, Australian politician
    • 1986 – Harry Taylor, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Seyi Ajirotutu, American football player
    • 1987 – Antonio Barragán, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Artūrs Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
    • 1988 – Eren Derdiyok, Swiss footballer
    • 1988 – Mauricio Isla, Chilean footballer
    • 1988 – Dave Melillo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1988 – Dakota Morton, Canadian actor and radio host
    • 1989 – Emma Eliasson, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Ibrahim Jeilan, Ethiopian runner
    • 1990 – Jrue Holiday, American basketball player
    • 1990 – Kevin López, Spanish runner
    • 1990 – David Worrall, English footballer
    • 1991 – Avisail García, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1992 – Philippe Coutinho, Brazilian footballer

    Deaths on June 12

    • 796 – Hisham I, Muslim emir (b. 757)
    • 816 – Pope Leo III (b. 750)
    • 918 – Æthelflæd, Mercian daughter of Alfred the Great (b. 870)
    • 1020 – Lyfing, English archbishop (b. 999)
    • 1036 – Tedald, Italian bishop (b. 990)
    • 1144 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian theologian (b. 1075)
    • 1152 – Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1114)
    • 1266 – Henry II, Prince of Anhalt-Aschersleben (b. 1215)
    • 1294 – John I of Brienne, Count of Eu
    • 1418 – Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac (b. 1360)
    • 1435 – John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, English commander (b. 1408)
    • 1478 – Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (b. 1412)
    • 1524 – Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, Spanish conquistador (b. 1465)
    • 1560 – Ii Naomori, Japanese warrior (b. 1506)
    • 1560 – Imagawa Yoshimoto, Japanese daimyō (b. 1519)
    • 1565 – Adrianus Turnebus, French philologist and scholar (b. 1512)
    • 1567 – Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, English politician, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1490)
    • 1647 – Thomas Farnaby, English scholar and educator (b. 1575)
    • 1668 – Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge, English politician (b. 1599)
    • 1675 – Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy (b. 1634)
    • 1734 – James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, French-English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (b. 1670)
    • 1758 – Prince Augustus William of Prussia (b. 1722)
    • 1772 – Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, French explorer (b. 1724)
    • 1778 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (b. 1716)
    • 1816 – Pierre Augereau, French general (b. 1757)
    • 1818 – Egwale Seyon, Ethiopian emperor
    • 1841 – Konstantinos Nikolopoulos, Greek composer, archaeologist, and philologist (b. 1786)
    • 1900 – Lucretia Peabody Hale, American journalist and author (b. 1820)
    • 1904 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach (b. 1836)
    • 1912 – Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1822)
    • 1917 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan-American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (b. 1853)
    • 1932 – Theo Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1852)
    • 1937 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Russian general (b. 1893)
    • 1944 – Erich Marcks, German general (b. 1891)
    • 1946 – Médéric Martin, Canadian politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1869)
    • 1952 – Harry Lawson, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Victoria (b. 1875)
    • 1957 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (The Dorsey Brothers and The California Ramblers) (b. 1904)
    • 1962 – John Ireland, English composer and educator (b. 1879)
    • 1963 – Medgar Evers, American soldier and activist (b. 1925)
    • 1966 – Hermann Scherchen, German viola player and conductor (b. 1891)
    • 1968 – Herbert Read, English poet and critic (b. 1893)
    • 1969 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Ukrainian-Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1899)
    • 1972 – Edmund Wilson, American critic, essayist, and editor (b. 1895)
    • 1972 – Dinanath Gopal Tendulkar, Indian writer and documentary filmmaker (b. 1909)
    • 1976 – Gopinath Kaviraj, Indian philosopher and scholar (b. 1887)
    • 1978 – Guo Moruo, Chinese historian, author, and poet (b. 1892)
    • 1978 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (b. 1912)
    • 1980 – Billy Butlin, South African-English businessman, founded the Butlins Company (b. 1899)
    • 1980 – Masayoshi Ōhira, Japanese politician, 68th Prime minister of Japan (b. 1910)
    • 1980 – Milburn Stone, American actor (b. 1904)
    • 1982 – Ian McKay, English sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1953)
    • 1982 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian-German ethologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
    • 1983 – Norma Shearer, Canadian-American actress (b. 1902)
    • 1989 – Bruce Hamilton, Australian public servant (b. 1911)
    • 1990 – Terence O’Neill, Baron O’Neill of the Maine, English captain and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (b. 1914)
    • 1994 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Russian-French rabbi and author (b. 1902)
    • 1995 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (b. 1920)
    • 1995 – Pierre Russell, American basketball player (b. 1949)
    • 1997 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1924)
    • 1998 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and educator (b. 1924)
    • 1998 – Theresa Merritt, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
    • 1999 – J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1917)
    • 2000 – Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1919)
    • 2000 – Sandro Rosa do Nascimento, Brazilian criminal (b. 1978)
    • 2002 – Bill Blass, American fashion designer, founded Bill Blass Limited (b. 1922)
    • 2002 – Zena Sutherland, American reviewer of children’s literature (b. 1915)
    • 2003 – Gregory Peck, American actor and political activist (b. 1916)
    • 2005 – Scott Young, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1918)
    • 2006 – Nicky Barr, Australian rugby player and fighter pilot (b. 1915)
    • 2006 – György Ligeti, Romanian-Hungarian composer and educator (b. 1923)
    • 2006 – Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian businessman and art collector (b. 1923)
    • 2008 – Miroslav Dvořák, Czech ice hockey player (b. 1951)
    • 2008 – Derek Tapscott, Welsh footballer and manager (b. 1932)
    • 2010 – Al Williamson, American illustrator (b. 1931)
    • 2011 – René Audet, Canadian bishop (b. 1920)
    • 2011 – Carl Gardner, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Hector Bianciotti, Argentinian-French journalist and author (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Henry Hill, American mobster (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Margarete Mitscherlich-Nielsen, Danish-German psychoanalyst and author (b. 1917)
    • 2012 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (b. 1946)
    • 2012 – Elinor Ostrom, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Pahiño, Spanish footballer (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Frank Walker, Australian judge and politician, 41st Attorney General of New South Wales (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Teresita Barajuen, Spanish nun (b. 1908)
    • 2013 – Jason Leffler, American race car driver (b. 1975)
    • 2013 – Joseph A. Unanue, American sergeant and businessman (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Nabil Hemani, Algerian footballer (b. 1979)
    • 2014 – Dan Jacobson, South African-English author and critic (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Frank Schirrmacher, German journalist (b. 1959)
    • 2015 – Fernando Brant, Brazilian journalist, poet, and composer (b. 1946)
    • 2015 – Frederick Pei Li, Chinese-American physician and academic (b. 1940)
    • 2015 – Patrick Lennox Tierney, American historian and academic (b. 1914)
    • 2016 – Omar Mateen, American mass murderer (b. 1986)
    • 2016 – George Voinovich, American politician (b. 1936)
    • 2016 – Janet Waldo, American actress and voice artist (b. 1920)

    Holidays and observances on June 12

    • Chaco Armistice Day (Paraguay)
    • Christian feast day:
      • 108 Martyrs of World War II
      • Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor and Nazarius
      • Blessed Hildegard Burjan
      • Enmegahbowh (Episcopal Church)
      • Eskil
      • First Ecumenical Council (Lutheran)
      • Gaspar Bertoni
      • John of Sahagún
      • Onuphrius
      • Pope Leo III
      • Ternan
      • June 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Dia dos Namorados (Brazil)
    • Helsinki Day (Finland)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Philippines from Spain in 1898.
    • June 12 Commemoration (Lagos State)
    • Loving Day (United States)
    • Russia Day (Russia)
    • World Day Against Child Labour, and its related observances:
      • Children’s Day (Haiti)

  • April 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.
    • 1478 – The Pazzi family attack Lorenzo de’ Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral.
    • 1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of actual birth is unknown).
    • 1607 – English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia.
    • 1721 – A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian city of Tabriz.
    • 1777 – Sybil Ludington, aged 16, rode 40 miles (64 km) to alert American colonial forces to the approach of the British regular forces
    • 1794 – Battle of Beaumont during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
    • 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France.
    • 1803 – Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L’Aigle, France; the event convinces European scientists that meteors exist.
    • 1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines captured Derne under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina. Also the date of Confederate Memorial Day for two states.
    • 1865 – Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in Virginia.
    • 1903 – Atlético Madrid Association football club is founded
    • 1923 – The Duke of York weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey.
    • 1925 – Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.
    • 1933 – The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.
    • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain, is bombed by German Luftwaffe.
    • 1942 – Benxihu Colliery accident in Manchukuo leaves 1549 Chinese miners dead.
    • 1943 – The Easter Riots break out in Uppsala, Sweden.
    • 1944 – Georgios Papandreou becomes head of the Greek government-in-exile based in Egypt.
    • 1944 – Heinrich Kreipe is captured by Allied commandos in occupied Crete.
    • 1945 – World War II: Battle of Bautzen: Last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.
    • 1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army are liberated in Baguio City and they fight against the Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
    • 1954 – The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
    • 1956 – SS Ideal X, the world’s first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey, for Houston, Texas.
    • 1958 – Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
    • 1960 – Forced out by the April Revolution, President of South Korea Syngman Rhee resigns after 12 years of dictatorial rule.
    • 1962 – NASA’s Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.
    • 1963 – In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.
    • 1964 – Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.
    • 1966 – The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.
    • 1966 – A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
    • 1970 – The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force.
    • 1981 – Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world’s first human open fetal surgery.
    • 1982 – Fifty-seven people are killed by former police officer Woo Bum-kon in a shooting spree in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
    • 1986 – A nuclear reactor accident occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, creating the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
    • 1989 – The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
    • 1989 – People’s Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests.
    • 1991 – Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak’s end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year’s only F5 tornado.
    • 1994 – China Airlines Flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
    • 2002 – Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.
    • 2005 – Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country (Syrian occupation of Lebanon).
    • 2018 – American comedian Bill Cosby is found guilty of sexual assault.

    Births on April 26

    • 121 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (d. 180)
    • 757 – Hisham I of Córdoba (d. 796)
    • 764 – Al-Hadi, Iranian caliph (d. 786)
    • 1284 – Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick (d. 1324)
    • 1319 – King John II of France (d. 1364)
    • 1538 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter and academic (d. 1600)
    • 1575 – Marie de’ Medici, queen of Henry IV of France (d. 1642)
    • 1647 – William Ashhurst, English banker, Sheriff of London, Lord Mayor of London and politician (d. 1720)
    • 1648 – Peter II of Portugal (d. 1706)
    • 1697 – Adam Falckenhagen, German lute player and composer (d. 1754)
    • 1710 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher and academic (d. 1796)
    • 1718 – Esek Hopkins, American commander (d. 1802)
    • 1774 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (d. 1853)
    • 1782 – Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (d. 1866)
    • 1785 – John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (d. 1851)
    • 1787 – Ludwig Uhland, German poet, philologist, and historian (d. 1862)
    • 1798 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter and lithographer (d. 1863)
    • 1801 – Ambrose Dudley Mann, American politician and diplomat, 1st United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1889)
    • 1804 – Charles Goodyear, American banker, lawyer, and politician (d. 1876)
    • 1822 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American journalist and designer, co-designed Central Park (d. 1903)
    • 1834 – Charles Farrar Browne, American author (d. 1867)
    • 1856 – Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
    • 1862 – Edmund C. Tarbell, American painter and educator (d. 1938)
    • 1876 – Ernst Felle, German rower (d. 1959)
    • 1877 – James Dooley, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of New South Wales (d. 1950)
    • 1878 – Rafael Guízar y Valencia, Mexican bishop and saint (d. 1938)
    • 1879 – Eric Campbell, British actor (d. 1917)
    • 1879 – Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
    • 1886 – Ma Rainey, American singer (d. 1939)
    • 1886 – Ğabdulla Tuqay, Russian poet and publicist (d. 1913)
    • 1889 – Anita Loos, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
    • 1889 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1951)
    • 1894 – Rudolf Hess, Egyptian-German politician (d. 1987)
    • 1896 – Ruut Tarmo, Estonian actor and director (d. 1967)
    • 1896 – Ernst Udet, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941)
    • 1897 – Eddie Eagan, American boxer and bobsledder (d. 1967)
    • 1897 – Douglas Sirk, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
    • 1898 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
    • 1898 – John Grierson, Scottish director and producer (d. 1972)
    • 1899 – Oscar Rabin, Latvian-English saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1958)
    • 1900 – Eva Aschoff, German bookbinder and calligrapher (d. 1969)
    • 1900 – Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (d. 1985)
    • 1900 – Hack Wilson, American baseball player (d. 1948)
    • 1904 – Paul-Émile Léger, Canadian cardinal (d. 1991)
    • 1904 – Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist and politician, 177th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2004)
    • 1905 – Jean Vigo, French director and screenwriter (d. 1934)
    • 1907 – Ilias Tsirimokos, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)
    • 1909 – Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)
    • 1910 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese screenwriter and producer (d. 1997)
    • 1911 – Paul Verner, German soldier and politician (d. 1986)
    • 1912 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Bernard Malamud, Jewish American novelist and short story writer (d. 1986)
    • 1914 – James Rouse, American real estate developer (d. 1996)
    • 1916 – Eyvind Earle, American artist, author, and illustrator (d. 2000)
    • 1916 – Ken Wallis, English commander, engineer, and pilot (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Morris West, Australian author and playwright (d. 1999)
    • 1917 – Sal Maglie, American baseball player and coach (d. 1992)
    • 1917 – I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect, designed the National Gallery of Art and Bank of China Tower (d. 2019)
    • 1917 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch sprinter and long jumper (d. 2004)
    • 1921 – Jimmy Giuffre, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 2008)
    • 1922 – J. C. Holt, English historian and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada (d. 1993)
    • 1922 – Margaret Scott, South African-Australian ballerina and choreographer (d. 2019)
    • 1924 – Browning Ross, American runner and soldier (d. 1998)
    • 1925 – Vladimir Boltyansky, Russian mathematician, educator and author (d. 2019)
    • 1925 – Gerard Cafesjian, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Michele Ferrero, Italian entrepreneur (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Frank Hahn, British economist (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Michael Mathias Prechtl, German soldier and illustrator (d. 2003)
    • 1927 – Jack Douglas, English actor (d. 2008)
    • 1927 – Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Granny Hamner, American baseball player (d. 1993)
    • 1929 – Richard Mitchell, American author and educator (d. 2002)
    • 1930 – Roger Moens, Belgian runner and sportscaster
    • 1931 – Paul Almond, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent and producer (d. 2008)
    • 1931 – John Cain Jr., Australian politician, 41st Premier of Victoria (d. 2019)
    • 1932 – Israr Ahmed, Indian-Pakistani theologian, philosopher, and scholar (d. 2010)
    • 1932 – Shirley Cawley, English long jumper
    • 1932 – Frank D’Rone, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1932 – Francis Lai, French accordion player and composer (d. 2018)
    • 1932 – Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
    • 1933 – Carol Burnett, American actress, singer, and producer
    • 1933 – Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican-American general (d. 2005)
    • 1933 – Arno Allan Penzias, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1935 – Patricia Reilly Giff, American author and educator
    • 1937 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 2015)
    • 1938 – Duane Eddy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1938 – Maurice Williams, American doo-wop/R&B singer-songwriter
    • 1940 – Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Indian cleric and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Giorgio Moroder, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1940 – Cliff Watson, English rugby league player (d. 2018)
    • 1941 – Claudine Auger, French model and actress (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Svyatoslav Belza, Russian journalist, author, and critic (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Sharon Carstairs, Canadian lawyer and politician, Leader of the Government in the Senate
    • 1942 – Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
    • 1942 – Bobby Rydell, American singer and actor
    • 1942 – Jadwiga Staniszkis, Polish sociologist, political scientist, and academic
    • 1943 – Gary Wright, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1943 – Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect and academic, designed the Therme Vals
    • 1944 – Richard Bradshaw, English conductor (d. 2007)
    • 1945 – Howard Davies, English director and producer (d. 2016)
    • 1945 – Dick Johnson, Australian race car driver
    • 1945 – Sylvain Simard, Canadian academic and politician
    • 1946 – Ralph Coates, English international footballer (d. 2010)
    • 1946 – Marilyn Nelson, American poet and author
    • 1946 – Alberto Quintano, Chilean footballer
    • 1949 – Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995)
    • 1951 – John Battle, English politician
    • 1954 – Tatyana Fomina, Estonian chess player
    • 1954 – Alan Hinkes, English mountaineer and explorer
    • 1955 – Kurt Bodewig, German politician
    • 1956 – Koo Stark, American actress and photographer
    • 1958 – John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute, Scottish race car driver
    • 1958 – Giancarlo Esposito, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1958 – Georgios Kostikos, Greek footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1959 – John Corabi, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1960 – Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player and coach
    • 1960 – Roger Taylor, English drummer
    • 1961 – Joan Chen, Chinese-American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – Chris Mars, American artist
    • 1962 – Colin Anderson, English footballer
    • 1962 – Debra Wilson, American actress and comedian
    • 1963 – Jet Li, Chinese-Singaporean martial artist, actor, and producer
    • 1963 – Colin Scotts, Australian-American football player
    • 1963 – Cornelia Ullrich, German hurdler
    • 1963 – Bill Wennington, Canadian basketball player
    • 1965 – Susannah Harker, English actress
    • 1965 – Kevin James, American actor and comedian
    • 1967 – Glenn Thomas Jacobs, American professional wrestler, actor, businessman and politician
    • 1967 – Marianne Jean-Baptiste, English actress and singer-songwriter
    • 1967 – Toomas Tõniste, Estonian sailor and politician
    • 1970 – Dean Austin, English footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Melania Trump, Slovene-American model; 47th First Lady of the United States
    • 1970 – Kristen R. Ghodsee, American ethnographer and academic
    • 1970 – Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
    • 1971 – Jay DeMarcus, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1972 – Jason Bargwanna, Australian race car driver
    • 1972 – Kiko, Spanish footballer
    • 1972 – Natrone Means, American football player and coach
    • 1972 – Avi Nimni, Israeli footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Geoff Blum, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1973 – Jules Naudet, French-American director and producer
    • 1973 – Chris Perry, English footballer
    • 1973 – Óscar García Junyent, Spanish footballer and coach
    • 1975 – Joey Jordison, American musician, songwriter, record producer
    • 1975 – Rahul Verma, Indian social worker and activist
    • 1976 – Luigi Panarelli, Italian footballer
    • 1976 – Václav Varaďa, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Samantha Cristoforetti, Italian astronaut
    • 1977 – Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player
    • 1977 – Roxana Saberi, American journalist and author
    • 1977 – Tom Welling, American actor
    • 1978 – Joe Crede, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Stana Katic, Canadian actress
    • 1978 – Peter Madsen, Danish footballer
    • 1980 – Jordana Brewster, Panamanian-American actress
    • 1980 – Marlon King, English footballer
    • 1980 – Anna Mucha, Polish actress and journalist
    • 1980 – Channing Tatum, American actor and producer
    • 1981 – Caro Emerald, Dutch pop and jazz singer
    • 1981 – Ms. Dynamite, English rapper and producer
    • 1981 – Sandra Schmitt, German skier (d. 2000)
    • 1982 – Novlene Williams-Mills, Jamaican sprinter
    • 1983 – José María López, Argentinian race car driver
    • 1983 – Jessica Lynch, American soldier
    • 1984 – Emily Wickersham, American actress
    • 1985 – John Isner, American tennis player
    • 1985 – Andrea Koch Benvenuto, Chilean tennis player
    • 1986 – Lior Refaelov, Israeli footballer
    • 1986 – Sean Evans, American YouTuber and producer
    • 1986 – Yuliya Zaripova, Russian runner
    • 1987 – Jorge Andújar Moreno, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Ben Spina, Australian rugby league player
    • 1988 – Manuel Viniegra, Mexican footballer
    • 1988 – Gareth Evans, English footballer
    • 1989 – Melvin Ingram, American football player
    • 1990 – Mitch Rein, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Nevin Spence, Northern Irish rugby player (d. 2012)
    • 1991 – Lazaros Fotias, Greek footballer
    • 1991 – Peter Handscomb, Australian cricketer
    • 1991 – Will Heard, British singer and songwriter
    • 1991 – Isaac Liu, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1991 – Ignacio Lores Varela, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1991 – Srdjan Pejicic, Canadian/Bosnian basketball player
    • 1991 – Wojciech Pszczolarski, Polish bicycle racer
    • 1992 – Aaron Judge, American baseball player
    • 1994 – Daniil Kvyat, Russian race car driver

    Deaths on  April 26

    • 499 – Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (b. 467)
    • 645 – Richarius, Frankish monk and saint (b. 560)
    • 680 – Muawiyah I, Umayyad caliph (b. 602)
    • 757 – Pope Stephen II (b. 715)
    • 893 – Chen Jingxuan, general of the Tang Dynasty
    • 962 – Adalbero I, bishop of Metz
    • 1192 – Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (b. 1127)
    • 1366 – Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1392 – Jeong Mong-ju, Korean civil minister, diplomat and scholar (b. 1338)
    • 1444 – Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b. 1378)
    • 1478 – Giuliano de’ Medici, Italian ruler (b. 1453)
    • 1489 – Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shōgun (b. 1465)
    • 1558 – Jean Fernel, French physician (b. 1497)
    • 1686 – Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, Swedish statesman and military man (b. 1622)
    • 1716 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English jurist and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1651)
    • 1784 – Nano Nagle, Irish nun and educator, founded the Presentation Sisters (b. 1718)
    • 1789 – Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian general (b. 1721)
    • 1809 – Bernhard Schott, German music publisher (b. 1748)
    • 1865 – John Wilkes Booth, American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1838)
    • 1881 – Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (b. 1815)
    • 1895 – Eric Stenbock, Estonian-English author and poet (b. 1860)
    • 1910 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian-French author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1832)
    • 1915 – John Bunny, American actor (b. 1863)
    • 1920 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (b. 1887)
    • 1932 – William Lockwood, English cricketer (b. 1868)
    • 1934 – Arturs Alberings, Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (b. 1876)
    • 1940 – Carl Bosch, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
    • 1944 – Violette Morris, French footballer, shot putter, and discus thrower (b. 1893)
    • 1945 – Sigmund Rascher, German physician (b. 1909)
    • 1945 – Pavlo Skoropadskyi, German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (b. 1871)
    • 1946 – James Larkin White, American miner, explorer, and park ranger (b. 1882)
    • 1950 – George Murray Hulbert, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1881)
    • 1951 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic (b. 1868)
    • 1956 – Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890)
    • 1957 – Gichin Funakoshi, Japanese martial artist, founded Shotokan (b. 1868)
    • 1964 – E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet and author (b. 1882)
    • 1968 – John Heartfield, German illustrator and photographer (b. 1891)
    • 1969 – Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist, founded aikido (b. 1883)
    • 1970 – Erik Bergman, Swedish minister and author (b. 1886)
    • 1970 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress, striptease dancer, and writer (b. 1911)
    • 1973 – Irene Ryan, American actress and philanthropist (b. 1902)
    • 1976 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (b. 1903)
    • 1976 – Sid James, South African-English actor (b. 1913)
    • 1976 – Armstrong Sperry, American author and illustrator (b. 1897)
    • 1980 – Cicely Courtneidge, Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer (b. 1893)
    • 1981 – Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909)
    • 1984 – Count Basie, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1904)
    • 1986 – Broderick Crawford, American actor (b. 1911)
    • 1986 – Bessie Love, American actress (b. 1898)
    • 1986 – Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899)
    • 1987 – Shankar, Indian composer and conductor (b. 1922)
    • 1987 – John Silkin, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (b. 1923)
    • 1989 – Lucille Ball, American model, actress, comedian, and producer (b. 1911)
    • 1991 – Leo Arnaud, French-American composer and conductor (b. 1904)
    • 1991 – Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor (b. 1910)
    • 1991 – A. B. Guthrie, Jr., American novelist and historian, (b. 1901)
    • 1991 – Richard Hatfield, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1931)
    • 1994 – Masutatsu Ōyama, Japanese martial artist, founded Kyokushin kaikan (b. 1923)
    • 1996 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1918)
    • 1999 – Adrian Borland, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1957)
    • 1999 – Jill Dando, English journalist and television personality (b. 1961)
    • 2003 – Rosemary Brown, Jamaican-Canadian academic and politician (b. 1930)
    • 2003 – Yun Hyon-seok, South Korean poet and author (b. 1984)
    • 2003 – Edward Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1904)
    • 2004 – Hubert Selby, Jr., American author, poet, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
    • 2005 – Mason Adams, American actor (b. 1919)
    • 2005 – Elisabeth Domitien, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1925)
    • 2005 – Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (b. 1926)
    • 2005 – Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan journalist, author, and academic (b. 1917)
    • 2007 – Jack Valenti, American businessman, created the MPAA film rating system (b. 1921)
    • 2009 – Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal investigator and author (b. 1920)
    • 2010 – Mariam A. Aleem, Egyptian graphic designer and academic (b. 1930)
    • 2010 – Urs Felber, Swiss engineer and businessman (b. 1942)
    • 2011 – Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)
    • 2012 – Terence Spinks, English boxer and trainer (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Jacqueline Brookes, American actress and educator (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – George Jones, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Gerald Guralnik, American physicist and academic (b. 1936)
    • 2014 – Paul Robeson, Jr., American historian and author (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – DJ Rashad, American electronic musician, producer and DJ (b. 1979)
    • 2015 – Jayne Meadows, American actress (b. 1919)
    • 2015 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1930)
    • 2016 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (b. 1937)
    • 2017 – Jonathan Demme, American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter (b. 1944)

    Holidays and observances on April 26

    • Chernobyl disaster related observances:
      • Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl tragedy (Belarus)
      • Memorial Day of Radiation Accidents and Catastrophes (Russia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Aldobrandesca (or Alda)
      • Franca Visalta
      • Lucidius of Verona
      • Our Lady of Good Counsel
      • Pope Anacletus and Marcellinus
      • Riquier
      • Paschasius Radbertus
      • Peter of Rates (or of Braga)
      • Robert Hunt (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Stephen of Perm, see also Old Permic Alphabet Day
      • Trudpert
      • April 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Confederate Memorial Day (Florida, United States)
    • Union Day (Tanzania)
    • World Intellectual Property Day

  • April 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
    • 1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid.
    • 1518 – Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.
    • 1521 – Trial of Martin Luther begins its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He refuses to recant his teachings despite the risk of excommunication.
    • 1689 – Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros.
    • 1738 – Real Academia de la Historia (“Royal Academy of History”) is founded in Madrid.
    • 1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.
    • 1783 – Three-Fifths Compromise: the first instance of black slaves in the United States of America being counted as three fifths of persons (for the purpose of taxation), in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation. This was later adopted in the 1787 Constitution.
    • 1831 – The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
    • 1847 – American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.
    • 1857 – “The Spirits Book” by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France.
    • 1864 – Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement.
    • 1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1899 – The St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria.
    • 1902 – The 7.5 Mw  Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800–2,000.
    • 1906 – An earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California.
    • 1909 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
    • 1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.
    • 1915 – French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.
    • 1923 – Yankee Stadium: “The House that Ruth Built” opens.
    • 1925 – The International Amateur Radio Union is formed in Paris.
    • 1930 – The British Broadcasting Corporation announced that “there is no news” in their evening report.
    • 1939 – Robert Menzies, who became Australia’s longest-serving prime minister, is elected as leader of the United Australia Party after the death of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.
    • 1942 – Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
    • 1943 – World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
    • 1945 – Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
    • 1946 – The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
    • 1949 – The Republic of Ireland Act comes into effect.
    • 1949 – The keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States is laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding. However, construction is canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.
    • 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
    • 1955 – Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
    • 1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country’s first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.
    • 1983 – A suicide bomber in Lebanon destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people.
    • 1987 – The New York Islanders defeat the Washington Capitals 3–2 in Game 7 of their Patrick Division Semifinal series.
    • 1988 – The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
    • 1996 – In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the United Nations compound at Qana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge.
    • 1997 – The Red River flood begins and soon overwhelms the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Fire breaks out and spreads in downtown Grand Forks, but high water levels hamper efforts to reach the fire, leading to the destruction of 11 buildings.
    • 1999 – Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League’s all-time points scorer, plays his final game at Madison Square Garden as a teammate of the New York Rangers in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gretzky recorded his final career point, an assist, bringing his career point total to 2,857.
    • 2007 – A series of bombings, two of them being suicides, occur in Baghdad, killing 198 and injuring 251.
    • 2013 – A suicide bombing in a Baghdad cafe kills 27 people and injures another 65.
    • 2018 – King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country’s name will change to Eswatini.
    • 2019 – A redacted version of the Mueller Report is released to the United States Congress and the public.
    • 2020 – Coronavirus Pandemic: Europe surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 deaths.

    Births on April 18

    • 359 – Gratian, Roman emperor (d. 383)
    • 588 – K’an II, Mayan ruler (d. 658)
    • 812 – Al-Wathiq, Abbasid caliph (d. 847)
    • 1446 – Ippolita Maria Sforza, Italian noble (d. 1484)
    • 1480 – Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI
    • 1503 – Henry II of Navarre, (d. 1555)
    • 1534 – William Harrison, English clergyman (d. 1593)
    • 1580 – Thomas Middleton, English Jacobean playwright and poet (d. 1627)
    • 1590 – Ahmed I, Ottoman Emperor (d. 1617)
    • 1605 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1674)
    • 1666 – Jean-Féry Rebel, French violinist and composer (d. 1747)
    • 1740 – Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician (d. 1810)
    • 1759 – Jacques Widerkehr, French cellist and composer (d. 1823)
    • 1771 – Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (d. 1820)
    • 1772 – David Ricardo, British economist and politician (d. 1823)
    • 1794 – William Debenham, English founder of Debenhams (d. 1863)
    • 1797 – Adolphe Thiers, French historian and politician, 2nd President of France (d. 1877)
    • 1813 – James McCune Smith, African-American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author (d. 1865)
    • 1819 – Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban lawyer and activist (d. 1874)
    • 1819 – Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1895)
    • 1838 – Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist and academic (d. 1912)
    • 1854 – Ludwig Levy, German architect (d. 1907)
    • 1857 – Clarence Darrow, American lawyer (d. 1938)
    • 1858 – Dhondo Keshav Karve, Indian educator and activist, Bharat Ratna Awardee (d. 1962)
    • 1858 – Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and author (d. 1935)
    • 1863 – Count Leopold Berchtold, Austrian-Hungarian politician and diplomat, Joint Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (d. 1942)
    • 1863 – Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (d. 1920)
    • 1864 – Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author (d. 1916)
    • 1874 – Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian author and poet (d. 1938)
    • 1877 – Vicente Sotto, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 1950)
    • 1879 – Korneli Kekelidze, Georgian philologist and scholar (d. 1962)
    • 1880 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (d. 1968)
    • 1882 – Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian ruler (d. 1964)
    • 1882 – Leopold Stokowski, English conductor (d. 1977)
    • 1884 – Jaan Anvelt, Estonian educator and politician (d. 1937)
    • 1888 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1979)
    • 1889 – Jessie Street, Australian activist (d. 1970)
    • 1892 – Eugene Houdry, French-American mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1962)
    • 1893 – Violette Morris, French shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1944)
    • 1897 – Ardito Desio, Italian geologist and cartographer (d. 2001)
    • 1897 – Per-Erik Hedlund, Swedish skier (d. 1975)
    • 1898 – Patrick Hennessy, Irish soldier and businessman (d. 1981)
    • 1900 – Bertha Isaacs, Bahamian teacher, tennis player, politician and women’s rights activist (d. 1997)
    • 1901 – Al Lewis, American songwriter (d. 1967)
    • 1901 – László Németh, Hungarian dentist, author, and playwright (d. 1975)
    • 1902 – Waldemar Hammenhög, Swedish author (d. 1972)
    • 1902 – Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981)
    • 1904 – Pigmeat Markham, African-American comedian, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
    • 1905 – Sydney Halter, Canadian lawyer and businessman (d. 1990)
    • 1905 – George H. Hitchings, American physician and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
    • 1907 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor (d. 1995)
    • 1911 – Ilario Bandini, Italian businessman and racing driver (d. 1992)
    • 1911 – Maurice Goldhaber, Ukrainian Jewish-American physicist and academic (d. 2011)
    • 1914 – Claire Martin, Canadian author (d. 2014)
    • 1915 – Joy Davidman, Polish-Ukrainian Jewish American poet and author (d. 1960)
    • 1916 – Carl Burgos, American illustrator (d. 1984)
    • 1916 – Doug Peden, Canadian basketball player (d. 2005)
    • 1917 – Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1947)
    • 1918 – Gabriel Axel, Danish-French actor, director, and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – André Bazin, French critic and theorist (d. 1958)
    • 1918 – Shinobu Hashimoto, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
    • 1918 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, founded CliffsNotes (d. 2001)
    • 1918 – Tony Mottola, American guitarist and composer (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – Virginia O’Brien, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
    • 1919 – Esther Afua Ocloo, Ghanaian entrepreneur and pioneer of microlending (d. 2002)
    • 1920 – John F. Wiley, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Jean Richard, French actor and singer (d. 2001)
    • 1922 – Barbara Hale, American actress (d. 2017)
    • 1922 – Lord Kitchener, Trinidadian singer (d. 2000)
    • 1923 – Alfred Bieler, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Beryl Platt, Baroness Platt of Writtle, English engineer and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
    • 1924 – Henry Hyde, American commander, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
    • 1924 – Roy Mason, English miner and politician, Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer and author (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Doug Insole, English cricketer (d. 2017)
    • 1927 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist, author, and academic (d. 2008)
    • 1927 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Poland (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Charles Pasqua, French businessman and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Otto Piene, German sculptor and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Peter Hordern, English soldier and politician
    • 1930 – Clive Revill, New Zealand actor and singer
    • 1931 – Bill Miles, American director and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – James Drury, American actor (d. 2020)
    • 1934 – George Shirley, African-American tenor and educator
    • 1935 – Brian Clay, Australian rugby league player (d. 1987)
    • 1935 – Costas Ferris, Egyptian-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1936 – Roger Graef, American-English criminologist, director, and producer
    • 1936 – Vladimir Hütt, Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1997)
    • 1936 – “TV” Tommy Ivo, American actor and drag racer
    • 1937 – Jan Kaplický, Czech architect, designed the Selfridges Building (d. 2009)
    • 1937 – Tatyana Shchelkanova, Russian long jumper and heptathlete (d. 2011)
    • 1937 – Teddy Taylor, Scottish journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
    • 1939 – Glen Hardin, American pianist and arranger
    • 1939 – Thomas J. Moyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 2010)
    • 1940 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1940 – Mike Vickers, English guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter
    • 1941 – Michael D. Higgins, Irish sociologist and politician, 9th President of Ireland
    • 1942 – Michael Beloff, English lawyer and academic
    • 1942 – Steve Blass, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1942 – Robert Christgau, American journalist and critic
    • 1942 – Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian racing driver (d. 1970)
    • 1944 – Kathy Acker, American author and poet (d. 1997)
    • 1944 – Frances D’Souza, Baroness D’Souza, English academic and politician
    • 1944 – Robert Hanssen, American FBI agent and double agent
    • 1944 – Philip Jackson, Scottish sculptor and photographer
    • 1945 – Bernard Arcand, Canadian anthropologist and author (d. 2009)
    • 1945 – Richard Bausch, American novelist and short story writer
    • 1945 – Robert Bausch, American novelist and short story writer
    • 1946 – Hayley Mills, English actress
    • 1946 – Tommy Shannon, American bass guitarist
    • 1947 – Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Dorothy Lyman, American actress
    • 1947 – Cindy Pickett, American actress
    • 1947 – Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1947 – James Woods, American actor and producer
    • 1948 – Régis Wargnier, French director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
    • 1950 – Paul Callery, Australian footballer
    • 1950 – Tina Chow, American model and jewelry designer (d. 1992)
    • 1950 – Kenny Ortega, American director, producer, and choreographer
    • 1950 – Grigory Sokolov, Russian pianist and composer
    • 1951 – Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer and coach
    • 1951 – Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1953 – Rick Moranis, Canadian-American actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter
    • 1954 – Robert Greenberg, American pianist and composer
    • 1956 – Chris Jones, English footballer
    • 1956 – Eric Roberts, American actor
    • 1957 – Ian Campbell, Australian jumper
    • 1958 – Gabi Delgado-López, Spanish-German singer, co-founder of D.A.F.
    • 1958 – Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian cricketer and coach (d. 1999)
    • 1959 – Susan Faludi, American journalist and author
    • 1959 – Frank Mulholland, Lord Mulholland, Scottish judge, former Solicitor General for Scotland and Lord Advocate
    • 1960 – John Chiedozie, Nigerian international footballer
    • 1960 – Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova, Ukrainian runner
    • 1961 – Kelly Hansen, American singer-songwriter
    • 1961 – Jane Leeves, English actress and dancer
    • 1961 – John Podhoretz, American journalist and author
    • 1962 – Jeff Dunham, American comedian and ventriloquist
    • 1962 – Nick Farr-Jones, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Eric McCormack, Canadian-American actor and producer
    • 1963 – Conan O’Brien, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and talk show host
    • 1963 – Phil Simmons, Trinidadian cricketer
    • 1963 – Peter Van Loan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of International Trade
    • 1964 – Niall Ferguson, Scottish historian and academic
    • 1964 – Rithy Panh, Cambodian director and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Valeri Kamensky, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1967 – Maria Bello, American actress and writer
    • 1969 – Keith DeCandido, American author
    • 1969 – Stefan Schwarz, Swedish footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Robert Změlík, Czech decathlete
    • 1970 – Rico Brogna, American baseball player and coach
    • 1970 – Greg Eklund, American drummer and guitarist
    • 1970 – Saad Hariri, Saudi Arabian-Lebanese businessman and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Lebanon
    • 1970 – François Leroux, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host
    • 1970 – Tatiana Stefanidou, Greek journalist and talk show host
    • 1971 – Oleg Petrov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1971 – Graham Rowntree, English rugby player
    • 1971 – David Tennant, Scottish actor
    • 1972 – Rosa Clemente, American journalist and activist
    • 1972 – Eli Roth, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1972 – Michael Rutter, English motorcycle racer
    • 1973 – Derrick Brooks, American football player
    • 1973 – Brady Clark, American baseball player
    • 1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian runner
    • 1974 – Millie Corretjer, Puerto Rican-American actress and singer
    • 1974 – Mark Tremonti, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1976 – Gavin Creel, American actor and singer
    • 1976 – Melissa Joan Hart, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1976 – Andrew Ilie, Romanian-Australian tennis player
    • 1976 – Justin Ross, American politician
    • 1976 – Staffan Strand, Swedish high jumper
    • 1977 – Dan LaCouture, American ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Cindy Taylor, Paraguayan model and actress
    • 1979 – Michael Bradley, American basketball player and coach
    • 1979 – Ethan Cohn, American actor
    • 1979 – Matt Cooper, Australian rugby league player
    • 1979 – Anthony Davidson, English racing driver
    • 1979 – Kourtney Kardashian, American model and businesswoman
    • 1980 – Rabiu Afolabi, Nigerian footballer and manager
    • 1980 – Justin Levens, American mixed martial artist (d. 2008)
    • 1981 – Brian Buscher, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Milan Jovanović, Serbian footballer
    • 1981 – Aldo Ramírez, Colombian footballer
    • 1981 – Audrey Tang, Taiwanese computer scientist and academic
    • 1982 – Ibrahim al-Asiri, Saudi Arabian terrorist
    • 1982 – Greg Camarillo, American football player
    • 1982 – Ricardo Colclough, Canadian-American football player
    • 1982 – Simone Farina, Italian footballer
    • 1982 – Scott Hartnell, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Blair Late, American singer-songwriter and journalist
    • 1982 – Darren Sutherland, Irish boxer (d. 2009)
    • 1982 – Marie-Élaine Thibert, Canadian singer
    • 1983 – Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1983 – Reeve Carney, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1984 – Red Bryant, American football player
    • 1984 – America Ferrera, American actress and producer
    • 1985 – Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
    • 1986 – Billy Butler, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Maurice Edu, American soccer player
    • 1986 – Taylor Griffin, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Conrad Logan, Irish footballer
    • 1986 – Efraín Velarde, Mexican footballer
    • 1987 – Brett Deledio, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Danny Guthrie, English footballer
    • 1987 – Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, English model and actress
    • 1987 – Samantha Jade, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1987 – Ivan Tričkovski, Macedonian footballer
    • 1988 – Andre Frolov, Estonian footballer
    • 1988 – Alexander Hauck, South African-German rugby player
    • 1989 – Jessica Jung, Korean American singer, songwriter, actress, and fashion designer
    • 1990 – Henderson Álvarez, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1990 – Anna van der Breggen, Dutch cyclist
    • 1990 – Jake Howells, English footballer
    • 1990 – Wojciech Szczęsny, Polish footballer
    • 1990 – Junior Torunarigha, Nigerian footballer
    • 1993 – Matt Salisbury, English cricketer
    • 1993 – Nathan Sykes, English singer-songwriter
    • 1995 – Divock Origi, Belgian footballer
    • 1996 – Mariah Bell, American figure skater
    • 1996 – Ioana Ducu, Romanian tennis player
    • 1997 – Matthias Blübaum, German chess grandmaster
    • 1997 – Donny van de Beek, Dutch footballer

    Deaths on April 18

    • 727 – Agallianos Kontoskeles, Byzantine commander and rebel leader
    • 850 – Perfectus, Spanish monk and martyr
    • 909 – Dionysius II, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch
    • 943 – Fujiwara no Atsutada, Japanese nobleman and poet (b. 906)
    • 963 – Stephen Lekapenos, co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire
    • 1161 – Theobald of Bec, French-English archbishop (b. 1090)
    • 1176 – Galdino della Sala, Italian archdeacon and saint
    • 1552 – John Leland, English poet and historian (b. 1502)
    • 1555 – Polydore Vergil, English historian (b. 1470)
    • 1556 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and politician (b. 1495)
    • 1567 – Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b. 1503)
    • 1587 – John Foxe, English historian and author (b. 1516)
    • 1636 – Julius Caesar, English judge and politician (b. 1557)
    • 1650 – Simonds d’Ewes, English lawyer and politician (b. 1602)
    • 1674 – John Graunt, English demographer and statistician (b. 1620)
    • 1689 – George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, Welsh judge and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1648)
    • 1732 – Louis Feuillée, French astronomer, geographer, and botanist (b. 1660)
    • 1742 – Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician (b. 1664)
    • 1763 – Marie-Josephte Corriveau, Canadian murderer (b. 1733)
    • 1794 – Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714)
    • 1796 – Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1732)
    • 1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (b. 1731)
    • 1832 – Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet, French painter (b. 1761)
    • 1859 – Tatya Tope, Indian general (b. 1814)
    • 1864 – Juris Alunāns, Latvian philologist and linguist (b. 1832)
    • 1873 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist and academic (b. 1803)
    • 1898 – Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (b. 1826)
    • 1906 – Luis Martín, Spanish religious leader, 24th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1846)
    • 1912 – Martha Ripley, American physician (b. 1843)
    • 1917 – Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist and academic (b. 1858)
    • 1923 – Savina Petrilli, Italian religious leader (b. 1851)
    • 1936 – Milton Brown, American singer and bandleader (b. 1903)
    • 1936 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1879)
    • 1938 – George Bryant, American archer (b. 1878)
    • 1942 – Aleksander Mitt, Estonian speed skater (b. 1903)
    • 1942 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American heiress, sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (b. 1875)
    • 1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (b. 1884)
    • 1945 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer, invented the vacuum tube (b. 1849)
    • 1945 – Ernie Pyle, American journalist and soldier (b. 1900)
    • 1947 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak priest and politician, President of Slovakia (b. 1887)
    • 1951 – Óscar Carmona, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 11th President of Portugal (b. 1869)
    • 1955 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic (b. 1879)
    • 1958 – Maurice Gamelin, Belgian-French general (b. 1872)
    • 1959 – Irving Cummings, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1888)
    • 1959 – Percy Smith, English footballer and manager (b. 1880)
    • 1963 – Meyer Jacobstein, American academic and politician (b. 1880)
    • 1964 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
    • 1965 – Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican engineer (b. 1917)
    • 1967 – Karl Miller, German footballer (b. 1913)
    • 1974 – Marcel Pagnol, French author, playwright, and director (b. 1895)
    • 1986 – Marcel Dassault, French businessman, founded Dassault Aviation (b. 1892)
    • 1988 – Pierre Desproges, French journalist and actor (b. 1939)
    • 1988 – Oktay Rıfat Horozcu, Turkish poet and playwright (b. 1914)
    • 1995 – Arturo Frondizi, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Argentina (b. 1908)
    • 1996 – Brook Berringer, American football player (b. 1973)
    • 1996 – Bernard Edwards, American bass player and producer (b. 1952)
    • 1997 – Edward Barker, English cartoonist (b. 1950)
    • 1998 – Terry Sanford, American lieutenant and politician, 65th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1917)
    • 2002 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian ethnographer and explorer (b. 1914)
    • 2002 – Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and wrestler (b. 1938)
    • 2003 – Edgar F. Codd, English-American soldier, pilot, and computer scientist (b. 1923)
    • 2004 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 2nd President of Fiji (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Sam Mills, American football player and coach (b. 1959)
    • 2006 – Mercedes Palomino, Spanish-born Quebec actor and theatre director (b. 1913)
    • 2007 – Iccho Itoh, Japanese politician (b. 1945)
    • 2008 – Germaine Tillion, French ethnologist and anthropologist (b. 1907)
    • 2012 – Dick Clark, American television host and producer, founded Dick Clark Productions (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – René Lépine, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – K. D. Wentworth, American author (b. 1951)
    • 2013 – Cordell Mosson, American bass player (b. 1952)
    • 2013 – Steuart Pringle, English general (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Goran Švob, Croatian philosopher and author (b. 1947)
    • 2013 – Anne Williams, English activist (b. 1951)
    • 2014 – Guru Dhanapal, Indian director and producer (b. 1959)
    • 2014 – Sanford Jay Frank, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1954)
    • 2014 – Eduard Kosolapov, Russian footballer (b. 1976)
    • 2014 – David McClarty, Northern Irish politician (b. 1951)
    • 2014 – Brian Priestman, English conductor and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Dylan Tombides, Australian footballer (b. 1994)
    • 2015 – Roger Lobo, Macanese-Hong Kong businessman and politician (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – Erwin Waldner, German footballer (b. 1933)
    • 2016 – Aleah Stanbridge, Swedish singer (b. 1977)
    • 2017 – Vic Albury, Major League pitcher (b. 1947)
    • 2018 – Bruno Sammartino, Italian professional wrestler (b. 1935)
    • 2018 – Dale Winton, British television presenter (b. 1955)
    • 2019 – Lorraine Warren, American paranormal investigator. (b. 1927)

    Holidays and observances on  April 18

    • Christian feast day:
      • Apollonius the Apologist
      • Corebus
      • Cyril VI of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Eleutherius and Antia
      • Galdino della Sala
      • Molaise of Leighlin
      • Perfectus
      • Plato of Sakkoudion
      • April 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Army Day (Iran)
    • Coma Patients’ Day (Poland)
    • Friend’s Day (Brazil)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Zimbabwe from the United Kingdom in 1980.
    • International Day For Monuments and Sites
    • Invention Day (Japan)
    • Victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice (Russia)

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

    • 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; the Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
    • 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army beats Brandenburg.
    • 1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
    • 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
    • 1875 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris.
    • 1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
    • 1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi, the world’s third oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University.
    • 1912 – The 6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Prague Party Conference) opens. In the course of the conference, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters break from the rest of the party to form the Bolshevik movement.
    • 1913 – First Balkan War: The Battle of Lemnos begins; Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.
    • 1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.
    • 1919 – The German Workers’ Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich.
    • 1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.
    • 1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
    • 1941 – 37-year-old pilot Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead.
    • 1944 – The Daily Mail becomes the first major London newspaper to be published on both sides of the Atlantic.
    • 1945 – The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.
    • 1949 – In his “State of the Union” address, United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.
    • 1950 – In the Sverdlovsk air disaster, all 19 of those on board are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur.
    • 1953 – The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris.
    • 1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine
    • 1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the “Prague Spring”
    • 1969 – The Venera 5 space probe is launched at 06:28:08 UTCfrom Baikonur.
    • 1970 – The 7.1 Mw  Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured.
    • 1974 – The warmest reliably measured temperature within the Antarctic Circle, of +59 °F (+15 °C), is recorded at Vanda Station.
    • 1975 – The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.
    • 1976 – The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.
    • 1976 – The Troubles: Gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, allegedly as retaliation for a string of attacks on Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before.
    • 1991 – Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.
    • 1991 – Somali Civil War: The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after the outbreak of violence in Mogadishu.
    • 1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
    • 2014 – A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine.

    Births on January 5

    • 1209 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English prince, nominal King of Germany (d. 1272)
    • 1530 – Gaspar de Bono, monk of the Order of the Minims (d. 1571)
    • 1548 – Francisco Suárez, Spanish priest, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1617)
    • 1587 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (d. 1641)
    • 1592 – Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor (d. 1666)
    • 1620 – Miklós Zrínyi, Croatian military commander (d. 1664)
    • 1640 – Paolo Lorenzani, Italian composer (d. 1713)
    • 1735 – Claude Martin, French-English general and explorer (d. 1800)
    • 1767 – Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist and academic (d. 1832)
    • 1779 – Stephen Decatur, American commander (d. 1820)
    • 1779 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (d. 1813)
    • 1781 – Gaspar Flores de Abrego, three terms mayor of San Antonio, in Spanish Texas (d. 1836)
    • 1793 – Harvey Putnam, American lawyer and politician (d. 1855)
    • 1808 – Anton Füster, Austrian priest and activist (d. 1881)
    • 1834 – William John Wills, English surgeon and explorer (d. 1861)
    • 1838 – Camille Jordan, French mathematician and academic (d. 1922)
    • 1846 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)
    • 1846 – Mariam Baouardy, Syrian Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (d. 1878)
    • 1855 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (d. 1932)
    • 1864 – Bob Caruthers, American baseball player and manager (d. 1911)
    • 1867 – Dimitrios Gounaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 94th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1922)
    • 1871 – Frederick Converse, American composer and academic (d. 1940)
    • 1874 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
    • 1876 – Konrad Adenauer, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1967)
    • 1879 – Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician and academic (d. 1946)
    • 1880 – Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1951)
    • 1881 – Pablo Gargallo, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 1934)
    • 1882 – Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist (d. 1958)
    • 1885 – Humbert Wolfe, Italian-English poet and civil servant (d. 1940)
    • 1886 – Markus Reiner, Israeli physicist and engineer (d. 1976)
    • 1892 – Agnes von Kurowsky, American nurse (d. 1984)
    • 1893 – Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian-American guru and philosopher (d. 1952)
    • 1897 – Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher and author (d. 1945)
    • 1900 – Yves Tanguy, French-American painter (d. 1955)
    • 1902 – Hubert Beuve-Méry, French journalist (d. 1989)
    • 1902 – Stella Gibbons, English journalist and author (d. 1989)
    • 1903 – Harold Gatty, Australian pilot and navigator (d. 1957)
    • 1904 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (d. 1997)
    • 1904 – Erika Morini, Austrian violinist (d. 1995)
    • 1906 – Kathleen Kenyon, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1978)
    • 1907 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (d. 1969)
    • 1908 – George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (d. 1963)
    • 1909 – Lucienne Bloch, Swiss-American sculptor, painter, and photographer (d. 1995)
    • 1909 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 1994)
    • 1910 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand runner and journalist (d. 1949)
    • 1911 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1914 – Nicolas de Staël, Russian-French painter and illustrator (d. 1955)
    • 1914 – George Reeves, American actor and director (d. 1959)
    • 1915 – Arthur H. Robinson, Canadian geographer and cartographer (d. 2004)
    • 1917 – Francis L. Kellogg, American businessman and diplomat (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – Wieland Wagner, German director and producer (d. 1966)
    • 1917 – Jane Wyman, American actress (d. 2007)
    • 1919 – Hector Abhayavardhana, Sri Lankan theorist and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1919 – Severino Gazzelloni, Italian flute player (d. 1992)
    • 1920 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist and educator (d. 1995)
    • 1921 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1990)
    • 1921 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Luxembourgish soldier and aristocrat (d. 2019)
    • 1921 – John H. Reed, American politician and diplomat, 67th Governor of Maine (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Anthony Synnot, Australian admiral (d. 2001)
    • 1923 – Sam Phillips, American radio host and producer, founded Sun Records (d. 2003)
    • 1926 – Veikko Karvonen, Finnish runner (d. 2007)
    • 1926 – W. D. Snodgrass, American poet (d. 2009)
    • 1926 – Hosea Williams, American businessman and activist (d. 2000)
    • 1927 – Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, American guru and author, founded Iraivan Temple (d. 2001)
    • 1928 – Imtiaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2016)
    • 1928 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th President of Pakistan (d. 1979)
    • 1928 – Walter Mondale, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States
    • 1929 – Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
    • 1931 – Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer, founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (d. 1989)
    • 1931 – Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist, poet, and author
    • 1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director
    • 1932 – Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Chuck Noll, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1934 – Phil Ramone, South African-American songwriter and producer, co-founded A & R Recording (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Murli Manohar Joshi, Indian politician
    • 1936 – Florence King, American journalist and memoirist (d. 2016)
    • 1938 – Juan Carlos I of Spain
    • 1938 – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Kenyan author and playwright
    • 1939 – M. E. H. Maharoof, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1997)
    • 1940 – Athol Guy, Australian singer-songwriter and bassist
    • 1941 – Bob Cunis, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2008)
    • 1941 – Chuck McKinley, American tennis player (d. 1986)
    • 1941 – Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
    • 1941 – Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricketer and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1942 – Maurizio Pollini, Italian pianist and conductor
    • 1942 – Charlie Rose, American journalist and talk show host
    • 1943 – Mary Gaudron, Australian lawyer and judge
    • 1943 – Murtaz Khurtsilava, Georgian footballer and manager
    • 1944 – Ed Rendell, American politician, 45th Governor of Pennsylvania
    • 1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress, director, and businesswoman
    • 1947 – Mike DeWine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Ohio
    • 1950 – Ioan P. Culianu, Romanian historian, philosopher, and author (d. 1991)
    • 1950 – Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
    • 1950 – John Manley, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
    • 1950 – Chris Stein, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1952 – Uli Hoeneß, German footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Pamela Sue Martin, American actress
    • 1953 – Mike Rann, English-Australian journalist and politician, 44th Premier of South Australia
    • 1953 – George Tenet, American civil servant and academic, 18th Director of Central Intelligence
    • 1954 – Alex English, American basketball player and coach
    • 1954 – László Krasznahorkai, Hungarian author and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Mamata Banerjee, Indian lawyer and politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal
    • 1956 – Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German academic and politician, 14th Vice-Chancellor of Germany
    • 1958 – Ron Kittle, American baseball player and manager
    • 1959 – Nancy Delahunt, Canadian curler
    • 1960 – Glenn Strömberg, Swedish footballer and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Iris DeMent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1962 – Suzy Amis, American actress and model
    • 1962 – Danny Jackson, American baseball player and manager
    • 1963 – Jeff Fassero, American baseball player and coach
    • 1965 – Vinnie Jones, English/Welsh footballer and actor
    • 1965 – Patrik Sjöberg, Swedish high jumper
    • 1968 – Carrie Ann Inaba, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
    • 1968 – Joé Juneau, Canadian ice hockey player and engineer
    • 1969 – Marilyn Manson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and director
    • 1969 – Shaun Micheel, American golfer
    • 1971 – Stian Carstensen, Norwegian multi-instrumentalist and composer
    • 1972 – Sakis Rouvas, Greek singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1973 – Uday Chopra, Bollywood actor and filmmaker
    • 1974 – Iwan Thomas, Welsh sprinter and coach
    • 1975 – Bradley Cooper, American actor and producer
    • 1975 – Warrick Dunn, American football player
    • 1975 – Mike Grier, American ice hockey player and scout
    • 1976 – Diego Tristán, Spanish footballer
    • 1978 – January Jones, American actress
    • 1979 – Kyle Calder, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Giuseppe Gibilisco, Italian pole vaulter
    • 1981 – Deadmau5 (Joel Thomas Zimmerman), Canadian musician
    • 1982 – Janica Kostelić, Croatian skier
    • 1984 – Derrick Atkins, Bahamian sprinter
    • 1985 – Diego Vera, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1986 – Deepika Padukone, Indian actress
    • 1988 – Azizulhasni Awang, Malaysian track cyclist
    • 1988 – Luke Daniels, English footballer
    • 1989 – Krisztián Németh, Hungarian footballer
    • 1990 – Mark Nicholls, Australian rugby league player

    Deaths on January 5

    • 842 – Al-Mu’tasim, Abbasid caliph (b. 796)
    • 941 – Zhang Yanhan, Chinese chancellor (b. 884)
    • 1066 – Edward the Confessor, English king (b. 1004)
    • 1173 – Bolesław IV the Curly, High Duke of Poland (b. 1120)
    • 1382 – Philippa Plantagenet, Countess of Ulster (b. 1355)
    • 1400 – John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1350)
    • 1430 – Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1394)
    • 1477 – Charles, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1433)
    • 1524 – Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (b. 1450)
    • 1527 – Felix Manz, Swiss martyr (b. 1498)
    • 1578 – Giulio Clovio, Dalmatian painter (b. 1498)
    • 1580 – Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (b. 1542)
    • 1589 – Catherine de’ Medici, queen of Henry II of France (b. 1519)
    • 1713 – Jean Chardin, French explorer and author (b. 1643)
    • 1740 – Antonio Lotti, Italian composer and educator (b. 1667)
    • 1762 – Empress Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)
    • 1771 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1710)
    • 1796 – Samuel Huntington, American jurist and politician, 18th Governor of Connecticut (b. 1731)
    • 1823 – George Johnston, Scottish-Australian colonel and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales (b. 1764)
    • 1845 – Robert Smirke, English painter and illustrator (b. 1753)
    • 1846 – Alfred Thomas Agate, American painter and illustrator (b. 1812)
    • 1858 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (b. 1766)
    • 1860 – John Neumann, Czech-American bishop and saint (b. 1811)
    • 1883 – Charles Tompson, Australian poet and public servant (b. 1806)
    • 1885 – Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian author and scholar (b. 1812)
    • 1888 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1803)
    • 1899 – Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (b. 1818)
    • 1904 – Karl Alfred von Zittel, German paleontologist and geologist (b. 1839)
    • 1910 – Léon Walras, French-Swiss economist and academic (b. 1834)
    • 1917 – Isobel Lilian Gloag, English painter (b. 1865)
    • 1922 – Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish sailor and explorer (b. 1874)
    • 1933 – Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)
    • 1942 – Tina Modotti, Italian photographer, model, actress, and activist (b. 1896)
    • 1943 – George Washington Carver, American botanist, educator, and inventor (b. 1864)
    • 1951 – Soh Jaipil, South Korean-American journalist and activist (b. 1864)
    • 1951 – Andrei Platonov, Russian journalist and author (b. 1899)
    • 1952 – Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish colonel and politician, 46th Governor-General of India (b. 1887)
    • 1952 – Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian-Italian physician and activist (b. 1869)
    • 1954 – Rabbit Maranville, American baseball player and manager (b. 1891)
    • 1956 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (b. 1875)
    • 1963 – Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1896)
    • 1970 – Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
    • 1970 – Roberto Gerhard, Catalan composer and scholar (b. 1896)
    • 1971 – Douglas Shearer, Canadian-American sound designer and engineer (b. 1899)
    • 1972 – Tevfik Rüştü Aras, Turkish physician and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
    • 1974 – Lev Oborin, Russian pianist and educator (b. 1907)
    • 1976 – John A. Costello, Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1891)
    • 1978 – Wyatt Emory Cooper, American author and screenwriter (b. 1927)
    • 1979 – Billy Bletcher, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1894
    • 1979 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, bandleader (b. 1922)
    • 1981 – Harold Urey, American chemist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
    • 1981 – Lanza del Vasto, Italian poet and philosopher (b. 1901)
    • 1982 – Hans Conried, American actor (b. 1917)
    • 1982 – Edmund Herring, Australian general and politician, 7th Chief Justice of Victoria (b. 1892)1985 – Robert L. Surtees, American cinematographer (b. 1906)1987 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (b. 1926)
    • 1987 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (b. 1875)
    • 1990 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (b. 1914)
    • 1991 – Vasko Popa, Serbian poet and academic (b. 1922)
    • 1994 – Tip O’Neill, American lawyer and politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1912)
    • 1997 – André Franquin, Belgian author and illustrator (b. 1924)
    • 1997 – Burton Lane, American composer and songwriter (b. 1912)
    • 1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (b. 1935)
    • 2000 – Kumar Ponnambalam, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2003 – Roy Jenkins, Welsh politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1920)
    • 2004 – Norman Heatley, English biologist and chemist, co-developed penicillin (b. 1911)
    • 2006 – Merlyn Rees, Welsh educator and politician, Home Secretary (b. 1920)
    • 2007 – Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman, founded Nissin Foods (b. 1910)
    • 2009 – Griffin Bell, American lawyer and politician, 72nd United States Attorney General (b. 1918)
    • 2010 – Willie Mitchell, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer (b. 1928)
    • 2010 – Kenneth Noland, American painter (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Isaac Díaz Pardo, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Frederica Sagor Maas, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
    • 2014 – Eusébio, Mozambican-Portuguese footballer and manager (b. 1942)
    • 2014 – Carmen Zapata, American actress (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver and motorcycle racer (b. 1937)
    • 2015 – Bernard Joseph McLaughlin, American bishop (b. 1912)
    • 2016 – Pierre Boulez, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Jill Saward, English rape victim and activist (b. 1965)
    • 2018 – Asghar Khan, Pakistani three star general and politician (b. 1921)
    • 2018 – Thomas Bopp, American astronomer best known as the co-discoverer of comet Hale–Bopp (b. 1949)
    • 2018 – Karin von Aroldingen, German ballerina (b. 1941)
    • 2019 – Bernice Sandler, American women’s rights activist (b. 1928)
    • 2019 – Dragoslav Šekularac, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1937)

    Holidays and observances on January 5

    • Christian Feast day:
      • Charles of Mount Argus
      • John Neumann (Catholic Church)
      • Pope Telesphorus
      • Simeon Stylites (Latin Church)
      • January 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (Harbin, China
    • Joma Shinji (Japan)
    • National Bird Day (United States)
    • The Twelfth day of Christmas and the Twelfth Night of Christmas. (Western Christianity)