American bishop

  • April 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 769 – The Lateran Council condemned the Council of Hieria and anathematized its iconoclastic rulings.
    • 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard.
    • 1395 – Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde at the Battle of the Terek River. The Golden Horde capital city, Sarai, is razed to the ground and Timur installs a puppet ruler on the throne.
    • 1450 – Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years’ War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.
    • 1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War.
    • 1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.
    • 1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
    • 1736 – Foundation of the Kingdom of Corsica.
    • 1738 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel receives its premiere performance in London, England.
    • 1755 – Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.
    • 1783 – Preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence) are ratified.
    • 1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf, the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.
    • 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.
    • 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes President upon Lincoln’s death.
    • 1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.
    • 1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.
    • 1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.
    • 1907 – Triangle Fraternity is founded at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
    • 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew on board survive.
    • 1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.
    • 1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.
    • 1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
    • 1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
    • 1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.
    • 1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two-hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.
    • 1942 – The George Cross is awarded “to the island fortress of Malta” by King George VI.
    • 1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
    • 1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball’s color line.
    • 1952 – First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
    • 1955 – McDonald’s restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
    • 1960 – At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
    • 1969 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 onboard.
    • 1970 – During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.
    • 1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.
    • 1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.
    • 1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang’s death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.
    • 1994 – Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.
    • 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
    • 2013 – A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.
    • 2014 – In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, at least 200 civilians were gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.
    • 2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.

    Births on April 15

    • 68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)
    • 1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)
    • 1367 – Henry IV of England (d. 1413)
    • 1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479)
    • 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)
    • 1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)
    • 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)
    • 1563 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)
    • 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)
    • 1592 – Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675)
    • 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)
    • 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)
    • 1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
    • 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
    • 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)
    • 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)
    • 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)
    • 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)
    • 1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)
    • 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)
    • 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)
    • 1795 – Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d.1847)
    • 1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)
    • 1808 – William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892)
    • 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)
    • 1817 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885)
    • 1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)
    • 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)
    • 1841 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921)
    • 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
    • 1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916)
    • 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)
    • 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)
    • 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)
    • 1863 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914)
    • 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)
    • 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
    • 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)
    • 1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)
    • 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)
    • 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
    • 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
    • 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
    • 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)
    • 1887 – William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953)
    • 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)
    • 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975)
    • 1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
    • 1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat’s eye (d. 1976)
    • 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)
    • 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (d. 1983)
    • 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
    • 1894 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937)
    • 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)
    • 1895 – Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941)
    • 1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
    • 1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)
    • 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
    • 1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)
    • 1901 – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
    • 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
    • 1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983)
    • 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
    • 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
    • 1908 – eden ahbez, Scottish-American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)
    • 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)
    • 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)
    • 1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)
    • 1912 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)
    • 1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)
    • 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
    • 1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
    • 1917 – Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944)
    • 1917 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
    • 1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)
    • 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)
    • 1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)
    • 1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)
    • 1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)
    • 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
    • 1922 – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)
    • 1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)
    • 1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)
    • 1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)
    • 1924 – Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004)
    • 1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)
    • 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland
    • 1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant
    • 1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
    • 1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018)
    • 1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995)
    • 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)
    • 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
    • 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
    • 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress
    • 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)
    • 1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1939 – Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009)
    • 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician
    • 1940 – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World
    • 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)
    • 1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic
    • 1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician
    • 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017)
    • 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)
    • 1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic
    • 1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic
    • 1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician
    • 1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)
    • 1944 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Russian-Chechen general and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (d. 1996)
    • 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer, guitarist, and producer
    • 1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author
    • 1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff
    • 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1947 – Martin Broughton, English businessman
    • 1947 – Lois Chiles, American model and actress
    • 1947 – David Omand, English civil servant and academic
    • 1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security
    • 1947 – Woolly Wolstenholme, English singer and keyboard player (d. 2010)
    • 1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic
    • 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
    • 1948 – Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
    • 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
    • 1950 – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player
    • 1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author
    • 1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut
    • 1951 – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer
    • 1951 – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut
    • 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer
    • 1952 – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic
    • 1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
    • 1955 – Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician
    • 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
    • 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach
    • 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1958 – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach
    • 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright
    • 1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
    • 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player
    • 1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician
    • 1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist
    • 1961 – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer
    • 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician
    • 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
    • 1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist
    • 1963 – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1963 – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player
    • 1964 – Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
    • 1965 – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player
    • 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1966 – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)
    • 1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter
    • 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist
    • 1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach
    • 1968 – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner
    • 1968 – Ed O’Brien, English guitarist
    • 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
    • 1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor
    • 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach
    • 1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach
    • 1971 – Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player
    • 1971 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer
    • 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
    • 1971 – Josia Thugwane, South African runner
    • 1971 – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician
    • 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
    • 1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
    • 1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director
    • 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter
    • 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
    • 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player
    • 1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist
    • 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer
    • 1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1976 – Steve Williams, English rower
    • 1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor
    • 1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer
    • 1978 – Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer
    • 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
    • 1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player
    • 1980 – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player
    • 1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author
    • 1980 – Billy Yates, American football player
    • 1981 – Andrés D’Alessandro, Argentinian footballer
    • 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
    • 1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter
    • 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
    • 1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
    • 1983 – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)
    • 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
    • 1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player
    • 1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
    • 1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
    • 1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player
    • 1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
    • 1988 – Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher
    • 1989 – Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress
    • 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor
    • 1991 – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater
    • 1992 – Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player
    • 1994 – Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player
    • 1994 – Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter
    • 1995 – Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer
    • 1999 – Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player
    • 2001 – Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper

    Deaths on April 15

    • 628 – Suiko, emperor of Japan (b. 554)
    • 943 – Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (b. 920)
    • 956 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch
    • 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
    • 1136 – Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094)
    • 1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)
    • 1237 – Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic
    • 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355)
    • 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)
    • 1502 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (b. 1443)
    • 1558 – Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500)
    • 1610 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546)
    • 1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580)
    • 1652 – Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch
    • 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605)
    • 1719 – Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
    • 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676)
    • 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682)
    • 1761 – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)
    • 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)
    • 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)
    • 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
    • 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)
    • 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)
    • 1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)
    • 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
    • 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)
    • 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)
    • 1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician
    • 1912 – Victims of the Titanic disaster:
      • Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (b. 1873)
      • John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)
      • Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)
      • Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)
      • Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)
      • Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866)
      • Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)
      • James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (b. 1887)
      • William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (b. 1873)
      • Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887)
      • Edward Smith, English Captain (b. 1850)
      • William Thomas Stead, English journalist (b. 1849)
      • Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)
      • Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)
      • John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (b. 1862)
      • Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)
    • 1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)
    • 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)
    • 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)
    • 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880)
    • 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)
    • 1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)
    • 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)
    • 1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)
    • 1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
    • 1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880)
    • 1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912)
    • 1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)
    • 1966 – Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan
    • 1967 – Totò, Italian comedian (b. 1898)
    • 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
    • 1971 – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)
    • 1979 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1912)
    • 1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904)
    • 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
    • 1982 – Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915)
    • 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
    • 1986 – Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)
    • 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. 1915)
    • 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905)
    • 1993 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908)
    • 1998 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912)
    • 1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)
    • 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)
    • 2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)
    • 2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
    • 2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)
    • 2002 – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)
    • 2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)
    • 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)
    • 2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
    • 2009 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947)
    • 2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)
    • 2010 – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)
    • 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)
    • 2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)
    • 2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)
    • 2013 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966)
    • 2015 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Clifton James, American actor (b. 1920)
    • 2017 – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (b. 1899)
    • 2018 – R. Lee Ermey, American actor (b. 1944)
    • 2018 – Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1929)

    Holidays and observances on April 15

    • Christian feast day:
      • Abbo II of Metz
      • Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)
      • Hunna
      • Paternus of Avranches
      • April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of the Sun (North Korea)
    • Earliest day on which Sechseläuten can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in April. (Zürich)
    • Father Damien Day (Hawaii)
    • Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)
    • Jackie Robinson Day (United States)
    • National American Sign Language Day (United States)
    • One Boston Day (United States)
    • Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)
    • Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)
    • Universal Day of Culture
    • World Art Day

  • April 11 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
    • 1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
    • 1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: French forces led by Gaston de Foix win the Battle of Ravenna.
    • 1544 – Italian War of 1542–46: A French army defeats Habsburg forces at the Battle of Ceresole, but fails to exploit its victory.
    • 1689 – William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Great Britain.
    • 1713 – War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne’s War): Treaty of Utrecht.
    • 1727 – Premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion BWV 244b at the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig
    • 1809 – An incomplete British victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Basque Roads results in the court-martial of James, Lord Gambier.
    • 1814 – The Treaty of Fontainebleau ends the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon Bonaparte, and forces him to abdicate unconditionally for the first time.
    • 1856 – Second Battle of Rivas: Juan Santamaría burns down the hostel where William Walker’s filibusters are holed up.
    • 1868 – Former shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu surrenders Edo Castle to Imperial forces, marking the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.
    • 1876 – The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized.
    • 1881 – Spelman College is founded in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, an institute of higher education for African-American women.
    • 1908 – SMS Blücher, the last armored cruiser to be built by the Imperial German Navy, is launched.
    • 1909 – The city of Tel Aviv is founded.
    • 1921 – Emir Abdullah establishes the first centralised government in the newly created British protectorate of Transjordan.
    • 1945 – World War II: American forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp.
    • 1951 – Korean War: President Harry Truman relieves General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of overall command in Korea.
    • 1951 – The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.
    • 1955 – The Air India Kashmir Princess is bombed and crashes in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang.
    • 1957 – United Kingdom agrees to Singaporean self-rule.
    • 1961 – The trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.
    • 1963 – Pope John XXIII issues Pacem in terris, the first encyclical addressed to all Christians instead of only Catholics, and which described the conditions for world peace in human terms.
    • 1964 – Brazilian Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco is elected President by the National Congress.
    • 1965 – The Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965: Fifty-one tornadoes hit in six Midwestern states, killing 256 people.
    • 1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
    • 1968 – Assassination attempt on Rudi Dutschke, leader of the German student movement.
    • 1970 – Apollo 13 is launched.
    • 1976 – The Apple I is created.
    • 1977 – London Transport’s Silver Jubilee AEC Routemaster buses are launched.
    • 1979 – Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.
    • 1981 – A massive riot in Brixton, south London results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries.
    • 1986 – FBI Miami Shootout: A gun battle in broad daylight in Dade County, Florida between two bank/armored car robbers and pursuing FBI agents. During the firefight, FBI agents Jerry L. Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan were killed, while five other agents were wounded. As a result, the popular .40 S&W cartridge was developed.
    • 1987 – The London Agreement is secretly signed between Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein of Jordan.
    • 1990 – Customs officers in Middlesbrough, England, seize what they believe to be the barrel of a massive gun on a ship bound for Iraq.
    • 1993 – Four hundred fifty prisoners rioted at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, and continued to do so for ten days, citing grievances related to prison conditions, as well as the forced vaccination of Nation of Islam prisoners (for tuberculosis) against their religious beliefs.
    • 2001 – The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, China after a collision with a J-8 fighter, is released.
    • 2002 – The Ghriba synagogue bombing by al-Qaeda kills 21 in Tunisia.
    • 2002 – Over two hundred thousand people march in Caracas towards the Presidential palace to demand the resignation of President Hugo Chávez. Nineteen protesters are killed.
    • 2006 – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces Iran’s claim to have successfully enriched uranium.
    • 2007 – Algiers bombings: Two bombings in Algiers kill 33 people and wound a further 222 others.
    • 2011 – An explosion in the Minsk Metro, Belarus kills 15 people and injures 204 others.
    • 2012 – A pair of great earthquakes occur in the Wharton Basin west of Sumatra in Indonesia. The maximum Mercalli intensity of this strike-slip doublet earthquake was VII (Very strong). Ten were killed, twelve were injured, and a non-destructive tsunami was observed on the island of Nias.
    • 2018 – An Ilyushin Il-76 which was owned and operated by the Algerian Air Force crashes near Boufarik, Algeria, killing 257.

    Births on April 11

    • 145 – Septimius Severus, Roman emperor (probable; d. 211)
    • 1184 – William of Winchester, Lord of Lüneburg (d. 1213)
    • 1348 – Andronikos IV Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (d. 1385)
    • 1357 – John I of Portugal (d. 1433)
    • 1370 – Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1428)
    • 1374 – Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, heir to the throne of England (d. 1398)
    • 1493 – George I, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1531)
    • 1591 – Bartholomeus Strobel, Silezian painter (d. 1650)
    • 1592 – John Eliot, English lawyer and politician (d. 1632)
    • 1644 – Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1724)
    • 1658 – James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish peer (d. 1712)
    • 1683 – Jean-Joseph Mouret, French composer and conductor (d. 1738)
    • 1715 – John Alcock, English organist and composer (d. 1806)
    • 1721 – David Zeisberger, Czech-American clergyman and missionary (d. 1808)
    • 1722 – Christopher Smart, English actor, playwright, and poet (d. 1771)
    • 1749 – Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, French miniaturist and portrait painter (d. 1803)
    • 1755 – James Parkinson, English surgeon, geologist, and paleontologist (d. 1824)
    • 1770 – George Canning, Irish-English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1827)
    • 1794 – Edward Everett, English-American educator and politician, 15th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1865)
    • 1798 – Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1854)
    • 1819 – Charles Hallé, German-English pianist and conductor (d. 1895)
    • 1825 – Ferdinand Lassalle, German philosopher and jurist (d. 1864)
    • 1827 – Jyotirao Phule, Indian scholar, philosopher, and activist (d. 1890)
    • 1854 – Hugh Massie, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
    • 1856 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1903)
    • 1859 – Stefanos Thomopoulos, Greek historian and author (d. 1939)
    • 1862 – William Wallace Campbell, American astronomer and academic (d. 1938)
    • 1862 – Charles Evans Hughes, American lawyer and politician, 44th United States Secretary of State (d. 1948)
    • 1864 – Johanna Elberskirchen, German author and activist (d. 1943)
    • 1866 – Bernard O’Dowd, Australian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1953)
    • 1867 – Mark Keppel, American educator (d. 1928)
    • 1869 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor, designed the Nobel Peace Prize medal (d. 1943)
    • 1871 – Gyula Kellner, Hungarian runner (d. 1940)
    • 1873 – Edward Lawson, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1955)
    • 1876 – Paul Henry, Irish painter (d. 1958)
    • 1876 – Ivane Javakhishvili, Georgian historian and academic (d. 1940)
    • 1879 – Bernhard Schmidt, Estonian-German astronomer and optician (d. 1935)
    • 1887 – Jamini Roy, Indian painter (d. 1972)
    • 1893 – Dean Acheson, American lawyer and politician, 51st United States Secretary of State (d. 1971)
    • 1896 – Léo-Paul Desrosiers, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1967)
    • 1899 – Percy Lavon Julian, African-American chemist and academic (d. 1975)
    • 1900 – Sándor Márai, Hungarian journalist and author (d. 1989)
    • 1903 – Misuzu Kaneko, Japanese poet (d. 1930)
    • 1904 – K. L. Saigal, Indian singer and actor (d. 1947)
    • 1905 – Attila József, Hungarian poet and educator (d. 1937)
    • 1906 – Dale Messick, American author and illustrator (d. 2005)
    • 1907 – Paul Douglas, American actor (d. 1959)
    • 1908 – Jane Bolin, American lawyer and judge (d. 2007)
    • 1908 – Masaru Ibuka, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1997)
    • 1908 – Dan Maskell, English tennis player and sportscaster (d. 1992)
    • 1908 – Leo Rosten, Polish-American author and academic (d. 1997)
    • 1910 – António de Spínola, Portuguese general and politician, 14th President of Portugal (d. 1996)
    • 1912 – John Levy, American bassist and businessman (d. 2012)
    • 1913 – Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (d. 2006)
    • 1914 – Norman McLaren, Scottish-Canadian animator, director, and producer (d. 1987)
    • 1914 – Robert Stanfield, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician, 17th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2003)
    • 1914 – Dorothy Lewis Bernstein, American mathematician (d. 1988)
    • 1916 – Alberto Ginastera, Argentinian-Swiss pianist and composer (d. 1983)
    • 1916 – Howard W. Koch, American director and producer (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – David Westheimer, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 2005)
    • 1918 – Richard Wainwright, English soldier and politician (d. 2003)
    • 1919 – Raymond Carr, English historian and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1920 – Emilio Colombo, Italian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – William Royer, American soldier and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Jim Hearn, American baseball player (d. 1998)
    • 1921 – Jack Rayner, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2008)
    • 1922 – Arved Viirlaid, Estonian-Canadian soldier and author (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – George J. Maloof, Sr., American businessman (d. 1980)
    • 1924 – Mohammad Naseem, Pakistani-English activist and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Yuriy Lituyev, Russian hurdler and commander (d. 2000)
    • 1925 – Viola Liuzzo, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
    • 1925 – Viktor Masing, Estonian botanist and ecologist (d. 2001)
    • 1925 – Pierre Péladeau, Canadian businessman, founded Quebecor (d. 1997)
    • 1926 – David Manker Abshire, American commander and diplomat, United States Permanent Representative to NATO (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Victor Bouchard, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 2011)
    • 1926 – Karl Rebane, Estonian physicist and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1927 – Lokesh Chandra, Indian historian
    • 1928 – Ethel Kennedy, American philanthropist
    • 1928 – Edwin Pope, American journalist and author (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Tommy Tycho, Hungarian-Australian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Nicholas F. Brady, American businessman and politician, 68th United States Secretary of the Treasury
    • 1930 – Walter Krüger, German javelin thrower (d. 2018)
    • 1930 – Anton LaVey, American occultist, founded the Church of Satan (d. 1997)
    • 1931 – Lewis Jones, Welsh rugby player and coach
    • 1932 – Joel Grey, American actor, singer, and dancer
    • 1933 – Tony Brown, American journalist and academic
    • 1934 – Mark Strand, Canadian-born American poet, essayist, and translator (d. 2014)
    • 1934 – Ron Pember, English actor, director and playwright
    • 1935 – Richard Berry, American singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1936 – Brian Noble, English bishop (d. 2019)
    • 1937 – Jill Gascoine, English actress and author
    • 1938 – Gerry Baker, American soccer player and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1938 – Michael Deaver, American politician, Deputy White House Chief of Staff (d. 2007)
    • 1938 – Reatha King, American chemist and businesswoman
    • 1939 – Luther Johnson, American singer and guitarist
    • 1939 – Louise Lasser, American actress
    • 1940 – Col Firmin, Australian politician (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Thomas Harris, American author and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Władysław Komar, Polish shot putter and actor (d. 1998)
    • 1941 – Ellen Goodman, American journalist and author
    • 1941 – Shirley Stelfox, English actress (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Anatoly Berezovoy, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Hattie Gossett, American writer
    • 1942 – James Underwood, English pathologist and academic
    • 1943 – John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich, English businessman and politician
    • 1943 – Harley Race, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2019)
    • 1944 – Peter Barfuß, German footballer
    • 1944 – John Milius, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1945 – John Krebs, Baron Krebs, English zoologist and academic
    • 1946 – Chris Burden, American sculptor, illustrator, and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1946 – Bob Harris, English journalist and radio host
    • 1947 – Lev Bulat, Ukrainian-Russian physicist and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1947 – Uli Edel, German director and screenwriter
    • 1947 – Frank Mantooth, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
    • 1947 – Peter Riegert, American actor, screenwriter and film director
    • 1947 – Michael T. Wright, English engineer and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1949 – Bernd Eichinger, German director and producer (d. 2011)
    • 1950 – Bill Irwin, American actor and clown
    • 1951 – Paul Fox, English singer and guitarist (d. 2007)
    • 1952 – Nancy Honeytree, American singer and guitarist
    • 1952 – Indira Samarasekera, Sri Lankan engineer and academic
    • 1952 – Peter Windsor, English-Australian journalist and sportscaster
    • 1953 – Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian politician, 47th Prime Minister of Belgium
    • 1953 – Andrew Wiles, English mathematician and academic
    • 1954 – Abdullah Atalar, Turkish engineer and academic
    • 1954 – Aleksandr Averin, Azerbaijani cyclist and coach
    • 1954 – Francis Lickerish, English guitarist and composer
    • 1954 – David Perrett, Scottish psychologist and academic
    • 1954 – Ian Redmond, English biologist and conservationist
    • 1954 – Willie Royster, American baseball player (d. 2015)
    • 1955 – Kevin Brady, American lawyer and politician
    • 1955 – Michael Callen, American singer-songwriter and AIDS activist (d. 1993)
    • 1955 – Micheal Ray Richardson, American basketball player and coach
    • 1958 – Stuart Adamson, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001)
    • 1958 – Lyudmila Kondratyeva, Russian sprinter
    • 1959 – Pierre Lacroix, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1959 – Ana María Polo, Cuban-American lawyer and judge
    • 1959 – Zahid Maleque, Bangladeshi politician
    • 1960 – Jeremy Clarkson, English journalist and television presenter
    • 1961 – Vincent Gallo, American actor, director, producer, and musician
    • 1961 – Doug Hopkins, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1993)
    • 1961 – Nobuaki Kakuda, Japanese martial artist
    • 1962 – Franck Ducheix, French fencer
    • 1962 – Mark Lawson, English journalist and author
    • 1963 – Billy Bowden, New Zealand cricketer and umpire
    • 1963 – Waldemar Fornalik, Polish footballer and manager
    • 1963 – Elizabeth Smylie, Australian tennis player
    • 1964 – Steve Azar, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – John Cryer, English journalist and politician
    • 1964 – Johann Sebastian Paetsch, American cellist
    • 1964 – Bret Saberhagen, American baseball player and coach
    • 1964 – Patrick Sang, Kenyan runner
    • 1966 – Steve Scarsone, American baseball player and manager
    • 1966 – Shin Seung-hun, South Korean singer-songwriter
    • 1966 – Lisa Stansfield, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1968 – Sergei Lukyanenko, Kazakh-Russian journalist and author
    • 1969 – Cerys Matthews, Welsh singer-songwriter
    • 1969 – Michael von Grünigen, Swiss skier
    • 1970 – Trevor Linden, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1970 – Delroy Pearson, English singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1971 – John Leech, English politician
    • 1971 – Oliver Riedel, German bass player
    • 1972 – Balls Mahoney, American wrestler (d. 2016)
    • 1972 – Allan Théo, French singer
    • 1972 – Jason Varitek, American baseball player and manager
    • 1973 – Jennifer Esposito, American actress
    • 1973 – Olivier Magne, French rugby player
    • 1974 – Àlex Corretja, Spanish tennis player and coach
    • 1974 – Ashot Danielyan, Armenian weightlifter
    • 1974 – David Jassy, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1974 – Zöe Lucker, English actress
    • 1974 – Tom Thacker, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1974 – Trot Nixon, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Olga Hostáková, Czech tennis player
    • 1975 – Walid Soliman, Tunisian author and translator
    • 1976 – Kelvim Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1977 – Ivonne Teichmann, German runner
    • 1978 – Josh Hancock, American baseball player (d. 2007)
    • 1979 – Malcolm Christie, English footballer
    • 1979 – Sebastien Grainger, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1979 – Michel Riesen, Swiss ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Josh Server, American actor
    • 1980 – Keiji Tamada, Japanese footballer
    • 1980 – Mark Teixeira, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Alessandra Ambrosio, Brazilian model
    • 1981 – Alexandre Burrows, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Veronica Pyke, Australian cricketer
    • 1982 – Ian Bell, English cricketer
    • 1982 – Peeter Kümmel, Estonian skier
    • 1983 – Jennifer Heil, Canadian skier
    • 1983 – Rubén Palazuelos, Spanish footballer
    • 1983 – Nicky Pastorelli, Dutch race car driver
    • 1984 – Kelli Garner, American actress
    • 1984 – Nikola Karabatić, French handball player
    • 1985 – Pablo Hernández Domínguez, Spanish footballer
    • 1985 – Will Minson, Australian footballer
    • 1986 – Sarodj Bertin, Haitian model and human rights lawyer
    • 1986 – Dai Greene, Welsh hurdler
    • 1986 – Lena Schöneborn, German pentathlete
    • 1987 – Joss Stone, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1987 – Lights, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Leland Irving, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Torrin Lawrence, American sprinter (d. 2014)
    • 1989 – Zola Jesus, American singer
    • 1990 – Dimitrios Anastasopoulos, Greek footballer
    • 1990 – Thulani Serero, South African footballer
    • 1991 – Thiago Alcântara, Spanish footballer
    • 1991 – Brennan Poole, American racing driver
    • 1996 – Dele Alli, English international footballer
    • 1997 – Georgia Bohl, Australian swimmer
    • 1997 – Miriam Kolodziejová, a Czech tennis player

    Deaths on April 11

    • 618 – Yang Guang, Chinese emperor of the Sui Dynasty (b. 569)
    • 678 – Donus, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 610)
    • 924 – Herman I, chancellor and archbishop of Cologne
    • 1034 – Romanos III Argyros, Byzantine emperor (b. 968)
    • 1077 – Anawrahta, king of Burma and founder of the Pagan Empire (b. 1014)
    • 1079 – Stanislaus of Szczepanów, bishop of Kraków (b. 1030)
    • 1165 – Stephen IV, king of Hungary and Croatia
    • 1240 – Llywelyn the Great, Welsh prince (b. 1172)
    • 1447 – Henry Beaufort, Cardinal, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1377)
    • 1512 – Gaston de Foix, French military commander (b. 1489)
    • 1554 – Thomas Wyatt the Younger, English rebel leader (b. 1521)
    • 1587 – Thomas Bromley, English lord chancellor (b. 1530)
    • 1609 – John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley, English noble (b. 1533)
    • 1612 – Emanuel van Meteren, Flemish historian and author (b. 1535)
    • 1612 – Edward Wightman, English minister and martyr (b. 1566)
    • 1626 – Marino Ghetaldi, Ragusan mathematician and physicist (b. 1568)
    • 1712 – Richard Simon, French priest and critic (b. 1638)
    • 1723 – John Robinson, English bishop and diplomat (b. 1650)
    • 1783 – Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Polish-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1718)
    • 1798 – Karl Wilhelm Ramler, German poet and academic (b. 1725)
    • 1856 – Juan Santamaría, Costa Rican soldier (b. 1831)
    • 1861 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet and composer (b. 1824)
    • 1873 – Edward Canby, American general (b. 1817)
    • 1890 – David de Jahacob Lopez Cardozo, Dutch Talmudist (b. 1808)
    • 1890 – Joseph Merrick, English man with severe deformities (b. 1862)
    • 1894 – Constantin Lipsius, German architect and theorist (b. 1832)
    • 1895 – Julius Lothar Meyer, German chemist (b. 1830)
    • 1902 – Wade Hampton III, American general and politician, 77th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1818)
    • 1903 – Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (b. 1878)
    • 1906 – James Anthony Bailey, American businessman, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (b. 1847)
    • 1906 – Francis Pharcellus Church, American journalist and publisher, co-founded Armed Forces Journal and The Galaxy Magazine (b. 1839)
    • 1908 – Henry Bird, English chess player and author (b. 1829)
    • 1916 – Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author (b. 1864)
    • 1918 – Otto Wagner, Austrian architect and urban planner (b. 1841)
    • 1926 – Luther Burbank, American botanist and academic (b. 1849)
    • 1939 – Kurtdereli Mehmet, Turkish wrestler (b. 1864)
    • 1953 – Kid Nichols, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
    • 1954 – Paul Specht, American violinist and bandleader (b. 1895)
    • 1958 – Konstantin Yuon, Russian painter and educator (b. 1875)
    • 1960 – Rosa Grünberg, Swedish actress (b. 1878)
    • 1962 – Ukichiro Nakaya, Japanese physicist and academic (b. 1900)
    • 1962 – George Poage, American hurdler and educator (b. 1880)
    • 1967 – Thomas Farrell, American general (b. 1891)
    • 1967 – Donald Sangster, Jamaican lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1911)
    • 1970 – Cathy O’Donnell, American actress (b. 1923)
    • 1970 – John O’Hara, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1905)
    • 1974 – Ernst Ziegler, German actor (b. 1894)
    • 1977 – Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (b. 1900)
    • 1977 – Phanishwar Nath ‘Renu’, Indian author and activist (b. 1921)
    • 1980 – Ümit Kaftancıoğlu, Turkish journalist and producer (b. 1935)
    • 1981 – Caroline Gordon, American author and critic (b. 1895)
    • 1983 – Dolores del Río, Mexican actress (b. 1904)
    • 1984 – Edgar V. Saks, Estonian historian and politician, Estonian Minister of Education (b. 1910)
    • 1985 – Bunny Ahearne, Irish-born English businessman (b. 1900)
    • 1985 – John Gilroy, English artist and illustrator (b. 1898)
    • 1985 – Enver Hoxha, Albanian educator and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1908)
    • 1987 – Erskine Caldwell, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1903)
    • 1987 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (b. 1919)
    • 1990 – Harold Ballard, Canadian businessman (b. 1903)
    • 1991 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player and manager (b. 1915)
    • 1991 – Bruno Hoffmann. German glass harp player (b. 1913)
    • 1992 – James Brown, American actor and singer (b. 1920)
    • 1992 – Eve Merriam, American author and poet (b. 1916)
    • 1992 – Alejandro Obregón, Colombian painter, sculptor, and engraver (b. 1920)
    • 1996 – Jessica Dubroff, American pilot (b. 1988)
    • 1997 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (b. 1899)
    • 1997 – Wang Xiaobo, contemporary Chinese novelist and essayist (b. 1952)
    • 1999 – William H. Armstrong, American author and educator (b. 1911)
    • 2000 – Diana Darvey, English actress, singer and dancer (b. 1945)
    • 2001 – Harry Secombe, Welsh-English actor (b. 1921)
    • 2003 – Cecil Howard Green, English-American geophysicist and businessman, founded Texas Instruments (b. 1900)
    • 2005 – André François, Romanian-French cartoonist, painter, and sculptor (b. 1915)
    • 2005 – Lucien Laurent, French footballer and coach (b. 1907)
    • 2006 – June Pointer, American singer (b. 1953)
    • 2006 – DeShaun Holton, American rapper and actor (b. 1973)
    • 2007 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (b. 1922)
    • 2007 – Loïc Leferme, French diver (b. 1970)
    • 2007 – Janet McDonald, American lawyer and author (b. 1954)
    • 2007 – Ronald Speirs, Scottish-American colonel (b. 1920)
    • 2007 – Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1922)
    • 2008 – Merlin German, American sergeant (b. 1985)
    • 2009 – Gerda Gilboe, Danish actress and singer (b. 1914)
    • 2009 – Vishnu Prabhakar, Indian author and playwright (b. 1912)
    • 2009 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (b. 1927)
    • 2010 – Julia Tsenova, Bulgarian pianist and composer (b. 1948)
    • 2011 – Larry Sweeney, American wrestler and manager (b. 1981)
    • 2012 – Ahmed Ben Bella, Algerian soldier and politician, 1st President of Algeria (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Roger Caron, Canadian criminal and author (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – Tippy Dye, American basketball player and coach (b. 1915)
    • 2012 – Hal McKusick, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and flute player (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Agustin Roman, American bishop (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Don Blackman, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1953)
    • 2013 – Grady Hatton, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Thomas Hemsley, English actor and singer (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Hilary Koprowski, Polish-American virologist and immunologist (b. 1916)
    • 2013 – Gilles Marchal, French singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
    • 2013 – Maria Tallchief, American ballerina (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Clorindo Testa, Italian-Argentinian architect (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Jonathan Winters, American comedian, actor and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Rolf Brem, Swiss sculptor and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Edna Doré, English actress (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Bill Henry, American baseball player (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Lou Hudson, American basketball player and sportscaster (b. 1944)
    • 2014 – Myer S. Kripke, American rabbi and scholar (b. 1914)
    • 2014 – Sergey Nepobedimy, Russian engineer (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
    • 2015 – Jimmy Gunn, American football player (b. 1948)
    • 2015 – Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Bangladeshi journalist and politician (b. 1952)
    • 2015 – François Maspero, French journalist and author (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Hanut Singh, Indian general (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Tekena Tamuno, Nigerian historian and academic (b. 1932)
    • 2017 – J. Geils, American singer and guitarist (b. 1946)
    • 2017 – Mark Wainberg, Canadian researcher and HIV/AIDS activist (b. 1945)
    • 2020 – John Horton Conway, English mathematician (b. 1937)

    Holidays and observances on April 11

    • Christian feast day:
      • Antipas of Pergamum (Greek Orthodox Church)
      • Gemma Galgani
      • Godeberta
      • Guthlac of Crowland
      • George Selwyn (Anglicanism)
      • Stanislaus of Szczepanów
      • April 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Juan Santamaría Day, anniversary of his death in the Second Battle of Rivas. (Costa Rica)
    • International Louie Louie Day
    • World Parkinson’s Day

  • March 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate.
    • 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Didius Julianus.
    • 364 – Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor.
    • 1566 – The foundation stone of Valletta, Malta’s capital city, is laid by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
    • 1737 – The Marathas under Baji Rao I attack and defeat the Mughals in the Battle of Delhi.
    • 1776 – Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.
    • 1794 – Allies under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld defeat French forces at Le Cateau.
    • 1795 – Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a northern fief of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist and becomes part of Imperial Russia.
    • 1801 – Treaty of Florence is signed, ending the war between the French Republic and the Kingdom of Naples.
    • 1802 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid ever to be discovered.
    • 1809 – Peninsular War: France defeats Spain in the Battle of Medellín.
    • 1814 – War of 1812: In the Battle of Valparaíso, two American naval vessels are captured by two Royal Navy vessels of equal strength.
    • 1842 – First concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Otto Nicolai.
    • 1854 – Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia.
    • 1860 – First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: In the Battle of Glorieta Pass, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory. The battle began on March 26.
    • 1871 – The Paris Commune is formally established in Paris.
    • 1883 – Tonkin Campaign: French victory in the Battle of Gia Cuc.
    • 1910 – Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
    • 1920 – Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920 affects the Great Lakes region and Deep South states.
    • 1933 – The Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is believed to be the first airliner lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a fire on board.
    • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege.
    • 1941 – World War II: Britain’s Mediterranean Fleet sinks three heavy cruisers and two destroyers of Italy’s Regia Marina.
    • 1942 – World War II: A British combined force permanently disables the Louis Joubert Lock in Saint-Nazaire in order to keep the German battleship Tirpitz away from the mid-ocean convoy lanes.
    • 1946 – Cold War: The United States Department of State releases the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
    • 1951 – First Indochina War: In the Battle of Mạo Khê, French Union forces, led by World War II hero Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, inflict a defeat on Việt Minh forces commanded by General Võ Nguyên Giáp.
    • 1959 – The State Council of the People’s Republic of China dissolves the government of Tibet.
    • 1968 – Brazilian high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto is killed by military police at a protest for cheaper meals at a restaurant for low-income students.
    • 1969 – Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece.
    • 1970 – An earthquake strikes western Turkey at about 23:05 local time, killing 1,086 and injuring 1,260.
    • 1978 – The US Supreme Court hands down 5–3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
    • 1979 – A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.
    • 1979 – The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan’s government by 1 vote, precipitating a general election.
    • 1990 – United States President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.
    • 1994 – In South Africa, African National Congress security guards kill dozens of Inkatha Freedom Party protesters.
    • 1999 – Kosovo War: Serb paramilitary and military forces kill 146 Kosovo Albanians in Izbica.
    • 2003 – In a friendly fire incident, two American A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing one soldier.
    • 2005 – An earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong), leaving 915–1,314 people dead and 340–1,146 injured.
    • 2006 – Massive protests are mounted against France’s First Employment Contract law, meant to reduce youth unemployment.

    Births of March 28

    • 931 – Liu Chengyou, emperor of Later Han (d. 951)
    • 1097 – Atsiz, Abbasid caliph (d. 1156)
    • 1416 – Jodha of Mandore, Ruler of Marwar (d. 1489)
    • 1468 – Charles I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1490)
    • 1472 – Fra Bartolomeo, Italian painter (d. 1517)
    • 1483 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (d. 1520)
    • 1515 – Teresa of Ávila, Spanish nun and saint (d. 1582)
    • 1522 – Albert the Warlike, German prince (d. 1557)
    • 1527 – Isabella Markham, English courtier (d. 1579)
    • 1591 – William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, English earl (d. 1668)
    • 1592 – John Amos Comenius, Czech bishop and educator (d. 1670)
    • 1599 – Witte de With, Dutch captain (d. 1658)
    • 1613 – Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang of China (d. 1688)
    • 1621 – Heinrich Schwemmer, German composer and educator (d. 1696)
    • 1638 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch botanist and anatomist (d. 1731)
    • 1652 – Samuel Sewall, English judge (d. 1730)
    • 1725 – Andrew Kippis, English minister and author (d. 1795)
    • 1727 – Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, (d. 1777)
    • 1743 – Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova, Russian academic and politician (d. 1810)
    • 1750 – Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan general and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 1816)
    • 1760 – Thomas Clarkson, English activist (d. 1846)
    • 1773 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (d. 1844)
    • 1793 – Henry Schoolcraft, American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist (d. 1864)
    • 1795 – Georg Heinrich Pertz, German historian and author (d. 1876)
    • 1806 – Thomas Hare, English lawyer and political scientist (d. 1891)
    • 1811 – John Neumann, Czech-American bishop and saint (d. 1860)
    • 1815 – Arsène Houssaye, French author and poet (d. 1896)
    • 1818 – Wade Hampton III, American general and politician, 77th Governor of South Carolina (d. 1902)
    • 1819 – Joseph Bazalgette, English architect and engineer, designed the Hammersmith Bridge and Battersea Bridge (d. 1891)
    • 1828 – Melchior Anderegg, Swiss mountain guide (d. 1914)
    • 1832 – Henry D. Washburn, American politician, general and explorer (d. 1871)
    • 1836 – Frederick Pabst, German-American brewer, founded the Pabst Brewing Company (d. 1904)
    • 1840 – Emin Pasha, German-Jewish Egyptian physician and politician (d. 1892)
    • 1847 – Gyula Farkas, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1930)
    • 1849 – James Darmesteter, French historian and author (d. 1894)
    • 1850 – Kyrle Bellew, English theatre actor (d. 1911)
    • 1851 – Bernardino Machado, Portuguese academic and politician, 3rd President of Portugal (d. 1944)
    • 1862 – Aristide Briand, French politician, Prime Minister of France, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
    • 1866 – Jimmy Ross, Scottish footballer (d. 1902)
    • 1868 – Maxim Gorky, Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1936)
    • 1871 – Willem Mengelberg, Dutch-Swiss conductor (d. 1951)
    • 1873 – John Geiger, American rower (d. 1956)
    • 1878 – Abraham Walkowitz, Russian-American painter (d. 1965)
    • 1879 – Terence MacSwiney, Irish republican politician and hunger striker; Lord Mayor of Cork (d. 1920)
    • 1881 – Martin Sheridan, Irish-American discus thrower and jumper (d. 1918)
    • 1884 – Angelos Sikelianos, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1951)
    • 1886 – Gustave Mesny, French general (d. 1945)
    • 1890 – Paul Whiteman, American violinist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1967)
    • 1892 – Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
    • 1892 – Tom Maguire, Irish general (d. 1993)
    • 1893 – Spyros Skouras, Greek-American businessman (d. 1971)
    • 1894 – Ernst Lindemann, German captain (d. 1941)
    • 1895 – Ángela Ruiz Robles, Spanish teacher, writer and inventor, pioneer of the electronic book (d. 1975)
    • 1895 – Christian Herter, American politician, 53rd United States Secretary of State (d. 1966)
    • 1895 – Donald Grey Barnhouse, American pastor and theologian (d. 1960)
    • 1895 – Spencer W. Kimball, American religious leader, 12th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1985)
    • 1897 – Sepp Herberger, German footballer and manager (d. 1977)
    • 1897 – Tillie Voss, American football player (d. 1975)
    • 1899 – Gussie Busch, American businessman (d. 1989)
    • 1899 – Harold B. Lee, American religious leader, 11th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1973)
    • 1899 – Buck Shaw, American football player and coach (d. 1977)
    • 1900 – Edward Wagenknecht, American critic and educator (d. 2004)
    • 1902 – Flora Robson, English actress (d. 1984)
    • 1902 – Jaromír Vejvoda, Czech fiddler and composer (d. 1988)
    • 1903 – Rudolf Serkin, Czech-American pianist and educator (d. 1991)
    • 1904 – Isabel Cuchí Coll, Puerto Rican author and journalist (d. 1993)
    • 1905 – Pandro S. Berman, American production manager and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1905 – Marlin Perkins, American zoologist and television host (d. 1986)
    • 1906 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 2002)
    • 1906 – Robert Allen, American actor (d. 1998)
    • 1906 – Dorothy Knowles, South African-English author, fencer and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1907 – Lúcia Santos, Portuguese nun (d. 2005)
    • 1907 – Norrey Ford, English author (d. 1985)
    • 1907 – Irving Paul Lazar, American lawyer and talent agent (d. 1993)
    • 1909 – Nelson Algren, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1981)
    • 1910 – Frederick Baldwin Adams, Jr., American librarian and art collector (d. 2001)
    • 1910 – Jimmie Dodd, American actor and singer-songwriter (d. 1964)
    • 1910 – Ingrid of Sweden, (d. 2000)
    • 1911 – Consalvo Sanesi, Italian race car driver (d. 1998)
    • 1912 – A. Bertram Chandler, English-Australian author (d. 1984)
    • 1912 – Marina Raskova, Russian pilot and navigator (d. 1943)
    • 1913 – Kazuo Taoka, Japanese crime boss (d. 1981)
    • 1913 – Toko Shinoda, Japanese artist
    • 1914 – Edward Anhalt, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Bohumil Hrabal, Czech author (d. 1997)
    • 1914 – Kenneth Richard Norris, Australian entomologist and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1914 – Edmund Muskie, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 58th United States Secretary of State (d. 1996)
    • 1914 – Everett Ruess, American explorer, poet, and painter (d. 1934)
    • 1915 – Jay Livingston, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – Claude Bertrand, Canadian neurosurgeon and scholar (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Edward Amy, Canadian soldier (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Jacob Avshalomov, American composer and conductor (d. 2013)
    • 1919 – Tom Brooks, Australian cricket umpire (d. 2007)
    • 1919 – Eileen Crofton, British physician and author (d. 2010)
    • 1919 – Vic Raschi, American baseball player and coach (d. 1988)
    • 1921 – Harold Agnew, American physicist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor and author (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Herschel Grynszpan, German assassin of Ernst vom Rath (d. 1960)
    • 1921 – Walter Neugebauer, Croatian-German author and illustrator (d. 1992)
    • 1922 – Neville Bonner, Australian politician (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Grace Hartigan, American painter and educator (d. 2008)
    • 1922 – Joey Maxim, American boxer and actor (d. 2001)
    • 1922 – B. Neminathan, Sri Lankan politician
    • 1923 – Paul C. Donnelly, American scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Thad Jones, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1986)
    • 1924 – Freddie Bartholomew, American actor (d. 1992)
    • 1924 – Fred Flanagan, Australian footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Russian actor (d. 1994)
    • 1925 – Dorothy DeBorba, American child actress (d. 2010)
    • 1926 – Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Polly Umrigar, Indian cricketer (d. 2006)
    • 1927 – Theo Colborn, American zoologist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Marianne Fredriksson, Swedish journalist and author (d. 2007)
    • 1927 – Vina Mazumdar, Indian academic and activist (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-American political activist and analyst; 10th United States National Security Advisor (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Alexander Grothendieck, German-French mathematician and theorist (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Paul England, Australian race car driver and engineer (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Robert Ashley, American soldier and composer (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Jerome Isaac Friedman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1930 – Elizabeth Bainbridge, English soprano
    • 1933 – Tete Montoliu, Spanish pianist (d. 1997)
    • 1933 – Frank Murkowski, American soldier, banker, and politician, 8th Governor of Alaska
    • 1934 – Lester R. Brown, American environmentalist, founded the Earth Policy Institute and Worldwatch Institute
    • 1934 – Laurie Taitt, Guyanese-English hurdler (d. 2006)
    • 1935 – Frank Judd, Baron Judd, English politician, Secretary of State for International Development
    • 1935 – Michael Parkinson, English journalist and author
    • 1935 – Józef Szmidt, Polish triple jumper
    • 1936 – Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian novelist, playwright, and essayist Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1938 – Hans-Jürgen Bäsler, German footballer (d. 2002)
    • 1939 – Dov Frohman, Israeli electrical engineer and business executive
    • 1940 – Tony Barber, English-Australian television host
    • 1940 – Luis Cubilla, Uruguayan footballer and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1942 – Daniel Dennett, American philosopher and academic
    • 1942 – Kitanofuji Katsuaki, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 52nd Yokozuna
    • 1942 – Neil Kinnock, Welsh politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
    • 1942 – Mike Newell, English director and producer
    • 1942 – Samuel Ramey, American opera singer
    • 1942 – Conrad Schumann, East German border guard (d. 1998)
    • 1942 – Jerry Sloan, American basketball player and coach
    • 1943 – Richard Eyre, English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Conchata Ferrell, American actress
    • 1944 – Rick Barry, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1944 – Ken Howard, American actor (d. 2016)
    • 1945 – Rodrigo Duterte, Filipino politician, 16th President of the Philippines
    • 1945 – Johnny Famechon, French-Australian boxer
    • 1945 – Björn Hamilton, Swedish engineer and politician
    • 1946 – Wubbo Ockels, Dutch physicist and astronaut (d. 2014)
    • 1946 – Henry Paulson, American banker and politician, 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury
    • 1946 – Alejandro Toledo, Peruvian economist and politician, 48th President of Peru
    • 1947 – Greg Thompson, Canadian educator and politician, 25th Minister of Veterans Affairs (d. 2019)
    • 1948 – John Evan, English keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1948 – Janice Lynde, American actress
    • 1948 – Dianne Wiest, American actress
    • 1948 – Milan Williams, American keyboard player (d. 2006)
    • 1949 – Ronnie Ray Smith, American sprinter (d. 2013)
    • 1952 – Keith Ashfield, Canadian politician (d. 2018)
    • 1952 – Tony Brise, English race car driver (d. 1975)
    • 1953 – Melchior Ndadaye, Burundian banker and politician, 4th President of Burundi (d. 1993)
    • 1953 – Rosemary Ashe, British actress and singer
    • 1954 – Donald Brown, American pianist and educator
    • 1955 – John Alderdice, Baron Alderdice, Northern Irish psychiatrist and politician, 1st Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly
    • 1955 – Reba McEntire, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1956 – Susan Ershler, American mountaineer and author
    • 1957 – Harvey Glance, American sprinter and coach
    • 1958 – Edesio Alejandro, Cuban composer
    • 1958 – Elisabeth Andreassen, Swedish-Norwegian singer
    • 1958 – Bart Conner, American gymnast and sportscaster
    • 1958 – Curt Hennig, American wrestler, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2003)
    • 1959 – Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rican politician, President of Costa Rica
    • 1959 – Chiaki Morosawa, Japanese anime screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1959 – Chris Myers, American journalist and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Chris Barrie, British actor and comedian
    • 1960 – José Maria Neves, Cape Verdeian politician, Prime Minister of Cape Verde
    • 1960 – Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, French-Belgian author and playwright
    • 1961 – Byron Scott, American basketball player and coach
    • 1962 – Jure Franko, Slovenian skier
    • 1962 – Simon Bazalgette, English businessman
    • 1963 – Jan Masiel, Polish politician
    • 1964 – Karen Lumley, English politician
    • 1966 – Cheryl James, American rapper and actress
    • 1967 – John Ziegler, German-American radio host and director
    • 1968 – Iris Chang, Chinese-American journalist and author (d. 2004)
    • 1968 – Nasser Hussain, Indian-English cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Colin Brazier, English journalist
    • 1969 – Rodney Atkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1969 – Brett Ratner, American director and producer
    • 1970 – Vince Vaughn, American actor
    • 1970 – Jennifer Weiner, American journalist and author
    • 1971 – Christianne Meneses Jacobs, Nicaraguan-American journalist and educator
    • 1971 – Orfeh, American singer, songwriter and actress
    • 1972 – Nick Frost, English actor and screenwriter
    • 1972 – Keith Tkachuk, American ice hockey player
    • 1973 – Björn Kuipers, Dutch footballer and referee
    • 1975 – Fabrizio Gollin, Italian race car driver
    • 1975 – Kate Gosselin, American television personality
    • 1975 – Iván Helguera, Spanish footballer
    • 1975 – Shanna Moakler, American model
    • 1976 – Dave Keuning, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1977 – Lauren Weisberger, American author
    • 1978 – Nathan Cayless, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1979 – Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi film actor, producer, singer and media personality
    • 1980 – Cho Seung-woo, South Korean actor
    • 1980 – David Lee, English footballer
    • 1980 – Rasmus Seebach, Danish singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1980 – Luke Walton, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Lindsay Frimodt, American fashion model
    • 1981 – Edwar Ramírez, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Julia Stiles, American actress
    • 1983 – Ladji Doucouré, French sprinter and hurdler
    • 1984 – Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi actor
    • 1984 – Christopher Samba, Congolese footballer
    • 1984 – Nikki Sanderson, English actress
    • 1985 – Stefano Ferrario, Italian footballer
    • 1985 – Sauli Koskinen, Finnish TV host and entertainer
    • 1985 – Steve Mandanda, French footballer
    • 1985 – Stanislas Wawrinka, Swiss tennis player
    • 1986 – Bowe Bergdahl, American sergeant
    • 1986 – Lady Gaga, American singer-songwriter, dancer, producer, and actress
    • 1986 – J-Kwon, American rapper
    • 1986 – Amaia Salamanca, Spanish actress
    • 1986 – Barbora Strýcová, Czech tennis player
    • 1987 – Jean-Paul Adela, Seychellois footballer
    • 1987 – Yohan Benalouane, French-Tunisian footballer
    • 1987 – Simeon Jackson, Canadian soccer player
    • 1987 – Kagney Linn Karter, American pornographic actress
    • 1987 – Yotam Solomon, Israeli/American fashion designer
    • 1987 – Mary Kate Wiles, American actress
    • 1988 – Ryan Kalish, American baseball player
    • 1988 – Lacey Turner, English actress
    • 1989 – Afrikan Boy, English rapper
    • 1989 – David Goodwillie, Scottish footballer
    • 1989 – Lukas Jutkiewicz, English footballer
    • 1989 – Mira Leung, Canadian figure skater
    • 1989 – Marek Suchý, Czech footballer
    • 1990 – Zac Clarke, Australian footballer
    • 1990 – Zoella (Zoe Sugg), English Youtuber
    • 1991 – Amy Bruckner, American actress
    • 1991 – Lisa-Maria Moser, Austrian tennis player
    • 1991 – Marie-Philip Poulin, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1991 – Ondřej Palát, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Sergi Gómez, Spanish footballer
    • 1992 – Lucho Ayala, Filipino actor
    • 1994 – Jackson Wang, Hong Kong rapper
    • 1995 – Jonathan Drouin, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1996 – Matt Renshaw, English-Australian cricketer
    • 2004 – Anna Shcherbakova, Russian figure skater (two-time Russian National Champion – ’19 & ’20)

    Deaths of March 28

    • 193 – Pertinax, Roman emperor (b. 126)
    • 741 – Hatsusebe, Japanese princess
    • 965 – Arnulf I, count of Flanders
    • 966 – Flodoard, Frankish canon and chronicler
    • 1072 – Ordulf, Duke of Saxony (b. 1022)
    • 1134 – Saint Stephen Harding, founder of the Cistercian order
    • 1239 – Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (b. 1180)
    • 1241 – Valdemar II of Denmark (b. 1170)
    • 1254 – William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby (b. 1193)
    • 1285 – Pope Martin IV (b. 1220)
    • 1346 – Venturino of Bergamo, Dominican preacher (b. 1304)
    • 1461 – John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford (b. 1435)
    • 1563 – Heinrich Glarean, Swiss poet and theorist (b. 1488)
    • 1566 – Sigismund von Herberstein, Austrian historian and diplomat (b. 1486)
    • 1583 – Magnus, Duke of Holstein (b. 1540)
    • 1584 – Ivan the Terrible, Russian king (b. 1530)
    • 1687 – Constantijn Huygens, Dutch poet and composer (b. 1596)
    • 1794 – Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1743)
    • 1818 – Antonio Capuzzi, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1755)
    • 1865 – Petrus Hofman Peerlkamp, Dutch scholar and critic (b. 1786)
    • 1866 – Solomon Foot, American lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
    • 1868 – James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1797)
    • 1870 – George Henry Thomas, American general (b. 1816)
    • 1874 – Peter Andreas Hansen, Danish-German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1795)
    • 1881 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1839)
    • 1893 – Edmund Kirby Smith, American general (b. 1824)
    • 1900 – Piet Joubert, South African soldier and politician (b. 1831 or 1834)
    • 1910 – Édouard Colonne, French violinist and conductor (b. 1838)
    • 1917 – Albert Pinkham Ryder, American painter (b. 1847)
    • 1923 – Charles Hubbard, American archer (b. 1849)
    • 1927 – Joseph-Médard Émard, Canadian archbishop (b. 1853)
    • 1929 – Katharine Lee Bates, American poet and songwriter (b. 1859)
    • 1929 – Lomer Gouin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 13th Premier of Quebec (b. 1861)
    • 1934 – Mahmoud Mokhtar, Egyptian sculptor and educator (b. 1891)
    • 1941 – Marcus Hurley, American basketball player and cyclist (b. 1883)
    • 1941 – Kavasji Jamshedji Petigara, Indian police officer (b. 1877)
    • 1941 – Virginia Woolf, English novelist, essayist, short story writer, and critic (b. 1882)
    • 1942 – Miguel Hernández, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1910)
    • 1943 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1873)
    • 1944 – Stephen Leacock, English-Canadian political scientist and author (b. 1869)
    • 1947 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (b. 1897)
    • 1949 – Grigoraș Dinicu, Romanian violinist and composer (b. 1889)
    • 1953 – Jim Thorpe, American football player and coach (b. 1887)
    • 1958 – W. C. Handy, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1873)
    • 1962 – Hugo Wast, Argentinian author and screenwriter (b. 1883)
    • 1963 – Antonius Bouwens, Dutch target shooter (b. 1876)
    • 1965 – Clemence Dane, English author and playwright (b. 1888)
    • 1965 – Jack Hoxie, American actor (b. 1885)
    • 1969 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, American general and politician, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890)
    • 1971 – Robert Hunter, American golfer (b. 1886)
    • 1972 – Donie Bush, American baseball player, manager, and team owner (b. 1887)
    • 1974 – Arthur Crudup, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1905)
    • 1974 – Dorothy Fields, American songwriter (b. 1905)
    • 1974 – Françoise Rosay, French actress (b. 1891)
    • 1976 – Richard Arlen, American actor (b. 1898)
    • 1977 – Eric Shipton, Sri Lankan-English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1907)
    • 1980 – Dick Haymes, Argentinian-American actor and singer (b. 1918)
    • 1982 – William Giauque, Canadian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
    • 1984 – Carmen Dragon, American conductor and composer (b. 1914)
    • 1985 – Marc Chagall, Russian-French painter and poet (b. 1887)
    • 1986 – Virginia Gilmore. American actress (b. 1919)
    • 1987 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (b. 1905)
    • 1992 – Nikolaos Platon, Greek archaeologist and academic (b. 1909)
    • 1993 – Scott Cunningham, American author (b. 1956)
    • 1994 – Eugène Ionesco, Romanian-French playwright and critic (b. 1909)
    • 1996 – Shin Kanemaru, Japanese politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1914)
    • 1999 – Franco Gasparri, Italian actor (b. 1948)
    • 2000 – Anthony Powell, English soldier and author (b. 1905)
    • 2001 – Moe Koffman, Canadian flute player, saxophonist, and composer (b. 1928)
    • 2004 – Peter Ustinov, English-Swiss actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Moura Lympany, English-Monacan pianist (b. 1916)
    • 2005 – Robin Spry, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1939)
    • 2006 – Pro Hart, Australian painter (b. 1928)
    • 2006 – Vethathiri Maharishi, Indian philosopher and author (b. 1911)
    • 2006 – Charles Schepens, Belgian-American ophthalmologist and author (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Caspar Weinberger, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 15th United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1917)
    • 2009 – Maurice Jarre, French-American composer and conductor (b. 1924)
    • 2010 – June Havoc, American actress, dancer, and director (b. 1912)
    • 2011 – Wenche Foss, Norwegian actress (b. 1917)
    • 2012 – John Arden, English author and playwright (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Alexander Arutiunian, Armenian pianist and composer (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Harry Crews, American novelist, playwright, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Addie L. Wyatt, African American labor leader (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – George E. P. Box, English-American statistician and educator (b. 1919)
    • 2013 – Manuel García Ferré, Spanish-Argentinian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (b. 1947)
    • 2013 – Art Malone, American race car driver (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Hugh McCracken, American guitarist, harmonica player, and producer (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Heinz Patzig, German footballer and manager (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Bob Teague, American college football star and television news-reporter (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Gus Triandos, American baseball player and scout (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Robert Zildjian, American businessman, founded Sabian (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Jeremiah Denton, American admiral and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Lorenzo Semple, Jr., American screenwriter and producer (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Avraham Yaski, Israeli architect and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Chuck Brayton, American baseball player and coach (b. 1925)
    • 2015 – Joseph Cassidy, Canadian-English priest and academic (b. 1954)
    • 2015 – Miroslav Ondříček, Czech cinematographer (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Gene Saks, American actor and director (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – James Noble, American actor (b. 1922)

    Holidays and observances on March 28

    • Christian feast day:
      • Stephen Harding
      • Guntram
      • Priscus
      • Pope Sixtus III
      • Tuotilo
      • March 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commemoration of Sen no Rikyū (Schools of Japanese tea ceremony)
    • Serfs Emancipation Day (Tibet)
    • Teachers’ Day (Czech Republic and Slovakia)

  • March 13- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years’ War.
    • 1591 – At the Battle of Tondibi in Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi dynasty, led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.
    • 1639 – Harvard College is named after clergyman John Harvard.
    • 1697 – Nojpetén, capital of the last independent Maya kingdom, fell to Spanish conquistadors, the final step in the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.
    • 1741 – The Battle of Cartagena de Indias (part of the War of Jenkins’ Ear) begins..
    • 1809 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in the Coup of 1809.
    • 1826 – Pope Leo XII publishes the apostolic constitution Quo Graviora in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics joining freemasonry.
    • 1845 – Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto receives its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist.
    • 1848 – The German revolutions of 1848–1849 begin in Vienna.
    • 1862 – The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves was passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.
    • 1881 – Alexander II of Russia is assassinated.
    • 1884 – The Siege of Khartoum begins. It lasts until January 26, 1885.
    • 1900 – British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War.
    • 1920 – The Kapp Putsch briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin.
    • 1930 – The news of the discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory.
    • 1933 – Banks in the U.S. begin to re-open after the three-day national “bank holiday” mandated by the Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act.
    • 1943 – German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.
    • 1954 – The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins with an artillery barrage by Viet Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp; Viet Minh victory lead to the end of the First Indochina War and French withdrawal from Vietnam.
    • 1957 – Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista.
    • 1969 – Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
    • 1979 – The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts the Prime Minister of Grenada, Eric Gairy, in a coup d’état.
    • 1988 – The Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan.
    • 1992 – The Mw  6.6 Erzincan earthquake strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).
    • 1996 – The Dunblane massacre leads to the death of sixteen primary school children and one teacher in Dunblane, Scotland.
    • 1997 – The Missionaries of Charity choose Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as their leader.
    • 2003 – An article in Nature identifies the Ciampate del Diavolo as 350,000-year-old hominid footprints.
    • 2012 – The Sierre coach crash kills 28 people, including 22 children.
    • 2013 – The 2013 papal conclave elects Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.
    • 2016 – The Ankara bombing kills at least 37 people.
    • 2016 – Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people.

    Births on March 13

    • 1372 – Louis I, Duke of Orléans (d. 1407)
    • 1479 – Lazarus Spengler, German hymnwriter (d. 1534)
    • 1560 – William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Dutch count (d. 1620)
    • 1593 – Georges de La Tour, French painter (probable; d. 1652)
    • 1599 – John Berchmans, Belgian Jesuit scholastic and saint (d. 1621)
    • 1615 – Innocent XII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1700)
    • 1683 – Johann Wilhelm Weinmann, German botanist (d. 1741)
    • 1700 – Michel Blavet, French flute player and composer (d. 1768)
    • 1719 – John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (d. 1797)
    • 1720 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss historian and author (d. 1793)
    • 1741 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1790)
    • 1763 – Guillaume Brune, French general and diplomat (d. 1815)
    • 1764 – Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1845)
    • 1770 – Daniel Lambert, English animal breeder (d. 1809)
    • 1781 – Karl Friedrich Schinkel, German painter and architect, designed the Konzerthaus Berlin (d. 1841)
    • 1798 – Abigail Fillmore, American wife of Millard Fillmore, 14th First Lady of the United States (d. 1853)
    • 1800 – Mustafa Reşid Pasha, Ottoman politician, 212th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1858)
    • 1815 – James Curtis Hepburn, American physician, linguist, and missionary (d. 1911)
    • 1825 – Hans Gude, Norwegian-German painter and academic (d. 1903)
    • 1855 – Percival Lowell, American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1916)
    • 1857 – B. H. Roberts, English-American historian and politician (d. 1933)
    • 1860 – Hugo Wolf, Slovene-Austrian composer (d. 1903)
    • 1862 – Paul Prosper Henrys, French general (d. 1943)
    • 1864 – Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian-German painter (d. 1941)
    • 1870 – William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (d. 1938)
    • 1874 – Ellery Harding Clark, American jumper, coach, and lawyer (d. 1949)
    • 1880 – Josef Gočár, Czech architect (d. 1945)
    • 1883 – Enrico Toselli, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1926)
    • 1884 – Hugh Walpole, New Zealand-English author and educator (d. 1941)
    • 1886 – Home Run Baker, American baseball player and manager (d. 1963)
    • 1886 – Albert William Stevens, American captain and photographer (d. 1949)
    • 1888 – Paul Morand, French author and diplomat (d. 1976)
    • 1890 – Fritz Busch, German conductor and director (d. 1951)
    • 1892 – Janet Flanner, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
    • 1897 – Yeghishe Charents, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1937)
    • 1898 – Henry Hathaway, American director and producer (d. 1985)
    • 1899 – John Hasbrouck Van Vleck, American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
    • 1899 – Pancho Vladigerov, Bulgarian pianist and composer (d. 1978)
    • 1900 – Andrée Bosquet, Belgian painter (d. 1980)
    • 1900 – Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
    • 1902 – Hans Bellmer, German-French painter and sculptor (d. 1975)
    • 1904 – Clifford Roach, Trinidadian cricketer and footballer (d. 1988)
    • 1907 – Dorothy Tangney, Australian politician (d. 1985)
    • 1908 – Walter Annenberg, American publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
    • 1908 – Myrtle Bachelder, American chemist and Women’s Army Corps officer (d. 1997)
    • 1910 – Sammy Kaye, American saxophonist, songwriter, and bandleader (d. 1987)
    • 1910 – Kemal Tahir, Turkish journalist and author (d. 1973)
    • 1911 – José Ardévol, Cuban composer and conductor (d. 1981)
    • 1913 – William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1987)
    • 1913 – Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian author and playwright (d. 2009)
    • 1914 – W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1998)
    • 1914 – Edward O’Hare, American lieutenant and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1943)
    • 1916 – Lindy Boggs, American educator and politician, 5th United States Ambassador to the Holy See (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Jacque Fresco, American engineer and academic (d. 2017)
    • 1920 – Ralph J. Roberts, American businessman, co-founded Comcast (d. 2015)
    • 1921 – Al Jaffee, American cartoonist
    • 1923 – Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek general (d. 2010)
    • 1925 – Roy Haynes, American drummer and composer
    • 1926 – Carlos Roberto Reina, Honduran lawyer and politician, President of Honduras (d. 2003)
    • 1929 – Zbigniew Messner, Polish economist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Mahdi Elmandjra, Moroccan economist and sociologist (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Gero von Wilpert, German author and academic (d. 2009)
    • 1935 – David Nobbs, English author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1938 – Robert Gammage, American captain and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1939 – Neil Sedaka, American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1941 – Donella Meadows, American environmentalist, author, and academic (d. 2001)
    • 1942 – Dave Cutler, American computer scientist and engineer
    • 1942 – Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and author (d. 2008)
    • 1944 – Terence Burns, Baron Burns, English economist and academic
    • 1945 – Anatoly Fomenko, Russian mathematician and academic
    • 1946 – Yonatan Netanyahu, American-Israeli colonel (d. 1976)
    • 1947 – Lesley Collier, English ballerina and educator
    • 1947 – Beat Richner, Swiss pediatrician and cellist (d. 2018)
    • 1947 – Lyn St. James, American race car driver
    • 1949 – Ze’ev Bielski, Israeli politician
    • 1949 – Sian Elias, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 12th Chief Justice of New Zealand
    • 1950 – Bernard Julien, Trinidadian cricketer
    • 1950 – Charles Krauthammer, American physician, journalist, and author (d. 2018)
    • 1950 – William H. Macy, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1951 – Charo, Spanish-American singer, guitarist, and actress
    • 1952 – Wolfgang Rihm, German composer and educator
    • 1952 – Tim Sebastian, English journalist and author
    • 1953 – Andy Bean, American golfer
    • 1953 – Michael Curry, 27th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church
    • 1954 – Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos, Guyanese-English politician and diplomat
    • 1954 – Robin Duke, Canadian actress and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Bruno Conti, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1955 – Glenne Headly, American actress (d. 2017)
    • 1955 – Olga Rukavishnikova, Russian pentathlete
    • 1956 – Dana Delany, American actress and producer
    • 1957 – John Hoeven, American banker and politician, 31st Governor of North Dakota
    • 1957 – Moses Hogan, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
    • 1958 – Mágico González, Salvadoran footballer
    • 1958 – Rick Lazio, American lawyer and politician
    • 1958 – Caryl Phillips, Caribbean-English author and playwright
    • 1959 – Dirk Wellham, Australian cricketer
    • 1960 – Adam Clayton, English-born Irish musician and songwriter
    • 1960 – Joe Ranft, American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor (d. 2005)
    • 1963 – Vance Johnson, American football player
    • 1964 – Will Clark, American baseball player
    • 1966 – Chico Science, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1967 – Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (d. 1994)
    • 1967 – Pieter Vink, Dutch footballer and referee
    • 1970 – Tim Story, American director and producer
    • 1971 – Annabeth Gish, American actress
    • 1971 – Allan Nielsen, Danish international footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1972 – Common, American rapper and actor
    • 1973 – Edgar Davids, Surinamese born Dutch international footballer midfielder and manager
    • 1973 – Bobby Jackson, American basketball player and coach
    • 1974 – Thomas Enqvist, Swedish tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Mark Clattenburg, English football referee
    • 1976 – Troy Hudson, American basketball player and rapper
    • 1976 – Danny Masterson, American actor and producer
    • 1978 – Tom Danielson, American cyclist
    • 1978 – Kenny Watson, American football player
    • 1979 – Johan Santana, Venezuelan-American baseball player
    • 1979 – Cédric Van Branteghem, Belgian sprinter
    • 1980 – Caron Butler, American basketball player
    • 1982 – Nicole Ohlde, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Kaitlin Sandeno, American swimmer
    • 1984 – Geeta Basra, Indian actress
    • 1985 – Alcides Araújo Alves, Brazilian footballer
    • 1985 – Emile Hirsch, American actor
    • 1986 – Neil Wagner, South African-New Zealand cricketer
    • 1987 – Marco Andretti, American race car driver
    • 1987 – Andreas Beck, German footballer
    • 1988 – Furdjel Narsingh, Dutch footballer
    • 1989 – Holger Badstuber, German footballer
    • 1989 – Marko Marin, German footballer
    • 1989 – Robert Wickens, Canadian racing driver
    • 1990 – Anicet Abel, Malagasy footballer
    • 1991 – Daniel Greig, Australian speed skater
    • 1991 – Tristan Thompson, American basketball player
    • 1994 – Gerard Deulofeu, Spanish footballer
    • 1995 – Mikaela Shiffrin, American skier
    • 1998 – Jay-Roy Grot, Dutch footballer

    Deaths on March 13

    • 1202 – Mieszko III the Old, king of Poland (b. c. 1121)
    • 1271 – Henry of Almain, English knight (b. 1235)
    • 1415 – Minye Kyawswa, Crown Prince of Ava (b. 1391)
    • 1447 – Shah Rukh, Timurid ruler of Persia and Transoxania (b. 1377)
    • 1573 – Michel de l’Hôpital, French politician (b. 1507)
    • 1601 – Henry Cuffe, Politician (b. 1563)
    • 1619 – Richard Burbage, English actor (b. 1567)
    • 1711 – Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and critic (b. 1636)
    • 1719 – Johann Friedrich Böttger, German chemist and potter (b. 1682)
    • 1800 – Nana Fadnavis, Indian minister and politician (b. 1742)
    • 1808 – Christian VII of Denmark (b. 1749)
    • 1823 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (b. 1735)
    • 1833 – William Bradley, English lieutenant and cartographer (b. 1757)
    • 1842 – Henry Shrapnel, English general (b. 1761)
    • 1854 – Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, French politician, 6th Prime Minister of France (b. 1773)
    • 1873 – David Swinson Maynard, American physician, lawyer, and businessman (b. 1808)
    • 1879 – Adolf Anderssen, German mathematician and chess player (b. 1818)
    • 1881 – Alexander II of Russia (b. 1818)
    • 1884 – Leland Stanford Jr., American son of Leland Stanford (b. 1868)
    • 1885 – Giorgio Mitrovich, Maltese politician (b. 1795)
    • 1901 – Benjamin Harrison, American general and politician, 23rd President of the United States (b. 1833)
    • 1906 – Susan B. Anthony, American activist (b. 1820)
    • 1912 – Eugène-Étienne Taché, Canadian engineer and architect, designed the Parliament Building (b. 1836)
    • 1921 – Jenny Twitchell Kempton, American opera singer and educator (b. 1835)
    • 1936 – Francis Bell, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1851)
    • 1938 – Clarence Darrow, American lawyer and author (b. 1857)
    • 1943 – Stephen Vincent Benét, American poet, short story writer, and novelist (b. 1898)
    • 1946 – Werner von Blomberg, German field marshal (b. 1878)
    • 1962 – Anne Acheson, Irish sculptor (d. 1882)
    • 1965 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (b. 1891)
    • 1965 – Fan Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1882)
    • 1971 – Rockwell Kent, American painter and illustrator (b. 1882)
    • 1972 – Tony Ray-Jones, English photographer (b. 1941)
    • 1975 – Ivo Andrić, Yugoslav novelist, poet, and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
    • 1976 – Ole Haugsrud, American sports executive (b. 1900)
    • 1983 – Paul Citroen, German-Dutch illustrator and educator (b. 1896)
    • 1990 – Bruno Bettelheim, Austrian-American psychologist and author (b. 1903)
    • 1995 – Odette Hallowes, French nurse and spy (b. 1912)
    • 1996 – Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish director and screenwriter (b. 1941)
    • 1998 – Judge Dread, English singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
    • 1998 – Hans von Ohain, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1911)
    • 1999 – Lee Falk, American cartoonist, director, and producer (b. 1911)
    • 1999 – Garson Kanin, American director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
    • 2001 – John A. Alonzo, American actor and cinematographer (b. 1934)
    • 2001 – Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (b. 1895)
    • 2002 – Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (b. 1900)
    • 2004 – Franz König, Austrian cardinal (b. 1905)
    • 2006 – Robert C. Baker, American businessman, invented the chicken nugget (b. 1921)
    • 2006 – Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (b. 1944)
    • 2006 – Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (b. 1925)
    • 2009 – Betsy Blair, American actress (b. 1923)
    • 2009 – Alan W. Livingston, American businessman (b. 1917)
    • 2010 – Jean Ferrat, French singer-songwriter (b. 1930)
    • 2011 – Rick Martin, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1951)
    • 2014 – Reubin Askew, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of Florida (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond, Irish businessman and politician (b. 1944)
    • 2014 – Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Sierra Leonean economist, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of Sierra Leone (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Icchokas Meras, Lithuanian-Israeli author and screenwriter (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (b. 1924)
    • 2016 – Hilary Putnam, American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist (b. 1926)
    • 2017 – Amy Krouse Rosenthal, American author (b. 1965)
    • 2018 – Emily Nasrallah, Lebanese writer and women’s rights activist. (b. 1931)

    Holidays and observances on March 13

    • Christian feast days:
      • Ansovinus
      • Gerald of Mayo
      • James Theodore Holly (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Nicephorus
      • Roderick
      • March 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Kasuga Matsuri (Kasuga Grand Shrine, Nara, Japan)
    • National Elephant Day (Thailand)
    • Africa Scout Day

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

    • 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor
    • 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II
    • 1336 – Four thousand defenders of Pilenai commit mass suicide rather than be taken captive by the Teutonic Knights.
    • 1797 – Colonel William Tate and his force of 1000–1500 soldiers surrender after the Last invasion of Britain.
    • 1831 – Battle of Olszynka Grochowska, part of Polish November Uprising against Russian Empire.
    • 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for the Colt revolver.
    • 1843 – Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet Affair (1843).
    • 1848 – Provisional government in revolutionary France, by Louis Blanc’s motion, guarantees workers’ rights.
    • 1856 – A Peace conference opens in Paris after the Crimean War.
    • 1866 – Miners in Calaveras County, California, discover what is now called the Calaveras Skull – human remains that supposedly indicated that man, mastodons, and elephants had co-existed.
    • 1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress.
    • 1875 – Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi’s regency.
    • 1901 – J. P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
    • 1912 – Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
    • 1916 – World War I: The Germans capture Fort Douaumont during the Battle of Verdun.
    • 1918 – German occupation of Estonia during World War I: Pernau, Reval, and Pskov are captured.
    • 1919 – Oregon places a one cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.
    • 1921 – Tbilisi, capital of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, is occupied by Bolshevist Russia.
    • 1928 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a broadcast license for television from the Federal Radio Commission.
    • 1932 – Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.
    • 1933 – The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be designed from the start of construction as an aircraft carrier.
    • 1939 – The first of 2​1⁄2 million Anderson air raid shelters appeared in North London.
    • 1941 – February strike: In the occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis.
    • 1947 – The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council. The Prussian government had already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932.
    • 1948 – Cold War: The Communist Party takes control of government in Czechoslovakia and the period of the Third Republic ends.
    • 1951 – The first Pan American Games were officially opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina by President Juan Perón.
    • 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
    • 1956 – Cold War: In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin.
    • 1964 – North Korean Prime Minister Kim Il-sung calls for the removal of feudalistic land ownership aimed at turning all cooperative farms into state-run ones.
    • 1968 – Vietnam War: One hundred thirty-five unarmed citizens of Hà My village in South Vietnam’s Qu?ng Nam Province are killed and buried en masse by South Korean troops in what would come to be known as the Hà My massacre.
    • 1980 – The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.
    • 1986 – People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines’ first woman president.
    • 1987 – Southern Methodist University’s football program is the first college football program to be banned from competition by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.
    • 1991 – Cold War: The Warsaw Pact is abolished.
    • 1992 – Khojaly massacre: About 613 civilians are killed by Armenian armed forces during the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
    • 1994 – Mosque of Abraham massacre: In the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring 125 more before being subdued and beaten to death by survivors.
    • 1997 – Yi Han-yong, a North Korean defector, was murdered by unidentified assailants in Bundang, South Korea.
    • 2009 – Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials.
    • 2009 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashed during landing at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, primarily due to a faulty radio altimeter, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew including all three pilots.
    • 2015 – At least 310 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan.
    • 2016 – Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston.

    Births on February 25

    • 1259 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal and Urraca of Castile (d. 1321)
    • 1337 – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1383)
    • 1475 – Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, last male member of the House of York (d. 1499)
    • 1540 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English aristocrat and courtier (d. 1614)
    • 1543 – Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, Emir of Bitlis (d. 1603)
    • 1591 – Friedrich Spee, German poet and author (d. 1635)
    • 1643 – Ahmed II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1695)
    • 1663 – Peter Anthony Motteux, French-English author, playwright and translator (d. 1718)
    • 1670 – Maria Margarethe Kirch, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1720)
    • 1682 – Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist and pathologist (d. 1771)
    • 1707 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and composer (d. 1793)
    • 1714 – René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of France (d. 1792)
    • 1728 – John Wood, the Younger, English architect, designed the Royal Crescent (d. 1782)
    • 1752 – John Graves Simcoe, English-Canadian general and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (d. 1806)
    • 1755 – François René Mallarmé, French lawyer and politician (d. 1835)
    • 1778 – José de San Martín, Argentinian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (d. 1850)
    • 1806 – Emma Catherine Embury, American author and poet (d. 1863)
    • 1809 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (d. 1873)
    • 1812 – Carl Christian Hall, Danish lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1888)
    • 1816 – Giovanni Morelli, Italian historian and critic (d. 1891)
    • 1833 – John St. John, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Kansas (d. 1916)
    • 1841 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter and sculptor (d. 1919)
    • 1842 – Karl May, German author, poet, and playwright (d. 1912)
    • 1845 – George Reid, Scottish-Australian lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1918)
    • 1855 – Cesário Verde, Portuguese poet and author (d. 1886)
    • 1856 – Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian and academic (d. 1915)
    • 1856 – Mathias Zdarsky, Czech-Austrian skier, painter, and sculptor (d. 1940)
    • 1857 – Robert Bond, Canadian politician; first Prime Minister of Newfoundland (d. 1927)
    • 1860 – William Ashley, English historian and academic (d. 1927)
    • 1865 – Andranik, Armenian general (d. 1927)
    • 1866 – Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher and politician (d. 1952)
    • 1869 – Phoebus Levene, Russian-American biochemist and physician (d. 1940)
    • 1873 – Enrico Caruso, Italian-American tenor; the most popular operatic tenor of the early 20th century and the first great recording star. (d. 1921)
    • 1877 – Erich von Hornbostel, Austrian musicologist and scholar (d. 1935)
    • 1881 – William Z. Foster, American union leader and politician (d. 1961)
    • 1881 – Alexei Rykov, Russian politician, Premier of Russia (d. 1938)
    • 1883 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (d. 1981)
    • 1885 – Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (d. 1969)
    • 1888 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (d. 1959)
    • 1890 – Myra Hess, English pianist and educator (d. 1965)
    • 1894 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (d. 1969)
    • 1898 – William Astbury, physicist and molecular biologist (d. 1961)
    • 1901 – Vince Gair, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Queensland (d. 1980)
    • 1901 – Zeppo Marx, American comedian (the youngest of the Marx Brothers) and theatrical agent (d. 1979)
    • 1903 – King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and coach; rated one of the 100 greatest NHL players (d. 1986)
    • 1905 – Perry Miller, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1963)
    • 1906 – Mary Coyle Chase, American journalist and playwright; author of Harvey (d. 1981)
    • 1907 – Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (d. 1948)
    • 1908 – Mary Locke Petermann, cellular biochemist (d. 1975)
    • 1908 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (d. 2001)
    • 1910 – Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1913 – Jim Backus, American actor and screenwriter; the voice of Mr. Magoo (d. 1989)
    • 1913 – Gert Fröbe, German actor; title role in Goldfinger (d. 1988)
    • 1917 – Anthony Burgess, English author, playwright, and critic (d. 1993)
    • 1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player; winner of three major titles, 1939–1941 (d. 1995)
    • 1919 – Monte Irvin, American baseball player and executive (d. 2016)
    • 1920 – Philip Habib, American academic and diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (d. 1992)
    • 1921 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1970)
    • 1921 – Andy Pafko, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Molly Reilly, Canadian aviator (d. 1980)
    • 1924 – Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Shehu Shagari, former President of Nigeria (d. 2018)
    • 1925 – Lisa Kirk, American actress and singer (d. 1990)
    • 1926 – Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic; noted for contributions to algebraic number theory (d. 2003)
    • 1927 – Ralph Stanley, American bluegrass singer and banjo player; member of International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame (d. 2016)
    • 1928 – Paul Elvstrøm, Danish yachtsman; winner of four Olympic gold medals, 1948–1960 (d. 2016)
    • 1928 – A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., prominent African-American civil rights advocate, author, and federal court judge (d. 1998)
    • 1928 – Larry Gelbart, American author and screenwriter; creator and producer of M*A*S*H TV series (d. 2009)
    • 1928 – Richard G. Stern, American author and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1932 – Tony Brooks, English racing driver; six Formula One victories, second in 1959 World Championship
    • 1932 – Faron Young, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist; member of Country Music Hall of Fame (d. 1996)
    • 1934 – Tony Lema, American golfer; winner of the 1964 Open Championship (d. 1966)
    • 1935 – Oktay Sinanoglu, Turkish physical chemist and molecular biophysicist; two-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2015)
    • 1937 – Tom Courtenay, award-winning English actor
    • 1937 – Bob Schieffer, American political author, journalist and TV interviewer
    • 1938 – Herb Elliott, Australian 1500 metres runner; 1960 Olympic champion and world record holder
    • 1938 – Farokh Engineer, Indian international cricketer; successful as batsman and wicketkeeper
    • 1940 – Ron Santo, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2010)
    • 1941 – David Puttnam, English film producer and academic
    • 1943 – George Harrison, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and film producer; lead guitarist of The Beatles (d. 2001)
    • 1944 – François Cevert, French racing driver (d. 1973)
    • 1946 – Jean Todt, French racing driver and team manager; FIA President, 2009–2021
    • 1947 – Lee Evans, American sprinter and athletics coach; two gold medals and world 400m record at 1968 Olympics
    • 1949 – Amin Maalouf, Lebanese-French journalist and author
    • 1950 – Francisco Fernández Ochoa, Spanish skier; 1972 Olympic slalom champion (d. 2006)
    • 1950 – Neil Jordan, Irish film director, screenwriter and author
    • 1950 – Néstor Kirchner, Argentinian politician; 51st President of Argentina, 2003–2007 (d. 2010)
    • 1951 – Don Quarrie, Jamaican sprinter and coach; four Olympic medals and two world records
    • 1952 – Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcycle road racing champion; holds record for most wins (26) at the Isle of Man TT (d. 2000)
    • 1953 – José María Aznar, Spanish politician; Prime Minister of Spain, 1996–2004
    • 1958 – Kurt Rambis, American basketball player and coach; four-time NBA Finals champion
    • 1962 – Birgit Fischer, German kayaker; winner of eight Olympic gold medals
    • 1963 – Paul O’Neill, American baseball player and sportscaster; five-time World Series champion
    • 1967 – Ed Balls, British politician; Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
    • 1968 – Oumou Sangaré, Grammy Award-winning Malian Wassoulou musician
    • 1971 – Sean Astin, American actor, director and producer
    • 1974 – Dominic Raab, British politician; First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
    • 1981 – Park Ji-sung, South Korean footballer; the most successful Asian player with 19 career trophies
    • 1982 – Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player; winner of the 2015 US Open
    • 1988 – Tom Marshall, British photo colouriser and artist
    • 1999 – Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italian international footballer; youngest goalkeeper to play for Italy

    Deaths on February 25

    • 806 – Tarasios, patriarch of Constantinople
    • 891 – Fujiwara no Mototsune, Japanese regent (b. 836)
    • 944 – Lin Ding, Chinese official and chancellor
    • 1246 – Dafydd ap Llywelyn, Welsh king (b. 1212)
    • 1321 – Beatrice d’Avesnes, consort of Henry VI, Count of Luxembourg
    • 1495 – Sultan Cem, Ottoman politician (b. 1459)
    • 1522 – William Lily, English scholar and educator (b. 1468)
    • 1536 – Berchtold Haller, German-Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1492)
    • 1536 – Jacob Hutter, founder of the Hutterites
    • 1547 – Vittoria Colonna, marchioness of Pescara (b. 1490)
    • 1558 – Eleanor of Austria (b. 1498)
    • 1600 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish colonial industrialist and saint (b. 1502)
    • 1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1566)
    • 1634 – Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general and politician (b. 1583)
    • 1655 – Daniel Heinsius, Flemish poet and scholar (b. 1580)
    • 1682 – Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (b. 1639)
    • 1710 – Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, French soldier and explorer (b. 1639)
    • 1713 – Frederick I of Prussia (b. 1657)
    • 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St Paul’s Cathedral (b. 1632)
    • 1756 – Eliza Haywood, English actress and poet (b. 1693)
    • 1796 – Samuel Seabury, American bishop (b. 1729)
    • 1798 – Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini, French poet and diplomat (b. 1716)
    • 1805 – Thomas Pownall, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1722)
    • 1819 – Francisco Manoel de Nascimento, Portuguese-French poet and educator (b. 1734)
    • 1822 – William Pinkney, American politician and diplomat, 7th United States Attorney General (b. 1764)
    • 1831 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German author and playwright (b. 1752)
    • 1841 – Philip Pendleton Barbour, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1783)
    • 1850 – Daoguang Emperor of China (b. 1782)
    • 1852 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and lyricist (b. 1779)
    • 1865 – Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (b. 1813)
    • 1870 – Henrik Hertz, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1797)
    • 1875 – Thomas Reynolds, English-Australian politician, 5th Premier of South Australia (b. 1818)
    • 1877 – Jung Bahadur Rana, Nepalese ruler (b. 1816)
    • 1878 – Townsend Harris, American merchant, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Japan (b. 1804)
    • 1888 – Josif Pancic, Serbian botanist and academic (b. 1814)
    • 1899 – Paul Reuter, German-English journalist and businessman, founded Reuters (b. 1816)
    • 1906 – Anton Arensky, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1861)
    • 1910 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter and educator (b. 1820)
    • 1911 – Friedrich Spielhagen, German author, theorist, and translator (b. 1829)
    • 1912 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1852)
    • 1914 – John Tenniel, English illustrator (b. 1820)
    • 1915 – Charles Edwin Bessey, American botanist, author, and academic (b. 1845)
    • 1916 – David Bowman, Australian politician (b. 1860)
    • 1920 – Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy, French archaeologist and engineer (b. 1844)
    • 1922 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (b. 1869)
    • 1928 – William O’Brien, Irish journalist and politician (b. 1852)
    • 1934 – Elizabeth Gertrude Britton, American botanist and academic (b. 1857)
    • 1934 – John McGraw, American baseball player and manager (b. 1873)
    • 1945 – Mário de Andrade, Brazilian author, poet, and photographer (b. 1893)
    • 1950 – George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
    • 1953 – Sergei Winogradsky, Ukrainian-Russian microbiologist and ecologist (b. 1856)
    • 1957 – Mark Aldanov, Russian author and critic (b. 1888)
    • 1957 – Bugs Moran, American mob boss (b. 1893)
    • 1963 – Melville J. Herskovits, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1895)
    • 1964 – Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1887)
    • 1964 – Hinrich Lohse, German politician (b. 1896)
    • 1964 – Grace Metalious, American author (b. 1924)
    • 1970 – Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter and academic (b. 1903)
    • 1971 – Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
    • 1972 – Gottfried Fuchs, German-Canadian Olympic soccer player (b. 1889)
    • 1975 – Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (b. 1897)
    • 1978 – Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (b. 1920)
    • 1980 – Robert Hayden, American poet and academic (b. 1913)
    • 1983 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (b. 1911)
    • 1996 – Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (b. 1940)
    • 1997 – Andrei Sinyavsky, Russian journalist and publisher (b. 1925)
    • 1998 – W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1914)
    • 1999 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
    • 2001 – A. R. Ammons, American poet and critic (b. 1926)
    • 2001 – Donald Bradman, Australian international cricketer; holder of world record batting average (b. 1908)
    • 2005 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer, founded Amnesty International (b. 1921)
    • 2010 – Ihsan Dogramaci, Turkish pediatrician and academic (b. 1915)
    • 2012 – Louisiana Red, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Harve Bennett, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic; noted ichthyologist (b. 1922)
    • 2020 – Dmitry Yazov, last Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1924)

    Holidays and observance on February 25

    Christian feast day

    Further information: February 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Æthelberht of Kent
    • Blessed Ciriaco María Sancha y Hervás
    • Gerland of Agrigento
    • John Roberts, writer and missionary
    • Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani
    • Saint Walpurga (she was canonised on 1 May and Walpurgis Night is celebrated 30 April)

  • February 14 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
    • 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.
    • 1014 – Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.
    • 1076 – Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
    • 1130 – Pope Innocent II is elected.
    • 1349 – Several hundred Jews are burned to death by mobs while the remaining Jews are forcibly removed from Strasbourg.
    • 1400 – Richard II of England dies, most probably from starvation, in Pontefract Castle, on the orders of Henry Bolingbroke.
    • 1530 – Spanish conquistadores, led by Nuño de Guzmán, overthrow and execute Tangaxuan II, the last independent monarch of the Tarascan state in present-day central Mexico.
    • 1556 – Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.
    • 1556 – Coronation of Akbar.
    • 1655 – The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655.
    • 1778 – The United States flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
    • 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.
    • 1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
    • 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent: John Jervis, (later 1st Earl of St Vincent) and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.
    • 1804 – Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1831 – Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
    • 1835 – The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the Latter Day Saint movement, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.
    • 1849 – In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
    • 1852 – Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.
    • 1855 – Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.
    • 1859 – Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.
    • 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
    • 1879 – The War of the Pacific breaks out when the Chilean Army occupies the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
    • 1899 – Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.
    • 1900 – British forces begin the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
    • 1903 – The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).
    • 1912 – Arizona is admitted as the 48th and the last contiguous U.S. state.
    • 1912 – The U.S. Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.
    • 1919 – The Polish–Soviet War begins.
    • 1920 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
    • 1924 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
    • 1929 – Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone’s gang, are murdered in Chicago.
    • 1942 – Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.
    • 1943 – World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.
    • 1943 – World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim’s Fifth Panzer Army launches a concerted attack against Allied positions in Tunisia.
    • 1944 – World War II: In the Action of 14 February 1944, a Royal Navy submarine sinks a German-controlled Italian submarine in the Strait of Malacca.
    • 1945 – World War II: On the first day of the bombing of Dresden, the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden.
    • 1945 – World War II: Navigational error leads to the mistaken bombing of Prague, Czechoslovakia by an American squadron of B-17s assisting in the Soviet’s Vistula–Oder Offensive.
    • 1945 – World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans
    • 1945 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially beginning U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations.
    • 1946 – The Bank of England is nationalized.
    • 1949 – The Knesset (parliament of Israel) convenes for the first time.
    • 1949 – The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.
    • 1961 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.
    • 1966 – Australian currency is decimalized.
    • 1979 – In Kabul, Setami Milli militants kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
    • 1983 – United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud.
    • 1989 – Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.
    • 1989 – Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.
    • 1990 – Ninety-two people are killed when Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes in Bangalore, India.
    • 1990 – The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later become famous as Pale Blue Dot.
    • 1998 – An oil tanker train collides with a freight train in Yaoundé, Cameroon, spilling fuel oil. One person scavenging the oil created a massive explosion which killed 120.
    • 2000 – The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
    • 2004 – In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others.
    • 2005 – In Beirut, 23 people, including former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, are killed when the equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT is detonated while Hariri’s motorcade drives through the city.
    • 2005 – Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit Makati, Davao City, and General Santos City, all in the Philippines.
    • 2005 – YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.
    • 2008 – Northern Illinois University shooting: A gunman opens fire in a lecture hall of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb County, Illinois, resulting in six fatalities (including the gunman) and 21 injuries.
    • 2011 – As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a ‘Day of Rage’.
    • 2018 – Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa.
    • 2018 – A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is one of the deadliest school massacres with 17 fatalities and 15 injuries.
    • 2019 – Pulwama attack takes place in Lethpora in Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and a suicide bomber were killed and 35 were injured.

    Births on February 14

    • 1404 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian painter, poet, and philosopher (d. 1472)
    • 1408 – John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel (d. 1435)
    • 1452 – Pandolfo Petrucci, tyrant of Siena (d. 1512)
    • 1468 – Johannes Werner, German priest and mathematician (d. 1522)
    • 1483 – Babur, Moghul emperor (d. 1530)
    • 1490 – Valentin Friedland, German scholar and educationist of the Reformation (d. 1556)
    • 1513 – Domenico Ferrabosco, Italian composer (d. 1573)
    • 1545 – Lucrezia de’ Medici, Duchess of Ferrara (d. 1561)
    • 1602 – Francesco Cavalli, Italian composer (d. 1676)
    • 1614 – John Wilkins, English bishop, academic and natural philosopher (d. 1672)
    • 1625 – Countess Palatine Maria Eufrosyne of Zweibrücken, Swedish princess (d. 1687)
    • 1628 – Valentine Greatrakes, Irish faith healer (d. 1683)
    • 1640 – Countess Palatine Anna Magdalena of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (d. 1693)
    • 1670 – Rajaram Raj Bhonsle, third Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1700)
    • 1679 – Georg Friedrich Kauffmann, German organist and composer (d. 1735)
    • 1692 – Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French author and playwright (d. 1754)
    • 1701 – Enrique Flórez, Spanish historian and author (d. 1773)
    • 1763 – Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (d. 1813)
    • 1782 – Eleanora Atherton, English philanthropist (d. 1870)
    • 1784 – Heinrich Baermann, German clarinetist (d. 1847)
    • 1799 – Walenty Wańkowicz, Polish painter and illustrator (d. 1842)
    • 1800 – Emory Washburn, American historian, lawyer, and politician, 22nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1877)
    • 1808 – Michael Costa, Italian-English conductor and composer (d. 1884)
    • 1813 – Lydia Hamilton Smith, African-American businesswoman (d. 1884)
    • 1819 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American journalist and politician, invented the typewriter (d. 1890)
    • 1824 – Winfield Scott Hancock, American general and politician (d. 1886)
    • 1828 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (d. 1885)
    • 1835 – Piet Paaltjens, Dutch minister and poet (d. 1894)
    • 1838 – Margaret E. Knight, American inventor (d. 1914)
    • 1846 – Julian Scott, American soldier and drummer, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1901)
    • 1847 – Anna Howard Shaw, American physician, minister, and activist (d. 1919)
    • 1848 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (d. 1934)
    • 1855 – Frank Harris, Irish author and journalist (d. 1931)
    • 1859 – George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., American engineer, inventor of the Ferris wheel (d. 1896)
    • 1860 – Eugen Schiffer, German lawyer and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (d. 1954)
    • 1869 – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
    • 1878 – Julius Nieuwland, Belgian priest, chemist and academic (d. 1936)
    • 1882 – John Barrymore, American actor (d. 1942)
    • 1884 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish actor and director (d. 1947)
    • 1884 – Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1974)
    • 1890 – Nina Hamnett, Welsh-English painter and author (d. 1956)
    • 1890 – Dick Richards Welsh international footballer, forward
    • 1891 – Katherine Stinson, American aviator (d. 1977)
    • 1892 – Radola Gajda, Czech commander and politician (d. 1948)
    • 1894 – Jack Benny, American actor and producer (d. 1974)
    • 1895 – Wilhelm Burgdorf, German general (d. 1945)
    • 1895 – Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1973)
    • 1898 – Bill Tilman, English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1977)
    • 1898 – Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (d. 1974)
    • 1900 – Jessica Dragonette, American singer (d. 1980)
    • 1903 – Stuart Erwin, American actor (d. 1967)
    • 1905 – Thelma Ritter, American actress and singer (d. 1969)
    • 1907 – Johnny Longden, English-American jockey and trainer (d. 2003)
    • 1911 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch physician and inventor (d. 2009)
    • 1912 – Tibor Sekelj, Hungarian lawyer, explorer, and author (d. 1988)
    • 1913 – Mel Allen, American sportscaster (d. 1996)
    • 1913 – Woody Hayes, American football player and coach (d. 1987)
    • 1913 – Jimmy Hoffa, American trade union leader (d. 1975)
    • 1913 – James Pike, American bishop (d. 1969)
    • 1916 – Marcel Bigeard, French general (d. 2010)
    • 1916 – Sally Gray, English actress and singer (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese director and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1916 – Edward Platt, American actor (d. 1974)
    • 1917 – Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
    • 1921 – Hugh Downs, American journalist, game show host, and producer
    • 1921 – Hazel McCallion, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 3rd Mayor of Mississauga
    • 1923 – Jay Hebert, American golfer (d. 1997)
    • 1924 – Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (d. 2017)
    • 1927 – Lois Maxwell, Canadian-Australian model and actress (d. 2007)
    • 1928 – William Allain, American soldier and politician, 58th Governor of Mississippi (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Vic Morrow, American actor and director (d. 1982)
    • 1931 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2006)
    • 1931 – Brian Kelly, American actor and director (d. 2005)
    • 1932 – Harriet Andersson, Swedish actress
    • 1934 – Florence Henderson, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
    • 1935 – David Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn, Scottish academic and diplomat, 27th Governor of Hong Kong
    • 1936 – Anna German, Polish singer (d. 1982)
    • 1937 – John MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market, English politician, Secretary of State for Transport
    • 1937 – Magic Sam, American singer and guitarist (d. 1969)
    • 1939 – Razzy Bailey, American country music singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1939 – Blowfly, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
    • 1939 – Eugene Fama, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1940 – James Maynard, American businessman, co-founded Golden Corral
    • 1941 – Donna Shalala, American academic and politician, 18th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
    • 1941 – Paul Tsongas, American lawyer and politician (d. 1997)
    • 1942 – Michael Bloomberg, American businessman and politician, 108th Mayor of New York City
    • 1942 – Andrew Robinson, American actor and director
    • 1942 – Ricardo Rodríguez, Mexican race car driver (d. 1962)
    • 1943 – Eric Andersen, American singer-songwriter
    • 1943 – Maceo Parker, American saxophonist
    • 1943 – Aaron Russo, American director and producer (d. 2007)
    • 1944 – Carl Bernstein, American journalist and author
    • 1944 – Alan Parker, English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1944 – Ronnie Peterson, Swedish race car driver (d. 1978)
    • 1945 – Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein
    • 1945 – Rod Masterson, American lieutenant and actor (d. 2013)
    • 1946 – Bernard Dowiyogo, Nauru politician, President of Nauru (d. 2003)
    • 1946 – Gregory Hines, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2003)
    • 1947 – Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
    • 1947 – Judd Gregg, American lawyer and politician, 76th Governor of New Hampshire
    • 1948 – Kitten Natividad, Mexican-American actress and dancer
    • 1948 – Pat O’Brien, American journalist and author
    • 1948 – Wally Tax, Dutch singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1948 – Teller, American magician and actor
    • 1950 – Roger Fisher, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1951 – Terry Gross, American radio host and producer
    • 1951 – Kevin Keegan, English footballer and manager
    • 1952 – Sushma Swaraj, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (d. 2019)
    • 1954 – Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Balochistan (d. 2013)
    • 1955 – Carol Kalish, American publisher (d. 1991)
    • 1956 – Howard Davis Jr., American boxer and trainer (d. 2015)
    • 1956 – Dave Dravecky, American baseball player
    • 1956 – Katharina Fritsch, German sculptor and academic
    • 1957 – Alan Hunter, American television host and actor
    • 1957 – Soile Isokoski, Finnish soprano and actress
    • 1957 – Alan Smith, English bishop
    • 1958 – Grant Thomas, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1959 – Renée Fleming, American soprano and actress
    • 1960 – Philip Jones, English admiral
    • 1960 – Jim Kelly, American football player and businessman
    • 1960 – Meg Tilly, American actress and author
    • 1963 – Enrico Colantoni, Canadian actor, director, and producer
    • 1963 – John Marzano, American baseball player (d. 2008)
    • 1964 – Gianni Bugno, Italian cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1966 – Petr Svoboda, Czech ice hockey player and agent
    • 1967 – Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Greek-English businessman, founded easyJet
    • 1967 – Manuela Maleeva, Bulgarian-Swiss tennis player
    • 1967 – Mark Rutte, Dutch businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
    • 1968 – Jules Asner, American model and television host
    • 1968 – Chris Lewis, Guyanese-English cricketer
    • 1968 – Scott McClellan, American civil servant and author, 25th White House Press Secretary
    • 1969 – Meg Hillier, English journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
    • 1970 – Giuseppe Guerini, Italian cyclist
    • 1970 – Sean Hill, American ice hockey player
    • 1970 – Simon Pegg, English actor, director, and producer
    • 1971 – Kris Aquino, Filipino talk show host, actress, and producer
    • 1971 – Gheorghe Mureșan, Romanian basketball player
    • 1972 – Drew Bledsoe, American football player and coach
    • 1972 – Musōyama Masashi, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1972 – Najwa Nimri, Spanish actress and singer
    • 1972 – Jaan Tallinn, Estonian computer programmer, co-developed Skype
    • 1972 – Rob Thomas, American singer-songwriter
    • 1973 – H. D. Ackerman, South African cricketer
    • 1973 – Tyus Edney, American basketball player and coach
    • 1973 – Steve McNair, American football player (d. 2009)
    • 1973 – Annalisa Buffa, Italian mathematician
    • 1974 – Valentina Vezzali, Italian fencer and politician
    • 1976 – Liv Kristine, Norwegian singer-songwriter
    • 1976 – Rie Rasmussen, Danish model, film director, writer, photographer, and actress
    • 1977 – Cadel Evans, Australian cyclist
    • 1977 – Jim Jefferies, Australian comedian and actor
    • 1977 – Darren Purse, English footballer
    • 1977 – Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (d. 2007)
    • 1977 – Anna Erschler, Russian mathematician
    • 1977 – Robert J. Jackson Jr., American law professor
    • 1978 – Richard Hamilton, American basketball player
    • 1978 – Darius Songaila, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
    • 1980 – Josh Senter, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1980 – Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress and producer
    • 1981 – Matteo Brighi, Italian footballer
    • 1981 – Randy de Puniet, French motorcycle racer
    • 1981 – Brad Halsey, American baseball player (d. 2014)
    • 1982 – Marián Gáborík, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1982 – John Halls, English footballer and model
    • 1982 – Lenka Tvarošková, Slovak tennis player
    • 1983 – Callix Crabbe, Virgin Islander baseball player
    • 1983 – Rocky Elsom, Australian rugby player
    • 1983 – Bacary Sagna, French footballer
    • 1985 – Karima Adebibe, English model and actress
    • 1985 – Tyler Clippard, American baseball player
    • 1985 – Heart Evangelista, Filipino singer and actress
    • 1985 – Philippe Senderos, Swiss international footballer, centre back
    • 1985 – Miki Yeung, Hong Kong singer and actress
    • 1986 – Michael Ammermüller, German race car driver
    • 1986 – Oliver Lee, English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1986 – Gao Lin, Chinese footballer
    • 1987 – Edinson Cavani, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1987 – Tom Pyatt, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – David Wheater, English footballer
    • 1988 – Katie Boland, Canadian actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1988 – Ángel Di María, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Siim Liivik, Estonian ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Asia Nitollano, American singer and dancer
    • 1989 – Néstor Calderón, Mexican footballer
    • 1989 – Adam Matuszczyk, Polish footballer
    • 1989 – Emma Miskew, Canadian curler
    • 1989 – Brandon Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Jurij Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper
    • 1989 – Kristian Thomas, English gymnast
    • 1990 – Sefa Yılmaz, German-Turkish footballer
    • 1991 – Daniela Mona Lambin, Estonian footballer
    • 1991 – Chris Rowney, English footballer
    • 1992 – Christian Eriksen, Danish footballer
    • 1992 – Freddie Highmore, English actor
    • 1996 – Lucas Hernandez, French footballer

    Deaths on February 14

    • 869 – Cyril, Greek missionary bishop (b. 827)
    • 945 – Lian Chongyu, Chinese general
    • 945 – Zhu Wenjin, Chinese emperor
    • 1009 – Bruno of Querfurt, German missionary bishop
    • 1010 – Fujiwara no Korechika, Japanese nobleman (b. 974)
    • 1140 – Leo I, Armenian prince
    • 1140 – Sobĕslav I, duke of Bohemia
    • 1164 – Sviatoslav Olgovich, Kievan prince
    • 1229 – Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, king of the Isles
    • 1317 – Margaret of France, queen of England
    • 1400 – Richard II, king of England (b. 1367)
    • 1440 – Dietrich of Oldenburg, German nobleman
    • 1489 – Nicolaus von Tüngen, prince-bishop of Warmia
    • 1528 – Edzard I, German nobleman (b. 1462)
    • 1549 – Il Sodoma, Italian painter (b. 1477)
    • 1571 – Odet de Coligny, French cardinal (b. 1517)
    • 1676 – Abraham Bosse, French engraver and illustrator (b. 1602)
    • 1714 – Maria Luisa of Savoy, queen of Spain (b. 1688)
    • 1737 – Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, English lawyer and politician Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1685)
    • 1744 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (b. 1682)
    • 1779 – James Cook, English captain, cartographer, and explorer (b. 1728)
    • 1780 – William Blackstone, English jurist and politician (b. 1723)
    • 1782 – Singu Min, Burmese king (b. 1756)
    • 1808 – John Dickinson, American lawyer and politician 5th Governor of Delaware (b. 1732)
    • 1831 – Vicente Guerrero, Mexican general and politician, 2nd President of Mexico (b. 1782)
    • 1831 – Henry Maudslay, English engineer (b. 1771)
    • 1870 – St. John Richardson Liddell, American general (b. 1815)
    • 1881 – Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (b. 1812)
    • 1884 – Lydia Hamilton Smith, African-American businesswoman (b. 1813)
    • 1885 – Jules Vallès, French journalist and author (b. 1832)
    • 1891 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (b. 1820)
    • 1894 – Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian-French mathematician and academic (b. 1814)
    • 1901 – Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1819)
    • 1910 – Giovanni Passannante, Italian anarchist (b. 1849)
    • 1922 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (b. 1880)
    • 1929 – Thomas Burke, American sprinter, coach, and lawyer (b. 1875)
    • 1930 – Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1853)
    • 1933 – Carl Correns, German botanist and geneticist (b. 1864)
    • 1942 – Adnan Saidi, Malayan lieutenant (b. 1915)
    • 1943 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (b. 1899)
    • 1943 – David Hilbert, Russian-German mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (b. 1862)
    • 1948 – Mordecai Brown, American baseball player and manager (b. 1876)
    • 1949 – Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi politician (b. 1901)
    • 1950 – Karl Guthe Jansky, American physicist and engineer (b. 1905)
    • 1952 – Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896)
    • 1958 – Abdur Rab Nishtar, Pakistani politician, 2nd Governor of Punjab (b. 1899)
    • 1959 – Baby Dodds, American drummer (b. 1898)
    • 1967 – Sig Ruman, German-American actor (b. 1884)
    • 1969 – Vito Genovese, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1897)
    • 1970 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (b. 1880)
    • 1974 – Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricketer and coach (b. 1903)
    • 1975 – Julian Huxley, English biologist and eugenicist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1887)
    • 1975 – P. G. Wodehouse, English novelist and playwright (b. 1881)
    • 1979 – Adolph Dubs, American lieutenant and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan (b. 1920)
    • 1983 – Lina Radke, German runner and coach (b. 1903)
    • 1986 – Edmund Rubbra, English composer and conductor (b. 1901)
    • 1987 – Dmitry Kabalevsky, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1904)
    • 1988 – Frederick Loewe, German-American composer (b. 1901)
    • 1989 – James Bond, American ornithologist and zoologist (b. 1900)
    • 1989 – Vincent Crane, English pianist (b. 1943)
    • 1994 – Andrei Chikatilo, Soviet serial killer (b. 1936)
    • 1994 – Christopher Lasch, American historian and critic (b. 1932)
    • 1995 – Michael V. Gazzo, American actor and playwright (b. 1923)
    • 1995 – U Nu, Burmese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Burma (b. 1907)
    • 1996 – Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (b. 1919)
    • 1999 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer and politician, 12th White House Counsel (b. 1925)
    • 1999 – Buddy Knox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
    • 2002 – Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1922)
    • 2002 – Mick Tucker, English drummer (b. 1947)
    • 2003 – Johnny Longden, English jockey and trainer (b. 1907)
    • 2004 – Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (b. 1970)
    • 2005 – Rafic Hariri, Lebanese businessman and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1944; assassinated)
    • 2006 – Lynden David Hall, English singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1974)
    • 2007 – Ryan Larkin, Canadian animator and director (b. 1943)
    • 2007 – Gareth Morris, English flute player and educator (b. 1920)
    • 2009 – Bernard Ashley, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Laura Ashley plc (b. 1926)
    • 2009 – Louie Bellson, American drummer and composer (b. 1924)
    • 2010 – Doug Fieger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
    • 2010 – Dick Francis, Welsh jockey and author (b. 1920)
    • 2010 – Linnart Mäll, Estonian historian, orientalist, and translator (b. 1938)
    • 2011 – George Shearing, English-American pianist and composer (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Mike Bernardo, South African boxer and martial artist (b. 1969)
    • 2012 – Tonmi Lillman, Finnish drummer and producer (b. 1973)
    • 2012 – Dory Previn, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Péter Rusorán, Hungarian swimmer, water polo player, and coach (b. 1940)
    • 2013 – Glenn Boyer, American historian and author (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Tom Finney, English footballer (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Chris Pearson, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of Yukon (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Mike Stepovich, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Alaska Territory (b. 1919)
    • 2015 – Louis Jourdan, French-American actor and singer (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Philip Levine, American poet and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Franjo Mihalić, Croatian-Serbian runner and coach (b. 1920)
    • 2016 – Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, English lieutenant, engineer, and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2016 – Steven Stucky, American composer and academic (b. 1949)
    • 2018 – Ruud Lubbers, Dutch politician and diplomat, Prime Minister and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (b. 1939)
    • 2018 – Morgan Tsvangirai, 2nd Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (b. 1952).

    Holidays and observances on February 14

    • Christian feast day:
      • Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Manchan
      • Valentine (Valentine’s Day)
      • February 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Statehood Day (Arizona, United States)
    • Statehood Day (Oregon, United States)
    • Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Armenian Apostolic Church)
    • Parents’ Worship Day (parts of India)

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

    • 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as a successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
    • 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.
    • 1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.
    • 1578 – Eighty Years’ War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.
    • 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
    • 1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
    • 1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
    • 1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
    • 1848 – John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
    • 1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
    • 1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
    • 1897 – Czechoslav Trade Union Association is founded in Prague.
    • 1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
    • 1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
    • 1917 – World War I: Germany announces that its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare after a two-year hiatus.
    • 1918 – A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
    • 1919 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
    • 1928 – Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
    • 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
    • 1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
    • 1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed 2 days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war’s fiercest battles.
    • 1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
    • 1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby’s Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
    • 1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
    • 1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.
    • 1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.
    • 1946 – Cold War: Yugoslavia’s new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
    • 1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par.
    • 1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.
    • 1950 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
    • 1951 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to Korean War is adopted.
    • 1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
    • 1957 – Eight people (5 total crew from 2 aircraft and 3 on the ground) in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
    • 1958 – Cold War: Space Race: The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
    • 1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
    • 1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
    • 1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
    • 1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia.
    • 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
    • 1971 – The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.
    • 1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
    • 1996 – An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
    • 2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
    • 2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
    • 2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
    • 2018 – Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
    • 2019 – Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
    • 2020 – The United Kingdom’s membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.

    Births on January 31

    • 1512 – Henry, King of Portugal (d. 1580)
    • 1543 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1616)
    • 1583 – Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan (d. 1659)
    • 1597 – John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (d. 1640)
    • 1607 – James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (d. 1651)
    • 1624 – Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher and academic (d. 1669)
    • 1673 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (d. 1716)
    • 1686 – Hans Egede, Norwegian missionary and explorer (d. 1758)
    • 1752 – Gouverneur Morris, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1816)
    • 1759 – François Devienne, French flute player and composer (d. 1803)
    • 1769 – André-Jacques Garnerin, French balloonist and the inventor of the frameless parachute (d. 1823)
    • 1785 – Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová, Czech cook book author (d. 1845)
    • 1797 – Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828)
    • 1799 – Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (d. 1846)
    • 1820 – William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)
    • 1835 – Lunalilo of Hawaii (d. 1874)
    • 1854 – David Emmanuel, Romanian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
    • 1865 – Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist (d. 1940)
    • 1865 – Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951)
    • 1868 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
    • 1872 – Zane Grey, American author (d. 1939)
    • 1881 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
    • 1884 – Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1963)
    • 1884 – Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician, 1st President of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (d. 1955)
    • 1889 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
    • 1892 – Eddie Cantor, American singer-songwriter, actor, and dancer (d. 1964)
    • 1894 – Isham Jones, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1956)
    • 1896 – Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1966)
    • 1900 – Betty Parsons, American artist, art dealer and collector (d. 1982)
    • 1902 – Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded White Spot (d. 1978)
    • 1902 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
    • 1902 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
    • 1902 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (d. 1972)
    • 1905 – John O’Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970)
    • 1909 – Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist (d. 1995)
    • 1913 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
    • 1914 – Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer and police officer (d. 1994)
    • 1915 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpet player and cornet player (d. 1976)
    • 1915 – Alan Lomax, American historian, author, and scholar (d. 2002)
    • 1915 – Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)
    • 1915 – Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)
    • 1916 – Frank Parker, American tennis player (d. 1997)
    • 1917 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (d. 2013)
    • 1919 – Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1972)
    • 1920 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2010)
    • 1920 – Bert Williams, English footballer (d. 2004)
    • 1921 – John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2019)
    • 1921 – E. Fay Jones, American architect, designed the Thorncrown Chapel (d. 2004)
    • 1921 – Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor (d. 1959)
    • 1922 – Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
    • 1923 – Norman Mailer, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
    • 1925 – Benjamin Hooks, American minister, lawyer, and activist (d. 2010)
    • 1926 – Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)
    • 1926 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (d. 1958)
    • 1927 – Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation Studios (d. 2005)
    • 1928 – Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
    • 1929 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1930 – Joakim Bonnier, Swedish race car driver (d. 1972)
    • 1930 – Al De Lory, American composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Miron Babiak, Polish sea captain (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1997)
    • 1933 – Morton Mower, American cardiologist and inventor
    • 1934 – Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver
    • 1934 – Gene DeWeese, American author (d. 2012)
    • 1934 – James Franciscus, American actor and producer (d. 1991)
    • 1934 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
    • 1935 – Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1936 – Can Bartu, Turkish former basketball and football player
    • 1937 – Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor
    • 1937 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 2007)
    • 1937 – Philip Glass, American composer
    • 1937 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
    • 1938 – Beatrix of the Netherlands
    • 1938 – Lynn Carlin, American actress
    • 1938 – James G. Watt, American lawyer and politician, 43rd United States Secretary of the Interior
    • 1940 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (d. 1998)
    • 1940 – Stuart Margolin, American actor and director
    • 1941 – Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician
    • 1941 – Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Jessica Walter, American actress
    • 1942 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
    • 1942 – Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author (d. 1994)
    • 1944 – John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1945 – Rynn Berry, American historian and author (d. 2014)
    • 1945 – Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, English lawyer, judge, and academic
    • 1945 – Joseph Kosuth, American sculptor and theorist
    • 1946 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (Chicago) (d. 1978)
    • 1946 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
    • 1947 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
    • 1947 – Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Glynn Turman, American actor
    • 1948 – Volkmar Groß, German footballer (d. 2014)
    • 1948 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
    • 1949 – Johan Derksen, Dutch footballer and journalist
    • 1949 – Norris Church Mailer, American model and educator (d. 2010)
    • 1949 – Ken Wilber, American sociologist, philosopher, and author
    • 1950 – Denise Fleming, American author and illustrator
    • 1950 – Alexander Korzhakov, Russian general and bodyguard
    • 1950 – Janice Rebibo, American-Israeli author and poet (d. 2015)
    • 1951 – Harry Wayne Casey, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1954 – Faoud Bacchus, Guyanese cricketer
    • 1954 – Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist and songwriter
    • 1955 – Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player and manager
    • 1956 – Guido van Rossum, Dutch programmer, creator of the Python programming language
    • 1956 – John Lydon, English singer-songwriter
    • 1957 – Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer
    • 1958 – Armin Reichel, German footballer and manager
    • 1959 – Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor and producer
    • 1959 – Kelly Lynch, American model and actress
    • 1960 – Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalist and author
    • 1960 – Grant Morrison, Scottish author and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (d. 2014)
    • 1961 – Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician
    • 1961 – Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge
    • 1961 – Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1963 – Craig Coleman, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1963 – Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician
    • 1964 – Martha MacCallum, American journalist
    • 1964 – Dawn Prince-Hughes, American scientist
    • 1965 – Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player and coach
    • 1965 – Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist
    • 1965 – Peter Sagal, American author and radio host
    • 1966 – Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist
    • 1966 – Thant Myint-U, Myanmar historian, diplomat, conservationist, and former presidential advisor.
    • 1966 – Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director
    • 1967 – Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
    • 1968 – John Collins, Scottish footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1968 – Matt King, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician, 2nd Swedish Minister for Infrastructure
    • 1968 – Patrick Stevens, Belgian sprinter
    • 1969 – Dov Charney, Canadian-American fashion designer and businessman, founded American Apparel
    • 1969 – Daniel Moder, American cinematographer
    • 1970 – Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1970 – Danny Michel, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1971 – Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan model and actress
    • 1973 – Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress
    • 1974 – Othella Harrington, American basketball player and coach
    • 1974 – Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
    • 1975 – Fred Coleman, American football player and coach
    • 1975 – Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, and television host
    • 1976 – Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer and manager
    • 1976 – Buddy Rice, American race car driver
    • 1976 – Paul Scheer, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1977 – Suchitra Singh, Indian cricketer
    • 1977 – Kerry Washington, American actress
    • 1978 – Fabián Caballero, Argentinian footballer and manager
    • 1979 – Daniel Tammet, English author and educator
    • 1980 – James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
    • 1980 – Gary Doherty, Irish footballer, centre forward
    • 1980 – Shim Yi-young, South Korean actress
    • 1981 – Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
    • 1981 – Mark Cameron, Australian cricketer
    • 1981 – Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
    • 1982 – Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player
    • 1982 – Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player
    • 1982 – Andreas Görlitz, German footballer
    • 1982 – Salvatore Masiello, Italian footballer
    • 1982 – Allan McGregor, Scottish footballer
    • 1982 – Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Yukimi Nagano, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1982 – Brad Thompson, American baseball player
    • 1983 – James Sutton, English actor
    • 1983 – Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Vernon Davis, American football player
    • 1984 – Josh Johnson, Canadian-American baseball player
    • 1984 – Jeremy Wariner, American runner
    • 1984 – Alessandro Zanni, Italian rugby player
    • 1985 – Adam Federici, Australian footballer
    • 1985 – Mario Williams, American football player
    • 1986 – Walter Dix, American sprinter
    • 1986 – Megan Ellison, American film producer, founded Annapurna Pictures
    • 1986 – George Elokobi, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1986 – Yves Ma-Kalambay, Belgian footballer
    • 1986 – Pauline Parmentier, French tennis player
    • 1987 – Marcus Mumford, American-English singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Brett Pitman, English footballer
    • 1988 – Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer
    • 1990 – Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer
    • 1990 – Jacob Markström, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Kota Yabu, Japanese idol, singer-songwriter, model, actor

    Deaths on January 31

    • 632 – Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint (b. 550)
    • 876 – Hemma of Altdorf, Frankish queen
    • 985 – Ryōgen, Japanese monk and abbot (b. 912)
    • 1030 – William V, duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
    • 1216 – Theodore II, patriarch of Constantinople
    • 1398 – Sukō, emperor of Japan (b. 1334)
    • 1418 – Mircea I, prince of Wallachia (b. 1355)
    • 1435 – Xuande, emperor of China (b. 1398)
    • 1561 – Bairam Khan, Mughalan general (b. 1501)
    • 1561 – Menno Simons, Dutch minister and theologian (b. 1496)
    • 1580 – Henry, king of Portugal (b. 1512)
    • 1606 – Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570)
    • 1606 – Ambrose Rookwood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1578)
    • 1606 – Thomas Wintour, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1571)
    • 1615 – Claudio Acquaviva, Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1543)
    • 1632 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
    • 1665 – Johannes Clauberg, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1622)
    • 1686 – Jean Mairet, French playwright (b. 1604)
    • 1720 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1654)
    • 1729 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
    • 1736 – Filippo Juvarra, Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga (b. 1678)
    • 1790 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-born American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1718)
    • 1794 – Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1711)
    • 1811 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (b. 1763)
    • 1815 – José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan soldier (b. 1775)
    • 1828 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek general (b. 1792)
    • 1836 – John Cheyne, English physician and author (b. 1777)
    • 1844 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)
    • 1856 – 11th Dalai Lama (b. 1838)
    • 1870 – Cilibi Moise, Moldavian-Romanian journalist and author (b. 1812)
    • 1888 – John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
    • 1892 – Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (b. 1834)
    • 1900 – John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman (b. 1844)
    • 1907 – Timothy Eaton, Canadian businessman, founded Eaton’s (b. 1834)
    • 1923 – Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (b. 1869)
    • 1933 – John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
    • 1942 – Henry Larkin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
    • 1944 – Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (b. 1882)
    • 1954 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (b. 1890)
    • 1954 – Vivian Woodward, English captain and footballer (b. 1879)
    • 1955 – John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
    • 1956 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (b. 1882)
    • 1958 – Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1898)
    • 1960 – Auguste Herbin, French painter (b. 1882)
    • 1961 – Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
    • 1966 – Arthur Percival, English general (b. 1887)
    • 1967 – Eddie Tolan, American sprinter and educator (b. 1908)
    • 1969 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)
    • 1971 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist (b. 1891)
    • 1973 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
    • 1974 – Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882)
    • 1976 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal (b. 1941)
    • 1976 – Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (b. 1890)
    • 1985 – Reginald Baker, English-Australian film producer (b. 1896)
    • 1985 – Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese author (b. 1905)
    • 1987 – Yves Allégret, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 1989 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (b. 1896)
    • 1990 – Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German zoologist and academic (b. 1901)
    • 1990 – Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1935)
    • 1995 – George Abbott, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1887)
    • 1997 – John Joseph Scanlan, Irish-American bishop (b. 1930)
    • 1999 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (b. 1938)
    • 1999 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)
    • 2000 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 2001 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (b. 1923)
    • 2002 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (b. 1919)
    • 2004 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (b. 1913)
    • 2004 – Suraiya, Indian actress and playback singer (b. 1929)
    • 2006 – Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (b. 1944)
    • 2007 – Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – František Čapek, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet (b. 1921)
    • 2011 – Mark Ryan, English guitarist and playwright (b. 1959)
    • 2012 – Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Tristram Potter Coffin, American author, scholar, and academic (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter and sculptor (b. 1910)
    • 2013 – Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Francis M. Fesmire, American cardiologist and physician (b. 1959)
    • 2014 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Christopher Jones, American actor (b. 1941)
    • 2015 – Vic Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, coach, and journalist (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Lizabeth Scott, American actress (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German captain and politician, 6th President of Germany (b. 1920)
    • 2016 – Gil Carmichael, American businessman and politician (b. 1927)
    • 2016 – Terry Wogan, Irish-British radio and television host (b. 1938)
    • 2017 – Rob Stewart, Canadian filmmaker (b. 1979)
    • 2018 – Rasual Butler, American professional basketball player (b. 1979)
    • 2018 – Leah LaBelle, American singer (b. 1986)

    Holidays and observances on January 31

    • Christian feast day:
      • Domitius (Domice) of Amiens
      • Francis Xavier Bianchi
      • Geminianus
      • John Bosco
      • Julius of Novara
      • Blessed Ludovica
      • Máedóc (Mogue, Aiden)
      • Marcella
      • Samuel Shoemaker (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Tysul
      • Ulphia
      • Wilgils
      • January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Amartithi (Meherabad, India, followers of Meher Baba)
    • Independence Day (Nauru), celebrates independence from Australia in 1968.
    • Street Children’s Day (Austria)

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

    • 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
    • 1205 – Philip of Swabia undergoes a second coronation as King of the Romans.
    • 1322 – Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. His son is crowned “young king” in the same ceremony.
    • 1355 – Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.
    • 1449 – Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras.
    • 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
    • 1536 – The first European school of higher learning in the Americas, Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, is founded by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in Mexico City.
    • 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
    • 1579 – The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma (Ottavio Farnese), governor in the name of King Philip II of Spain.
    • 1641 – Arauco War: The first Parliament of Quillín is celebrated, putting a temporary hold on hostilities between Mapuches and Spanish in Chile.
    • 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. The revolt is suppressed after a few days.
    • 1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings, revealing details of fraud among company directors and corrupt politicians.
    • 1781 – In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
    • 1809 – Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars.
    • 1838 – Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
    • 1839 – The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
    • 1847 – Samuel Colt obtains his first contract for the sale of revolver pistols to the United States government.
    • 1870 – The inauguration of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.
    • 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
    • 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working-class children in Rome, Italy.
    • 1912 – New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
    • 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.
    • 1929 – King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country’s constitution (the January 6th Dictatorship).
    • 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India’s poorest and sick people.
    • 1930 – The first diesel-powered automobile trip is completed, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York, New York.
    • 1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
    • 1946 – The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
    • 1947 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
    • 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.
    • 1951 – Korean War: Beginning of the Ganghwa massacre, in the course of which an estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered.
    • 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami.
    • 1960 – The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties
    • 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
    • 1974 – In response to the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
    • 1989 – Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
    • 1992 – President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
    • 1993 – Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
    • 1994 – American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding’s ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that they were both taking part in.
    • 1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
    • 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
    • 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
    • 2012 – Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
    • 2017 – Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
    • 2019 – Forty people are killed in a gold mine collapse in northern Afghanistan.

    Births on January 6

    • 1256 – Gertrude the Great, German mystic (d. 1302)
    • 1367 – Richard II of England (d. 1400)
    • 1384 – Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (d. 1408)
    • 1412 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (d. 1431)
    • 1486 – Martin Agricola, German composer and theorist (d. 1556)
    • 1488 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)
    • 1493 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (d. 1552)
    • 1500 – John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1569)
    • 1525 – Caspar Peucer, German physician and scholar (d. 1602)
    • 1538 – Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (d. 1612)
    • 1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (d. 1656)
    • 1587 – Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (d. 1645)
    • 1595 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French educator and courtier (d. 1650)
    • 1617 – Christoffer Gabel, Danish politician (d. 1673)
    • 1632 – Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Scottish peeress (d. 1716)
    • 1655 – Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (d. 1720)
    • 1673 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire (d. 1744)
    • 1695 – Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian oboe player and composer (d. 1750)
    • 1702 – José de Nebra, Spanish composer (d. 1768)
    • 1714 – Percivall Pott, English surgeon (d. 1788)
    • 1745 – Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French co-inventor of the hot air balloon (d. 1799)
    • 1766 – José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan lawyer and politician, first dictator of Paraguay (d. 1840)
    • 1785 – Andreas Moustoxydis, Greek historian and philologist (d. 1860)
    • 1793 – James Madison Porter, American lawyer and politician, 18th United States Secretary of War (d. 1862)
    • 1795 – Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (d. 1871)
    • 1799 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (d. 1831)
    • 1803 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1888)
    • 1807 – Joseph Petzval, German-Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1891)
    • 1808 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American conchologist and paleontologist (d. 1864)
    • 1811 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (d. 1874)
    • 1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist and businessman (d. 1890)
    • 1832 – Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
    • 1838 – Max Bruch, German composer and conductor (d. 1920)
    • 1842 – Clarence King, American geologist, mountaineer, and critic (d. 1901)
    • 1856 – Giuseppe Martucci, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1909)
    • 1857 – Hugh Mahon, Irish-Australian publisher and politician, 10th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1931)
    • 1857 – William Russell, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
    • 1859 – Samuel Alexander, Australian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1938)
    • 1861 – Victor Horta, Belgian architect, designed Hôtel van Eetvelde (d. 1947)
    • 1861 – George Lloyd, English-Canadian bishop and theologian (d. 1940)
    • 1870 – Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
    • 1872 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1915)
    • 1874 – Fred Niblo, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1948)
    • 1878 – Adeline Genée, Danish-born British ballerina (d. 1970)
    • 1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
    • 1880 – Tom Mix, American cowboy and actor (d. 1940)
    • 1881 – Ion Minulescu, Romanian author, poet, and critic (d. 1944)
    • 1882 – Fan S. Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1965)
    • 1882 – Sam Rayburn, American lawyer and politician, 48th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1961)
    • 1883 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (d. 1931)
    • 1898 – James Fitzmaurice, Irish soldier and pilot (d. 1965)
    • 1899 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (d. 1968)
    • 1900 – Maria of Yugoslavia, Queen of Yugoslavia from 1922 to 1934 (d. 1961)
    • 1903 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-American pianist and conductor (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (d. 1998)
    • 1910 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (d. 1989)
    • 1912 – Jacques Ellul, French philosopher and critic (d. 1994)
    • 1912 – Danny Thomas, American actor, comedian, producer and humanitarian (d. 1991)
    • 1913 – Edward Gierek, Polish lawyer and politician (d. 2001)
    • 1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Godfrey Edward Arnold, Austrian-American physician and academic (d. 1989)
    • 1915 – Don Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1915 – John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst, physician, and philosopher (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Alan Watts, English-American philosopher and author (d. 1973)
    • 1916 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (d. 1978)
    • 1917 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader; founder of the Unification Church (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Early Wynn, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Marianne Grunberg-Manago, Russian-French biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Cary Middlecoff, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1998)
    • 1923 – Vladimir Kazantsev, Russian runner (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1974)
    • 1923 – Jacobo Timerman, Argentinian journalist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1924 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean soldier and politician, 8th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
    • 1924 – Earl Scruggs, American banjo player (d. 2012)
    • 1925 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
    • 1927 – Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Capucine, French actress and model (d. 1990)
    • 1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Graeme Hole, Australian cricketer (d. 1990)
    • 1931 – Dickie Moore, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Stuart A. Rice, American chemist and academic
    • 1933 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2003)
    • 1934 – Sylvia Syms, English actress
    • 1935 – Nino Tempo, American musician, singer, and actor
    • 1936 – Darlene Hard, American tennis player
    • 1936 – Julio María Sanguinetti, Uruguayan journalist, lawyer and politician, 29th President of Uruguay
    • 1937 – Ludvík Daněk, Czech discus thrower (d. 1998)
    • 1937 – Lou Holtz, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1937 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1938 – Adriano Celentano, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and director
    • 1938 – Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist and academic
    • 1938 – Larisa Shepitko, Soviet film director, screenwriter, and actress (d. 1979)
    • 1939 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2002)
    • 1939 – Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and sportscaster (d. 2012)
    • 1940 – Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1979)
    • 1943 – Terry Venables, English footballer and manager
    • 1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Alan Stivell, French singer-songwriter and harp player
    • 1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1945 – Barry John, Welsh rugby player
    • 1946 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
    • 1947 – Sandy Denny, English folk-rock singer-songwriter (d 1978)
    • 1948 – Guy Gardner, American colonel and astronaut
    • 1948 – Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1949 – Mike Boit, Kenyan runner and academic (estimated date)
    • 1949 – Carolyn D. Wright, American poet and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1950 – Louis Freeh, American lawyer and jurist, 10th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
    • 1951 – Don Gullett, American baseball player and coach
    • 1951 – Kim Wilson, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
    • 1953 – Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1954 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Elizabeth Strout, American novelist and short story writer
    • 1956 – Justin Welby, English archbishop
    • 1956 – Clive Woodward, English rugby player and coach
    • 1957 – Michael Foale, British-American astrophysicist and astronaut
    • 1957 – Nancy Lopez, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
    • 1960 – Paul Azinger, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and author
    • 1960 – Howie Long, American football player and sports commentator
    • 1961 – Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross racer (d. 2012)
    • 1961 – Peter Whittle, British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster
    • 1963 – Norm Charlton, American baseball player and coach
    • 1963 – Paul Kipkoech, Kenyan runner (d. 1995)
    • 1964 – Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler and manager
    • 1965 – Bjørn Lomborg, Danish author and academic
    • 1966 – Sharon Cuneta, Filipino singer and actress
    • 1966 – Attilio Lombardo, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1967 – A. R. Rahman, Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist
    • 1968 – John Singleton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
    • 1969 – Norman Reedus, American actor and model
    • 1970 – Julie Chen, American television journalist, presenter, and producer
    • 1970 – Radoslav Látal, Czech footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Vasso Karantasiou, Greek beach volleyball player
    • 1976 – Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player
    • 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
    • 1984 – Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian
    • 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer
    • 1986 – Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
    • 1989 – Andy Carroll, English footballer
    • 1991 – Will Barton, American basketball player
    • 1994 – Lim Jae-beom, South Korean singer and actor (Got7)

    Deaths on January 6

    • 786 – Abo of Tiflis, Iraqi martyr and saint (b. 756)
    • 1088 – Berengar of Tours, French scholar and theologian (b. 999)
    • 1148 – Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1100)
    • 1233 – Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon, Anglo-Norman noblewoman (b. 1171)
    • 1275 – Raymond of Penyafort, Catalan archbishop and saint (b. 1175)
    • 1350 – Giovanni I di Murta, second doge of the Republic of Genoa
    • 1358 – Gertrude van der Oosten, Beguine mystic
    • 1406 – Roger Walden, English bishop
    • 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1418)
    • 1477 – Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme
    • 1481 – Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Mongolian ruler
    • 1537 – Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
    • 1537 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter, designed the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (b. 1481)
    • 1616 – Philip Henslowe, English impresario (b. 1550)
    • 1646 – Elias Holl, German architect, designed the Augsburg Town Hall (b. 1573)
    • 1689 – Seth Ward, English bishop, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1617)
    • 1693 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (b. 1642)
    • 1711 – Philips van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)
    • 1718 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (b. 1664)
    • 1725 – Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese actor and playwright (b. 1653)
    • 1731 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (b. 1672)
    • 1734 – John Dennis, English playwright and critic (b. 1657)
    • 1813 – Louis Baraguey d’Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)
    • 1829 – Josef Dobrovský, Czech philologist and historian (b. 1753)
    • 1831 – Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1766)
    • 1840 – Frances Burney, English author and playwright (b. 1752)
    • 1852 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (b. 1809)
    • 1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian jurist, explorer, and author (b. 1779)
    • 1882 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1815)
    • 1884 – Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist and botanist (b. 1822)
    • 1885 – Bharatendu Harishchandra, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1850)
    • 1896 – Thomas W. Knox, American journalist and author (b. 1835)
    • 1902 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (b. 1830)
    • 1913 – Frederick Hitch, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1856)
    • 1917 – Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (b. 1834)
    • 1918 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician and philosopher (b. 1845)
    • 1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
    • 1921 – Devil Anse Hatfield, American guerrilla leader (b. 1839)
    • 1922 – Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician and chess player (b. 1842)
    • 1928 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and long jumper (b. 1876)
    • 1933 – Vladimir de Pachmann, Ukrainian-German pianist (b. 1848)
    • 1934 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (b. 1878)
    • 1937 – André Bessette, Canadian saint (b. 1845)
    • 1939 – Gustavs Zemgals, Latvian journalist and politician, 2nd President of Latvia (b. 1871)
    • 1941 – Charley O’Leary, American baseball player and coach (b. 1882)
    • 1942 – Emma Calvé, French soprano and actress (b. 1858)
    • 1942 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman, 3rd President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1876)
    • 1944 – Jacques Rosenbaum, Estonian-German architect (b. 1878)
    • 1944 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist, reformer, and educator (b. 1857)
    • 1945 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (b. 1863)
    • 1949 – Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1883)
    • 1966 – Jean Lurçat, French painter (b. 1892)
    • 1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1901)
    • 1974 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (b. 1896)
    • 1978 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
    • 1981 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish physician and author (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (b. 1898)
    • 1990 – Ian Charleson, Scottish-English actor (b. 1949)
    • 1990 – Pavel Cherenkov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (b. 1917)
    • 1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (b. 1938)
    • 1995 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
    • 1999 – Michel Petrucciani, French-American pianist (b. 1962)2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
    • 2004 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
    • 2004 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Eileen Desmond, Irish civil servant and politician, 12th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1932)
    • 2005 – Lois Hole, Canadian academic and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (b. 1929)
    • 2005 – Tarquinio Provini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1933)
    • 2005 – Louis Robichaud, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
    • 2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, American political scientist, historian, and academic (b. 1912)
    • 2008 – Shmuel Berenbaum, Rabbi of Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)
    • 2009 – Ron Asheton, American guitarist, songwriter, and actor (probable; b. 1948)
    • 2011 – Uche Okafor, Nigerian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1967)
    • 2012 – Bob Holness, South African-English radio and television host (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Spike Pola, Australian footballer and soldier (b. 1914)
    • 2013 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Ruth Carter Stevenson, American art collector, founded the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Gerard Helders, Dutch jurist and politician (b. 1905)
    • 2013 – Cho Sung-min, South Korean baseball player (b. 1973)
    • 2014 – Marina Ginestà, French Resistance soldier and photographer (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
    • 2014 – Julian Rotter, American psychologist and academic (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Basil John Mason, English meteorologist and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Florence King, American journalist and author (b. 1936)
    • 2016 – Christy O’Connor Jnr, Irish golfer and architect (b. 1948)
    • 2016 – Silvana Pampanini, Italian model, actress, and director, Miss Italy 1946 (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Octavio Lepage, Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Om Puri, Indian actor (b. 1950)
    • 2019 – José Ramón Fernández, Cuban revolution leader (b. 1923)
    • 2019 – Lamin Sanneh, Gambian-born American professor (b. 1942)
    • 2019 – W. Morgan Sheppard, British actor (b. 1932)
    • 2019 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (b. 1917)

    Holidays and observances on January 6

    • Armed Forces Day (Iraq)
    • Christian Feast day:
      • André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)
      • January 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day (Western Christianity) or Theophany (Eastern Christianity), and its related observances:
      • Befana Day (Italy)
      • Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church)
      • Christmas Eve (Russia)
      • Christmas Eve (Ukraine)
      • Christmas Eve (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
      • Christmas Eve (North Macedonia)
      • Little Christmas (Ireland)
      • Þrettándinn (Iceland)
      • Three Wise Men Day
    • Pathet Lao Day (Laos)

  • 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)