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April 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

753 BC – Romulus founds Rome (traditional date).
43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.
900 – The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (the earliest known written document found in what is now the Philippines): the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom of Tondo, as represented by the Honourable Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pailah, pardons from all debt the Honourable Namwaran and his relations.
1092 – The Diocese of Pisa is elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Urban II
1506 – The three-day Lisbon Massacre comes to an end with the slaughter of over 1,900 suspected Jews by Portuguese Catholics.
1509 – Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.
1526 – The last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.
1615 – The Wignacourt Aqueduct is inaugurated in Malta.
1782 – The city of Rattanakosin, now known internationally as Bangkok, is founded on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
1789 – George Washington’s reception at Trenton is hosted by the Ladies of Trenton as he journeys to New York City for his first inauguration.
1792 – Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil’s independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.
1802 – Twelve thousand Wahhabis under Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad, invaded city of Karbala, killed over three thousand inhabitants, and sacked the city.
1806 – Action of 21 April 1806: A French frigate escapes British forces off the coast of South Africa.
1809 – Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl.
1821 – Benderli Ali Pasha arrives in Constantinople as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire; he remains in power for only nine days before being sent into exile.
1836 – Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1856 – Australian labour movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day.
1894 – Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.
1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.
1914 – Ypiranga incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the U.S. Navy near Veracruz.
1918 – World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as “The Red Baron”, is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.
1926 – Al-Baqi cemetery, former site of the mausoleum of four Shi’a Imams, is leveled to the ground by Wahhabis.
1934 – The “Surgeon’s Photograph”, the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1999, it is revealed to be a hoax).
1945 – World War II: Soviet forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.
1948 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 relating to Kashmir conflict is adopted.
1952 – Secretary’s Day (now Administrative Professionals’ Day) is first celebrated.
1958 – United Airlines Flight 736 collides into a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada.
1960 – Brasília, Brazil’s capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.
1962 – The Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World’s Fair in the United States since World War II.
1963 – The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Bahá’í Faith.
1964 – A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, 2.1 pounds (0.95 kg) of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.
1965 – The 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair opens for its second and final season.
1966 – Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.
1967 – A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d’état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.
1975 – Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
1977 – Annie opens on Broadway.
1982 – Baseball: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher to record 300 saves.
1985 – The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege.
1987 – The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.
1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
1993 – The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis García Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution.
2004 – Five suicide car bombers target police stations in and around Basra, killing 74 people and wounding 160.
2010 – The controversial Kharkiv Pact (Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas Treaty) is signed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev; it was unilaterally terminated by Russia on March 31, 2014.
2012 – Two trains are involved in a head-on collision near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, injuring 116 people.
2014 – The American city of Flint, Michigan switches its water source to the Flint River, beginning the ongoing Flint water crisis which has caused lead poisoning in up to 12,000 people, and 15 deaths from Legionnaires disease, ultimately leading to criminal indictments against 15 people, five of whom have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
2019 – Eight bombs explode at churches, hotels, and other locations in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday; more than 200 people are killed.

Births on April 21

1132 – Sancho VI, king of Navarre (d. 1194)
1488 – Ulrich von Hutten, German religious reformer (d. 1523)
1523 – Marco Antonio Bragadin, Venetian lawyer and military officer (d. 1571)
1555 – Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter and etcher (d. 1619)
1619 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch founder of Cape Town (d. 1677)
1630 – Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten, Dutch-English painter (d. 1700)
1631 – Francesco Maidalchini, Catholic cardinal (d. 1700)
1642 – Simon de la Loubère, French mathematician, poet, and diplomat (d. 1729)
1651 – Joseph Vaz, Sri Lankan priest, missionary, and saint (d. 1711)
1652 – Michel Rolle, French mathematician and academic (d. 1719)
1671 – John Law, Scottish economist (d. 1729)
1673 – Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1742)
1713 – Louis de Noailles, French general (d. 1793)
1730 – Antonín Kammel, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1788)
1752 – Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait, French engineer, hydrographer, and politician, French Minister of Marine and the Colonies (d. 1807)
1752 – Humphry Repton, English gardener and author (d. 1818)
1774 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1862)
1775 – Alexander Anderson, Scottish-American illustrator and engraver (d. 1870)
1790 – Manuel Blanco Encalada, Spanish-Chilean admiral and politician, 1st President of Chile (d. 1876)
1810 – John Putnam Chapin, American politician, 10th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1864)
1811 – Alson Sherman, American merchant and politician, 8th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1903)
1814 – Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, English art collector and philanthropist (d. 1906)
1816 – Charlotte Brontë, Cornish-English novelist and poet (d. 1855)
1837 – Fredrik Bajer, Danish lieutenant and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1922)
1838 – John Muir, Scottish-American environmentalist and author (d. 1914)
1851 – Charles Barrois, French geologist and palaeontologist (d. 1939)
1854 – William Stang, German-American bishop (d. 1907)
1864 – Max Weber, German economist and sociologist (d. 1920)
1868 – Alfred Henry Maurer, American painter (d. 1932)
1870 – Edwin Stanton Porter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1941)
1874 – Vincent Scotto, French actor and composer (d. 1952)
1882 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
1885 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (d. 1967)
1887 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball manager (d. 1978)
1889 – Marcel Boussac, French businessman (d. 1980)
1889 – Paul Karrer, Russian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
1889 – Efrem Zimbalist, Sr., Russian-American violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1985)
1892 – Freddie Dixon, English motorcycle racer and racing driver (d. 1956)
1893 – Romeo Bertini, Italian runner (d. 1973)
1898 – Maurice Wilson, English soldier, pilot, and mountaineer (d. 1934)
1899 – Randall Thompson, American composer and academic (d. 1984)
1903 – Luis Saslavsky, Argentinian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1995)
1904 – Jean Hélion, French painter (d. 1987)
1904 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (d. 1945)
1905 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (d. 1996)
1911 – Ivan Combe, American businessman, developed Clearasil (d. 2000)
1911 – Kemal Satır, Turkish physician and politician (d. 1991)
1912 – Eve Arnold, Russian-American photojournalist (d. 2012)
1912 – Marcel Camus, French director and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1913 – Norman Parkinson, English photographer (d. 1990)
1914 – Angelo Savoldi, Italian-American wrestler and promoter, co-founded International World Class Championship Wrestling (d. 2013)
1915 – Garrett Hardin, American ecologist, author, and academic (d. 2003)
1915 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican-American actor (d. 2001)
1916 – Estella B. Diggs, American businesswoman and politician (d. 2013)
1918 – Eddy Christiani, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
1919 – Don Cornell, American singer (d. 2004)
1919 – Roger Doucet, Canadian tenor (d. 1981)
1919 – Licio Gelli, Italian financer (d. 2015)
1920 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (d. 1991)
1922 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist and screenwriter (d. 1987)
1922 – Allan Watkins, Welsh-English cricketer (d. 2011)
1923 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (d. 2009)
1924 – Ira Louvin, American singer-songwriter and mandolin player (d. 1965)
1925 – Anthony Mason, Australian soldier and judge, 9th Chief Justice of Australia
1925 – John Swinton of Kimmerghame, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire (d. 2018)
1926 – Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and her other realms
1926 – Arthur Rowley, English footballer, manager and cricketer (d. 2002)
1927 – Ahmed Arif, Turkish poet and author (d. 1991)
1928 – Jack Evans, Welsh-Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1996)
1930 – Hilda Hilst, Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (d. 2004)
1930 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (d. 1989)
1930 – Dieter Roth, German-Swiss illustrator and sculptor (d. 1998)
1930 – Jack Taylor, English footballer and referee (d. 2012)
1931 – Morgan Wootten, American high school basketball coach (d. 2020)
1932 – Slide Hampton, African-American trombonist and composer
1932 – Elaine May, American actress, comedian, director, and screenwriter
1932 – Angela Mortimer, English tennis player
1933 – Edelmiro Amante, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1933 – Easley Blackwood, Jr., American pianist, composer, and educator
1933 – Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi patriarch (d. 2014)
1935 – Charles Grodin, American actor and talk show host
1935 – Thomas Kean, American academic and politician, 48th Governor of New Jersey
1936 – James Dobson, American evangelist, psychologist, and author, founded Focus on the Family
1936 – Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2009)
1937 – Gary Peters, American baseball player
1937 – Ben Zinn, Israeli-born American academic and former international soccer player
1939 – John McCabe, English pianist and composer (d. 2015)
1939 – Sister Helen Prejean, American nun, activist, and author
1939 – Reni Santoni, American actor
1940 – Jacques Caron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1940 – Souleymane Cissé, Malian director, producer, and screenwriter
1941 – David L. Boren, American lawyer and politician, 21st Governor of Oklahoma
1942 – Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand politician, 33rd Prime Minister of New Zealand
1945 – Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Indian cricketer and umpire
1945 – Mark Wainberg, Canadian researcher and HIV/AIDS activist (d. 2017)
1945 – Diana Darvey, English actress, singer and dancer (d. 2000)
1947 – Al Bumbry, American baseball player
1947 – Iggy Pop, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1947 – John Weider, English bass player
1948 – Gary Condit, American businessman and politician
1948 – Paul Davis, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2008)
1948 – Josef Flammer, Swiss ophthalmologist
1948 – Dieter Fromm, German runner
1949 – Patti LuPone, American actress and singer
1950 – Shivaji Satam, Indian actor
1951 – Tony Danza, American actor and producer
1951 – Michael Freedman, American mathematician and academic
1951 – Bob Varsha, American sportscaster
1951 – Steve Vickers, Canadian ice hockey player
1952 – Gerald Early, American author and academic
1952 – Cheryl Gillan, British businesswoman and politician, Secretary of State for Wales
1953 – John Brumby, Australian politician, 45th Premier of Victoria
1954 – Ebiet G. Ade, Indonesian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – James Morrison, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1955 – Murathan Mungan, Turkish author, poet, and playwright
1955 – Doug Soetaert, Canadian ice hockey player
1956 – Peter Kosminsky, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1956 – Phillip Longman, German-American demographer and journalist
1957 – Hervé Le Tellier, French linguist and author
1957 – Jesse Orosco, American baseball player
1957 – Herbert Wetterauer, German painter, sculptor, and author
1958 – Andie MacDowell, American model, actress, and producer
1958 – Yoshito Usui, Japanese illustrator (d. 2009)
1958 – Michael Zarnock, American author
1959 – Tim Jacobus, American illustrator and painter
1959 – Olga Kuragina, Russian pentathlete
1959 – Arno Pijpers, Dutch footballer and coach
1959 – Robert Smith, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Michel Goulet, Canadian ice hockey player and scout
1960 – Julius Korir, Kenyan runner
1961 – Cathy Cavadini, American voice actress
1961 – Carey Hayes, American screenwriter and producer
1961 – Chad Hayes, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Neale Marmon, English-German footballer, coach, and manager
1961 – David Servan-Schreiber, French physician, neuroscientist, and author (d. 2011)
1962 – Les Lancaster, American baseball player and coach
1962 – Craig Robinson, American basketball player and coach
1962 – Aavo Sarap, Estonian footballer and coach
1963 – Ken Caminiti, American baseball player (d. 2004)
1963 – Roy Dupuis, Canadian actor
1963 – John Cameron Mitchell, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1964 – Alex Baumann, Czech-Canadian swimmer
1964 – Ludmila Engquist, Russian-Swedish hurdler
1965 – Ed Belfour, Canadian ice hockey player
1965 – Karen Foster, American model and actress
1965 – Gary Grant, American basketball player
1965 – Thomas Helmer, German footballer
1965 – Fiona Kelleghan, American academic, critic and librarian
1967 – Emilio Valle, Cuban hurdler
1968 – Peter van Vossen, Dutch footballer and coach
1969 – John Kibowen, Kenyan runner
1969 – Toby Stephens, English actor
1970 – Jeff Anderson, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1970 – Glen Hansard, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1970 – Rob Riggle, American actor and comedian
1970 – Nicole Sullivan, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
1971 – Axl Rotten, American wrestler (d. 2016)
1971 – Michael Turner, American author and illustrator (d. 2008)
1972 – Richard Chelimo, Kenyan runner (d. 2001)
1972 – Gwendal Peizerat, French ice dancer
1973 – Steve Backshall, English naturalist, writer, and television presenter
1973 – Jonathan Nsenga, Belgian hurdler and coach
1974 – Maksim Gruznov, Estonian footballer
1974 – Orlando Jordan, American wrestler
1974 – David Peachey, Australian rugby league player
1975 – Danyon Loader, New Zealand swimmer
1976 – Rommel Adducul, Filipino basketball player
1976 – Petero Civoniceva, Fijian-Australian rugby league player
1977 – Gyula Koi, Hungarian scholar and educator
1977 – Jamie Salé, Canadian figure skater
1978 – Jacob Burns, Australian footballer
1978 – Jukka Nevalainen, Finnish drummer
1978 – Yuliya Pechonkina, Russian hurdler
1979 – Virginie Basselot, French chef
1979 – Tobias Linderoth, French-Swedish footballer and coach
1979 – James McAvoy, Scottish actor
1980 – Jeff Keppinger, American baseball player
1980 – Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Tony Romo, American football player
1981 – Mads Junker, Danish footballer
1982 – Khalif Barnes, American football player
1982 – Micheal Luck, Australian rugby league player
1982 – Carnell Williams, American football player
1983 – Paweł Brożek, Polish footballer
1983 – Marco Donadel, Italian footballer
1983 – Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (d. 2020)
1984 – Shayna Fox, American voice actress
1986 – Audra Cohen, American tennis player
1986 – Alexander Edler, Swedish ice hockey player
1986 – Rodney Stuckey, American basketball player
1986 – Mirko Valdifiori, Italian footballer
1987 – Nadif Chowdhury, Bangladeshi cricketer
1987 – Eric Devendorf, American basketball player
1987 – Leroy George, Dutch footballer
1987 – Anastasia Prikhodko, Ukrainian singer
1988 – Ricky Berens, American swimmer
1988 – Jencarlos Canela, American singer-songwriter and actor
1988 – Pedro Mosquera, Spanish footballer
1988 – Adam Rooney, Irish footballer
1989 – Tatyana McFadden, Russian-American sprinter and skier
1989 – Carlos Muñoz, Chilean footballer
1990 – Aleksandar Prijović, Swiss-born Serbian footballer
1992 – Isco, Spanish footballer
1992 – Rene Santos, Brazilian footballer
1992 – Joc Pederson, American baseball player
1994 – Mitchell Weiser, German footballer

Deaths on April 21

234 – Emperor Xian of Han, Chinese emperor (b. 181)
586 – Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths
847 – Odgar, Frankish archbishop of Mainz
866 – Bardas, de facto regent of the Byzantine Empire
941 – Bajkam, de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate
1073 – Pope Alexander II
1109 – Anselm of Canterbury, Italian-English archbishop and saint (b. 1033)
1136 – Stephen, Count of Tréguier Breton noblemen (b. c. 1058/62)
1142 – Peter Abelard, French philosopher and theologian (b. 1079)
1213 – Maria of Montpellier, Lady of Montpellier, Queen of Aragon (b. 1182)
1329 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1282)
1400 – John Wittlebury, English politician (b. 1333)
1509 – Henry VII of England (b. 1457)
1557 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1495)
1574 – Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1519)
1591 – Sen no Rikyū, Japanese exponent of the tea ceremony (b. 1522)
1650 – Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, Japanese samurai (b. 1607)
1668 – Jan Boeckhorst, Flemish painter (b. c. 1604)
1699 – Jean Racine, French playwright and poet (b. 1639)
1719 – Philippe de La Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (b. 1640)
1720 – Antoine Hamilton, Irish-French soldier and author (b. 1646)
1722 – Robert Beverley, Jr., English historian and author (b. 1673)
1736 – Prince Eugene of Savoy (b. 1663)
1740 – Thomas Tickell, English poet and author (b. 1685)
1758 – Francesco Zerafa, Maltese architect (b. 1679)
1815 – Joseph Winston, American soldier and politician (b. 1746)
1825 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician and academic (b. 1765)
1852 – Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (b. 1787)
1863 – Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Baronet, Irish politician (b. 1782)
1900 – Vikramatji Khimojiraj, Indian ruler (b. 1819)
1910 – Mark Twain, American novelist, humorist, and critic (b. 1835)
1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot (b. 1892)
1924 – Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b. 1858)
1930 – Robert Bridges, English poet and author (b. 1844)
1932 – Friedrich Gustav Piffl, Bohemian cardinal (b. 1864)
1938 – Muhammad Iqbal, Indian-Pakistani philosopher and poet (b. 1877)
1941 – Fritz Manteuffel, German gymnast (b. 1875)
1945 – Walter Model, German field marshal (b. 1891)
1946 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist and philosopher (b. 1883)
1948 – Aldo Leopold, American ecologist and author (b. 1887)
1952 – Leslie Banks, American actor, director and producer (b. 1890)
1954 – Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (b. 1897)
1956 – Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1895)
1965 – Edward Victor Appleton, English-Scottish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
1971 – François Duvalier, Haitian physician and politician, 40th President of Haiti (b. 1907)
1973 – Arthur Fadden, Australian accountant and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
1973 – Kemal Tahir, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1910)
1974 – Chic Harley, American football player (b. 1894)
1977 – Gummo Marx, American vaudevillian and talent agent (b. 1893)
1978 – Sandy Denny, English singer-songwriter (b.1947)
1978 – Thomas Wyatt Turner, American biologist and academic (b. 1877)
1980 – Alexander Oparin, Russian biochemist and academic (b. 1894)
1980 – Sohrab Sepehri, Iranian poet and painter (b. 1928)
1983 – Walter Slezak, Austrian-American actor and singer (b. 1902)
1984 – Marcel Janco, Romanian-Israeli artist (b. 1895)
1984 – Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian engineer and mountaineer (b. 1943)
1985 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer, created the monokini (b. 1922)
1985 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian banker and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (b. 1910)
1986 – Marjorie Eaton, American painter and actress (b. 1901)
1986 – Salah Jahin, Egyptian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1930)
1987 – Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1906)
1989 – James Kirkwood, Jr., American actor, playwright, and author (b. 1924)
1990 – Erté, Russian-French illustrator (b. 1892)
1991 – Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor (b. 1909)
1996 – Zora Arkus-Duntov, Belgian-born American engineer and race car driver (b. 1909)
1996 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Chechen general and politician, 1st President of Ichkeria (b. 1944)
1996 – Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1925)
1996 – Jimmy Snyder, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
1998 – Jean-François Lyotard, French sociologist and philosopher (b. 1924)
1999 – Buddy Rogers, American actor (b. 1904)
2003 – Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and activist (b. 1933)
2004 – Mary McGrory, American journalist (b. 1918)
2005 – Gerry Marshall, English race car driver and journalist (b. 1941)
2006 – Johnny Checketts, New Zealand commander and pilot (b. 1912)
2006 – T. K. Ramakrishnan, Indian politician (b. 1922)
2006 – Telê Santana, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1931)
2007 – Lobby Loyde, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1941)
2009 – Vivian Maier, American photographer (b. 1926)
2010 – Gustav Lorentzen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)
2010 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish businessman, seventh President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1920)
2010 – Kanagaratnam Sriskandan, Sri Lankan-English engineer and civil servant (b. 1930)
2011 – Catharina Halkes, Dutch theologian and academic (b. 1920)
2012 – Doris Betts, American author and academic (b. 1932)
2012 – Charles Colson, American lawyer and activist, founded Prison Fellowship (b. 1931)
2012 – Albert Falco, French captain and diver (b. 1927)
2012 – Charles Higham, English-American author and poet (b. 1931)
2012 – Jerry Toppazzini, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1931)
2013 – Chrissy Amphlett, Australian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1959)
2013 – Shakuntala Devi, Indian mathematician and astrologer (b. 1929)
2013 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor, author, and educator (b. 1905)
2013 – Gordon D. Gayle, American general and historian (b. 1917)
2014 – Herb Gray, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1931)
2014 – Janet Gray Hayes, American politician, 60th Mayor of San Jose (b. 1926)
2014 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (b. 1936)
2014 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician, co-founded the National League for Democracy (b. 1930)
2015 – M. H. Abrams, American author, critic, and academic (b. 1912)
2015 – Steve Byrnes, American sportscaster and producer (b. 1959)
2015 – John Moshoeu, South African footballer and manager (b. 1965)
2015 – Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, Indian politician, Governor of Assam (b. 1927)
2015 – Sydney Valpy Radley-Walters, Canadian general (b. 1920)
2015 – Betsy von Furstenberg, German-American actress (b. 1931)
2016 – Prince, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (b. 1958)
2017 – Ugo Ehiogu, English footballer (b. 1972)
2018 – Verne Troyer, American actor (b. 1969)
2018 – Nabi Tajima, Japanese supercentenarian, oldest Japanese and Asian person ever, last verified person born in the 19th century (b. 1900)
2019 – Polly Higgins, Scottish barrister, author and environmental lobbyist, (b. 1968)

Holidays and observances April 21

Christian feast day:
- Abdecalas
- Anastasius Sinaita
- Anselm of Canterbury
- Beuno
- Conrad of Parzham
- Holy Infant of Good Health
- Shemon Bar Sabbae
- Wolbodo
- April 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Civil Service Day (India)
Grounation Day (Rastafari movement)
Heroic Defense of Veracruz (Mexico)
Kang Pan-sok’s Birthday (North Korea)
Kartini Day (Indonesia)
Local Self Government Day (Russia)
National Tea Day (United Kingdom)
National Tree Planting Day (Kenya)
San Jacinto Day (Texas)
Queen’s Official Birthday (Falkland Islands)
Tiradentes’ Day (Brazil)
Vietnam Book Day (Vietnam)

April 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso’s plot to kill Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested.
531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at Raqqa (northern Syria).
797 – Empress Irene organizes a conspiracy against her son, the Byzantine emperor Constantine VI. He is deposed and blinded. Shortly after, Constantine dies of his wounds; Irene proclaims herself basileus.
1506 – The Lisbon Massacre begins, in which accused Jews are being slaughtered by Portuguese Catholics.
1529 – Beginning of the Protestant Reformation: After the Second Diet of Speyer bans Lutheranism, a group of rulers (German: Fürst) and independent cities protests the reinstatement of the Edict of Worms.
1539 – The Treaty of Frankfurt between Protestants and the Holy Roman Emperor is signed.
1608 – In Ireland: O’Doherty’s Rebellion is launched by the Burning of Derry.
1677 – The French army captures the town of Cambrai held by Spanish troops.
1713 – With no living male heirs, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to ensure that Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would be inheritable by a female; his daughter and successor, Maria Theresa was not born until 1717.
1770 – Captain James Cook, still holding the rank of lieutenant, sights the eastern coast of what is now Australia.
1770 – Marie Antoinette marries Louis XVI of France in a proxy wedding.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The war begins with an American victory in Concord during the battles of Lexington and Concord.
1782 – John Adams secures the Dutch Republic’s recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house which he had purchased in The Hague, Netherlands becomes the first American embassy.
1809 – An Austrian corps is defeated by the forces of the Duchy of Warsaw in the Battle of Raszyn, part of the struggles of the Fifth Coalition. On the same day the Austrian main army is defeated by a First French Empire Corps led by Louis-Nicolas Davout at the Battle of Teugen-Hausen in Bavaria, part of a four-day campaign that ended in a French victory.
1810 – Venezuela achieves home rule: Vicente Emparán, Governor of the Captaincy General is removed by the people of Caracas and a junta is installed.
1818 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel signs his preliminary “Note on the Theory of Diffraction” (deposited on the following day). The document ends with what we now call the Fresnel integrals.
1839 – The Treaty of London establishes Belgium as a kingdom and guarantees its neutrality.
1861 – American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861: A pro-Secession mob in Baltimore attacks United States Army troops marching through the city.
1903 – The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) begins, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Palestine and the Western world.
1927 – Mae West is sentenced to ten days in jail for obscenity for her play Sex.
1942 – World War II: In Poland, the Majdan-Tatarski ghetto is established, situated between the Lublin Ghetto and a Majdanek subcamp.
1943 – World War II: In Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins, after German troops enter the Warsaw Ghetto to round up the remaining Jews.
1943 – Albert Hofmann deliberately doses himself with LSD for the first time, three days after having discovered its effects on April 16.
1956 – Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco.
1960 – Students in South Korea hold a nationwide pro-democracy protest against president Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.
1971 – Sierra Leone becomes a republic, and Siaka Stevens the president.
1971 – Launch of Salyut 1, the first space station.
1971 – Charles Manson is sentenced to death (later commuted to life imprisonment) for conspiracy in the Tate–LaBianca murders.
1973 – The Portuguese Socialist Party is founded in the German town of Bad Münstereifel.
1975 – India’s first satellite Aryabhata launched in orbit from Kapustin Yar, Russia.
1984 – Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia’s national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.
1985 – Two hundred ATF and FBI agents lay siege to the compound of the white supremacist survivalist group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord in Arkansas; the CSA surrenders two days later.
1987 – The Simpsons first appear as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, first starting with Good Night.
1989 – A gun turret explodes on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.
1993 – The 51-day FBI siege of the Branch Davidian building in Waco, Texas, USA, ends when a fire breaks out. 76 Davidians, including eighteen children under the age of ten, died in the fire.
1995 – Oklahoma City bombing: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, USA, is bombed, killing 168 people including 19 children under the age of six.
1999 – The German Bundestag returns to Berlin.
2000 – Air Philippines Flight 541 crashes in Samal, Davao del Norte, killing all 131 people on board.
2005 – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected to the papacy and becomes Pope Benedict XVI.
2011 – Fidel Castro resigns as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba after holding the title since July 1961.
2013 – Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev is killed in a shootout with police. His brother Dzhokhar is later captured hiding in a boat inside a backyard in the suburb of Watertown.
2020 – A killing spree in Nova Scotia, Canada, leaves 22 people and the perpetrator dead, making it the deadliest rampage in the country’s history.

Births on April 19

1452 – Frederick IV, King of Naples (d. 1504)
1593 – Sir John Hobart, 2nd Baronet, English politician (d. 1647)
1603 – Michel Le Tellier, French politician, French Minister of Defence (d. 1685)
1613 – Christoph Bach, German musician (d. 1661)
1633 – Willem Drost, Dutch painter (d. 1659)
1655 – George St Lo(e), Royal Navy officer and administrator (d. 1718)
1658 – Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, German husband of Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria (d. 1716)
1665 – Jacques Lelong, French author (d. 1721)
1686 – Vasily Tatishchev, Russian ethnographer and politician (d. 1750)
1715 – James Nares, English organist and composer (d. 1783)
1721 – Roger Sherman, American lawyer and politician (d. 1793)
1734 – Karl von Ordóñez, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1786)
1757 – Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, English admiral and politician (d. 1833)
1758 – William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk, Scottish admiral (d. 1831)
1785 – Alexandre Pierre François Boëly, French pianist and composer (d. 1858)
1787 – Deaf Smith, American soldier (d. 1837)
1793 – Ferdinand I of Austria (d. 1875)
1806 – Sarah Bagley, American labor organizer (d. 1889)
1814 – Louis Amédée Achard, French journalist and author (d. 1875)
1832 – José Echegaray, Spanish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1916)
1835 – Julius Krohn, Finnish poet and journalist (d. 1888)
1863 – Hemmo Kallio, Finnish actor (d. 1940)
1872 – Alice Salomon, German social reformer (d. 1948)
1873 – Sydney Barnes, English cricketer (d. 1967)
1874 – Ernst Rüdin, Swiss psychiatrist, geneticist, and eugenicist (d. 1952)
1877 – Ole Evinrude, Norwegian-American engineer, invented the outboard motor (d. 1934)
1879 – Arthur Robertson, Scottish runner (d. 1957)
1882 – Getúlio Vargas, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 14th President of Brazil (d. 1954)
1883 – Henry Jameson, American soccer player (d. 1938)
1883 – Richard von Mises, Austrian-American mathematician and physicist (d. 1953)
1885 – Karl Tarvas, Estonian architect (d. 1975)
1889 – Otto Georg Thierack, German jurist and politician (d. 1946)
1891 – Françoise Rosay, French actress (d. 1974)
1892 – Germaine Tailleferre, French composer and educator (d. 1983)
1894 – Elizabeth Dilling, American author and activist (d. 1966)
1897 – Peter de Noronha, Indian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1970)
1897 – Jiroemon Kimura, Japanese super-centenarian, oldest verified man ever (d. 2013)
1898 – Constance Talmadge, American actress and producer (d. 1973)
1899 – George O’Brien, American actor (d. 1985)
1899 – Cemal Tollu, Turkish lieutenant and painter (d. 1968)
1900 – Iracema de Alencar, Brazilian film actress (d. 1978)
1900 – Richard Hughes, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1976)
1900 – Roland Michener, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Governor General of Canada (d. 1991)
1900 – Rhea Silberta, Yiddish songwriter and singing teacher (d. 1959)
1902 – Veniamin Kaverin, Russian author and screenwriter (d. 1989)
1903 – Eliot Ness, American law enforcement agent (d. 1957)
1907 – Alan Wheatley, English actor (d. 1991)
1908 – Irena Eichlerówna, Polish actress (d. 1990)
1912 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
1913 – Ken Carpenter, American discus thrower and coach (d. 1984)
1917 – Sven Hassel, Danish-German soldier and author (d. 2012)
1919 – Sol Kaplan, American pianist and composer (d. 1990)
1920 – Gene Leis, American guitarist, composer, and producer (d. 1993)
1920 – Marvin Mandel, American lawyer and politician, 56th Governor of Maryland (d. 2015)
1920 – John O’Neil, American baseball player and manager (d. 2012)
1920 – Julien Ries, Belgian cardinal (d. 2013)
1920 – Marian Winters, American actress (d. 1978)
1921 – Anna Lee Aldred, American jockey (d. 2006)
1921 – Leon Henkin, American logician (d. 2006)
1921 – Roberto Tucci, Italian Jesuit leader, cardinal, and theologian (d. 2015)
1922 – Erich Hartmann, German colonel and pilot (d. 1993)
1922 – David Smith, politician in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe (d. 1996)
1925 – John Kraaijkamp, Sr., Dutch actor (d. 2011)
1925 – Hugh O’Brian, American actor (d. 2016)
1926 – Rawya Ateya, Egyptian captain and politician (d. 1997)
1928 – John Horlock, English engineer and academic (d. 2015)
1928 – Azlan Shah of Perak, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 2014)
1931 – Walter Stewart, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2004)
1932 – Fernando Botero, Colombian painter and sculptor
1933 – Dickie Bird, English cricketer and umpire
1933 – Jayne Mansfield, American model and actress (d. 1967)
1933 – Philip Lavallin Wroughton, English captain and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire
1934 – Dickie Goodman, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1989)
1935 – Dudley Moore, English actor, comedian, and pianist (d. 2002)
1935 – Justin Francis Rigali, American cardinal
1936 – Wilfried Martens, Belgian politician, 60th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2013)
1936 – Jack Pardee, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
1937 – Antonio Carluccio, Italian-English chef and author (d. 2017)
1937 – Elinor Donahue, American actress
1937 – Joseph Estrada, Filipino politician, 13th President of the Philippines
1938 – Stanley Fish, American theorist, author, and scholar
1939 – E. Clay Shaw, Jr., American accountant, judge, and politician (d. 2013)
1941 – Roberto Carlos, Brazilian singer-songwriter
1941 – Clark Dimond, American musician and author
1941 – Michel Roux, French-English chef and author (d. 2020)
1941 – Bobby Russell, American singer-songwriter (d. 1992)
1942 – Bas Jan Ader, Dutch-American photographer and director (d. 1975)
1942 – Alan Price, English keyboard player, singer, and composer
1942 – Jack Roush, American businessman, founded Roush Fenway Racing
1942 – Maarten van den Bergh, American-Dutch businessman
1943 – Margo MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician (d. 2014)^[28]
1943 – Lorenzo Sanz, Spanish businessman
1944 – Keith Erickson, American basketball player and sportscaster
1944 – James Heckman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1944 – Bernie Worrell, American keyboard player and songwriter (d. 2016)^[29]
1946 – Duygu Asena, Turkish journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
1946 – Tim Curry, English actor^[30]
1947 – Murray Perahia, American pianist and conductor
1947 – Wilfrid Stevenson, Baron Stevenson of Balmacara, English civil servant
1947 – Yan Pascal Tortelier, French violinist and conductor
1947 – Mark Volman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1948 – Stuart McLean, Canadian radio host and author (d. 2017)
1948 – Rick Miller, American baseball player and manager
1949 – Paloma Picasso, French-Spanish fashion designer
1949 – Larry Walters, American truck driver and pilot (d. 1993)
1950 – Julia Cleverdon, English businesswoman and philanthropist
1951 – Barry Brown, American actor and playwright (d. 1978)
1951 – Jóannes Eidesgaard, Faroese educator and politician, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1952 – Alexis Argüello, Nicaraguan boxer and politician (d. 2009)
1952 – Tony Plana, Cuban-American actor and director
1952 – Michael Trend, English journalist and politician
1953 – Rod Morgenstein, American drummer
1953 – Sara Simeoni, Italian high jumper
1953 – Ruby Wax, British-based American comedian, actress, and screenwriter
1954 – Trevor Francis, English footballer and manager
1954 – Bob Rock, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1956 – Sue Barker, English tennis player and journalist
1956 – Randy Carlyle, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1956 – Anne Glover, Scottish biologist and academic
1957 – Tony Martin, English singer-songwriter
1957 – Mukesh Ambani, Indian businessman, chairman of Reliance Industries and currently the richest man in Asia^[31]^[32]
1958 – Steve Antin, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1958 – Stevie B, American singer-songwriter and record producer
1958 – Denis O’Brien, Irish businessman, founded BT Ireland
1958 – Vytautas Šapranauskas, Lithuanian actor (d. 2013)
1958 – Keith Shine, British academic and educator
1959 – Jane Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, English activist
1959 – Teofisto Guingona III, Filipino lawyer and politician
1959 – Donald Markwell, Australian sociologist and academic
1960 – Nicoletta Braschi, Italian actress and producer
1960 – Ara Gevorgyan, Armenian pianist, composer, and producer
1960 – Roger Merrett, Australian footballer and coach
1960 – John Schweitz, American basketball player and coach
1960 – Frank Viola, American baseball player and coach^[33]
1961 – Alan Kirschenbaum, American producer and writer (d. 2012)
1961 – Albert Martinez, Filipino actor, director, and producer
1961 – Spike Owen, American baseball player and coach
1962 – Al Unser Jr., American race car driver
1964 – Gordon Marshall, Scottish footballer and coach
1964 – Kim Weaver, American astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic
1965 – Natalie Dessay, French soprano and actress
1965 – Suge Knight, American record producer, co-founded Death Row Records
1966 – Véronique Gens, French soprano and actress
1966 – David La Haye, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Paul Reiffel, Australian cricketer and umpire
1966 – El Samurai, Japanese wrestler
1967 – Philippe Saint-André, French rugby player and coach
1968 – Ashley Judd, American actress and activist
1968 – Arshad Warsi, Indian film actor and producer
1969 – Andrew Carnie, Canadian-American linguist, author, and academic
1969 – Susan Polgar, Hungarian-American chess player
1970 – Luis Miguel, Mexican singer-songwriter and producer
1970 – Kelly Holmes, English runner
1970 – Abelardo Fernández, Spanish footballer and manager
1971 – Brendon Burns, Australian comedian, podcaster, writer and author
1971 – Scott McCord, Canadian voice actor
1972 – Rivaldo, Brazilian footballer
1972 – Jeff Wilkins, American football player
1973 – George Gregan, Zambian-Australian rugby player and coach
1973 – Alessio Scarpi, Italian footballer
1975 – Jason Gillespie, Australian cricketer and coach
1975 – Jussi Jääskeläinen, Finnish footballer
1976 – Ruud Jolie, Dutch guitarist
1976 – Scott Padgett, American basketball player, coach, and radio host
1976 – Kim Young-oh, South Korean author and illustrator
1977 – Joe Beimel, American baseball player
1977 – Anju Bobby George, Indian long jumper
1977 – Lucien Mettomo, Cameroonian footballer
1977 – Dennys Reyes, Mexican baseball player
1977 – Jonny Storm, English wrestler and trainer
1978 – James Franco, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1978 – Gabriel Heinze, Argentinian footballer
1978 – Amanda Sage, American-Austrian painter and educator
1979 – Rocky Bernard, American football player
1979 – Kate Hudson, American actress
1979 – Zhao Junzhe, Chinese footballer
1980 – Jason Blaine, Canadian singer-songwriter
1980 – Robyn Regehr, Brazilian-Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor and producer
1981 – Ryuta Hara, Japanese footballer
1981 – Martin Havlát, Czech ice hockey player
1981 – James Hibberd, English cricketer
1981 – Troy Polamalu, American football player
1981 – Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress
1982 – Joseph Hagerty, American gymnast
1982 – Filip Jícha, Czech handball player
1982 – Samuel C. Morrison, Jr., Liberian-American journalist, producer, and screenwriter
1982 – Rocco Sabato, Italian footballer
1982 – Ignacio Serricchio, Argentinian-American actor
1982 – Sitiveni Sivivatu, New Zealand rugby player
1983 – Alberto Callaspo, Venezuelan-American baseball player
1983 – Zach Duke, American baseball player
1983 – Joe Mauer, American baseball player
1983 – Patrick Platins, German footballer
1983 – Curtis Thigpen, American baseball player
1984 – Christopher Pearce, English cricketer
1985 – Valon Behrami, Swiss footballer
1985 – David Cavazos, Mexican singer-songwriter
1985 – Sabrina Jalees, Canadian comedian, dancer, actress, presenter, and writer
1985 – Jan Zimmermann, German footballer
1986 – Pascal Angan, Beninese footballer
1986 – Candace Parker, American basketball player
1986 – Gabe Pruitt, American basketball player
1986 – Will Thursfield, English-Australian footballer
1987 – Luigi Giorgi, Italian footballer
1987 – Joe Hart, English footballer
1987 – Daniel Schuhmacher, German singer-songwriter
1987 – Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player
1987 – Lauren Wilson, Canadian figure skater
1988 – Enrique Esqueda, Mexican footballer
1989 – Dominik Mader, German footballer
1989 – Daisuke Watabe, Japanese footballer
1989 – Genoveva Añonma, Equatoguinean footballer
1990 – Jackie Bradley, Jr., American baseball player
1990 – Kim Chiu, Filipino actress, singer, and dancer^[34]
1990 – Héctor Herrera, Mexican footballer
1990 – Ayaka Takahashi, Japanese badminton player
1991 – Steve Cook, English footballer

Deaths April 19

843 – Judith of Bavaria, Frankish empress
1012 – Ælfheah of Canterbury, English archbishop and saint (b. 954)
1013 – Hisham II, Umayyad caliph of Córdoba (b. 966)
1044 – Gothelo I, duke of Lorraine
1054 – Leo IX, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1002)
1321 – Gerasimus I, patriarch of Constantinople
1390 – Robert II, king of Scotland (b. 1316)
1405 – Thomas West, 1st Baron West, English nobleman (b. 1335)^[35]
1431 – Adolph III, count of Waldeck (b. 1362)
1560 – Philip Melanchthon, German theologian and reformer (b. 1497)
1567 – Michael Stifel, German monk and mathematician (b. 1487)
1578 – Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1530)
1588 – Paolo Veronese, Italian painter (b. 1528)
1608 – Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, English poet, playwright, and politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1536)
1618 – Thomas Bastard, English priest and author (b. 1566)
1619 – Jagat Gosain, Mughal empress (b. 1573)^[36]
1629 – Sigismondo d’India, Italian composer (b. 1582)
1632 – Sigismund III Vasa, king of Sweden and Poland (b. 1566)
1686 – Antonio de Solís y Ribadeneyra, Spanish historian and playwright (b. 1610)
1689 – Christina, queen of Sweden (b. 1626)
1733 – Elizabeth Hamilton, countess of Orkney (b. 1657)
1739 – Nicholas Saunderson, English mathematician and academic (b. 1682)
1768 – Canaletto, Italian painter and etcher (b. 1697)
1776 – Jacob Emden, German rabbi and author (b. 1697)
1791 – Richard Price, Welsh-English preacher and philosopher (b. 1723)
1813 – Benjamin Rush, American physician and educator (b. 1745)
1824 – Lord Byron, English-Scottish poet and playwright (b. 1788)
1831 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1765)
1833 – James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, Bahamian-English admiral and politician, 36th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1756)
1840 – Jean-Jacques Lartigue, Canadian bishop (b. 1777)
1854 – Robert Jameson, Scottish mineralogist and academic (b. 1774)
1881 – Benjamin Disraeli, English journalist and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1804)
1882 – Charles Darwin, English biologist and theorist (b. 1809)
1893 – Martin Körber, Estonian-German pastor, composer, and conductor (b. 1817)
1901 – Alfred Horatio Belo, American publisher, founded The Dallas Morning News (b. 1839)
1906 – Pierre Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
1906 – Spencer Gore, English tennis player and cricketer (b. 1850)
1909 – Signe Rink, Greenland-born Danish writer and ethnologist (b. 1836)
1914 – Charles Sanders Peirce, American mathematician and philosopher (b. 1839)
1915 – Thomas Playford II, English-Australian politician, 17th Premier of South Australia (b. 1837)
1916 – Ephraim Shay, American engineer, designed the Shay locomotive (b. 1839)
1926 – Alexander Alexandrovich Chuprov, Russian-Swiss statistician and theorist (b. 1874)
1930 – Georges-Casimir Dessaulles, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1827)
1937 – Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, English cartographer and politician (b. 1856)
1937 – William Morton Wheeler, American entomologist and zoologist (b. 1865)
1941 – Johanna Müller-Hermann, Austrian composer (b. 1878)
1949 – Ulrich Salchow, Danish-Swedish figure skater (b. 1877)
1950 – Ernst Robert Curtius, French-German philologist and scholar (b. 1886)
1955 – Jim Corbett, British-Indian colonel, hunter, and author (b. 1875)
1960 – Beardsley Ruml, American economist and statistician (b. 1894)
1961 – Max Hainle, German swimmer (b. 1882)
1967 – Konrad Adenauer, German politician, 1st Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
1971 – Luigi Piotti, Italian race car driver (b. 1913)
1975 – Percy Lavon Julian, American chemist and academic (b. 1899)
1987 – Hugh Brannum, American vocalist, arranger, and composer (b. 1910)
1989 – Daphne du Maurier, English novelist and playwright (b. 1907)
1991 – Stanley Hawes, English-Australian director and producer (b. 1905)
1992 – Frankie Howerd, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1917)
1993 – David Koresh, American religious leader (b. 1959)
1993 – George S. Mickelson, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 28th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1941)
1998 – Octavio Paz, Mexican poet, philosopher, and academic Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
1999 – Hermine Braunsteiner, Austrian-German SS officer (b. 1919)
2000 – Louis Applebaum, Canadian composer and conductor (b. 1918)
2001 – Meldrim Thomson, Jr.. American publisher and politician, 73rd Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1912)
2002 – Reginald Rose, American writer (b. 1920)
2003 – Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Indian-English caliph (b. 1928)
2004 – Norris McWhirter, English author and activist co-founded the Guinness World Records (b. 1925)
2004 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (b. 1920)
2004 – Jenny Pike, Canadian WWII servicewoman and photographer (b. 1922)^[37]
2005 – George P. Cosmatos, Italian-Greek director and screenwriter (b. 1941)
2005 – Ruth Hussey, American actress (b. 1911)
2005 – Clement Meadmore, Australian-American sculptor and author (b. 1929)
2005 – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish bassist and composer (b. 1946)
2006 – Albert Scott Crossfield, American engineer, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1921)
2007 – Jean-Pierre Cassel, French actor (b. 1932)
2008 – John Marzano, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1963)
2008 – Alfonso López Trujillo, Colombian cardinal (b. 1935)
2009 – J. G. Ballard, English novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1930)
2011 – Elisabeth Sladen, English actress (b. 1946)^[38]
2012 – Leopold David de Rothschild, English financier and philanthropist (b. 1927)
2012 – Greg Ham, Australian saxophonist, songwriter, and actor (b. 1953)
2012 – Levon Helm, American singer-songwriter, drummer, guitarist, instrumentalist, and actor (b. 1940)
2012 – Valeri Vasiliev, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1949)
2013 – Sivanthi Adithan, Indian businessman (b. 1936)
2013 – Allan Arbus, American actor and photographer (b. 1918)
2013 – Mike Denness, Scottish-English cricketer and referee (b. 1940)
2013 – François Jacob, French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
2013 – E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator (b. 1930)
2013 – Al Neuharth, American journalist, author, and publisher, founded USA Today (b. 1924)
2014 – Lindy Berry, American football player (b. 1927)
2014 – Ian McIntyre, Scottish journalist and producer (b. 1930)
2014 – Frits Thors, Dutch journalist (b. 1909)
2015 – Raymond Carr, English historian and academic (b. 1919)
2015 – William Price Fox, American journalist and author (b. 1926)
2015 – Roy Mason, English miner and politician, Secretary of State for Defence (b. 1924)^[39]
2015 – Tom McCabe, Scottish social worker and politician (b. 1954)^[40]
2015 – Oktay Sinanoğlu, Italian-Turkish chemist and academic (b. 1935)
2016 – Patricio Aylwin, Chilean politician (b. 1918)^[41]
2016 – Milt Pappas, American baseball player (b. 1939)^[42]
2017 – Aaron Hernandez, American football player (b. 1989)^[43]

Holidays and observances on April 19

Christian feast day:
- Ælfheah of Canterbury (Anglican, Catholic)
- Conrad of Ascoli
- Emma of Lesum
- Expeditus
- George of Antioch
- Olaus and Laurentius Petri (Lutheran)
- Pope Leo IX
- Ursmar
- April 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which First Day of Summer or Sumardagurinn fyrsti can fall, while April 25 is the latest; celebrated on the first Thursday after April 18. (Iceland)
Army Day (Brazil)
Beginning of the Independence Movement (Venezuela)
Bicycle Day^[44]
Dutch-American Friendship Day (United States)
Holocaust Remembrance Day (Poland)
Indian Day (Brazil)
King Mswati III’s birthday (Eswatini)
Landing of the 33 Patriots Day (Uruguay)
Patriots’ Day (Massachusetts, Maine and Wisconsin, United States)

April 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on April 18

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

Deaths on April 18

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

Holidays and observances on April 18

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

April 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan II.
1362 – Kaunas Castle falls to the Teutonic Order after a month-long siege.
1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.
1521 – Trial of Martin Luther over his teachings begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.
1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.
1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in the Americas.
1797 – Citizens of Verona begin an unsuccessful eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces.
1861 – The state of Virginia’s secession convention votes to secede from the United States, later becoming the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America.
1863 – American Civil War: Grierson’s Raid begins: Troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins: Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
1869 – Morelos is admitted as the 27th state of Mexico.
1876 – Catalpa rescue: The rescue of six Fenian prisoners from Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.
1895 – The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.
1905 – The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the “right to free contract” is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
1907 – The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
1912 – Russian troops open fire on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.
1941 – World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
1942 – French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress.
1944 – Forces of the Communist-controlled Greek People’s Liberation Army attack the smaller National and Social Liberation resistance group, which surrenders. Its leader Dimitrios Psarros is murdered.
1945 – World War II: Montese, Italy, is liberated from Nazi forces.
1946 – The last French troops are withdrawn from Syria.
1951 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
1961 – Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
1969 – Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.
1970 – Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
1971 – The Provisional Government of Bangladesh is formed.
1975 – The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
1978 – Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking a communist coup d’état in Afghanistan.
1982 – Constitution Act, 1982 Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
1992 – The Katina P is deliberately run aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
2006 – A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates an explosive device in a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 11 people and injuring 70.
2013 – An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others.
2014 – NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

Births on April 17

44 – Pope Evaristus (d. 107)
1277 – Michael IX Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1320)
1455 – Andrea Gritti, Doge of Venice (d. 1538)
1497 – Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador, conquered northern Chile (d. 1553)
1573 – Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1651)
1586 – John Ford, English poet and playwright (d. 1639)
1598 – Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian priest and astronomer (d. 1671)
1620 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal (d. 1700)
1635 – Edward Stillingfleet, British theologian and scholar (d. 1699)
1676 – Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
1683 – Johann David Heinichen, German composer and theorist (d. 1729)
1710 – Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, Scottish politician (d. 1767)
1734 – Taksin, King of Thailand (d. 1782)
1741 – Samuel Chase, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1811)
1750 – François de Neufchâteau, French academic and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 1828)
1756 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian commander (d. 1805)
1766 – Collin McKinney, American surveyor, merchant, and politician (d. 1861)
1794 – Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist and explorer (d. 1868)
1798 – Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician and academic (d. 1840)
1814 – Josif Pančić, Serbian botanist and academic (d. 1888)
1816 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English architect and philanthropist (d. 1876)
1820 – Alexander Cartwright, American firefighter and inventor of baseball (d. 1892)
1833 – Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1900)
1837 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (d. 1913)
1842 – Maurice Rouvier, French businessman and politician, 53rd Prime Minister of France (d. 1911)
1849 – William R. Day, American jurist and politician, 36th United States Secretary of State (d. 1923)
1852 – Cap Anson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1922)
1863 – Augustus Edward Hough Love, English mathematician and theorist (d. 1940)
1865 – Ursula Ledóchowska, Polish-Austrian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (d. 1939)
1866 – Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (d. 1927)
1875 – Aleksander Tõnisson, Estonian general and politician, 5th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1941)
1877 – Matsudaira Tsuneo, Japanese diplomat (d. 1949)
1878 – Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman (d. 1961)
1878 – Demetrios Petrokokkinos, Greek tennis player (d. 1942)
1879 – Henri Tauzin, French hurdler (d. 1918)
1882 – Artur Schnabel, Jewish-Polish pianist and composer (d. 1951)
1888 – Herms Niel, German soldier, trombonist, and composer (d. 1954)
1891 – George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (d. 1965)
1895 – Robert Dean Frisbie, American soldier and author (d. 1948)
1896 – Señor Wences, Spanish-American ventriloquist (d. 1999)
1897 – Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian philosopher and educator (d. 1981)
1897 – Thornton Wilder, American novelist and playwright (d. 1975)
1897 – Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (d. 1983)
1899 – Aleksander Klumberg, Estonian decathlete and coach (d. 1958)
1903 – Nicolas Nabokov, Russian-American composer and educator (d. 1978)
1903 – Gregor Piatigorsky, Ukrainian-American cellist and educator (d. 1976)
1903 – Morgan Taylor, American hurdler and coach (d. 1975)
1905 – Louis Jean Heydt, American journalist and actor (d. 1960)
1905 – Arthur Lake, American actor (d. 1987)
1906 – Sidney Garfield, American physician, co-founded Kaiser Permanente (d. 1984)
1909 – Alain Poher, French politician, President of France (d. 1996)
1910 – Evangelos Averoff, Greek historian and politician, Greek Minister of Defence (d. 1990)
1910 – Ivan Goff, Australian screenwriter and producer (d. 1999)
1910 – Helenio Herrera, French footballer and manager (d. 1997)
1911 – Hervé Bazin, French author and poet (d. 1996)
1911 – Lester Rodney, American soldier and journalist (d. 2009)
1912 – Marta Eggerth, Jewish-Hungarian-American actress and singer (d. 2013)
1914 – George Davis, American art director (d. 1984)
1914 – Mac Raboy, American illustrator (d. 1967)
1915 – Martin Clemens, Scottish soldier (d. 2009)
1915 – Joe Foss, American general and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota (d. 2003)
1915 – Regina Ghazaryan, Armenian painter (d. 1999)
1916 – Win Maung, 3rd President of Union of Myanmar (d. 1989)
1916 – A. Thiagarajah, Sri Lankan educator and politician (d. 1981)
1916 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, world’s first female prime minister (d. 2000)
1918 – William Holden, American actor (d. 1981)
1919 – Gilles Lamontagne, Canadian lieutenant and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2016)
1919 – Chavela Vargas, Costa Rican-Mexican singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2012)
1920 – Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (d. 2016)
1923 – Lindsay Anderson, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
1923 – Solly Hemus, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2017)
1923 – Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (d. 2014)
1923 – Gianni Raimondi, Italian lyric tenor (d. 2008)
1923 – Harry Reasoner, American soldier and journalist (d. 1991)
1924 – Kenneth Norman Jones, Australian public servant
1924 – Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (d. 2013)
1925 – René Moawad, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 13th President of Lebanon (d. 1989)
1926 – Joan Lorring, British actress (d. 2014)
1926 – Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2004)
1927 – Margot Honecker, East German politician and First Lady (d. 2016)
1928 – Victor Lownes, American businessman (d. 2017)
1928 – Cynthia Ozick, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist
1928 – Heinz Putzl, Austrian fencer
1928 – Fabien Roy, Canadian accountant and politician
1929 – James Last, German-American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2015)
1930 – Chris Barber, English trombonist and bandleader
1931 – John Barrett, English tennis player and sportscaster
1931 – Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (d. 2012)
1934 – Don Kirshner, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
1934 – Peter Morris, Australian-English surgeon and academic
1935 – Bud Paxson, American broadcaster, founded Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (d. 2015)
1937 – Ronald Hamowy, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2012)
1937 – Ferdinand Piëch, Austrian-German engineer and businessman (d. 2019)
1938 – Ben Barnes, American businessman and politician, 36th Lieutenant Governor of Texas
1938 – Doug Lewis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 41st Canadian Minister of Justice
1938 – Ronald H. Miller, American theologian, author, and academic (d. 2011)
1938 – Kerry Wendell Thornley, American theorist and author (d. 1988)
1939 – Robert Miller, American art dealer (d. 2011)
1940 – Eric Dancer, English businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Devon
1940 – Billy Fury, English singer-songwriter (d. 1983)
1940 – John McCririck, English journalist (d. 2019)
1940 – Chuck Menville, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1992)
1940 – Anja Silja, German soprano and actress
1940 – Agostino Vallini, Italian cardinal and vicar general of Rome
1941 – Lagle Parek, Estonian architect and politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior
1942 – Buster Williams, American jazz bassist
1943 – Richard Allen Epstein, American lawyer, author, and academic
1946 – Clare Francis, English sailor and author
1947 – Nigel Emslie, Lord Emslie, Scottish lawyer and judge
1947 – Richard Field, English lawyer and judge
1947 – Sherrie Levine, American photographer
1947 – Tsutomu Wakamatsu, Japanese baseball player, coach, and manager
1948 – Jan Hammer, Czech pianist, composer, and producer
1948 – Alice Harden, American educator and politician (d. 2012)
1948 – Pekka Vasala, Finnish runner
1951 – Olivia Hussey, Argentinian-English actress
1951 – Börje Salming, Swedish ice hockey player and businessman
1952 – Joe Alaskey, American voice actor (d. 2016)
1952 – Pierre Guité, Canadian ice hockey player
1952 – John McColl, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Jersey
1952 – Željko Ražnatović, Serbian commander (d. 2000)
1952 – John Robertson, Scottish businessman and politician
1954 – Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver
1954 – Roddy Piper, Canadian professional wrestler and actor (d. 2015)
1954 – Michael Sembello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Todd Lickliter, American basketball player and coach
1955 – Pete Shelley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
1955 – Mike Stroud, English physician and explorer
1956 – Colin Tyre, Lord Tyre, Scottish lawyer and judge
1957 – Teri Austin, Canadian actress
1957 – Afrika Bambaataa, American disc jockey
1957 – Nick Hornby, English novelist, essayist, lyricist, and screenwriter
1957 – Julia Macur, English lawyer and judge
1957 – Frank McDonough, British historian
1958 – Laslo Babits, Canadian javelin thrower (d. 2013)
1959 – Sean Bean, English actor
1959 – Jimmy Mann, Canadian ice hockey player
1959 – Li Meisu, Chinese shot putter
1960 – Vladimir Polyakov, Russian pole vaulter
1961 – Frank J. Christensen, American labor union leader
1961 – Norman Cowans, Jamaican-English cricketer
1961 – Boomer Esiason, American football player and sportscaster
1961 – Bella Freud, English fashion designer
1962 – Paul Nicholls, English jockey and trainer
1964 – Ken Daneyko, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1964 – Maynard James Keenan, American singer-songwriter and producer
1964 – Rachel Notley, Canadian politician
1964 – Lela Rochon, American actress
1966 – Vikram, Indian actor and singer
1967 – Kimberly Elise, American actress
1967 – Marquis Grissom, American baseball player and coach
1967 – Ian Jones, New Zealand rugby player
1967 – Barnaby Joyce, Australian politician, 17th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
1967 – Liz Phair, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1968 – Julie Fagerholt, Danish fashion designer
1968 – Phil Henderson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
1968 – Eric Lamaze, Canadian jockey
1968 – Roger Twose, New Zealand cricketer
1968 – Richie Woodhall, English boxer and trainer
1970 – Redman, American rapper, producer, and actor
1971 – Claire Sweeney, English actress
1972 – Gary Bennett, American baseball player
1972 – Tony Boselli, American football player and sportscaster
1972 – Jennifer Garner, American actress
1972 – Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
1972 – Yuichi Nishimura, Japanese footballer and referee
1972 – Terran Sandwith, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Katrin Koov, Estonian architect
1973 – Brett Maher, Australian basketball player and sportscaster
1973 – Theo Ratliff, American basketball player
1974 – Mikael Åkerfeldt, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1974 – Victoria Beckham, English singer and fashion designer
1975 – Heidi Alexander, English politician
1975 – Travis Roy, American ice hockey player
1976 – Maurice Wignall, Jamaican hurdler and long jumper
1977 – Chad Hedrick, American speed skater
1977 – Frederik Magle, Danish composer, organist, and pianist
1978 – Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, German skier
1978 – Lindsay Hartley, American actress
1978 – Jason White, Scottish rugby player
1979 – Eric Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Marija Šestak, Serbian-Slovenian triple jumper
1980 – Fabián Vargas, Colombian footballer
1980 – Curtis Woodhouse, English footballer, boxer, and manager
1981 – Jenny Meadows, English runner
1981 – Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer-songwriter
1981 – Ryan Raburn, American baseball player
1981 – Chris Thompson, English runner
1981 – Zhang Yaokun, Chinese footballer
1982 – Brad Boyes, Canadian ice hockey player
1982 – Chuck Kobasew, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Stanislav Chistov, Russian ice hockey player
1983 – Roberto Jiménez, Peruvian footballer
1983 – Andrea Marcato, Italian rugby player
1984 – Pablo Sebastián Álvarez, Argentinian footballer
1984 – Jed Lowrie, American baseball player
1984 – Raffaele Palladino, Italian footballer
1985 – Rooney Mara, American actress
1985 – Luke Mitchell, Australian actor and model
1985 – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player
1986 – Romain Grosjean, French race car driver
1988 – Takahiro Moriuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
1989 – Paraskevi Papachristou, Greek triple jumper
1989 – Avi Kaplan, singer and songwriter
1990 – Jonathan Brown, Welsh footballer
1992 – Lachlan Maranta, Australian rugby league footballer
1994 – Alanna Goldie, Canadian fencer
1996 – Lorna Fitzgerald, British actress

Deaths on April 17

485 – Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (b. 412)
617 – Donnán of Eigg, Irish priest and saint
648 – Xiao, empress of the Sui Dynasty
744 – Al-Walid II, Umayyad caliph (b. 706)
818 – Bernard of Italy, Frankish king (b. 797)
858 – Benedict III, pope of the Catholic Church
1071 – Manuel Komnenos, Byzantine military commander (b. c. 1045)
1080 – Harald III of Denmark (b. 1041)
1111 – Robert of Molesme, Christian saint and abbot (b. 1027)
1298 – Árni Þorláksson, Icelandic bishop (b. 1237)
1321 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1259)
1331 – Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford, English nobleman (b. 1257)
1344 – Constantine II, King of Armenia
1355 – Marin Falier, Doge of Venice (b. 1285)
1427 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (b. 1403)
1539 – George, Duke of Saxony (b. 1471)
1574 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar and translator (b. 1500)
1669 – Antonio Bertali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1605)
1680 – Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk-born Native American saint (b. 1656)
1695 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1651)
1696 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (b. 1626)
1711 – Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1678)
1713 – David Hollatz, Polish pastor and theologian (b. 1648)
1764 – Johann Mattheson, German lexicographer and composer (b. 1681)
1790 – Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, publisher, and politician, 6th President of Pennsylvania (b. 1706)
1799 – Richard Jupp, English surveyor and architect (b. 1728)
1840 – Hannah Webster Foster, American journalist and author (b. 1758)
1843 – Samuel Morey, American engineer (b. 1762)
1882 – George Jennings, English engineer and plumber, invented the Flush toilet (b. 1810)
1888 – E. G. Squier, American archaeologist and journalist (b. 1821)
1892 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1822)
1921 – Manwel Dimech, Maltese journalist, author, and philosopher (b. 1860)
1923 – Laurence Ginnell, Irish lawyer and politician (b. 1852)
1930 – Alexander Golovin, Russian painter and stage designer (b. 1863)
1933 – Kote Marjanishvili, Georgian director and playwright (b. 1872)
1936 – Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Dutch lawyer and politician, 28th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1873)
1942 – Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
1944 – J. T. Hearne, English cricketer and coach (b. 1867)
1944 – Dimitrios Psarros, Greek lieutenant, founded the National and Social Liberation (b. 1893)
1946 – Juan Bautista Sacasa, Nicaraguan medical doctor, politician and 20th President of Nicaragua (b. 1874)
1948 – Suzuki Kantarō, Japanese admiral and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1868)
1954 – Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, Romanian lawyer and politician, Romanian Minister of Justice (b. 1900)
1960 – Eddie Cochran, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938)
1961 – Elda Anderson, American physicist and health researcher (b. 1899)
1967 – Red Allen, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1908)
1975 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of India (b. 1888)
1976 – Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
1977 – William Conway, Irish cardinal (b. 1913)
1983 – Felix Pappalardi, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (b. 1939)
1984 – Claude Provost, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1933)
1987 – Cecil Harmsworth King, English publisher (b. 1901)
1987 – Dick Shawn, American actor (b. 1923)
1988 – Louise Nevelson, Ukrainian-American sculptor and educator (b. 1900)
1990 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (b. 1936)
1993 – Turgut Özal, Turkish engineer and politician, 8th president of Turkey (b. 1927)
1994 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American psychologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
1995 – Frank E. Resnik, American sergeant and businessman (b. 1928)
1996 – Piet Hein, Danish poet and mathematician (b. 1905)
1997 – Chaim Herzog, Israeli general, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of Israel (b. 1918)
1998 – Linda McCartney, American photographer, activist, and musician (b. 1941)
2003 – Robert Atkins, American physician and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet (b. 1930)
2003 – H. B. Bailey, American race car driver (b. 1936)
2003 – John Paul Getty, Jr., American-English philanthropist (b. 1932)
2003 – Earl King, American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter (b. 1934)
2003 – Yiannis Latsis, Greek businessman (b. 1910)
2004 – Edmond Pidoux, Swiss author and poet (b. 1908)
2006 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (b. 1907)
2006 – Scott Brazil, American director and producer (b. 1955)
2006 – Henderson Forsythe, American actor (b. 1917)
2007 – Kitty Carlisle, American actress, singer, socialite and game show panelist (b. 1910)
2008 – Aimé Césaire, Caribbean-French poet and politician (b. 1913)
2008 – Danny Federici, American organist and accordion player (b. 1950)
2011 – Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian pianist and composer (b. 1926)
2011 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (b. 1940)
2011 – Robert Vickrey, American artist and author (b. 1926)
2012 – Leila Berg, English journalist and author (b. 1917)
2012 – J. Quinn Brisben, American educator and politician (b. 1934)
2012 – Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (b. 1948)
2012 – Nityananda Mohapatra, Indian journalist, poet, and politician (b. 1912)
2012 – Jonathan V. Plaut, American rabbi and author (b. 1942)
2012 – Stanley Rogers Resor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th United States Secretary of the Army (b. 1917)
2013 – Carlos Graça, São Toméan politician, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (b. 1931)
2013 – Bi Kidude, Tanzanian Taarab singer (b. ≈1910)
2013 – Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter (b. 1957)
2013 – V. S. Ramadevi, Indian politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka (b. 1934)
2014 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
2014 – Bernat Klein, Serbian-Scottish fashion designer and painter (b. 1922)
2014 – Wojciech Leśnikowski, Polish–American architect and academic (b. 1938)
2014 – Karpal Singh, Malaysian lawyer and politician (b. 1940)
2015 – Robert P. Griffin, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1923)
2015 – Scotty Probasco, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1928)
2015 – Jeremiah J. Rodell, American general (b. 1921)
2015 – A. Alfred Taubman, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1924)
2016 – Chyna, American wrestler (b. 1969)
2016 – Doris Roberts, American actress (b. 1925)
2018 – Barbara Bush, former First Lady of the United States (b. 1925)
2018 – Carl Kasell, American radio personality (b. 1934)
2019 – Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 61st and 64th President of Peru (b. 1949)

Holidays and observances on April 17

Christian feast day:
- Kateri Tekakwitha (Canada)
- Stephen Harding
- April 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Store Bededag or General Prayer Day can fall, while May 13 is the latest; observed on the 4th Friday after Easter. (Denmark)
Evacuation Day (Syria), celebrates the recognition of the independence of Syria from France in 1946.
FAO Day (Iraq)
Flag Day (American Samoa)
Malbec World Day
Women’s Day (Gabon)
World Hemophilia Day

April 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

240 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I.
467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted to Christianity by Paulinus, bishop of York.
1012 – Duke Oldřich of Bohemia deposes and blinds his brother Jaromír who flees to Poland.
1204 – The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day.
1606 – The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of English and Scottish ships.
1776 – American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain.
1807 – The Froberg mutiny ends when the remaining mutineers blow up the magazine of Fort Ricasoli.
1820 – Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece.
1831 – Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, cause it to collapse.
1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
1862 – American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw).
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Pillow: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
1865 – American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.
1877 – The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
1910 – SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is launched.
1917 – World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.
1927 – Shanghai massacre of 1927: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Communist Party of China members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front.
1927 – Rocksprings, Texas was hit by an F5 tornado that destroyed 235 of the 247 buildings in the town and killed 72 townspeople and injured 205; third deadliest tornado in Texas history.
1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
1934 – The strongest surface wind gust in the world at the time of 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. It has since been surpassed.
1934 – The U.S. Auto-Lite strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers.
1937 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.
1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office; Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes President upon Roosevelt’s death.
1945 – World War II: The U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reached Tangermünde—only 50 miles from Berlin.
1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
1961 – Cold War: Space Race: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, Vostok 1.
1963 – The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits.
1970 – Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board.
1980 – The Americo-Liberian government of Liberia is violently deposed.
1980 – Transbrasil Flight 303, a Boeing 727, crashes on approach to Hercílio Luz International Airport, in Florianópolis, Brazil. Fifty-five out of the 58 people on board are killed.
1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission.
1983 – Harold Washington is elected as the first black mayor of Chicago.
1990 – Jim Gary’s “Twentieth Century Dinosaurs” exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is the only sculptor ever invited to present a solo exhibition there.
1992 – The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland; the resort and its park’s name are subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris.
1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving “intentionally false statements” in a civil lawsuit; he is later fined and disbarred.
2002 – A suicide bomber blows herself up at the entrance to Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market, killing seven people and wounding 104.
2007 – A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people.
2009 – Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency.
2010 – Merano derailment: A rail accident in South Tyrol kills nine people and injures a further 28.
2013 – Two suicide bombers kill three Chadian soldiers and injure dozens of civilians at a market in Kidal, Mali.
2014 – The Great Fire of Valparaíso ravages the Chilean city of Valparaíso, killing 16 people, displacing nearly 10,000, and destroying over 2,000 homes.

Births on April 12

811 – Muhammad al-Jawad, the ninth Imam of Shia Islam (d. 835)
959 – En’yū, emperor of Japan (d. 991)
1116 – Richeza of Poland, queen of Sweden and Grand Princess of Minsk (d. 1156)
1432 – Anne of Austria, Landgravine of Thuringia (d. 1462)
1484 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace and St. Peter’s Basilica (d. 1546)
1484 – Maharana Sangram Singh, Rana of Mewar (d. 1527)
1500 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar and translator (d. 1574)
1526 – Muretus, French philosopher and author (d. 1585)
1550 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, English courtier and politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (d. 1604)
1577 – Christian IV of Denmark (d. 1648)
1612 – Simone Cantarini, Italian painter and engraver (d. 1648)
1639 – Martin Lister, English naturalist and physician (d. 1712)
1656 – Benoît de Maillet, French diplomat and natural historian (d. 1738)
1705 – William Cookworthy, English minister and pharmacist (d. 1780)
1710 – Caffarelli, Italian actor and singer (d. 1783)
1713 – Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French historian and author (d. 1796)
1716 – Felice Giardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1796)
1722 – Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1793)
1724 – Lyman Hall, American physician, clergyman, and politician, 16th Governor of Georgia (d. 1790)
1748 – Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist and author (d. 1836)
1777 – Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852)
1792 – John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, English soldier and politician, Lord Privy Seal (d. 1840)
1794 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (d. 1847)
1796 – George N. Briggs, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1861)
1799 – Henri Druey, Swiss lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1855)
1801 – Joseph Lanner, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1843)
1816 – Charles Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Victoria (d. 1903)
1823 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian playwright and translator (d. 1886)
1839 – Nikolay Przhevalsky, Russian geographer and explorer (d. 1888)
1845 – Gustaf Cederström, Swedish painter (d. 1933)
1851 – José Gautier Benítez, Puerto Rican soldier and poet (d. 1880)
1851 – Edward Walter Maunder, English astronomer and author (d. 1928)
1852 – Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician and academic (d. 1939)
1856 – Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, English mountaineer, cartographer, and politician (d. 1937)
1863 – Raul Pompeia, Brazilian writer (d. 1895)
1868 – Akiyama Saneyuki, Japanese admiral (d. 1918)
1869 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (d. 1922)
1871 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1941)
1874 – William B. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician, 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1940)
1880 – Addie Joss, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1911)
1883 – Imogen Cunningham, American photographer and educator (d. 1976)
1883 – Dally Messenger, Australian rugby player, cricketer, and sailor (d. 1959)
1884 – Tenby Davies, Welsh runner (d. 1932)
1884 – Otto Meyerhof, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
1885 – Robert Delaunay, French painter (d. 1941)
1887 – Harold Lockwood, American actor and director (d. 1918)
1888 – Dan Ahearn, Irish-American long jumper and police officer (d. 1942)
1888 – Cecil Kimber, English automobile engineer (d. 1945)
1892 – Henry Darger, American writer and artist (d. 1973)
1894 – Dorothy Cumming, Australian-American actress (d. 1983)
1894 – Francisco Craveiro Lopes, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 13th President of Portugal (d. 1964)
1898 – Lily Pons, French-American soprano and actress (d. 1976)
1901 – Lowell Stockman, American farmer and politician (d. 1962)
1902 – Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, 36th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
1903 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
1907 – Zawgyi, Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic (d. 1990)
1907 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian-American sculptor, designed the Marine Corps War Memorial (d. 2003)
1908 – Ida Pollock, English author and painter (d. 2013)
1908 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American pilot and general (d. 2006)
1910 – Gillo Dorfles, Italian art critic, painter and philosopher (d. 2018)
1910 – Irma Rapuzzi, French politician (d. 2018)
1911 – Mahmoud Younis, Egyptian engineer (d. 1976)
1912 – Frank Dilio, Canadian businessman (d. 1997)
1912 – Hamengkubuwono IX, Indonesian politician, 2nd Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1988)
1912 – Hound Dog Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
1913 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist (d. 2013)
1914 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (d. 2013)
1916 – Beverly Cleary, American author
1916 – Russell Garcia, American-New Zealander composer and conductor (d. 2011)
1916 – Benjamin Libet, American neuropsychologist and academic (d. 2007)
1917 – Helen Forrest, American singer and actress (d. 1999)
1917 – Vinoo Mankad, Indian cricketer (d. 1978)
1917 – Robert Manzon, French racing driver (d. 2015)
1919 – István Anhalt, Hungarian-Canadian composer and educator (d. 2012)
1919 – Billy Vaughn, American musician and bandleader (d. 1991)
1921 – Robert Cliche, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1978)
1922 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (d. 1980)
1923 – Ann Miller, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2004)
1924 – Raymond Barre, French economist and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
1924 – Peter Safar, Austrian physician and academic (d. 2003)
1924 – Curtis Turner, American race car driver (d. 1970)
1925 – Evelyn Berezin, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2018)
1925 – Ned Miller, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2016)
1925 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
1926 – Jane Withers, American actress
1927 – Thomas Hemsley, English baritone (d. 2013)
1927 – Alvin Sargent, two-time Academy-Award-winning American screenwriter (d. 2019)
1928 – Hardy Krüger, German actor
1928 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (d. 2013)
1929 – Elspet Gray, Scottish actress (d. 2013)
1929 – Mukhran Machavariani, Georgian poet and educator (d. 2010)
1930 – John Landy, Australian runner and politician, 26th Governor of Victoria
1930 – Bryan Magee, English philosopher and politician (d. 2019)
1930 – Manuel Neri, American sculptor and painter
1930 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (d. 2006)
1931 – Leonid Derbenyov, Russian poet and songwriter (d. 1995)
1932 – Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 5th Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2005)
1932 – Jean-Pierre Marielle, French actor (d. 2019)
1932 – Tiny Tim, American singer and ukulele player (d. 1996)
1933 – Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 2018)
1934 – Heinz Schneiter, Swiss footballer and manager (d. 2017)
1936 – Charles Napier, American actor (d. 2011)
1936 – Kennedy Simmonds, Kittitian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
1937 – Dennis Banks, American author and activist (d. 2017)
1937 – Igor Volk, Ukrainian-Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2017)
1939 – Alan Ayckbourn, English director and playwright
1939 – Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league player and coach
1940 – Woodie Fryman, American baseball player (d. 2011)
1940 – Herbie Hancock, American pianist, composer, and bandleader
1941 – Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (d. 1993)
1942 – Bill Bryden, Scottish actor, director, and screenwriter
1942 – Carlos Reutemann, Argentinian race car driver and politician
1942 – Jacob Zuma, South African politician, 4th President of South Africa
1943 – Sumitra Mahajan, Indian politician, 16th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
1944 – Lisa Jardine, English historian, author, and academic (d. 2015)
1944 – John Kay, German-Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1945 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (d. 2006)
1946 – Ed O’Neill, American actor and comedian
1946 – George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, Scottish politician and diplomat, 10th Secretary General of NATO
1947 – Roy M. Anderson, English epidemiologist, zoologist, and academic
1947 – Martin Brasier, English palaeontologist, biologist, and academic (d. 2014)
1947 – Alex Briley, American disco singer
1947 – Tom Clancy, American historian and author (d. 2013)
1947 – Woody Johnson, American businessman and philanthropist
1947 – Dan Lauria, American actor
1947 – David Letterman, American comedian and talk show host
1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host and producer (d. 2008)
1948 – Joschka Fischer, German academic and politician
1948 – Marcello Lippi, Italian footballer, manager, and coach
1949 – Scott Turow, American lawyer and author
1950 – Flavio Briatore, Italian businessman
1950 – David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
1950 – Joyce Banda, Malawian politician, 4th president of Malawi
1950 – Nick Sackman, English composer and educator
1951 – Tom Noonan, American actor
1952 – Reuben Gant, American football player
1952 – Leicester Rutledge, New Zealand rugby player
1952 – Gary Soto, American poet, novelist, and memoirist
1952 – Ralph Wiley, American journalist (d. 2004)
1953 – Tanino Liberatore, Italian author and illustrator
1954 – John Faulkner, Australian educator and politician, 52nd Australian Minister for Defence
1954 – Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician (d. 2015)
1954 – Pat Travers, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Fabian Hamilton, English graphic designer, engineer, and politician
1956 – Andy Garcia, Cuban-American actor, director, and producer
1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer-songwriter and actor
1957 – Greg Child, Australian mountaineer and author
1957 – Vince Gill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1957 – Tama Janowitz, American novelist and short story writer
1958 – Will Sergeant, English guitarist
1958 – Klaus Tafelmeier, German javelin thrower
1958 – Ginka Zagorcheva, Bulgarian hurdler
1959 – Howard Stableford, English radio and television host
1961 – Corrado Fabi, Italian racing driver
1961 – Charles Mann, American football player and sportscaster
1961 – Magda Szubanski, English-Australian actress, comedian and writer
1962 – Art Alexakis, American singer-songwriter and musician
1962 – Carlos Sainz, Spanish racing driver
1962 – Nobuhiko Takada, Japanese mixed martial artist and wrestler, founded Hustle
1963 – Lydia Cacho, Mexican journalist and author
1964 – Chris Fairclough, English footballer and coach
1965 – Amy Ray, American folk-rock singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer
1965 – Kim Bodnia, Danish actor and director
1965 – Chi Onwurah, English politician
1965 – Gervais Rufyikiri, Burundian politician
1965 – Mihai Stoica, Romanian footballer and manager
1966 – Nils-Olav Johansen, Norwegian guitarist and singer
1966 – Lorenzo White, American football player
1967 – Sarah Cracknell, English singer-songwriter
1968 – Alicia Coppola, American actress
1968 – Toby Gad, German songwriter and producer
1968 – Adam Graves, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Jörn Lenz, German footballer and manager
1969 – Lucas Radebe, South African footballer and sportscaster
1969 – Michael Jackson, American football player and politician (d. 2017)
1970 – Sylvain Bouchard, Canadian speed skater
1971 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor
1971 – Shannen Doherty, American actress, director, and producer
1972 – Paul Lo Duca, American baseball player and sportscaster
1973 – J. Scott Campbell, American author and illustrator
1973 – Ryan Kisor, American trumpet player and composer
1973 – Antonio Osuna, Mexican-American baseball player
1973 – Christian Panucci, Italian footballer and manager
1974 – Belinda Emmett, Australian actress (d. 2006)
1974 – Bryan Fletcher, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1974 – Roman Hamrlík, Czech ice hockey player
1974 – Marley Shelton, American actress
1974 – Sylvinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
1976 – Olga Kotlyarova, Russian runner
1976 – Brad Miller, American basketball player
1977 – Giovanny Espinoza, Ecuadorian footballer
1977 – Sarah Monahan, Australian actress
1977 – Jason Price, Welsh footballer
1977 – Glenn Rogers, Australian-Scottish cricketer
1978 – Guy Berryman, Scottish bass player and producer
1978 – Scott Crary, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1978 – Svetlana Lapina, Russian high jumper
1978 – Robin Walker, English businessman and politician
1979 – Claire Danes, American actress
1979 – Elena Grosheva, Russian gymnast
1979 – Mateja Kežman, Serbian footballer
1979 – Jennifer Morrison, American actress
1979 – Cristian Ranalli, Italian footballer
1979 – Lee Soo-young, South Korean singer
1980 – Sara Head, Welsh Paralympic table tennis champion
1980 – Brian McFadden, Irish singer-songwriter
1981 – Yuriy Borzakovskiy, Russian runner
1981 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentinian footballer
1981 – Tulsi Gabbard, American politician
1981 – Grant Holt, English footballer and professional wrestler
1981 – Hisashi Iwakuma, Japanese baseball pitcher
1983 – Jelena Dokic, Serbian-Australian tennis player
1983 – Luke Kibet, Kenyan runner
1984 – Aleksey Dmitrik, Russian high jumper
1985 – Brennan Boesch, American baseball player
1985 – Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer
1986 – Brad Brach, American baseball pitcher
1986 – Blerim Džemaili, Swiss footballer
1986 – Marcel Granollers, Spanish tennis player
1986 – Jonathan Pitroipa, Burkinabé footballer
1987 – Brooklyn Decker, American model and actress
1987 – Shawn Gore, Canadian football player
1987 – Josh McCrone, Australian rugby league player
1987 – Luiz Adriano, Brazilian professional footballer
1987 – Brendon Urie, American singer, songwriter, musician and multi-instrumentalist
1988 – Ricardo Gabriel Álvarez, Argentinian footballer
1988 – Stephen Brogan, English footballer
1988 – Amedeo Calliari, Italian footballer
1988 – Jessie James Decker, American singer-songwriter
1989 – Bethan Dainton, Welsh rugby union player
1989 – Miguel Ángel Ponce, American-Mexican footballer
1989 – Ádám Hanga, Hungarian basketball player
1989 – Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian-American ice dancer
1989 – Valentin Stocker, Swiss footballer
1990 – Francesca Halsall, English swimmer
1990 – Hiroki Sakai, Japanese footballer
1991 – Torey Krug, American ice hockey player
1991 – Lionel Carole, French professional footballer
1991 – Oliver Norwood, English born Northern Irish international footballer
1991 – Magnus Pääjärvi, Swedish ice hockey player
1991 – Jazz Richards, Welsh international footballer
1992 – Chad le Clos, South African swimmer
1993 – Jordan Archer, English-Scottish footballer
1993 – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Canadian ice hockey player
1994 – Isabelle Drummond, Brazilian actress and singer
1994 – Saoirse Ronan, American-born Irish actress
1994 – Oh Sehun, South Korean musician
1994 – Eric Bailly, Ivorian professional footballer
1994 – Guido Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
1995 – Pedro Cachín, Argentine tennis player
1996 – Elizaveta Kulichkova, Russian tennis player

Deaths on April 12

45 BC – Gnaeus Pompeius, Roman general and politician (b. 75 BC)
352 – Julius I, pope of the Catholic Church
434 – Maximianus, archbishop of Constantinople
901 – Eudokia Baïana, Byzantine empress and wife of Leo VI
1125 – Vladislaus I, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1065)
1167 – Charles VII, king of Sweden (b. c. 1130)
1212 – Vsevolod the Big Nest, Grand Prince of Vladimir (b. 1154)
1256 – Margaret of Bourbon, Queen of Navarre, regent of Navarre (b. c. 1217)
1443 – Henry Chichele, English archbishop (b. 1364)
1500 – Leonhard of Gorizia, Count of Gorz (b. 1440)
1530 – Joanna La Beltraneja, Princess of Castile (b. 1462)
1550 – Claude, Duke of Guise (b. 1496)
1555 – Joanna of Castile (b. 1479)
1675 – Richard Bennett, English politician, colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1609)
1684 – Nicola Amati, Italian instrument maker (b. 1596)
1687 – Ambrose Dixon, English-American soldier (b. 1619)
1704 – Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and theologian (b. 1627)
1748 – William Kent, English architect, designed Holkham Hall and Chiswick House (b. 1685)
1782 – Metastasio, Italian-Austrian poet and composer (b. 1698)
1788 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-Italian composer (b. 1719)
1795 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (b. 1710)
1814 – Charles Burney, English composer and historian (b. 1726)
1817 – Charles Messier, French astronomer and academic (b. 1730)
1850 – Adoniram Judson, American lexicographer and missionary (b. 1788)
1866 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded Fleetwood (b. 1801)
1872 – Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer and theorist (b. 1795)
1878 – William M. Tweed, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823)
1879 – Richard Taylor, American general (b. 1826)
1885 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1817)
1898 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian cardinal (b. 1820)
1902 – Marie Alfred Cornu, French physicist and academic (b. 1842)
1906 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar, academic, and philanthropist (b. 1836)
1912 – Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founded the American Red Cross (b. 1821)
1933 – Adelbert Ames, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Mississippi (b. 1835)
1937 – Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan, Turkish playwright and poet (b. 1852)
1938 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (b. 1873)
1943 – Viktor Puskar, Estonian colonel (b. 1889)
1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882)
1953 – Lionel Logue, Australian actor and therapist (b. 1880)
1962 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish racing driver (b. 1923)
1966 – Sydney Allard, English racing driver and founder of the Allard car company (b. 1910)
1968 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (b. 1899)
1971 – Ed Lafitte, American baseball player and dentist (b. 1886)
1973 – Arthur Freed, American songwriter and producer (b. 1894)
1975 – Josephine Baker, French actress, activist, and humanitarian (b. 1906)
1977 – Philip K. Wrigley, American businessman, co-founded Lincoln Park Gun Club (b. 1894)
1980 – William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician, 20th President of Liberia (b. 1913)
1981 – Prince Yasuhiko Asaka of Japan (b. 1887)
1981 – Joe Louis, American boxer and wrestler (b. 1914)
1983 – Jørgen Juve, Norwegian football player and journalist (b. 1906)
1983 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (b. 1944)
1984 – Edwin T. Layton, American admiral and cryptanalyst (b. 1903)
1986 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (b. 1897)
1988 – Colette Deréal, French singer and actress (b. 1927)
1988 – Alan Paton, South African historian and author (b. 1903)
1989 – Abbie Hoffman, American activist, co-founded Youth International Party (b. 1936)
1989 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
1992 – Ilario Bandini, Italian racing driver and businessman (b. 1911)
1997 – George Wald, American neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
1998 – Robert Ford, Canadian poet and diplomat (b. 1915)
1999 – Boxcar Willie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
2001 – Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the smiley (b. 1921)
2002 – George Shevelov, Ukrainian-American linguist and philologist (b. 1908)
2004 – Moran Campbell, Canadian physician and academic, invented the venturi mask (b. 1925)
2006 – William Sloane Coffin, American minister and activist (b. 1924)
2007 – Kevin Crease, Australian journalist (b. 1936)
2008 – Cecilia Colledge, English-American figure skater and coach (b. 1920)
2008 – Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (b. 1923)
2008 – Jerry Zucker, Israeli-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1949)
2010 – Michel Chartrand, Canadian trade union leader (b. 1916)
2010 – Werner Schroeter, German director and screenwriter (b. 1945)
2011 – Karim Fakhrawi, Bahraini journalist, co-founded Al-Wasat (b. 1962)
2012 – Mohit Chattopadhyay, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1934)
2012 – Rodgers Grant, American pianist and composer (b. 1935)
2013 – Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (b. 1928)
2013 – Johnny du Plooy, South African boxer (b. 1964)
2013 – Michael France, American screenwriter (b. 1962)
2013 – Brennan Manning, American priest and author (b. 1934)
2013 – Annamária Szalai, Hungarian journalist and politician (b. 1961)
2013 – Ya’akov Yosef, Israeli rabbi and politician (b. 1946)
2014 – Pierre Autin-Grenier, French author and poet (b. 1947)
2014 – Pierre-Henri Menthéour, French cyclist (b. 1960)
2014 – Maurício Alves Peruchi, Brazilian footballer (b. 1990)
2014 – Hal Smith, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
2014 – Billy Standridge, American race car driver (b. 1953)
2015 – Paulo Brossard, Brazilian jurist and politician (b. 1924)
2015 – Patrice Dominguez, Algerian-French tennis player and trainer (b. 1950)
2015 – Alfred Eick, German commander (b. 1916)
2015 – André Mba Obame, Gabonese politician (b. 1957)
2016 – Anne Jackson, American actress (b. 1925)
2016 – Mohammad Al Gaz, Emirati politician & diplomat (b. 1930)
2017 – Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (b. 1959)
2020 – Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (b. 1983)

Holidays and observances on April 12

Children’s Day (Bolivia)
Christian feast day:
- Adoniram Judson (Episcopal Church)
- Alferius
- Blessed Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
- Erkembode
- Pope Julius I
- Teresa of the Andes
- Zeno of Verona
- April 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin:
- Cosmonautics Day (Russia)
- International Day of Human Space Flight
- Yuri’s Night (International observance)
Halifax Day (North Carolina)
National Redemption Day (Liberia)

April 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

451 – Attila the Hun sacks the town of Metz and attacks other cities in Gaul.
529 – First draft of the Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I.
611 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul sacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico.
1141 – Empress Matilda became the first female ruler of England, adopting the title ‘Lady of the English’.
1348 – Charles University is founded in Prague.
1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.
1541 – Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.
1724 – Premiere performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion, BWV 245, at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig.
1767 – End of Burmese–Siamese War (1765–67).
1776 – Captain John Barry and the USS Lexington captures the Edward.
1788 – American pioneers to the Northwest Territory establish Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory.
1789 – Selim III became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
1798 – The Mississippi Territory is organized from disputed territory claimed by both the United States and Spain. It is expanded in 1804 and again in 1812.
1805 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery breaks camp among the Mandan tribe and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River.
1805 – German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
1827 – John Walker, an English chemist, sells the first friction match that he had invented the previous year.
1829 – Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, commences translation of the Book of Mormon, with Oliver Cowdery as his scribe.
1831 – Emperor Pedro I of Brazil resigns. He goes to his native Portugal to become King Pedro IV.
1862 – American Civil War: The Union’s Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi near Shiloh, Tennessee.
1868 – Thomas D’Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers of Confederation, is assassinated by a Fenian activist.
1890 – Completion of the first Lake Biwa Canal.
1906 – Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
1906 – The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco.
1922 – The United States Secretary of the Interior leases federal petroleum reserves to private oil companies on excessively generous terms.
1927 – The first long-distance public television broadcast (from Washington, D.C., to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).
1933 – Prohibition in the United States is repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the XXI amendment. (Now celebrated as National Beer Day in the United States.)
1940 – Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
1943 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: In Terebovlia, Germans order 1,100 Jews to undress and march through the city to the nearby village of Plebanivka, where they are shot and buried in ditches.
1943 – Ioannis Rallis becomes collaborationist Prime Minister of Greece during the Axis Occupation.
1945 – World War II: The battleship Yamato, one of the two largest ever constructed, is sunk by American aircraft during Operation Ten-Go.
1945 – World War II: Visoko is liberated by the 7th, 9th, and 17th Krajina brigades from the Tenth division of Yugoslav Partisan forces.
1948 – The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
1949 – The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific opened on Broadway; it would run for 1,925 performances and win ten Tony Awards.
1954 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his “domino theory” speech during a news conference.
1955 – Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health.
1964 – IBM announces the System/360.
1964 – A bulldozer kills Rev. Bruce W. Klunder, a civil rights activist, during a school segregation protest in Cleveland, Ohio, sparking a riot.
1965 – Representatives of the National Congress of American Indians testify before members of the US Senate against the termination of the Colville tribe in Washington DC.
1968 – Motor racing world champion Jim Clark is killed in an accident during a Formula Two race at Hockenheim.
1969 – The Internet’s symbolic birth date: Publication of RFC 1.
1971 – President Richard Nixon announces his decision to quicken the pace of Vietnamization.
1976 – Member of Parliament and suspected spy John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party (UK) after being arrested for faking his own death.
1977 – German Federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by two Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light.
1978 – Development of the neutron bomb is canceled by President Jimmy Carter.
1980 – During the Iran hostage crisis, the United States severs relations with Iran.
1983 – During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first Space Shuttle spacewalk.
1989 – Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway killing 42 sailors.
1990 – Iran–Contra affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal (the conviction is later reversed on appeal).
1990 – A fire breaks out on the passenger ferry Scandinavian Star, killing 159 people.
1994 – Rwandan genocide: Massacres of Tutsis begin in Kigali, Rwanda.
1994 – Auburn Calloway attempts to destroy Federal Express Flight 705 in order to allow his family to benefit from his life insurance policy.
1995 – First Chechen War: Russian paramilitary troops begin a massacre of civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.
1999 – The World Trade Organization rules in favor of the United States in its long-running trade dispute with the European Union over bananas.
2001 – Mars Odyssey is launched.
2003 – U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein’s regime falls two days later.
2009 – Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.
2009 – Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent.
2017 – A man deliberately drives a hijacked truck into a crowd of people, killing five people and injuring fifteen others.

Births on April 7

1206 – Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1253)
1330 – John, 3rd Earl of Kent, English nobleman (d. 1352)
1470 – Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire (d. 1498)
1506 – Francis Xavier, Spanish missionary and saint, co-founded the Society of Jesus (d. 1552)
1539 – Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and illustrator (d. 1584)
1613 – Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (d. 1675)
1644 – François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, French general (d. 1730)
1648 – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English poet and politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1721)
1652 – Pope Clement XII (d. 1740)
1713 – Nicola Sala, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1801)
1718 – Hugh Blair, Scottish minister and author (d. 1800)
1727 – Michel Adanson, French botanist, entomologist, and mycologist (d. 1806)
1763 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (d. 1846)
1770 – William Wordsworth, English poet (d. 1850)
1772 – Charles Fourier, French philosopher and author (d. 1837)
1780 – William Ellery Channing, American preacher and theologian (d. 1842)
1803 – James Curtiss, American journalist and politician, 11th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1859)
1803 – Flora Tristan, French author and activist (d. 1844)
1811 – Hasan Tahsini, Albanian astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1881)
1817 – Francesco Selmi, Italian chemist and patriot (d. 1881)
1848 – Randall Davidson, Scottish archbishop (d. 1930)
1859 – Walter Camp, American football player and coach (d. 1925)
1860 – Will Keith Kellogg, American businessman, founded the Kellogg Company (d. 1951)
1867 – Holger Pedersen, Danish linguist and academic (d. 1953)
1870 – Gustav Landauer, Jewish-German theorist and activist (d. 1919)
1871 – Epifanio de los Santos, Filipino jurist, historian, and scholar (d. 1927)
1873 – John McGraw, American baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
1874 – Frederick Carl Frieseke, German-American painter (d. 1939)
1876 – Fay Moulton, American sprinter, football player, coach, and lawyer (d. 1945)
1882 – Bert Ironmonger, Australian cricketer (d. 1971)
1882 – Kurt von Schleicher, German general and politician, 23rd Chancellor of Germany (d. 1934)
1883 – Gino Severini, Italian-French painter and author (d. 1966)
1884 – Clement Smoot, American golfer (d. 1963)
1886 – Ed Lafitte, American baseball player and soldier (d. 1971)
1889 – Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
1890 – Paul Berth, Danish footballer (d. 1969)
1890 – Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American journalist and activist (d. 1998)
1891 – Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman, founded the Lego Group (d. 1958)
1893 – Allen Dulles, American lawyer and diplomat, 5th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1969)
1895 – John Flannagan, American soldier and sculptor (d. 1942)
1895 – Margarete Schön, German actress (d. 1985)
1896 – Frits Peutz, Dutch architect, designed the Glaspaleis (d. 1974)
1897 – Erich Löwenhardt, Polish-German lieutenant and pilot (d. 1918)
1897 – Walter Winchell, American journalist and radio host (d. 1972)
1899 – Robert Casadesus, French pianist and composer (d. 1972)
1900 – Adolf Dymsza, Polish actor (d. 1975)
1900 – Tebbs Lloyd Johnson, English race walker (d. 1984)
1902 – Eduard Eelma, Estonian footballer (d. 1941)
1903 – M. Balasundaram, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1965)
1903 – Edwin T. Layton, American admiral (d. 1984)
1904 – Roland Wilson, Australian economist and statistician (d. 1996)
1908 – Percy Faith, Canadian composer, conductor, and bandleader (d. 1976)
1908 – Pete Zaremba, American hammer thrower (d. 1994)
1909 – Robert Charroux, French author and critic (d. 1978)
1913 – Louise Currie, American actress (d. 2013)
1913 – Charles Vanik, American soldier, judge, and politician (d. 2007)
1914 – Ralph Flanagan, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1995)
1915 – Stanley Adams, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1977)
1915 – Billie Holiday, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1959)
1915 – Henry Kuttner, American author (d. 1958)
1916 – Anthony Caruso, American actor (d. 2003)
1917 – R. G. Armstrong, American actor and playwright (d. 2012)
1918 – Bobby Doerr, American baseball player and coach (d. 2017)
1919 – Roger Lemelin, Canadian author and screenwriter (d. 1992)
1919 – Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italian fencer (d. 2012)
1920 – Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (d. 2012)
1921 – Feza Gürsey, Turkish mathematician and physicist (d. 1992)
1922 – Mongo Santamaría, Cuban-American drummer (d. 2003)
1924 – Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian-English author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1925 – Chaturanan Mishra, Indian trade union leader and politician (d. 2011)
1925 – Jan van Roessel, Dutch footballer (d. 2011)
1927 – Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian-American drummer, educator, and activist (d. 2003)
1927 – Leonid Shcherbakov, Russian triple jumper
1928 – James Garner, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 2014)
1928 – Alan J. Pakula, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
1928 – James White, Northern Irish author and educator (d. 1999)
1929 – Bob Denard, French soldier (d. 2007)
1929 – Joe Gallo, American gangster (d. 1972)
1930 – Jane Priestman, English interior designer
1930 – Yves Rocher, French businessman, founded the Yves Rocher Company (d. 2009)
1930 – Andrew Sachs, German-English actor and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1930 – Roger Vergé, French chef and restaurateur (d. 2015)
1931 – Donald Barthelme, American short story writer and novelist (d. 1989)
1931 – Daniel Ellsberg, American activist and author
1932 – Cal Smith, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
1933 – Wayne Rogers, American actor, investor, and producer (d. 2015)
1933 – Sakıp Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist (d. 2004)
1934 – Ian Richardson, Scottish-English actor (d. 2007)
1935 – Bobby Bare, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1935 – Hodding Carter III, American journalist and politician, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
1937 – Charlie Thomas, American singer
1938 – Jerry Brown, American lawyer and politician, 34th and 39th Governor of California
1938 – Spencer Dryden, American drummer (d. 2005)
1938 – Freddie Hubbard, American trumpet player and composer (d. 2008)
1938 – Iris Johansen, American author
1939 – Francis Ford Coppola, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1939 – David Frost, English journalist and game show host (d. 2013)
1939 – Gary Kellgren, American record producer, co-founded Record Plant (d. 1977)
1939 – Brett Whiteley, Australian painter (d. 1992)
1940 – Marju Lauristin, Estonian academic and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Social Affairs
1941 – James Di Pasquale, American composer
1941 – Peter Fluck, English puppet maker and illustrator
1941 – Cornelia Frances, English-Australian actress (d. 2018)
1941 – Gorden Kaye, English actor (d. 2017)
1942 – Jeetendra, Indian actor, TV and film producer
1943 – Mick Abrahams, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Dennis Amiss, English cricketer and manager
1944 – Shel Bachrach, American insurance broker, investor, businessman and philanthropist
1944 – Warner Fusselle, American sportscaster (d. 2012)
1944 – Oshik Levi, Israeli singer and actor
1944 – Julia Phillips, American film producer and author (d. 2002)
1944 – Gerhard Schröder, German lawyer and politician, 7th Chancellor of Germany
1944 – Bill Stoneman, American baseball player and manager
1945 – Megas, Icelandic singer-songwriter
1945 – Gerry Cottle, English businessman
1945 – Marilyn Friedman, American philosopher and academic
1945 – Martyn Lewis, Welsh journalist and author
1945 – Joël Robuchon, French chef and author (d. 2018)
1945 – Werner Schroeter, German director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1945 – Hans van Hemert, Dutch songwriter and producer
1946 – Zaid Abdul-Aziz, American basketball player
1946 – Colette Besson, French runner and educator (d. 2005)
1946 – Herménégilde Chiasson, Canadian poet, playwright, and politician, 29th Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
1946 – Dimitrij Rupel, Slovenian politician and diplomate
1946 – Stan Winston, American special effects designer and makeup artist (d. 2008)
1947 – Patricia Bennett, American singer
1947 – Florian Schneider, German singer and drummer (d. 2020)
1947 – Michèle Torr, French singer and author
1948 – John Oates, American singer-songwriter guitarist, and producer
1949 – Mitch Daniels, American academic and politician, 49th Governor of Indiana
1950 – Brian J. Doyle, American press secretary
1951 – Bruce Gary, American drummer (d. 2006)
1951 – Janis Ian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1952 – David Baulcombe, English geneticist and academic
1952 – Jane Frederick, American hurdler and heptathlete
1952 – Gilles Valiquette, Canadian actor, singer, and producer
1952 – Dennis Hayden, American actor
1953 – Santa Barraza, American mixed media artist
1953 – Douglas Kell, English biochemist and academic
1954 – Jackie Chan, Hong Kong martial artist, actor, stuntman, director, producer, and screenwriter
1954 – Tony Dorsett, American football player
1955 – Tim Cochran, American mathematician and academic (d. 2014)
1955 – Gregg Jarrett, American lawyer and journalist
1956 – Annika Billström, Swedish businesswoman and politician, 16th Mayor of Stockholm
1956 – Christopher Darden, American lawyer and author
1956 – Georg Werthner, Austrian decathlete
1957 – Kim Kap-soo, South Korean actor
1957 – Thelma Walker, British politician
1958 – Brian Haner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1958 – Hindrek Kesler, Estonian architect
1960 – Buster Douglas, American boxer and actor
1960 – Sandy Powell, English costume designer
1961 – Thurl Bailey, American basketball player and actor
1961 – Pascal Olmeta, French footballer
1961 – Brigitte van der Burg, Tanzanian-Dutch geographer and politician
1962 – Jon Cruddas, English lawyer and politician
1962 – Andrew Hampsten, American cyclist
1963 – Jaime de Marichalar, Spanish businessman
1963 – Nick Herbert, English businessman and politician, Minister for Policing
1963 – Dave Johnson, American decathlete and educator
1964 – Jace Alexander, American actor and director
1964 – Russell Crowe, New Zealand-Australian actor
1964 – Steve Graves, Canadian ice hockey player
1965 – Bill Bellamy, American comedian, actor, and producer
1965 – Rozalie Hirs, Dutch composer and poet
1965 – Alison Lapper, English painter and photographer
1965 – Nenad Vučinić, Serbian-New Zealand basketball player and coach
1966 – Richard Gomez, Filipino actor and politician
1966 – Zvika Hadar, Israeli entertainer
1966 – Béla Mavrák, Hungarian tenor singer
1966 – Gary Wilkinson, English snooker player
1967 – Artemis Gounaki, Greek-German singer-songwriter
1967 – Bodo Illgner, German footballer
1967 – Simone Schilder, Dutch tennis player
1968 – Duncan Armstrong, Australian swimmer and sportscaster
1968 – Jennifer Lynch, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Jože Možina, Slovenian historian, sociologist and journalist
1968 – Vasiliy Sokov, Russian triple jumper
1969 – Ricky Watters, American football player
1970 – Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian pianist and educator
1971 – Guillaume Depardieu, French actor (d. 2008)
1971 – Victor Kraatz, German-Canadian figure skater
1972 – Tim Peake, British astronaut
1973 – Marco Delvecchio, Italian footballer
1973 – Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Defence
1973 – Carole Montillet, French skier
1973 – Christian O’Connell, British radio DJ and presenter
1973 – Brett Tomko, American baseball player
1975 – Karin Dreijer Andersson, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
1975 – Ronde Barber, American football player and sportscaster
1975 – Tiki Barber, American football player and journalist
1975 – Ronnie Belliard, American baseball player
1975 – John Cooper, American singer-songwriter and bass player
1975 – Simon Woolford, Australian rugby league player
1976 – Kevin Alejandro, American actor and producer
1976 – Martin Buß, German high jumper
1976 – Jessica Lee, English lawyer and politician
1976 – Aaron Lohr, American actor
1976 – Barbara Jane Reams, American actress
1976 – Gang Qiang, Chinese anchor
1978 – Jo Appleby, English soprano
1978 – Duncan James, English singer-songwriter and actor
1978 – Lilia Osterloh, American tennis player
1979 – Adrián Beltré, Dominican-American baseball player
1979 – Patrick Crayton, American football player
1979 – Pascal Dupuis, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Danny Sandoval, Venezuelan-American baseball player
1980 – Dragan Bogavac, Montenegrin footballer
1980 – Tetsuji Tamayama, Japanese actor
1981 – Hitoe Arakaki, Japanese singer
1981 – Kazuki Watanabe, Japanese songwriter and guitarist (d. 2000)
1981 – Vanessa Olivarez, American singer-songwriter, and actress
1981 – Suzann Pettersen, Norwegian golfer
1982 – Silvana Arias, Peruvian actress
1982 – Sonjay Dutt, American wrestler
1982 – Kelli Young, English singer
1983 – Hamish Davidson, Australian musician
1983 – Franck Ribéry, French footballer
1983 – Jon Stead, English footballer
1983 – Jakub Smrž, Czech motorcycle rider
1983 – Janar Talts, Estonian basketball player
1984 – Hiroko Shimabukuro, Japanese singer
1985 – KC Concepcion, Filipino actress and singer
1985 – Humza Yousaf, Scottish politician
1986 – Brooke Brodack, American comedian
1986 – Jack Duarte, Mexican actor, singer, and guitarist
1986 – Andi Fraggs, English singer-songwriter and producer
1986 – Christian Fuchs, Austrian footballer
1987 – Martín Cáceres, Uruguayan footballer
1987 – Eelco Sintnicolaas, Dutch decathlete
1987 – Jamar Smith, American football player
1988 – Antonio Piccolo, Italian footballer
1988 – Ed Speleers, English actor and producer
1989 – Alexa Demara, American actress, model and writer
1989 – Franco Di Santo, Argentinian footballer
1989 – Mitchell Pearce, Australian rugby league player
1989 – Teddy Riner, French judoka
1990 – Nickel Ashmeade, Jamaican sprinter
1990 – Anna Bogomazova, Russian-American kick-boxer, martial artist, and wrestler
1990 – Sorana Cîrstea, Romanian tennis player
1990 – Trent Cotchin, Australian footballer
1991 – Luka Milivojević, Serbian footballer
1991 – Anne-Marie, English singer-songwriter
1992 – Andreea Acatrinei, Romanian gymnast
1992 – Guilherme Negueba, Brazilian footballer
1993 – Ichinojō Takashi, Mongolian sumo wrestler
1994 – Johanna Allik, Estonian figure skater
1994 – Aaron Gray, Australian rugby league player
1996 – Emerson Hyndman, American international soccer player^[5]
1997 – Rafaela Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player

Deaths on April 7

AD 30 – Jesus Christ, (possible date of the crucifixion) (b. circa 4 BC)
821 – George the Standard-Bearer, archbishop of Mytilene (b. c. 776)
924 – Berengar I of Italy (b. 845)
1206 – Frederick I, Duke of Lorraine
1340 – Bolesław Jerzy II of Mazovia (b. 1308)
1498 – Charles VIII of France (b. 1470)
1499 – Galeotto I Pico, Duke of Mirandola (b. 1442)
1501 – Minkhaung II, king of Ava (b. 1446)
1606 – Edward Oldcorne, English martyr (b. 1561)
1614 – El Greco, Greek-Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1541)
1638 – Shimazu Tadatsune, Japanese daimyō (b. 1576)
1651 – Lennart Torstensson, Swedish field marshal and engineer (b. 1603)
1658 – Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, Spanish mystic and philosopher (b. 1595)
1661 – Sir William Brereton, 1st Baronet, English commander and politician (b. 1604)
1663 – Francis Cooke, English-American settler (b. 1583)
1668 – William Davenant, English poet and playwright (b. 1606)
1719 – Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest and saint, founded the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (b. 1651)
1739 – Dick Turpin, English criminal (b. 1705)
1747 – Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (b. 1676)
1761 – Thomas Bayes, English minister and mathematician (b. 1701)
1766 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (b. 1685)
1767 – Franz Sparry, Austrian composer and director (b. 1715)
1782 – Taksin, Thai king (b. 1734)
1789 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1725)
1789 – Petrus Camper, Dutch physician, anatomist, and physiologist (b. 1722)
1801 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer and author (b. 1724)
1804 – Toussaint Louverture, Haitian general (b. 1743)
1811 – Garsevan Chavchavadze, Georgian diplomat and politician (b. 1757)
1823 – Jacques Charles, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1746)
1833 – Antoni Radziwiłł, Lithuanian composer and politician (b. 1775)
1836 – William Godwin, English journalist and author (b. 1756)
1849 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentinian priest and politician (b. 1777)
1850 – William Lisle Bowles, English poet and critic (b. 1762)
1858 – Anton Diabelli, Austrian composer and publisher (b. 1781)
1868 – Thomas D’Arcy McGee, Irish-Canadian journalist, activist, and politician (b. 1825)
1879 – Begum Hazrat Mahal, Begum of Awadh, was the second wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (b. 1820)
1885 – Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist and zoologist (b. 1804)
1889 – Youssef Bey Karam, Lebanese soldier and politician (b. 1823)
1889 – Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Mexican politician and president, 1872-1876 (b. 1823)
1891 – P. T. Barnum, American businessman and politician, co-founded The Barnum & Bailey Circus (b. 1810)
1917 – Spyridon Samaras, Greek composer and playwright (b. 1861)
1918 – David Kolehmainen, Finnish wrestler (b. 1885)
1918 – George E. Ohr, American potter (b. 1857)
1920 – Karl Binding, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1841)
1922 – James McGowen, Australian politician, 18th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1855)
1928 – Alexander Bogdanov, Russian physician, philosopher, and author (b. 1873)
1932 – Grigore Constantinescu, Romanian priest and journalist (b. 1875)
1938 – Suzanne Valadon, French painter (b. 1865)
1939 – Joseph Lyons, Australian educator and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1879)
1943 – Jovan Dučić, Serbian-American poet and diplomat (b. 1871)
1943 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (b. 1859)
1947 – Henry Ford, American engineer and businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (b. 1863)
1949 – John Gourlay, Canadian soccer player (b. 1872)
1950 – Walter Huston, Canadian-American actor and singer (b. 1883)
1955 – Theda Bara, American actress (b. 1885)
1956 – Fred Appleby, English runner (b. 1879)
1960 – Henri Guisan, Swiss general (b. 1874)
1965 – Roger Leger, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1919)
1966 – Walt Hansgen, American race car driver (b. 1919)
1968 – Edwin Baker, Canadian co-founder of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) (b. 1893)
1968 – Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (b. 1936)
1972 – Joe Gallo, American gangster (b. 1929)
1972 – Abeid Karume, Tanzanian politician, 1st President of Zanzibar (b. 1905)
1981 – Kit Lambert, English record producer and manager (b. 1935)
1981 – Norman Taurog, American director and screenwriter (b. 1899)
1982 – Harald Ertl, Austrian race car driver and journalist (b. 1948)
1984 – Frank Church, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1924)
1985 – Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and jurist (b. 1888)
1986 – Leonid Kantorovich, Russian mathematician and economist (b. 1912)
1990 – Ronald Evans, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1933)
1991 – Memduh Ünlütürk, Turkish general (b. 1913)
1992 – Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1903)
1992 – Antonis Tritsis, Greek high jumper and politician, 71st Mayor of Athens (b. 1937)
1994 – Lee Brilleaux, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
1994 – Albert Guðmundsson, Icelandic footballer, manager, and politician (b. 1923)
1994 – Golo Mann, German historian and author (b. 1909)
1994 – Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Rwandan chemist, academic, and politician, Prime Minister of Rwanda (b. 1953)
1995 – Philip Jebb, English architect and politician (b. 1927)
1997 – Luis Aloma, Cuban-American baseball player (b. 1923)
1997 – Georgy Shonin, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1935)
1998 – Alex Schomburg, Puerto Rican-American painter and illustrator (b. 1905)
1999 – Heinz Lehmann, German-Canadian psychiatrist and academic (b. 1911)
2001 – David Graf, American actor (b. 1950)
2001 – Beatrice Straight, American actress (b. 1914)
2002 – John Agar, American actor (b. 1921)
2003 – Cecile de Brunhoff, French pianist and author (b. 1903)
2003 – David Greene, English-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
2004 – Victor Argo, American actor (b. 1934)
2004 – Konstantinos Kallias, Greek politician (b. 1901)
2005 – Cliff Allison, English race car driver (b. 1932)
2005 – Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1922)
2005 – Bob Kennedy, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1920)
2005 – Melih Kibar, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1951)
2007 – Johnny Hart, American author and illustrator (b. 1931)
2007 – Barry Nelson, American actor (b. 1917)
2008 – Ludu Daw Amar, Burmese journalist and author (b. 1915)
2009 – Dave Arneson, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (b. 1947)
2011 – Pierre Gauvreau, Canadian painter (b. 1922)
2012 – Steven Kanumba, Tanzanian actor and director (b. 1984)
2012 – Satsue Mito, Japanese zoologist and academic (b. 1914)
2012 – Ignatius Moses I Daoud, Syrian cardinal (b. 1930)
2012 – David E. Pergrin, American colonel and engineer (b. 1917)
2012 – Bashir Ahmed Qureshi, Pakistani politician (b. 1959)
2012 – Mike Wallace, American television news journalist (b. 1918)
2013 – Marty Blake, American businessman (b. 1927)
2013 – Les Blank, American director and producer (b. 1935)
2013 – Andy Johns, English-American record producer (b. 1950)
2013 – Lilly Pulitzer, American fashion designer (b. 1931)
2013 – Irma Ravinale, Italian composer and educator (b. 1937)
2013 – Mickey Rose, American screenwriter (b. 1935)
2013 – Carl Williams, American boxer (b. 1959)
2014 – George Dureau, American painter and photographer (b. 1930)
2014 – James Alexander Green, American-English mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
2014 – V. K. Murthy, Indian cinematographer (b. 1923)
2014 – Zeituni Onyango, Kenyan-American computer programmer (b. 1952)
2014 – John Shirley-Quirk, English opera singer (b. 1931)
2014 – George Shuffler, American guitarist (b. 1925)
2014 – Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (b. 1927)
2014 – Royce Waltman, American basketball player and coach (b. 1942)
2015 – Tim Babcock, American soldier and politician, 16th Governor of Montana (b. 1919)
2015 – José Capellán, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1981)
2015 – Stan Freberg, American puppeteer, voice actor, and singer (b. 1926)
2015 – Richard Henyekane, South African footballer (b. 1983)
2015 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor (b. 1935)
2016 – Blackjack Mulligan, American professional wrestler (b. 1942)
2019 – Seymour Cassel, American actor (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances on April 7

Christian feast days:
- Aibert of Crespin
- Blessed Alexander Rawlins
- Blessed Edward Oldcorne and Blessed Ralph Ashley
- Blessed Notker the Stammerer
- Brynach
- Hegesippus
- Henry Walpole
- Hermann Joseph
- Jean-Baptiste de La Salle
- Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow (Eastern Orthodox Church, Episcopal Church (USA))
- April 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Flag Day (Slovenia)
Genocide Memorial Day (Rwanda), and its related observance:
- International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwanda Genocide (United Nations)
Motherhood and Beauty Day (Armenia)
National Beer Day (United States)
Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume Day (Tanzania)
Women’s Day (Mozambique)
World Health Day (International observance)

April 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of Venice.
1461 – Battle of Towton: Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England, bringing a temporary stop to the Wars of the Roses.
1500 – Cesare Borgia is given the title of Captain-General and Gonfalonier by his father Rodrigo Borgia after returning from his conquests in the Romagna.
1549 – The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.
1632 – Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.
1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm’s Royal Opera 13 days earlier. He is succeeded by Gustav IV Adolf.
1806 – Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.
1809 – King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d’état. At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland’s four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.
1831 – Great Bosnian uprising: Bosniaks rebel against Turkey.
1847 – Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
1849 – The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.
1857 – Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry mutinies against the East India Company’s rule in India and inspires the protracted Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.
1865 – American Civil War: Federal forces under Major General Philip Sheridan move to flank Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee as the Appomattox Campaign begins.
1867 – Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes Canada on July 1.
1871 – Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.
1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.
1882 – The Knights of Columbus is established.
1886 – John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta.
1911 – The M1911 .45 ACP pistol becomes the official U.S. Army side arm.
1927 – Sunbeam 1000hp breaks the land speed record at Daytona Beach, Florida.
1930 – Heinrich Brüning is appointed German Reichskanzler.
1936 – Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in the 1936 German parliamentary election and referendum.
1941 – The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement goes into effect at 03:00 local time.
1941 – World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesian coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
1942 – The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II is the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city.
1945 – World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.
1945 – World War II: The German 4th Army is almost destroyed by the Soviet Red Army.
1946 – Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, one of Mexico’s leading universities, is founded.
1947 – Malagasy Uprising against French colonial rule in Madagascar.
1951 – Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.
1957 – The New York, Ontario and Western Railway makes its final run, the first major U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.
1961 – The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.
1962 – Arturo Frondizi, the president of Argentina, is overthrown in a military coup by Argentina’s armed forces, ending an 11¹⁄₂ day constitutional crisis.
1971 – My Lai Massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
1973 – Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.
1973 – Operation Barrel Roll, a covert American bombing campaign in Laos to stop communist infiltration of South Vietnam, ends.
1974 – NASA’s Mariner 10 becomes the first space probe to fly by Mercury.
1974 – Terracotta Army was discovered in Shaanxi province, China.
1982 – The Canada Act 1982 receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.
1984 – The Baltimore Colts load its possessions onto fifteen Mayflower moving trucks in the early morning hours and transfer its operations to Indianapolis.
1990 – The Czechoslovak parliament is unable to reach an agreement on what to call the country after the fall of Communism, sparking the so-called Hyphen War.
1993 – Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island and the first woman to be elected in a general election as premier of a Canadian province.
1999 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the dot-com bubble.
1999 – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake in India strikes the Chamoli district in Uttar Pradesh, killing 103.
2002 – In reaction to the Passover massacre two days prior, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield against Palestinian militants, its largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.
2004 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia join NATO as full members.
2010 – Two suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40.
2013 – At least 36 people are killed when a 16-floor building collapses in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
2014 – The first same-sex marriages in England and Wales are performed.

Births on March 29

1001 – Sokkate, king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (d. 1044)
1187 – Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (d. 1203)
1373 – Marie d’Alençon, French princess (d. 1417)
1517 – Carlo Carafa, Italian cardinal (d. 1561)
1553 – Vitsentzos Kornaros, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1614)
1561 – Santorio Santorio, Italian biologist (d. 1636)
1584 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general and politician (d. 1648)
1602 – John Lightfoot, English priest, scholar, and academic (d. 1675)
1620 – Edward Digges, English barrister and colonist
1629 – Alexis of Russia, Tsar of Russia (d. 1676)
1713 – John Ponsonby, Irish politician (d. 1789)
1735 – Johann Karl August Musäus, German author (d. 1787)
1747 – Johann Wilhelm Hässler, German pianist and composer (d. 1822)
1769 – Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, French general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of France (d. 1851)
1780 – Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish adventurer (d. 1841)
1790 – John Tyler, American lawyer and politician, 10th President of the United States (d. 1862)
1799 – Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1869)
1802 – Johann Moritz Rugendas, German landscape painter of Spanish America (d. 1858)
1816 – 10th Dalai Lama (d. 1837)
1824 – Ludwig Büchner, German physiologist, physician, and philosopher (d. 1899)
1826 – Wilhelm Liebknecht, German journalist and politician (d. 1900)
1862 – Adolfo Müller-Ury, Swiss-American painter (d. 1947)
1863 – Walter James, Australian politician, 5th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1943)
1867 – Cy Young, American baseball player and manager (d. 1955)
1869 – Aleš Hrdlička, Czech-American anthropologist and scholar (d. 1943)
1869 – Sir Edwin Lutyens, British architect (d. 1944)
1870 – Pavlos Melas, French-Greek captain (d. 1904)
1871 – Tom Hayward, English cricketer (d. 1939)
1872 – Hal Colebatch, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1953)
1873 – Tullio Levi-Civita, Jewish-Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
1874 – Lou Henry Hoover, American wife of Herbert Hoover, 33rd First Lady of the United States (d. 1944)
1876 – Friedrich Traun, German sprinter and tennis player (d. 1908)
1884 – Ed Archibald, Canadian pole vaulter (d. 1965)
1885 – Dezső Kosztolányi, Hungarian author and poet (d. 1936)
1888 – Enea Bossi, Sr., Italian-American engineer, designed the Budd BB-1 Pioneer and Bossi-Bonomi Pedaliante (d. 1963)
1889 – Warner Baxter, American actor (d. 1951)
1889 – Howard Lindsay, American producer, playwright, librettist, director and actor (d. 1968)
1890 – Bert Bliss, English international footballer, inside forward (d. 1968)
1891 – Yvan Goll, French-German poet and playwright (d. 1950)
1891 – Alfred Neubauer, Austrian race car driver and manager (d. 1980)
1892 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (d. 1975)
1893 – Astrid Holm, Danish actress (d. 1961)
1895 – Ernst Jünger, German philosopher and author (d. 1998)
1896 – Wilhelm Ackermann, German mathematician (d. 1962)
1899 – Lavrentiy Beria, Georgian-Russian general and politician (d. 1953)
1900 – Bill Aston, English race car driver (d. 1974)
1900 – John McEwen, Australian farmer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1980)
1902 – Marcel Aymé, French author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1967)
1902 – Don Miller, American football player and coach (d. 1979)
1902 – William Walton, English composer (d. 1983)
1903 – Douglas Harkness, Canadian colonel and politician, 14th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 1999)
1906 – James Bausch, American decathlete and football player (d. 1974)
1907 – Braguinha, Brazilian singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2006)
1908 – Arthur O’Connell, American actor (d. 1981)
1908 – Dennis O’Keefe, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
1909 – Moon Mullican, American country and western singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1967)
1912 – Hanna Reitsch, German soldier and pilot (d. 1979)
1914 – Phil Foster, American actor (d. 1985)
1914 – Chapman Pincher, Indian-English historian, journalist, and author (d. 2014)
1916 – Peter Geach, English philosopher and academic (d. 2013)
1916 – Eugene McCarthy, American poet and politician (d. 2005)
1917 – Tommy Holmes, American baseball player (d. 2008)
1918 – Pearl Bailey, American actress and singer (d. 1990)
1918 – Lê Văn Thiêm, Vietnamese mathematician and academic (d. 1991)
1918 – Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam’s Club (d. 1992)
1919 – Eileen Heckart, American actress (d. 2001)
1920 – John M. Belk, American businessman and politician (d. 2007)
1920 – Clarke Fraser, American-Canadian geneticist and academic (d. 2014)
1920 – Pierre Moinot, French author (d. 2007)
1920 – Theodore Trautwein, American lawyer and judge (d. 2000)
1921 – Sam Loxton, Australian cricketer, footballer, and politician (d. 2011)
1923 – Geoff Duke, English-Manx motorcycle racer (d. 2015)
1923 – Betty Binns Fletcher, American lawyer and judge (d. 2012)
1923 – Bob Haymes, American singer-songwriter, and actor (d. 1989)
1926 – Moshe Sanbar, Hungarian-Israeli banker and economist (d. 2012)
1927 – John McLaughlin, American journalist and producer (d. 2016)
1927 – John Vane, English pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
1928 – Romesh Bhandari, Pakistani-Indian politician, 13th Foreign Secretary of India (d. 2013)
1928 – Keith Botsford, Belgian-American journalist, author, and academic (d. 2018)
1928 – Vincent Gigante, American boxer and mobster (d. 2005)
1929 – Sheila Kitzinger, English activist, author, and academic (d. 2015)
1929 – Richard Lewontin, American biologist, geneticist, and academic
1929 – Lennart Meri, Estonian director and politician, 2nd President of Estonia (d. 2006)
1929 – Utpal Dutt, Indian Bengali actor, director and playwright (d. 1993)
1930 – Anerood Jugnauth, Mauritian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Mauritius
1931 – Ștefan Andrei, Romanian politician, 87th Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2014)
1931 – Sopubek Begaliev, Kyrgyzstani economist and politician (d. 2002)
1931 – Aleksei Gubarev, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2015)
1931 – Norman Tebbit, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1933 – Jacques Brault, Canadian poet and academic
1934 – Shahryar Khan, Indian-Pakistani politician and diplomat, 20th Foreign Secretary of Pakistan
1936 – Richard Rodney Bennett, English-American composer and educator (d. 2012)
1936 – Mogens Camre, Danish politician (d. 2016)
1936 – John A. Durkin, American lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
1936 – Judith Guest, American author and screenwriter
1936 – Joseph P. Teasdale, American lawyer and politician, 48th Governor of Missouri (d. 2014)
1937 – Roberto Chabet, Filipino painter and sculptor (d. 2013)
1937 – Smarck Michel, Haitian businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Haiti (d. 2012)
1937 – Gordon Milne, English footballer
1938 – Bert de Vries, Dutch politician
1939 – Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (d. 2008)
1939 – Terence Hill, Italian actor, director, and producer
1939 – Hanumant Singh, Indian cricketer (d. 2006)
1940 – Ray Davis, American bass singer (d. 2005)
1940 – Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer-songwriter
1940 – John Suchet, English journalist and game show host
1941 – Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., American astrophysicist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate
1942 – Bob Lurtsema, American football player
1942 – Scott Wilson, American actor (d. 2018)
1943 – Vangelis, Greek keyboard player and songwriter
1943 – Chad Allan, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Eric Idle, English actor and comedian
1943 – John Major, English banker and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1944 – Terry Jacks, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1944 – Denny McLain, American baseball player and sportscaster
1944 – Lynne Segal, Australian-British feminist academic and activist
1945 – Walt Frazier, American basketball player and sportscaster
1945 – Speedy Keen, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2002)
1946 – Billy Thorpe, English-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2007)
1946 – Segun Bucknor, Nigerian musician and journalist (d. 2017)
1947 – Inge Bödding, German sprinter
1947 – Robert Gordon, American singer and actor
1947 – Bobby Kimball, American singer-songwriter
1948 – Bud Cort, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1948 – Piet Souer, Dutch record producer, songwriter and arranger
1949 – Michael Brecker, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2007)
1949 – Dave Greenfield, English musician (d. 2020)
1949 – Pauline Marois, Canadian social worker and politician, 30th Premier of Quebec
1949 – Keith Simpson, English historian and politician
1951 – William Clarke, American harmonica player (d. 1996)
1951 – Geoff Howarth, New Zealand cricketer
1951 – Tina Monzon-Palma, Filipino journalist
1952 – Rainer Bonhof, German footballer
1952 – Russell Fairfax, Australian rugby player and coach
1952 – John Hendricks, American businessman, founded Discovery Communications
1952 – Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer and engineer (d. 2012)
1953 – Tõnis Palts, Estonian politician, 39th Mayor of Tallinn
1955 – Earl Campbell, American football player
1955 – Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor
1955 – Marina Sirtis, British-American actress
1956 – Patty Donahue, American singer (d. 1996)
1957 – Elizabeth Hand, American author
1957 – Christopher Lambert, American-born French actor
1958 – Pedro Bial, Brazilian journalist and producer
1958 – Travis Childers, American businessman and politician
1958 – Nouriel Roubini, Turkish-American economist and academic
1958 – Victor Salva, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1958 – Marc Silvestri, American publisher, founded Top Cow Productions
1959 – Barry Blanchard, Canadian mountaineer
1959 – Perry Farrell, American singer-songwriter
1959 – Brad McCrimmon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2011)
1960 – Wayne Pearce, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
1961 – Gary Brabham, English-Australian race car driver
1961 – Mike Kingery, American baseball player
1961 – Amy Sedaris, American actress and comedian
1961 – Michael Winterbottom, English director and producer
1962 – Billy Beane, American baseball player and manager
1962 – Ted Failon, Filipino journalist and politician
1962 – Kirk Triplett, American golfer
1964 – Catherine Cortez Masto, American attorney and politician
1964 – Jill Goodacre, American model and actress
1964 – Elle Macpherson, Australian model and actress
1964 – Ming Tsai, American chef and television host
1965 – Emilios T. Harlaftis, Greek astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic (d. 2005)
1965 – William Oefelein, American commander, pilot, and astronaut
1965 – Voula Patoulidou, Greek hurdler, long jumper, and politician
1966 – Krasimir Balakov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
1966 – Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Dutch politician
1966 – Eric Gunderson, American baseball player
1966 – Sigrid Kirchmann, Austrian high jumper
1967 – Ainars Bagatskis, Latvian basketball player and coach
1967 – Michel Hazanavicius, French director, producer, and screenwriter
1967 – Brian Jordan, American baseball player and sportscaster
1968 – Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress
1969 – Kim Batten, American hurdler
1969 – Shinichi Mochizuki, Japanese mathematician
1969 – Jimmy Spencer, American football player and coach
1971 – Robert Gibbs, American political adviser, 28th White House Press Secretary
1971 – Lara Logan, South African television and radio journalist and war correspondent
1971 – Hidetoshi Nishijima, Japanese actor
1972 – Rui Costa, Portuguese footballer
1972 – Piet-Hein Geeris, Dutch field hockey player
1972 – Alex Ochoa, Cuban-American baseball player and coach
1972 – Priti Patel, British Indian politician, Secretary of State for the Home Department
1973 – Marc Overmars, Dutch footballer and coach
1973 – Sebastiano Siviglia, Italian footballer
1973 – Steve Smith, English high jumper
1974 – Miguel Gómez, Colombian-American photographer and educator
1976 – Igor Astarloa, Spanish cyclist
1976 – Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player
1978 – Aaron Persico, New Zealand-Italian rugby player
1980 – Bill Demong, American skier
1980 – Bruno Silva, Uruguayan footballer
1981 – Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidadian footballer (d. 2018)
1982 – Jēkabs Rēdlihs, Latvian ice hockey player
1983 – Darius Draudvila, Lithuanian decathlete
1984 – Juan Mónaco, Argentinian tennis player
1985 – Fernando Amorebieta, Venezuelan international footballer, central defender
1985 – Maxim Lapierre, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Mickey Pimentel, American football player
1986 – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, English footballer
1986 – Ivan Ukhov, Russian high jumper
1987 – Gianluca Freddi, Italian footballer
1987 – Dimitri Payet, French footballer
1987 – Romain Hamouma, French footballer
1988 – Esther Cremer, German runner
1988 – Jesús Molina, Mexican footballer
1988 – Jürgen Zopp, Estonian tennis player
1989 – James Tomkins, English footballer
1990 – Carlos Peña, Mexican footballer
1990 – Teemu Pukki, Finnish footballer
1990 – Lyle Taylor, English footballer
1991 – Irene, South Korean idol, actress and television host
1991 – Fabio Borini, Italian footballer
1991 – N’Golo Kanté, French footballer
1993 – Thorgan Hazard, Belgian footballer

Deaths on March 29

87 BC – Emperor Wu of Han of China (b. 157 BC)
AD 57 – Emperor Guangwu of Han (b. 5 BC)
500 – Gwynllyw, Welsh king and religious figure
1058 – Pope Stephen IX (b. 1020)
1075 – Ottokar I of Styria, German noble
1368 – Emperor Go-Murakami of Japan (b. 1328)
1461 – Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (b. 1421)
1461 – Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles
1467 – Matthew Palaiologos Asen, Byzantine aristocrat and official
1578 – Louis I, Cardinal of Guise (b. 1527)
1578 – Arthur Champernowne, English admiral and politician (b. 1524)
1628 – Tobias Matthew, English archbishop and academic (b. 1546)
1629 – Jacob de Gheyn II, Dutch painter and engraver (b. 1565)
1692 – Nicolaus Bruhns, Danish-German organist, violinist, and composer (b. 1665)
1703 – George Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, (b. 1678)
1751 – Thomas Coram, English captain and philanthropist, founded Foundling Hospital (b. 1668)
1772 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish astronomer, philosopher, and theologian (b. 1688)
1788 – Charles Wesley, English missionary and poet (b. 1707)
1792 – Gustav III of Sweden (b. 1746)
1800 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French general and engineer (b. 1714)
1803 – Gottfried van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian librarian and diplomat (b. 1733)
1826 – Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet, translator, and academic (b. 1751)
1829 – Cornelio Saavedra, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1759)
1848 – John Jacob Astor, German-American businessman (b. 1763)
1855 – Henri Druey, Swiss politician, 2nd President of the Swiss Confederation (b. 1799)
1873 – Francesco Zantedeschi, Italian priest and physicist (b. 1797)
1877 – Inazuma Raigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 7th Yokozuna (b. 1802)
1888 – Charles-Valentin Alkan, French pianist and composer (b. 1813)
1891 – John Plankinton, American businessman and industrialist, also noted for philanthropy (b. 1820)
1891 – Georges Seurat, French painter (b. 1859)
1900 – Cyrus K. Holliday, American businessman (b. 1826)
1905 – William Plankinton, American businessman, industrialist and banker (b. 1843)
1906 – Slava Raškaj, Croatian painter (b. 1878)
1911 – Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (b. 1837)
1912 – Henry Robertson Bowers, Scottish lieutenant and explorer (b. 1883)
1912 – Robert Falcon Scott, English lieutenant and explorer (b. 1868)
1912 – Edward Adrian Wilson, English physician and explorer (b. 1872)
1924 – Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer and conductor (b. 1852)
1934 – Otto Hermann Kahn, German-American banker and philanthropist (b. 1867)
1937 – Karol Szymanowski, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1882)
1940 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian-English rugby player and soldier (b. 1916)
1948 – Harry Price, English parapsychologist and author (b. 1881)
1957 – Joyce Cary, Anglo-Irish novelist (b. 1888)
1959 – Barthélemy Boganda, African priest and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)
1963 – Gaspard Fauteux, Canadian dentist and politician, 19th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1898)
1963 – August Rei, Estonian soldier, journalist, and politician, 12th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1886)
1970 – Anna Louise Strong, American journalist and author (b. 1885)
1971 – Dhirendranath Datta, Pakistani lawyer and politician (b. 1886)
1972 – J. Arthur Rank, English businessman, founded Rank Organisation (b. 1888)
1980 – Mantovani, Italian-English conductor and composer (b. 1905)
1981 – Eric Williams, Trinidadian historian and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1911)
1982 – Walter Hallstein, German academic and politician, 1st President of the European Commission (b. 1901)
1982 – Carl Orff, German composer and educator (b. 1895)
1982 – Nathan Farragut Twining, American general (b. 1897)
1985 – Luther Terry, American physician and academic, 9th Surgeon General of the United States (b. 1911)
1988 – Maurice Blackburn, Canadian composer and conductor (b. 1914)
1988 – Ted Kluszewski, American baseball player and coach (b. 1924)
1991 – Guy Bourdin, French photographer (b. 1928)
1992 – Paul Henreid, American actor (b. 1908)
1994 – Bill Travers, English actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
1995 – Mort Meskin, American illustrator (b. 1916)
1995 – Terry Moore, American baseball player and coach (b. 1912)
1996 – Frank Daniel, Czech-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
1996 – Bill Goldsworthy, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1944)
1997 – Hans-Walter Eigenbrodt, German footballer and coach (b. 1935)
1999 – Gyula Zsengellér, Hungarian footballer (b. 1915)
1999 – Joe Williams, American jazz singer (b. 1918)
2001 – Helge Ingstad, Norwegian lawyer, academic, and explorer (b. 1899)
2001 – John Lewis, American pianist and composer (b. 1920)
2003 – Carlo Urbani, Italian physician and microbiologist (b. 1956)
2004 – Lise de Baissac, Mauritian-born SOE agent, war hero (b. 1905)
2004 – Joel Feinberg, American philosopher and academic (b. 1926)
2005 – Miltos Sachtouris, Greek poet and author (b. 1919)
2006 – Salvador Elizondo, Mexican author and poet (b. 1932)
2007 – Larry L’Estrange, English rugby player and soldier (b. 1934)
2009 – Vladimir Fedotov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1943)
2009 – Andy Hallett, American actor and singer (b. 1975)
2011 – Ângelo de Sousa, Portuguese painter and sculptor (b. 1938)
2011 – Iakovos Kambanellis, Greek author, poet, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
2012 – Pap Cheyassin Secka, Gambian lawyer and politician (b. 1942)
2012 – Bill Jenkins, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1930)
2013 – Reginald Gray, Irish-French painter (b. 1930)
2013 – Brian Huggins, English-Canadian journalist and actor (b. 1931)
2013 – Liu Kang, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1961)
2013 – Ralph Klein, Canadian journalist and politician, 12th Premier of Alberta (b. 1942)
2013 – Art Phillips, Canadian businessman and politician, 32nd Mayor of Vancouver (b. 1930)
2014 – Marc Platt, American actor and dancer (b. 1913)
2014 – Ruth A. M. Schmidt, American geologist and paleontologist (b. 1916)
2015 – William Delafield Cook, Australian-English painter (b. 1926)
2015 – Gerry Hardstaff, English cricketer (b. 1940)
2016 – Patty Duke, American actress (b. 1946)
2017 – Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, Russian physicist (b. 1928)
2019 – Agnès Varda, French film director (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on March 29

Christian feast day:
- Berthold
- Eustace of Luxeuil
- Gwladys
- Gwynllyw
- Hans Nielsen Hauge (Lutheran)
- John Keble (commemoration, Anglicanism)
- March 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which the Octave Day of Easter can fall, while May 2 is the latest; observed on the Sunday after Easter. (Christianity)
Boganda Day (Central African Republic)
Commemoration of the 1947 Rebellion (Madagascar)
National Vietnam War Veterans Day (United States of America)
Day of the Young Combatant (Chile)
Youth Day (Taiwan)

March 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
1027 – Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
1169 – Saladin becomes the emir of Egypt.
1344 – The Siege of Algeciras, one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used, comes to an end.
1351 – Combat of the Thirty: Thirty Breton knights call out and defeat thirty English knights.
1484 – William Caxton prints his translation of Aesop’s Fables.
1552 – Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh guru.
1636 – Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands.
1697 – Safavid government troops take control of Basra
1812 – An earthquake devastates Caracas, Venezuela.
1812 – A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coins the term “gerrymander” to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection.
1830 – The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York.
1839 – The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.
1871 – The elections of Commune council of the Paris Commune are held.
1885 – The Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada.
1913 – First Balkan War: Bulgarian forces capture Adrianople.
1915 – The Vancouver Millionaires win the 1915 Stanley Cup Finals, the first championship played between the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the National Hockey Association.
1917 – World War I: First Battle of Gaza: British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
1922 – The German Social Democratic Party is founded in Poland.
1931 – Swissair is founded as the national airline of Switzerland.
1931 – Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union is founded in Vietnam.
1934 – The United Kingdom driving test is introduced.
1939 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists begin their final offensive of the war.
1942 – World War II: The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.
1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends as the island is officially secured by American forces.
1954 – Nuclear weapons testing: The Romeo shot of Operation Castle is detonated at Bikini Atoll. Yield: 11 megatons.
1958 – The United States Army launches Explorer 3.
1958 – The African Regroupment Party is launched at a meeting in Paris.
1967 – Ten thousand people gather for one of many Central Park be-ins in New York City.
1970 – South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu implements a land reform program to solve the problem of land tenancy.
1971 – East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.
1979 – Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C.
1981 – Social Democratic Party (UK) is founded as a party.
1982 – A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, D.C.
1991 – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing Mercosur, the South Common Market.
1997 – Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven’s Gate mass suicides.
1998 – During the Algerian Civil War, the Oued Bouaicha massacre sees fifty-two people, mostly infants, killed with axes and knives.
2005 – Around 200,000 to 300,000 Taiwanese demonstrate in Taipei in opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of China.
2010 – The South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan is torpedoed, killing 46 sailors. After an international investigation, the President of the United Nations Security Council blames North Korea.
2017 – Russia-wide anti-corruption protests in 99 cities. The Levada Center survey showed that 38% of surveyed Russians supported protests and that 67 percent held Putin personally responsible for high-level corruption.

Births on March 26

1031 – Malcolm III, king of Scotland (d. 1093)
1516 – Conrad Gessner, Swiss botanist and zoologist (d. 1565)
1554 – Charles of Lorraine, duke of Mayenne (d. 1611)
1584 – John II, duke of Zweibrücken (d. 1635)
1633 – Mary Beale, British artist (d. 1699)
1634 – Domenico Freschi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1710)
1656 – Nicolaas Hartsoeker, Dutch mathematician and physicist (d. 1725)
1687 – Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, queen consort of Prussia (d. 1757)
1698 – Prokop Diviš, Czech priest, scientist and inventor (d. 1765)
1749 – William Blount, American politician (d. 1800)
1753 – Benjamin Thompson, American-French physicist and politician, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1814)
1773 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician and navigator (d. 1838)
1794 – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter (d. 1872)
1804 – David Humphreys Storer, American physician and academic (d. 1891)
1824 – Julie-Victoire Daubié, French journalist (d. 1874)
1829 – Théodore Aubanel, French poet (d. 1886)
1842 – Alexandre Saint-Yves d’Alveydre, French occultist (d. 1909)
1850 – Edward Bellamy, American author, socialist, and utopian visionary (d. 1898)
1852 – Élémir Bourges, French author (d. 1925)
1854 – Maurice Lecoq, French target shooter (d. 1925)
1856 – William Massey, Irish-New Zealand farmer and politician, 19th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1925)
1857 – Théodore Tuffier, French surgeon (d. 1929)
1859 – A. E. Housman, English poet and scholar (d. 1936)
1859 – Adolf Hurwitz, Jewish German-Swiss mathematician and academic (d. 1919)
1860 – André Prévost, French tennis player (d. 1919)
1866 – Fred Karno, English producer and manager (d. 1941)
1868 – King Fuad I of Egypt (d. 1936)
1873 – Dorothea Bleek, South African-German anthropologist and philologist (d. 1948)
1874 – Robert Frost, American poet and playwright (d. 1963)
1875 – Max Abraham, Polish-German physicist and academic (d. 1922)
1875 – Syngman Rhee, South Korean journalist and politician, 1st President of South Korea (d. 1965)
1876 – William of Wied, prince of Albania (d. 1945)
1876 – Kate Richards O’Hare, American Socialist Party activist and editor (d. 1948)
1879 – Othmar Ammann, Swiss-American engineer, designed the George Washington Bridge and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (d. 1965)
1879 – Waldemar Tietgens, German rower (d. 1917)
1881 – Guccio Gucci, Italian fashion designer, founded Gucci (d. 1953)
1882 – Hermann Obrecht, Swiss politician (d. 1940)
1884 – Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist and educator (d. 1969)
1884 – Georges Imbert, French chemical engineer and inventor (d. 1950)
1886 – Hugh Mulzac, Vincentian-American soldier and politician (d. 1971)
1888 – Elsa Brändström, Swedish nurse and philanthropist (d. 1948)
1893 – James Bryant Conant, American chemist, academic, and diplomat, 1st United States Ambassador to West Germany (d. 1978)
1893 – Palmiro Togliatti, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Justice (d. 1964)
1894 – Viorica Ursuleac, Ukrainian-Romanian soprano and actress (d. 1985)
1895 – Vilho Tuulos, Finnish triple jumper (d. 1967)
1898 – Rudolf Dassler, German businessman, founded Puma SE (d. 1974)
1898 – Charles Shadwell, English conductor and bandleader (d. 1979)
1900 – Angela Maria Autsch, German nun, died in Auschwitz helping Jewish prisoners (d. 1941)
1904 – Joseph Campbell, American mythologist and author (d. 1987)
1904 – Emilio Fernández, Mexican actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1986)
1904 – Attilio Ferraris, Italian footballer (d. 1947)
1905 – Monty Berman, English cinematographer and producer (d. 2006)
1905 – André Cluytens, Belgian-French conductor and director (d. 1967)
1905 – Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1997)
1906 – Rafael Méndez, Mexican trumpet player and composer (d. 1981)
1907 – Azellus Denis, Canadian lawyer and politician, Postmaster General of Canada (d. 1991)
1907 – Mahadevi Varma, Indian poet and activist (d. 1987)
1908 – Franz Stangl, Austrian-German SS officer (d. 1971)
1909 – Chips Rafferty, Australian actor (d. 1971)
1910 – K. W. Devanayagam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 10th Sri Lankan Minister of Justice (d. 2002)
1911 – Lennart Atterwall, Swedish javelin thrower (d. 2001)
1911 – J. L. Austin, English philosopher and academic (d. 1960)
1911 – Bernard Katz, German-English biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
1911 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (d. 1983)
1913 – Jacqueline de Romilly, Jewish Franco-Greek philologist, author, and scholar (d. 2010)
1913 – Paul Erdős, Hungarian-Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1996)
1914 – Toru Kumon, Japanese mathematician and academic (d. 1995)
1914 – William Westmoreland, American general (d. 2005)
1915 – Lennart Strandberg, Swedish sprinter (d. 1989)
1915 – Hwang Sun-won, North Korean author and poet (d. 2000)
1916 – Christian B. Anfinsen, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
1916 – Bill Edrich, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1986)
1916 – Sterling Hayden, American actor and author (d. 1986)
1917 – Rufus Thomas, American R&B singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
1919 – Strother Martin, American actor (d. 1980)
1919 – Roger Leger, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1965)
1920 – Sergio Livingstone, Chilean footballer and journalist (d. 2012)
1922 – William Milliken, American politician, 44th Governor of Michigan (d. 2019)
1922 – Oscar Sala, Italian-Brazilian physicist and academic (d. 2010)
1922 – Guido Stampacchia, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1978)
1923 – Gert Bastian, German general and politician (d. 1992)
1923 – Bob Elliott, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1925 – Maqsood Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1999)
1925 – Pierre Boulez, French pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2016)
1925 – Vesta Roy, American politician, Governor of New Hampshire (d. 2002)
1925 – Edward Graham, Baron Graham of Edmonton, English soldier and politician (d. 2020)
1925 – Ben Mondor, Canadian-American businessman (d. 2010)
1925 – James Moody, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2010)
1927 – Harold Chapman, English photographer
1929 – Edward Sorel, American illustrator and caricaturist
1929 – Edwin Turney, American businessman, co-founded Advanced Micro Devices (d. 2008)
1930 – Sandra Day O’Connor, American lawyer and jurist
1930 – Gregory Corso, American poet (d. 2001)
1931 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (d. 2015)
1932 – Leroy Griffith, American businessman
1932 – James Andrew Harris, American chemist and academic (d. 2000)
1933 – Tinto Brass, Italian director and screenwriter
1934 – Alan Arkin, American actor
1934 – Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa, Brazilian footballer (d. 2002)
1937 – Wayne Embry, American basketball player and manager
1937 – Barbara Jones, American sprinter
1937 – James Lee, Canadian businessman and politician, 26th Premier of Prince Edward Island
1938 – Norman Ackroyd, English painter and illustrator
1938 – Anthony James Leggett, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1940 – James Caan, American actor and singer
1940 – Nancy Pelosi, American lawyer and politician, 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
1941 – Richard Dawkins, Kenyan-English ethologist, biologist, and academic
1941 – Lella Lombardi, Italian racing driver (d. 1992)
1942 – Erica Jong, American novelist and poet
1943 – Mustafa Kalemli, Turkish physician and politician, Turkish Minister of the Interior
1943 – Bob Woodward, American journalist and author
1944 – Diana Ross, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1945 – Paul Bérenger, Mauritian politician, Prime Minister of Mauritius
1945 – Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast and coach (d. 2004)
1946 – Johnny Crawford, American actor and singer
1946 – Alain Madelin, French politician, French Minister of Finance
1947 – Subhash Kak, Indian-American professor and author
1947 – John Rowles, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter
1948 – Kyung-wha Chung, South Korean violinist and educator
1948 – Richard Tandy, English pianist and keyboard player (Electric Light Orchestra)
1948 – Steven Tyler, American singer-songwriter and actor
1949 – Jon English, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2016)
1949 – Rudi Koertzen, South African cricketer and umpire
1949 – Vicki Lawrence, American actress, comedian, talk show host, and singer
1949 – Fran Sheehan, American bass player
1949 – Patrick Süskind, German author and screenwriter
1949 – Ernest Lee Thomas, American actor
1950 – Teddy Pendergrass, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
1950 – Graham Barlow, English cricketer
1950 – Martin Short, Canadian-American actor, screenwriter, and producer
1950 – Alan Silvestri, American composer and conductor
1951 – Željko Pavličević, Croatian professional basketball coach and former professional player
1951 – Carl Wieman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1952 – Didier Pironi, French racing driver (d. 1987)
1953 – Lincoln Chafee, American academic and politician, 74th Governor of Rhode Island
1953 – Elaine Chao, Taiwanese-American banker and politician, 24th United States Secretary of Labor
1953 – Tatyana Providokhina, Russian runner
1954 – Clive Palmer, Australian businessman and politician
1954 – Curtis Sliwa, American talk show host and activist, founded Guardian Angels
1954 – Dorothy Porter, Australian poet and playwright (d. 2008)
1956 – Charly McClain, American country singer
1956 – Park Won-soon, South Korean lawyer and politician, 35th Mayor of Seoul
1957 – Fiona Bruce, Scottish lawyer and politician
1957 – Leeza Gibbons, American talk show host and television personality
1957 – Paul Morley, English journalist, producer, and author
1957 – Shirin Neshat, Iranian visual artist
1958 – Elio de Angelis, Italian racing driver (d. 1986)
1960 – Marcus Allen, American football player and sportscaster
1960 – Jennifer Grey, American actress and dancer
1960 – Graeme Rutjes, Australian-Dutch footballer
1961 – William Hague, English historian and politician, First Secretary of State
1962 – Richard Coles, English pianist, saxophonist, and priest
1962 – Kevin Seitzer, American baseball player and coach
1962 – Yuri Gidzenko, Russian pilot and cosmonaut
1962 – John Stockton, American basketball player and coach
1962 – Eric Allan Kramer, American-Canadian actor
1963 – Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Japanese author
1964 – Martin Bella, Australian rugby league player
1964 – Martin Donnelly, Irish racing driver
1964 – Maria Miller, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
1964 – Ulf Samuelsson, Swedish-American ice hockey player and coach
1965 – Trey Azagthoth, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1965 – Violeta Szekely, Romanian runner
1966 – Michael Imperioli, American actor and screenwriter
1967 – Jason Chaffetz, American politician
1968 – Laurent Brochard, French cyclist
1968 – Kenny Chesney, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1968 – James Iha, American guitarist and songwriter
1969 – Alessandro Moscardi, Italian rugby player
1970 – Paul Bosvelt, Dutch footballer
1970 – Jelle Goes, Dutch footballer and coach
1970 – Thomas Kyparissis, Greek footballer
1970 – Martin McDonagh, English-born Irish playwright, screenwriter, and director
1971 – Behzad Ghorbani, Iranian zoologist
1971 – Martyn Day, Scottish politician
1971 – Erick Morillo, Colombian-American DJ and producer
1971 – Rennae Stubbs, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
1971 – Paul Williams, English footballer and manager
1972 – Leslie Mann, American actress
1972 – Jason Maxwell, American baseball player
1973 – Larry Page, American computer scientist and businessman, co-founder of Google
1973 – T. R. Knight, American actor
1973 – Matt Burke, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
1974 – Irina Spîrlea, Romanian tennis player
1974 – Vadimas Petrenko, Lithuanian footballer
1974 – Michael Peca, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1976 – Amy Smart, American actress and former model
1976 – Alex Varas, Chilean footballer
1976 – Eirik Verås Larsen, Norwegian sprint kayaker
1977 – Kevin Davies, English footballer
1977 – Bianca Kajlich, American actress
1977 – Sylvain Grenier, Canadian wrestler
1978 – Anastasia Kostaki, Greek basketball player
1979 – Nacho Novo, Spanish footballer
1979 – Ben Blair, New Zealand rugby union footballer
1979 – Hiromi Uehara, Japanese pianist and composer
1979 – Pierre Womé, Cameroonian footballer
1979 – Juliana Paes, Brazilian actress
1980 – Margaret Brennan, American journalist
1980 – Son Ho-young, South Korean singer
1980 – Richie Wellens, English footballer
1981 – Sébastien Centomo, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Baruch Dego, Ethiopian-Israeli footballer
1981 – Massimo Donati, Italian footballer
1981 – Josh Wilson, American baseball player
1982 – Mikel Arteta, Spanish footballer
1982 – Brendan Ryan, American baseball player
1982 – Nate Kaeding, American football player
1983 – Andreas Hinkel, German footballer
1983 – Floriana Lima, American actress
1983 – Roman Bednář, Czech footballer
1983 – Mike Mondo, American wrestler
1984 – Jimmy Howard, American ice hockey player
1984 – Drew Mitchell, Australian rugby player
1984 – Felix Neureuther, German skier
1984 – Marco Stier, German footballer
1984 – Gregory Strydom, Zimbabwean cricketer
1984 – Sara Jean Underwood, American model, television host, and actress
1985 – Keira Knightley, English actress
1985 – Matt Grevers, American swimmer
1985 – Jonathan Groff, American actor and singer
1985 – Prosper Utseya, Zimbabwean cricketer
1986 – Maxime Biset, Belgian footballer
1986 – Rob Kearney, Irish rugby player
1986 – Emma Laine, Finnish tennis player
1987 – Kim Dong-suk, South Korean footballer
1987 – Jermichael Finley, American football player
1987 – Steven Fletcher, Scottish footballer
1989 – Simon Kjær, Danish footballer
1990 – Choi Woo-shik, South Korean actor
1990 – Patrick Ekeng, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2016)
1990 – Yuya Takaki, Japanese idol, singer, dancer, model and actor
1990 – Xiumin, South Korean singer and actor, member of South Korean boy band EXO
1991 – Matt Davidson, American baseball player
1992 – Nina Agdal, Danish model
1992 – Stoffel Vandoorne, Belgian racing driver
1994 – Jed Wallace, English footballer
1996 – Zane Musgrove, New Zealand rugby league player
1996 – Kathryn Bernardo, Filipino actress
1998 – Satoko Miyahara, Japanese figure skater
2003 – Bhad Bhabie, American rapper and social media personality

Deaths on March 26

752 – Pope-elect Stephen
809 – Ludger, Frisian missionary
903 – Sugawara no Michizane, Japanese poet
908 – Ai, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 892)
922 – Mansur Al-Hallaj, Persian mystic and poet (b. 858)
929 – Wang Du, Chinese warlord and governor (jiedushi)
973 – Guntram (“the Rich”), Frankish nobleman
983 – ‘Adud al-Dawla, Iranian ruler (b. 936)
1091 – Wallada bint al-Mustakfi, Andalusian poet
1130 – Sigurd the Crusader, Norwegian king (b. 1090)
1132 – Geoffrey of Vendôme, French cardinal and theologian (b. 1065)
1212 – Sancho I of Portugal (b. 1154)
1242 – William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle
1324 – Marie de Luxembourg, Queen of France (b. 1304)
1326 – Alessandra Giliani, anatomist (b. c. 1307)
1402 – David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne of Scotland (b. 1378)
1437 – Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, Scottish nobleman and regicide
1517 – Heinrich Isaac, Flemish composer (b. 1450)
1535 – Georg Tannstetter, Austrian mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer (b. 1482)
1546 – Thomas Elyot, English scholar and diplomat (b. 1490)
1566 – Antonio de Cabezón, Spanish organist and composer (b. 1510)
1625 – Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (b. 1569)
1649 – John Winthrop, English lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
1679 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish historian and author (b. 1621)
1697 – Godfrey McCulloch, Scottish politician (b. 1640)
1726 – John Vanbrugh, English playwright and architect, designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard (b. 1664)
1772 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French author and politician (b. 1704)
1776 – Samuel Ward, American jurist and politician, 31st Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island (b. 1725)
1780 – Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (b. 1713)
1793 – John Mudge, English physician and engineer (b. 1721)
1797 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist and physician (b. 1726)
1814 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician and politician (b. 1738)
1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German pianist and composer (b. 1770)
1858 – John Addison Thomas, American lieutenant, engineer, and politician, 3rd United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1811)
1862 – Uriah P. Levy, American commander (b. 1792)
1881 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish general and activist (b. 1800)
1885 – Anson Stager, American general and businessman, co-founded Western Union (b. 1825)
1888 – Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar (b. 1837)
1892 – Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (b. 1819)
1902 – Cecil Rhodes, English-South African colonialist, businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (b. 1853)
1905 – Maurice Barrymore, American actor (b. 1849)
1910 – Auguste Charlois, French astronomer (b. 1864)
1920 – William Chester Minor, American surgeon and lexicographer (b. 1834)
1923 – Sarah Bernhardt, French actress and screenwriter (b. 1844)
1926 – Constantin Fehrenbach, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1852)
1932 – Henry M. Leland, American machinist, inventor, engineer, automotive entrepreneur and founded of Cadillac and Lincoln (b. 1843)
1934 – John Biller, American jumper and discus thrower (b. 1877)
1940 – Wilhelm Anderson, German-Estonian astrophysicist (b. 1880)
1940 – Spyridon Louis, Greek runner (b. 1873)
1942 – Jimmy Burke, American baseball player and manager (b. 1874)
1942 – Carolyn Wells, American novelist and poet (b. 1862)
1945 – David Lloyd George, English-Welsh lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863)
1951 – James F. Hinkle, American banker and politician, 6th Governor of New Mexico (b. 1864)
1954 – Charles Perrin, French rower (b. 1875)
1957 – Édouard Herriot, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1872)
1958 – Phil Mead, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1887)
1959 – Raymond Chandler, American crime novelist and screenwriter (b. 1888)
1966 – Victor Hochepied, French swimmer (b. 1883)
1969 – John Kennedy Toole, American novelist (b. 1937)
1973 – Noël Coward, English playwright, actor, and composer (b. 1899)
1973 – Johnny Drake, American football player (b. 1916)
1979 – Beauford Delaney, American-French painter (b. 1901)
1979 – Jean Stafford, American author and academic (b. 1915)
1980 – Roland Barthes, French linguist and critic (b. 1915)
1983 – Anthony Blunt, English historian and spy (b. 1907)
1984 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinean politician, 1st President of Guinea (b. 1922)
1987 – Eugen Jochum, German conductor (b. 1902)
1987 – Walter Abel, American actor (b. 1898)
1990 – Halston, American fashion designer (b. 1932)
1992 – Barbara Frum, American-Canadian journalist and radio host (b. 1937)
1993 – Louis Falco, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1942)
1995 – Eazy-E, American rapper and producer (b. 1964)
1996 – Edmund Muskie, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 58th United States Secretary of State (b. 1914)
1996 – David Packard, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (b. 1912)
2000 – Alex Comfort, English physician and author (b. 1920)
2002 – Randy Castillo, American drummer and songwriter (b. 1950)
2003 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American sociologist and politician, 12th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1927)
2004 – Jan Sterling, American actress (b. 1921)
2005 – James Callaghan, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1912)
2005 – Frederick Rotimi Williams, Nigerian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
2006 – Anil Biswas, Indian journalist and politician (b. 1944)
2006 – Paul Dana, American racing driver (b. 1975)
2006 – Nikki Sudden, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1956)
2008 – Robert Fagles, American poet and academic (b. 1933)
2008 – Manuel Marulanda, Colombian rebel leader (b. 1930)
2009 – Shane McConkey, Canadian skier and BASE jumper (b. 1969)
2009 – Arne Bendiksen, Norwegian singer and composer (b. 1926)
2010 – Charles Ryskamp, American art collector and curator (b. 1928)
2011 – Roger Abbott, English-Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1946)
2011 – Geraldine Ferraro, American lawyer and politician (b. 1935)
2011 – Diana Wynne Jones, English author (b. 1934)
2012 – Sisto Averno, American football player (b. 1925)
2012 – Michael Begley, Irish carpenter and politician (b. 1932)
2012 – Thomas M. Cover, American theorist and academic (b. 1938)
2012 – David Craighead, American organist and educator (b. 1924)
2012 – Manik Godghate, Indian poet and educator (b. 1937)
2012 – Helmer Ringgren, Swedish theologian and academic (b. 1917)
2013 – Tom Boerwinkle, American basketball player and sportscaster (b. 1945)
2013 – Krzysztof Kozłowski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Interior (b. 1931)
2013 – Dave Leggett, American baseball player (b. 1933)
2013 – Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1964)
2014 – Roger Birkman, American psychologist and author (b. 1919)
2014 – Dick Guidry, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)
2014 – Marcus Kimball, Baron Kimball, English politician (b. 1928)
2015 – Dinkha IV, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1935)
2015 – Friedrich L. Bauer, German mathematician, computer scientist, and academic (b. 1924)
2015 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1931)
2016 – Jim Harrison, American novelist, essayist, and poet (b. 1937)
2018 – Fabrizio Frizzi, Italian television presenter (b. 1958)

Holidays and observances on March 26

Christian feast days:
- Castulus
- Emmanuel and companions
- Felicitas
- Harriet Monsell (Church of England)
- Larissa
- Ludger
- Richard Allen (Episcopal Church (USA))
- March 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Independence Day and National Day (Bangladesh), celebrates the declaration of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Martyr’s Day or Day of Democracy (Mali)
Prince Kūhiō Day (Hawaii, United States)
Purple Day (Canada and United States)
Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel (Eastern Christianity)

March 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
1568 – The Peace of Longjumeau is signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion.
1708 – James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth as part of the planned French invasion of Britain.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – “Give me liberty, or give me death!” – at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.
1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael’s Castle.
1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their “Corps of Discovery” begin their arduous journey home.
1821 – Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata.
1848 – The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
1857 – Elisha Otis’s first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.
1862 – American Civil War: The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign. Although a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond.
1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
1879 – War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru.
1885 – Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam.
1888 – In England, The Football League, the world’s oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time.
1889 – The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India.
1901 – Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, was captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of General Frederick Funston.
1905 – Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete’s union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.
1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
1918 – First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war
1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
1931 – Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian independence movement.
1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
1935 – Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
1939 – The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovak air force in Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and beginning the Slovak–Hungarian War.
1940 – The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League.
1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan.
1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
1977 – The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes.
1978 – The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
1980 – Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.
1982 – Guatemala’s government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.
1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
1991 – The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.
1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
1994 – A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.
1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, killing 75.
1996 – Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
1999 – Gunmen assassinate Paraguay’s Vice President Luis María Argaña.
2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
2003 – Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.
2008 – Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India
2009 – FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.
2018 – President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru.
2019 – The Kazakh capital of Astana was renamed to Nur-Sultan.
2019 – The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces declared military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq.

Births on March 23

1338 – Emperor Go-Kōgon of Japan (d. 1374)
1430 – Margaret of Anjou (d. 1482)
1514 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (d. 1548)
1599 – Thomas Selle, German composer (d. 1663)
1614 – Jahanara Begum, Mughal princess (d. 1681)
1643 – Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado, Spanish Dominican lay sister and mystic (d. 1731)
1699 – John Bartram, American botanist and explorer (d. 1777)
1732 – Princess Marie Adélaïde of France (d. 1800)
1749 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
1750 – Johannes Matthias Sperger, Austrian bassist and composer (d. 1812)
1754 – Jurij Vega, Slovene mathematician, physicist and artillery officer (d. 1802)
1769 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general and diplomat (d. 1832)
1769 – William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (d. 1839)
1823 – Schuyler Colfax, American journalist and politician, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
1826 – Ludwig Minkus, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1917)
1834 – Julius Reubke, German pianist and composer (d. 1858)
1838 – Marie Adam-Doerrer, Swiss women’s rights activist and unionist (d. 1908)
1842 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian-German historian, businessman and composer (d. 1909)
1842 – Susan Jane Cunningham, American mathematician (d. 1921)
1858 – Ludwig Quidde, German activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
1862 – Nathaniel Reed, American criminal (d. 1950)
1868 – Dietrich Eckart, German journalist and politician (d. 1923)
1869 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (d. 1964)
1869 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Turkish-Armenian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1955)
1872 – Michael Joseph Savage, Australian-New Zealand union leader and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1940)
1874 – Grantley Goulding, English hurdler (d. 1947)
1874 – J. C. Leyendecker, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1951)
1876 – Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, poet and activist (d. 1924)
1876 – Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, Burmese poet, writer and political leader (d. 1964)
1878 – Franz Schreker, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1934)
1880 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician, Finnish Minister of the Interior (d. 1922)
1881 – Lacey Hearn, American sprinter (d. 1969)
1881 – Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist and paleographer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
1881 – Hermann Staudinger, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
1882 – Emmy Noether, Jewish German-American mathematician, physicist and academic (d. 1935)
1884 – Joseph Boxhall, English sailor (d. 1967)
1885 – Platt Adams, American jumper and politician (d. 1961)
1885 – Roque González Garza, Mexican general and acting president (1915) (d. 1962)
1886 – Frank Irons, American long jumper (d. 1942)
1887 – Josef Čapek, Czech painter and poet (d. 1945)
1887 – Rudolf Kinau, German author (d. 1975)
1887 – Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 1927)
1887 – Sidney Hillman, Lithuanian-born American labor leader (d. 1946)
1891 – Po Kya, Burmese author and educationist (d. 1942)
1893 – Cedric Gibbons, Irish-American art director and production designer (d. 1960)
1893 – Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu, Indian engineer and businessman (d. 1974)
1894 – Arthur Grimsdell, English international footballer wing half and cricketer (d. 1963)
1895 – Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (d. 2001)
1895 – Dane Rudhyar, French-American astrologer, author and composer (d. 1985)
1898 – Louis Adamic, Slovenian-American author, translator and politician (d. 1951)
1898 – Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, Duchess of Parma (d. 1984)
1899 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943)
1900 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and sociologist (d. 1980)
1901 – Bon Maharaja, Indian guru and religious writer (d. 1982)
1903 – Frank Sargeson, New Zealand author (d. 1982)
1904 – Joan Crawford, American film actress (d. 1977)
1905 – Lale Andersen, German chanson singer-songwriter (d. 1972)
1907 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
1909 – Charles Werner, American cartoonist (d. 1997)
1910 – Jerry Cornes, English runner, colonial officer and educator (d. 2001)
1910 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer and screenwriter (d. 1998)
1912 – Eleanor Cameron, Canadian-American author and critic (d. 1996)
1912 – Neil McCorkell, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 2013)
1912 – Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
1913 – Abidin Dino, Turko-French painter and illustrator (d. 1993)
1914 – Milbourne Christopher, American magician and author (d. 1984)
1915 – Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (d. 2014)
1915 – Vasily Zaytsev, Russian captain (d. 1991)
1917 – Harry Cranbrook Allen, English historian (d. 1998)
1918 – Stanley Armour Dunham, American sergeant (d. 1992)
1918 – Helene Hale, American politician (d. 2013)
1918 – Naoki Kazu, Japanese football player (d.1940s)
1919 – Carl Graffunder, American architect and educator (d. 2013)
1920 – Neal Edward Smith, American pilot, lawyer and politician
1920 – Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
1921 – Donald Campbell, English race car driver (d. 1967)
1921 – Peter Lawler, Australian public servant (d. 2017)
1922 – Marty Allen, American comedian and actor (d. 2018)
1922 – Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor (d. 1990)
1923 – Angelo Ingrassia, American soldier and judge (d. 2013)
1924 – Rodney Mims Cook, Sr., American lieutenant and politician (d. 2013)
1924 – Bette Nesmith Graham, American inventor, invented Liquid Paper (d. 1980)
1924 – Olga Kennard, English crystallographer and academic
1924 – John Madin, English architect (d. 2012)
1925 – David Watkin, English cinematographer (d. 2008)
1929 – Roger Bannister, English runner, neurologist and academic (d. 2018)
1929 – Michael Manser, English architect and engineer (d. 2016)
1931 – Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
1931 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player and author (d. 2016)
1931 – Yevdokiya Mekshilo, Russian skier (d. 2013)
1932 – Don Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player
1933 – Norman Bailey, English opera singer and educator
1933 – Philip Zimbardo, American psychologist and academic
1934 – Ludvig Faddeev, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 2017)
1934 – Mark Rydell, American actor, director and producer
1935 – Barry Cryer, English comedian, actor and screenwriter
1936 – Jannis Kounellis, Greek painter and sculptor (d. 2017)
1937 – Craig Breedlove, American race car driver
1937 – Tony Burton, American actor, comedian, boxer and football player (d. 2016)
1937 – Robert Gallo, American physician and academic
1938 – Jon Finlayson, Australian actor and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1942 – Michael Haneke, Austrian director, producer and screenwriter
1942 – Jimmy Miller, American record producer and musician (d. 1994)
1942 – Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian, scholar and activist (d. 1980)
1943 – Andrew Crockett, Scottish-English economist and banker (d. 2012)
1943 – Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Finnish singer, author and director (d. 2001)
1944 – B. P. Gavrilov, Russian rugby player (d. 2006)
1944 – Tony McPhee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Michael Nyman, English composer of minimalist music and pianist
1945 – Franco Battiato, Italian singer-songwriter and director
1945 – David Grisman, American mandolin player and composer
1946 – Alan Bleasdale, English screenwriter and producer
1947 – Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, American author
1948 – Wasim Bari, Pakistani cricketer
1948 – Marie Malavoy, German-Canadian educator and politician
1949 – Ric Ocasek, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer (d. 2019)
1950 – Corinne Cléry, French actress
1950 – Phil Lanzon, English keyboard player and songwriter
1950 – Ahdaf Soueif, Egyptian author and translator
1951 – Ron Jaworski, American football player and sportscaster
1951 – Adrian Reynard, English businessman, founded Reynard Motorsport
1952 – Francesco Clemente, Italian painter and illustrator
1952 – Kent Lambert, New Zealand rugby player
1952 – Kim Stanley Robinson, American author
1952 – Rex Tillerson, American businessman, engineer and diplomat; 69th United States Secretary of State
1953 – Bo Díaz, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1990)
1953 – Chaka Khan, American singer-songwriter
1953 – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Indian zoologist and businesswoman
1954 – Geno Auriemma, Italian-American basketball player and coach
1954 – Kenneth Cole, American fashion designer, founded Kenneth Cole Productions
1954 – Paul Price, English born, Welsh international footballer, defender and manager
1955 – Moses Malone, American basketball player and sportscaster (d. 2015)
1956 – José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese academic and politician, 115th Prime Minister of Portugal
1957 – Lucio Gutiérrez, Ecuadorian politician, 52nd President of Ecuador
1957 – Robbie James, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 1998)
1957 – Amanda Plummer, American actress
1958 – Etienne De Wilde, Belgian cyclist
1958 – Bengt-Åke Gustafsson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
1958 – Hugh Grant, Scottish business executive
1959 – Catherine Keener, American actress
1960 – Nicol Stephen, Baron Stephen, Scottish lawyer and politician, 2nd Deputy First Minister of Scotland
1961 – Roger Crisp, English philosopher and academic
1961 – Craig Green, New Zealand rugby player
1961 – Helmi Johannes, Indonesian journalist and producer
1962 – Steve Redgrave, English rower
1963 – Míchel, Spanish footballer and manager
1963 – Juan Ramón López Caro, Spanish footballer and manager
1963 – Ana Fidelia Quirot, Cuban runner
1964 – Hope Davis, American actress
1965 – Gary Whitehead, American poet and painter
1966 – Lorenzo Daniel, American sprinter
1966 – Vasilis Vouzas, Greek footballer and manager
1968 – Damon Albarn, English singer-songwriter, producer and actor
1968 – Mike Atherton, English cricketer and journalist
1968 – Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer and manager
1968 – Pierre Palmade, French actor and screenwriter
1971 – Yasmeen Ghauri, Canadian model
1971 – Gail Porter, Scottish model and television host
1971 – Alexander Selivanov, Russian ice hockey player
1971 – Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Japanese wrestler
1972 – Jonas Björkman, Swedish-Monégasque tennis player and coach
1972 – Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
1972 – Judith Godrèche, French actress and author
1973 – Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
1973 – Wim Eyckmans, Belgian race car driver
1973 – Jason Kidd, American basketball player and coach
1974 – Randall Park, American actor, director and screenwriter
1975 – Burak Gürpınar, Turkish drummer
1975 – Andy Turner, English footballer, winger and manager
1976 – Chris Hoy, Scottish cyclist and race car driver
1976 – Smriti Irani, Indian actress, producer and politician, Indian Minister of Human Resource Development
1976 – Dougie Lampkin, English motorcycle racer
1976 – Michelle Monaghan, American actress
1976 – Joel Peralta, Dominican baseball player
1976 – Keri Russell, American actress
1976 – Ricardo Zonta, Brazilian race car driver
1976 – Sa Beining, Chinese host
1977 – Miklos Perlus, Canadian actor and screenwriter
1978 – Simon Gärdenfors, Swedish illustrator
1978 – Walter Samuel, Argentinian footballer
1979 – Mark Buehrle, American baseball player
1979 – Donncha O’Callaghan, Irish rugby player
1981 – Erin Crocker, American race car driver
1981 – Tony Peña, Jr., Dominican baseball player
1981 – Shelley Rudman, English bobsledder
1981 – Giuseppe Sculli, Italian footballer
1981 – Brett Young, American country music singer
1982 – José Contreras Arrau, Chilean footballer
1982 – Andrea Musacco, Italian footballer
1982 – Evgeni Striganov, Estonian ice dancer
1983 – Hakan Balta, Turkish footballer
1983 – Mo Farah, Somali-English runner
1983 – Sascha Riether, German international footballer
1983 – Jerome Thomas, English footballer
1984 – Ryan Araña, Filipino basketball player
1984 – Brandon Marshall, American football player
1985 – Maurice Jones-Drew, American football player
1985 – Bethanie Mattek-Sands, American tennis player
1986 – Patrick Bordeleau, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – Andrea Dovizioso, Italian motorcycle racer
1986 – Brett Eldredge, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1986 – Kangana Ranaut, Indian actress
1987 – Alan Toovey, Australian footballer
1988 – Dellin Betances, American baseball player
1988 – Jason Kenny, English cyclist
1988 – Michal Neuvirth, Czech ice hockey player
1989 – Ayesha Curry, Canadian-American chef, author and television personality
1989 – Nikola Gulan, Serbian footballer
1989 – Sarah McKenna, English rugby player
1989 – Luis Fernando Silva, Mexican footballer
1990 – Jaime Alguersuari, Spanish race car driver
1990 – Robert Zickert, German footballer
1991 – Gregg Wylde, Scottish footballer
1992 – Tolga Ciğerci, German-Turkish footballer
1992 – Kyrie Irving, Australian-American basketball player
1993 – Kyle Lovett, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Aytaç Kara, Turkish footballer
1994 – Nick Powell, English footballer
1995 – Kevin Kauber, Estonian footballer
1995 – Jan Lisiecki, Canadian pianist
1995 – Ozan Tufan, Turkish footballer
1996 – Alexander Albon, Thai-British race car driver

Deaths on March 23

851 – Zhou Chi, Chinese historian and politician (b. 793)
1022 – Zhen Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 968)
1103 – Eudes I, duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
1361 – Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, English politician, Lord High Steward of England (b. 1310)
1369 – Peter, king of Castile and León (b. 1334)
1483 – Yolande, duchess of Lorraine (b. 1428)
1548 – Itagaki Nobukata, Japanese samurai (b. 1489)
1555 – Julius III, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1487)
1559 – Gelawdewos, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1521)
1596 – Henry Unton, English diplomat (b. 1557)
1606 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish philologist and scholar (b. 1547)
1618 – James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, Scottish police officer and politician (b. 1575)
1629 – Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland, English landowner and politician (b. 1580)
1675 – Anthoni van Noordt, Dutch organist and composer (b. 1619)
1680 – Nicolas Fouquet, French politician (b. 1615)
1742 – Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French historian and author (b. 1670)
1747 – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French general (b. 1675)
1748 – Johann Gottfried Walther, German organist and composer (b. 1684)
1754 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian and critic (b. 1693)
1783 – Charles Carroll, English barrister and politician (b. 1723)
1801 – Paul I, Russian emperor (b. 1754)
1842 – Stendhal, French novelist (b. 1783)
1862 – Manuel Robles Pezuela, Unconstitutional Mexican interim president, 1858–1859 (b. 1817)
1883 – Arthur Macalister, Scottish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Queensland (b. 1818)
1884 – Henry C. Lord, American businessman (b. 1824)
1910 – Nadar, French photographer, journalist, and author (b. 1820)
1914 – Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, Lebanese saint (b. 1832)
1923 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian poet and author (b. 1869)
1927 – Paul César Helleu, French painter and etcher (b. 1859)
1931 – Shivaram Rajguru, Indian activist (b. 1908)
1931 – Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (b. 1907)
1931 – Sukhdev Thapar, Indian activist (b. 1907)
1953 – Raoul Dufy, French painter and illustrator (b. 1877)
1953 – Oskar Luts, Estonian author and playwright (b. 1887)
1955 – Arthur Bernardes, Brazilian politician, 12th President of Brazil (b. 1875)
1960 – Franklin Pierce Adams, American journalist and author (b. 1881)
1960 – Said Nursî, Turkish theologian and scholar (b. 1878)
1961 – Albert Bloch, American painter and educator (b. 1882)
1961 – Jack Russell, English cricketer (b. 1887)
1963 – Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and logician (b. 1887)
1964 – Peter Lorre, American actor (b. 1904)
1965 – Mae Murray, American actress, dancer, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
1968 – Edwin O’Connor, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
1972 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer, founded Balenciaga (b. 1895)
1973 – Bertram Stevens, Australian accountant and politician, 25th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1889)
1978 – Haim Ernst Wertheimer, Israeli biochemist and academic (b. 1893)
1979 – Ted Anderson, English footballer (b. 1911)
1980 – Arthur Melvin Okun, American economist and academic (b. 1928)
1981 – Beatrice Tinsley, English-New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist (b. 1941)
1981 – Mike Hailwood, English motorcyclist (b. 1940)
1985 – Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching, English physicist and engineer (b. 1913)
1985 – Peter Charanis, Greek-American scholar and educator (b. 1908)
1987 – Olev Roomet, Estonian singer and violinist (b. 1901)
1990 – John Dexter, English director and producer (b. 1925)
1991 – Margaret Atwood Judson, American historian and author (b. 1899)
1991 – Parkash Singh, Indian soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1913)
1992 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian-German economist, philosopher, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
1992 – Ron Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1949)
1994 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican economist and politician (b. 1950)
1994 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (b. 1921)
1995 – Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1956)
1999 – Luis María Argaña, Paraguayan judge and politician, Vice President of Paraguay (b. 1932)
1999 – Osmond Borradaile, Canadian director and cinematographer (b. 1898)
2001 – Rowland Evans, American journalist (b. 1921)
2001 – Margaret Jones, British archaeologist (b. 1916)
2001 – Robert Laxalt, American author (b. 1923)
2001 – David McTaggart, Canadian badminton player and environmentalist (b. 1932)
2002 – Eileen Farrell, American soprano (b. 1920)
2002 – Ben Hollioake, Australian-English cricketer (b. 1977)
2003 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-English flute player and journalist (b. 1926)
2004 – Rupert Hamer, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (b. 1916)
2006 – David B. Bleak, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1932)
2006 – Desmond Doss, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
2006 – Cindy Walker, American singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1918)
2007 – Paul Cohen, American mathematician and theorist (b. 1934)
2007 – Eric Medlen, American race car driver (b. 1973)
2008 – Vaino Vahing, Estonian psychiatrist, author, and playwright (b. 1940)
2009 – Ghukas Chubaryan, Armenian sculptor (b. 1923)
2009 – Raúl Macías, Mexican boxer and trainer (b. 1934)
2011 – Jean Bartik, American computer scientist and engineer (b. 1924)
2011 – Rosario Morales, Puerto Rican poet and writer (b.1930)
2011 – Elizabeth Taylor, American-British actress, socialite and humanitarian (b. 1932)
2012 – Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Somalian politician, President of Somalia (b. 1934)
2012 – Jim Duffy, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1937)
2012 – Naji Talib, Iraqi politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1917)
2012 – Lonnie Wright, American basketball and football player (b. 1945)
2013 – Boris Berezovsky, Russian-born Soviet-British mathematician and businessman (b. 1946)
2013 – Onofre Corpuz, Filipino economist, historian, and academic (b. 1926)
2013 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1917)
2013 – Joe Weider, Canadian-American bodybuilder and publisher, co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (b. 1919)
2014 – Dave Brockie, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1963)
2014 – Jaroslav Šerých, Czech painter and illustrator (b. 1928)
2014 – Adolfo Suárez, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1932)
2015 – Gian Vittorio Baldi, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
2015 – Lee Kuan Yew, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1923)
2015 – Bobby Lowther, American basketball player and lieutenant (b. 1923)
2015 – Lil’ Chris, English singer-songwriter, actor, and television personality (b. 1990)
2016 – Joe Garagiola, Sr., American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1926)
2016 – Ken Howard, American actor (b. 1944)

Holidays and observances on March 23

Christian feast day:
- Gregory the Illuminator (Episcopal Church)
- Gwinear
- Joseph Oriol
- Ottone Frangipane
- Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès (Maronite Church)
- Turibius of Mogrovejo
- Victorian, Frumentius and Companions
- March 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship (Hungary and Poland)
Day of the Sea (Bolivia)
Earliest day on which Easter Monday can fall, while April 26 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after Easter. (Western Christianity)
- Family Day (South Africa)
- Śmigus-Dyngus (Poland, Ukraine), Polish diaspora communities)
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Day (Azerbaijan)
Pakistan Day (Pakistan)
Promised Messiah Day (Ahmadiyya)
World Meteorological Day

March 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 21- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

In astrology, the day of the equinox is the first full day of the sign of Aries. It is also the traditional first day of the astrological year. In the 21st century, the equinox usually occurs on March 19 or 20; it occurred on March 21 only in 2003 and 2007. The next year in which the equinox occurs on March 21 will be 2102.

March 21 in History

537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the Vivarium, by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas and Peranius.
630 – Emperor Heraclius returns the True Cross, one of the holiest Christian relics, to Jerusalem.
717 – Battle of Vincy between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid.
1152 – Annulment of the marriage of King Louis VII of France and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.
1188 – Emperor Antoku accedes to the throne of Japan.
1556 – On the day of his execution in Oxford, former Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer deviates from the scripted sermon by renouncing the recantations he has made and adds, “And as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy, and Antichrist with all his false doctrine.”
1788 – A fire in New Orleans leaves most of the town in ruins.
1800 – With the church leadership driven out of Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII is crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.
1801 – The Battle of Alexandria is fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis near Alexandria in Egypt.
1804 – Code Napoléon is adopted as French civil law.
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Austrian forces repel French troops in the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.
1844 – The Bahá’í calendar begins. This is the first day of the first year of the Bahá’í calendar. It is annually celebrated by members of the Bahá’í Faith as the Bahá’í New Year or Náw-Rúz.
1861 – Alexander Stephens gives the Cornerstone Speech.
1871 – Otto von Bismarck is appointed as the first Chancellor of the German Empire.
1871 – Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.
1913 – Over 360 are killed and 20,000 homes destroyed in the Great Dayton Flood in Dayton, Ohio.
1918 – World War I: The first phase of the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, begins.
1919 – The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established becoming the first Communist government to be formed in Europe after the October Revolution in Russia.
1921 – The New Economic Policy is implemented by the Bolshevik Party in response to the economic failure as a result of war communism.
1925 – The Butler Act prohibits the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee.
1925 – Syngman Rhee is removed from office after being impeached as the President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.
1928 – Charles Lindbergh is presented with the Medal of Honor for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.
1935 – Shah of Iran Reza Shah Pahlavi formally asks the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran.
1937 – Ponce massacre: Nineteen people in Ponce, Puerto Rico are gunned down by police acting on orders of the US-appointed Governor, Blanton C. Winship.
1943 – Wehrmacht officer Rudolf von Gersdorff plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler by using a suicide bomb, but the plan falls through; von Gersdorff is able to defuse the bomb in time and avoid suspicion.
1945 – World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.
1945 – World War II: Operation Carthage: Royal Air Force planes bomb Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. They also accidentally hit a school, killing 125 civilians.
1945 – World War II: Bulgaria and the Soviet Union successfully complete their defense of the north bank of the Drava River as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concludes.
1946 – The Los Angeles Rams sign Kenny Washington, making him the first African American player in professional American football since 1933.
1952 – Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.
1960 – Apartheid: Sharpeville massacre, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.
1963 – Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary (in California) closes.
1965 – Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9, the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.
1965 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
1968 – Battle of Karameh in Jordan between the Israel Defense Forces and the combined forces of the Jordanian Armed Forces and PLO.
1970 – The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco.
1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet–Afghan War.
1983 – The first cases of the 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic begin; Israelis and Palestinians accuse each other of poison gas, but the cause is later determined mostly to be psychosomatic.
1986 – Debi Thomas became the first African American to win the World Figure Skating Championships
1990 – Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
1994 – The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change enters into force.
1999 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
2000 – Pope John Paul II makes his first ever pontifical visit to Israel.
2006 – The social media site Twitter is founded.
2009 – Four police officers are shot and killed and a fifth is wounded in two shootings at Oakland, California.
2019 – The 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion occurs, killing at least 47 people and injuring 640 others.

Births on March 21

927 – Emperor Taizu of Song (d. 976)
1474 – Angela Merici, Italian educator and saint (d. 1540)
1501 – Anne Brooke, Baroness Cobham, English noble (d. 1558)
1521 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony (d. 1553)
1527 – Hermann Finck, German composer and educator (d. 1558)
1555 – John Leveson, English politician (d. 1615)
1557 – Anne Howard, Countess of Arundel, English countess and poet (d. 1630)
1626 – Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur, Spanish saint and missionary (d. 1667)
1672 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet and translator (d. 1742)
1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German Baroque composer and musician (d. 1750)
1713 – Francis Lewis, Welsh-American merchant and politician (d. 1803)
1716 – Josef Seger, Bohemian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1782)
1752 – Mary Dixon Kies, American inventor (d. 1837)
1763 – Jean Paul, German journalist and author (d. 1825)
1768 – Joseph Fourier, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1830)
1806 – Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer and politician, 25th President of Mexico (d. 1872)
1811 – Nathaniel Woodard, English priest and educator (d. 1891)
1825 – Alexander Mozhaysky, Russian soldier and engineer (d. 1890)
1835 – Thomas Hayward, English cricketer (d. 1876)
1839 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1881)
1854 – Alick Bannerman, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 1924)
1857 – Alice Henry, Australian journalist and activist (d. 1943)
1859 – Daria Pratt, American golfer (d. 1938)
1865 – George Owen Squier, American general (d. 1934)
1866 – Antonia Maury, American astronomer and astrophysicist (d. 1952)
1867 – Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., American director and producer (d. 1932)
1869 – David Robertson, Scottish-English golfer and rugby player (d. 1937)
1874 – Alfred Tysoe, English runner (d. 1901)
1876 – Walter Tewksbury, American runner and hurdler (d. 1968)
1877 – Maurice Farman, French race car driver and pilot (d. 1964)
1878 – Morris H. Whitehouse, American architect (d. 1944)
1880 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1971)
1880 – Hans Hofmann, German-American painter and academic (d. 1966)
1882 – Aleksander Kesküla, Estonian politician (d. 1963)
1884 – George David Birkhoff, American mathematician (d. 1944)
1885 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (d. 1952)
1886 – Walter Dray, American pole vaulter (d. 1973)
1887 – Clarice Beckett, Australian painter (d. 1935)
1887 – Lajos Kassák, Hungarian poet, novelist and painter (d. 1967)
1887 – M. N. Roy, Indian philosopher and politician (d. 1954)
1889 – Jock Sutherland, American football player and coach (d. 1948)
1896 – Friedrich Waismann, Austrian mathematician, physicist, and philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1959)
1897 – Sim Gokkes, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1943)
1897 – Salvador Lutteroth, Mexican wrestling promoter, founded Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (d. 1987)
1899 – Panagiotis Pipinelis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1970)
1901 – Karl Arnold, German businessman and politician, President of the German Bundesrat (d. 1958)
1902 – Son House, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1988)
1904 – Jehane Benoît, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1987)
1904 – Forrest Mars, Sr., American candy maker, created M&M’s and Mars bar (d. 1999)
1904 – Nikos Skalkottas, Greek violinist and composer (d. 1949)
1905 – Phyllis McGinley, American author and poet (d. 1978)
1906 – John D. Rockefeller III, American philanthropist (d. 1978)
1906 – Jim Thompson, American businessman (d. 1967)
1906 – André Filho, Brazilian musician and songwriter (d. 1974)
1907 – Zoltán Kemény, Hungarian sculptor (d. 1965)
1909 – Harry Lane, English footballer (d. 1977)
1910 – Julio Gallo, American businessman, co-founded E & J Gallo Winery (d. 1993)
1910 – Muhammad Siddiq Khan, Bangladeshi librarian and educator (d. 1978)
1911 – Walter Lincoln Hawkins, African-American scientist and inventor (d. 1992)
1912 – André Laurendeau, Canadian journalist, playwright, and politician (d. 1968)
1913 – George Abecassis, English race car driver and pilot (d. 1991)
1913 – Guillermo Haro, Mexican astronomer (d. 1988)
1914 – Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (d. 1990)
1916 – Bismillah Khan, Indian shehnai player (d. 2006)
1916 – Ken Wharton, English race car driver (d. 1957)
1917 – Frank Hardy, Australian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1994)
1918 – Patrick Lucey, American captain and politician, 38th Governor of Wisconsin (d. 2014)
1918 – Charles Thompson, American pianist and composer (d. 2016)
1919 – Douglas Warren, Australian bishop (d. 2013)
1920 – Manolis Chiotis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (d. 1970)
1920 – Éric Rohmer, French director, film critic, journalist, novelist and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1921 – Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist and pianist (d. 1986)
1921 – Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2014)
1922 – Russ Meyer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
1923 – Louis-Edmond Hamelin, Canadian geographer, author, and academic (d. 2020)
1923 – Nizar Qabbani, Syrian poet, publisher, and diplomat (d. 1998)
1923 – Nirmala Srivastava, Indian religious leader, founded Sahaja Yoga (d. 2011)
1923 – Rezső Nyers, Hungarian politician (d. 2018)
1924 – Philip Abbott, American actor (d. 1998)
1924 – Dov Shilansky, Lithuanian-Israeli lawyer and politician (d. 2010)
1925 – Harold Ashby, American saxophonist (d. 2003)
1925 – Peter Brook, English-French director and producer
1925 – Hugo Koblet, Swiss cyclist (d. 1964)
1926 – André Delvaux, Belgian director and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1927 – Halton Arp, American-German astronomer and critic (d. 2013)
1927 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German soldier and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (d. 2016)
1928 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (d. 2015)
1929 – Maurice Catarcio, American wrestler (d. 2005)
1930 – James Coco, American actor (d. 1987)
1930 – Otis Spann, American blues pianist, singer and composer (d. 1970)
1931 – Toyonobori, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1998)
1931 – Clark L. Brundin, American-English engineer and academic
1931 – Catherine Gibson, Scottish swimmer (d. 2013)
1931 – Al Williamson, American illustrator (d. 2010)
1932 – Walter Gilbert, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1932 – Joseph Silverstein, American violinist and conductor (d. 2015)
1933 – John Hall, English businessman
1933 – Michael Heseltine, Welsh businessman and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1934 – Al Freeman, Jr., American actor and director (d. 2012)
1935 – Brian Clough, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
1936 – Ed Broadbent, Canadian pilot and politician
1936 – Mike Westbrook, English pianist and composer
1937 – Ann Clwyd, Welsh journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
1937 – Tom Flores, American football player and coach
1937 – Pierre-Jean Rémy, French diplomat and author (d. 2010)
1938 – Michael Foreman, English author and illustrator
1938 – Grahame Thomas, Australian cricketer
1939 – Kathleen Widdoes, American actress
1940 – Solomon Burke, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
1940 – Andrea Elle, German bicyclist
1942 – Françoise Dorléac, French actress (d. 1967)
1942 – Kostas Politis, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2018)
1942 – Amina Claudine Myers, African-American singer-songwriter and pianist
1942 – Patcha Ramachandra Rao, India metallurgist, educator and administrator (d. 2010)
1943 – István Gyulai, Hungarian sprinter and sportscaster (d. 2006)
1943 – Hartmut Haenchen, German conductor
1943 – Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter (d. 1995)
1944 – Marie-Christine Barrault, French actress
1944 – Janet Daley, American-English journalist and author
1944 – Hideki Ishima, Japanese guitarist
1944 – Mike Jackson, English general
1944 – David Lindley, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1944 – Gaye Adegbalola, African-American singer and guitarist
1945 – Anthony Grabiner, Baron Grabiner, English lawyer
1945 – Charles Greene, American sprinter and coach
1945 – Rose Stone, African-American R&B singer and keyboard player
1946 – Timothy Dalton, Welsh-English actor
1946 – Ray Dorset, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Joseph Mitsuaki Takami, Japanese cardinal
1947 – George Johnston. Scottish footballer, forward
1948 – Scott Fahlman, American computer scientist and academic
1949 – Alvin Kallicharran, Guyanese cricketer and coach
1949 – Andy Love, Scottish-English politician
1949 – Eddie Money, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
1949 – Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian sociologist, philosopher, and academic
1950 – Roger Hodgson, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1950 – Ron Oden, American minister and politician, 19th Mayor of Palm Springs
1950 – Sergey Lavrov, Russian politician and diplomat, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1951 – Conrad Lozano, American bass player
1951 – Russell Thompkins Jr., American soul singer
1953 – Steve Furber, English computer scientist and academic
1953 – Paul Martin Lester, American photographer, author, and educator
1953 – David Wisniewski, English-American author and illustrator (d. 2002)
1955 – Fadi Abboud, Lebanese economist and politician
1955 – Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian politician and retired military officer, 38th President of Brazil
1955 – Bob Bennett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Greek politician
1955 – Bärbel Wöckel, East German sprinter
1956 – Dick Beardsley, American runner
1956 – Guy Chadwick, German-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1956 – Richard H. Kirk, English guitarist, keyboard player, composer, and producer
1956 – Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner
1958 – Marlies Göhr, German sprinter
1958 – Brad Hall, American comedian, director, and screenwriter
1958 – Gary Oldman, English actor, filmmaker, musician and author
1959 – Sarah Jane Morris, English singer-songwriter
1959 – Yuval Rotem, Israeli diplomat
1959 – Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese keyboard player and composer
1960 – Marwan Farhat, Syrian actor and voice actor
1960 – Benito T. de Leon, Filipino general
1960 – Raivo Puusepp, Estonian architect
1960 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1994)
1960 – Robert Sweet, American drummer and producer
1961 – Lothar Matthäus, German footballer and manager
1961 – Gary O’Reilly, English footballer, defender
1961 – Kassie DePaiva, American actress
1961 – Slim Jim Phantom, American rock drummer
1961 – Kim Turner, American hurdler
1962 – Matthew Broderick, American actor
1962 – Kathy Greenwood, Canadian actress and screenwriter
1962 – Rosie O’Donnell, American actress, producer, and talk show host
1962 – Mark Waid, American author
1963 – Shawon Dunston, American baseball player
1963 – Ronald Koeman, Dutch footballer and manager
1963 – Shawn Lane, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 2003)
1963 – Share Pedersen, American bass player
1964 – Ieuan Evans, Welsh rugby player
1964 – Jesper Skibby, Danish cyclist
1965 – Xavier Bertrand, French businessman and politician, French Minister of Social Affairs
1965 – Thomas Frank, American author, historian and political analyst
1966 – Benito Archundia, Mexican footballer, referee, lawyer, and economist
1966 – Hauke Fuhlbrügge, German runner
1966 – Matthew Maynard, English cricketer and coach
1966 – Moa Matthis, Swedish author
1967 – Carwyn Jones, Welsh lawyer and politician, First Minister of Wales
1967 – Mirela Rupic, American costume and fashion designer
1968 – Cameron Clyne, Australian businessman
1968 – Andrew Copeland, American singer and guitarist
1968 – Gary Walsh, English football coach and former footballer
1968 – Greg Ellis, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Tolunay Kafkas, Turkish footballer and manager
1968 – Scott Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
1969 – Jonah Goldberg, American journalist and author
1970 – Shiho Niiyama, Japanese voice actress (d. 2000)
1970 – Cenk Uygur, Turkish-American political activist
1971 – Zsolt Kürtösi, Hungarian decathlete
1972 – Chris Candido, American wrestler (d. 2005)
1972 – Balázs Kiss, Hungarian hammer thrower
1972 – Derartu Tulu, Ethiopian runner
1972 – Graeme Welch, English cricketer
1973 – Ananda Lewis, American television host
1973 – Stuart Nethercott, English footballer, defender and manager
1973 – Large Professor, American rapper and producer
1974 – Rhys Darby, New Zealand comedian and actor
1974 – Dejima Takeharu, Japanese sumo wrestler
1974 – Edsel Dope, American singer-songwriter and producer
1974 – Ted Kravitz, British presenter and Formula One pit-lane reporter
1974 – Kevin Leahy, American drummer
1974 – Conor Woodman, Irish journalist and author
1975 – Yacoub Al-Mohana, Kuwaiti director and producer
1975 – Corne Krige, South African rugby player
1975 – Fabricio Oberto, Argentinian-Italian basketball player
1975 – Vitaly Potapenko, Ukrainian basketball player and coach
1975 – Mark Williams, Welsh snooker player
1976 – Rachael MacFarlane, American voice actress and singer
1976 – Bamboo Mañalac, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
1976 – Tekin Sazlog, German-Turkish footballer
1977 – Bruno Cirillo, Italian footballer
1977 – Jamie Delgado, English tennis player
1978 – Sally Barsosio, Kenyan runner
1978 – Joyce Jimenez, Filipino movie and TV actress
1978 – Charmaine Dragun, Australian journalist (d. 2007)
1978 – Cristian Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
1978 – Mohammad Rezaei, Iranian wrestler
1980 – Ronaldinho, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Marit Bjørgen, Norwegian skier
1980 – Lee Jin, South Korean singer and actress
1980 – Deryck Whibley, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1981 – Germano Borovicz Cardoso Schweger, Brazilian footballer
1981 – Sébastien Chavanel, French cyclist
1981 – Glenn Hall, Australian rugby league player
1981 – Jason King, Australian rugby league player
1981 – Todd Polglase, Australian rugby league player
1982 – Maria Elena Camerin, Italian tennis player
1982 – Ejegayehu Dibaba, Ethiopian runner
1982 – Aaron Hill, American baseball player
1982 – Colin Turkington, Northern Irish race car driver
1983 – Lucila Pascua, Spanish basketball player
1983 – Jean Ondoa, Cameroonian footballer
1984 – Tiago dos Santos Roberto, Brazilian footballer
1984 – Guillermo Daniel Rodríguez, Uruguayan footballer
1985 – Ryan Callahan, American ice hockey player
1985 – Adrian Peterson, American football player
1986 – Scott Eastwood, American actor
1986 – Michu, Spanish footballer
1986 – Romanos Alyfantis, Greek swimmer
1986 – Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou, Greek pole vaulter
1987 – Carlos Carrasco, Venezuelan baseball pitcher
1988 – Kateřina Čechová, Czech sprinter
1988 – Erik Johnson, American ice hockey player
1988 – Eric Krüger, German sprinter
1988 – Michael Madl, Austrian footballer, defender
1989 – Jordi Alba, Spanish footballer
1989 – Nicolás Lodeiro, Uruguayan footballer
1990 – Mandy Capristo, German singer-songwriter and dancer
1990 – Ryann Krais, American runner and heptathlete
1990 – Alex Nimo, Liberian-American soccer player
1991 – Luke Chapman, English footballer
1991 – Antoine Griezmann, French footballer
1992 – Lehlogonolo Masalesa, South African footballer
1992 – Karolína Plíšková, Czech tennis player
1993 – Jake Bidwell, English footballer
1993 – Jesse Joronen, Finnish footballer
1994 – Margaret Lu, American fencer
1997 – Martina Stoessel, Argentine actress
2000 – Jace Norman, American actor

Deaths on March 21

543 or 547 – Benedict of Nursia, Italian saint (b. 480)
867 – Ælla, king of Northumbria
867 – Osberht, king of Northumbria
1034 – Ezzo, Count Palatine of Lotharingia (b. 955)
1063 – Richeza of Lotharingia (b. 995)
1076 – Robert I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1011)
1201 – Absalon, Danish archbishop (b. c. 1128)
1306 – Robert II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1248)
1372 – Rudolf VI, Margrave of Baden
1487 – Nicholas of Flüe, Swiss monk and saint (b. 1417)
1540 – John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, English peer and courtier (b. c. 1482)
1556 – Thomas Cranmer, English archbishop (b. 1489)
1571 – Odet de Coligny, French cardinal and Protestant (b. 1517)
1617 – Pocahontas, Algonquian Indigenous princess (b. c. 1595)
1653 – Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha, Albanian politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
1656 – James Ussher, Irish archbishop (b. 1581)
1676 – Henri Sauval, French historian and author (b. 1623)
1729 – John Law, Scottish-French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1671)
1729 – Elżbieta Sieniawska, politically influential Polish magnate (b. 1669)
1734 – Robert Wodrow, Scottish historian and author (b. 1679)
1751 – Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (b. 1706)
1752 – Gio Nicola Buhagiar, Maltese painter (b. 1698)
1762 – Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, French priest, astronomer, and academic (b. 1713)
1772 – Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, French geographer and cartographer (b. 1703)
1795 – Giovanni Arduino, Italian miner and geologist (b. 1714)
1801 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian composer and educator (b. 1741)
1804 – Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien (b. 1772)
1843 – Robert Southey, English poet, historian, and translator (b. 1774)
1843 – Guadalupe Victoria, Mexican general and politician, 1st President of Mexico (b. 1786)
1854 – Pedro María de Anaya, Mexican soldier. President (1847-1848) (b. 1795)
1863 – Edwin Vose Sumner, American general (b. 1797)
1869 – Juan Almonte, son of José María Morelos, was a Mexican soldier and diplomat who served as a regent in the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (b. 1803)
1884 – Ezra Abbot, American scholar and academic (b. 1819)
1891 – Joseph E. Johnston, American general (b. 1807)
1915 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American golfer, tennis player, and engineer (b. 1856)
1920 – Evelina Haverfield, British suffragette and aid worker (b. 1867)
1932 – Frantz Reichel, French rugby player and hurdler (b. 1871)
1934 – Franz Schreker, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1878)
1934 – Lilyan Tashman, American actress (b. 1896)
1936 – Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1865)
1939 – Evald Aav, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1900)
1939 – Ali Hikmet Ayerdem, Turkish general and politician (b. 1877)
1943 – Cornelia Fort, American soldier and pilot (b. 1919)
1945 – Arthur Nebe, German SS officer (b. 1894)
1951 – Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor and composer (b. 1871)
1953 – Ed Voss, American basketball player (b. 1922)
1956 – Hatı Çırpan, Turkish politician (b. 1890)
1958 – Cyril M. Kornbluth, American soldier and author (b. 1923)
1970 – Manolis Chiotis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1920)
1975 – Joe Medwick, American baseball player and coach (b. 1911)
1978 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, President of Ireland (b. 1911)
1980 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician and astronomer (b. 1888)
1985 – Michael Redgrave, English actor, director, and manager (b. 1908)
1987 – Walter L. Gordon, Canadian accountant, lawyer, and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Finance (b. 1906)
1987 – Robert Preston, American captain, actor, and singer (b. 1918)
1991 – Vedat Dalokay, Turkish architect and politician, Mayor of Ankara (b. 1927)
1991 – Leo Fender, American businessman, founded Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (b. 1909)
1992 – John Ireland, Canadian-American actor and director (b. 1914)
1992 – Natalie Sleeth, American pianist and composer (b. 1930)
1994 – Macdonald Carey, American actor (b. 1913)
1994 – Lili Damita, French-American actress and singer (b. 1904)
1994 – Aleksandrs Laime, Latvian-born explorer (b. 1911)
1997 – Wilbert Awdry, English cleric and author, created Thomas the Tank Engine (b. 1911)
1998 – Galina Ulanova, Russian ballerina (b. 1910)
1999 – Jean Guitton, French philosopher and author (b. 1905)
1999 – Ernie Wise, English comedian and actor (b. 1925)
2001 – Chung Ju-yung, South Korean businessman, founded Hyundai (b. 1915)
2001 – Anthony Steel, English actor and singer (b. 1920)
2002 – Herman Talmadge, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 70th Governor of Georgia (b. 1913)
2003 – Shivani, Indian author (b. 1923)
2003 – Umar Wirahadikusumah, Indonesian general and politician, 4th Vice President of Indonesia (b. 1924)
2004 – Ludmilla Tchérina, French actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1924)
2005 – Barney Martin, American police officer and actor (b. 1923)
2005 – Bobby Short, American singer and pianist (b. 1924)
2007 – Drew Hayes, American author and illustrator (b. 1969)
2007 – Sven O. Høiby, Norwegian hurdler and journalist (b. 1936)
2008 – Denis Cosgrove, English-American geographer and academic (b. 1948)
2008 – Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente, Chilean architect and academic (b. 1931)
2009 – Walt Poddubny, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1960)
2010 – Wolfgang Wagner, German director and manager (b. 1919)
2011 – Loleatta Holloway, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
2011 – Gerd Klier, German footballer (b. 1944)
2011 – Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer and manager (b. 1931)
2011 – Pinetop Perkins, American singer and pianist (b. 1913)
2012 – Albrecht Dietz, German economist and businessman (b. 1926)
2012 – Ron Erhardt, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
2012 – Robert Fuest, English director, screenwriter, and production designer (b. 1927)
2012 – Tonino Guerra, Italian poet and screenwriter (b. 1920)
2012 – Irving Louis Horowitz, American sociologist, author, and academic (b. 1929)
2012 – Yuri Razuvaev, Russian chess player and trainer (b. 1945)
2012 – Marina Salye, Russian geologist and politician (b. 1934)
2013 – Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic (b. 1930)
2013 – Rick Hautala, American author and screenwriter (b. 1949)
2013 – Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
2013 – Pietro Mennea, Italian sprinter and politician (b. 1952)
2013 – Giancarlo Zagni, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
2014 – Qoriniasi Bale, Fijian lawyer and politician, 25th Attorney-General of Fiji (b. 1929)
2014 – Bill Boedeker, American football player and soldier (b. 1924)
2014 – Jack Fleck, American golfer (b. 1921)
2014 – Simeon Oduoye, Nigerian police officer and politician (b. 1945)
2014 – James Rebhorn, American actor (b. 1948)
2014 – Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1933)
2015 – Ishaya Bakut, Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Benue State (b. 1947)
2015 – Chuck Bednarik, American lieutenant and football player (b. 1925)
2015 – James C. Binnicker, American sergeant (b. 1938)
2015 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator (b. 1909)
2015 – Jørgen Ingmann, Danish singer and guitarist (Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann) (b. 1925)
2015 – Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (b. 1955)
2017 – Chuck Barris, American game show host and producer (b. 1929)
2017 – Colin Dexter, English author (b. 1930)
2017 – Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (2007–2017) (b. 1950)
2017 – Mike Hall, British cyclist (b. 1981)
2019 – Victor Hochhauser CBE, British music promoter (b. 1923)^[21]
2019 – Gonzalo Portocarrero, Peruvian sociologist (b. 1949)

Holidays and observances on March 21

Arbor Day (Portugal)
Birth of Benito Juárez, a Fiestas Patrias (Mexico)
Christian feast day:
- Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello
- Passing of Saint Benedict (Order of Saint Benedict)
- Birillus
- Enda of Aran
- Nicholas of Flüe
- Serapion of Thmuis
- Thomas Cranmer (Anglicanism)
- March 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Holy Saturday can fall, while April 24 is the latest; celebrated on the Saturday before Easter (Christianity)
Education Freedom Day
Harmony Day (Australia)
Human Rights Day (South Africa)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Namibia from South African mandate in 1990
International Colour Day (International)
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (International)
International Day of Forests (International), by proclamation of the United Nations General Assembly
Mother’s Day (most of the Arab world)
National Tree Planting Day (Lesotho)
Newroz (Iran, Kurdistan, Mesopotamia)
Truant’s Day (Poland, Faroe Islands)
Vernal equinox related observances (see March 20)
World Down Syndrome Day (International)
World Poetry Day (International)
World Puppetry Day (International)
Youth Day (Tunisia)

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