Charles II Archives - Page 2 of 4 -

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

On This Day / admin

567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain, back from the Moors.
1420 – Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.
1521 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.
1644 – Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.
1659 – Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England.
1660 – Charles II lands at Dover at the invitation of the Convention Parliament, which marks the end of the Cromwell-proclaimed Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and begins the Restoration of the British monarchy.
1738 – A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
1787 – After a delay of 11 days, the United States Constitutional Convention formally convenes in Philadelphia after a quorum of seven states is secured.
1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion: Battle of Carlow begins; executions of suspected rebels at Carnew and at Dunlavin Green take place.
1809 – Chuquisaca Revolution: Patriot revolt in Chuquisaca (modern-day Sucre) against the Spanish Empire, sparking the Latin American wars of independence.
1810 – May Revolution: Citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the “May Week”, starting the Argentine War of Independence.
1819 – The Argentine Constitution of 1819 is promulgated.
1833 – The Chilean Constitution of 1833 is promulgated.
1865 – In Mobile, Alabama, around 300 people are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.
1878 – Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.
1895 – Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of “committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons” and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
1895 – The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Jingsong as its president.
1914 – The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Home Rule Bill for devolution in Ireland.
1925 – Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching human evolution in Tennessee.
1926 – Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the government of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, which is in government-in-exile in Paris.
1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1938 – Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante kills 313 people.
1940 – World War II: The German 2nd Panzer Division captures the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer; the surrender of the last French and British troops marks the end of the Battle of Boulogne.
1946 – The parliament of Transjordan makes Abdullah I of Jordan their Emir.
1953 – Nuclear weapons testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.
1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.
1955 – In the United States, a night-time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas, killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado to ever occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.
1955 – First ascent of Mount Kangchenjunga: A British expedition led by Charles Evans, Joe Brown and George Band reaches the summit of the third-highest mountain in the world (8,586 meters); Norman Hardie and Tony Streather join them the following day.
1961 – Apollo program: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces, before a special joint session of the U.S. Congress, his goal to initiate a project to put a “man on the Moon” before the end of the decade.
1963 – The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
1966 – Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.
1968 – The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is dedicated.
1973 – In protest against the dictatorship in Greece, the captain and crew on Greek naval destroyer Velos mutiny and refuse to return to Greece, instead anchoring at Fiumicino, Italy.
1977 – Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is released in theaters.
1977 – The Chinese government removes a decade-old ban on William Shakespeare’s work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966.
1978 – The first of a series of bombings orchestrated by the Unabomber detonates at Northwestern University resulting in minor injuries.
1979 – John Spenkelink, a convicted murderer, is executed in Florida; he is the first person to be executed in the state after the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1976.
1979 – American Airlines Flight 191: A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, killing all 271 on board and two people on the ground.
1981 – In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
1982 – Falklands War: HMS Coventry is sunk by Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks.
1985 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
1986 – The Hands Across America event takes place.
1997 – A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.
1999 – The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report which details the People’s Republic of China’s nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.
2000 – Liberation Day of Lebanon: Israel withdraws its army from Lebanese territory (with the exception of the disputed Shebaa farms zone) 18 years after the invasion of 1982.
2001 – Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr. Sherman Bull.
2002 – China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, with the loss of all 225 people on board.
2008 – NASA’s Phoenix lander touches down in the Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life.
2009 – North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device, after which Pyongyang also conducts several missile tests, building tensions in the international community.
2011 – Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
2012 – The SpaceX Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.
2013 – Suspected Maoist rebels kill at least 28 people and injure 32 others in an attack on a convoy of Indian National Congress politicians in Chhattisgarh, India.
2013 – A gas cylinder explodes on a school bus in the Pakistani city of Gujrat, killing at least 18 people.
2018 – The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable in the European Union.
2018 – Ireland votes to repeal the Eighth Amendment of their constitution that prohibits abortion in all but a few cases, choosing to replace it with the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.
2020 – George Floyd, a black man, is killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest when he is restrained in a prone position face-down on the ground for several minutes, provoking protests across the United States and elsewhere around the world.

Births on May 25

1048 – Emperor Shenzong of Song (d. 1085)
1320 – Toghon Temür, Mongolian emperor (d. 1370)
1334 – Emperor Sukō of Japan (d. 1398)
1416 – Jakobus (“James”), Count of Lichtenburg (d. 1480)
1417 – Catherine of Cleves, Duchess consort regent of Guelders (d. 1479)
1550 – Camillus de Lellis, Italian saint and nurse (d. 1614)
1606 – Charles Garnier, French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
1661 – Claude Buffier, Polish-French historian and philosopher (d. 1737)
1713 – John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)
1725 – Samuel Ward, American politician, 31st Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island (d. 1776)
1783 – Philip Pendleton Barbour, American farmer and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1841)
1791 – Minh Mạng, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1841)
1803 – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English author, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1873)
1803 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and philosopher (d. 1882)
1818 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian and academic (d. 1897)
1818 – Louise de Broglie, Countess d’Haussonville, French essayist and biographer (d. 1882)
1830 – Trebor Mai (né Robert Williams), Welsh poet (d. 1877)
1846 – Naim Frashëri, Albanian-Turkish poet and translator (d. 1900)
1848 – Johann Baptist Singenberger, Swiss composer, educator, and publisher (d. 1924)
1852 – William Muldoon, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1933)
1856 – Louis Franchet d’Espèrey, Algerian-French general (d. 1942)
1860 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist and academic (d. 1944)
1865 – John Mott, American evangelist and saint, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
1865 – Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
1867 – Anders Peter Nielsen, Danish target shooter (d. 1950)
1869 – Robbie Ross, Canadian journalist and art critic (d. 1918)
1869 – Mathilde Verne, English pianist and educator (d. 1936)
1878 – Bill Robinson, American actor and dancer (d. 1949)
1879 – Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, Canadian-English businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 1964)
1879 – William Stickney, American golfer (d. 1944)
1880 – Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist and academic (d. 1967)
1882 – Marie Doro, American actress (d. 1956)
1883 – Carl Johan Lind, Swedish hammer thrower (d. 1965)
1886 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian soldier and activist (d. 1945)
1886 – Philip Murray, Scottish-American miner and labor leader (d. 1952)
1887 – Padre Pio, Italian priest and saint (d. 1968)
1888 – Miles Malleson, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1969)
1889 – Günther Lütjens, German admiral (d. 1941)
1889 – Igor Sikorsky, Russian-American aircraft designer, founded Sikorsky Aircraft (d. 1972)
1893 – Ernest “Pop” Stoneman, American country musician (d. 1968)
1897 – Alan Kippax, Australian cricketer (d. 1972)
1897 – Gene Tunney, American boxer and soldier (d. 1978)
1898 – Bennett Cerf, American publisher and television game show panelist; co-founded Random House (d. 1971)
1899 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, author, and flute player (d. 1976)
1900 – Alain Grandbois, Canadian poet and author (d. 1975)
1907 – U Nu, Burmese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Burma (d. 1995)
1908 – Theodore Roethke, American poet (d. 1963)
1909 – Alfred Kubel, German politician, 5th Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (d. 1999)
1912 – Dean Rockwell, American commander, wrestler, and coach (d. 2005)
1913 – Heinrich Bär, German colonel and pilot (d. 1957)
1913 – Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and producer (d. 1965)
1916 – Brian Dickson, Canadian captain, lawyer, and politician, 15th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1998)
1916 – Giuseppe Tosi, Italian discus thrower (d. 1981)
1917 – Steve Cochran, American film, television and stage actor (d. 1965)
1917 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, and academic (d. 2015)
1920 – Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner and diplomat (d. 1992)
1921 – Hal David, American songwriter and composer (d. 2012)
1921 – Kitty Kallen, American singer (d. 2016)
1921 – Jack Steinberger, German-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1922 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (d. 1984)
1924 – István Nyers, French-Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)
1925 – Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet and author (d. 1974)
1925 – Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)
1925 – Eldon Griffiths, English journalist and politician (d. 2014)
1925 – Don Liddle, American baseball player (d. 2000)
1925 – Claude Pinoteau, French film director and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1926 – Claude Akins, American actor (d. 1994)
1926 – William Bowyer, English painter and academic (d. 2015)
1926 – Phyllis Gotlieb, Canadian author and poet (d. 2009)
1926 – Bill Sharman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
1926 – David Wynne, English sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
1927 – Robert Ludlum, American soldier and author (d. 2001)
1927 – Norman Petty, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 1984)
1929 – Beverly Sills, American soprano and actress (d. 2007)
1930 – Sonia Rykiel, French fashion designer (d. 2016)
1931 – Herb Gray, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2014)
1931 – Georgy Grechko, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2017)
1931 – Irwin Winkler, American director and producer
1932 – John Gregory Dunne, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2003)
1932 – K. C. Jones, American basketball player and coach
1933 – Sarah Marshall, English-American actress (d. 2014)
1933 – Basdeo Panday, Trinidadian lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
1933 – Ray Spencer, English footballer (d. 2016)
1933 – Jógvan Sundstein, Faroese accountant and politician, 7th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1935 – John Ffowcs Williams, Welsh engineer and academic
1935 – Cookie Gilchrist, American football player (d. 2011)
1935 – W. P. Kinsella, Canadian novelist and short story writer (d. 2016)
1935 – Victoria Shaw, Australian-born American actress (d. 1988)
1936 – Tom T. Hall, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1936 – Rusi Surti, Indian cricketer (d. 2013)
1937 – Tom Phillips, English painter and academic
1938 – Raymond Carver, American short story writer and poet (d. 1988)
1938 – Margaret Forster, English historian, author, and critic (d. 2016)
1938 – Geoffrey Robinson, English businessman and politician
1939 – Dixie Carter, American actress and singer (d. 2010)
1939 – Ian McKellen, English actor
1940 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese photographer
1941 – Rudolf Adler, Czech filmmaker^:88
1941 – Uta Frith, German developmental psychologist
1941 – Vladimir Voronin, Moldovan economist and politician, 3rd President of Moldova
1943 – Jessi Colter, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1943 – John Palmer, English keyboard player
1943 – Leslie Uggams, American actress and singer
1944 – Digby Anderson, English journalist and philosopher
1944 – Pierre Bachelet, French singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
1944 – Charlie Harper, English singer-songwriter and producer
1944 – Robert MacPherson, American mathematician and academic
1944 – Frank Oz, English-born American puppeteer, filmmaker, and actor
1944 – Chris Ralston, English rugby player
1946 – Bill Adam, Scottish-Canadian racing driver
1946 – David A. Hargrave, American game designer, created Arduin (d. 1988)
1947 – Karen Valentine, American actress
1947 – Catherine G. Wolf, American psychologist and computer scientist
1948 – Bülent Arınç, Turkish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
1948 – Marianne Elliott, Northern Irish historian, author, and academic
1948 – Klaus Meine, German rock singer-songwriter
1949 – Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist
1949 – Barry Windsor-Smith, English painter and illustrator
1950 – Robby Steinhardt, American rock violinist and singer
1951 – Bob Gale, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1952 – Jeffrey Bewkes, American businessman
1952 – Nick Fotiu, American ice hockey player and coach
1952 – David Jenkins, Trinidadian-Scottish runner
1952 – Al Sarrantonio, American author and publisher
1952 – Gordon H. Smith, American businessman and politician
1953 – Eve Ensler, American playwright and producer
1953 – Daniel Passarella, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
1953 – Stan Sakai, Japanese-American author and illustrator
1953 – Gaetano Scirea, Italian footballer (d. 1989)
1954 – John Beck, English footballer, midfielder and manager
1954 – Murali, Indian actor, producer, and politician (d. 2009)
1955 – Alistair Burt, English lawyer and politician
1956 – Stavros Arnaoutakis, Greek politician
1956 – Larry Hogan, American politician, 62nd Governor of Maryland
1956 – David P. Sartor, American composer and conductor
1957 – Alastair Campbell, English journalist and author
1957 – Edward Lee, American author
1957 – Robert Picard, Canadian ice hockey player
1958 – Dorothy Straight, American children’s author
1958 – Paul Weller, English singer, songwriter and musician
1959 – Julian Clary, English comedian, actor, and author
1959 – Manolis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician
1959 – Rick Wamsley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Amy Klobuchar, American lawyer and politician
1960 – Anthea Turner, English journalist and television host
1962 – Ric Nattress, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1963 – George Hickenlooper, American director and producer (d. 2010)
1963 – Mike Myers, Canadian-American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – Ludovic Orban, Romanian engineer, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Romania
1964 – David Shaw, Canadian-American ice hockey player
1965 – Yahya Jammeh, Gambian colonel and politician, President of the Gambia
1967 – Luc Nilis, Belgian footballer and manager
1967 – Mark Rosewater, Head designer of Magic: the Gathering
1968 – Kendall Gill, American basketball player, boxer, and sportscaster
1969 – Glen Drover, Canadian guitarist and songwriter
1969 – Anne Heche, American actress
1969 – Karen Bernstein, Canadian voice actress
1969 – Stacy London, American journalist and author
1970 – Robert Croft, Welsh-English cricketer and sportscaster
1970 – Jamie Kennedy, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Stefano Baldini, Italian runner
1971 – Marco Cappato, Italian politician
1972 – Karan Johar, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1972 – Octavia Spencer, American actress and author
1973 – Daz Dillinger, American rapper and producer
1973 – Molly Sims, American model and actress
1974 – Dougie Freedman, Scottish footballer and manager
1974 – Frank Klepacki, American drummer and composer
1974 – Miguel Tejada, Dominican-American baseball player
1975 – Blaise Nkufo, Congolese-Swiss footballer
1976 – Stefan Holm, Swedish high jumper
1976 – Erki Pütsep, Estonian cyclist
1976 – Ethan Suplee, American actor
1976 – Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
1976 – Miguel Zepeda, Mexican footballer
1977 – Andre Anis, Estonian footballer
1977 – Alberto Del Rio, Mexican-American mixed martial artist and wrestler
1978 – Adam Gontier, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Brian Urlacher, American football player
1979 – Carlos Bocanegra, American international soccer player, defender and Sports Executive
1979 – Sayed Moawad, Egyptian footballer
1979 – Caroline Ouellette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1979 – Sam Sodje, English-Nigerian footballer
1979 – Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player
1979 – Chris Young, American baseball pitcher
1980 – David Navarro, Spanish footballer
1981 – Michalis Pelekanos, Greek basketball player
1981 – Matt Utai, New Zealand rugby league player
1982 – Adam Boyd, English footballer
1982 – Daniel Braaten, Norwegian footballer
1982 – Ryan Gallant, American skateboarder
1982 – Roger Guerreiro, Polish footballer
1982 – Justin Hodges, Australian rugby league player
1982 – Ezekiel Kemboi, Kenyan runner
1982 – Jason Kubel, American baseball player
1982 – Stacey Pensgen, American figure skater and meteorologist
1982 – Luke Webster, Australian footballer
1984 – Luke Ball, Australian footballer
1984 – Kyle Brodziak, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – A. J. Foyt IV, American race car driver
1984 – Shawne Merriman, American football player
1985 – Luciana Abreu, Portuguese singer and actress
1985 – Demba Ba, French footballer
1985 – Gert Kams, Estonian footballer
1985 – Roman Reigns, American football player and wrestler
1986 – Edewin Fanini, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Yoan Gouffran, French footballer
1986 – Takahiro Hōjō, Japanese actor and musician
1986 – Geraint Thomas, Welsh cyclist
1987 – Timothy Derijck, Belgian footballer
1987 – Yves De Winter, Belgian footballer
1987 – Moritz Stehling, German footballer
1987 – Kamil Stoch, Polish ski jumper
1988 – Dávid Škutka, Slovak footballer
1988 – Cameron van der Burgh, South African swimmer
1990 – Bo Dallas, American wrestler
1990 – Nikita Filatov, Russian ice hockey player
1993 – James Porter, English cricketer
1994 – Matt Murray, Canadian ice hockey player
1994 – Aly Raisman, American gymnast
1995 – Kagiso Rabada, South African cricketer
1996 – David Pastrňák, Czech ice hockey player

Deaths on May 25

675 – Li Hong, Chinese prince (b. 652)
709 – Aldhelm, English-Latin bishop, poet, and scholar (b. 639)
803 – Higbald of Lindisfarne, English bishop
912 – Xue Yiju, chancellor of Later Liang
916 – Flann Sinna, king of Meath
939 – Yao Yanzhang, general of Chu
986 – Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, Muslim astronomer (b. 903)
992 – Mieszko I of Poland (b. 935)
1085 – Pope Gregory VII (b. 1020)
1261 – Pope Alexander IV (b. 1185)
1452 – John Stafford, English archbishop and politician
1555 – Gemma Frisius, Dutch physician, mathematician, and cartographer (b. 1508)
1555 – Henry II of Navarre (b. 1503)
1595 – Valens Acidalius, German poet and critic (b. 1567)
1595 – Philip Neri, Italian priest and saint (b. 1515)
1607 – Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Italian Carmelite nun and mystic (b. 1566)
1632 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1572)
1667 – Gustaf Bonde, Finnish-Swedish politician, 5th Lord High Treasurer of Sweden (b. 1620)
1681 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1600)
1741 – Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German bishop and theologian (b. 1660)
1786 – Peter III of Portugal (b. 1717)
1789 – Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist and physician (b. 1751)
1797 – John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (b. 1719)
1805 – William Paley, English priest and philosopher (b. 1743)
1849 – Benjamin D’Urban, English general and politician, Governor of British Guiana (b. 1777)
1895 – Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman sociologist, historian, and jurist (b. 1822)
1899 – Rosa Bonheur, French painter and sculptor (b. 1822)
1912 – Austin Lane Crothers, American educator and politician, 46th Governor of Maryland (b. 1860)
1917 – Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet and critic (b. 1891)
1919 – Eliza Pollock, American archer (b. 1840)
1919 – Madam C. J. Walker, American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company (b. 1867)
1924 – Lyubov Popova, Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1889)
1926 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian journalist and politician (b. 1879)
1927 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1876)
1930 – Randall Davidson, Scottish-English archbishop (b. 1848)
1934 – Gustav Holst, English trombonist, composer, and educator (b. 1874)
1937 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American-French painter and illustrator (b. 1859)
1939 – Frank Watson Dyson, English astronomer and academic (b. 1868)
1942 – Emanuel Feuermann, Ukrainian-American cellist and educator (b. 1902)
1943 – Nils von Dardel, Swedish painter (b. 1888)
1948 – Witold Pilecki, Polish officer and Resistance leader (b. 1901)
1951 – Paula von Preradović, Croatian poet and author (b. 1887)
1954 – Robert Capa, Hungarian photographer and journalist (b. 1913)
1957 – Leo Goodwin, American swimmer, diver, and water polo player (b. 1883)
1968 – Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (b. 1881)
1970 – Tom Patey, Scottish mountaineer and author (b. 1932)
1977 – Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian author (b. 1904)
1979 – Itzhak Bentov, Czech-Israeli engineer, mystic, and author (b. 1923)
1979 – Amédée Gordini, Italian-born French racing driver and sports car manufacturer (b. 1899)
1981 – Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (b. 1912)
1981 – Fredric Warburg, English author and publisher (b. 1898)
1983 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1904)
1983 – Idris of Libya (b. 1889)
1983 – Jack Stewart, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1917)
1986 – Chester Bowles, American journalist and politician, 22nd Under Secretary of State (b. 1901)
1990 – Vic Tayback, American actor (b. 1930)
1995 – Élie Bayol, French racing driver (b. 1914)
1995 – Krešimir Ćosić, Croatian basketball player and coach, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer 1996 (b. 1948)
1995 – Dany Robin, French actress (b. 1927)
1996 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian and author (b. 1929)
2003 – Sloan Wilson, American author and poet (b. 1920)
2004 – Roger Williams Straus, Jr., American publisher, co-founded Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing Company (b. 1917)
2005 – Sunil Dutt, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (b. 1929)
2005 – Robert Jankel, English businessman, founded Panther Westwinds (b. 1938)
2005 – Graham Kennedy, Australian television host and actor (b. 1934)
2005 – Ismail Merchant, Indian-born film producer and director (b. 1936)
2005 – Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter and illustrator (b. 1909)
2007 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor, comedian, and director (b. 1931)
2008 – J. R. Simplot, American businessman, founded Simplot (b. 1909)
2009 – Haakon Lie, Norwegian politician (b. 1905)
2010 – Alexander Belostenny, Ukrainian basketball player (b. 1959)
2010 – Michael H. Jordan, American businessman (b. 1936)
2010 – Alan Hickinbotham, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1925)
2010 – Gabriel Vargas, Mexican painter and illustrator (b. 1915)
2010 – Jarvis Williams, American football player and coach (b. 1965)
2011 – Terry Jenner, Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1944)
2012 – William Hanley, American author and screenwriter (b. 1931)
2012 – Peter D. Sieruta, American author and critic (b. 1958)
2012 – Lou Watson, American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
2013 – Mahendra Karma, Indian politician (b. 1950)
2013 – Nand Kumar Patel, Indian politician (b. 1953)
2014 – David Allen, English cricketer (b. 1935)
2014 – Marcel Côté, Canadian economist and politician (b. 1942)
2014 – Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and politician, 1st President of Poland (b. 1923)
2014 – Herb Jeffries, American singer and actor (b. 1913)
2014 – Toaripi Lauti, Tuvaluan educator and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Tuvalu (b. 1928)
2014 – Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (b. 1954)
2015 – George Braden, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of the Northwest Territories (b. 1949)
2015 – Robert Lebel, Canadian bishop (b. 1924)
2019 – Claus von Bülow, Danish-British socialite (b.1926)

Holidays and observances on May 25

Africa Day (African Union)
African Liberation Day (African Union, Rastafari)
Christian feast day:
- Aldhelm
- Bede
- Canius
- Dionysius of Milan
- Dúnchad mac Cinn Fáelad
- Gerard of Lunel
- Madeleine Sophie Barat
- Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
- Maximus (Mauxe) of Évreux
- Pope Boniface IV
- Pope Gregory VII
- Pope Urban I
- Zenobius of Florence
- May 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Arbor Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Venezuela)
Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Hungary)
Earliest day on which Holiday of Saint Etchmiadzin can fall, while July 27 is the latest; celebrated on the 64th day after Easter. (Armenia)
Earliest day on which Memorial Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Monday in May. (United States)
Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Algeria, Dominican Republic, France (First Sunday of June, if Pentecost occurs on this day), Haiti, Mauritius, Morocco, Sweden, Tunisia)
Earliest day on which Turkmen Carpet Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Turkmenistan)
First National Government / National Day (Argentina)
Geek Pride Day (geek culture)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Jordan from the United Kingdom in 1946.
Last bell (Russia, post-Soviet countries)
Liberation Day (Lebanon)
International Missing Children’s Day and its related observances:
- National Missing Children’s Day (United States),
National Tap Dance Day (United States)
Towel Day in honour of the work of the writer Douglas Adams

May 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.
1536 – George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason.
1536 – Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s marriage is annulled.
1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
1642 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
1673 – Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
1792 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed under the Buttonwood Agreement.
1805 – Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.
1809 – Emperor Napoleon I orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
1814 – Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
1814 – The Constitution of Norway is signed and Crown Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.
1859 – Members of the Melbourne Football Club codified the first rules of Australian rules football.
1863 – Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.
1865 – The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.
1875 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby with the jockey Oliver Lewis (2:37.75)
1900 – Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
1900 – The children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, is first published in the United States. The first copy is given to the author’s sister.
1902 – Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
1914 – The Protocol of Corfu is signed, recognising full autonomy to Northern Epirus under nominal Albanian sovereignty.
1915 – The last British Liberal Party government (led by H. H. Asquith) falls.
1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
1939 – The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States’ first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.
1940 – World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
1943 – World War II: Dambuster Raids commence by No. 617 Squadron RAF.
1954 – The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, outlawing racial segregation in public schools.
1967 – Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
1969 – Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
1973 – Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
1974 – The Troubles: Thirty-three civilians are killed and 300 injured when the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) detonates four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Republic of Ireland.
1974 – Police in Los Angeles raid the Symbionese Liberation Army’s headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
1977 – Nolan Bushnell opened the first Chuck E. Cheese’s in San Jose, California.
1980 – General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
1980 – On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in Chuschi (a town in Ayacucho), starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
1983 – The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world’s largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds , in response to the Appalachian Observer’s Freedom of Information Act request.
1983 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
1984 – Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”, sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
1987 – Iran–Iraq War: An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
1990 – The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.
1992 – Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially confirmed deaths, hundreds of injuries, many disappearances, and more than 3,500 arrests.
1994 – Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.
1995 – Shawn Nelson steals an M60 tank from the California Army National Guard Armory in San Diego and proceeds to go on a rampage.
1997 – Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2000 – Arsenal and Galatasaray fans clash in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots in Copenhagen
2004 – The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. are performed in the state of Massachusetts.
2006 – The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.
2007 – Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.
2014 – A plane crash in northern Laos kills 17 people.

Births on May 17

1155 – Jien, Japanese monk, poet, and historian (d. 1225)
1443 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland (d. 1460)
1451 – Engelbert II of Nassau, Count of Nassau-Vianden and Lord of Breda (1475–1504) (d. 1504)
1490 – Albert, Duke of Prussia, last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (d. 1568)
1500 – Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (d. 1540)
1551 – Martin Delrio, Belgian occultist and theologian (d. 1601)
1568 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Swedish princess (d. 1625)
1610 – Stefano della Bella, Italian engraver and etcher (d. 1664)
1628 – Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria (d. 1662)
1636 – Edward Colman, English Catholic courtier under Charles II (d. 1678)
1682 – Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (d. 1722)
1698 – Gio Nicola Buhagiar, Maltese painter (d. 1752)
1706 – Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (d. 1780)
1718 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1778)
1732 – Francesco Pasquale Ricci, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1817)
1743 – Seth Warner, American colonel (d. 1784)
1749 – Edward Jenner, English physician and microbiologist (d. 1823)
1758 – Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet, English politician (d. 1839)
1768 – Caroline of Brunswick (d. 1821)
1768 – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1854)
1794 – Anna Brownell Jameson, Irish-English author (d. 1860)
1818 – Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (d. 1899)
1821 – Sebastian Kneipp, German priest and therapist (d. 1897)
1835 – Thomas McIlwraith, Scottish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Queensland (d. 1900)
1836 – Virginie Loveling, Belgian author and poet (d. 1923)
1836 – Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian-American chess player (d. 1900)
1845 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan priest and poet (d. 1902)
1860 – Martin Kukučín, Slovak author and playwright (d. 1928)
1860 – Charlotte Barnum, American mathematician and social activist (d. 1934)
1863 – Léon Gérin, Canadian lawyer, sociologist, and civil servant (d. 1951)
1864 – Louis Richardet, Swiss target shooter (d. 1923)
1864 – Ante Trumbić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 27th Mayor of Split (d. 1938)
1866 – Erik Satie, French pianist and composer (d. 1925)
1868 – Horace Elgin Dodge, American businessman, co-founded Dodge (d. 1920)
1868 – Panagis Tsaldaris, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936)
1870 – Newton Moore, Australian politician, 8th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1936)
1873 – Henri Barbusse, French author and journalist (d. 1935)
1873 – Dorothy Richardson, English author and journalist (d. 1957)
1874 – George Sheldon, American diver (d. 1907)
1882 – Karl Burman, Estonian architect and painter (d. 1965)
1886 – Alfonso XIII of Spain, Spanish monarch (d. 1941)
1888 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (d. 1965)
1889 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (d. 1946)
1889 – Alfonso Reyes, Mexican author (d. 1959)
1891 – Napoleon Zervas, Greek general and politician (d. 1957)
1893 – Frederick McKinley Jones, American inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1961)
1895 – Saul Adler, Belarusian-English captain and parasitologist (d. 1966)
1895 – Reinhold Saulmann, Estonian sprinter and bandy player (d. 1936)
1897 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
1898 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (d. 1992)
1899 – Carmen de Icaza, Spanish writer (d. 1979)
1901 – Werner Egk, German pianist and composer (d. 1983)
1903 – Cool Papa Bell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
1904 – Marie-Anne Desmarest, French author (d. 1973)
1906 – Zinka Milanov, Croatian-American soprano and educator (d. 1989)
1909 – Julius Sumner Miller, American physicist and academic (d. 1987)
1911 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-American model (d. 1992)
1911 – Maureen O’Sullivan, Irish-American actress (d. 1998)
1912 – Archibald Cox, American lawyer and politician, 31st United States Solicitor General (d. 2004)
1912 – Ace Parker, American baseball and football player (d. 2013)
1912 – Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner, American inventor (d. 2006)
1913 – Hans Ruesch, Swiss racing driver and author (d. 2007)
1914 – Robert N. Thompson, American-Canadian chiropractor and politician (d. 1997)
1918 – Joan Benham, English actress (d. 1981)
1918 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish operatic soprano (d. 2005)
1919 – Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1919 – Merle Miller, American author and screenwriter (d. 1986)
1919 – Gustav Naan, Russian-Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1994)
1920 – Harry Männil, Estonian-Venezuelan businessman, co-founded ACO Group (d. 2010)
1921 – Dennis Brain, English composer (d. 1957)
1921 – Bob Merrill, American composer and screenwriter (d. 1998)
1922 – Jean Rédélé, French racing driver, founded Alpine (d. 2007)
1923 – Michael Beetham, English commander and pilot (d. 2015)
1924 – Roy Bentley, English footballer (d. 2018)
1924 – Francis Tombs, Baron Tombs, English engineer and politician (d. 2020)
1926 – David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, English-Scottish soldier and politician
1926 – Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1926 – Franz Sondheimer, German-English chemist and academic (d. 1981)
1929 – Branko Zebec, Yugoslav football player and coach (d. 1988)
1931 – Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader, founded Heaven’s Gate (d. 1997)
1931 – Dewey Redman, American saxophonist (d. 2006)
1932 – Rodric Braithwaite, English soldier and diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia
1932 – Peter Burge, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
1933 – Yelena Gorchakova, Russian javelin thrower (d. 2002)
1934 – Friedrich-Wilhelm Kiel, German educator and politician
1934 – Earl Morrall, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
1934 – Ronald Wayne, American computer scientist, co-founded Apple Inc.
1935 – Dennis Potter, English voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and director (d. 2010)
1937 – Hazel R. O’Leary, American lawyer and politician, 7th United States Secretary of Energy
1938 – Jason Bernard, American actor (d. 1996)
1938 – Marcia Freedman, Israeli activist
1938 – Pervis Jackson, American R&B bass singer (d. 2008)
1939 – Hugh Dykes, Baron Dykes, English politician
1939 – Gary Paulsen, American author
1940 – Alan Kay, American computer scientist and academic
1940 – Reynato Puno, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 22nd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
1941 – David Cope, American composer and author
1941 – Ben Nelson, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Nebraska
1942 – Taj Mahal, American blues singer-songwriter and musician
1943 – Sirajuddin of Perlis, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
1943 – Johnny Warren, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2004)
1944 – Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2014)
1945 – B.S. Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer
1945 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player and coach
1946 – Udo Lindenberg, German singer-songwriter and drummer
1947 – Stephen Platten, English bishop
1948 – Dick Gaughan, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1949 – Bill Bruford, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
1949 – Keith, American pop singer
1950 – Howard Ashman, American playwright and composer (d. 1991)
1950 – Keith Bradley, Baron Bradley, English accountant and politician
1950 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian economist and politician, 2nd President of Slovenia (d. 2008)
1950 – Alan Johnson, English politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
1950 – Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Russian journalist and politician (d. 2014)
1951 – Simon Hughes, English lawyer and politician
1952 – Howard Hampton, Canadian lawyer and politician
1954 – Michael Roberts, South African-English jockey
1955 – Bill Paxton, American actor and director (d. 2017)
1955 – David Townsend, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
1956 – Annise Parker, American politician
1956 – Bob Saget, American comedian, actor, and television host
1956 – Dave Sim, Canadian cartoonist and author
1957 – Pascual Pérez, Dominican baseball player (d. 2012)
1958 – Paul Di’Anno, English rock singer-songwriter
1959 – Marcelo Loffreda, Argentine rugby player and coach
1960 – Lou DiBella, American boxing promoter, actor, and producer
1960 – Simon Fuller, English talent manager and producer, created the Idols series
1961 – Enya, Irish singer-songwriter and producer
1961 – Jamil Azzaoui, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1961 – Justin King, English businessman
1962 – Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish journalist and author
1962 – Andrew Farrar, Australian rugby league player and coach
1962 – Craig Ferguson, Scottish-American comedian, actor, and talk show host
1962 – Jane Moore, English journalist and author
1962 – Rosalind Picard, American computer scientist and engineer, co-founded Affectiva
1963 – Jon Koncak, American basketball player
1963 – Page McConnell, American keyboard player and songwriter
1964 – Stratos Apostolakis, Greek footballer and coach
1964 – Mauro Martini, Italian race car driver
1964 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (d. 1999)
1965 – Trent Reznor, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer
1965 – Jeremy Vine, English journalist and author
1966 – Qusay Hussein, Iraqi soldier and politician (d. 2003)
1966 – Mark Kratzmann, Australian tennis player and coach
1966 – Danny Manning, American basketball player and coach
1966 – Gilles Quénéhervé, French sprinter
1967 – Nancy Benoit, American professional wrestling valet and model (d. 2007)
1967 – Mohamed Nasheed, Maldivian lawyer and politician 4th President of the Maldives
1967 – Patrick Ortlieb, Austrian skier
1968 – Dave Abbruzzese, American rock drummer and songwriter
1969 – Keith Hill, English footballer and manager
1970 – Hubert Davis, American basketball player and coach
1970 – Jordan Knight, American singer-songwriter and actor
1970 – Matt Lindland, American mixed martial artist, wrestler, and politician
1970 – Jodie Rogers, Australian diver
1970 – René Vilbre, Estonian director and screenwriter
1971 – Mark Connors, Australian rugby player
1971 – Shaun Hart, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster
1971 – Stella Jongmans, Dutch athlete
1971 – Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Dutch royal
1971 – Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island
1972 – Barry Hayles, English born Jamaican international footballer
1973 – Josh Homme, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1974 – Andrea Corr, Irish singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
1974 – Wiki González, Venezuelan baseball player
1974 – Eddie Lewis, American international soccer player
1975 – Marcelinho Paraíba, Brazilian footballer
1975 – Alex Wright, German wrestler
1976 – Kandi Burruss, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1976 – Shayne Dunley, Australian rugby league player
1976 – José Guillén, Dominican-American baseball player
1976 – Daniel Komen, Kenyan runner
1976 – Wang Leehom, American-Taiwanese singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
1976 – Mayte Martínez, Spanish runner
1976 – Kirsten Vlieghuis, Dutch freestyle swimmer
1978 – John Foster, American baseball player and coach
1978 – Paddy Kenny, English footballer
1978 – Carlos Peña, Dominican-American baseball player
1978 – Magdalena Zděnovcová, Czech tennis player
1979 – David Jarolím, Czech footballer
1979 – Wayne Thomas, English footballer
1980 – Davor Džalto, Bosnian historian and philosopher
1980 – Fredrik Kessiakoff, Swedish cyclist
1980 – Alistair Overeem, Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer
1980 – Ariën van Weesenbeek, Dutch drummer
1981 – Beñat Albizuri, Spanish cyclist
1981 – Leon Osman, English footballer
1981 – Lim Jeong-hee, South Korean singer
1981 – Chris Skidmore, English historian and politician
1981 – Giannis Taralidis, Greek footballer
1982 – Matt Cassel, American football player
1982 – Dan Hardy, English mixed martial artist
1982 – Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
1982 – Tony Parker, French-American basketball player
1982 – Chloe Smith, English politician
1983 – Channing Frye, American basketball player
1983 – Chris Henry, American football player (d. 2009)
1983 – Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer
1983 – Kevin Kingston, Australian rugby league player
1983 – Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
1984 – Christian Bolaños, Costa Rican footballer
1984 – Christine Ohuruogu, English runner
1984 – Christine Robinson, Canadian water polo player
1984 – Passenger, English singer-songwriter and musician
1985 – Teófilo Gutiérrez, Colombian footballer
1985 – Derek Hough, American actor, singer, and dancer
1985 – Christine Nesbitt, Canadian speed skater
1985 – Todd Redmond, American baseball player
1985 – Matt Ryan, American football player
1986 – Marius Činikas, Lithuanian footballer
1986 – Timo Simonlatser, Estonian skier
1986 – Jodie Taylor, English footballer
1987 – Edvald Boasson Hagen, Norwegian cyclist
1987 – Aleandro Rosi, Italian footballer
1988 – Nikki Reed, American actress, singer, and screenwriter
1988 – Jennison Myrie-Williams, English footballer
1989 – Mose Masoe, New Zealand rugby league player
1989 – Rain Raadik, Estonian basketball player
1989 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
1990 – Fabian Giefer, German footballer
1990 – Charlie Gubb, New Zealand rugby league player
1990 – Katrina Hart, English runner
1990 – Guido Pella, Argentine tennis player
1991 – Johanna Konta, Australian-English tennis player
1991 – Adil Omar, Pakistani rapper and music producer
1991 – Abigail Raye, Canadian field hockey player

Deaths on May 17

528 – Empress Dowager Hu of Northern Wei
528 – Yuan Yong, imperial prince of Northern Wei
528 – Yuan Zhao, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 526)
896 – Liu Jianfeng, Chinese warlord
924 – Li Maozhen, Chinese warlord and king (b. 856)
946 – Al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 893)
1299 – Daumantas of Pskov, Lithuanian prince (b. c. 1240)
1336 – Go-Fushimi, emperor of Japan (b. 1288)
1365 – Louis II, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1328)
1395 – Konstantin Dejanović/Constantine Dragaš, Serbian ruler (b. 1355)
1464 – Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English politician (b. 1427)
1510 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)
1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, Welsh politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1478)
1536 – George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford, English courtier and diplomat, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1504)
1536 – William Brereton, English courtier (b. 1487)
1536 – Henry Norris, English courtier (b. 1482)
1546 – Philipp von Hutten, German explorer (b. 1511)
1551 – Shin Saimdang, South Korean poet and calligraphist (b. 1504)
1558 – Francisco de Sá de Miranda, Portuguese poet (b. 1485)
1575 – Matthew Parker, English archbishop and academic (b. 1504)
1606 – False Dmitriy I, pretender to the Russian throne (b. 1582)
1607 – Anna d’Este, French princess (b. 1531)
1626 – Joan Pau Pujol, Catalan organist and composer (b. 1570)
1643 – Giovanni Picchi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1571)
1727 – Catherine I of Russia (b. 1684)
1729 – Samuel Clarke, English clergyman and philosopher (b. 1675)
1765 – Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (b. 1713)
1797 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French playwright and composer (b. 1719)
1801 – William Heberden, English physician and scholar (b. 1710)
1807 – John Gunby, American general (b. 1745)
1809 – Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (b. 1722)
1822 – Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French general and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of France (b. 1766)
1829 – John Jay, American politician and diplomat, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745)
1838 – René Caillié, French explorer and author (b. 1799)
1838 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French bishop and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1754)
1839 – Archibald Alison, Scottish priest and author (b. 1757)
1868 – Kondō Isami, Japanese commander (b. 1834)
1875 – John C. Breckinridge, American lawyer and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States, Confederate States general (b. 1821)
1879 – Asa Packer, American businessman, founded Lehigh University (b. 1805)
1880 – Ziya Pasha, Greek author and translator (b. 1826)
1886 – John Deere, American blacksmith and businessman, founded the Deere & Company (b. 1804)
1888 – Giacomo Zanella, Italian priest and poet (b. 1820)
1911 – Frederick August Otto Schwarz, German-American businessman, founded FAO Schwarz (b. 1836)
1916 – Boris Borisovich Golitsyn, Russian physicist and seismologist (b. 1862)
1917 – Clara Ayres, American nurse (b. 1880)
1917 – Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (b. 1829)
1919 – Guido von List, Austrian-German journalist, author, and poet (b. 1848)
1921 – Karl Mantzius, Danish actor and director (b. 1860)
1922 – Dorothy Levitt, English racing driver and journalist (b. 1882)
1927 – Harold Geiger, American pilot and lieutenant (b. 1884)
1934 – Cass Gilbert, American architect (b. 1859)
1935 – Paul Dukas, French composer, critic, and educator (b. 1865)
1936 – Panagis Tsaldaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 124th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1868)
1938 – Jakob Ehrlich, Czech-Austrian academic and politician (b. 1877)
1943 – Johanna Elberskirchen, German author and activist (b. 1864)
1947 – George Forbes, New Zealand farmer and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
1951 – William Birdwood, Anglo-Indian field marshal (b. 1865)
1960 – Jules Supervielle, Uruguayan-French poet and author (b. 1884)
1963 – John Wilce, American football player, coach, and physician (b. 1888)
1964 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-American psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1895)
1974 – Ernest Nash, German-American photographer and scholar (b. 1898)
1977 – Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral and pilot (b. 1892)
1980 – Gündüz Kılıç, Turkish football player and coach (b. 1918)
1985 – Abe Burrows, American director, composer, and author (b. 1910)
1987 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, sociologist, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
1992 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (b. 1903)
1995 – Toe Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1912)
1996 – Kevin Gilbert, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1966)
1999 – Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian trumpet player and producer (b. 1949)
1999 – Lembit Oll, Estonian chess Grandmaster (b. 1966)
2000 – Donald Coggan, English archbishop (b. 1909)
2001 – Jacques-Louis Lions, French mathematician (b. 1928)
2001 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (b. 1908)
2002 – László Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1927)
2002 – Aşık Mahzuni Şerif, Turkish poet and composer (b. 1940)
2004 – Jørgen Nash, Danish poet and painter (b. 1920)
2004 – Tony Randall, American actor (b. 1920)
2004 – Ezzedine Salim, Iraqi politician (b. 1943)
2005 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (b. 1934)
2006 – Cy Feuer, American director, producer, and composer (b. 1911)
2007 – Lloyd Alexander, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
2007 – T. K. Doraiswamy, Indian poet and author (b. 1921)
2009 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan journalist, author, and poet (b. 1920)
2009 – Jung Seung-hye, South Korean journalist and producer (b. 1965)
2010 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1924)
2010 – Walasse Ting, Chinese-American painter and poet (b. 1929)
2011 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1936)
2012 – Gideon Ezra, Israeli geographer and politician, Israeli Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (b. 1937)
2012 – Patrick Mafisango, Congolese-Rwandan footballer (b. 1980)
2012 – Donna Summer, American singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
2013 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (b. 1973)
2013 – Peter Schulz, German politician, Mayor of Hamburg (b. 1930)
2013 – Ken Venturi, American golfer and sportscaster (b. 1931)
2013 – Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentine general and politician, 42nd President of Argentina (b. 1925)
2014 – Gerald Edelman, American biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
2014 – C. P. Krishnan Nair, Indian businessman, founded The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts (b. 1922)
2014 – Douangchay Phichit, Laotian politician (b. 1944)
2014 – Thongbanh Sengaphone, Laotian politician (b. 1953)
2017 – Todor Veselinović, Serbian football player and manager (b. 1930)
2019 – Herman Wouk, American author (b. 1915)
2020 – Lucky Peterson, American blues singer, keyboardist and guitarist (b. 1964)

Holidays and observances on May 17

Birthday of the Raja (Perlis)
Christian feast day:
- Giulia Salzano
- Paschal Baylon
- William Hobart Hare (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Restituta
- May 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Children’s Day (Norway)
Constitution Day (Nauru)
Norwegian Constitution Day
The earliest date on which Trinity Sunday can fall, while June 20 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. (Western Christianity)
Feast of ‘Aẓamat (Bahá’í Faith, day shifts with March Equinox, see List of observances set by the Baháʼí calendar)
Galician Literature Day or Día das Letras Galegas (Galicia)
National Day Against Homophobia (Canada)
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia also known as IDAHOT
Liberation Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Navy Day (Argentina)
World Hypertension Day
World Information Society Day (International)

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

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

This day marks the approximate midpoint of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the March equinox).

May 5 in History

553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins
1215 – Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.
1260 – Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
1494 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain.
1640 – King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
1654 – Cromwell’s Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh.
1672 – In preparation for the Franco-Dutch War, Louis XIV of France personally inspects his troops at Charleroi in one of the most magnificent displays of military power in the seventeenth century.
1762 – Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg.
1789 – In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614.
1809 – Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
1809 – The Swiss canton of Aargau allows citizenship to Jews.
1811 – Peninsular War: In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, the British-Portuguese Army repels an attempt by the French Army of Portugal to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.
1821 – Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
1835 – The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi sets sail from Genoa, leading the expedition of the Thousand to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and giving birth to the Kingdom of Italy.
1862 – Cinco de Mayo: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County.
1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate District of the Gulf surrenders about 4,000 men at Citronelle, Alabama.
1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate government was declared dissolved at Washington, Georgia.
1866 – Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.
1877 – American Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
1886 – The Bay View massacre: A militia fires into a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, killing seven.
1891 – The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
1904 – Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
1905 – The trial in the Stratton Brothers case begins in London, England; it marks the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to gain a conviction for murder.
1912 – Pravda, the “voice” of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publication in Saint Petersburg.
1920 – Authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.
1925 – Scopes Trial: Serving of an arrest warrant on John T. Scopes for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
1927 – To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is first published.
1936 – Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
1940 – World War II: Norwegian refugees form a government-in-exile in London.
1940 – World War II: Norwegian Campaign: Norwegian squads in Hegra Fortress and Vinjesvingen capitulate to German forces after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms.
1941 – Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots’ Victory Day.
1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath becomes effective, encompassing all German armed forces opposing the 21st Army Group in northwestern Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
1945 – World War II: Dönitz gives Löhr permission to seek an armistice with the Western Allies to preserve a communist free Austria and recognising first, from a German standpoint, the separation of Austria from Germany undoing the Anschluss.
1945 – World War II: The Prague uprising begins as an attempt by the Czech resistance to free the city from German occupation.
1945 – World War II: A Fu-Go balloon bomb launched by the Japanese Army kills six people near Bly, Oregon.
1945 – World War II: Battle of Castle Itter, the only battle in which American and German troops fought cooperatively.
1946 – The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo with twenty-eight Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
1950 – Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King of Thailand.
1955 – The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into effect.
1961 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight.
1964 – The Council of Europe declares May 5 as Europe Day.
1972 – Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy.
1973 – Secretariat wins the 1973 Kentucky Derby in 1:59²⁄₅, an as-yet unbeaten record.
1980 – Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege.
1981 – Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27.
1985 – Ronald Reagan visits the military cemetery at Bitburg and the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he makes a speech.
1987 – Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America
1991 – A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.
1992 – Armand Césari Stadium disaster in Bastia (Corsica): Eighteen people are killed and 2,300 are injured when one of the terraces collapses before a football match between SC Bastia and Olympique de Marseille.
1993 – Three eight-year-old boys are murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, Ultimately leading to the conviction of the West Memphis Three.
1994 – The signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
1994 – American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism.
1998 – A Peruvian Air Force Boeing 737 operating for Occidental Petroleum crashes on approach to Alférez FAP Alfredo Vladimir Sara Bauer Airport in Andoas, Peru, killing 75 people.
2006 – The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army.
2007 – Kenya Airways Flight 507 crashes after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing all 114 aboard, making it the deadliest aircraft disaster in Cameroon.
2010 – Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek government-debt crisis.
2014 – Eleven people are missing after a Chinese cargo ship collides with a Marshall Islands registered container ship off the coast of Hong Kong.
2014 – Twenty-two people die after two boats carrying refugees collide in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Greece.
2019 – A Russian jet plane burst into flames while attempting an emergency landing at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow killing at least 41 people.
2020 – The National Telecommunications Commission issued a Cease and desist order to ABS-CBN Corporation to stop the operation of it’s free TV and radio stations.

Births on May 5

1210 – Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1279)
1282 – Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena (d. 1322)
1310 – Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wrocław (d. 1376)
1352 – Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (d. 1410)
1479 – Guru Amar Das, Indian 3rd Sikh Guru (d. 1574)
1504 – Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (d. 1579)
1530 – Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, French nobleman (d. 1574)
1542 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (d. 1623)
1582 – John Frederick, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1628)
1684 – Françoise Charlotte d’Aubigné, French wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles (d. 1739)
1747 – Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
1749 – Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, French pianist and composer (d. 1794)
1764 – Robert Craufurd, Scottish general and politician (d. 1812)
1800 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (d. 1864)
1813 – Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher and author (d. 1855)
1818 – Karl Marx, German philosopher, sociologist, and journalist (d. 1883)
1826 – Eugénie de Montijo, French wife of Napoleon III (d. 1920)
1830 – John Batterson Stetson, American businessman, founded the John B. Stetson Company (d. 1906)
1832 – Hubert Howe Bancroft, American ethnologist and historian (d. 1918)
1833 – Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer and academic (d. 1905)
1834 – Viktor Hartmann, Russian painter and architect (d. 1873)
1843 – William George Beers, Canadian dentist and patriot (d. 1900)
1846 – Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1916)
1858 – John L. Leal, American physician (d. 1914)
1859 – Charles B. Hanford, American Shakespearean actor (d. 1926)
1864 – Nellie Bly, American journalist and author (d. 1922)
1865 – Helen Maud Merrill, American litterateur and poet (d. 1943)
1866 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman (d. 1938)
1869 – Fabián de la Rosa, Filipino painter and educator (d. 1937)
1869 – Hans Pfitzner, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)
1874 – Thomas Bavin, New Zealand-Australian politician, 24th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1941)
1882 – Sylvia Pankhurst, English women’s suffrage movement leader and socialist activist (d. 1960)
1883 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English general and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (d. 1950)
1883 – Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler, American mathematician (d. 1966)
1884 – Chief Bender, American baseball player and coach (d. 1954)
1885 – Kingsley Fairbridge, South African-Australian scholar and politician (d. 1924)
1887 – Mervyn S. Bennion, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1941)
1889 – Herbie Taylor, South African cricketer and soldier (d. 1973)
1890 – Christopher Morley, American journalist and author (d. 1957)
1892 – Dorothy Garrod, British archaeologist (d. 1968)
1898 – Elsie Eaves, American engineer (d. 1983)
1898 – Blind Willie McTell, American Piedmont blues singer and guitar player (d. 1959)
1899 – Freeman Gosden, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1900 – Helen Redfield, American geneticist (d. 1988)
1903 – James Beard, American chef and author (d. 1985)
1905 – Floyd Gottfredson, American author and illustrator (d. 1986)
1906 – Charles Exbrayat, French author and screenwriter (d. 1989)
1907 – Daryna Dmytrivna Polotniuk, Bukovinian (Ukrainian) journalist and author (d. 1982)
1908 – Kurt Böhme, German opera singer (d. 1989)
1909 – Miklós Radnóti, Hungarian poet and author (d. 1944)
1910 – Leo Lionni, American author and illustrator (d. 1999)
1911 – Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1911 – Andor Lilienthal, Russian-Hungarian chess player (d. 2010)
1911 – Pritilata Waddedar, Indian educator and activist (d. 1932)
1913 – Duane Carter, American race car driver (d. 1993)
1914 – Tyrone Power, American actor (d. 1958)
1915 – Alice Faye, American actress and singer (d. 1998)
1916 – Zail Singh, Indian politician, 7th President of India (d. 1994)
1917 – Pío Leyva, Cuban singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
1918 – Egidio Galea, Maltese Roman Catholic priest (d. 2005)
1919 – Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, 169th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1999)
1921 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
1922 – Irene Gut Opdyke, Polish nurse and humanitarian (d. 2003)
1923 – William C. Campbell, American golfer (d. 2013)
1923 – James Gilbert, Scottish television producer and director (d. 2016)
1923 – Cathleen Synge Morawetz, Canadian mathematician (d. 2017)
1923 – Richard Wollheim, English philosopher and academic (d. 2003)
1925 – Leo Ryan, American soldier, educator, and politician (d. 1978)
1927 – Pat Carroll, American actress
1929 – Ilene Woods, American actress (d. 2010)
1930 – Hans Abramson, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1931 – Greg, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1999)
1932 – Stan Goldberg, American illustrator (d. 2014)
1932 – Bob Said, American race car driver and bobsled racer (d. 2002)
1933 – Igor Kashkarov, Russian high jumper
1933 – Collie Smith, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1959)
1934 – Henri Konan Bédié, Ivorian politician, 2nd President of Côte d’Ivoire
1934 – Victor Garland, Australian accountant and politician, 26th Australian Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
1935 – Eddie Linden, Scottish poet and magazine editor
1935 – Bernard Pivot, French journalist, talk show host, and producer
1935 – Robert Rehme, American film producer
1936 – Sandy Baron, American actor and comedian (d. 2001)
1936 – Patrick Gowers, English composer and educator (d. 2014)
1936 – Ervin Lázár, Hungarian author (d. 2006)
1937 – Delia Derbyshire, English musician, arranger and composer (d. 2001)
1938 – Michael Murphy, American actor
1938 – Barbara Wagner, Canadian figure skater and coach
1939 – Ray Gosling, English journalist, author, and activist (d. 2013)
1940 – Lance Henriksen, American actor
1940 – Michael Lindsay-Hogg, American director and producer
1941 – Alexander Ragulin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
1942 – István Bujtor, Hungarian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1942 – Jean Corston, Baroness Corston, English lawyer and politician
1942 – Hugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon, English politician (d. 2015)
1942 – Tammy Wynette, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
1943 – Michael Palin, English actor and screenwriter
1943 – Ignacio Ramonet, Spanish journalist and author
1944 – Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer
1944 – John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor and screenwriter
1944 – Roger Rees, Welsh-American actor and director (d. 2015)
1945 – Kurt Loder, American journalist, author, and critic
1945 – Dianne Willcocks, English sociologist and academic
1946 – Jim Kelly, American actor, athlete, and martial artist
1946 – Aydın Menderes, Turkish politician (d. 2011)
1948 – Bella van der Spiegel-Hage, Dutch cyclist
1948 – Bill Ward, English drummer and songwriter
1949 – Eppie Bleeker, Dutch speed skater
1950 – Rex Caldwell, American golfer
1950 – Maggie MacNeal, Dutch singer
1951 – Rudolf Finsterer, German rugby player and coach
1951 – Toomas Vilosius, Estonian physician and politician, 2nd Minister of Social Affairs of Estonia
1952 – Ed Lee, American politician and attorney, 43rd Mayor of San Francisco (d. 2017)
1952 – Jorge Llopart, Spanish race walker
1952 – Willem Witteveen, Dutch scholar and politician (d. 2014)
1955 – Jon Butcher, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and freelance multimedia producer
1956 – Steve Scott, American runner and coach
1957 – Richard E. Grant, Swazi-English actor, director, and screenwriter
1957 – Peter Howitt, English actor, director, and screenwriter
1957 – Aad van Mil, Dutch water polo player
1958 – Ron Arad, Israeli colonel and pilot (d. 1986)
1958 – Robert DiPierdomenico, Australian footballer and sportscaster
1958 – Vanessa Downing, Australian actress
1958 – Jack Wishna, American businessman, co-founded Rockcityclub (d. 2012)
1959 – Bobby Ellsworth, American singer and bass player
1959 – Ian McCulloch, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1959 – Steve Stevens, American guitarist and songwriter
1959 – Brian Williams, American journalist
1960 – Doug Hawkins, Australian footballer and sportscaster
1961 – Marg Downey, Australian actress
1961 – Hiroshi Hase, Japanese wrestler and politician
1961 – Rob Williams, American basketball player (d. 2014)
1962 – Kaoru Wada, Japanese composer and conductor
1963 – James LaBrie, Canadian singer-songwriter
1963 – Simon Rimmer, English chef and author
1963 – Scott Westerfeld, American author and composer
1964 – Jean-François Copé, French politician, French Minister of Budget
1964 – Heike Henkel, German high jumper
1964 – Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
1964 – Minami Takayama, Japanese voice actress and singer
1964 – Efrat Mishori, Israeli poet and filmmaker
1965 – Glenn Seton, Australian race car driver
1966 – Shawn Drover, Canadian drummer
1966 – Sergei Stanishev, Bulgarian politician, 46th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
1966 – Josh Weinstein, American screenwriter and producer
1967 – Adam Hughes, American author and illustrator
1967 – Alexis Sinduhije, Burundian journalist and politician
1969 – Pieter Muller, South African rugby player
1970 – Kyan Douglas, American television host and author
1970 – Todd Newton, American game show host
1971 – Harold Miner, American basketball player
1971 – Mike Redmond, American baseball player and manager
1972 – James Cracknell, English rower
1972 – Žigmund Pálffy, Slovakian ice hockey player
1972 – Mikael Renberg, Swedish ice hockey player
1975 – Meb Keflezighi, American runner
1976 – Dieter Brummer, Australian actor
1976 – Jean-François Dumoulin, Canadian race car driver
1976 – Anastasios Pantos, Greek footballer
1976 – Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentinian footballer and sportscaster
1978 – Morgan Pehme, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1979 – Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
1980 – Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer
1980 – Hank Green, American entrepreneur, educator, and vlogger
1980 – DerMarr Johnson, American basketball player
1981 – Craig David, English singer-songwriter, musician and producer
1981 – Danielle Fishel, American actress
1982 – Ferrie Bodde, Dutch footballer
1982 – Wouter D’Haene, Belgian sprinter
1982 – Randall Gay, American football player
1982 – Corey Parker, Australian rugby league footballer
1983 – James Anyon, English cricketer
1983 – Henry Cavill, English actor
1983 – Mabel Gay, Cuban triple jumper
1983 – Annie Villeneuve, Canadian singer-songwriter
1983 – Scott Ware, American football player
1984 – Johanna Hedva, Korean-American artist and genderqueer activist
1984 – Wade MacNeil, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Christian Valdez, Mexican footballer
1985 – Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese actress and singer
1985 – Emanuele Giaccherini, Italian footballer
1985 – Tsepo Masilela, South African footballer
1985 – Marcos Rogério Oliveira Duarte, Brazilian footballer
1985 – Terrence Wheatley, American football player
1987 – Graham Dorrans, Scottish footballer
1988 – Adele, English singer-songwriter
1988 – Mervyn Westfield, English cricketer
1989 – Chris Brown, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
1991 – Xenofon Fetsis, Greek footballer
1991 – Raúl Jiménez, Mexican footballer
1992 – Loïck Landre, French footballer
1994 – Celeste, English singer
1998 – Aryna Sabalenka, Belarusian tennis player
1999 – Nathan Chen, American figure skater
1999 – Justin Kluivert, Dutch footballer

Deaths on May 5

465 – Gerontius, Archbishop of Milan
1194 – Casimir II the Just, Polish son of Bolesław III Wrymouth (b. 1138)
1243 – Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, English justiciar (b. c. 1160)
1306 – Constantine Palaiologos, Byzantine general (b. 1261)
1309 – Charles II of Naples (b. 1254)
1316 – Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of King Edward I of England (b. 1282)
1338 – Prince Tsunenaga, son of the Japanese Emperor (b. 1324)
1380 – Saint Philotheos, Coptic martyr
1432 – Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola, Italian adventurer
1525 – Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (b. 1463)
1582 – Charlotte of Bourbon, Princess consort of Orange, married to William I of Orange (b. 1547)
1586 – Henry Sidney, Irish politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1529)
1671 – Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, English general and politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom (b. 1602)
1672 – Samuel Cooper, English painter and linguist (b. 1609)
1700 – Angelo Italia, Italian architect (b. 1628)
1705 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
1760 – Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English politician (b. 1720)
1766 – Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
1808 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (b. 1757)
1821 – Napoleon, French general and emperor (b. 1769)
1827 – Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
1833 – Sophia Campbell, English-Australian painter (b. 1777)
1855 – Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet, English politician (b. 1786)
1859 – Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic (b. 1805)
1860 – Jean-Charles Prince, Canadian bishop (b. 1804)
1883 – John O’Shanassy, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Victoria (b. 1818)
1892 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (b. 1818)
1896 – Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
1902 – Bret Harte, American short story writer and poet (b. 1836)
1907 – Şeker Ahmed Pasha, Turkish soldier and painter (b. 1841)
1913 – Henry Moret, French painter (b. 1856)
1916 – John MacBride, Irish soldier and rebel (b. 1865)
1916 – Maurice Raoul-Duval, French polo player (b. 1866)
1921 – Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian journalist and publicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
1924 – A. Sabapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and politician (b. 1853)
1931 – Glen Kidston, English pilot and race car driver (b. 1899)
1942 – Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (b. 1920)
1947 – Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (b. 1917)
1957 – Leopold Löwenheim, German mathematician and logician (b. 1878)
1959 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentinian academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1878)
1962 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (b. 1889)
1965 – Nikos Gounaris, Greek tenor and composer (b. 1915)
1965 – John Waters, American director and screenwriter (b. 1893)
1971 – Violet Jessop, Argentinean-English nurse (b. 1887)
1973 – Zekai Özger, Turkish poet and academic (b. 1948)
1977 – Ludwig Erhard, German economist and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
1981 – Bobby Sands, PIRA volunteer and hunger striker (b. 1954)
1983 – Horst Schumann, German physician (b. 1901)
1983 – John Williams, English-American actor (b. 1903)
1985 – Donald Bailey, English engineer, designed the Bailey bridge (b. 1901)
1988 – Michael Shaara, American author and academic (b. 1928)
1993 – Irving Howe, American literary and social critic (b. 1920)
1994 – Mário Quintana, Brazilian poet and translator (b. 1906)
1995 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player and coach (b. 1911)
1999 – Vasilis Diamantopoulos, Greek actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
2000 – Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (b. 1914)
2000 – Bill Musselman, American basketball player and coach (b. 1940)
2001 – Morris Graves, American painter and educator (b. 1910)
2001 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, created CliffsNotes (b. 1918)
2002 – Hugo Banzer, Bolivian general and politician, 62nd President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
2002 – Paul Wilbur Klipsch, American engineer, founded Klipsch Audio Technologies (b. 1904)
2002 – George Sidney, American director and producer (b. 1916)
2003 – Sam Bockarie, Sierra Leonean commander (b. 1964)
2003 – Walter Sisulu, South African activist and politician (b. 1912)
2006 – Naushad Ali, Indian composer and producer (b. 1919)
2006 – Atıf Yılmaz, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
2007 – Theodore Harold Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer, created the laser (b. 1927)
2008 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (b. 1917)
2008 – Jerry Wallace, American singer and guitarist (b. 1928)
2010 – Giulietta Simionato, Italian soprano (b. 1910)
2010 – Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Nigerian academic and politician, 13th President of Nigeria (b. 1951)
2011 – Claude Choules, English-Australian soldier (b. 1901)
2011 – Yosef Merimovich, Israeli footballer and manager (b. 1924)
2011 – Dana Wynter, British actress (b. 1931)
2012 – Surendranath, Indian cricketer (b. 1937)
2012 – Carl Johan Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (b. 1916)
2012 – Aatos Erkko, Finnish journalist and publisher (b. 1932)
2012 – George Knobel, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1922)
2012 – Roy Padayachie, South African lawyer and politician, South African Minister of Communications (b. 1950)
2013 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet and author (b. 1935)
2013 – Robert Ressler, American FBI agent and author (b. 1937)
2014 – Michael Otedola, Nigerian journalist and politician, 9th Governor of Lagos State (b. 1926)
2015 – Jobst Brandt, American cyclist, engineer, and author (b. 1935)
2015 – Hans Jansen, Dutch linguist, academic, and politician (b. 1942)
2017 – Binyamin Elon, Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician (b. 1954)
2017 – Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Mauritanian politician (b. 1953)

Holidays and observances on May 5

Children’s Day (Japan, South Korea)
Christian feast day:
- Angelus of Jerusalem
- Aventinus of Tours
- Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice
- Frederick the Wise (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
- Hilary of Arles
- Jutta of Kulmsee
- Stanisław Kazimierczyk
- May 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Cinco de Mayo (Mexico, United States)
Constitution Day (Kyrgyzstan)
Europe Day (Council of Europe)
Feast of al-Khadr or Saint George (Palestinian)
Indian Arrival Day (Guyana)
International Midwives’ Day (International)
Liberation Day (Denmark, Netherlands)
Lusophone Culture Day (Community of Portuguese Language Countries)
World Portuguese language day (International)
Martyrs’ Day (Albania)
Patriots’ Victory Day (Ethiopia)
Senior Citizens Day (Palau)
Tango no sekku (Japan)

May 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

May 2 in History

1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter
1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
1335 – Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia.
1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.
1559 – John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to become the leader of the nascent Scottish Reformation.
1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Loch Leven Castle.
1611 – The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker.
1625 – Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Latin Patriarch of Ethiopia, arrives at Beilul from Goa.
1670 – King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America.
1672 – John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March.
1808 – Outbreak of the Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation. Francisco de Goya later memorializes this event in his painting The Second of May 1808.
1812 – The Siege of Cuautla during the Mexican War of Independence ends with both sides claiming victory after Mexican rebels under José María Morelos y Pavón abandon the city after 72 days under siege by royalist Spanish troops under Félix María Calleja.
1816 – Marriage of Léopold of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Charlotte of Wales.
1829 – After anchoring nearby, Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger, declares the Swan River Colony in Australia.
1863 – American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia eight days later.
1866 – Peruvian defenders fight off the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao.
1876 – The April Uprising breaks out in Ottoman Bulgaria.
1879 – The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party is founded in Madrid by Pablo Iglesias.
1885 – Cree and Assiniboine warriors win the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion.
1889 – Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs the Treaty of Wuchale, giving Italy control over Eritrea.
1906 – Closing ceremony of the Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece.
1918 – General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
1920 – The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis.
1933 – Germany’s independent labor unions are replaced by the German Labour Front.
1941 – Following the coup d’état against Iraq Crown Prince ‘Abd al-Ilah earlier that year, the United Kingdom launches the Anglo-Iraqi War to restore him to power.
1945 – World War II: The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin.
1945 – World War II: The surrender of Caserta comes into effect, by which German troops in Italy cease fighting.
1945 – World War II: The US 82nd Airborne Division liberates Wöbbelin concentration camp finding 1000 dead prisoners, most of whom starved to death.
1945 – World War II: A death march from Dachau to the Austrian border is halted by the segregated, all-Nisei 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army in southern Bavaria, saving several hundred prisoners.
1952 – A De Havilland Comet makes the first jetliner flight with fare-paying passengers, from London to Johannesburg.
1955 – Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
1963 – Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.
1964 – Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the American aircraft carrier USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon. Two Viet Cong combat swimmers had placed explosives on the ship’s hull. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later.
1964 – First ascent of Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.
1969 – The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.
1972 – In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers.
1982 – Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano.
1986 – Chernobyl disaster: The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster.
1989 – Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect.
1994 – A bus crashes in Gdańsk, Poland killing 32 people.
1995 – During the Croatian War of Independence, the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fires cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians.
1998 – The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union’s monetary policy.
1999 – Panamanian general election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama.
2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
2004 – The Yelwa massacre concludes. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims killed 78 Christians at Yelwa. In response, about 630 Muslims were killed by Christians on May 2nd.
2008 – Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.
2008 – Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.
2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI’s most wanted man, is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
2011 – An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others sick from the bacteria outbreak.
2012 – A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction.
2014 – Two mudslides in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, leave up to 2,500 people missing.

Births on May 2

1360 – Yongle Emperor of China (d. 1424)
1402 – Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (d. 1445)
1451 – René II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1508)
1458 – Eleanor of Viseu (d. 1525)
1476 – Charles I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, Count of Kladsko, Governor of Bohemia and Silesia (d. 1536)
1533 – Philip II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (d. 1596)
1551 – William Camden, English historian and topographer (d. 1623)
1567 – Sebald de Weert, Dutch captain, vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company (d. 1603)
1579 – Tokugawa Hidetada, Japanese shōgun (d. 1632)
1601 – Athanasius Kircher, German priest and scholar (d. 1680)
1660 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (d. 1725)
1695 – Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, Italian-French painter and architect (d. 1766)
1702 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and theosopher (d. 1782)
1707 – Jean-Baptiste Barrière, French cellist and composer (d. 1747)
1729 – Catherine the Great of Russia (d. 1796)
1737 – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1805)
1740 – Elias Boudinot, American lawyer and politician, 10th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1821)
1750 – John André, English soldier and spy (d. 1780)
1752 – Ludwig August Lebrun, German oboe player and composer (d. 1790)
1754 – Vicente Martín y Soler, Spanish composer (d. 1806)
1772 – Novalis, German author and poet (d. 1801)
1773 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian philosopher and poet (d. 1845)
1797 – Abraham Pineo Gesner, Canadian physician and geologist (d. 1864)
1802 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (d. 1870)
1806 – Catherine Labouré, French nun and saint (d. 1876)
1810 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (d. 1874)
1813 – Caroline Leigh Gascoigne, English novelist and poet (d. 1883)
1815 – William Buell Richards, Canadian lawyer and judge, 1st Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1889)
1822 – Jane Miller Thengberg, Scottish-Swedish governess and educator (d. 1902)
1828 – Désiré Charnay, French archaeologist and photographer (d. 1915)
1830 – Otto Staudinger, German entomologist and author (d. 1900)
1843 – Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American engineer (d. 1929)
1859 – Jerome K. Jerome, English author and playwright (d. 1927)
1860 – John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist, physician, and academic (d. 1936)
1860 – Theodor Herzl, Austro-Hungarian Zionist philosopher, journalist and author (d. 1904)
1865 – Clyde Fitch, American playwright (d. 1909)
1867 – Giuseppe Morello, Italian-American mobster (d. 1930)
1873 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet, critic, and translator (d. 1944)
1879 – James F. Byrnes, American stenographer and politician, 49th United States Secretary of State (d. 1972)
1880 – Bill Horr, American football player, discus thrower, and coach (d. 1955)
1882 – Isabel González, Puerto Rican activist who helped pave the way for Puerto Ricans’ American citizenship (d. 1971)
1885 – Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (d. 1966)
1886 – Gottfried Benn, German author and poet (d. 1956)
1887 – Vernon Castle, English-American dancer (d. 1918)
1887 – Eddie Collins, American baseball player and manager (d. 1951)
1889 – Ki Hajar Dewantara, Indonesian philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1959)
1890 – E. E. Smith, American engineer and author (d. 1965)
1892 – Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot (d. 1918)
1894 – Norma Talmadge, leading US actress of the silent era (d. 1957)
1894 – Joseph Henry Woodger, English biologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1981)
1895 – Lorenz Hart, American playwright and lyricist (d. 1943)
1897 – John Frederick Coots, American songwriter (d. 1985)
1898 – Henry Hall, English bandleader, composer, and actor (d. 1989)
1901 – Bob Wyatt, English cricketer (d. 1995)
1901 – Edouard Zeckendorf, Belgian doctor, army officer and mathematician (d. 1983)
1901 – Willi Bredel, German writer (d. 1964)
1902 – Brian Aherne, English actor (d. 1986)
1902 – Werner Finck, German Kabarett comedian, actor and author (d. 1978)
1903 – Benjamin Spock, American rower, pediatrician, and author (d. 1998)
1904 – Bill Brandt, German-English photographer and journalist (d. 1983)
1905 – Alan Rawsthorne, British composer (d. 1971)
1905 – Charlotte Armstrong, American author (d. 1969)
1906 – Philippe Halsman, Latvian-American photographer (d. 1979)
1907 – Pinky Lee, American comedian and television host (d. 1993)
1908 – Frank Rowlett, American cryptologist (d. 1998)
1909 – Teddy Stauffer, Swiss bandleader, musician, and actor (d. 1991)
1910 – Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1943)
1910 – Edmund Bacon, American urban planner, architect, educator, and author (d. 2005)
1912 – Axel Springer, German journalist and publisher, founded Axel Springer AG (d. 1985)
1912 – Karl Adam, German rowing coaches (d. 1976)
1912 – Marten Toonder, Dutch comic strip creator (d. 2005)
1912 – Nigel Patrick, English actor and director (d. 1981)
1913 – Pietro Frua, Italian coachbuilder and car designer (d. 1983)
1913 – Aydın Sayılı, Turkish historian and academic (d. 1993)
1915 – Doris Fisher, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
1915 – Peggy Mount, English actress (d. 2001)
1917 – Albert Castelyns, Belgian water polo player and bobsledder
1917 – Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (d. 2002)
1920 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
1920 – Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian-Brazilian journalist and activist (d. 2000)
1920 – Vasantrao Deshpande, Indian singer and sitar player (d. 1983)
1920 – Guinn Smith, American pole vaulter, soldier, and pilot (d. 2004)
1920 – Jacob Gilboa, Israeli composer (d. 2007)
1921 – B. B. Lal, Indian archaeologist
1921 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
1922 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (d. 2007)
1922 – A. M. Rosenthal, Canadian-born American journalist and author (d. 2006)
1922 – Serge Reggiani, Italian-born French singer and actor (d. 2004)
1923 – Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (d. 2008)
1923 – Albert Nordengen, Norwegian banker and politician (d. 2004)
1924 – Jamal Abro, Pakistani lawyer and author (d. 2004)
1924 – Theodore Bikel, Austrian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2015)
1924 – Arthur Clues, Australian rugby league player (d. 1998)
1924 – Hugh Cortazzi, English soldier, historian, and diplomat, British Ambassador to Japan (d. 2018)
1925 – John Neville, English-Canadian actor (d. 2011)
1926 – Gérard D. Levesque, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1993)
1927 – Ray Barrett, Australian actor and singer (d. 2009)
1927 – Amos Kenan, Israeli columnist, painter, sculptor, playwright and novelist (d. 2009)
1927 – Michael Broadbent, British wine critic and writer (d. 2020)
1928 – Hans Trass, Estonian ecologist and botanist (d. 2017)
1928 – Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt, French writer and translator of German origin
1928 – Horst Stein, German conductor (d. 2008)
1929 – Édouard Balladur, Turkish-French economist and politician, 162nd Prime Minister of France
1929 – James Dillion, American discus thrower (d. 2010)
1929 – Link Wray, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
1929 – Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan (d. 1972)
1930 – Yoram Kaniuk, Israeli painter and critic (d. 2013)
1930 – Marco Pannella, Italian journalist and politician (d. 2016)
1931 – Phil Bruns, American actor and stuntman (d. 2012)
1931 – Martha Grimes, American author and poet
1932 – Maury Allen, American journalist, actor, and author (d. 2010)
1933 – Bunk Gardner, American musician
1933 – Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
1934 – Manfred Durniok, German film producer, director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1935 – Luis Suárez Miramontes, Spanish footballer and manager
1935 – Faisal II of Iraq, the last King of Iraq (d.1958)
1936 – Norma Aleandro, Argentinian actress, director, and screenwriter
1936 – Engelbert Humperdinck, English singer and pianist
1936 – Michael Rabin, American violinist (d. 1972)
1937 – Klaus Enders, German motorcycle sidecar racer (d. 2019)
1937 – Lorenzo Music, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
1937 – Gisela Elsner, German writer (d. 1992)
1938 – Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (d. 1996)
1939 – Sumio Iijima, Japanese physicist and engineer
1939 – Ernesto Castano, Italian football player
1940 – Jules Albert Wijdenbosch, Surinamese politician
1941 – Tony Adamowicz, American race car driver (d. 2016)
1941 – Bruce Cameron, Scottish bishop
1941 – Clay Carroll, American baseball player
1941 – Eddy Louiss, French jazz musician (d. 2015)
1942 – Jacques Rogge, Belgian businessman
1942 – Wojciech Pszoniak, Polish film and theater actor
1944 – Robert G. W. Anderson, English chemist, historian, and curator
1945 – Randy Cain, American soul singer (d. 2009)
1945 – Judge Dread, English singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
1945 – Bianca Jagger, Nicaraguan-American model, actress, and activist
1945 – Goldy McJohn, Canadian keyboard player (d. 2017)
1946 – Peter L. Benson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2011)
1946 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1946 – David Suchet, English actor
1947 – James Dyson, English businessman, founded the Dyson Company
1947 – Lynda Myles, English screenwriter and producer
1947 – Philippe Herreweghe, Belgian conductor
1948 – Larry Gatlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1949 – Alan Titchmarsh, English gardener and author
1949 – Alfons Schuhbeck, German celebrity chef, author and businessman
1950 – Simon Gaskell, English chemist and academic
1950 – Duncan Gay, Australian businessman and politician
1950 – Lou Gramm, American singer-songwriter
1950 – Richard Ground, English lawyer and judge (d. 2014)
1950 – Fausto Silva, Brazilian television presenter
1951 – John Glascock, English singer and bass player (d. 1979)
1952 – Chris Anderson, Australian rugby league player and coach
1952 – Christine Baranski, American actress and singer
1952 – Isla St Clair, Scottish singer and actress
1953 – Valery Gergiev, Russian conductor and director
1953 – Jamaal Wilkes, American basketball player
1954 – Elliot Goldenthal, American composer and conductor
1954 – Dawn Primarolo, English politician
1954 – Stephen Venables, English mountaineer and author
1955 – Willie Miller, Scottish footballer
1955 – Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer
1956 – Régis Labeaume, Canadian businessman and politician, 41st Mayor of Quebec City
1958 – Yasushi Akimoto, Japanese songwriter and producer
1958 – Stanislav Levý, Czech footballer and manager
1958 – David O’Leary, English-Irish footballer and manager
1959 – Alan Best, Canadian animator, director, and producer
1959 – Tony Wakeford, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Stephen Daldry, English director and producer
1961 – Steve James, English snooker player
1961 – Sophie Thibault, Canadian journalist
1961 – Phil Vickery, English chef and author
1962 – Elizabeth Berridge, American actress
1962 – Michael Grandage, English director and producer
1962 – Jimmy White, English snooker player
1965 – Félix José, Dominican-American baseball player
1966 – Uwe Freiler, German footballer
1966 – Margus Kolga, Estonian diplomat
1966 – Belinda Stronach, Canadian businesswoman, philanthropist, and politician
1967 – Bengt Åkerblom, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1995)
1967 – Mika Brzezinski, American journalist and author
1967 – David Rocastle, English footballer (d. 2001)
1968 – Jeff Agoos, Swiss-American soccer player, manager, and sportscaster
1968 – Julia Hartley-Brewer, English broadcaster and columnist
1968 – Ziana Zain, Malaysian singer-songwriter and actress
1969 – Brian Lara, Trinidadian cricketer
1970 – Marco Walker, Swiss footballer and coach
1971 – Musashimaru Kōyō, Samoan-American sumo wrestler, the 67th Yokozuna
1971 – Fatima Yusuf, Nigerian sprinter
1972 – Paul Adcock, English footballer
1972 – Ahti Heinla, Estonian programmer and businessman, co-developed Skype
1972 – Dwayne Johnson, American-Canadian wrestler, actor, and producer
1973 – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, German director and screenwriter
1974 – Horacio Carbonari, Argentinian footballer and manager
1974 – Andy Johnson, English-Welsh footballer
1974 – Janek Meet, Estonian footballer
1975 – David Beckham, English footballer, coach, and model
1975 – Joe Wilkinson, English comedian, actor and writer
1976 – Jeff Gutt, American singer-songwriter
1977 – Brian Cardinal, American basketball player
1977 – Jan Fitschen, German runner
1977 – Luke Hudson, American baseball player
1977 – Fredrik Malm, Swedish journalist and politician
1977 – Jenna von Oÿ, American actress and singer
1977 – Kalle Palander, Finnish skier
1978 – Melvin Ely, American basketball player
1978 – Mike Weaver, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Jason Chimera, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Ioannis Kanotidis, Greek footballer
1979 – Defne Joy Foster, Turkish-American actress, presenter and VJ (d. 2011)
1980 – Tim Borowski, German footballer
1980 – Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canadian skateboarder
1980 – Ellie Kemper, American actress, comedian and writer
1980 – Zat Knight, English footballer
1980 – Artūras Masiulis, Lithuanian basketball player
1980 – Troy Murphy, American basketball player
1980 – Lassaâd Ouertani, Tunisian footballer (d. 2013)
1980 – Brad Richards, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Vincent Tong, Canadian actor, singer, voice actor and director
1981 – Robert Buckley, American actor
1981 – Chris Kirkland, English footballer
1981 – Tiago Mendes, Portuguese footballer
1981 – Matt Murray, English footballer
1981 – Rina Satō, Japanese voice actress and singer
1982 – Timothy Benjamin, Welsh sprinter
1982 – Johan Botha, South African cricketer
1983 – Alessandro Diamanti, Italian footballer
1983 – Maynor Figueroa, Honduran footballer
1983 – Tina Maze, Slovenian skier
1983 – Daniel Sordo, Spanish race car driver
1983 – Ove Vanebo, Norwegian politician
1984 – Saulius Mikoliūnas, Lithuanian footballer
1984 – Thabo Sefolosha, Swiss basketball player
1985 – Lily Allen, English singer-songwriter and actress
1985 – Kyle Busch, American race car driver
1985 – Ashley Harkleroad, American tennis player
1985 – Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
1987 – Saara Aalto, Finnish singer and actress
1987 – Nana Kitade, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
1987 – Pat McAfee, American football player
1987 – Kris Russell, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – Justin Young, English singer and songwriter
1988 – Neftalí Feliz, Dominican baseball player
1988 – Stephen Henderson, Irish footballer
1989 – Jeanette Pohlen, American basketball player
1990 – Kay Panabaker, American actress
1990 – Paul George, American basketball player
1991 – Jeong Jinwoon, South Korean actor and singer
1992 – Sunmi, South Korean singer
1992 – María Teresa Torró Flor, Spanish tennis player
1993 – Owain Doull, Welsh track cyclist
1993 – Isyana Sarasvati, Indonesian singer
1993 – Huang Zitao, Chinese singer and rapper
1996 – Cherprang Areekul, Thai singer
1996 – Julian Brandt, German footballer
1996 – Schuyler Bailar, American swimmer
2015 – Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, British royal, and fourth in line to the British throne

Deaths on May 2

373 – Athanasius of Alexandria, Egyptian bishop and saint (b. 298)
649 – Marutha of Tikrit, Persian theologian of the Syriac Orthodox Church (b. 565)
821 – Liu Zong, general of the Tang Dynasty
907 – Boris I of Bulgaria
1219 – Leo I, King of Armenia (b. 1150)
1230 – William de Braose, English son of Reginald de Braose (b. 1197)
1293 – Meir of Rothenburg, German rabbi (b. c.1215)
1300 – Blanche of Artois (b. 1248)
1450 – William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English admiral (b. 1396)
1519 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1452)
1564 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (b. 1500)
1627 – Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, Italian composer and educator (b. 1560)
1667 – George Wither, English poet and author (b. 1588)
1683 – Stjepan Gradić, Croatian philosopher and mathematician (b. 1613)
1711 – Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, English politician, First Lord of the Treasury (b. 1641)
1799 – Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo (b. 1740)
1802 – Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch general and politician, Governor-General of the Dutch Gold Coast (b. 1762)
1810 – Henry Jerome de Salis, English priest (b. 1740)
1819 – Mary Moser, English painter and academic (b. 1744)
1857 – Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist (b. 1810)
1864 – Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer and educator (b. 1791)
1880 – Eberhard Anheuser, German-American businessman, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (b. 1805)
1880 – Tom Wills, Australian cricketer, co-created Australian rules football (b. 1835)
1885 – Terézia Zakoucs, Hungarian-Slovene author (b. 1817)
1915 – Clara Immerwahr, German chemist (b. 1870)
1918 – Jüri Vilms, Estonian lawyer and politician (b. 1889)
1925 – Antun Branko Šimić, Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian poet (b. 1898)
1927 – Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (b. 1866)
1929 – Charalambos Tseroulis, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister for Military Affairs (b. 1879)
1941 – Penelope Delta, Greek author (b. 1874)
1945 – Martin Bormann, German politician (b. 1900)
1945 – Joe Corbett, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1875)
1947 – Dorothea Binz, German SS officer (b. 1920)
1953 – Wallace Bryant, American archer (b. 1863)
1957 – Joseph McCarthy, American captain, lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1908)
1963 – Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, English cricketer, peer, politician, poet, author and newspaper editor (b. 1884)
1964 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (b. 1879)
1969 – Franz von Papen, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879)
1972 – J. Edgar Hoover, American 1st director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1895)
1974 – James O. Richardson, American admiral (b. 1878)
1977 – Nicholas Magallanes, American principal dancer and charter member of the New York City Ballet (b. 1922)
1979 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
1980 – Clarrie Grimmett, New Zealand-Australian cricketer (b. 1891)
1980 – George Pal, Hungarian-American animator and producer (b. 1908)
1983 – Norm Van Brocklin, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
1984 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (b. 1918)
1984 – Bob Clampett, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1913)
1985 – Attilio Bettega, Italian race car driver (b. 1951)
1985 – Larry Clinton, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1909)
1986 – Sergio Cresto, American race car driver (b. 1956)
1986 – Henri Toivonen, Finnish race car driver (b. 1956)
1989 – Veniamin Kaverin, Russian author (b. 1902)
1989 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (b. 1906)
1990 – David Rappaport, English-American actor (b. 1951)
1991 – Gauri Shankar Rai, Indian Politician(b.1924)
1991 – Ronald McKie, Australian journalist and author (b. 1909)
1992 – Wilbur Mills, American lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
1993 – André Moynet, French race car driver, pilot, and politician (b. 1921)
1994 – Dorothy Marie Donnelly, American poet and author (b. 1903)
1995 – John Bunting, Australian public servant and diplomat, (b. 1918)
1995 – Michael Hordern, English actor (b. 1911)
1997 – John Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
1997 – Paulo Freire, Brazilian philosopher and academic (b. 1921)
1998 – hide, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1964)
1998 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (b. 1961)
1998 – Gene Raymond, American actor (b. 1908)
1998 – Lord Voldemort, English wizard and terrorist (b. 1926)
1999 – Douglas Harkness, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1903)
1999 – Oliver Reed, English actor (b. 1938)
2000 – Sundar Popo, Indo-Trinidadian musician (b. 1943)
2002 – W. T. Tutte, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (b. 1917)
2005 – Wee Kim Wee, Singaporean journalist and politician, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
2006 – Louis Rukeyser, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
2007 – Brad McGann, New Zealand director and screenwriter (b. 1964)
2008 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (b. 1940)
2008 – Izold Pustõlnik, Ukrainian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1938)
2009 – Marilyn French, American author and academic (b. 1929)
2009 – Kiyoshiro Imawano, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1951)
2009 – Jack Kemp, American football player and politician, 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (b. 1935)
2010 – Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (b. 1943)
2011 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founder of Al-Qaeda (b. 1957)
2012 – Fernando Lopes, Portuguese director and screenwriter (b. 1935)
2012 – Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist (b. 1932)
2012 – Tufan Miñnullin, Russian playwright and politician (b. 1936)
2012 – Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, Indonesian physician and politician, Indonesian Minister of Health (b. 1955)
2012 – Akira Tonomura, Japanese physicist, author, and academic (b. 1942)
2013 – Ernie Field, English boxer (b. 1943)
2013 – Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1964)
2013 – Joseph P. McFadden, American bishop (b. 1947)
2013 – Dvora Omer, Israeli author and educator (b. 1932)
2013 – Ivan Turina, Croatian footballer (b. 1980)
2013 – Charles Banks Wilson, American painter and illustrator (b. 1918)
2014 – Tomás Balduino, Brazilian bishop (b. 1922)
2014 – Žarko Petan, Slovenian director, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
2014 – Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor (b. 1918)
2015 – Stuart Archer, English colonel and architect (b. 1915)
2015 – Michael Blake, American author and screenwriter (b. 1945)
2015 – Guy Carawan, American singer and musicologist (b. 1927)
2015 – Maya Plisetskaya, Russian-Lithuanian ballerina, choreographer, actress, and director (b. 1925)
2015 – Ruth Rendell, English author (b. 1930)
2016 – Afeni Shakur, American music businesswoman, activist, and Black Panther (b. 1947)
2020 – Arif Wazir, Pakistani politician, leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (b. 1982)

Holidays and observances on May 2

Christian feast day:
- Athanasius of Alexandria (Western Christianity)
- Boris I of Bulgaria (Bulgarian Orthodox Church)
- Germanus of Normandy
- May 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
International Harry Potter Day
The last day of the Festival of Ridván (Bahá’í Faith) (Note that this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March equinox, see List of observances set by the Baháʼí calendar)
Anniversary of the Dos de Mayo Uprising (Community of Madrid, Spain)
Birth Anniversary of Third Druk Gyalpo (Bhutan)
Flag Day (Poland)
Indonesia National Education Day
Teachers’ Day (Iran) (Note that this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March Equinox, see List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar)

May 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik’nal and sacking the city.
711 – Dagobert III succeeds his father King Childebert III as King of the Franks.
1014 – Battle of Clontarf: High King of Ireland Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.
1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as King of England.
1343 – St. George’s Night Uprising commences in the Duchy of Estonia.
1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St. George’s Day.
1516 – The Munich Reinheitsgebot (regarding the ingredients of beer) takes effect in all of Bavaria.
1521 – Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.
1635 – The first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston.
1655 – The Siege of Santo Domingo begins during the Anglo-Spanish War, and fails seven days later.
1660 – Treaty of Oliva is established between Sweden and Poland.
1661 – King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
1815 – The Second Serbian Uprising: A second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.
1879 – Fire burns down the second main building and dome of the University of Notre Dame, which prompts the construction of the third, and current, Main Building with its golden dome.
1914 – First baseball game at Wrigley Field, then known as Weeghman Park, in Chicago.
1918 – World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.
1920 – The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara. The assembly denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces the preparation of a temporary constitution.
1927 – Cardiff City defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, the only time it has been won by a team not based in England.
1935 – The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.
1940 – The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.
1941 – World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.
1942 – World War II: Baedeker Blitz: German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.
1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler’s designated successor, Hermann Göring, sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of the Third Reich. Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels advise Hitler that the telegram is treasonous.
1946 – Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
1949 – Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
1951 – Cold War: American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.
1961 – Algiers putsch by French generals.
1967 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1) a manned spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov is launched into orbit.
1968 – Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
1985 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
1990 – Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
1993 – Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.
1993 – Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.
1999 – NATO bombs the headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia, as part of their aerial campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
2005 – The first ever YouTube video, titled “Me at the zoo”, was published by co-founder Jawed Karim.
2013 – At least 28 people are killed and more than 70 are injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq.
2018 – A vehicle-ramming attack kills 10 people and injures 16 in Toronto. A 25-year-old suspect, Alek Minassian, is arrested.
2019 – The 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse in Myanmar kills four miners and two rescuers.

Births on April 23

1141 (probable) – Malcolm IV of Scotland (d. 1165)
1185 – Afonso II of Portugal (d. 1223)
1408 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford (d. 1462)
1420 – George of Poděbrady, King of Bohemia (d. 1471)
1464 – Joan of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1505)
1464 – Robert Fayrfax, English Renaissance composer (d. 1521)
1484 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian physician and scholar (d. 1558)
1500 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian and academic (d. 1565)
1500 – Johann Stumpf, Swiss writer (d. 1576)
1512 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, Chancellor of the University of Oxford (d. 1580)
1516 – Georg Fabricius, German poet, historian, and archaeologist (d. 1571)
1598 – Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1653)
1621 – William Penn, English admiral and politician (d. 1670)
1628 – Johannes Hudde, Dutch mathematician and politician (d. 1704)
1661 – Issachar Berend Lehmann, German-Jewish banker, merchant and diplomat (d. 1730)
1715 – Johann Friedrich Doles, German composer and conductor (d. 1797)
1720 – Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi and author (d. 1797)
1744 – Princess Charlotte Amalie Wilhelmine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (d. 1770)
1748 – Félix Vicq-d’Azyr, French physician and anatomist (d. 1794)
1791 – James Buchanan, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 15th President of the United States (d. 1868)
1792 – Thomas Romney Robinson, Irish astronomer and physicist (d. 1882)
1794 – Wei Yuan, Chinese scholar and author (d. 1856)
1805 – Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher and academic (d. 1879)
1812 – Frederick Whitaker, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)
1813 – Stephen A. Douglas, American educator and politician, 7th Illinois Secretary of State (d. 1861)
1813 – Frédéric Ozanam, Italian-French historian and scholar (d. 1853)
1818 – James Anthony Froude, English historian, novelist, biographer and editor (d. 1894)
1819 – Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1901)
1853 – Winthrop M. Crane, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1920)
1856 – Granville Woods, American inventor and engineer (d. 1910)
1857 – Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
1858 – Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
1860 – Justinian Oxenham, Australian public servant (d. 1932)
1861 – Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, English field marshal and diplomat, British High Commissioner in Egypt (d. 1936)
1861 – John Peltz, American baseball player and manager (d. 1906)
1865 – Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (d. 1943)
1867 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
1876 – Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian and author (d. 1925)
1880 – Michel Fokine, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1942)
1882 – Albert Coates, English composer and conductor (d. 1953)
1888 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967)
1889 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (d. 1942)
1893 – Frank Borzage, American actor and director (d. 1952)
1895 – Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author and director (d. 1982)
1897 – Folke Jansson, American general (d. 1965)
1897 – Lester B. Pearson, Canadian historian and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
1898 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (d. 1978)
1899 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
1899 – Minoru Shirota, Japanese physician and microbiologist, invented Yakult (d. 1982)
1900 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1959)
1900 – Joseph Green, Polish-American actor and director (d. 1996)
1901 – E. B. Ford, English biologist and geneticist (d. 1988)
1902 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1903 – Guy Simonds, English-Canadian general (d. 1974)
1904 – Clifford Bricker, Canadian long-distance runner (d. 1980)
1904 – Louis Muhlstock, Polish-Canadian painter (d. 2001)
1904 – Duncan Renaldo, American actor (d. 1985)
1907 – Lee Miller, American model and photographer (d. 1977)
1907 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor, designed the Wotruba Church (d. 1975)
1908 – Myron Waldman, American animator and director (d. 2006)
1910 – Sheila Scott Macintyre, Scottish mathematician (d. 1960)
1910 – Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)
1911 – Ronald Neame, English-American director, cinematographer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1913 – Diosa Costello, Puerto Rican-American entertainer, producer and club owner (d. 2013)
1915 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer, academic, and businessman (d. 2000)
1916 – Yiannis Moralis, Greek painter and educator (d. 2009)
1916 – Sinah Estelle Kelley, American chemist (d. 1982)
1917 – Dorian Leigh, American model (d. 2008)
1917 – Tony Lupien, American baseball player and coach (d. 2004)
1918 – Maurice Druon, French author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1919 – Oleg Penkovsky, Russian colonel (d. 1963)
1920 – Eric Grant Yarrow, 3rd Baronet, English businessman (d. 2018)
1921 – Judy Agnew, Second Lady of the United States (d. 2012)
1921 – Cleto Bellucci, Italian archbishop (d. 2013)
1921 – Janet Blair, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
1921 – Warren Spahn, American baseball player and coach (d. 2003)
1923 – Dolph Briscoe, American lieutenant and politician, 41st Governor of Texas (d. 2010)
1923 – Avram Davidson, American soldier and author (d. 1993)
1924 – Chuck Harmon, American baseball player and scout (d. 2019)
1924 – Bobby Rosengarden, American drummer and bandleader (d. 2007)
1926 – J.P. Donleavy, American-Irish novelist and playwright (d. 2017)
1926 – Rifaat el-Mahgoub, Egyptian politician (d. 1990)
1928 – Shirley Temple, American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat (d. 2014)
1929 – George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (d. 2020)
1932 – Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
1932 – Jim Fixx, American runner and author (d. 1984)
1933 – Annie Easley, American computer scientist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 2011)
1934 – George Canseco, Filipino composer and producer (d. 2004)
1936 – Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter (d. 1988)
1937 – Victoria Glendinning, English author and critic
1937 – David Mills, English cricketer (d. 2013)
1937 – Barry Shepherd, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
1939 – Jorge Fons, Mexican director and screenwriter
1939 – Bill Hagerty, English journalist
1939 – Lee Majors, American actor
1939 – Ray Peterson, American pop singer (d. 2005)
1940 – Michael Copps, American academic and politician
1940 – Dale Houston, American singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
1940 – Michael Kadosh, Israeli footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1941 – Jacqueline Boyer, French singer and actress
1941 – Arie den Hartog, Dutch road bicycle racer (d. 2018)
1941 – Paavo Lipponen, Finnish journalist and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Finland
1941 – Michael Lynne, American film producer, co-founded New Line Cinema
1941 – Ed Stewart, English radio and television host (d. 2016)
1941 – Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (d. 2016)
1942 – Sandra Dee, American model and actress (d. 2005)
1943 – Gail Goodrich, American basketball player and coach
1943 – Tony Esposito, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1943 – Frans Koppelaar, Dutch painter
1943 – Hervé Villechaize, French actor (d. 1993)
1944 – Jean-François Stévenin, French actor and director
1946 – Blair Brown, American actress
1946 – Carlton Sherwood, American soldier and journalist (d. 2014)
1947 – Robert Burgess, English sociologist and academic
1947 – Glenn Cornick, English bass player (d. 2014)
1947 – Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Irish civil rights leader and politician
1948 – Pascal Quignard, French author and screenwriter
1948 – Serge Thériault, Canadian actor
1949 – Paul Collier, English economist and academic
1949 – David Cross, English violinist
1949 – John Miles, British rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1950 – Rowley Leigh, English chef and journalist
1950 – Barbara McIlvaine Smith, Sac and Fox Nation Native American politician
1951 – Martin Bayerle, American treasure hunter
1952 – Narada Michael Walden, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer
1953 – James Russo, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1954 – Stephen Dalton, English air marshal
1954 – Michael Moore, American director, producer, and activist
1955 – Judy Davis, Australian actress
1955 – Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
1955 – Urmas Ott, Estonian journalist and author (d. 2008)
1957 – Neville Brody, English graphic designer, typographer, and art director
1957 – Jan Hooks, American actress and comedian (d. 2014)
1958 – Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic composer and producer
1958 – Ryan Walter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1959 – Unity Dow, Botswanan judge, author, and rights activist
1960 – Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
1960 – Steve Clark, English guitarist and songwriter (d. 1991)
1960 – Barry Douglas, Irish pianist and conductor
1960 – Léo Jaime, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1960 – Claude Julien, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1961 – George Lopez, American comedian, actor, and talk show host
1961 – Pierluigi Martini, Italian race car driver
1962 – John Hannah, Scottish actor and producer
1962 – Shaun Spiers, English businessman and politician
1963 – Paul Belmondo, French race car driver
1963 – Robby Naish, American windsurfer
1964 – Gianandrea Noseda, Italian pianist and conductor
1965 – Leni Robredo, Filipina human rights lawyer, 14th Vice President of the Philippines
1966 – Jörg Deisinger, German bass player
1966 – Matt Freeman, American bass player
1966 – Lembit Oll, Estonian chess Grandmaster (d. 1999)
1967 – Rheal Cormier, Canadian baseball player
1967 – Melina Kanakaredes, American actress
1968 – Bas Haring, Dutch philosopher, writer, television presenter and professor.
1968 – Ken McRae, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist, Oklahoma City bombing co-perpetrator (d. 2001)
1969 – Martín López-Zubero, American-Spanish swimmer and coach
1969 – Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast
1970 – Egemen Bağış, Turkish politician, 1st Minister of European Union Affairs
1970 – Dennis Culp, American singer-songwriter and trombonist
1970 – Andrew Gee, Australian rugby league player and manager
1970 – Hans Välimäki, Finnish chef and author
1970 – Tayfur Havutçu, Turkish international footballer and manager
1971 – Uli Herzner, German-American fashion designer
1972 – Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet and playwright
1972 – Peter Dench, English photographer and journalist
1972 – Amira Medunjanin, singer from Bosnia and Herzegovina
1973 – Patrick Poulin, Canadian ice hockey player
1974 – Carlos Dengler, American bass player
1974 – Michael Kerr, New Zealand-German rugby player
1975 – Bobby Shaw, American football player
1976 – Aaron Dessner, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1977 – John Cena, American professional wrestler and actor
1977 – David Kidwell, New Zealand rugby league player and coach
1977 – Willie Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – John Oliver, English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
1977 – Kal Penn, Indian-American actor
1977 – Bram Schmitz, Dutch cyclist
1977 – Lee Young-pyo, South Korean international footballer
1978 – Gezahegne Abera, Ethiopian runner
1979 – Barry Hawkins, English snooker player
1979 – Jaime King, American actress and model
1979 – Joanna Krupa, Polish-American model and television personality
1979 – Samppa Lajunen, Finnish skier
1982 – Tony Sunshine, American singer-songwriter
1983 – Leon Andreasen, Danish international footballer
1983 – Daniela Hantuchová, Slovak tennis player
1983 – Ian Henderson, English rugby league player
1984 – Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian chess player
1984 – Jesse Lee Soffer, American actor
1985 – Angel Locsin, Filipino actress, producer, and fashion designer
1986 – Sven Kramer, Dutch speed skater
1986 – Alysia Montaño, American runner
1986 – Rafael Fernandes, Brazilian baseball player
1987 – Michael Arroyo, Ecuadorian footballer
1987 – John Boye, Ghanaian footballer
1987 – Emily Fox, American basketball player
1988 – Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer
1988 – Alistair Brownlee, English triathlete
1988 – Signe Ronka, Canadian figure skater
1988 – Lenka Wienerová, Slovak tennis player
1989 – Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player
1990 – Rui Fonte, Portuguese footballer, winger
1990 – Dev Patel, English actor
1991 – Nathan Baker, English footballer
1991 – Caleb Johnson, American singer-songwriter
1991 – Paul Vaughan, Australian-Italian rugby league player
1994 – Patrick Olsen, Danish footballer
1994 – Song Kang, South Korean actor
1995 – Gigi Hadid, American fashion model and television personality
1997 – Zach Apple, American swimmer

Deaths on April 23

303 – Saint George, Roman soldier and martyr (b. 275)
711 – Childebert III, Frankish king (b. 670)
725 – Wihtred of Kent (b. 670)
871 – Æthelred of Wessex (b. 837)
915 – Yang Shihou, Chinese general
944 – Wichmann the Elder, Saxon nobleman
990 – Ekkehard II, Swiss monk and abbot
997 – Adalbert of Prague, Czech bishop, missionary, and saint (b. 956)
1014 – Brian Boru, Irish king (b. 941)
1014 – Domnall mac Eimín, Mormaer of Mar
1016 – Æthelred the Unready, English son of Edgar the Peaceful (b. 968)
1124 – Alexander I of Scotland (b. 1078)
1151 – Adeliza of Louvain (b. 1103)
1170 – Minamoto no Tametomo, Japanese samurai (b. 1139)
1196 – Béla III of Hungary (b. c.1148)
1200 – Zhu Xi, Chinese philosopher (b. 1130)
1217 – Inge II of Norway (b. 1185)
1262 – Aegidius of Assisi, companion of Saint Francis of Assisi
1307 – Joan of Acre (b. 1272)
1400 – Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford, English politician and nobleman (b. c. 1338)
1407 – Olivier de Clisson, French soldier (b. 1326)
1501 – Domenico della Rovere, Catholic cardinal (b. 1442)
1554 – Gaspara Stampa, Italian poet (b. 1523)
1605 – Boris Godunov, Russian ruler (b. 1551)
1616 – William Shakespeare, English playwright and poet (b. 1564)
1625 – Maurice, Prince of Orange (b. 1567)
1695 – Henry Vaughan, Welsh poet and author (b. 1621)
1702 – Margaret Fell, English religious leader, founded the Religious Society of Friends (b. 1614)
1781 – James Abercrombie, Scottish general and politician (b. 1706)
1784 – Solomon I of Imereti (b. 1735)
1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and author (b. 1741)
1794 – Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French lawyer and politician (b. 1721)
1827 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek general (b. 1780)
1839 – Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French admiral and explorer (b. 1768)
1850 – William Wordsworth, English poet and author (b. 1770)
1889 – Jules Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly, French author and critic (b. 1808)
1895 – Carl Ludwig, German physician and physiologist (b. 1815)
1905 – Gédéon Ouimet, Canadian politician, 2nd Premier of Quebec (b. 1823)
1907 – Alferd Packer, American prospector (b. 1842)
1915 – Rupert Brooke, English poet (b. 1887)
1936 – Teresa de la Parra, French-Venezuelan author (b. 1889)
1951 – Jules Berry, French actor and director (b. 1883)
1951 – Charles G. Dawes, American banker and politician, 30th Vice President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1865)
1959 – Bak Jungyang, Korean politician
1965 – George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (b. 1891)
1966 – George Ohsawa, Japanese founder of the Macrobiotic diet (b. 1893)
1981 – Josep Pla, Catalan journalist and author (b. 1897)
1983 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (b. 1908)
1984 – Red Garland, American pianist (b. 1923)
1985 – Sam Ervin, American lawyer and politician (b. 1896)
1985 – Frank Farrell, Australian rugby league player and policeman (b. 1916)
1986 – Harold Arlen, American composer (b. 1905)
1986 – Jim Laker, English cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1922)
1986 – Otto Preminger, Ukrainian-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1906)
1990 – Paulette Goddard, American actress (b. 1910)
1991 – Johnny Thunders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
1992 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
1992 – Tanka Prasad Acharya, Nepalese politician, 27th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1912)
1993 – Cesar Chavez, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers (b. 1927)
1995 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian farmer and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1895)
1995 – Howard Cosell, American lawyer and journalist (b. 1918)
1995 – Riho Lahi, Estonian journalist (b. 1904)
1995 – John C. Stennis, American lawyer and politician (b. 1904)
1996 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian general (b. 1913)
1996 – P. L. Travers, Australian-English author and actress (b. 1899)
1997 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1918)
1998 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek lawyer and politician, 172nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1907)
1998 – James Earl Ray, American assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1928)
1998 – Thanassis Skordalos, Greek singer-songwriter and lyra player (b. 1920)
2003 – Fernand Fonssagrives, French-American photographer (b. 1910)
2004 – Herman Veenstra, Dutch water polo player (b. 1911)
2005 – Joh Bjelke-Petersen, New Zealand-Australian politician, 31st Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
2005 – Robert Farnon, Canadian-English trumpet player, composer and conductor (b. 1917)
2005 – Al Grassby, Australian journalist and politician (b. 1928)
2005 – John Mills, English actor (b. 1908)
2005 – Romano Scarpa, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1927)
2005 – Earl Wilson, American baseball player, coach and educator (b. 1934)
2006 – Phil Walden, American record producer and manager, co-founder of Capricorn Records (b. 1940)
2007 – Paul Erdman, Canadian-American economist and author (b. 1932)
2007 – David Halberstam, American journalist, historian and author (b. 1934)
2007 – Peter Randall, English sergeant (b. 1930)
2007 – Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (b. 1931)
2010 – Peter Porter, Australian-born British poet (b. 1929)
2011 – James Casey, English comedian, radio scriptwriter and producer (b. 1922)
2011 – Tom King, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1943)
2011 – Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, English businessman and politician (b. 1921)
2011 – Max van der Stoel, Dutch politician and Minister of State (b. 1924)
2011 – John Sullivan, English screenwriter and producer (b. 1946)
2012 – Lillemor Arvidsson, Swedish trade union leader and politician, 34th Governor of Gotland (b. 1943)
2012 – Billy Bryans, Canadian drummer, songwriter and producer (b. 1947)
2012 – Chris Ethridge, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1947)
2012 – Raymond Thorsteinsson, Canadian geologist and paleontologist (b. 1921)
2012 – LeRoy T. Walker, American football player and coach (b. 1918)
2013 – Bob Brozman, American guitarist (b. 1954)
2013 – Robert W. Edgar, American educator and politician (b. 1943)
2013 – Tony Grealish, English footballer (b. 1956)
2013 – Antonio Maccanico, Italian banker and politician (b. 1924)
2013 – Frank W. J. Olver, English-American mathematician and academic (b. 1924)
2013 – Kathryn Wasserman Davis, American philanthropist and scholar (b. 1907)
2014 – Benjamín Brea, Spanish-Venezuelan saxophonist, clarinet player, and conductor (b. 1946)
2014 – Michael Glawogger, Austrian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (b. 1959)
2014 – Jaap Havekotte, Dutch speed skater and producer of ice skates (b. 1912)
2014 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (b. 1911)
2014 – F. Michael Rogers, American general (b. 1921)
2014 – Mark Shand, English conservationist and author (b. 1951)
2014 – Patric Standford, English composer and educator (b. 1939)
2015 – Richard Corliss, American journalist and critic (b. 1944)
2015 – Ray Jackson, Australian activist (b. 1941)
2015 – Pierre Claude Nolin, Canadian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Canadian Senate (b. 1950)
2015 – Jim Steffen, American football player (b. 1936)
2015 – Francis Tsai, American author and illustrator (b. 1967)
2016 – Inge King, German-born Australian sculptor (b. 1915)
2016 – Banharn Silpa-archa, Thai politician, Prime Minister from 1995–1996 (b. 1932)
2019 – Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, American soprano singer and presenter (b.1983)

Holidays and observances on April 23

Castile and León Day (Castile and León)
Christian feast day:
- Adalbert of Prague
- Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilleus
- George
- Blessed Giles of Assisi
- Gerard of Toul
- Ibar of Beggerin (Meath)
- Toyohiko Kagawa (Episcopal and Lutheran Church)
- April 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which the first day of Children’s Day can fall, while April 29 is the latest; celebrated on the last Saturday of April. (Colombia)
Independence Day (Conch Republic, Key West, Florida)
International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day
Khongjom Day (Manipur)
National Sovereignty and Children’s Day (Turkey and Northern Cyprus)
Navy Day (China)
St George’s Day (England) and its related observances:
- Canada Book Day (Canada)
- La Diada de Sant Jordi (Catalonia, Spain)
- World Book Day
UN English Language Day (United Nations)

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

On This Day

April 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

AD 73 – Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish–Roman War.
1346 – Stefan Dušan, “the Mighty”, is crowned Emperor of the Serbs at Skopje, his empire occupying much of the Balkans.
1520 – The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V.
1582 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
1746 – The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland.After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
1780 – Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster.
1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
1818 – The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.
1847 – Shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand Wars.
1853 – The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane.
1858 – The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is wound up.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle at Lee’s Mills in Virginia.
1862 – American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
1863 – American Civil War: During the Vicksburg Campaign, gunboats commanded by acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter run downriver past Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg.
1881 – In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
1910 – The oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena still used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.
1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
1917 – Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland.
1919 – Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of “prayer and fasting” in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier.
1919 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.
1922 – The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed.
1925 – During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
1941 – World War II: The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
1941 – World War II: The Nazi-affiliated Ustaše is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis powers after Operation 25 is effected.
1943 – Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19.
1944 – World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
1945 – The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).
1945 – More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.
1947 – An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.
1947 – Bernard Baruch first applies the term “Cold War” to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1972 – Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1990 – “Doctor Death”, Jack Kevorkian, participates in his first assisted suicide.
2001 – India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.
2003 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union.
2007 – Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho guns down 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide.
2012 – The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway.
2012 – The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
2013 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others.
2013 – The 2013 Baga massacre is started when Boko Haram militants engage government soldiers in Baga.
2014 – The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks near Jindo Island, killing 304 passengers and crew and leading to widespread criticism of the South Korean government, media, and shipping authorities.

Births on April 16

1435 – Jan II the Mad, Duke of Żagań (1439–1449 and 1461–1468 and again in 1472) (d. 1504)
1488 – Jungjong of Joseon (d. 1544)
1495 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1557)
1516 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (d. 1550)
1569 – John Davies, English poet and lawyer (d. 1626)
1635 – Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dutch painter (d. 1681)
1646 – Jules Hardouin-Mansart, French architect, designed the Château de Dampierre and Grand Trianon (d. 1708)
1660 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician and academic (d. 1753)
1661 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician, First Lord of the Treasury (d. 1715)
1682 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (d. 1744)
1697 – Johann Gottlieb Görner, German organist and composer (d. 1778)
1728 – Joseph Black, French-Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1799)
1730 – Henry Clinton, English general and politician (d. 1795)
1755 – Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)
1786 – John Franklin, English admiral and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen’s Land (d. 1847)
1800 – George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, English field marshal and politician (d. 1888)
1808 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1864)
1821 – Ford Madox Brown, French-English soldier and painter (d. 1893)
1823 – Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1852)
1826 – Sir James Corry, 1st Baronet, British politician (d. 1891)
1827 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian poet and bookseller (d. 1879)
1839 – Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, Italian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908)
1834 – Charles Lennox Richardson, English merchant (d. 1862)
1844 – Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
1847 – Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (d. 1906)
1848 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (d. 1919)
1851 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (d. 1930)
1864 – Rose Talbot Bullard, American medical doctor and professor (d. 1915)
1865 – Harry Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
1866 – José de Diego, Puerto Rican journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1918)
1867 – Wilbur Wright, American inventor (d. 1912)
1871 – John Millington Synge, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1909)
1874 – Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (d. 1936)
1878 – R. E. Foster, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1914)
1882 – Seth Bingham, American organist and composer (d. 1972)
1884 – Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, English cricketer, journalist, and politician (d. 1963)
1885 – Leó Weiner, Hungarian composer and educator (d. 1960)
1886 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek-American football player and javelin thrower (d. 1957)
1886 – Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)
1888 – Billy Minter, English footballer and manager (d. 1940)
1889 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1977)
1890 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (d. 1954)
1890 – Gertrude Chandler Warner, American author and educator (d. 1979)
1891 – Dorothy P. Lathrop, American author and illustrator (d. 1980)
1892 – Howard Mumford Jones, American author, critic, and academic (d. 1980)
1893 – Germaine Guèvremont, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1968)
1893 – John Norton, American hurdler (d. 1979)
1895 – Ove Arup, English-Danish engineer and businessman, founded Arup (d. 1988)
1896 – Robert Henry Best, American journalist (d. 1952)
1896 – Árpád Weisz, Hungarian footballer (d. 1944)
1899 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist and academic (d. 1988)
1900 – Polly Adler, Russian-American madam and author (d. 1962)
1903 – Paul Waner, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
1904 – Fifi D’Orsay, Canadian-American vaudevillian, actress, and singer (d. 1983)
1905 – Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
1907 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Bombardier Inc. (d. 1964)
1907 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (d. 1947)
1908 – Ellis Marsalis, Sr., American businessman and activist (d. 2004)
1908 – Ray Ventura, French jazz bandleader (d. 1979)
1910 – Berton Roueché, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
1911 – Guy Burgess, English-Russian spy (d. 1963)
1913 – Les Tremayne, English actor (d. 2003)
1914 – John Hodiak, American actor (d. 1955)
1915 – Robert Speck, Canadian politician, 1st Mayor of Mississauga (d. 1972)
1916 – Behçet Necatigil, Turkish author, poet, and translator (d. 1979)
1917 – Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, 18th Duchess of Medinaceli (d. 2013)
1917 – Barry Nelson, American actor (d. 2007)
1918 – Dick Gibson, English racing driver (d. 2010)
1918 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese-American monk and author (d. 1995)
1918 – Juozas Kazickas, Lithuanian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2014)
1918 – Spike Milligan, Irish actor, comedian, and writer (d. 2002)
1919 – Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
1919 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (d. 2011)
1919 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and National Museum of Anthropology (d. 2013)
1919 – Thomas Willmore, English geometer and academic (d. 2005)
1920 – Ananda Dassanayake, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2012)
1920 – Prince George Valdemar of Denmark (d. 1986)
1921 – Arlin M. Adams, American lawyer and judge (d. 2015)
1921 – Wolfgang Leonhard, German historian and author (d. 2014)
1921 – Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
1922 – Kingsley Amis, English novelist, poet, and critic (d. 1995)
1922 – John Christopher, English author (d. 2012)
1922 – Lawrence N. Guarino, American colonel (d. 2014)
1922 – Leo Tindemans, Belgian politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2014)
1923 – Warren Barker, American composer (d. 2006)
1923 – Arch A. Moore Jr., American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 28th Governor of West Virginia (d. 2015)
1924 – John Harvey-Jones, English academic and businessman (d. 2008)
1924 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (d. 1994)
1924 – Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist (d. 1976)
1924 – Madanjeet Singh, Indian diplomat, author, and philanthropist (d. 2013)
1926 – Pierre Fabre, French pharmacist, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (d. 2013)
1927 – Edie Adams, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
1927 – Pope Benedict XVI
1927 – Rolf Schult, German actor (d. 2013)
1928 – Dick Lane, American football player and soldier (d. 2002)
1929 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (d. 1969)
1929 – Ralph Slatyer, Australian biologist and ecologist (d. 2012)
1929 – Ed Townsend, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2003)
1930 – Doug Beasy, Australian footballer and educator (d. 2013)
1930 – Herbie Mann, American flute player and composer (d. 2003)
1932 – Maury Meyers, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014)
1933 – Marcos Alonso Imaz, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
1933 – Joan Bakewell, English journalist and author
1933 – Perry Botkin Jr., American composer, arranger and musician
1933 – Vera Krepkina, Russian long jumper
1933 – Ike Pappas, American journalist and actor (d. 2008)
1934 – Vince Hill, English singer-songwriter
1934 – Robert Stigwood, Australian producer and manager (d. 2016)
1934 – Barrie Unsworth, Australian politician, 36th Premier of New South Wales
1934 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (d. 2012)
1935 – Marcel Carrière, Canadian director and screenwriter
1935 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet and author (d. 2013)
1935 – Lennart Risberg, Swedish boxer (d. 2013)
1935 – Dominique Venner, French journalist and historian (d. 2013)
1935 – Bobby Vinton, American singer
1936 – Vadim Kuzmin, Russian physicist and academic (d. 2015)
1937 – Gert Potgieter, South African hurdler and coach
1938 – Rich Rollins, American baseball player
1938 – Gordon Wilson, Scottish lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
1939 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
1939 – Dusty Springfield, English singer and record producer (d. 1999)
1940 – Benoît Bouchard, Canadian academic and politician, 18th Canadian Minister of Transport
1940 – David Holford, Barbadian cricketer
1940 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
1940 – Joan Snyder, American painter
1940 – Thomas Stonor, 7th Baron Camoys, English banker and politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom
1941 – Allan Segal, American director and producer (d. 2012)
1942 – Jim Lonborg, American baseball pitcher
1942 – Sir Frank Williams, English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team
1943 – Lonesome Dave Peverett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2000)
1943 – Petro Tyschtschenko, Austrian-German businessman
1943 – John Watkins, Australian cricketer
1945 – Tom Allen, American lawyer and politician
1946 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
1946 – Ernst Bakker, Dutch politician (d. 2014)
1946 – Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (d. 2015)
1946 – R. Carlos Nakai, American flute player
1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach
1947 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
1948 – Reg Alcock, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Canadian President of the Treasury Board (d. 2011)
1950 – David Graf, American actor (d. 2001)
1950 – Colleen Hewett, Australian singer and actress
1951 – Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian author and photographer
1951 – David Nutt, English psychiatrist and academic
1952 – Bill Belichick, American football player and coach
1952 – Michel Blanc, French actor and director
1952 – Esther Roth-Shahamorov, Israeli sprinter and hurdler
1952 – Billy West, American voice actor, singer-songwriter, and comedian
1953 – Peter Garrett, Australian singer-songwriter and politician
1953 – Jay O. Sanders, American actor
1954 – Ellen Barkin, American actress
1954 – John Bowe, Australian racing driver
1954 – Mike Zuke, Canadian ice hockey player
1955 – Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager
1955 – Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
1956 – David M. Brown, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
1956 – T Lavitz, American keyboard player, composer, and producer (d. 2010)
1956 – Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
1957 – Patricia De Martelaere, Belgian philosopher, author, and academic (d. 2009)
1958 – Tim Flach, English photographer and director
1958 – Ulf Wakenius, Swedish guitarist
1959 – Alison Ramsay, English-Scottish field hockey player and lawyer
1960 – Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
1960 – Rafael Benítez, Spanish footballer and manager
1960 – Pierre Littbarski, German footballer and manager
1961 – Jarbom Gamlin, Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (d. 2014)
1961 – Linda Ruth Williams, British film studies academic
1962 – Anna Dello Russo, Italian journalist
1962 – Douglas Elmendorf, American economist and politician
1962 – Ian MacKaye, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1963 – Saleem Malik, Pakistani cricketer
1963 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer
1964 – David Kohan, American screenwriter and producer
1964 – Dave Pirner, American singer, songwriter and producer
1964 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish pianist (d. 2008)
1965 – Yves-François Blanchet, Canadian politician
1965 – Jon Cryer, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Martin Lawrence, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Jarle Vespestad, Norwegian drummer
1966 – Jeff Varner, American newscaster and reality television personality
1968 – Vickie Guerrero, American wrestler and manager
1968 – Rüdiger Stenzel, German runner
1969 – Patrik Järbyn, Swedish skier
1969 – Fernando Viña, American baseball player and sportscaster
1970 – Dero Goi, German singer-songwriter and drummer
1970 – Walt Williams, American basketball player
1971 – Cameron Blades, Australian rugby player
1971 – Selena, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer (d. 1995)
1971 – Seigo Yamamoto, Japanese racing driver
1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Belarusian tennis player
1972 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish-American tennis player
1972 – Tracy K. Smith, American poet and educator
1973 – Akon, Senegalese-American singer, rapper and songwriter
1973 – Charlotta Sörenstam, Swedish golfer
1973 – Teddy Cobeña, Spanish-Ecuadorian expressionist and representational sculptor
1975 – Keon Clark, American basketball player
1976 – Lukas Haas, American actor and musician
1976 – Kelli O’Hara, American actress and singer
1977 – Freddie Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
1979 – Christijan Albers, Dutch racing driver
1979 – Lars Börgeling, German pole vaulter
1979 – Daniel Browne, New Zealand rugby player
1981 – Anestis Agritis, Greek footballer
1981 – Maya Dunietz, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist
1981 – Matthieu Proulx, Canadian football player
1982 – Gina Carano, American mixed martial artist and actress
1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player
1982 – Jonathan Vilma, American football player
1983 – Marié Digby, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1983 – Cat Osterman, American softball player
1984 – Teddy Blass, American composer and producer
1984 – Claire Foy, English actress
1984 – Tucker Fredricks, American speed skater
1984 – Paweł Kieszek, Polish footballer
1984 – Kerron Stewart, Jamaican sprinter
1985 – Luol Deng, Sudanese-English basketball player
1985 – Brendon Leonard, New Zealand rugby player
1985 – Benjamín Rojas, Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor
1985 – Taye Taiwo, Nigerian footballer
1986 – Paul di Resta, Scottish racing driver
1986 – Shinji Okazaki, Japanese footballer
1986 – Peter Regin, Danish ice hockey player
1986 – Epke Zonderland, Dutch gymnast
1987 – Cenk Akyol, Turkish basketball player
1987 – Aaron Lennon, English international footballer
1988 – Kyle Okposo, American ice hockey player
1990 – Reggie Jackson, American basketball player
1990 – Vangelis Mantzaris, Greek basketball player
1990 – Tony McQuay, American sprinter
1990 – Travis Shaw, American baseball player
1991 – Nolan Arenado, American baseball player
1991 – Kim Kyung-jung, South Korean footballer
1993 – Mirai Nagasu, American figure skater
1993 – Chance the Rapper, American rapper
1994 – Albert Almora, American baseball player
1994 – Will Fuller, American football player
2002 – Sadie Sink, American actress

Deaths on April 16

AD 69 – Otho, Roman emperor (b. AD 32)
665 – Fructuosus of Braga, French archbishop and saint
1090 – Sikelgaita, duchess of Apulia (b. c. 1040)
1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev (b. 1050)
1118 – Adelaide del Vasto, regent of Sicily, mother of Roger II of Sicily, queen of Baldwin I of Jerusalem
1198 – Frederick I, Duke of Austria (b. 1175)
1234 – Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (b. 1191)
1375 – John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English nobleman and soldier (b. 1347)
1496 – Charles II, Duke of Savoy (b. 1489)
1587 – Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (b. 1497)
1640 – Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (b. 1579)
1645 – Tobias Hume, Scottish soldier, viol player, and composer (b. 1569)
1687 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English poet and politician, Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire (b. 1628)
1689 – Aphra Behn, English author and playwright (b. 1640)
1742 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet and translator (b. 1672)
1756 – Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (b. 1677)
1783 – Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer and educator (b. 1719)
1788 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (b. 1707)
1828 – Francisco Goya, Spanish-French painter and illustrator (b. 1746)
1846 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (b. 1763)
1850 – Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (b. 1761)
1859 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1805)
1879 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (b. 1844)
1888 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist and chemist (b. 1845)
1899 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino journalist and activist (b. 1875)
1904 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (b. 1888)
1904 – Samuel Smiles, Scottish-English author (b. 1812)
1914 – George William Hill, American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1838)
1915 – Nelson W. Aldrich, American businessman and politician (b. 1841)
1925 – Stefan Nerezov, Bulgarian general (b. 1867)
1928 – Henry Birks, Canadian businessman, founded Henry Birks and Sons (b. 1840)
1928 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrestler (b. 1900)
1930 – José Carlos Mariátegui, Peruvian journalist, philosopher, and activist (b. 1894)
1935 – Panait Istrati, Romanian journalist and author (b. 1884)
1937 – Jay Johnson Morrow, American military engineer and politician, 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (b. 1870)
1938 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and manager (b. 1874)
1941 – Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, English economist and civil servant (b. 1880)
1942 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1878)
1942 – Denis St. George Daly, Irish polo player (b. 1862)
1946 – Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver and engineer (b. 1884)
1947 – Rudolf Höss, German SS officer (b. 1900)
1950 – Eduard Oja, Estonian composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1905)
1950 – Anders Peter Nielsen, Danish target shooter (b. 1867)
1955 – David Kirkwood, Scottish engineer and politician (b. 1872)
1958 – Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist and academic (b. 1920)
1960 – Mihály Fekete, Hungarian actor, screenwriter and film director (b. 1884)
1961 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist and academic (b. 1912)
1965 – Francis Balfour, English soldier and colonial administrator (b. 1884)
1965 – Sydney Chaplin, English actor, comedian, brother of Charlie Chaplin (b. 1885)
1966 – Eric Lambert, Australian author (b. 1918)
1968 – Fay Bainter, American actress (b. 1893)
1968 – Edna Ferber, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1885)
1969 – Hem Vejakorn, Thai illustrator and painter (b. 1904)
1970 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (b. 1892)
1970 – Péter Veres, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Defence (b. 1897)
1972 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
1972 – Frank O’Connor, Australian public servant (b. 1894)
1973 – István Kertész, Hungarian conductor and educator (b. 1929)
1978 – Lucius D. Clay, American officer and military governor in occupied Germany (b. 1898)
1980 – Morris Stoloff, American composer (b. 1898)
1985 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
1988 – Khalil al-Wazir, Palestinian commander, founded Fatah (b. 1935)
1988 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist (b. 1954)
1989 – Jocko Conlan, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1899)
1989 – Kaoru Ishikawa Japanese author and educator (b. 1915)
1989 – Miles Lawrence, English cricketer (b. 1940)
1989 – Hakkı Yeten, Turkish footballer and manager (b. 1910)
1991 – David Lean, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
1992 – Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)
1992 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian spy and activist (b. 1915)
1992 – Andy Russell, American singer and actor (b. 1919)
1994 – Paul-Émilien Dalpé, Canadian labor unionist (b. 1919)
1994 – Ralph Ellison, American novelist and critic (b. 1913)
1996 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (b. 1917)
1996 – Stavros Niarchos, Greek-Swiss businessman (b. 1909)
1997 – Esmeralda Arboleda Cadavid, Colombian politician (b. 1921)
1997 – Roland Topor, French actor, director, and painter (b. 1938)
1998 – Alberto Calderón, Argentinian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1920)
1998 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
1998 – Marie-Louise Meilleur, Canadian super-centenarian (b. 1880)
1999 – Skip Spence, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1946)
2001 – Robert Osterloh, American actor (b. 1918)
2001 – Michael Ritchie, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
2001 – Alec Stock, English footballer and manager (b. 1917)
2002 – Billy Ayre, English footballer and manager (b. 1952)
2002 – Ruth Fertel, American businesswoman, founded Ruth’s Chris Steak House (b. 1927)
2002 – Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
2003 – Graham Jarvis, Canadian actor (b. 1930)
2003 – Graham Stuart Thomas, English horticulturalist and author (b. 1909)
2005 – Kay Walsh, English actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
2007 – Frank Bateson, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1909)
2007 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1962)
2007 – Maria Lenk, Brazilian swimmer (b. 1915)
2007 – Chandrabose Suthaharan, Sri Lankan journalist
2008 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
2010 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general and convicted war criminal (b. 1949)
2010 – Daryl Gates, American police officer, created the D.A.R.E. Program (b. 1926)
2011 – Gerry Alexander, Jamaican cricketer and veterinarian (b. 1928)
2011 – Allan Blakeney, Canadian scholar and politician, 10th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1925)
2011 – Sol Saks, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1910)
2012 – Sári Barabás, Hungarian soprano (b. 1914)
2012 – Marian Biskup, Polish author and academic (b. 1922)
2012 – Alan Hacker, English clarinet player and conductor (b. 1938)
2012 – George Kunda, Zambian lawyer and politician, 11th Vice-President of Zambia (b. 1956)
2012 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (b. 1913)
2012 – Carlo Petrini, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1948)
2013 – Charles Bruzon, Gibraltarian politician (b. 1938)
2013 – Ali Kafi, Algerian colonel and politician (b. 1928)
2013 – Siegfried Ludwig, Austrian politician, 18th Governor of Lower Austria (b. 1926)
2013 – Pentti Lund, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
2013 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1909)
2013 – Pat Summerall, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1930)
2013 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and National Museum of Anthropology (b. 1919)
2014 – Gyude Bryant, Liberian businessman and politician (b. 1949)
2014 – Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (b. 1929)
2014 – Ernst Florian Winter, Austrian-American historian and political scientist (b. 1923)
2015 – Valery Belousov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1948)
2015 – Attaphol Buspakom, Thai footballer and manager (b. 1962)
2015 – Oles Buzina, Ukrainian journalist and author (b. 1969)
2015 – Stanislav Gross, Czech lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (b. 1969)
2016 – Charlie Hodge, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1933)
2018 – Harry Anderson, American actor and magician (b. 1952)
2018 – Jim Caine, British jazz pianist (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances on April 16

Christian feast day:
- Benedict Joseph Labre
- Bernadette Soubirous
- Drogo
- Fructuosus of Braga
- Isabella Gilmore (Church of England)
- Martyrs of Zaragoza
- Molly Brant (Konwatsijayenni) (Anglican Church of Canada, Episcopal Church)
- Turibius of Astorga
- April 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Birthday of José de Diego (Puerto Rico, United States)
Birthday of Queen Margrethe II (Denmark)
Emancipation Day (Washington, D.C., United States)
Foursquare Day (International observance)
Memorial Day for the Victims of the Holocaust (Hungary)
National Healthcare Decisions Day (United States)
Remembrance of Chemical Attack on Balisan and Sheikh Wasan (Iraqi Kurdistan)
World Voice Day

April 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

On the Roman calendar, this was known as the day before the nones of April (Latin: Prid. Non. Apr.).

April 4 in History

503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
1147 – Moscow is mentioned for the first time in the historical record, when it is named as a meeting place for two princes.
1268 – A five-year Byzantine–Venetian peace treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
1460 – Basel University is founded.
1581 – Francis Drake is knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world.
1609 – Moriscos are expelled from the Kingdom of Valencia.
1660 – Declaration of Breda by King Charles II of Great Britain promises, among other things, a general pardon to all royalists for crimes committed during the English Civil War and the Interregnum.
1721 – Sir Robert Walpole becomes the first British prime minister.
1768 – In London, Philip Astley stages the first modern circus.
1796 – Georges Cuvier delivers the first paleontological lecture.
1814 – Napoleon abdicates for the first time and names his son Napoleon II as Emperor of the French.
1818 – The United States Congress, affirming the Second Continental Congress, adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (20 at that time).
1841 – William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office, and setting the record for the briefest administration. Vice President John Tyler succeeds Harrison as President.
1850 – A large part of the English village of Cottenham burns to the ground in suspicious circumstances.
1850 – Los Angeles is incorporated as a city.
1859 – Bryant’s Minstrels debut “Dixie” in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show.
1865 – American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.
1866 – Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Dmitry Karakozov in the city of Saint Petersburg.
1873 – The Kennel Club is founded, the oldest and first official registry of purebred dogs in the world.
1875 – Vltava, composed by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana and also known by its German name Die Moldau, premiered in Prague.
1887 – Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.
1905 – In India, an earthquake hits the Kangra Valley, killing 20,000, and destroying most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala.
1913 – First Balkan War: Greek aviator Emmanouil Argyropoulos becomes the first pilot to die in the Hellenic Air Force when his plane crashes.
1925 – The Schutzstaffel (SS) is founded under Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party in Germany.
1933 – U.S. Navy airship USS Akron is wrecked off the New Jersey coast due to severe weather.
1939 – Faisal II becomes King of Iraq.
1944 – World War II: First bombardment of oil refineries in Bucharest by Anglo-American forces kills 3000 civilians.
1945 – World War II: American troops liberate Ohrdruf forced labor camp in Germany.
1945 – World War II: American troops capture Kassel.
1945 – World War II: Soviet troops liberate Hungary from German occupation and occupy the country themselves.
1949 – Cold War: Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
1958 – The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time in London.
1960 – France agrees to grant independence to the Mali Federation, a union of Senegal and French Sudan.
1964 – The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
1965 – The first model of the new Saab Viggen fighter aircraft is unveiled.
1967 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech in New York City’s Riverside Church.
1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
1968 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 6.
1968 – A.E.K. Athens B.C. becomes the first Greek team to win the European Basketball Cup.
1969 – Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.
1973 – The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City are officially dedicated.
1973 – A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, makes the last flight of Operation Homecoming.
1975 – Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
1975 – Vietnam War: A United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy transporting orphans, crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, killing 172 people.
1979 – Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.
1981 – Iran–Iraq War: The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force mounts an attack on H-3 Airbase and destroys about 50 Iraqi aircraft.
1983 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space.
1984 – President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.
1988 – Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.
1990 – The current flag of Hong Kong is adopted for post-colonial Hong Kong during the Third Session of the Seventh National People’s Congress.
1991 – Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collides with their airplane over an elementary school in Merion, Pennsylvania.
1994 – Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark found Netscape Communications Corporation under the name Mosaic Communications Corporation.
1996 – Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.
2002 – The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War.
2009 – France announces its return to full participation of its military forces within NATO.
2013 – More than 70 people are killed in a building collapse in Thane, India.
2020 – China holds a National day of mourning for martyrs who died in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease outbreak.

Births on April 4

188 – Caracalla, Roman emperor (d. 217)
1436 – Amalia of Saxony, Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut (d. 1501)
1490 – Vojtěch I of Pernstein, Bohemian nobleman (d. 1534)
1492 – Ambrosius Blarer, German-Swiss theologian and reformer (d. 1564)
1572 – William Strachey, English author (d. 1621)
1586 – Richard Saltonstall, English diplomat (d. 1661)
1593 – Edward Nicholas, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1669)
1640 – Gaspar Sanz, Spanish guitarist, composer, and priest (d. 1710)
1646 – Antoine Galland, French orientalist and archaeologist (d. 1715)
1648 – Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-English sculptor (d. 1721)
1676 – Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, Italian composer (d. 1760)
1688 – Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, French astronomer and cartographer (d. 1768)
1718 – Benjamin Kennicott, English theologian and scholar (d. 1783)
1752 – Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, Italian composer (d. 1837)
1760 – Juan Manuel Olivares, Venezuelan organist and composer (d. 1797)
1762 – Stephen Storace, English actor and composer (d. 1796)
1772 – Nachman of Breslov, Ukrainian founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement (d. 1810)
1780 – Edward Hicks, American minister and painter (d. 1849)
1785 – Bettina von Arnim, German author, illustrator, and composer (d. 1859)
1792 – Thaddeus Stevens, American lawyer and politician (d. 1868)
1802 – Dorothea Dix, American nurse and activist (d. 1887)
1818 – Thomas Mayne Reid, Irish-American author and poet (d. 1883)
1819 – Maria II of Portugal (d. 1853)
1821 – Linus Yale, Jr., American engineer and businessman (d. 1868)
1826 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (d. 1901)
1829 – Owen Suffolk, Australian bushranger, poet, confidence-man and author
1835 – John Hughlings Jackson, English physician and neurologist (d. 1911)
1842 – Édouard Lucas, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1891)
1843 – William Henry Jackson, American painter and photographer (d. 1942)
1846 – Comte de Lautréamont, Uruguayan-French poet and educator (d. 1870)
1851 – James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, Irish lawyer and politician (d. 1931)
1853 – Remy de Gourmont, French poet, novelist, and critic (d. 1915)
1868 – Philippa Fawcett, English mathematician and educator (d. 1948)
1869 – Mary Colter, American architect, designed the Desert View Watchtower (d. 1958)
1875 – Pierre Monteux, Sephardic Jewish French-American viola player and conductor (d. 1964)
1876 – Maurice de Vlaminck, French painter and poet (d. 1958)
1878 – Stylianos Lykoudis, Greek admiral and historian (d. 1958)
1879 – Gustav Goßler, German rower (d. 1940)
1884 – James Alberione, Italian priest, founded the Society of St. Paul (d. 1971)
1884 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (d. 1943)
1886 – Frank Luther Mott, American historian and journalist (d. 1964)
1888 – Tris Speaker, American baseball player and manager (d. 1958)
1888 – Zdzisław Żygulski, Sr., Polish historian and academic (d. 1975)
1889 – Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Indian journalist, poet, and playwright (d. 1968)
1892 – Italo Mus, Italian painter (d. 1967)
1895 – Arthur Murray, American dancer and educator (d. 1991)
1896 – Robert E. Sherwood, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1955)
1897 – Pierre Fresnay, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1975)
1898 – Agnes Ayres, American actress (d. 1940)
1899 – Hillel Oppenheimer, German-Israeli botanist and academic (d. 1971)
1902 – Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin, French journalist and author (d. 1969)
1902 – Stanley G. Weinbaum, American author and poet (d. 1935)
1905 – Eugène Bozza, French composer and conductor (d. 1991)
1905 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect and engineer (d. 1987)
1906 – Bea Benaderet, Turkish-Jewish Irish-American television, radio, and voice actress (d. 1968)
1906 – John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (d. 1995)
1907 – Robert Askin, Australian sergeant and politician, 32nd Premier of New South Wales (d. 1981)
1910 – Đặng Văn Ngữ, Vietnamese physician and academic (d. 1967)
1911 – Max Dupain, Australian photographer (d. 1992)
1913 – Dave Brown, Australian rugby league player (d. 1974)
1913 – Rosemary Lane, American actress and singer (d. 1974)
1913 – Frances Langford, American actress and singer (d. 2005)
1913 – Jules Léger, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Governor General of Canada (d. 1980)
1913 – Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1983)
1914 – Richard Coogan, American actor (d. 2014)
1914 – Marguerite Duras, French novelist, screenwriter, and director (d. 1996)
1914 – David W. Goodall, Australian ecologist and botanist (d. 2018)
1915 – Louis Archambault, Canadian sculptor (d. 2003)
1916 – Nikola Ljubičić, Serbian general and politician, 10th President of Serbia (d. 2005)
1916 – Mickey Owen, American baseball player and coach (d. 2005)
1916 – David White, American actor (d. 1990)
1918 – George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, English soldier and politician, Leader of the House of Lords (d. 2007)
1920 – Orunamamu, American-Canadian author and educator (d. 2014)
1920 – Ignatius IV of Antioch, Greek patriarch (d. 2012)
1921 – Elizabeth Wilson, American actress (d. 2015)
1922 – Elmer Bernstein, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
1923 – Peter Vaughan, English actor (d. 2016)
1923 – Gene Reynolds, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2020)
1924 – Bob Christie, American race car driver (d. 2009)
1924 – Gil Hodges, American baseball player and manager (d. 1972)
1925 – Dettmar Cramer, German footballer and manager (d. 2015)
1925 – Frank Truitt, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
1925 – Claude Wagner, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1979)
1925 – Emmett Williams, American poet and author (d. 2007)
1926 – Mildred Fay Jefferson, American physician and activist (d. 2010)
1926 – Ronnie Masterson, Irish actress (d. 2014)
1927 – Joe Orlando, Italian-American author and illustrator (d. 1998)
1928 – Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet (d. 2014)
1928 – Estelle Harris, American actress and comedian
1928 – Jimmy Logan, Scottish actor, director, and producer (d. 2001)
1928 – Monty Norman, English singer-songwriter and producer
1929 – Humbert Allen Astredo, American actor (d. 2016)
1930 – Netty Herawaty, Indonesian actress (d. 1989)
1931 – James Dickens, English politician (d. 2013)
1931 – Bobby Ray Inman, American admiral and intelligence officer
1931 – Catherine Tizard, New Zealand politician, 16th Governor-General of New Zealand
1932 – Clive Davis, American record producer, founded Arista Records and J Records
1932 – Richard Lugar, American lieutenant and politician, 44th Mayor of Indianapolis (d. 2019)
1932 – Anthony Perkins, American actor (d. 1992)
1932 – Johanna Reiss, Dutch-American author
1932 – Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian director and producer (d. 1986)
1933 – Bill France, Jr., American businessman (d. 2007)
1933 – Brian Hewson, English runner
1933 – Bapu Nadkarni, Indian cricketer (d. 2020)
1934 – Helen Hanft, American actress (d. 2013)
1934 – Kronid Lyubarsky, Russian journalist and activist (d. 1996)
1935 – Geoff Braybrooke, English-New Zealand soldier and politician (d. 2013)
1935 – Kenneth Mars, American actor and comedian (d. 2011)
1935 – Trevor Griffiths, English playwright and educator
1938 – A. Bartlett Giamatti, American businessman and academic (d. 1989)
1939 – JoAnne Carner, American golfer
1939 – Darlene Hooley, American educator and politician
1939 – Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer (d. 2018)
1940 – Richard Attwood, English race car driver
1940 – Sharon Sheeley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
1942 – Jim Fregosi, American baseball player and manager (d. 2014)
1942 – Kitty Kelley, American journalist and biographer
1942 – Elizabeth Levy, American author
1944 – Magda Aelvoet, Belgian politician
1944 – Mary Kenny, Irish journalist, author, and playwright
1944 – Bob McDill, American country music songwriter
1944 – Craig T. Nelson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1944 – Nelson Prudêncio, Brazilian triple jumper and educator (d. 2012)
1944 – Toktamış Ateş, Turkish academician, political commentator, columnist and writer (d. 2013)
1945 – Daniel Cohn-Bendit, French-German educator and politician
1945 – Caroline McWilliams, American actress (d. 2010)
1946 – Colin Coates, Australian speed skater
1946 – Dave Hill, English guitarist
1946 – Katsuaki Satō, Japanese martial artist and coach
1946 – György Spiró, Hungarian author and playwright
1946 – Bubba Wyche, American football player and coach
1947 – Wiranto, Indonesian general and politician
1947 – Ray Fosse, American baseball player and sportscaster
1947 – Eliseo Soriano, Filipino minister and television host
1948 – Abdullah Öcalan, Turkish activist
1948 – Berry Oakley, American bass player (d. 1972)
1948 – Richard Parsons, American lawyer and businessman
1948 – Dan Simmons, American author
1948 – Derek Thompson, Northern Irish actor
1948 – Pick Withers, English drummer
1949 – Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican-American singer (d. 1999)
1949 – Shing-Tung Yau, Chinese-American mathematician and academic
1950 – Christine Lahti, American actress and director
1951 – John Hannah, American football player and coach
1952 – Rosemarie Ackermann, German high jumper
1952 – Pat Burns, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2010)
1952 – Gregg Hansford, Australian race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 1995)
1952 – Cherie Lunghi, English actress and dancer
1952 – Karen Magnussen, Canadian figure skater and coach
1952 – Gary Moore, Northern Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2011)
1952 – Villy Søvndal, Danish educator and politician, Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs
1953 – Robert Bertrand, Canadian politician
1953 – Henry Fotheringham, South African cricketer
1953 – Simcha Jacobovici, Canadian director, producer, journalist, and author
1953 – Sammy Wilson, Northern Irish politician, 31st Lord Mayor of Belfast
1953 – Chen Yi, Chinese violinist and composer
1956 – Evelyn Hart, Canadian ballerina
1956 – Tom Herr, American baseball player and manager
1956 – David E. Kelley, American screenwriter and producer
1957 – Paul Downton, English cricketer
1957 – Aki Kaurismäki, Finnish director, producer, and screenwriter
1957 – Graeme Kelling, Scottish guitarist (d. 2004)
1957 – Nobuyoshi Kuwano, Japanese singer and trumpet player
1958 – Peter Baltes, German bass player
1958 – Cazuza, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 1990)
1958 – Rodney Eade, Australian footballer and coach
1959 – Phil Morris, American actor and screenwriter
1960 – Jonathan Agnew, English cricketer and sportscaster
1960 – Jane Eaglen, English soprano
1960 – Hugo Weaving, Nigerian-Australian actor and producer
1960 – Godknows Igali, Nigerian diplomat, civil servant and technocrat
1961 – Hildi Santo-Tomas, American interior decorator
1962 – Craig Adams, English bass player and songwriter
1962 – Kailasho Devi, Indian social worker and politician
1963 – A. Michael Baldwin, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – Jack Del Rio, American football player and coach
1963 – Dale Hawerchuk, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1963 – Jane McDonald, English singer and broadcaster
1963 – Graham Norton, Irish actor and talk show host
1964 – Branco, Brazilian footballer and coach
1964 – Dr. Chud, American drummer and singer
1964 – Anthony Clark, American actor
1964 – David Cross, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1964 – Paul Parker, England international footballer, right-back and TV pundit
1964 – Đặng Thân, Vietnamese writer and poet
1965 – Vinny Burns, English guitarist and producer
1965 – Robert Downey Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Nancy McKeon, American actress
1966 – Mike Starr, American bass player (d. 2011)
1966 – Christos Tsekos, Greek basketball player
1967 – Edith Masai, Kenyan-German runner
1967 – George Mavrotas, Greek water polo player and politician
1968 – Jesús Rollán, Spanish water polo player (d. 2006)
1969 – Piotr Anderszewski, Polish pianist and composer
1969 – Karren Brady, English journalist and businesswoman
1970 – Georgios Amanatidis, Greek footballer and manager
1970 – Greg Garcia, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1970 – Barry Pepper, Canadian actor and producer
1970 – Jason Stoltenberg, Australian tennis player
1970 – Josh Todd, American singer-songwriter and actor
1970 – Yelena Yelesina, Russian high jumper
1971 – Yanic Perreault, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1971 – Malik Yusef, American actor, producer, and poet
1971 – John Zandig, American wrestler and promoter
1972 – Jim Dymock, Australian rugby league player and coach
1972 – Jill Scott, American singer-songwriter and actress
1972 – Magnus Sveningsson, Swedish bass player
1973 – Chris Banks, American football player (d. 2014)
1973 – David Blaine, American magician and producer
1973 – Loris Capirossi, Italian motorcycle racer
1973 – Peter Hoekstra, Dutch footballer and coach
1973 – Chris McCormack, Australian triathlete and coach
1973 – Kelly Price, American singer-songwriter
1975 – Delphine Arnault, French businesswoman
1975 – Thobias Fredriksson, Swedish skier
1975 – Joyce Giraud, Puerto Rican-American model, television actress and producer, Miss Puerto Rico 1994
1975 – Pamela Ribon, American actress, screenwriter, and author
1975 – Miranda Lee Richards, American singer-songwriter
1975 – Scott Rolen, American baseball player
1975 – Kevin Weekes, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1976 – Nathan Blacklock, Australian rugby player
1976 – Sébastien Enjolras, French race car driver (d. 1997)
1976 – Emerson Ferreira da Rosa, Brazilian footballer
1976 – James Roday, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1977 – Stephan Bonnar, American mixed martial artist
1977 – Keith Bulluck, American football player and sportscaster
1977 – Adam Dutkiewicz, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1977 – Stephen Mulhern, English magician and television host
1977 – Omarr Smith, American football player and coach
1978 – Jason Ellison, American baseball player and scout
1978 – Alan Mahon, Irish footballer
1979 – Heath Ledger, Australian actor (d. 2008)
1979 – Roberto Luongo, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Natasha Lyonne, American actress
1979 – Andy McKee, American guitarist
1979 – Maksim Opalev, Russian canoeist
1980 – Johnny Borrell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1980 – Trevor Moore, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1980 – Eric Steinbach, American football player
1980 – Björn Wirdheim, Swedish race car driver
1981 – Currensy, American rapper
1981 – Eduardo Luís Carloto, Brazilian footballer
1981 – Casey Daigle, American baseball player
1981 – Anna Pyatykh, Russian triple jumper
1981 – Ned Vizzini, American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1982 – Justin Cook, American voice actor and producer
1982 – Magnus Lindgren, Swedish chef (d. 2012)
1983 – Evgeny Artyukhin, Russian ice hockey player
1983 – Eric Andre, American comedian
1983 – Ben Gordon, American basketball player
1983 – Doug Lynch, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Natalie Pike, Scottish-English model and actress
1983 – Amanda Righetti, American actress
1984 – Sean May, American basketball player
1984 – Arkady Vyatchanin, Russian swimmer
1985 – Rudy Fernández, Spanish basketball player
1985 – Dudi Sela, Israeli tennis player
1985 – Ricardo Vilar, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Eunhyuk, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
1986 – Cameron Barker, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – Maurice Manificat, French skier
1986 – Aiden McGeady, Scottish-born Irish footballer
1986 – Alexander Tettey, Norwegian footballer
1987 – Sami Khedira, German footballer
1987 – McDonald Mariga, Kenyan footballer
1987 – Cameron Maybin, American baseball player
1987 – Marcos Vellidis, Greek footballer
1987 – Sarah Gadon, Canadian actress
1988 – Frank Fielding, English footballer
1989 – Vurnon Anita, Dutch footballer
1989 – Steven Finn, English cricketer
1989 – Chris Herd, Australian footballer
1991 – Yui Koike, Japanese singer and actress
1991 – Justin O’Neill, Australian rugby league player
1991 – Jamie Lynn Spears, American actress and singer
1991 – Marlon Stöckinger, Filipino race car driver
1992 – Lucy May Barker, English actress and singer
1992 – Christina Metaxa, Cypriot singer-songwriter
1992 – Ricky Dillon, American youtuber and singer
1993 – Samir Carruthers, English footballer
1993 – Frank Kaminsky, American basketball player
1994 – Shunsuke Nishikawa, Japanese actor
1994 – Risako Sugaya, Japanese singer and actress
1996 – Austin Mahone, American singer-songwriter and actor

Deaths on April 4

397 – Ambrose, Roman archbishop and saint (b. 338)
636 – Isidore of Seville, Spanish archbishop and saint (b. 560)
814 – Plato of Sakkoudion, Byzantine monk and saint (b. 735)
896 – Formosus, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 816)
911 – Liu Yin, Chinese warlord and governor (b. 874)
931 – Kong Xun, Chinese official and governor (b. 884)
968 – Abu Firas al-Hamdani, Arab prince and poet (b. 932)
991 – Reginold, bishop of Eichstätt
1284 – Alfonso X, king of Castile and León (b. 1221)
1292 – Nicholas IV, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1227)
1406 – Robert III, king of Scotland (b.1337)
1483 – Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (b. c. 1405)
1536 – Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (b. 1460)
1538 – Elena Glinskaya, Grand Princess and regent of Russia
1588 – Frederick II, king of Denmark and Norway (b. 1534)
1596 – Philip II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (b. 1533)
1609 – Carolus Clusius, Flemish botanist, mycologist, and academic (b. 1526)
1617 – John Napier, Scottish mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1550)
1643 – Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian and academic (b. 1583)
1661 – Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, Scottish field marshal (b. 1580)
1743 – Daniel Neal, English historian and author (b. 1678)
1761 – Théodore Gardelle, Swiss painter (b. 1722)
1766 – John Taylor, English librarian and scholar (b. 1704)
1774 – Oliver Goldsmith, Irish novelist, playwright and poet (b. 1728)
1792 – James Sykes, American lawyer and politician (b. 1725)
1807 – Jérôme Lalande, French astronomer and academic (b. 1732)
1817 – André Masséna, French general (b. 1758)
1841 – William Henry Harrison, American general and politician, 9th President of the United States (b. 1773)
1846 – Solomon Sibley, American lawyer and politician, 1st Mayor of Detroit (b. 1769)
1861 – John McLean, American jurist and politician, 6th United States Postmaster General (b. 1785)
1863 – Ludwig Emil Grimm, German painter and engraver (b. 1790)
1864 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American commander and paleontologist (b. 1808)
1870 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (b. 1802)
1874 – Charles Ernest Beulé, French archaeologist and politician (b. 1826)
1875 – Karl Mauch, German geographer and explorer (b. 1837)
1878 – Richard M. Brewer, American criminal (b. 1850)
1879 – Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, German physicist and meteorologist (b. 1803)
1883 – Peter Cooper, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Cooper Union (b. 1791)
1890 – Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of Quebec (b. 1820)
1890 – Edmond Hébert, French geologist and academic (b. 1812)
1912 – Charles Brantley Aycock, American lawyer and politician, 50th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1859)
1912 – Isaac K. Funk, American minister, lexicographer, and publisher, co-founded Funk & Wagnalls (b. 1839)
1919 – William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (b. 1832)
1919 – Francisco Marto, Portuguese saint (b. 1908)
1923 – John Venn, English mathematician and philosopher, created the Venn diagram (b. 1834)
1929 – Karl Benz, German engineer and businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz (b. 1844)
1931 – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (b. 1853)
1932 – Wilhelm Ostwald, Latvian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
1933 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American author and educator (b. 1842)
1941 – Emine Nazikedâ Kadınefendi, the first wife and chief consort of Sultan Mehmed VI (b. 1866)
1944 – Morris H. Whitehouse, American architect (b. 1878)^[14]
1951 – George Albert Smith, American religious leader, 8th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1870)
1953 – Carol II of Romania (b. 1893)
1957 – E. Herbert Norman, Canadian historian and diplomat (b. 1909)
1958 – Johnny Stompanato, American soldier and bodyguard (b. 1925)
1961 – Harald Riipalu, Estonian military commander (b. 1912)
1961 – Simion Stoilow, Romanian mathematician and academic (b. 1873)
1967 – Al Lewis, American songwriter (b. 1901)
1967 – Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer and manager (b. 1898)
1968 – Martin Luther King Jr., American minister and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (assassinated)(b. 1929)
1972 – Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., American pastor and politician (b. 1908)
1972 – Stefan Wolpe, German-American composer and academic (b. 1902)
1976 – Harry Nyquist, Swedish engineer and theorist (b. 1889)
1977 – Andrey Dikiy, Ukrainian-American journalist, historian, and politician (b. 1893)
1979 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th President of Pakistan (b. 1928)
1979 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (b. 1903)
1980 – Red Sovine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1917)
1983 – Gloria Swanson, American actress (b. 1899)
1983 – Bernard Vukas, Croatian football player, played for 1953 FIFA’s “Rest of the World” team against England at Wembley (b. 1927)
1984 – Oleg Antonov, Russian-Ukrainian engineer and businessman, founded Antonov (b. 1906)
1985 – Kate Roberts, Welsh author and activist (b. 1891)
1987 – C. L. Moore, American author and academic (b. 1911)
1987 – Chögyam Trungpa, Tibetan guru, poet, and scholar (b. 1939)
1987 – Sachchidananda Vatsyayan, Indian journalist and author (b. 1911)
1991 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (b. 1920)
1991 – Max Frisch, Swiss playwright and novelist (b. 1911)
1991 – H. John Heinz III, American soldier and politician (b. 1938)
1991 – Graham Ingels, American illustrator (b. 1915)
1992 – Yvette Brind’Amour, Canadian actress and director (b. 1918)
1992 – Jack Hamilton, Australian footballer (b. 1928)
1992 – Arthur Russell, American singer-songwriter and cellist (b. 1951)
1993 – Alfred Mosher Butts, American game designer, invented Scrabble (b. 1899)
1993 – Douglas Leopold, Canadian radio and television host (b. 1947)
1995 – Kenny Everett, English radio and television host (b. 1944)
1995 – Priscilla Lane, American actress (b. 1915)
1996 – Barney Ewell, American runner and long jumper (b. 1918)
1996 – Boone Guyton, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1913)
1997 – Leo Picard, German-Israeli geologist and academic (b. 1900)
1997 – Alparslan Türkeş, Turkish colonel and politician, 39th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1917)
1999 – Lucille Lortel, American actress, artistic director and producer (b. 1900)
1999 – Early Wynn, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1920)
2001 – Liisi Oterma, Finnish astronomer (b. 1915)
2001 – Ed Roth, American illustrator and engineer (b. 1932)
2001 – Maury Van Vliet, American-Canadian academic (b. 1913)
2003 – Anthony Caruso, American actor (b. 1916)
2004 – Briek Schotte, Belgian cyclist and coach (b. 1919)
2005 – Edward Bronfman, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1924)
2007 – Bob Clark, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1941)
2007 – Karen Spärck Jones, English computer scientist and academic (b. 1935)
2008 – Francis Tucker, South African race car driver (b. 1923)
2009 – Maxine Cooper, American actress, activist and photographer (b. 1924)
2011 – Scott Columbus, American drummer (b. 1956)
2011 – Juliano Mer-Khamis, Israeli actor, director, and activist (b. 1958)
2012 – A. Dean Byrd, American psychologist and academic (b. 1948)
2012 – Anne Karin Elstad, Norwegian author and educator (b. 1938)
2012 – Claude Miller, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
2012 – Dubravko Pavličić, Croatian footballer (b. 1967)
2012 – Roberto Rexach Benítez, American-Puerto Rican academic and politician, 10th President of the Senate of Puerto Rico (b. 1929)
2013 – Bengt Blomgren, Swedish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
2013 – Roger Ebert, American journalist, critic, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
2013 – Carmine Infantino, American illustrator (b. 1925)
2013 – Tommy Tycho, Hungarian-Australian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1928)
2013 – Ian Walsh, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1933)
2013 – Noboru Yamaguchi, Japanese author (b. 1972)
2014 – İsmet Atlı, Turkish wrestler and trainer (b. 1931)
2014 – Wayne Henderson, American trombonist and producer (b. 1939)
2014 – Kumba Ialá, Bissau-Guinean soldier and politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1953)
2014 – Margo MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician (b. 1943)
2014 – Curtis Bill Pepper, American journalist and author (b. 1917)
2014 – Muhammad Qutb, Egyptian author and academic (b. 1919)
2015 – Jamaluddin Jarjis, Malaysian engineer and politician (b. 1951)
2015 – Elmer Lach, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1918)
2015 – Donald N. Levine, American sociologist and academic (b. 1931)
2015 – Klaus Rifbjerg, Danish author and poet (b. 1931)
2016 – Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances on April 4

Children’s Day (Hong Kong, Taiwan)
Christian feast day:
- Benedict the Moor
- Gaetano Catanoso
- Isidore of Seville
- Martin Luther King Jr. (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Reginald Heber (Anglican Church of Canada)
- Tigernach of Clones
- April 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Senegal from France (1960).
Peace Day (Angola)^[15]
One of the possible days for Qingming Festival.

April 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

It is the last day of the first quarter of the year.

March 31 in History

307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian.
1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.
1492 – Queen Isabella of Castile issues the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.
1561 – The city of San Cristóbal, Táchira is founded.
1717 – A sermon on “The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ” by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, preached in the presence of King George I of Great Britain, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.
1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
1885 – The United Kingdom establishes the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.
1899 – Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by American forces.
1906 – The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.
1909 – Serbia formally withdraws its opposition to Austro-Hungarian actions in the Bosnian Crisis.
1913 – The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert.
1917 – According to the terms of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, the islands become American possessions.
1918 – Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed.
1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
1921 – The Royal Australian Air Force is formed.
1930 – The Motion Picture Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years.
1931 – An earthquake in Nicaragua destroys Managua; killing 2,000.
1931 – A Transcontinental & Western Air airliner crashes near Bazaar, Kansas, killing eight, including University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne.
1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States.
1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.
1945 – World War II: A defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world’s first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands.
1949 – The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.
1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
1957 – Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta are held. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government.
1958 – In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265.
1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
1964 – Brazilian General Olímpio Mourão Filho orders his troops to move towards Rio de Janeiro, beginning the coup d’état.
1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
1968 – American President Lyndon B. Johnson speaks to the nation of “Steps to Limit the War in Vietnam” in a television address. At the conclusion of his speech, he announces: “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
1970 – Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
1980 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.
1985 – The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
1990 – Approximately 200,000 protesters take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax.
1991 – Georgian independence referendum: Nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.
1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
1992 – The Treaty of Federation is signed in Moscow.
1995 – TAROM Flight 371, an Airbus A310-300, crashes near Balotesti, Romania, killing all 60 people on board.
1995 – Selena is murdered by her fan club’s president Yolanda Saldívar at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas after accusations of Saldívar embezzling money from Selena’s fan club.
1998 – Netscape releases Mozilla source code under an open source license.
2004 – Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.
2018 – Start of the 2018 Armenian revolution.

Births on March 31

1360 – Philippa of Lancaster (d. 1415)
1499 – Pope Pius IV (d. 1565)
1504 – Guru Angad, Indian religious leader (d. 1552)
1519 – Henry II of France (d. 1559)
1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun (d. 1565)
1596 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1650)
1601 – Jakov Mikalja, Italian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1654)
1621 – Andrew Marvell, English poet and politician (d. 1678)
1651 – Charles II, Elector Palatine, German husband of Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark (d. 1685)
1675 – Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758)
1718 – Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781)
1723 – Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766)
1730 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1783)
1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1809)
1740 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (d. 1849)
1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German pianist and composer (d. 1800)
1777 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer (d. 1859)
1778 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist and ornithologist (d. 1858)
1794 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1852)
1809 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet and translator (d. 1883)
1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright (d. 1852)
1809 – Otto Lindblad, Swedish composer (d. 1864)
1813 – Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (1858 and 1860–1862) (d. 1898)
1819 – Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (d. 1901)
1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886)
1833 – Mary Abigail Dodge, American writer and essayist (d. 1896)
1835 – John La Farge, American artist (d. 1910)
1847 – Hermann de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (d. 1904)
1847 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1878)
1851 – Francis Bell, Jewish New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936)
1855 – Alfred E. Hunt, American businessman (d. 1899)
1859 – Emil Fenyvessy, Hungarian actor and screenwriter (d. 1924)
1865 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, Indian physician (d. 1887)
1871 – Arthur Griffith, Irish journalist and politician, 3rd President of Dáil Éireann (d. 1922)
1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet manager and critic, founded the Ballets Russes (d. 1929)
1874 – Benjamín G. Hill, Mexican revolutionary general, governor of Sonora (d. 1920)
1874 – Henri Marteau, French violinist and composer (d. 1934)
1876 – Borisav Stanković, Serbian author (d. 1927)
1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (d. 1946)
1885 – Pascin, Sephardi Jewish Bulgarian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1930)
1890 – Ben Adams, American jumper (d. 1961)
1890 – William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
1891 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian-American actor and director (d. 1976)
1893 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor and manager (d. 1954)
1893 – Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt, German physician and historian (d. 1982)
1895 – Vardis Fisher, American author and academic (d. 1968)
1900 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974)
1905 – Robert Stevenson, English director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
1905 – George Treweek, Australian rugby league player (d. 1991)
1906 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
1908 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (d. 1999)
1911 – Freddie Green, American guitarist (d. 1987)
1911 – Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano (d. 1986)
1912 – William Lederer, American soldier and author (d. 2009)
1913 – Etta Baker, African-American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1914 – Dagmar Lange, Swedish author (d. 1991)
1915 – Albert Hourani, English historian and author (d. 1993)
1915 – Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese sergeant (d. 1997)
1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress (d. 2012)
1916 – Tommy Bolt, American golfer (d. 2008)
1916 – John H. Wood, Jr., American lawyer and judge (d. 1979)
1917 – Dorothy DeLay, American violinist and educator (d. 2002)
1918 – Ted Post, American director (d. 2013)
1919 – Frank Akins, American football player (d. 1993)
1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, British aristocrat, socialite and author (d. 2014)
1921 – Lowell Fulson, African-American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
1921 – Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director (d. 2011)
1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (d. 1999)
1922 – Patrick Magee, Irish actor (d. 1982)
1923 – Don Barksdale, American basketball player (d. 1993)
1923 – François Sermon, Belgian footballer (d. 2013)
1924 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and academic (d. 1998)
1924 – Charles Guggenheim, American director and producer (d. 2002)
1925 – Jean Coutu, Canadian actor and director (d. 1999)
1926 – John Fowles, English novelist (d. 2005)
1926 – Beni Montresor, Italian director, set designer, author, and illustrator (d. 2001)
1926 – Rocco Petrone, American colonel and engineer (d. 2006)
1927 – Cesar Chavez, American labor union leader and activist (d. 1993)
1927 – William Daniels, American actor
1927 – Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Spanish cardinal
1927 – Vladimir Ilyushin, Russian pilot (d. 2010)
1927 – Elmer Diedtrich, American businessman and politician (d. 2013)
1927 – Bud MacPherson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988)
1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne Inc. (d. 2007)
1929 – Bert Fields, American lawyer and author
1930 – Yehuda Nir, Polish Jewish-American psychiatrist (d. 2014)
1930 – Jim Mutscheller, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
1931 – Miller Barber, American golfer (d. 2013)
1931 – Tamara Tyshkevich, Belarusian shot putter (d. 1997)
1932 – John Jakes, American author
1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1933 – Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist (d. 1999)
1933 – Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983)
1934 – Richard Chamberlain, American actor
1934 – Shirley Jones, American actress and singer
1934 – John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
1934 – Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1934 – Kamala Surayya, Indian poet and author (d. 2009)
1935 – Herb Alpert, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer
1935 – Judith Rossner, Jewish-American author (d. 2005)
1936 – Marge Piercy, American poet and novelist
1936 – Walter E. Williams, American economist and academic
1938 – Patrick Bateson, English biologist and academic (d. 2017)
1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician, 22nd Governor of Kerala (d. 2019)
1938 – Antje Gleichfeld, German runner
1938 – Bill Hicke, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2005)
1938 – Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (d. 2005)
1938 – Arthur B. Rubinstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2018)
1938 – David Steel, Scottish academic and politician
1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia (d. 1993)
1939 – Israel Horovitz, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1939 – Walker David Miller, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
1939 – Volker Schlöndorff, German director and producer
1939 – Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
1940 – Brian Ackland-Snow, English production designer and art director (d. 2013)
1940 – Barney Frank, American lawyer and politician
1940 – Patrick Leahy, American lawyer and politician
1941 – Franco Bonvicini, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995)
1941 – Faith Leech, Australian swimmer (d. 2013)
1942 – Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician
1942 – Hugh McCracken, American guitarist and producer (d. 2013)
1942 – Michael Savage, far-right American radio host and author
1943 – Roy Andersson, Swedish director and screenwriter
1943 – Deirdre Clancy, English costume designer
1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor
1944 – Pascal Danel, French singer-songwriter
1944 – Angus King, American politician
1944 – Mick Ralphs, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Edwin Catmull, American computer scientist and engineer
1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian
1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995)
1946 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1984)
1946 – Bob Russell, English politician
1947 – Augustin Banyaga, Rwandan-American mathematician and academic
1947 – Wendy Overton, American tennis player
1947 – Kristian Blak, Danish-Faroese pianist, composer, and producer
1947 – Don Foster, English academic and politician
1947 – César Gaviria, Colombian economist and politician, 36th President of Colombia
1947 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist and economist (d. 2011)
1948 – Gary Doer, Canadian politician and diplomat, 20th Premier of Manitoba
1948 – Al Gore, American soldier and politician, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate
1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress
1948 – Gustaaf Van Cauter, Belgian cyclist
1949 – Gilles Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player
1950 – András Adorján, Hungarian chess player and author
1950 – Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor
1950 – Sandra Morgen, American anthropologist and academic (d. 2016)
1953 – Dennis Kamakahi, American guitarist and composer (d. 2014)
1955 – Svetozar Marović, President of Serbia and Montenegro
1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter
1957 – Alan Duncan, English businessman and politician, former Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
1959 – Markus Hediger, Swiss poet and translator
1959 – Anita Dillen, Dutch socialite and member of wealthy Dillen family, niece of Cor Dillen, Coen Dillen
1961 – Ron Brown, American sprinter and football player
1961 – Howard Gordon, American screenwriter and producer
1962 – Olli Rehn, Finnish footballer and politician
1963 – Paul Mercurio, Australian actor and dancer
1964 – Mark Hoban, English accountant and politician
1965 – Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player and coach
1965 – Patty Fendick, American tennis player and coach
1965 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (d. 2006)
1965 – William McNamara, American actor and producer
1965 – Steven T. Seagle, American author and screenwriter
1966 – Roger Black, English runner and journalist
1966 – Nick Firestone, American race car driver
1968 – César Sampaio, Brazilian footballer
1969 – Nyamko Sabuni, Burundian-Swedish politician
1969 – Steve Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster
1970 – Alenka Bratušek, Slovenian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Slovenia
1971 – Demetris Assiotis, Cypriot footballer
1971 – Martin Atkinson, English footballer and referee
1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
1971 – Craig McCracken, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
1972 – Alejandro Amenábar, Chilean-Spanish director and screenwriter
1972 – Andrew Bowen, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1972 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer and coach
1972 – Evan Williams, American businessman, co-founded Twitter and Pyra Labs
1973 – Christopher Hampson, English ballet dancer and choreographer
1974 – Benjamin Eicher, German director, producer, and screenwriter
1974 – Natali, Russian singer, composer and songwriter
1974 – Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bass player
1974 – Jani Sievinen, Finnish swimmer
1975 – Adam Green, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1975 – Nathan Grey, Australian rugby player and coach
1975 – Cameron Murray, Scottish rugby player
1975 – Ryan Rupe, American baseball player
1976 – Howard Frier, American basketball player
1976 – Igors Sļesarčuks, Latvian-Russian footballer
1976 – Graeme Smith, Scottish swimmer
1977 – Toshiya, Japanese bass player, songwriter, and producer
1977 – Garth Tander, Australian race car driver
1978 – Michael Clark, Australian cricketer and footballer
1978 – Stephen Clemence, English footballer, midfeider and manager
1978 – Jarrod Cooper, American football player
1978 – Jérôme Rothen, French footballer
1979 – Omri Afek, Israeli footballer
1979 – Euan Burton, Scottish martial artist and coach
1979 – Alexis Ferrero, Argentinian footballer
1979 – Charlie Manning, American baseball player
1979 – Jonna Mendes, American skier
1979 – Rhys Wesser, Australian rugby league player
1980 – Martin Albrechtsen, Danish footballer
1980 – Karolina Lassbo, Swedish lawyer and blogger
1980 – Matias Concha, Swedish footballer
1980 – Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1980 – Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Ryan Bingham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 – Thomas Chatelle, Belgian footballer
1981 – Han Tae-you, South Korean footballer
1981 – Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer
1981 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer
1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer
1982 – Bam Childress, American football player
1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter
1983 – Hashim Amla, South African cricketer
1983 – Ashleigh Ball, Canadian voice actress and musician
1983 – Sophie Hunger, Swiss-German musician
1983 – Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast
1983 – Nigel Plum, Australian rugby league player
1984 – David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Eddie Johnson, American soccer player
1984 – James Jones, American football player
1984 – Martins Dukurs, Latvian sled racer
1984 – Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete
1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer
1984 – Ed Williamson, English rugby player
1985 – Steve Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Jo-Lonn Dunbar, American football player
1985 – Jesper Hansen, Danish footballer
1985 – Ivan Mishyn, Ukrainian race car driver
1985 – Kory Sheets, American football player
1985 – Jalmar Sjöberg, Swedish wrestler
1986 – Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer
1986 – James King, Scottish rugby player
1986 – Paulo Machado, Portuguese footballer
1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer
1987 – Hugo Ayala, Mexican footballer
1987 – Amaury Bischoff, Portuguese footballer
1987 – Humpy Koneru, Indian chess player
1987 – Kirill Starkov, Danish ice hockey player
1987 – Nelli Zhiganshina, Russian figure skater
1988 – Thomas De Corte, Belgian footballer
1988 – Conrad Sewell, Australian singer and songwriter
1988 – Dorin Dickerson, American football player
1988 – DeAndre Liggins, American basketball player
1988 – Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer
1989 – Alberto Martín Romo García Adámez, Spanish footballer
1989 – Nejc Vidmar, Slovenian footballer
1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
1990 – George Iloka, American football player
1990 – Sandra Roma, Swedish tennis player
1990 – Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper
1991 – Milan Milanović, Serbian footballer
1991 – Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer
1992 – Stijn de Looijer, Dutch footballer
1992 – Adam Zampa, Australian cricketer
1993 – Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer
1994 – Samira Asghari, Afghan member of the International Olympic Committee
1994 – Tyler Wright, Australian surfer
1994 – Mads Würtz Schmidt, Danish road cyclist
1995 – Fiona Brown, footballer
1998 – Jakob Chychrun, American-born Canadian ice hockey player
1999 – Japhet Tanganga, English footballer

Deaths on March 31

32 BC – Titus Pomponius Atticus, Roman nobleman of the Equestrian order (b. 109 BC)
528 – Xiaoming, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 510)
963 – Abu Ja’far Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Saffarid emir (b. 906)
1241 – Pousa, voivode of Transylvania
1251 – William of Modena, Italian bishop and diplomat
1340 – Ivan I of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1288)
1342 – Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro, Italian Augustinian monk
1462 – Isidore II of Constantinople, patriarch of Constantinople
1491 – Bonaventura Tornielli, Italian Roman Catholic priest (b. 1411)
1547 – Francis I, French king (b. 1494)
1567 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1504)
1621 – Philip III, Spanish king (b. 1578)
1622 – Gonzalo Méndez de Canço, Royal Governor of La Florida (b. 1554)
1631 – John Donne, English lawyer and poet (b. 1572)
1671 – Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (b. 1637)
1723 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English soldier and politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1661)
1741 – Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch scholar and author (b. 1668)
1751 – Frederick, Prince of Wales, Hanoverian-born heir to the British throne (b. 1707)^{better source needed}
1797 – Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian merchant, author, and activist (b.1745)
1837 – John Constable, English painter and educator (b. 1776)
1850 – John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (b. 1782)
1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1816)
1877 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1801)
1880 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1835)
1885 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (b. 1819)
1907 – Galusha A. Grow, American lawyer and politician, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1823)
1910 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet, essayist and art critic (b. 1856)
1913 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier (b. 1837)
1915 – Wyndham Halswelle, English-Scottish runner and captain (b. 1882)
1917 – Emil von Behring, German physiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854)
1924 – George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator (b. 1855)
1927 – Kang Youwei, Chinese scholar and political reformer (b. 1858)
1930 – Ludwig Schüler, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1836)
1931 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (b. 1888)
1935 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman and diplomat, founded Prince Matchabelli perfume (b. 1885)
1939 – Ioannis Tsangaridis, Greek general (b. 1887)
1944 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (b. 1885)
1945 – Frank Findlay, New Zealand banker and politician (b. 1884)
1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
1950 – Robert Natus, Estonian architect (b. 1890)
1952 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1877)
1956 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-American race car driver and actor (b. 1884)
1968 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885)
1970 – Semyon Timoshenko, Soviet Commander during the Winter War and the Eastern Front of World War II (b. 1894)
1975 – Percy Alliss, English golfer (b. 1897)
1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer and director (b. 1890)
1978 – Astrid Allwyn, American actress (b. 1905)
1978 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (b. 1899)
1980 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author (b. 1905)
1980 – Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (b. 1913)
1981 – Enid Bagnold, English author and playwright (b. 1889)
1983 – Christina Stead, Australian author and academic (b. 1902)
1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (b. 1925)
1988 – William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
1993 – Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1965)
1993 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (b. 1900)
1995 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (b. 1971)
1996 – Dante Giacosa, Italian automobile designer and engineer (b. 1905)
1996 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
1998 – Bella Abzug, American lawyer, activist, and politician (b. 1920)
1998 – Tim Flock, American race car driver (b. 1924)
1998 – Joel Ryce-Menuhin, American pianist (b. 1933)
1999 – Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist and ethnographer (b. 1922)
2001 – David Rocastle, English footballer (b. 1967)
2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
2002 – Barry Took, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
2002 – Moturu Udayam, Indian activist and politician (b. 1924)
2003 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (b. 1907)
2003 – Anne Gwynne, American actress (b. 1918)
2003 – Tommy Seebach, Danish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1949)
2004 – Scott Helvenston, American soldier (b. 1965)
2005 – Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist and academic (b. 1951)
2005 – Justiniano Montano, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
2005 – Frank Perdue, American businessman (b. 1920)
2006 – Jackie McLean, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1931)
2007 – Paul Watzlawick, Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1921)
2008 – Jules Dassin, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1911)
2008 – Bill Keightley, American equipment manager (b. 1926)
2009 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (b. 1927)
2009 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and judge (b. 1911)
2011 – Gil Clancy, American boxer and trainer (b. 1922)
2011 – Alan Fitzgerald, Australian journalist and author (b. 1935)
2011 – Mary Greyeyes, the first First Nations woman to join the Canadian Armed Forces (b. 1920)
2011 – Oddvar Hansen, Norwegian footballer and coach (b. 1921)
2011 – Ishbel MacAskill, Scottish singer and actress (b. 1941)
2011 – Henry Taub, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
2012 – Judith Adams, New Zealand-Australian nurse and politician (b. 1943)
2012 – Dale R. Corson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
2012 – Bernard O. Gruenke, American stained glass artist (b. 1914)
2012 – Jerry Lynch, American baseball player (b. 1930)
2012 – Alberto Sughi, Italian painter (b. 1928)
2012 – Halbert White, American economist and academic (b. 1950)
2013 – Charles Amarin Brand, French archbishop (b. 1920)
2013 – Ernie Bridge, Australian singer and politician (b. 1936)
2013 – Bob Clarke, American illustrator (b. 1926)
2013 – Ahmad Sayyed Javadi, Iranian lawyer and politician, Iranian Minister of Interior (b. 1917)
2013 – Dmitri Uchaykin, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1980)
2014 – Gonzalo Anes, Spanish economist, historian, and academic (b. 1931)
2014 – Roger Somville, Belgian painter (b. 1923)
2015 – Betty Churcher, Australian painter, historian, and curator (b. 1931)
2015 – Cocoa Fujiwara, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1983)
2015 – Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian lawyer and politician (b. 1937)
2015 – Dalibor Vesely, Czech-English historian, author, and academic (b. 1934)
2016 – Ronnie Corbett, Scottish comedian, actor and screenwriter (b. 1930)
2016 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician (b. 1927)
2016 – Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-born English architect and academic, designed the Bridge Pavilion (b. 1950)
2016 – Imre Kertész, Hungarian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
2016 – Denise Robertson, British writer and television broadcaster (b. 1932)
2017 – Gilbert Baker, American artist and LGBT rights activist (b. 1951)
2017 – James Rosenquist, American artist (b. 1933)
2019 – Nipsey Hussle, American rapper (b. 1985)

Holidays and observances on March 31

Cesar Chavez Day (United States)
Christian feast day
- Abdas of Susa
- Acathius of Melitene (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Anesius and companions
- Benjamin
- Balbina
- John Donne (Anglican Communion, Lutheran)
- March 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijan)
Freedom Day (Malta)
International Transgender Day of Visibility
King Nangklao Memorial Day (Thailand)
Thomas Mundy Peterson Day (New Jersey, United States)
Transfer Day (US Virgin Islands)
World Backup Day

March 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

March 24th is the 365th and last day of the year in many European implementations of the Julian calendar.

March 24 in History

1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
1387 – English victory over a Franco-Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate off the coast of Margate.
1401 – Turco-Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus.
1603 – James VI of Scotland is proclaimed King James I of England and Ireland, upon the death of Elizabeth I.
1603 – Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shōgun from Emperor Go-Yōzei, and establishes the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, Japan.
1663 – The Province of Carolina is granted by charter to eight Lords Proprietor in reward for their assistance in restoring Charles II of England to the throne.
1720 – Count Frederick of Hesse-Kassel is elected King of Sweden by the Riksdag of the Estates, after his consort Ulrika Eleonora abdicated the throne on 29 February
1721 – Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated six concertos to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, now commonly called the Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051.
1731 – Naturalization of Hieronimus de Salis Parliamentary Act is passed.
1765 – Great Britain passes the Quartering Act, which requires the Thirteen Colonies to house British troops.
1794 – In Kraków, Tadeusz Kościuszko announces a general uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia, and assumes the powers of the Commander in Chief of all of the Polish forces.
1829 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.
1832 – In Hiram, Ohio, a group of men beat and tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith.
1854 – President José Gregorio Monagas abolishes slavery in Venezuela.
1860 – Sakuradamon Incident: Assassination of Japanese Chief Minister (Tairō) Ii Naosuke.
1869 – The last of Titokowaru’s forces surrendered to the New Zealand government, ending his uprising.
1878 – The British frigate HMS Eurydice sinks, killing more than 300.
1882 – Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.
1885 – Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Bang Bo on the Tonkin–Guangxi border.
1900 – Mayor of New York City Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground “Rapid Transit Railroad” that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
1907 – The first issue of the Georgian Bolshevik newspaper Dro is published.
1921 – The 1921 Women’s Olympiad begins in Monte Carlo, first international women’s sports event.
1927 – Nanking Incident: Foreign warships bombard Nanjing, China, in defense of the foreign citizens within the city.
1934 – United States Congress passes the Tydings–McDuffie Act, allowing the Philippines to become a self-governing commonwealth.
1944 – Ardeatine massacre: German troops murder 335 Italian civilians in Rome.
1944 – World War II: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III.
1946 – A British Cabinet Mission arrives in India to discuss and plan for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership.
1958 – Rock ‘n’ roll teen idol Elvis Presley is drafted in the U.S. Army.
1961 – Quebec Board of the French Language is established.
1965 – Images from the Ranger 9 lunar probe are broadcast live on network television.
1973 – Kenyan athlete Kip Keino defeats Jim Ryun at the first-ever professional track meet in Los Angeles.
1976 – In Argentina, the armed forces overthrow the constitutional government of President Isabel Perón and start a 7-year dictatorial period self-styled the National Reorganization Process.
1977 – Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister of India, the first Prime Minister not to belong to Indian National Congress.
1980 – El Salvadorian Archbishop Óscar Romero is assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
1986 – The Loscoe gas explosion leads to new UK laws on landfill gas migration and gas protection on landfill sites.
1989 – In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m³) of crude oil after running aground.
1993 – Discovery of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9.
1998 – Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, aged 11 and 13 respectively, fire upon teachers and students at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas; five people are killed and ten are wounded.
1998 – A tornado sweeps through Dantan in India, killing 250 people and injuring 3,000 others.
1998 – First computer-assisted Bone Segment Navigation, performed at the University of Regensburg, Germany
1999 – Kosovo war: NATO began attacks on Yugoslavia without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approval, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
1999 – A lorry carrying margarine and flour catches fire inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The resulting inferno kills 38 people.
2003 – The Arab League votes 21–1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.
2008 – Bhutan officially becomes a democracy, with its first ever general election.
2015 – Germanwings Flight 9525 crashes in the French Alps in an apparent pilot mass murder-suicide, killing all 150 people on board.

Births on March 24

1103 – Yue Fei, Chinese military general (d. 1142)
1441 – Ernest, Elector of Saxony, German ruler of Saxony (d. 1486)
1494 – Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist and scholar (d. 1555)
1577 – Francis, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin, Bishop of Cammin (d. 1620)
1607 – Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (d. 1667)
1628 – Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1685)
1657 – Arai Hakuseki, Japanese academic and politician (d. 1725)
1693 – John Harrison, English carpenter and clock-maker, invented the Marine chronometer (d. 1776)
1725 – Samuel Ashe, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of North Carolina (d. 1813)
1725 – Thomas Cushing, American lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1788)
1755 – Rufus King, American lawyer and politician, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 1827)
1762 – Marcos Portugal, Portuguese organist and composer (d. 1830)
1775 – Muthuswami Dikshitar, Indian poet and composer (d. 1835)
1782 – Orest Kiprensky, Russian-Italian painter (d. 1836)
1796 – Zulma Carraud, French author (d. 1889)
1796 – John Corry Wilson Daly, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1878)
1803 – Egerton Ryerson, Canadian minister, educator, and politician (d. 1882)
1808 – Maria Malibran, Spanish-French soprano (d. 1836)
1809 – Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and author (d. 1837)
1809 – Joseph Liouville, French mathematician and academic (d. 1882)
1816 – Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Roman Catholic archbishop and Mexican politician who served as regent during the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (d. 1891)
1820 – Edmond Becquerel, French physicist and academic (d. 1891)
1820 – Fanny Crosby, American poet and composer (d. 1915)
1823 – Thomas Spencer Baynes, English philosopher and critic (d. 1887)
1826 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American activist and author (d. 1898)
1828 – Horace Gray, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1902)
1829 – George Francis Train, American businessman (d. 1904)
1829 – Ignacio Zaragoza, Mexican general (d. 1862)
1830 – Robert Hamerling, Austrian poet and playwright (d. 1889)
1834 – William Morris, English textile designer, poet, and author (d. 1896)
1834 – John Wesley Powell, American soldier, geologist, and explorer (d. 1902)
1835 – Joseph Stefan, Austrian physicist, mathematician, and poet (d. 1893)
1848 – Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, 18th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1906)
1850 – Silas Hocking, English minister and author (d. 1935)
1854 – Henry Lefroy, Australian politician, 11th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1930)
1855 – Andrew W. Mellon, American banker, financier, and diplomat, 49th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1937)
1855 – Olive Schreiner, South African author and activist (d. 1920)
1862 – Frank Weston Benson, American painter and educator (d. 1951)
1869 – Émile Fabre, French author and playwright (d. 1955)
1871 – Alec Hurley, English music hall singer (d. 1913)
1874 – Luigi Einaudi, Italian economist and politician, 2nd President of the Italian Republic (d. 1961)
1874 – Harry Houdini, Hungarian-Jewish American magician and actor (d. 1926)
1875 – William Burns, Canadian lacrosse player (d. 1953)
1879 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher, poet, and composer (d. 1953)
1882 – Marcel Lalu, French gymnast (d. 1951)
1882 – George Monckton-Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway, English politician, 5th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1943)
1883 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (d. 1945)
1884 – Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
1884 – Chika Kuroda, Japanese chemist (d. 1968)
1884 – Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (d. 1972)
1885 – Charles Daniels, American swimmer (d. 1973)
1885 – Dimitrie Cuclin, Romanian violinist and composer (d. 1978)
1886 – Edward Weston, American photographer (d. 1958)
1886 – Robert Mallet-Stevens, French architect and designer (d. 1945)
1887 – Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1933)
1888 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (d. 1922)
1889 – Albert Hill, English-Canadian runner (d. 1969)
1890 – Agnes Macphail, Canadian educator and politician (d. 1954)
1891 – Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1951)
1892 – Marston Morse, American mathematician and academic (d. 1977)
1893 – Walter Baade, German astronomer and author (d. 1960)
1893 – George Sisler, American baseball player and scout (d. 1973)
1897 – Wilhelm Reich, Austrian-American psychotherapist and academic (d. 1957)
1901 – Ub Iwerks, American animator, director, and producer, co-created Mickey Mouse (d. 1971)
1902 – Thomas E. Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of New York (d. 1971)
1903 – Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
1903 – Malcolm Muggeridge, English journalist, author, and scholar (d. 1990)
1905 – Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino author and diplomat (d. 2007)
1907 – Paul Sauvé, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Quebec (d. 1960)
1909 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (d. 1934)
1909 – Richard Wurmbrand, Romanian Pastor and Evangelist (d. 2001)
1910 – Richard Conte, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1975)
1911 – Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (d. 2006)
1912 – Dorothy Height, African-American educator and activist (d. 2010)
1915 – Eugène Martin, French racing driver (d. 2006)
1916 – Donald Hamilton, Swedish-American soldier and author (d. 2006)
1916 – Harry B. Whittington, English palaeontologist and academic (d. 2010)
1917 – John Kendrew, English biochemist and crystallographer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
1919 – Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American poet and publisher, co-founded City Lights Bookstore
1919 – Robert Heilbroner, American economist and historian (d. 2005)
1920 – Gene Nelson, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1920 – Mary Stolz, American author (d. 2006)
1921 – Vasily Smyslov, Russian chess player (d. 2010)
1922 – Onna White, Canadian dancer and choreographer (d. 2005)
1923 – Murray Hamilton, American actor (d. 1986)
1923 – Michael Legat, English author and publisher (d. 2011)
1924 – Norman Fell, American actor (d. 1998)
1925 – Puig Aubert, German-French rugby league player and coach (d. 1994)
1926 – Desmond Connell, Irish cardinal (d. 2017)
1926 – Dario Fo, Italian playwright, actor, director, and composer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
1926 – William Porter, American hurdler (d. 2000)
1927 – John Woodland Hastings, American biochemist and academic (d. 2014)
1927 – Martin Walser, German author and playwright
1928 – Byron Janis, American pianist and composer
1929 – Pat Renella, Italian-American actor (d. 2012)
1930 – David Dacko, Central African politician, 1st President of the Central African Republic (d. 2003)
1930 – Steve McQueen, American actor and producer (d. 1980)
1931 – Hanno Drechsler, German educator and politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 2003)
1933 – Stephen De Staebler, American sculptor and educator (d. 2011)
1933 – Lee Mendelson, American television producer (d. 2019)
1936 – Don Covay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1936 – Alex Olmedo, Peruvian-American tennis player
1937 – Billy Stewart, American singer and pianist (d. 1970)
1938 – David Irving, English historian and author
1940 – Bob Mackie, American fashion designer
1941 – Michael Masser, American songwriter, composer and producer (d. 2015)
1944 – R. Lee Ermey, American sergeant and actor (d. 2018)
1944 – Vojislav Koštunica, Serbian academic and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Serbia
1945 – Robert T. Bakker, American paleontologist and academic
1945 – Curtis Hanson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1945 – Patrick Malahide, English actor and screenwriter
1946 – Klaus Dinger, German guitarist and songwriter (d. 2008)
1946 – Kitty O’Neil, American stuntwoman (d. 2018)
1947 – Dennis Erickson, American football player and coach
1947 – Christine Gregoire, American lawyer and politician, 22nd Governor of Washington
1947 – Mick Jones, English footballer and coach
1947 – Alan Sugar, English businessman
1948 – Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (d. 2013)
1948 – Jerzy Kukuczka, Polish mountaineer (d. 1989)
1948 – Lee Oskar, Jewish-Danish musician
1949 – Tabitha King, American author and poet
1949 – Ruud Krol, Dutch footballer and coach
1949 – Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (April Wine) (d. 2017)
1949 – Nick Lowe, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1949 – Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian academic and politician, 36th Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran
1949 – Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
1950 – Gary Wichard, American football player and agent (d. 2011)
1951 – Peter Boyle, Scottish-Australian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1951 – Pat Bradley, American golfer
1951 – Tommy Hilfiger, American fashion designer, founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation
1951 – Dougie Thomson, Scottish bass player
1951 – Anna Włodarczyk, Polish long jumper and coach
1952 – Greg McCrary, American football player (d. 2013)
1953 – Anita L. Allen, African-American lawyer, philosopher, and academic
1953 – Louie Anderson, American actor and comedian
1955 – Doug Jarvis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1955 – Pat Price, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1956 – Steve Ballmer, American businessman
1956 – Bill Wray, American cartoonist and painter
1957 – Pierre Harvey, Canadian cyclist and skier
1957 – Pat Jarvis, Australian rugby league player
1958 – Mike Woodson, American basketball player and coach
1959 – Emmit King, American sprinter
1959 – Renaldo Nehemiah, American hurdler and football player
1959 – Derek Statham, English footballer
1960 – Jan Berglin, Swedish cartoonist
1960 – Barry Horowitz, American wrestler
1960 – Kelly Le Brock, English-American actress and model
1960 – Nena, German singer-songwriter and actress
1960 – Scott Pruett, American race car driver
1960 – Annabella Sciorra, American actress
1961 – Dean Jones, Australian cricketer and coach
1961 – Yanis Varoufakis, Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister of Finance
1962 – Angèle Dubeau, Canadian violinist
1962 – Star Jones, African-American lawyer, journalist, and talk show host
1962 – Irina Meszynski, German discus thrower
1963 – Raimond van der Gouw, Dutch footballer and coach
1963 – Vadym Tyshchenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2015)
1963 – Torsten Voss, German decathlete and bobsledder
1965 – The Undertaker, American wrestler and actor
1966 – Floyd Heard, American sprinter and coach
1967 – Diann Roffe, American skier
1968 – Minarti Timur, Indonesian badminton player
1969 – Stephan Eberharter, Austrian skier
1970 – Lara Flynn Boyle, American actress
1970 – Sharon Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and violinist
1970 – Judith Draxler, Austrian swimmer
1970 – Erica Kennedy, African-American journalist and author (d. 2012)
1970 – Mike Vanderjagt, Canadian-American football player
1971 – Tig Notaro, American comedian and actor
1972 – Christophe Dugarry, French footballer
1972 – Steve Karsay, American baseball player and coach
1973 – Jacek Bąk, Polish footballer
1973 – Philippe Boucher, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
1973 – Steve Corica, Australian footballer and coach
1973 – Jure Ivanušič, Slovenian actor, concert pianist and chansonnier
1973 – Mette Jacobsen, Danish swimmer
1973 – Glen Jakovich, Australian footballer
1973 – Jim Parsons, American actor
1974 – Alyson Hannigan, American actress
1974 – Sergey Klyugin, Russian high jumper
1974 – Tado, Filipino comedian and activist (d. 2014)
1975 – Thomas Johansson, Swedish-Monacan tennis player
1976 – Aaron Brooks, American football player
1976 – Aliou Cissé, Senegalese footballer and coach
1976 – Athanasios Kostoulas, Greek footballer
1976 – Peyton Manning, American football player and entrepreneur
1977 – Jessica Chastain, American actress
1977 – Maxim Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player
1977 – Darren Lockyer, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1978 – Michael Braun, Australian footballer and coach
1978 – Tomáš Ujfaluši, Czech footballer and manager
1978 – José Valverde, Dominican baseball player
1979 – Lake Bell, Jewish-American actress, director, and screenwriter
1979 – Norris Hopper, American baseball player
1979 – Periklis Iakovakis, Greek hurdler
1979 – Graeme Swann, English cricketer
1980 – Tassos Venetis, Greek footballer
1981 – Mike Adams, American football player
1981 – Ron Hainsey, American ice hockey player
1981 – Dirk Hayhurst, American baseball player
1981 – Mark Looms, Dutch footballer
1981 – Gary Paffett, English racing driver
1982 – Corey Hart, American baseball player
1982 – Jack Swagger, American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler
1982 – Epico Colon, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
1982 – Jimmy Hempte, Belgian footballer
1982 – Dustin McGowan, American baseball player
1983 – Luca Ceccarelli, Italian footballer
1983 – Riccardo Musetti, Italian footballer
1983 – Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – T.J. Ford, American basketball player
1984 – Benoît Assou-Ekotto, French born Cameroonian international footballer, left-back
1984 – Chris Bosh, American basketball player
1984 – Adrian D’Souza, Indian field hockey player
1984 – Lucy Wangui Kabuu, Kenyan runner
1984 – Park Bom, South Korean singer
1984 – Philipp Petzschner, German tennis player
1985 – Lana, American wrestler and manager
1985 – Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and singer
1987 – Ramires, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladeshi cricketer
1987 – Billy Jones, English footballer
1987 – Yuma Asami, Japanese actress and singer
1988 – Aiga Grabuste, Latvian heptathlete
1988 – Ryan Higgins, Zimbabwean cricketer
1988 – Matías Martínez, Argentinian footballer
1988 – Kardo Ploomipuu, Estonian swimmer
1988 – Matt Todd, New Zealand rugby union player
1990 – Starlin Castro, American baseball player
1990 – Aljur Abrenica, Filipino actor
1990 – Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-New Zealand actress
1990 – Lacey Evans, American wrestler
1991 – Nick Browne, English cricketer
1991 – Dalila Jakupovic, Slovenian tennis player
1995 – Enzo Fernandez, French-Spanish footballer

Deaths on March 24

809 – Harun al-Rashid, Arab caliph (b. 763)
832 – Wulfred, archbishop of Canterbury
1284 – Hugh III of Cyprus (b. 1235)
1296 – Odon de Pins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller
1381 – Catherine of Vadstena, Swedish saint (b. 1332)
1394 – Constance of Castile, claimant to the throne of Castile
1396 – Walter Hilton, English mystic and saint (b. 1340)
1399 – Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk (b.c. 1320)
1443 – James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas (b. 1371)
1455 – Pope Nicholas V (b. 1397)
1499 – Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1470)
1563 – Hosokawa Harumoto, Japanese daimyō (b. 1514)
1575 – Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, Spanish-Portuguese rabbi and author (b. 1488)
1603 – Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533)
1653 – Samuel Scheidt, German organist and composer (b. 1587)
1684 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (b. 1629)
1684 – Elizabeth Ridgeway, English woman convicted of poisoning her husband
1773 – Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, English politician, Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard (b. 1694)
1776 – John Harrison, English carpenter and clockmaker, invented the Marine chronometer (b. 1693)
1824 – Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux, French lawyer (b. 1753)
1838 – Abraham Hume, English floriculturist and Tory politician (b. 1748/49)
1869 – Antoine-Henri Jomini, French-Russian general (b. 1779)
1881 – Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (b. 1817)
1882 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (b. 1807)
1887 – Ivan Kramskoi, Russian painter and critic (b. 1837)
1888 – Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
1905 – Jules Verne, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1828)
1909 – John Millington Synge, Irish playwright and poet (b. 1871)
1915 – Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Anglo-Irish astronomer (b. 1848)
1915 – Karol Olszewski, Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1846)
1916 – Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1867)
1926 – Phan Châu Trinh, Vietnamese activist (b. 1872)
1940 – Édouard Branly, French physicist and academic (b. 1844)
1944 – Orde Wingate, Indian-English general (b. 1903)
1946 – Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess player (b. 1892)
1946 – Carl Schuhmann, German gymnast, shot putter, and jumper (b. 1869)
1948 – Sigrid Hjertén, Swedish painter and illustrator (b. 1885)
1950 – James Rudolph Garfield, American lawyer and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1865)
1951 – Lorna Hodgkinson, Australian educator and educational psychologist (b. 1887)
1953 – Mary of Teck (b. 1867)
1962 – Jean Goldkette, French-American pianist and bandleader (b. 1899)
1962 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (b. 1884)
1968 – Alice Guy-Blaché, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1873)
1971 – Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel and Aarhus City Hall (b. 1902)
1971 – Arthur Metcalfe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
1976 – Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English field marshal (b. 1887)
1978 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (b. 1916)
1980 – Óscar Romero, Salvadoran archbishop (b. 1917)
1984 – Sam Jaffe, American actor (b. 1891)
1985 – Raoul Ubac, French painter, sculptor, photographer and engraver (b. 1910)
1988 – Turhan Feyzioğlu, Turkish academic and politician, 27th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1922)
1990 – Ray Goulding, American comedian and radio host (b. 1922)
1991 – John Kerr, Australian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1914)
1993 – Albert Arlen, Australian pianist, composer, actor, and playwright (b. 1905)
1993 – John Hersey, American journalist and author (b. 1914)
1995 – Joseph Needham, English historian and academic (b. 1900)
1999 – Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, German politician (b. 1902)
1999 – Birdie Tebbetts, American baseball player and manager (b. 1912)
2001 – Muriel Young, English television host and producer (b. 1928)
2002 – César Milstein, Argentinian-English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
2002 – Bob Said, American race car driver and bobsledder (b. 1932)
2003 – Hans Hermann Groër, Austrian cardinal (b. 1919)
2006 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (b. 1926)
2007 – Shripad Narayan Pendse, Indian Marathi novelist (b. 1913)
2008 – Chalmers Alford, American guitarist (b. 1955)
2008 – Neil Aspinall, Welsh-English record producer and manager (b. 1941)
2008 – Rafael Azcona, Spanish author and screenwriter (b. 1926)
2008 – Richard Widmark, American actor (b. 1914)
2009 – George Kell, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1922)
2009 – Hans Klenk, German racing driver (b. 1919)
2009 – Gábor Ocskay, Hungarian ice hockey player (b. 1975)
2010 – Robert Culp, American actor (b. 1930)
2010 – Jim Marshall, American photographer (b. 1936)
2012 – Paul Callaghan, New Zealand physicist and academic (b. 1947)
2012 – Nick Noble, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
2013 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (b. 1926)
2013 – Inge Lønning, Norwegian theologian, academic, and politician (b. 1938)
2013 – Gury Marchuk, Russian physicist, mathematician, and academic (b. 1925)
2013 – Paolo Ponzo, Italian footballer (b. 1972)
2013 – Mohamed Yousri Salama, Egyptian dentist and politician (b. 1974)
2013 – Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow, English diplomat (b. 1912)
2014 – Oleksandr Muzychko, Ukrainian activist (b. 1962)
2014 – John Rowe Townsend, English author and scholar (b. 1922)
2014 – David A. Trampier, American illustrator (b. 1954)
2015 – Yehuda Avner, English-Israeli diplomat (b. 1928)
2015 – notable deaths of the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash:
- Oleg Bryjak, Kazakhstani-German opera singer (b. 1960)
- Maria Radner, German opera singer (b. 1981)
2016 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer (b. 1947)
2016 – Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1949)
2018 – Lys Assia, Swiss singer and First Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest (b. 1924)
2019 – Joseph Pilato, American film and voice actor (b.1949)
2020 – Albert Uderzo, French comic book artist (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on March 24

Christian feast day:
- Catherine of Vadstena
- Hildelith of Barking
- Mac Cairthinn of Clogher
- Óscar Romero (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism)
- Paul Couturier (Church of England)
- Walter Hilton (Church of England)
- March 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice (Argentina)
National Tree Planting Day (Uganda)
Student Day (Scientology)
World Tuberculosis Day (International)

March 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 15- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

In the Roman calendar, March 15 was known as the Ides of March.

March 15 in History

474 BC – Roman consul Gnaeus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years’ truce.
44 BC – Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger and his fellow conspirators, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus, and several other Roman senators, march to the Capitol following the assassination of Julius Caesar, but there is no response to their appeals to the population, who have left the streets in fear. Caesar’s body remains in its place
351 – Constantius II elevates his cousin Gallus to Caesar, and puts him in charge of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire.
493 – Odoacer, the first barbarian King of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, is slain by Theoderic the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, while the two kings were feasting together.
856 – Michael III, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, overthrows the regency of his mother, empress Theodora (wife of Theophilos) with support of the Byzantine nobility.
933 – After a ten-year truce, German King Henry the Fowler defeats a Hungarian army at the Battle of Riade near the Unstrut river.
1147 – Conquest of Santarém: The forces of Afonso I of Portugal capture Santarém.
1311 – Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V, Count of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece.
1493 – Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.
1564 – Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes “jizya” (per capita tax).
1672 – Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Court House: Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1,900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat a mixed American force numbering 4,400 in a Pyrrhic victory.
1783 – In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful and the threatened coup d’état never takes place.
1819 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel is adjudged the winner of the Grand Prix of the Académie des Sciences for his “Memoir on the Diffraction of Light”, which verifies the Fresnel integrals, accounts for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishes Newton’s initial objection to the wave theory of light.
1820 – Maine becomes the 23rd U.S. state.
1827 – University of Toronto is founded.
1848 – A revolution breaks out in Hungary. The Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the Reform party.
1864 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign: U.S. Navy fleet arrives at Alexandria, Louisiana.
1874 – France and Vietnam sign the Second Treaty of Saigon, further recognizing the full sovereignty of France over Cochinchina.
1875 – Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the United States.
1877 – First ever official cricket test match is played: Australia vs England at the MCG Stadium, in Melbourne, Australia.
1878 – Restoration of the Scottish Catholic hierarchy, broken off back in 1603.
1888 – Start of the Anglo-Tibetan War of 1888.
1895 – Heian Shrine is founded.
1906 – Rolls-Royce Limited is incorporated.
1916 – United States President Woodrow Wilson sends 4,800 United States troops over the U.S.–Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.
1917 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne ending the 304-year Romanov dynasty.
1921 – Talaat Pasha, former Grand Vizir of the Ottoman Empire and chief architect of the Armenian Genocide is assassinated in Berlin by a 23-year-old Armenian, Soghomon Tehlirian.
1922 – After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.
1926 – The dictator Theodoros Pangalos is elected President of Greece without opposition.
1927 – The first Women’s Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on The Isis in Oxford.
1931 – SS Viking explodes off Newfoundland, killing 27 of the 147 onboard.
1933 – Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss keeps members of the National Council from convening, starting the Austrofascist dictatorship.
1939 – Germany occupies Czechoslovakia.
1939 – Carpatho-Ukraine declares itself an independent republic, but is annexed by Hungary the next day.
1941 – Philippine Airlines, the flag carrier of the Philippines takes its first flight between Manila (from Nielson Field) to Baguio City with a Beechcraft Model 18 making the airline the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia operating under its original name.
1943 – World War II: Third Battle of Kharkov: The Germans retake the city of Kharkov from the Soviet armies in bitter street fighting.
1945 – World War II: Soviet forces begin an offensive to push Germans from Upper Silesia.
1951 – the Iranian oil industry is nationalized.
1952 – In Cilaos, Réunion, 1870 mm (73 inches) of rain falls in a 24-hour period, setting a new world record (March 15 through March 16).
1961 – At the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference, South Africa announces that it will withdraw from the Commonwealth when the South African Constitution of 1961 comes into effect.
1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress “We shall overcome” while advocating the Voting Rights Act.
1978 – Somalia and Ethiopia signed a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War.
1986 – Collapse of Hotel New World: Thirty-three people die when the Hotel New World in Singapore collapses.
1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first President of the Soviet Union.
1991 – Cold War: The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany.
2008 – Stockpiles of obsolete ammunition explode at an ex-military ammunition depot in the village of Gërdec, Albania, killing 26 people.
2011 – Beginning of the Syrian Civil War.
2019 – Fifty-one people are killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings.
2019 – Beginning of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
2019 – Approximately 1.4 million young people in 123 countries go on strike to protest climate change.

Births on March 15

270 – Saint Nicholas, Greek bishop and saint (d. 343)
1097 – Fujiwara no Tadamichi, Japanese noble (d. 1164)
1275 – Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant (d. 1333)
1407 – Jacob, Margrave of Baden-Baden (d. 1453)
1444 – Francesco Gonzaga, Catholic cardinal (d. 1483)
1493 – Anne de Montmorency, French captain and diplomat (d. 1567)
1513 – Hedwig Jagiellon, Electress of Brandenburg (d. 1573)
1516 – Alqas Mirza, Safavid prince (d. 1550)
1582 – Daniel Featley, English theologian and controversialist (d. 1645)
1584 – Philip, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (d. 1663)
1591 – Alexandre de Rhodes, French missionary and lexicographer (d. 1660)
1611 – Jan Fyt, Flemish painter (d. 1661)
1638 – Shunzhi Emperor of China (d. 1661)
1666 – George Bähr, German architect, designed the Dresden Frauenkirche (d. 1738)
1754 – Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon and botanist (d. 1842)
1767 – Andrew Jackson, American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States (d. 1845)
1779 – William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1848)
1790 – Ludwig Immanuel Magnus, German mathematician and academic (d. 1861)
1791 – Charles Knight, English author and publisher (d. 1873)
1809 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-Liberian historian and politician, 1st President of Liberia (d. 1876)
1809 – Karl Josef von Hefele, German bishop and theologian (d. 1893)
1813 – John Snow, English physician and epidemiologist (d. 1858)
1818 – Mariano Álvarez, Filipino general and politician (d. 1924)
1821 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian physicist and chemist (d. 1895)
1821 – William Milligan, Scottish theologian, author, and educator (d. 1892)
1824 – Jules Chevalier, French priest, founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (d. 1907)
1830 – Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
1830 – Élisée Reclus, French geographer and academic (d. 1905)
1831 – Saint Daniele Comboni, Italian missionary and saint (d. 1881)
1835 – John Henry Kagi, American lawyer and activist (d. 1859)
1835 – Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1916)
1838 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1889)
1851 – John Sebastian Little, American lawyer and politician, 21st Governor of Arkansas (d. 1916)
1851 – William Mitchell Ramsay, Scottish archaeologist and scholar (d. 1939)
1852 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish landowner, playwright, and translator (d. 1932)
1854 – Emil von Behring, German physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
1857 – Christian Michelsen, Norwegian businessman and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Norway (d. 1925)
1858 – Liberty Hyde Bailey, American botanist and academic, co-founded the American Society for Horticultural Science (d. 1954)
1860 – Waldemar Haffkine, Russian-Swiss bacteriologist and microbiologist (d. 1930)
1864 – Johan Halvorsen, Norwegian violinist, composer, and conductor (Oslo Philharmonic) (d. 1935)
1865 – Manuk Abeghian, Armenian author and scholar (d. 1944)
1866 – Matthew Charlton, Australian miner and politician (d. 1948)
1866 – Johan Vaaler, Norwegian inventor, often erroneously identified as the inventor of the Paper clip (d. 1910)
1868 – Grace Chisholm Young, English mathematician (d. 1944)
1869 – Stanisław Wojciechowski, Polish scholar and politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Poland (d. 1953)
1874 – Eugène Fiset, Canadian physician, general, and politician, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1951)
1874 – Harold L. Ickes, American journalist and politician, 32nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1952)
1878 – Reza Shah, Iranian king (d. 1944)
1886 – Wladimir Burliuk, Ukrainian-Greek painter and illustrator (d. 1917)
1887 – Marjorie Merriweather Post, American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded General Foods (d. 1973)
1887 – Lütfi Kırdar, Turkish physician and politician, Turkish Minister of Health (d. 1961)
1879 – Benjamin R. Jacobs, American biochemist (d. 1963)
1890 – Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician and mountaineer (d. 1980)
1892 – James Basevi Ord, Mexican-American colonel (d. 1938)
1897 – Jackson Scholz, American runner (d. 1986)
1900 – Gilberto Freyre, Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian and writer (d. 1987)
1904 – George Brent, Irish-American actor (d. 1979)
1904 – J. Pat O’Malley, English-American actor (d. 1985)
1905 – Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, German lawyer and judge (d. 1944)
1907 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (d. 1981)
1909 – Jaroslava Muchová Syllabová, Czech painter (d. 1986)
1912 – Lightnin’ Hopkins, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1982)
1912 – Louis Paul Boon, Flemish journalist and author (d. 1979)
1913 – Macdonald Carey, American actor (d. 1994)
1913 – Jack Fairman, English race car driver (d. 2002)
1916 – Frank Coghlan, Jr., American actor and pilot (d. 2009)
1916 – Fadil Hoxha, Kosovar commander and politician, 2nd President of Kosovo (d. 2001)
1916 – Harry James, American trumpet player, bandleader, and actor (d. 1983)
1918 – Richard Ellmann, American author and critic (d. 1987)
1918 – Punch Imlach, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 1987)
1919 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (d. 2002)
1920 – E. Donnall Thomas, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
1921 – Madelyn Pugh, American television writer and producer (d. 2011)
1922 – Eddie Calvert, English trumpeter (d. 1978)
1926 – Ben Johnston, American composer and academic (d. 2019)
1926 – Norm Van Brocklin, American football player and coach (d. 1983)
1927 – Christian Marquand, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
1927 – Carl Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
1928 – Bob Wilber, American clarinetist and saxophonist (d. 2019)
1930 – Zhores Alferov, Belarusian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
1932 – Alan Bean, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2018)
1932 – Arif Mardin, Turkish-American record producer (d. 2006)
1933 – Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American lawyer and judge
1933 – Philippe de Broca, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
1934 – Richard Layard, Baron Layard, English economist and academic
1934 – Kanshi Ram, Indian politician (d. 2006)
1935 – David Andrews, Irish politician, 21st Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ireland
1935 – Judd Hirsch, American actor
1935 – Jimmy Swaggart, American pastor and television host
1935 – Leonid Yengibarov, Russian-Armenian clown and boxer (d. 1972)
1936 – Howard Greenfield, American songwriter (d. 1986)
1937 – Marcus Raichle, American neurologist and physiologist
1937 – Valentin Rasputin, Russian environmentalist and author (d. 2015)
1938 – Charles Lloyd, American saxophonist and flute player
1939 – Ted Kaufman, American engineer and politician
1939 – Robert Nye, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 2016)
1939 – Julie Tullis, English mountaineer (d. 1986)
1940 – Frank Dobson, English politician, Secretary of State for Health (d. 2019)
1940 – Phil Lesh, American bassist
1941 – Mike Love, American singer-songwriter and musician
1941 – Carolyn Hansson, Canadian materials engineer
1943 – David Cronenberg, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
1943 – Lynda La Plante, English actress, screenwriter, and author
1943 – Michael Scott-Joynt, English bishop (d. 2014)
1943 – Sly Stone, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
1943 – The Iron Sheik, Iranian-American wrestler and actor
1944 – Chi Cheng, Taiwanese runner and politician
1944 – Jacques Doillon, French director and screenwriter
1944 – Francis Mankiewicz, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
1944 – A. K. Faezul Huq, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician (d. 2007)
1945 – Mark J. Green, American lawyer and politician
1946 – Bobby Bonds, American baseball player and coach (d. 2003)
1946 – John Dempsey, English born Irish international footballer, centre-back and manager
1947 – Ry Cooder, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1947 – Gino Ferrin, German footballer and manager
1947 – Juraj Kukura, Slovak-German actor
1948 – Kate Bornstein, American author and activist
1948 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)
1950 – Jørgen Olsen, Danish singer-songwriter
1950 – Kurt Koch, Swiss cardinal
1951 – David Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, English educator and politician
1952 – Howard Devoto, English singer-songwriter
1952 – Philip Green, English businessman
1952 – Howard Koh, American physician and politician, 14th United States Assistant Secretary for Health
1953 – Richard Bruton, Irish economist and politician, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
1953 – Heather Graham Pozzessere, American author
1953 – Kumba Ialá, Bissau-Guinean educator and politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2014)
1954 – Massimo Bubola, Italian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1954 – Isobel Buchanan, Scottish soprano and actress
1954 – Bob Budiansky, American author and illustrator
1954 – Henry Marsh, American runner and businessman, co-founded MonaVie
1954 – Craig Wasson, American actor
1955 – Mohsin Khan, Pakistani cricketer
1955 – Dee Snider, American singer-songwriter and actor
1956 – Clay Matthews, Jr., American football player and coach
1957 – Joaquim de Almeida, Portuguese-American actor
1957 – Víctor Muñoz, Spanish footballer and manager
1957 – David Silverman, American animator, director, and screenwriter
1958 – Anne Davies, English television presenter and newsreader
1959 – Harold Baines, American baseball player and coach
1959 – Renny Harlin, Finnish director and producer
1959 – Lisa Holton, American journalist and author
1959 – Ben Okri, Nigerian poet and author
1960 – Mike Pagliarulo, American baseball player and coach
1960 – Phil Walsh, Australian rules footballer and coach (d. 2015)
1961 – Terry Cummings, American basketball player and singer
1961 – Craig Ludwig, American ice hockey player and coach
1962 – Terence Trent D’Arby, American singer-songwriter
1962 – Jimmy Baio, American actor
1963 – Bret Michaels, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1964 – Davide Pinato, Italian footballer
1964 – Rockwell, American singer-songwriter and musician
1965 – Sunetra Gupta, Indian epidemiologist, author, and academic
1965 – Robyn Malcolm, New Zealand actress
1967 – Naoko Takeuchi, Japanese manga artist, creator of Sailor Moon
1968 – Kahimi Karie, Japanese singer
1968 – Mark McGrath, American singer-songwriter and television host
1968 – Terje Riis-Johansen, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy
1968 – Sabrina Salerno, Italian singer-songwriter, actress, and producer
1969 – Rona Ambrose, Canadian journalist and politician, former Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
1969 – Gianluca Festa, Italian footballer and coach
1969 – Yutaka Take, Japanese jockey
1970 – Christine Anu, Australian singer
1970 – Naka Drotske, South African rugby player
1970 – Derek Parra, American speed skater and coach
1971 – Penny Lancaster, English model and photographer
1971 – Joanne Wise, English long jumper
1972 – Mark Hoppus, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1972 – Holger Stromberg, German chef
1972 – Mike Tomlin, American football player and coach
1973 – Robin Hunicke, American video game designer and producer
1973 – Masayuki Naruse, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
1974 – Robert Fick, American baseball player
1975 – Eva Longoria, American actress and producer
1975 – Veselin Topalov, Bulgarian chess player
1975 – Darcy Tucker, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – will.i.am, American rapper, producer, and actor
1976 – Katherine Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1976 – Abhay Deol, Indian actor
1976 – Cara Pifko, Canadian actress
1977 – Joe Hahn, American DJ, producer, and director
1977 – Brian Tee, Japanese-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1978 – Takeru Kobayashi, Japanese competitive eater
1979 – Kyle Mills, New Zealand cricketer
1979 – Kevin Youkilis, American baseball player and scout
1980 – Freddie Bynum, American baseball player
1980 – Eric Grothe, Jr. Australian rugby league player and guitarist
1980 – Claudiney Ramos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
1981 – Young Buck, American rapper, producer, and actor
1981 – Mikael Forssell, German-Finnish footballer
1981 – Veronica Maggio, Swedish singer-songwriter
1981 – Jens Salumäe, Estonian skier
1982 – Tom Budge, Australian actor
1982 – Emily Dunn, American actress and dancer
1982 – Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, Kenyan runner
1983 – Sean Biggerstaff, Scottish actor
1983 – Umut Bulut, Turkish footballer
1983 – Ben Hilfenhaus, Australian cricketer
1983 – Kostas Kaimakoglou, Greek basketball player
1983 – Golda Marcus, Salvadoran swimmer
1983 – Daryl Murphy, Irish footballer
1983 – Heiko Niidas, Estonian basketball player
1983 – Ricky Sekhon, English actor
1983 – Yo Yo Honey Singh, Indian music producer
1984 – Badradine Belloumou, French-Algerian footballer
1984 – Malin Buska, Swedish actress
1984 – Olivier Jean, Canadian speed skater
1984 – Kostas Vasileiadis, Greek basketball player
1984 – Wilson Aparecido Xavier Júnior, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Eric Decker, American football player
1988 – Éver Guzmán, Mexican footballer
1988 – James Reimer, Canadian ice hockey player
1988 – Jolo Revilla, Filipino actor and politician
1988 – Alexander Sims, English race car driver
1989 – Sam Baldock, English footballer
1989 – Bryce Gibbs, Australian footballer
1989 – Sandro, Brazilian international footballer, midfielder
1989 – Gil Roberts, American sprinter
1989 – Adrien Silva, Portuguese footballer
1989 – Caitlin Wachs, American actress
1990 – Siobhan Magnus, American singer-songwriter
1991 – Tavon Austin, American footballer
1991 – Kurt Baptiste, Australian rugby league player
1991 – Xavier Henry, American basketball player
1996 – Seonaid McIntosh, Scottish sports shooter
2000 – Kristian Kostov, Russian-Bulgarian singer-songwriter

Deaths on March 15

44 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman (b. 100 BC)
220 – Cao Cao, Chinese general, warlord and statesman (b. 155)
493 – Odoacer, the first king of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (b. 433)
752 – Pope Zachary
963 – Romanos II, Byzantine emperor (b. 938)
990 – Siegfried I (the Older), German nobleman
1086 – Richilde, Countess of Hainaut, Flemish consort and regent (b. c. 1018)
1124 – Ernulf, Bishop of Rochester (b. c. 1040)
1190 – Isabella of Hainault, queen of Philip II of France (b. 1170)
1311 – Walter V, Count of Brienne (b. 1275)
1311 – Thomas III d’Autremencourt, Lord of Salona, Marshal of Achaea
1311 – Albert Pallavicini, Margrave of Bodonitza
1311 – George I Ghisi, Triarch of Euboea, Baron of Chalandritsa, Lord of Tinos, Mykonos, Serifos and Keos
1327 – Albert of Schwarzburg, grand preceptor of the Knights Hospitaller
1346 – Shah Jalal, Sufi saint of Bengal (b. 1271).
1536 – Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, Ottoman politician, 35th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1493)
1575 – Annibale Padovano, Italian organist and composer (b. 1527)
1644 – Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau (b. 1576)
1657 – David Pardo, Dutch rabbi and scholar (b. 1591)
1673 – Salvator Rosa, Italian painter and poet (b. 1615)
1711 – Eusebio Kino, Italian priest and missionary (b. 1645)
1820 – Clement Mary Hofbauer, Austrian priest and saint (b. 1751)
1832 – Otto Wilhelm Masing, Estonian linguist and clergyman (b. 1763)
1842 – Luigi Cherubini, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1760)
1849 – Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, Italian cardinal and linguist (b. 1774)
1891 – Joseph Bazalgette, English engineer and academic (b. 1819)
1897 – James Joseph Sylvester, English mathematician and academic (b. 1814)
1898 – Henry Bessemer, English engineer and businessman (b. 1813)
1921 – Talaat Pasha, Ottoman politician, 281st Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1874)
1927 – Hector Rason, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1858)
1933 – Gustavo Jiménez, Peruvian colonel and politician, 73rd President of Peru (b. 1886)
1937 – H. P. Lovecraft, American short story writer, editor, and novelist (b. 1890)
1938 – Nikolai Bukharin, Russian journalist, and politician (b. 1888)
1939 – Luis Barceló, Spanish colonel (b. 1896)
1941 – Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian-German painter (b. 1864)
1944 – Otto von Below, Prussian general (b. 1857)
1951 – John S. Paraskevopoulos, Greek-South African astronomer and academic (b. 1889)
1957 – Ernst Nobs, Swiss politician (b. 1886)
1959 – Lester Young, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1909)
1962 – Charles Bartliff, American soccer player (b. 1886)
1962 – Arthur Compton, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
1966 – Abe Saperstein, American basketball player and coach (b. 1902)
1969 – Miles Malleson, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1888)
1969 – Musashiyama Takeshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 33rd Yokozuna (b. 1909)
1970 – Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian author and poet (b. 1897)
1971 – Jean-Pierre Monseré, Belgian cyclist (b. 1948)
1972 – Aleksandr Ivanovich Laktionov, Russian painter and educator (b. 1910)
1975 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek-Argentinian businessman (b. 1906)
1977 – Hubert Aquin, Canadian author and activist (b. 1929)
1977 – Antonino Rocca, Italian-American wrestler and referee (b. 1921)
1981 – René Clair, French director and screenwriter (b. 1898)
1983 – Coloman Braun-Bogdan, Romanian footballer and manager (b. 1905)
1983 – Rebecca West, English author and critic (b. 1892)
1985 – Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian and author (b. 1921)
1986 – Alexandru Giugaru, Romanian actor (b. 1897)
1987 – Douglas Abbott, Canadian lawyer and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of National Defence (b. 1899)
1988 – Dmitri Polyakov, Ukrainian general and spy (b. 1926)
1989 – Muhammad Jameel Didi, Maldivian poet and politician (b. 1915)
1990 – Farzad Bazoft, Iranian-English journalist (b. 1958)
1990 – Tom Harmon, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1919)
1991 – Bud Freeman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1906)
1992 – Rahi Masoom Raza, Indian Urdu poet (b.1927)
1997 – Gail Davis, American actress (b. 1925)
1997 – Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter (b. 1906)
1998 – Tim Maia, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
1998 – Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and author (b. 1903)
1999 – Guy D’Artois, Canadian soldier (b. 1917)
2001 – Gaetano Cozzi, Italian historian and academic (b. 1922)
2001 – Ann Sothern, American actress and singer (b. 1909)
2003 – Thora Hird, English actress (b. 1911)
2003 – Paul Stojanovich, American television producer, created World’s Wildest Police Videos (b. 1956)
2004 – Philippe Lemaire, French actor (b. 1927)
2004 – Bill Pickering, New Zealand-American scientist and engineer (b. 1910)
2004 – John Pople, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
2005 – Bob Bellear, Australian engineer and judge (b. 1944)
2005 – Otar Korkia, Georgian basketball player and coach (b. 1923)
2005 – Shoji Nishio, Japanese martial artist (b. 1927)
2006 – Georgios Rallis, Greek lieutenant and politician, 173rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1918)
2006 – Red Storey, Canadian football player and referee (b. 1918)
2007 – Charles Harrelson, American murderer (b. 1938)
2007 – Bowie Kuhn, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1926)
2007 – Stuart Rosenberg, American director and producer (b. 1927)
2008 – Mikey Dread, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1954)
2008 – Vytautas Kernagis, Lithuanian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1951)
2008 – G. David Low, American astronaut and engineer (b. 1956)
2008 – Ken Reardon, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
2008 – Sarla Thakral, First Indian woman to earn a pilot’s license. (b. 1914)
2009 – Ron Silver, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1946)
2011 – Nate Dogg, American rapper (b. 1969)
2011 – Smiley Culture, English singer and DJ (b. 1963)
2012 – Mervyn Davies, Welsh rugby player (b. 1946)
2012 – Eb Gaines, American businessman and diplomat (b. 1927)
2012 – Luis Gonzales, Filipino actor (b. 1928)
2012 – Bernardino González Ruíz, Panamanian physician and politician, President of Panama (b. 1911)
2012 – Fran Matera, American illustrator (b. 1924)
2012 – Dave Philley, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
2013 – James Bonk, American chemist and academic (b. 1931)
2013 – Booth Gardner, American businessman and politician, 19th Governor of Washington (b. 1936)
2013 – Hardrock Gunter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1925)
2013 – Shannon Larratt, Canadian publisher, founded BMEzine (b. 1973)
2013 – Terry Lightfoot, English clarinet player (b. 1935)
2013 – Leverne McDonnell, Australian actress (b. 1963).
2013 – Masamichi Noro, Japanese-French martial artist, founded Kinomichi (b. 1935)
2013 – Kallam Anji Reddy, Indian engineer and businessman, founded Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (b. 1940)
2013 – Peter Worsley, English sociologist (b. 1924)
2013 – Felipe Zetter, Mexican footballer (b. 1923)
2014 – Scott Asheton, American drummer (b. 1949).
2014 – David Brenner, American comedian, actor, and author (b. 1936)
2014 – Bo Callaway, American soldier and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Army (b. 1927)
2014 – Clarissa Dickson Wright, English chef, author, and television personality (b. 1947)
2014 – Everett L. Fullam, American priest and scholar (b. 1930)
2014 – Cees Veerman, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1943)
2015 – Collins Chabane, South African politician (b. 1960)
2015 – Robert Clatworthy, English sculptor and educator (b. 1928)
2015 – Narayan Desai, Indian author and activist (b. 1924)
2015 – Sally Forrest, American actress and dancer (b. 1928)
2015 – Curtis Gans, American political scientist and author (b. 1937)
2015 – Mike Porcaro, American bass player (b. 1955)
2016 – Sylvia Anderson, English voice actress and television and film producer (b. 1927)
2016 – Asa Briggs, English historian and academic (b. 1921)
2016 – Daryl Coley, American singer and pastor (b. 1955)
2016 – Seru Rabeni, Fijian rugby player (b. 1978)
2019 – Larry DiTillio, American film and TV series writer (b. 1948)
2020 – Vittorio Gregotti, Italian architect (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on March 15

Christian feast day:
- Aristobulus of Britannia
- Clemens Maria Hofbauer
- Leocritia
- Longinus
- Louise de Marillac
- Raymond of Fitero
- March 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Constitution Day (Belarus)
Earliest day on which Birth of Benito Juárez can fall, while March 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday of March. (Mexico)
Earliest day on which Palm Sunday can fall, while April 18 is the latest; celebrated on the sixth Sunday of Lent. (Christianity)
Hōnen Matsuri (Japan)
International Day Against Police Brutality (International)
J. J. Roberts’ Birthday (Liberia)
National Day, celebrating the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (Hungary)
World Consumer Rights Day (International)
World Contact Day
World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film (International)
World Speech Day
Youth Day (Palau)

March 15- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day