April 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day
- 769 – The Lateran Council condemned the Council of Hieria and anathematized its iconoclastic rulings.
- 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard.
- 1395 – Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde at the Battle of the Terek River. The Golden Horde capital city, Sarai, is razed to the ground and Timur installs a puppet ruler on the throne.
- 1450 – Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years’ War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.
- 1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War.
- 1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.
- 1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
- 1736 – Foundation of the Kingdom of Corsica.
- 1738 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel receives its premiere performance in London, England.
- 1755 – Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.
- 1783 – Preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence) are ratified.
- 1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf, the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.
- 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.
- 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes President upon Lincoln’s death.
- 1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.
- 1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.
- 1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.
- 1907 – Triangle Fraternity is founded at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
- 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew on board survive.
- 1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.
- 1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.
- 1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
- 1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
- 1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.
- 1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two-hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.
- 1942 – The George Cross is awarded “to the island fortress of Malta” by King George VI.
- 1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
- 1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball’s color line.
- 1952 – First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
- 1955 – McDonald’s restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
- 1960 – At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
- 1969 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 onboard.
- 1970 – During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.
- 1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.
- 1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.
- 1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang’s death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.
- 1994 – Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.
- 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
- 2013 – A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.
- 2014 – In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, at least 200 civilians were gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.
- 2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.
Births on April 15
- 68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)
- 1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)
- 1367 – Henry IV of England (d. 1413)
- 1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479)
- 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)
- 1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)
- 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)
- 1563 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)
- 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)
- 1592 – Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675)
- 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)
- 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)
- 1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
- 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
- 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)
- 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)
- 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)
- 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)
- 1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)
- 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)
- 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)
- 1795 – Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d.1847)
- 1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)
- 1808 – William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892)
- 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)
- 1817 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885)
- 1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)
- 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)
- 1841 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921)
- 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
- 1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916)
- 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)
- 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)
- 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)
- 1863 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914)
- 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)
- 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)
- 1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)
- 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)
- 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
- 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
- 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)
- 1887 – William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953)
- 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)
- 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975)
- 1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
- 1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat’s eye (d. 1976)
- 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)
- 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (d. 1983)
- 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
- 1894 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937)
- 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)
- 1895 – Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941)
- 1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)
- 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
- 1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)
- 1901 – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
- 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
- 1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983)
- 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
- 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
- 1908 – eden ahbez, Scottish-American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)
- 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)
- 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)
- 1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)
- 1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)
- 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
- 1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
- 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1917 – Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944)
- 1917 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)
- 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)
- 1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)
- 1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)
- 1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)
- 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
- 1922 – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)
- 1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)
- 1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)
- 1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)
- 1924 – Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004)
- 1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)
- 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
- 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
- 1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland
- 1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant
- 1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018)
- 1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995)
- 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)
- 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
- 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
- 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress
- 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)
- 1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1939 – Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009)
- 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician
- 1940 – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World
- 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)
- 1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic
- 1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician
- 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017)
- 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
- 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)
- 1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic
- 1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic
- 1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician
- 1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)
- 1944 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Russian-Chechen general and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (d. 1996)
- 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer, guitarist, and producer
- 1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author
- 1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff
- 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer
- 1947 – Martin Broughton, English businessman
- 1947 – Lois Chiles, American model and actress
- 1947 – David Omand, English civil servant and academic
- 1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security
- 1947 – Woolly Wolstenholme, English singer and keyboard player (d. 2010)
- 1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic
- 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
- 1948 – Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician
- 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
- 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
- 1950 – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player
- 1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author
- 1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut
- 1951 – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer
- 1951 – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut
- 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter
- 1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer
- 1952 – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic
- 1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
- 1955 – Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician
- 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
- 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach
- 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1958 – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer
- 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright
- 1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
- 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter
- 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter
- 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster
- 1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player
- 1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician
- 1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist
- 1961 – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer
- 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician
- 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
- 1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist
- 1963 – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer
- 1963 – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
- 1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player
- 1964 – Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
- 1965 – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player
- 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1966 – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)
- 1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter
- 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist
- 1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach
- 1968 – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner
- 1968 – Ed O’Brien, English guitarist
- 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
- 1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor
- 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach
- 1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach
- 1971 – Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player
- 1971 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer
- 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
- 1971 – Josia Thugwane, South African runner
- 1971 – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician
- 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
- 1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
- 1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director
- 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter
- 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
- 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer
- 1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player
- 1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist
- 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer
- 1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1976 – Steve Williams, English rower
- 1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor
- 1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
- 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
- 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
- 1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1978 – Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer
- 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
- 1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player
- 1980 – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player
- 1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author
- 1980 – Billy Yates, American football player
- 1981 – Andrés D’Alessandro, Argentinian footballer
- 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
- 1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
- 1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)
- 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
- 1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player
- 1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
- 1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
- 1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
- 1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher
- 1989 – Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress
- 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor
- 1991 – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater
- 1992 – Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player
- 1994 – Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player
- 1994 – Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter
- 1995 – Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer
- 1999 – Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player
- 2001 – Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper
Deaths on April 15
- 628 – Suiko, emperor of Japan (b. 554)
- 943 – Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (b. 920)
- 956 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch
- 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
- 1136 – Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094)
- 1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)
- 1237 – Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic
- 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355)
- 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)
- 1502 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (b. 1443)
- 1558 – Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500)
- 1610 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546)
- 1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580)
- 1652 – Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch
- 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605)
- 1719 – Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
- 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676)
- 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682)
- 1761 – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)
- 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)
- 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)
- 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
- 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)
- 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)
- 1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)
- 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
- 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)
- 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)
- 1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician
- 1912 – Victims of the Titanic disaster:
- Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (b. 1873)
- John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)
- Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)
- Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)
- Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)
- Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866)
- Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)
- James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (b. 1887)
- William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (b. 1873)
- Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887)
- Edward Smith, English Captain (b. 1850)
- William Thomas Stead, English journalist (b. 1849)
- Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)
- Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)
- John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (b. 1862)
- Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)
- 1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)
- 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)
- 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)
- 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880)
- 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)
- 1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)
- 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)
- 1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)
- 1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880)
- 1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912)
- 1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)
- 1966 – Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan
- 1967 – Totò, Italian comedian (b. 1898)
- 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
- 1971 – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)
- 1979 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1912)
- 1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904)
- 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- 1982 – Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915)
- 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)
- 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. 1915)
- 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905)
- 1993 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
- 1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908)
- 1998 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912)
- 1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)
- 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)
- 2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)
- 2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
- 2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)
- 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924)
- 2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
- 2009 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)
- 2010 – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)
- 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)
- 2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)
- 2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)
- 2013 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (b. 1928)
- 2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966)
- 2015 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928)
- 2017 – Clifton James, American actor (b. 1920)
- 2017 – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (b. 1899)
- 2018 – R. Lee Ermey, American actor (b. 1944)
- 2018 – Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances on April 15
- Christian feast day:
- Abbo II of Metz
- Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)
- Hunna
- Paternus of Avranches
- April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Sun (North Korea)
- Earliest day on which Sechseläuten can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in April. (Zürich)
- Father Damien Day (Hawaii)
- Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)
- Jackie Robinson Day (United States)
- National American Sign Language Day (United States)
- One Boston Day (United States)
- Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)
- Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)
- Universal Day of Culture
- World Art Day
April 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »
On This Day
