1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.
1478 – The Pazzi family attack Lorenzo de’ Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral.
1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of actual birth is unknown).
1607 – English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia.
1721 – A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian city of Tabriz.
1777 – Sybil Ludington, aged 16, rode 40 miles (64 km) to alert American colonial forces to the approach of the British regular forces
1794 – Battle of Beaumont during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France.
1803 – Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L’Aigle, France; the event convinces European scientists that meteors exist.
1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines captured Derne under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon.
1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina. Also the date of Confederate Memorial Day for two states.
1865 – Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in Virginia.
1903 – Atlético Madrid Association football club is founded
1923 – The Duke of York weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey.
1925 – Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.
1933 – The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain, is bombed by German Luftwaffe.
1942 – Benxihu Colliery accident in Manchukuo leaves 1549 Chinese miners dead.
1943 – The Easter Riots break out in Uppsala, Sweden.
1944 – Georgios Papandreou becomes head of the Greek government-in-exile based in Egypt.
1944 – Heinrich Kreipe is captured by Allied commandos in occupied Crete.
1945 – World War II: Battle of Bautzen: Last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.
1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army are liberated in Baguio City and they fight against the Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
1954 – The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
1956 – SS Ideal X, the world’s first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey, for Houston, Texas.
1958 – Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
1960 – Forced out by the April Revolution, President of South Korea Syngman Rhee resigns after 12 years of dictatorial rule.
1962 – NASA’s Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.
1963 – In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.
1964 – Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.
1966 – The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.
1966 – A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
1970 – The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force.
1981 – Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world’s first human open fetal surgery.
1982 – Fifty-seven people are killed by former police officer Woo Bum-kon in a shooting spree in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
1986 – A nuclear reactor accident occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, creating the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
1989 – The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
1989 – People’s Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests.
1991 – Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak’s end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year’s only F5 tornado.
1994 – China Airlines Flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
2002 – Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.
2005 – Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country (Syrian occupation of Lebanon).
2018 – American comedian Bill Cosby is found guilty of sexual assault.
Births on April 26
121 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (d. 180)
757 – Hisham I of Córdoba (d. 796)
764 – Al-Hadi, Iranian caliph (d. 786)
1284 – Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick (d. 1324)
1319 – King John II of France (d. 1364)
1538 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter and academic (d. 1600)
1575 – Marie de’ Medici, queen of Henry IV of France (d. 1642)
1647 – William Ashhurst, English banker, Sheriff of London, Lord Mayor of London and politician (d. 1720)
1648 – Peter II of Portugal (d. 1706)
1697 – Adam Falckenhagen, German lute player and composer (d. 1754)
1710 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher and academic (d. 1796)
1718 – Esek Hopkins, American commander (d. 1802)
1774 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (d. 1853)
1782 – Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (d. 1866)
1785 – John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (d. 1851)
1787 – Ludwig Uhland, German poet, philologist, and historian (d. 1862)
1798 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter and lithographer (d. 1863)
1801 – Ambrose Dudley Mann, American politician and diplomat, 1st United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1889)
1804 – Charles Goodyear, American banker, lawyer, and politician (d. 1876)
1822 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American journalist and designer, co-designed Central Park (d. 1903)
1834 – Charles Farrar Browne, American author (d. 1867)
1856 – Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
1862 – Edmund C. Tarbell, American painter and educator (d. 1938)
1876 – Ernst Felle, German rower (d. 1959)
1877 – James Dooley, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of New South Wales (d. 1950)
1878 – Rafael Guízar y Valencia, Mexican bishop and saint (d. 1938)
1879 – Eric Campbell, British actor (d. 1917)
1879 – Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
1886 – Ma Rainey, American singer (d. 1939)
1886 – Ğabdulla Tuqay, Russian poet and publicist (d. 1913)
1889 – Anita Loos, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
1889 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1951)
1894 – Rudolf Hess, Egyptian-German politician (d. 1987)
1896 – Ruut Tarmo, Estonian actor and director (d. 1967)
1896 – Ernst Udet, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941)
1897 – Eddie Eagan, American boxer and bobsledder (d. 1967)
1897 – Douglas Sirk, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
1898 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
1898 – John Grierson, Scottish director and producer (d. 1972)
1899 – Oscar Rabin, Latvian-English saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1958)
1900 – Eva Aschoff, German bookbinder and calligrapher (d. 1969)
1900 – Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (d. 1985)
1900 – Hack Wilson, American baseball player (d. 1948)
1904 – Paul-Émile Léger, Canadian cardinal (d. 1991)
1904 – Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist and politician, 177th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2004)
1905 – Jean Vigo, French director and screenwriter (d. 1934)
1907 – Ilias Tsirimokos, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)
1909 – Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)
1910 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese screenwriter and producer (d. 1997)
1911 – Paul Verner, German soldier and politician (d. 1986)
1912 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (d. 2000)
1914 – Bernard Malamud, Jewish American novelist and short story writer (d. 1986)
1914 – James Rouse, American real estate developer (d. 1996)
1916 – Eyvind Earle, American artist, author, and illustrator (d. 2000)
1916 – Ken Wallis, English commander, engineer, and pilot (d. 2013)
1916 – Morris West, Australian author and playwright (d. 1999)
1917 – Sal Maglie, American baseball player and coach (d. 1992)
1917 – I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect, designed the National Gallery of Art and Bank of China Tower (d. 2019)
1917 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
1918 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch sprinter and long jumper (d. 2004)
1921 – Jimmy Giuffre, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 2008)
1922 – J. C. Holt, English historian and academic (d. 2014)
1922 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada (d. 1993)
1922 – Margaret Scott, South African-Australian ballerina and choreographer (d. 2019)
1924 – Browning Ross, American runner and soldier (d. 1998)
1925 – Vladimir Boltyansky, Russian mathematician, educator and author (d. 2019)
1925 – Gerard Cafesjian, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
1925 – Michele Ferrero, Italian entrepreneur (d. 2015)
1925 – Frank Hahn, British economist (d. 2013)
1926 – Michael Mathias Prechtl, German soldier and illustrator (d. 2003)
1927 – Jack Douglas, English actor (d. 2008)
1927 – Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1927 – Granny Hamner, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1929 – Richard Mitchell, American author and educator (d. 2002)
1930 – Roger Moens, Belgian runner and sportscaster
1931 – Paul Almond, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1931 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent and producer (d. 2008)
1931 – John Cain Jr., Australian politician, 41st Premier of Victoria (d. 2019)
1932 – Israr Ahmed, Indian-Pakistani theologian, philosopher, and scholar (d. 2010)
1932 – Shirley Cawley, English long jumper
1932 – Frank D’Rone, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
1932 – Francis Lai, French accordion player and composer (d. 2018)
1932 – Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
1933 – Carol Burnett, American actress, singer, and producer
1933 – Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican-American general (d. 2005)
1933 – Arno Allan Penzias, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1935 – Patricia Reilly Giff, American author and educator
1937 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 2015)
1938 – Duane Eddy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1938 – Maurice Williams, American doo-wop/R&B singer-songwriter
1940 – Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Indian cleric and politician (d. 2014)
1940 – Giorgio Moroder, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
1940 – Cliff Watson, English rugby league player (d. 2018)
1941 – Claudine Auger, French model and actress (d. 2019)
1942 – Svyatoslav Belza, Russian journalist, author, and critic (d. 2014)
1942 – Sharon Carstairs, Canadian lawyer and politician, Leader of the Government in the Senate
1942 – Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
1942 – Bobby Rydell, American singer and actor
1942 – Jadwiga Staniszkis, Polish sociologist, political scientist, and academic
1943 – Gary Wright, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
1943 – Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect and academic, designed the Therme Vals
1944 – Richard Bradshaw, English conductor (d. 2007)
1945 – Howard Davies, English director and producer (d. 2016)
1945 – Dick Johnson, Australian race car driver
1945 – Sylvain Simard, Canadian academic and politician
1946 – Ralph Coates, English international footballer (d. 2010)
1946 – Marilyn Nelson, American poet and author
1946 – Alberto Quintano, Chilean footballer
1949 – Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer and manager
1949 – Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995)
1951 – John Battle, English politician
1954 – Tatyana Fomina, Estonian chess player
1954 – Alan Hinkes, English mountaineer and explorer
1955 – Kurt Bodewig, German politician
1956 – Koo Stark, American actress and photographer
1958 – John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute, Scottish race car driver
1958 – Giancarlo Esposito, American actor, director, and producer
1958 – Georgios Kostikos, Greek footballer, coach, and manager
1959 – John Corabi, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player and coach
1960 – Roger Taylor, English drummer
1961 – Joan Chen, Chinese-American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Chris Mars, American artist
1962 – Colin Anderson, English footballer
1962 – Debra Wilson, American actress and comedian
1963 – Jet Li, Chinese-Singaporean martial artist, actor, and producer
1963 – Colin Scotts, Australian-American football player
1963 – Cornelia Ullrich, German hurdler
1963 – Bill Wennington, Canadian basketball player
1965 – Susannah Harker, English actress
1965 – Kevin James, American actor and comedian
1967 – Glenn Thomas Jacobs, American professional wrestler, actor, businessman and politician
1967 – Marianne Jean-Baptiste, English actress and singer-songwriter
1967 – Toomas Tõniste, Estonian sailor and politician
1970 – Dean Austin, English footballer and manager
1970 – Melania Trump, Slovene-American model; 47th First Lady of the United States
1970 – Kristen R. Ghodsee, American ethnographer and academic
1970 – Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
1971 – Jay DeMarcus, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1972 – Jason Bargwanna, Australian race car driver
1972 – Kiko, Spanish footballer
1972 – Natrone Means, American football player and coach
1972 – Avi Nimni, Israeli footballer and manager
1973 – Geoff Blum, American baseball player and sportscaster
1973 – Jules Naudet, French-American director and producer
1973 – Chris Perry, English footballer
1973 – Óscar García Junyent, Spanish footballer and coach
1975 – Joey Jordison, American musician, songwriter, record producer
1975 – Rahul Verma, Indian social worker and activist
1976 – Luigi Panarelli, Italian footballer
1976 – Václav Varaďa, Czech ice hockey player
1977 – Samantha Cristoforetti, Italian astronaut
1977 – Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player
1977 – Roxana Saberi, American journalist and author
404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.
775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire.
799 – After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection.
1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094.
1607 – Eighty Years’ War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
1707 – A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
1792 – “La Marseillaise” (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire.
1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.
1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal’s English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
1862 – American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks’ Mills.
1882 – French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry.
1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.
1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class “A” League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
1940 – Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands is approved by the British occupation government.
1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two.
1945 – Liberation Day (Italy): The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini is captured after trying to escape. This day was set as a public holiday to celebrate the Liberation of Italy.
1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.
1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland’s soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland.
1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong.
1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” describing the double helix structure of DNA.
1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government.
1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto’s orbit.
1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
1988 – In Israel, John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position.
2001 – Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.
2004 – The March for Women’s Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion.
2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
2007 – Boris Yeltsin’s funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.
Births on April 25
1214 – Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
1228 – Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
1284 – Edward II of England (d. 1327)
1287 – Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1330)
1502 – Georg Major, German theologian and academic (d. 1574)
1529 – Francesco Patrizi, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1597)
1599 – Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (d. 1658)
1621 – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, English soldier and politician (d. 1679)
1666 – Johann Heinrich Buttstett, German organist and composer (d. 1727)
1694 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (d. 1753)
1710 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer and author (d. 1776)
1723 – Giovanni Marco Rutini, Italian composer (d. 1797)
1725 – Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, English admiral and politician (d. 1786)
1767 – Nicolas Oudinot, French general (d. 1847)
1770 – Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist and academic (d. 1850)
1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1857)
1843 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
1849 – Felix Klein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1925)
1850 – Luise Adolpha Le Beau, German composer and educator (d. 1927)
1851 – Leopoldo Alas, Spanish author, critic, and academic (d. 1901)
1854 – Charles Sumner Tainter, American engineer and inventor (d. 1940)
1862 – Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, English ornithologist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1933)
1868 – John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (d. 1910)
1871 – Lorne Currie, French-English sailor (d. 1926)
1872 – C. B. Fry, English cricketer, footballer, educator, and politician (d. 1956)
1873 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (d. 1956)
1873 – Howard Garis, American author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily series of children’s stories (d. 1962)
1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian businessman and inventor, developed Marconi’s law, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
1874 – Ernest Webb, English-Canadian race walker (d. 1937)
1876 – Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician (d. 1958)
1878 – William Merz, American gymnast and triathlete (d. 1946)
1882 – Fred McLeod, Scottish golfer (d. 1976)
1887 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and critic (d. 1936)
1892 – Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (d. 1980)
1896 – Fred Haney, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1977)
1897 – Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (d. 1965)
1900 – Gladwyn Jebb, English politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1996)
1900 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-Swiss-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
1902 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (d. 1964)
1902 – Mary Miles Minter, American actress (d. 1984)
1903 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1987)
1905 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player and referee (d. 1986)
1906 – William J. Brennan Jr., American colonel and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1997)
1908 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
1909 – William Pereira, American architect, designed the Transamerica Pyramid (d. 1985)
1910 – Arapeta Awatere, New Zealand interpreter, military leader, politician, and murderer (d. 1976)
1911 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
1912 – Earl Bostic, African-American saxophonist (d. 1965)
1913 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (d. 1944)
1914 – Ross Lockridge Jr., American author and academic (d. 1948)
1915 – Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
1916 – Jerry Barber, American golfer (d. 1994)
1917 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
1917 – Jean Lucas, French racing driver (d. 2003)
1918 – Graham Payn, South African-born English actor and singer (d. 2005)
1918 – Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French-American astronomer and academic (d. 1995)
1918 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish-American soprano and actress (d. 2006)
1919 – Finn Helgesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2011)
1921 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter and sculptor (d. 2006)
1923 – Francis Graham-Smith, English astronomer and academic
1923 – Melissa Hayden, Canadian ballerina (d. 2006)
1923 – Albert King, African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1992)
1924 – Ingemar Johansson, Swedish race walker (d. 2009)
1924 – Franco Mannino, Italian pianist, composer, director, and playwright (d. 2005)
1924 – Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (d. 2013)
1925 – Tony Christopher, Baron Christopher, English trade union leader and businessman
1925 – Sammy Drechsel, German comedian and journalist (d. 1986)
1925 – Louis O’Neil, Canadian academic and politician (d. 2018)
1926 – Johnny Craig, American author and illustrator (d. 2001)
1926 – Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (d. 2008)
1926 – Patricia Castell, Argentine actress (d. 2013)
1927 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (d. 2009)
1927 – Albert Uderzo, French author and illustrator (d. 2020)
1928 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 2011)
1929 – Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper, shot putter, and discus thrower (d. 2019)
1930 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1930 – Godfrey Milton-Thompson, English admiral and surgeon (d. 2012)
1930 – Peter Schulz, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Hamburg (d. 2013)
1931 – Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1980)
1931 – David Shepherd, English painter and author (d. 2017)
1932 – Nikolai Kardashev, Russian astrophysicist (d. 2019)
1932 – Meadowlark Lemon, African-American basketball player and minister (d. 2015)
1932 – Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower and politician (d. 1998)
1933 – Jerry Leiber, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
1933 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (d. 1992)
1934 – Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1935 – Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter (d. 1960)
1935 – Reinier Kreijermaat, Dutch footballer (d. 2018)
1936 – Henck Arron, Surinamese banker and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (d. 2000)
1938 – Roger Boisjoly, American aerodynamicist and engineer (d. 2012)
1938 – Ton Schulten, Dutch painter and graphic designer
1939 – Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian footballer and manager
1939 – Michael Llewellyn-Smith, English academic and diplomat
1939 – Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, English historian and academic
1939 – Veronica Sutherland, English academic and British diplomat
1940 – Al Pacino, American actor and director
1941 – Bertrand Tavernier, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1942 – Jon Kyl, American lawyer and politician
1943 – Tony Christie, English singer-songwriter and actor
1944 – Len Goodman, English dancer
1944 – Mike Kogel, German singer-songwriter
1944 – Stephen Nickell, English economist and academic
1944 – Bruce Ponder, English geneticist and cancer researcher
1945 – Stu Cook, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1945 – Richard C. Hoagland, American theorist and author
1945 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
1946 – Talia Shire, American actress
1946 – Peter Sutherland, Irish lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Ireland
1946 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian colonel, lawyer, and politician
1947 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2016)
1947 – Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
1948 – Mike Selvey, English cricketer and sportscaster
1948 – Yu Shyi-kun, Taiwanese politician, 39th Premier of the Republic of China
1949 – Vicente Pernía, Argentinian footballer and race car driver
1949 – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician, French Minister of Finance
1949 – James Fenton, English poet, journalist and literary critic
1950 – Donnell Deeny, Northern Irish lawyer and judge
1950 – Steve Ferrone, English drummer
1950 – Peter Hintze, German politician (d. 2016)
1950 – Valentyna Kozyr, Ukrainian high jumper
1951 – Ian McCartney, Scottish politician, Minister of State for Trade
1952 – Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
1952 – Vladislav Tretiak, Russian ice hockey player and coach
1952 – Jacques Santini, French footballer and coach
1953 – Ron Clements, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
1953 – Gary Cosier, Australian cricketer
1953 – Anthony Venables, English economist, author, and academic
1954 – Melvin Burgess, English author
1954 – Randy Cross, American football player and sportscaster
1954 – Róisín Shortall, Irish educator and politician
1955 – Américo Gallego, Argentinian footballer and coach
1955 – Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor and singer
1955 – Zev Siegl, American businessman, co-founded Starbucks
1956 – Dominique Blanc, French actress, director, and screenwriter
1956 – Abdalla Uba Adamu, Nigerian professor, media scholar
1957 – Theo de Rooij, Dutch cyclist and manager
1958 – Fish, Scottish singer-songwriter
1958 – Misha Glenny, British journalist
1959 – Paul Madden, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to Australia
1959 – Daniel Kash, Canadian actor and director
1959 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player (d. 2016)
1960 – Paul Baloff, American singer (d. 2002)
1960 – Robert Peston, English journalist
1960 – Bruce Redman, Australian director, producer, and critic
1961 – Dinesh D’Souza, Indian-American journalist and author
1961 – Miran Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper
1962 – Foeke Booy, Dutch footballer and manager
1963 – Joy Covey, American businesswoman (d. 2013)
1963 – Dave Martin, English footballer
1963 – David Moyes, Scottish footballer and manager
1963 – Bernd Müller, German footballer and manager
1963 – Paul Wassif, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1964 – Hank Azaria, American actor, voice artist, comedian and producer
1964 – Andy Bell, English singer-songwriter
1965 – Eric Avery, American bass player and songwriter
1965 – Mark Bryant, American basketball player and coach
1965 – John Henson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2014)
1966 – Diego Domínguez, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
1966 – Femke Halsema, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician
1966 – Darren Holmes, American baseball player and coach
1966 – Erik Pappas, American baseball player and coach
1967 – Angel Martino, American swimmer
1968 – Vitaliy Kyrylenko, Ukrainian long jumper
1968 – Thomas Strunz, German footballer
1969 – Joe Buck, American sportscaster
1969 – Martin Koolhoven, Dutch director and screenwriter
1969 – Jon Olsen, American swimmer
1969 – Darren Woodson, American football player and sportscaster
1969 – Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer
1970 – Jason Lee, American skateboarder, actor, comedian and producer
1971 – Sara Baras, Spanish dancer
1971 – Brad Clontz, American baseball player
1973 – Carlota Castrejana, Spanish triple jumper
1973 – Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer
1973 – Barbara Rittner, German tennis player
1975 – Jacque Jones, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Gilberto da Silva Melo, Brazilian footballer
1976 – Tim Duncan, American basketball player
1976 – Breyton Paulse, South African rugby player
1976 – Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player and coach
238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas.
1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.
1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity.
1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
1876 – The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of Major League Baseball.
1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
1898 – Spanish–American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games, now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
1944 – World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station.
1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.
1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces.
1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
1969 – The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta.
1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
1972 – Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
1992 – In a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham.
1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria where 93 villagers are killed.
2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami.
2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
2005 – Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan’s war record.
2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
2013 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.
2014 – More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Katanga Province.
2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.
2019 – The 2019 Luzon earthquake kills at least 18 people in the Philippines.
Births on April 22
1412 – Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (d. 1452)
1444 – Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (d. 1503)
1451 – Isabella I of Castile (d. 1504)
1518 – Antoine of Navarre (d. 1562)
1592 – Wilhelm Schickard, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1635)
1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1709)
1690 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1763)
1707 – Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (d. 1754)
1711 – Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy, Austrian soldier (d. 1762)
1724 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1804)
1732 – John Johnson, English architect and surveyor (d. 1814)
1744 – James Sullivan, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1808)
1757 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1841)
1766 – Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (d. 1817)
1812 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-English orientalist (d. 1894)
1816 – Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general (d. 1897)
1830 – Emily Davies, British suffragist and educator, co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge University
1832 – Julius Sterling Morton, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 1902)
1844 – Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (d. 1865)
1852 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912)
1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)
1854 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
1860 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (d. 1916)
1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924)
1872 – Princess Margaret of Prussia (d. 1954)
1873 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
1876 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
1876 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler and strongman (d. 1920)
1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
1884 – Otto Rank, Austrian-American psychologist and academic (d. 1939)
1886 – Izidor Cankar, Slovenian historian, author, and diplomat (d. 1958)
1889 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (d. 1945)
1891 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (d. 1979)
1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965)
1891 – Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1989)
1891 – Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (d. 1927)
1892 – Vernon Johns, African-American minister and activist (d. 1965)
1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (d. 1977)
1900 – Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1966–67 (d. 1988)
1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1967)
1905 – Robert Choquette, American-Canadian author, poet, and diplomat (d. 1991)
1906 – Eric Fenby, English composer and educator (d. 1997)
1906 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (d. 1947)
1908 – Ivan Yefremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d. 1972)
1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Sephardic Jewish-Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001)
1909 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician and academic (d. 1971)
1912 – Kathleen Ferrier, English operatic singer (d. 1953)
1912 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1914 – Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer (d. 2008)
1914 – Jan de Hartog, Dutch-American author and playwright (d. 2002)
1914 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (d. 1941)
1914 – Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (d. 1944)
1916 – Hanfried Lenz, German mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
1916 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 1999)
1917 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (d. 2016)
1917 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (d. 1992)
1918 – William Jay Smith, American poet and academic (d. 2015)
1918 – Mickey Vernon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
1919 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
1919 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2011)
1922 – Richard Diebenkorn, American soldier and painter (d. 1993)
1922 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1979)
1922 – Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist and academic (d. 1973)
1923 – Peter Kane Dufault, American soldier, pilot, and poet (d. 2013)
1923 – Bettie Page, American model and actress (d. 2008)
1923 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
1924 – Nam Duck-woo, South Korean politician, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2013)
1926 – Charlotte Rae, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
1926 – James Stirling, Scottish architect, designed the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Seeley Historical Library (d. 1992)
1927 – Laurel Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer (d. 2005)
1929 – Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (d. 2019)
1929 – Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India (d. 2015)
1930 – Enno Penno, Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 2016)
1931 – John Buchanan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
1931 – Ronald Hynd, English dancer and choreographer
1933 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist and astronaut (d. 2013)
1935 – Christopher Ball, English linguist and academic
1935 – Paul Chambers, African-American bassist and composer (d. 1969)
1935 – Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic
1936 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
1936 – Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (d. 1998)
1937 – Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer
1937 – Jack Nitzsche, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 2000)
1938 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (d. 2015)
1938 – Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and activist (d. 2009)
1938 – Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer
1938 – Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
1939 – Mel Carter, American singer and actor
1939 – John Foley, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
1939 – Ray Guy, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2013)
1939 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (d. 2001)
1939 – Theodor Waigel, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Finance
1941 – Greville Howard, Baron Howard of Rising, English politician
1942 – Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic
1942 – Mary Prior, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol
1943 – Keith Crisco, American businessman and politician (d. 2014)
1943 – Janet Evanovich, American author
1943 – Louise Glück, American poet
1943 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2012)
1943 – Scott W. Williams, American mathematician and professor
1944 – Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, and sailor (d. 2007)
1944 – Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
1944 – Joshua Rifkin, American conductor and musicologist
1945 – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
1945 – Demetrio Stratos, Egyptian-Italian singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
1946 – Steven L. Bennett, American captain and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1972)
1946 – Paul Davies, English physicist and author
1946 – Louise Harel, Canadian lawyer and politician
1946 – Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Scottish lawyer and politician
1946 – Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, English economist and academic
1946 – John Waters, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1948 – John Pritchard, English bishop
1949 – Spencer Haywood, American basketball player
1950 – Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1950 – Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic
1951 – Paul Carrack, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Aivars Kalējs, Latvian organist, composer, and pianist
1951 – Ana María Shua, Argentinian author and poet
1952 – François Berléand, French actor
1952 – Dave Loveridge, New Zealand rugby player
1952 – Phil Smith, American basketball player (d. 2002)
1953 – Valeri Bondarenko, Estonian footballer and coach
1953 – Richard Broadbent, English businessman
1955 – David Collier, English businessman
1957 – Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland
1959 – Keith Boanas, English footballer and manager
1959 – Terry Francona, American baseball player, coach, and manager
1959 – Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
1959 – Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian actor and producer
1960 – Lloyd Honeyghan, Jamaican-English boxer
1960 – Mart Laar, Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia
1960 – Randall L. Stephenson, American businessman
1961 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (d. 1996)
1961 – Ann McKechin, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
1961 – Dewey Nicks, American photographer and director
1962 – Danièle Sauvageau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1963 – Rosalind Gill, English sociologist and academic
1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic weightlifter and strongman
1964 – Paul Baxter, English footballer
1965 – Miguel Leal, Portuguese footballer and manager
1965 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (d. 2009)
1966 – Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager
1966 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
1967 – David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic
1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American actress and talk show panelist
1967 – Harvey Williams, American football player
1968 – Jo Angel, Australian cricketer
1968 – Bimbo Coles, American basketball player and coach
1968 – Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Dion Dublin, English footballer and sportscaster
1970 – Erkki Bahovski, Estonian journalist
1971 – Eric Mabius, American actor
1971 – Spencer Prior, English footballer
1972 – Sabine Appelmans, Belgian tennis player
1972 – Owen Finegan, Australian rugby player and coach
1972 – Milka Duno, Venezuelan race car driver and engineer
1972 – Sergei Hohlov-Simson, Estonian footballer and manager
1972 – Willie Robertson, American hunter and businessman
1973 – Adem Poric, English-Australian footballer
1973 – Ofer Talker, Israeli footballer and manager
1974 – Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1975 – Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)
1975 – Carlos Sastre, Spanish cyclist
1975 – Anders Nyström, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
1976 – Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1976 – Paul Henderson, Australian footballer
1976 – Michał Żewłakow, Polish footballer
1977 – Mark van Bommel, Dutch footballer
1978 – Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach
1978 – David Masters, English cricketer
1978 – Matt Orford, Australian rugby league player
1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Esteban Tuero, Argentinian race car driver
1979 – Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager
1979 – Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1980 – Igor Budan, Croatian footballer
1980 – Clarke Dermody, New Zealand rugby player
1980 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
1980 – Courtney Friel, American journalist
1980 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
1980 – Quincy Timberlake, Kenyan-Australian activist, engineer, and politician
1980 – Rutledge Wood, American racing analyst and television personality
1981 – Madis Kallas, Estonian decathlete and activist
1981 – Rafael Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2007)
1981 – Jonathan Trott, South African-English cricketer
1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer
1982 – Cassidy Freeman, American actress and musician
1982 – Joel Monaghan, Australian rugby league player
1982 – David Purcey, American baseball player
1982 – Aidas Reklys, Lithuanian figure skater
1982 – Aleksander Saharov, Estonian footballer
1982 – Noriko Shitaya, Japanese voice actress
1983 – Remi Ayodele, American football player
1983 – Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist
1983 – Jos Hooiveld, Dutch footballer
1983 – Matt Jones, American football player
1983 – Vangelis Mantzios, Greek footballer
1984 – Amelle Berrabah, English singer-songwriter
1985 – Kristin Fairlie, Canadian actress
1986 – Amber Heard, American actress and producer
1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player
1986 – Dušan Šakota, Serbian-Greek basketball player
1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
1987 – David Mateos, Spanish footballer
1988 – Dee Gordon, American baseball player
1989 – DeJuan Blair, American basketball player
1989 – Jasper Cillessen, Dutch footballer
1989 – Aron Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer
1990 – Óscar González, Mexican boxer (d. 2014)
1990 – Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper and actor
1991 – Jordi Murphy, Irish international rugby player
1991 – Braydon Smith, Australian boxer (d. 2015)
1992 – Kenny Stills, American football player
1992 – Joonas Vaino, Estonian basketball player
1993 – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Australian footballer
1993 – Ngani Laumape, New Zealand rugby player
1993 – Marcel Ritzmaier, Austrian footballer
Deaths on April 22
296 – Pope Caius
536 – Pope Agapetus I
591 – Peter III of Raqqa
613 – Saint Theodore of Sykeon
846 – Wuzong, Chinese emperor (b. 814)
1208 – Philip of Poitou, Prince-Bishop of Durham
1322 – Francis of Fabriano, Italian writer (b. 1251)
1355 – Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (b. 1318)
1585 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (b. 1550)
1616 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1547)
1672 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish linguist and poet (b. 1598)
1699 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet (b. 1646)
1758 – Antoine de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (b. 1686)
1778 – James Hargreaves, British inventor (b. 1720)
1806 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (b. 1763)
1821 – Gregory V of Constantinople, Greek patriarch and saint (b. 1746)
1833 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (b. 1771)
1850 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist and physician (b. 1798)
1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican general and politician, 11th President of Mexico (b. 1786)
1871 – Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (b. 1806)
1877 – James P. Kirkwood, Scottish-American engineer (b. 1807)
1892 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (b. 1823)
1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian businessman and author (b. 1825)
1894 – Kostas Krystallis, Greek author and poet (b. 1868)
1896 – Thomas Meik, English engineer, founded Halcrow Group (b. 1812)
1908 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Scottish-English merchant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
1925 – André Caplet, French composer and conductor (b. 1878)
1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter and art collector (b. 1848)
1932 – Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian and author (b. 1883)
1933 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1863)
1944 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (b. 1913)
1945 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (b. 1867)
1946 – Lionel Atwill, English-American actor (b. 1885)
1946 – Harlan F. Stone, American lawyer and jurist, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1872)
1949 – Charles Middleton, American actor (b. 1874)
1950 – Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer and academic (b. 1895)
1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist and coleopterist (b. 1870)
1956 – Walt Faulkner, American race car driver (b. 1918)
1968 – Stephen H. Sholes, American record producer (b. 1911)
1978 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902)
1980 – Jane Froman, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
1980 – Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (b. 1902)
1983 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1903)
1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (b. 1902)
1985 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemist and academic (b. 1900)
1985 – Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician and author (b. 1921)
1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (b. 1907)
1987 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect (b. 1905)
1988 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1917)
1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891)
1989 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
1990 – Albert Salmi, American actor (b. 1928)
1994 – Richard Nixon, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913)
1995 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (b. 1947)
1996 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (b. 1927)
1996 – Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (b. 1908)
1998 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (b. 1940)
1303 – The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.
1453 – Three Genoese galleys and a Byzantine blockade runner fight their way through an Ottoman blockading fleet a few weeks before the fall of Constantinople.
1534 – Jacques Cartier begins his first voyage to what is today the east coast of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador.
1535 – The sun dog phenomenon is observed over Stockholm, as later depicted in the famous painting Vädersolstavlan.
1653 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament.
1657 – Admiral Robert Blake destroys a Spanish silver fleet under heavy fire at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
1657 – Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).
1689 – Deposed monarch James II of England lays siege to Derry.
1752 – Start of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, a new phase in the Burmese Civil War (1740–57).
1770 – The Georgian king, Erekle II, abandoned by his Russian ally Count Totleben, wins a victory over Ottoman forces at Aspindza.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Siege of Boston begins, following the battles at Lexington and Concord.
1789 – George Washington arrives at Grays Ferry, Philadelphia while en route to Manhattan for his inauguration.
1792 – France declares war against the “King of Hungary and Bohemia”, the beginning of French Revolutionary Wars.
1800 – The Septinsular Republic is established.
1809 – Two Austrian army corps in Bavaria are defeated by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon at the Battle of Abensberg on the second day of a four-day campaign that ended in a French victory.
1810 – The governor of Caracas, Venezuela declares independence from Spain.
1818 – The case of Ashford v Thornton ends, with Abraham Thornton allowed to go free rather than face a retrial for murder, after his demand for trial by battle is upheld.
1828 – René Caillié becomes the second non-Muslim to enter (and the first to return from) Timbuktu, following Major Gordon Laing.
1836 – U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.
1861 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.
1862 – Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the experiment disproving the theory of spontaneous generation.
1865 – Astronomer Angelo Secchi demonstrates the Secchi disk, which measures water clarity, aboard Pope Pius IX’s yacht, the L’Immaculata Concezion.
1876 – The April Uprising begins. Its suppression shocks European opinion, and Bulgarian independence becomes a condition for ending the Russo-Turkish War.
1884 – Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical Humanum genus.
1898 – U.S. President William McKinley signed a joint resolution to Congress for declaration of war against Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
1902 – Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.
1908 – Opening day of competition in the New South Wales Rugby League.
1912 – Opening day for baseball’s Tiger Stadium in Detroit, and Fenway Park in Boston.
1914 – Nineteen men, women, and children die in the Ludlow Massacre during a Colorado coal-miners’ strike.
1916 – The Chicago Cubs play their first game at Weeghman Park (currently Wrigley Field), defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7–6 in 11 innings.
1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, a.k.a. The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims, his final victories before his death the following day.
1922 – The Soviet government creates South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within Georgian SSR.
1939 – Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday’s celebrations in Germany
1945 – World War II: U.S. troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.
1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: On his 56th birthday Adolf Hitler makes his last trip to the surface to award Iron Crosses to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth.
1945 – Twenty Jewish children used in medical experiments at Neuengamme are killed in the basement of the Bullenhuser Damm school.
1946 – The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its power to the United Nations.
1961 – Cold War: Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US-backed Cuban exiles against Cuba.
1968 – English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial “Rivers of Blood” speech.
1972 – Apollo program: Apollo 16 lunar module, commanded by John Young and piloted by Charles Duke, lands on the moon.
1998 – Air France Flight 422 crashes after taking off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board.
1999 – Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people and injure 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.
2007 – Johnson Space Center shooting: William Phillips with a handgun barricade himself in NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas before killing a male hostage and himself.
2008 – Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.
2010 – The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that would last six months.
2012 – One hundred twenty-seven people are killed when a plane crashes in a residential area near the Benazir Bhutto International Airport near Islamabad, Pakistan.
2013 – A 6.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Lushan County, Ya’an, in China’s Sichuan province, killing more than 150 people and injuring thousands.
2015 – Ten people are killed in a bomb attack on a convoy carrying food supplies to a United Nations compound in Garowe in the Somali region of Puntland.
Births on April 20
1494 – Johannes Agricola, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)
1544 – Renata of Lorraine, Duchess consort of Bavaria (d. 1602)
1586 – Rose of Lima, Peruvian mystic and saint (d. 1617)
1633 – Emperor Go-Kōmyō of Japan (d. 1654)
1646 – Charles Plumier, French botanist and author (d. 1704)
1650 – William Bedloe, English spy (d. 1680)
1718 – David Brainerd, American missionary (d. 1747)
1723 – Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer, and politician (d. 1781)
1727 – Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, Belgian-Austrian minister and diplomat (d. 1794)
1745 – Philippe Pinel, French physician and psychiatrist (d. 1826)
1748 – Georg Michael Telemann, German composer and theologian (d. 1831)
1772 – William Lawless, Irish revolutionary and French general (d. 1824)
1808 – Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France (d. 1873)
1816 – Bogoslav Šulek, Croatian philologist, historian, and lexicographer (d. 1895)
1818 – Heinrich Göbel, German-American mechanic and engineer (d. 1893)
1826 – Dinah Craik, English author and poet (d. 1887)
1836 – Eli Whitney Blake, Jr., American scientist and academic (d. 1895)
1839 – Carol I of Romania, King of Romania (d. 1914)
1840 – Odilon Redon, French painter and illustrator (d. 1916)
1850 – Daniel Chester French, American sculptor, designed the Lincoln statue (d. 1931)
1851 – Alexander Dianin, Russian chemist (d. 1918)
1851 – Siegmund Lubin, Polish-American businessman, founded the Lubin Manufacturing Company (d. 1923)
1860 – Justinien de Clary, French target shooter (d. 1933)
1871 – Sydney Chapman, English economist and civil servant (d. 1951)
1873 – James Harcourt, English character actor (d. 1951)
1875 – Vladimir Vidrić, Croatian poet and lawyer (d. 1909)
1879 – Paul Poiret, French fashion designer (d. 1944)
1882 – Holland Smith, American general (d. 1967)
1884 – Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1966)
1884 – Oliver Kirk, American boxer (d. 1960)
1884 – Daniel Varoujan, Armenian poet and educator (d. 1915)
1889 – Albert Jean Amateau, Turkish rabbi, lawyer, and activist (d. 1996)
1889 – Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland (d. 1918)
1889 – Marie-Antoinette de Geuser, French mystic (d. 1918)
1889 – Adolf Hitler, Austrian born German politician, Führer of Nazi Germany (d. 1945)
1889 – Tonny Kessler, Dutch footballer (d. 1960)
1890 – Maurice Duplessis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Premier of Quebec (d. 1959)
1890 – Adolf Schärf, Austrian soldier and politician, 6th President of Austria (d. 1965)
1891 – Dave Bancroft, American baseball player and manager (d. 1972)
1893 – Harold Lloyd, American actor, comedian, and producer (d. 1971)
1893 – Joan Miró, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 1983)
1895 – Emile Christian, American trombonist and composer (d. 1973)
1895 – Henry de Montherlant, French essayist, novelist, and dramatist (d. 1972)
1896 – Wop May, Canadian captain and pilot (d. 1952)
1899 – Alan Arnett McLeod, Canadian lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
1904 – Bruce Cabot, American actor (d. 1972)
1907 – Miran Bux, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1991)
1907 – Augoustinos Kantiotes, Greek bishop (d. 2010)
1908 – Lionel Hampton, American vibraphone player, pianist, bandleader, and actor (d. 2002)
1910 – Fatin Rüştü Zorlu, Turkish diplomat and politician (d. 1961)
1913 – Mimis Fotopoulos, Greek actor and poet (d. 1986)
1913 – Willi Hennig, German biologist and entomologist (d. 1976)
1913 – Roger Rochard, French runner (d. 1993)
1914 – Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (d. 1999)
1915 – Joseph Wolpe, South African psychotherapist and physician (d. 1997)
1916 – Nasiba Zeynalova, Azerbaijani actress (d. 2004)
1918 – Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
1919 – Richard Hillary, Australian lieutenant and pilot (d. 1943)
1920 – Frances Ames, South African neurologist, psychiatrist, and human rights activist (d. 2002)
1920 – Clement Isong, Nigerian banker and politician, Governor of Cross River State (d. 2000)
1920 – Ronald Speirs, American colonel (d. 2007)
1920 – John Paul Stevens, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 2019)
1923 – Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster, founded Eternal Word Television Network (d. 2016)
1923 – Irene Lieblich, Polish-American painter and illustrator (d. 2008)
1923 – Tito Puente, American drummer and producer (d. 2000)
1924 – Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (d. 2008)
1924 – Leslie Phillips, English actor and producer
1924 – Guy Rocher, Canadian sociologist and academic
1925 – Ernie Stautner, German-American football player and coach (d. 2006)
1925 – Elena Verdugo, American actress (d. 2017)
1927 – Bud Cullen, Canadian judge and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Employment and Immigration (d. 2005)
1927 – Phil Hill, American race car driver (d. 2008)
1927 – K. Alex Müller, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1928 – Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (d. 2013)
1928 – Johnny Gavin, Irish international footballer (d. 2007)
1929 – Harry Agganis, American baseball and football player (d. 1955)
1929 – Bobby Hollander, American film director, actor, and magazine publisher (d. 2002)
1930 – Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (d. 2014)
1930 – Antony Jay, English director and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1931 – Michael Allenby, 3rd Viscount Allenby, English lieutenant and politician (d. 2014)
1931 – John Eccles, 2nd Viscount Eccles, English businessman and politician
1932 – Myriam Bru, French actress
1933 – Kristaq Dhamo, Albanian actor and film director
1936 – Lisa Davis, English and American former child and adult actress
1936 – Pauli Ellefsen, Faroese technician, surveyor, and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 2012)
1936 – Pat Roberts, American captain, journalist, and politician
1936 – Christopher Robinson, English organist and conductor
1937 – Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2011)
1937 – Antonios Kounadis, Greek discus thrower
1937 – Harvey Quaytman, American painter and educator (d. 2002)
1937 – George Takei, American actor
1938 – Betty Cuthbert, Australian sprinter
1938 – Manfred Kinder, German runner
1938 – Peter Snow, British historian and journalist
1938 – Eszter Tamási, Hungarian actress (d. 1991)
1939 – Elspeth Ballantyne, Australian actress
1939 – Peter S. Beagle, American author and screenwriter
1939 – Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norwegian physician and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Norway
1939 – Johnny Tillotson, American singer-songwriter
1940 – James Gammon, American actor (d. 2010)
1941 – Ryan O’Neal, American actor
1942 – Giles Henderson, English lawyer and academic
1942 – Arto Paasilinna, Finnish journalist and author
1943 – Alan Beith, English academic and politician
1943 – John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor and director
1943 – Edie Sedgwick, American model and actress (d. 1971)
1944 – Toivo Aare, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1999)
1945 – Michael Brandon, American actor and director
1945 – Olga Karlatos, Greek actress and Bermudian lawyer
1945 – Thein Sein, Burmese general and politician, 8th President of Burma
1945 – Naftali Temu, Kenyan runner (d. 2003)
1945 – Steve Spurrier, American football player and head coach, 1966 Heisman Trophy winner
1946 – Sandro Chia, Italian painter and sculptor
1946 – Julien Poulin, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1946 – Gordon Smiley, American race car driver (d. 1982)
1947 – Rita Dionne-Marsolais, Canadian economist and politician
1947 – David Leland, English actor, director, and screenwriter
1947 – Viktor Suvorov, Russian intelligence officer, historian, and author
1948 – Gregory Itzin, American actor
1948 – Matthias Kuhle, German geographer and academic (d. 2015)
796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid.
1518 – Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.
1521 – Trial of Martin Luther begins its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He refuses to recant his teachings despite the risk of excommunication.
1689 – Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros.
1738 – Real Academia de la Historia (“Royal Academy of History”) is founded in Madrid.
1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.
1783 – Three-Fifths Compromise: the first instance of black slaves in the United States of America being counted as three fifths of persons (for the purpose of taxation), in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation. This was later adopted in the 1787 Constitution.
1831 – The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
1847 – American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.
1857 – “The Spirits Book” by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France.
1864 – Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement.
1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
1899 – The St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria.
1902 – The 7.5 Mw Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800–2,000.
1906 – An earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California.
1909 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.
1915 – French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.
1923 – Yankee Stadium: “The House that Ruth Built” opens.
1925 – The International Amateur Radio Union is formed in Paris.
1930 – The British Broadcasting Corporation announced that “there is no news” in their evening report.
1939 – Robert Menzies, who became Australia’s longest-serving prime minister, is elected as leader of the United Australia Party after the death of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons.
1942 – World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.
1942 – Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
1943 – World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
1945 – Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
1946 – The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
1949 – The Republic of Ireland Act comes into effect.
1949 – The keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States is laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding. However, construction is canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.
1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
1955 – Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country’s first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.
1983 – A suicide bomber in Lebanon destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people.
1987 – The New York Islanders defeat the Washington Capitals 3–2 in Game 7 of their Patrick Division Semifinal series.
1988 – The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
1996 – In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the United Nations compound at Qana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge.
1997 – The Red River flood begins and soon overwhelms the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Fire breaks out and spreads in downtown Grand Forks, but high water levels hamper efforts to reach the fire, leading to the destruction of 11 buildings.
1999 – Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League’s all-time points scorer, plays his final game at Madison Square Garden as a teammate of the New York Rangers in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gretzky recorded his final career point, an assist, bringing his career point total to 2,857.
2007 – A series of bombings, two of them being suicides, occur in Baghdad, killing 198 and injuring 251.
2013 – A suicide bombing in a Baghdad cafe kills 27 people and injures another 65.
2018 – King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country’s name will change to Eswatini.
2019 – A redacted version of the Mueller Report is released to the United States Congress and the public.
2020 – Coronavirus Pandemic: Europe surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 deaths.
Births on April 18
359 – Gratian, Roman emperor (d. 383)
588 – K’an II, Mayan ruler (d. 658)
812 – Al-Wathiq, Abbasid caliph (d. 847)
1446 – Ippolita Maria Sforza, Italian noble (d. 1484)
1480 – Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI
1503 – Henry II of Navarre, (d. 1555)
1534 – William Harrison, English clergyman (d. 1593)
1580 – Thomas Middleton, English Jacobean playwright and poet (d. 1627)
1590 – Ahmed I, Ottoman Emperor (d. 1617)
1605 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1674)
1666 – Jean-Féry Rebel, French violinist and composer (d. 1747)
1740 – Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician (d. 1810)
1759 – Jacques Widerkehr, French cellist and composer (d. 1823)
1771 – Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (d. 1820)
1772 – David Ricardo, British economist and politician (d. 1823)
1794 – William Debenham, English founder of Debenhams (d. 1863)
1797 – Adolphe Thiers, French historian and politician, 2nd President of France (d. 1877)
1813 – James McCune Smith, African-American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author (d. 1865)
1819 – Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban lawyer and activist (d. 1874)
1819 – Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1895)
1838 – Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist and academic (d. 1912)
1854 – Ludwig Levy, German architect (d. 1907)
1857 – Clarence Darrow, American lawyer (d. 1938)
1858 – Dhondo Keshav Karve, Indian educator and activist, Bharat Ratna Awardee (d. 1962)
1858 – Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and author (d. 1935)
1863 – Count Leopold Berchtold, Austrian-Hungarian politician and diplomat, Joint Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (d. 1942)
1863 – Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (d. 1920)
1864 – Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author (d. 1916)
1874 – Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian author and poet (d. 1938)
1877 – Vicente Sotto, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 1950)
1879 – Korneli Kekelidze, Georgian philologist and scholar (d. 1962)
1880 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (d. 1968)
1882 – Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian ruler (d. 1964)
1882 – Leopold Stokowski, English conductor (d. 1977)
1884 – Jaan Anvelt, Estonian educator and politician (d. 1937)
1888 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1979)
1889 – Jessie Street, Australian activist (d. 1970)
1892 – Eugene Houdry, French-American mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1962)
1893 – Violette Morris, French shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1944)
1897 – Ardito Desio, Italian geologist and cartographer (d. 2001)
1897 – Per-Erik Hedlund, Swedish skier (d. 1975)
1898 – Patrick Hennessy, Irish soldier and businessman (d. 1981)
1900 – Bertha Isaacs, Bahamian teacher, tennis player, politician and women’s rights activist (d. 1997)
1901 – Al Lewis, American songwriter (d. 1967)
1901 – László Németh, Hungarian dentist, author, and playwright (d. 1975)
1902 – Waldemar Hammenhög, Swedish author (d. 1972)
1902 – Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981)
1904 – Pigmeat Markham, African-American comedian, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
1905 – Sydney Halter, Canadian lawyer and businessman (d. 1990)
1905 – George H. Hitchings, American physician and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1907 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor (d. 1995)
1911 – Ilario Bandini, Italian businessman and racing driver (d. 1992)
1911 – Maurice Goldhaber, Ukrainian Jewish-American physicist and academic (d. 2011)
1914 – Claire Martin, Canadian author (d. 2014)
1915 – Joy Davidman, Polish-Ukrainian Jewish American poet and author (d. 1960)
1916 – Carl Burgos, American illustrator (d. 1984)
1916 – Doug Peden, Canadian basketball player (d. 2005)
1917 – Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1947)
1918 – Gabriel Axel, Danish-French actor, director, and producer (d. 2014)
1918 – André Bazin, French critic and theorist (d. 1958)
1918 – Shinobu Hashimoto, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1918 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, founded CliffsNotes (d. 2001)
1918 – Tony Mottola, American guitarist and composer (d. 2004)
1919 – Virginia O’Brien, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
1919 – Esther Afua Ocloo, Ghanaian entrepreneur and pioneer of microlending (d. 2002)
1920 – John F. Wiley, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
1921 – Jean Richard, French actor and singer (d. 2001)
1922 – Barbara Hale, American actress (d. 2017)
1922 – Lord Kitchener, Trinidadian singer (d. 2000)
1923 – Alfred Bieler, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 2013)
1923 – Beryl Platt, Baroness Platt of Writtle, English engineer and politician (d. 2015)
1924 – Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
1924 – Henry Hyde, American commander, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
1924 – Roy Mason, English miner and politician, Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2015)
1925 – Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer and author (d. 2005)
1926 – Doug Insole, English cricketer (d. 2017)
1927 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist, author, and academic (d. 2008)
1927 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Poland (d. 2013)
1927 – Charles Pasqua, French businessman and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 2015)
1928 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (d. 2015)
1928 – Otto Piene, German sculptor and academic (d. 2014)
1929 – Peter Hordern, English soldier and politician
1930 – Clive Revill, New Zealand actor and singer
1931 – Bill Miles, American director and producer (d. 2013)
1934 – James Drury, American actor (d. 2020)
1934 – George Shirley, African-American tenor and educator
1935 – Brian Clay, Australian rugby league player (d. 1987)
1935 – Costas Ferris, Egyptian-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1936 – Roger Graef, American-English criminologist, director, and producer
1936 – Vladimir Hütt, Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1997)
1936 – “TV” Tommy Ivo, American actor and drag racer
1937 – Jan Kaplický, Czech architect, designed the Selfridges Building (d. 2009)
1937 – Tatyana Shchelkanova, Russian long jumper and heptathlete (d. 2011)
1937 – Teddy Taylor, Scottish journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
1939 – Glen Hardin, American pianist and arranger
1939 – Thomas J. Moyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 2010)
1940 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
1940 – Mike Vickers, English guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter
1941 – Michael D. Higgins, Irish sociologist and politician, 9th President of Ireland
1942 – Michael Beloff, English lawyer and academic
1942 – Steve Blass, American baseball player and sportscaster
1942 – Robert Christgau, American journalist and critic
1942 – Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian racing driver (d. 1970)
1944 – Kathy Acker, American author and poet (d. 1997)
1944 – Frances D’Souza, Baroness D’Souza, English academic and politician
1944 – Robert Hanssen, American FBI agent and double agent
1944 – Philip Jackson, Scottish sculptor and photographer
1945 – Bernard Arcand, Canadian anthropologist and author (d. 2009)
1945 – Richard Bausch, American novelist and short story writer
1945 – Robert Bausch, American novelist and short story writer
1946 – Hayley Mills, English actress
1946 – Tommy Shannon, American bass guitarist
1947 – Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (d. 2013)
1947 – Dorothy Lyman, American actress
1947 – Cindy Pickett, American actress
1947 – Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter
1947 – James Woods, American actor and producer
1948 – Régis Wargnier, French director, producer, and screenwriter
1949 – Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
1950 – Paul Callery, Australian footballer
1950 – Tina Chow, American model and jewelry designer (d. 1992)
1950 – Kenny Ortega, American director, producer, and choreographer
1950 – Grigory Sokolov, Russian pianist and composer
1951 – Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer and coach
1951 – Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1953 – Rick Moranis, Canadian-American actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter
1954 – Robert Greenberg, American pianist and composer
1956 – Chris Jones, English footballer
1956 – Eric Roberts, American actor
1957 – Ian Campbell, Australian jumper
1958 – Gabi Delgado-López, Spanish-German singer, co-founder of D.A.F.
1958 – Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian cricketer and coach (d. 1999)
1959 – Susan Faludi, American journalist and author
1959 – Frank Mulholland, Lord Mulholland, Scottish judge, former Solicitor General for Scotland and Lord Advocate
1960 – John Chiedozie, Nigerian international footballer
1960 – Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova, Ukrainian runner
1961 – Kelly Hansen, American singer-songwriter
1961 – Jane Leeves, English actress and dancer
1961 – John Podhoretz, American journalist and author
1962 – Jeff Dunham, American comedian and ventriloquist
1962 – Nick Farr-Jones, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
1963 – Eric McCormack, Canadian-American actor and producer
1963 – Conan O’Brien, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and talk show host
1963 – Phil Simmons, Trinidadian cricketer
1963 – Peter Van Loan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of International Trade
1964 – Niall Ferguson, Scottish historian and academic
1964 – Rithy Panh, Cambodian director and screenwriter
1966 – Valeri Kamensky, Russian ice hockey player
1967 – Maria Bello, American actress and writer
1969 – Keith DeCandido, American author
1969 – Stefan Schwarz, Swedish footballer and manager
1969 – Robert Změlík, Czech decathlete
1970 – Rico Brogna, American baseball player and coach
1970 – Greg Eklund, American drummer and guitarist
1970 – Saad Hariri, Saudi Arabian-Lebanese businessman and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Lebanon
1970 – François Leroux, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host
1970 – Tatiana Stefanidou, Greek journalist and talk show host
1971 – Oleg Petrov, Russian ice hockey player
1971 – Graham Rowntree, English rugby player
1971 – David Tennant, Scottish actor
1972 – Rosa Clemente, American journalist and activist
1972 – Eli Roth, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1972 – Michael Rutter, English motorcycle racer
1973 – Derrick Brooks, American football player
1973 – Brady Clark, American baseball player
1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian runner
1974 – Millie Corretjer, Puerto Rican-American actress and singer
1974 – Mark Tremonti, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1976 – Gavin Creel, American actor and singer
1976 – Melissa Joan Hart, American actress, director, and producer
1976 – Andrew Ilie, Romanian-Australian tennis player
1976 – Justin Ross, American politician
1976 – Staffan Strand, Swedish high jumper
1977 – Dan LaCouture, American ice hockey player
1977 – Cindy Taylor, Paraguayan model and actress
1979 – Michael Bradley, American basketball player and coach
1979 – Ethan Cohn, American actor
1979 – Matt Cooper, Australian rugby league player
1979 – Anthony Davidson, English racing driver
1979 – Kourtney Kardashian, American model and businesswoman
1980 – Rabiu Afolabi, Nigerian footballer and manager
1980 – Justin Levens, American mixed martial artist (d. 2008)
1981 – Brian Buscher, American baseball player
1981 – Milan Jovanović, Serbian footballer
1981 – Aldo Ramírez, Colombian footballer
1981 – Audrey Tang, Taiwanese computer scientist and academic
1982 – Ibrahim al-Asiri, Saudi Arabian terrorist
1982 – Greg Camarillo, American football player
1982 – Ricardo Colclough, Canadian-American football player
1982 – Simone Farina, Italian footballer
1982 – Scott Hartnell, Canadian ice hockey player
1982 – Blair Late, American singer-songwriter and journalist
1982 – Darren Sutherland, Irish boxer (d. 2009)
1982 – Marie-Élaine Thibert, Canadian singer
1983 – Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
1983 – Reeve Carney, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1984 – Red Bryant, American football player
1984 – America Ferrera, American actress and producer
1985 – Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
1986 – Billy Butler, American baseball player
1986 – Maurice Edu, American soccer player
1986 – Taylor Griffin, American basketball player
1986 – Conrad Logan, Irish footballer
1986 – Efraín Velarde, Mexican footballer
1987 – Brett Deledio, Australian footballer
1987 – Danny Guthrie, English footballer
1987 – Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, English model and actress
1987 – Samantha Jade, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
1987 – Ivan Tričkovski, Macedonian footballer
1988 – Andre Frolov, Estonian footballer
1988 – Alexander Hauck, South African-German rugby player
1989 – Jessica Jung, Korean American singer, songwriter, actress, and fashion designer
1990 – Henderson Álvarez, Venezuelan baseball player
1990 – Anna van der Breggen, Dutch cyclist
1990 – Jake Howells, English footballer
1990 – Wojciech Szczęsny, Polish footballer
1990 – Junior Torunarigha, Nigerian footballer
1993 – Matt Salisbury, English cricketer
1993 – Nathan Sykes, English singer-songwriter
1995 – Divock Origi, Belgian footballer
1996 – Mariah Bell, American figure skater
1996 – Ioana Ducu, Romanian tennis player
1997 – Matthias Blübaum, German chess grandmaster
1997 – Donny van de Beek, Dutch footballer
Deaths on April 18
727 – Agallianos Kontoskeles, Byzantine commander and rebel leader
850 – Perfectus, Spanish monk and martyr
909 – Dionysius II, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch
943 – Fujiwara no Atsutada, Japanese nobleman and poet (b. 906)
963 – Stephen Lekapenos, co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire
1161 – Theobald of Bec, French-English archbishop (b. 1090)
1176 – Galdino della Sala, Italian archdeacon and saint
1552 – John Leland, English poet and historian (b. 1502)
1555 – Polydore Vergil, English historian (b. 1470)
1556 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and politician (b. 1495)
1567 – Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b. 1503)
1587 – John Foxe, English historian and author (b. 1516)
1636 – Julius Caesar, English judge and politician (b. 1557)
1650 – Simonds d’Ewes, English lawyer and politician (b. 1602)
1674 – John Graunt, English demographer and statistician (b. 1620)
1689 – George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, Welsh judge and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1648)
1732 – Louis Feuillée, French astronomer, geographer, and botanist (b. 1660)
1742 – Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician (b. 1664)
1763 – Marie-Josephte Corriveau, Canadian murderer (b. 1733)
1794 – Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714)
1796 – Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1732)
1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (b. 1731)
1832 – Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet, French painter (b. 1761)
1859 – Tatya Tope, Indian general (b. 1814)
1864 – Juris Alunāns, Latvian philologist and linguist (b. 1832)
1873 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist and academic (b. 1803)
1898 – Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (b. 1826)
1906 – Luis Martín, Spanish religious leader, 24th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1846)
1912 – Martha Ripley, American physician (b. 1843)
1917 – Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist and academic (b. 1858)
1923 – Savina Petrilli, Italian religious leader (b. 1851)
1936 – Milton Brown, American singer and bandleader (b. 1903)
1936 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1879)
1938 – George Bryant, American archer (b. 1878)
1942 – Aleksander Mitt, Estonian speed skater (b. 1903)
1942 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American heiress, sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (b. 1875)
1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (b. 1884)
1945 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer, invented the vacuum tube (b. 1849)
1945 – Ernie Pyle, American journalist and soldier (b. 1900)
1947 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak priest and politician, President of Slovakia (b. 1887)
1951 – Óscar Carmona, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 11th President of Portugal (b. 1869)
1955 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic (b. 1879)
1958 – Maurice Gamelin, Belgian-French general (b. 1872)
1959 – Irving Cummings, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1888)
1959 – Percy Smith, English footballer and manager (b. 1880)
1963 – Meyer Jacobstein, American academic and politician (b. 1880)
1964 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan II.
1362 – Kaunas Castle falls to the Teutonic Order after a month-long siege.
1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.
1521 – Trial of Martin Luther over his teachings begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.
1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.
1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in the Americas.
1797 – Citizens of Verona begin an unsuccessful eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces.
1861 – The state of Virginia’s secession convention votes to secede from the United States, later becoming the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America.
1863 – American Civil War: Grierson’s Raid begins: Troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins: Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
1869 – Morelos is admitted as the 27th state of Mexico.
1876 – Catalpa rescue: The rescue of six Fenian prisoners from Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.
1895 – The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.
1905 – The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the “right to free contract” is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
1907 – The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
1912 – Russian troops open fire on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.
1941 – World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
1942 – French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress.
1944 – Forces of the Communist-controlled Greek People’s Liberation Army attack the smaller National and Social Liberation resistance group, which surrenders. Its leader Dimitrios Psarros is murdered.
1945 – World War II: Montese, Italy, is liberated from Nazi forces.
1946 – The last French troops are withdrawn from Syria.
1951 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
1961 – Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
1969 – Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.
1970 – Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
1971 – The Provisional Government of Bangladesh is formed.
1975 – The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
1978 – Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking a communist coup d’état in Afghanistan.
1982 – Constitution Act, 1982 Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
1992 – The Katina P is deliberately run aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
2006 – A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates an explosive device in a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 11 people and injuring 70.
2013 – An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others.
2014 – NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.
Births on April 17
44 – Pope Evaristus (d. 107)
1277 – Michael IX Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1320)
1455 – Andrea Gritti, Doge of Venice (d. 1538)
1497 – Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador, conquered northern Chile (d. 1553)
1573 – Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1651)
1586 – John Ford, English poet and playwright (d. 1639)
1598 – Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian priest and astronomer (d. 1671)
1620 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal (d. 1700)
1635 – Edward Stillingfleet, British theologian and scholar (d. 1699)
1676 – Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
1683 – Johann David Heinichen, German composer and theorist (d. 1729)
1710 – Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, Scottish politician (d. 1767)
1734 – Taksin, King of Thailand (d. 1782)
1741 – Samuel Chase, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1811)
1750 – François de Neufchâteau, French academic and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 1828)
1756 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian commander (d. 1805)
1766 – Collin McKinney, American surveyor, merchant, and politician (d. 1861)
1794 – Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist and explorer (d. 1868)
1798 – Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician and academic (d. 1840)
1814 – Josif Pančić, Serbian botanist and academic (d. 1888)
1816 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English architect and philanthropist (d. 1876)
1820 – Alexander Cartwright, American firefighter and inventor of baseball (d. 1892)
1833 – Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1900)
1837 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (d. 1913)
1842 – Maurice Rouvier, French businessman and politician, 53rd Prime Minister of France (d. 1911)
1849 – William R. Day, American jurist and politician, 36th United States Secretary of State (d. 1923)
1852 – Cap Anson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1922)
1863 – Augustus Edward Hough Love, English mathematician and theorist (d. 1940)
1865 – Ursula Ledóchowska, Polish-Austrian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (d. 1939)
1866 – Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (d. 1927)
1875 – Aleksander Tõnisson, Estonian general and politician, 5th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1941)
1877 – Matsudaira Tsuneo, Japanese diplomat (d. 1949)
1878 – Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman (d. 1961)
1878 – Demetrios Petrokokkinos, Greek tennis player (d. 1942)
1879 – Henri Tauzin, French hurdler (d. 1918)
1882 – Artur Schnabel, Jewish-Polish pianist and composer (d. 1951)
1888 – Herms Niel, German soldier, trombonist, and composer (d. 1954)
1891 – George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (d. 1965)
1895 – Robert Dean Frisbie, American soldier and author (d. 1948)
1896 – Señor Wences, Spanish-American ventriloquist (d. 1999)
1897 – Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian philosopher and educator (d. 1981)
1897 – Thornton Wilder, American novelist and playwright (d. 1975)
1897 – Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (d. 1983)
1899 – Aleksander Klumberg, Estonian decathlete and coach (d. 1958)
1903 – Nicolas Nabokov, Russian-American composer and educator (d. 1978)
1903 – Gregor Piatigorsky, Ukrainian-American cellist and educator (d. 1976)
1903 – Morgan Taylor, American hurdler and coach (d. 1975)
1905 – Louis Jean Heydt, American journalist and actor (d. 1960)
1905 – Arthur Lake, American actor (d. 1987)
1906 – Sidney Garfield, American physician, co-founded Kaiser Permanente (d. 1984)
1909 – Alain Poher, French politician, President of France (d. 1996)
1910 – Evangelos Averoff, Greek historian and politician, Greek Minister of Defence (d. 1990)
1910 – Ivan Goff, Australian screenwriter and producer (d. 1999)
1910 – Helenio Herrera, French footballer and manager (d. 1997)
1911 – Hervé Bazin, French author and poet (d. 1996)
1911 – Lester Rodney, American soldier and journalist (d. 2009)
1912 – Marta Eggerth, Jewish-Hungarian-American actress and singer (d. 2013)
1914 – George Davis, American art director (d. 1984)
1914 – Mac Raboy, American illustrator (d. 1967)
1915 – Martin Clemens, Scottish soldier (d. 2009)
1915 – Joe Foss, American general and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota (d. 2003)
1915 – Regina Ghazaryan, Armenian painter (d. 1999)
1916 – Win Maung, 3rd President of Union of Myanmar (d. 1989)
1916 – A. Thiagarajah, Sri Lankan educator and politician (d. 1981)
1916 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, world’s first female prime minister (d. 2000)
1918 – William Holden, American actor (d. 1981)
1919 – Gilles Lamontagne, Canadian lieutenant and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2016)
1919 – Chavela Vargas, Costa Rican-Mexican singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2012)
1920 – Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (d. 2016)
1923 – Lindsay Anderson, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
1923 – Solly Hemus, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2017)
1923 – Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (d. 2014)
1923 – Gianni Raimondi, Italian lyric tenor (d. 2008)
1923 – Harry Reasoner, American soldier and journalist (d. 1991)
1924 – Kenneth Norman Jones, Australian public servant
1924 – Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (d. 2013)
1925 – René Moawad, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 13th President of Lebanon (d. 1989)
1926 – Joan Lorring, British actress (d. 2014)
1926 – Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2004)
1927 – Margot Honecker, East German politician and First Lady (d. 2016)
1928 – Victor Lownes, American businessman (d. 2017)
1928 – Cynthia Ozick, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist
1928 – Heinz Putzl, Austrian fencer
1928 – Fabien Roy, Canadian accountant and politician
1929 – James Last, German-American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2015)
1930 – Chris Barber, English trombonist and bandleader
1931 – John Barrett, English tennis player and sportscaster
1931 – Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (d. 2012)
1934 – Don Kirshner, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
1934 – Peter Morris, Australian-English surgeon and academic
1935 – Bud Paxson, American broadcaster, founded Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (d. 2015)
1937 – Ronald Hamowy, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2012)
1937 – Ferdinand Piëch, Austrian-German engineer and businessman (d. 2019)
1938 – Ben Barnes, American businessman and politician, 36th Lieutenant Governor of Texas
1938 – Doug Lewis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 41st Canadian Minister of Justice
1938 – Ronald H. Miller, American theologian, author, and academic (d. 2011)
1938 – Kerry Wendell Thornley, American theorist and author (d. 1988)
1939 – Robert Miller, American art dealer (d. 2011)
1940 – Eric Dancer, English businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Devon
1940 – Billy Fury, English singer-songwriter (d. 1983)
1940 – John McCririck, English journalist (d. 2019)
1940 – Chuck Menville, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1992)
1940 – Anja Silja, German soprano and actress
1940 – Agostino Vallini, Italian cardinal and vicar general of Rome
1941 – Lagle Parek, Estonian architect and politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior
1942 – Buster Williams, American jazz bassist
1943 – Richard Allen Epstein, American lawyer, author, and academic
1946 – Clare Francis, English sailor and author
1947 – Nigel Emslie, Lord Emslie, Scottish lawyer and judge
1947 – Richard Field, English lawyer and judge
1947 – Sherrie Levine, American photographer
1947 – Tsutomu Wakamatsu, Japanese baseball player, coach, and manager
1948 – Jan Hammer, Czech pianist, composer, and producer
1948 – Alice Harden, American educator and politician (d. 2012)
1948 – Pekka Vasala, Finnish runner
1951 – Olivia Hussey, Argentinian-English actress
1951 – Börje Salming, Swedish ice hockey player and businessman
1952 – Joe Alaskey, American voice actor (d. 2016)
1952 – Pierre Guité, Canadian ice hockey player
1952 – John McColl, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Jersey
1952 – Željko Ražnatović, Serbian commander (d. 2000)
1952 – John Robertson, Scottish businessman and politician
1954 – Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver
1954 – Roddy Piper, Canadian professional wrestler and actor (d. 2015)
1954 – Michael Sembello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Todd Lickliter, American basketball player and coach
1955 – Pete Shelley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
1955 – Mike Stroud, English physician and explorer
1956 – Colin Tyre, Lord Tyre, Scottish lawyer and judge
1957 – Teri Austin, Canadian actress
1957 – Afrika Bambaataa, American disc jockey
1957 – Nick Hornby, English novelist, essayist, lyricist, and screenwriter
1957 – Julia Macur, English lawyer and judge
1957 – Frank McDonough, British historian
1958 – Laslo Babits, Canadian javelin thrower (d. 2013)
1959 – Sean Bean, English actor
1959 – Jimmy Mann, Canadian ice hockey player
1959 – Li Meisu, Chinese shot putter
1960 – Vladimir Polyakov, Russian pole vaulter
1961 – Frank J. Christensen, American labor union leader
1961 – Norman Cowans, Jamaican-English cricketer
1961 – Boomer Esiason, American football player and sportscaster
1961 – Bella Freud, English fashion designer
1962 – Paul Nicholls, English jockey and trainer
1964 – Ken Daneyko, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1964 – Maynard James Keenan, American singer-songwriter and producer
1964 – Rachel Notley, Canadian politician
1964 – Lela Rochon, American actress
1966 – Vikram, Indian actor and singer
1967 – Kimberly Elise, American actress
1967 – Marquis Grissom, American baseball player and coach
1967 – Ian Jones, New Zealand rugby player
1967 – Barnaby Joyce, Australian politician, 17th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
1967 – Liz Phair, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1968 – Julie Fagerholt, Danish fashion designer
1968 – Phil Henderson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
1968 – Eric Lamaze, Canadian jockey
1968 – Roger Twose, New Zealand cricketer
1968 – Richie Woodhall, English boxer and trainer
1970 – Redman, American rapper, producer, and actor
1971 – Claire Sweeney, English actress
1972 – Gary Bennett, American baseball player
1972 – Tony Boselli, American football player and sportscaster
1972 – Jennifer Garner, American actress
1972 – Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
1972 – Yuichi Nishimura, Japanese footballer and referee
1972 – Terran Sandwith, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Katrin Koov, Estonian architect
1973 – Brett Maher, Australian basketball player and sportscaster
1973 – Theo Ratliff, American basketball player
1974 – Mikael Åkerfeldt, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1974 – Victoria Beckham, English singer and fashion designer
1975 – Heidi Alexander, English politician
1975 – Travis Roy, American ice hockey player
1976 – Maurice Wignall, Jamaican hurdler and long jumper
1977 – Chad Hedrick, American speed skater
1977 – Frederik Magle, Danish composer, organist, and pianist
1978 – Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, German skier
1978 – Lindsay Hartley, American actress
1978 – Jason White, Scottish rugby player
1979 – Eric Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Marija Šestak, Serbian-Slovenian triple jumper
1980 – Fabián Vargas, Colombian footballer
1980 – Curtis Woodhouse, English footballer, boxer, and manager
1981 – Jenny Meadows, English runner
1981 – Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer-songwriter
1981 – Ryan Raburn, American baseball player
1981 – Chris Thompson, English runner
1981 – Zhang Yaokun, Chinese footballer
1982 – Brad Boyes, Canadian ice hockey player
1982 – Chuck Kobasew, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Stanislav Chistov, Russian ice hockey player
1983 – Roberto Jiménez, Peruvian footballer
1983 – Andrea Marcato, Italian rugby player
1984 – Pablo Sebastián Álvarez, Argentinian footballer
1984 – Jed Lowrie, American baseball player
1984 – Raffaele Palladino, Italian footballer
1985 – Rooney Mara, American actress
1985 – Luke Mitchell, Australian actor and model
1985 – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player
1986 – Romain Grosjean, French race car driver
1988 – Takahiro Moriuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
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
43 BC – Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Caesar’s assassin Decimus Brutus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, but is then immediately defeated by the army of the other consul, Aulus Hirtius.
AD 69 – Vitellius, commander of the Rhine armies, defeats Emperor Otho in the Battle of Bedriacum to take power over Rome.
AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, surrounds the Jewish capital with four Roman legions.
193 – Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans).
966 – After his marriage to the Christian Doubravka of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converts to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state.
972 – Co-Emperor Otto II, a son of Otto I (the Great), marries the Byzantine princess Theophanu. She is crowned empress by Pope John XIII at Rome.
1028 – Henry III, son of Conrad, is elected King of Germany.
1205 – Battle of Adrianople between Bulgarians and Crusaders.
1294 – Temür, grandson of Kublai, is elected Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan dynasty with the reigning titles Oljeitu and Chengzong.
1341 – Sack of Saluzzo (Italy) by Italian-Angevine troops under Manfred V, Marquess of Saluzzo.
1434 – The foundation stone of Nantes Cathedral, France is laid.
1471 – In England, the Yorkists under Edward IV defeat the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet; the Earl is killed and Edward IV resumes the throne.
1561 – A celestial phenomenon is reported over Nuremberg, described as an aerial battle.
1639 – Imperial forces are defeated by the Swedes at the Battle of Chemnitz. The Swedish victory prolongs the Thirty Years’ War and allows them to advance into Bohemia.
1699 – Khalsa: The Sikh religion was formalised as the Khalsa – the brotherhood of Warrior-Saints – by Guru Gobind Singh in northern India, in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar.
1775 – The first abolition society in North America is established. The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage is organized in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.
1816 – Bussa, a slave in British-ruled Barbados, leads a slave rebellion and is killed. For this, he is remembered as the first national hero of Barbados.
1828 – Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary.
1849 – Hungary declares itself independent of Austria with Lajos Kossuth as its leader.
1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth; Lincoln died the next day.
1865 – U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family are attacked at home by Lewis Powell.
1881 – The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight is fought in El Paso, Texas.
1890 – The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.
1894 – The first ever commercial motion picture house opened in New York City using ten Kinetoscopes, a device for peep-show viewing of films.
1900 – The Exposition Universelle begins.
1902 – James Cash Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1906 – The Azusa Street Revival opens and will launch Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement.
1908 – Hauser Dam, a steel dam on the Missouri River in Montana, U.S., fails, sending a surge of water 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 m) high downstream.
1909 – A massacre is organized by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian population of Cilicia.
1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 (sinks morning of April 15th).
1927 – The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, reaches Greenly Island, Canada – the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
1931 – The Spanish Cortes deposes King Alfonso XIII and proclaims the Second Spanish Republic.
1935 – The Black Sunday dust storm, considered one of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl, swept across the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and neighboring areas.
1939 – The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck is first published by the Viking Press.
1940 – World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway in preparation for a larger force to arrive two days later.
1941 – World War II: German general Erwin Rommel attacks Tobruk.
1944 – Bombay explosion: A massive explosion in Bombay harbor kills 300 and causes economic damage valued then at 20 million pounds.
1945 – Razing of Friesoythe: The 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division deliberately destroyed the German town of Friesoythe on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes.
1958 – The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit after a mission duration of 162 days. This was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a female dog named Laika, who likely lived only a few hours.
1967 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma overthrows President of Togo Nicolas Grunitzky and installs himself as the new president, a title he would hold for the next 38 years.
1978 – Tbilisi Demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
1981 – STS-1: The first operational Space Shuttle, Columbia completes its first test flight.
1986 – The heaviest hailstones ever recorded (1 kilogram (2.2 lb)) fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.
1988 – The USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will.
1988 – In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
1991 – The Republic of Georgia introduces the post of President after its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
1994 – In a U.S. friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shoot-down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people.
1999 – NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees. Yugoslav officials say 75 people were killed.
1999 – A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$2.3 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history.
2002 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country’s military.
2003 – The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
2003 – U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the MS Achille Lauro in 1985.
2005 – The Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.
2006 – Twin blasts triggered by crude bombs during Asr prayer in Jama Masjid, Delhi injure 13 people.
2010 – Nearly 2,700 are killed in a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
2014 – Twin bomb blasts in Abuja, Nigeria, kill at least 75 people and injures 141 others.
2014 – Two hundred seventy-six schoolgirls are abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Nigeria.
2016 – In Japan, the foreshock of Kumamoto earthquakes occurs.
Births on April 14
1126 – Averroes, Spanish physician and philosopher (d. 1198)
1204 – Henry I, king of Castile (d. 1217)
1331 – Jeanne-Marie de Maille, French Roman Catholic saint (d. 1414)
1527 – Abraham Ortelius, Flemish cartographer and geographer (d. 1598)
1572 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1632)
1578 – Philip III of Spain (d. 1621)
1629 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1695)
1668 – Magnus Julius De la Gardie, Swedish general and politician (d. 1741)
1678 – Abraham Darby I, English iron master (d. 1717)
1709 – Charles Collé, French playwright and songwriter (d. 1783)
1714 – Adam Gib, Scottish minister and author (d. 1788)
1738 – William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1809)
1741 – Emperor Momozono of Japan (d. 1762)
1769 – Barthélemy Catherine Joubert, French general (d. 1799)
1773 – Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, French politician, 6th Prime Minister of France (d. 1854)
1788 – David G. Burnet, American politician, 2nd Vice-President of Texas (d. 1870)
1800 – John Appold, English engineer (d. 1865)
1812 – George Grey, Portuguese-New Zealand soldier, explorer, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1898)
1814 – Dimitri Kipiani, Georgian publicist and author (d. 1887)
1819 – Harriett Ellen Grannis Arey, American educator, author, editor, and publisher (d. 1901)
1827 – Augustus Pitt Rivers, English general, ethnologist, and archaeologist (d. 1900)
1852 – Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton, Australian biologist (d. 1941)
1854 – Martin Lipp, Estonian pastor and poet (d. 1923)
1857 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (d. 1944)
1865 – Alfred Hoare Powell, English architect, and designer and painter of pottery (d. 1960)
1866 – Anne Sullivan, American educator (d. 1936)
1868 – Peter Behrens, German architect, designed the AEG turbine factory (d. 1940)
1870 – Victor Borisov-Musatov, Russian painter and educator (d. 1905)
1870 – Syd Gregory, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 1929)
1872 – Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-English scholar and translator (d. 1953)
1876 – Cecil Chubb, English barrister and one time owner of Stonehenge (d. 1934)
1881 – Husain Salaahuddin, Maldivian poet and scholar (d. 1948)
1882 – Moritz Schlick, German-Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1936)
1886 – Ernst Robert Curtius, German philologist and scholar (d. 1956)
1886 – Árpád Tóth, Hungarian poet and translator (d. 1928)
1889 – Arnold J. Toynbee, English historian and academic (d. 1975)
1891 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian economist, jurist, and politician, 1st Indian Minister of Law and Justice (d. 1956)
1891 – Otto Lasanen, Finnish wrestler (d. 1958)
1892 – Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1962)
1892 – V. Gordon Childe, Australian archaeologist and philologist (d. 1957)
1892 – Claire Windsor, American actress (d. 1972)
1902 – Sylvio Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and referee (d. 1974)
1903 – Henry Corbin, French philosopher and academic (d. 1978)
1903 – Ruth Svedberg, Swedish discus thrower and triathlete (d. 2002)
1904 – John Gielgud, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2000)
1905 – Elizabeth Huckaby, American author and educator (d. 1999)
1905 – Georg Lammers, German sprinter (d. 1987)
1905 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French author and activist (d. 1999)
1906 – Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian king (d. 1975)
1907 – François Duvalier, Haitian physician and politician, 40th President of Haiti (d. 1971)
1912 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer and journalist (d. 1994)
1912 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (d. 1978)
1913 – Jean Fournet, French conductor (d. 2008)
1916 – Don Willesee, Australian telegraphist and politician, 29th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 2003)
1917 – Valerie Hobson, English actress (d. 1998)
1917 – Marvin Miller, American baseball executive (d. 2012)
1918 – Mary Healy, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
1919 – Shamshad Begum, Pakistani-Indian singer (d. 2013)
1919 – K. Saraswathi Amma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1975)
1920 – Ivor Forbes Guest, English lawyer, historian, and author (d. 2018)
1921 – Thomas Schelling, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
1922 – Audrey Long, American actress (d. 2014)
1923 – Roberto De Vicenzo, Argentinian golfer (d. 2017)
1924 – Shorty Rogers, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1994)
1924 – Joseph Ruskin, American actor and producer (d. 2013)
1924 – Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, English philosopher, and academic (d. 2019)
1925 – Abel Muzorewa, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (d. 2010)
1925 – Rod Steiger, American soldier and actor (d. 2002)
1926 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (d. 2013)
1926 – Frank Daniel, Czech director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1926 – Gloria Jean, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
1926 – Liz Renay, American actress and author (d. 2007)
1927 – Alan MacDiarmid, New Zealand chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
1927 – Dany Robin, French actress and singer (d. 1995)
1929 – Gerry Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1929 – Inez Andrews, African-American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
1930 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (d. 2013)
1930 – Arnold Burns, American lawyer and politician, 21st United States Deputy Attorney General (d. 2013)
1930 – René Desmaison, French mountaineer (d. 2007)
1930 – Bradford Dillman, American actor and author (d. 2018)
1931 – Geoffrey Dalton, English admiral
1931 – Paul Masnick, Canadian ice hockey player
1932 – Bill Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Premier of British Columbia (d. 2015)
1932 – Atef Ebeid, Egyptian academic and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2014)
1932 – Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter and musician
1932 – Cameron Parker, Scottish businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire
1933 – Paddy Hopkirk, Northern Irish racing driver
1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.
1612 – Miyamoto Musashi defeats Sasaki Kojirō at Funajima island.
1613 – Samuel Argall, having captured Native American princess Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia, sets off with her to Jamestown with the intention of exchanging her for English prisoners held by her father.
1742 – George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces are ambushed and defeated in the Battle of Bound Brook, New Jersey.
1829 – The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 gives Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom the right to vote and to sit in Parliament.
1849 – Lajos Kossuth presents the Hungarian Declaration of Independence in a closed session of the National Assembly.
1861 – American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.
1865 – American Civil War: Raleigh, North Carolina is occupied by Union Forces.
1870 – The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded.
1873 – The Colfax massacre, in which more than 60 black men are murdered, takes place.
1909 – The military of the Ottoman Empire reverses the Ottoman countercoup of 1909 to force the overthrow of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
1919 – Jallianwala Bagh massacre: British Indian Army troops lead by Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer killed approx 379-1000 unarmed demonstrators including men and women in Amritsar, India; and approximately 1,500 injured.
1941 – A pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.
1943 – World War II: The discovery of mass graves of Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet forces in the Katyń Forest Massacre is announced, causing a diplomatic rift between the Polish government-in-exile in London and the Soviet Union, which denies responsibility.
1943 – The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson’s birth.
1944 – Relations between New Zealand and the Soviet Union are established.
1945 – World War II: German troops kill more than 1,000 political and military prisoners in Gardelegen, Germany.
1945 – World War II: Soviet and Bulgarian forces capture Vienna.
1948 – In an ambush, 78 Jewish doctors, nurses and medical students from Hadassah Hospital, and a British soldier, are massacred by Arabs in Sheikh Jarrah. This event came to be known as the Hadassah medical convoy massacre.
1953 – CIA director Allen Dulles launches the mind-control program Project MKUltra.
1958 – American pianist Van Cliburn is awarded first prize at the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
1960 – The United States launches Transit 1-B, the world’s first satellite navigation system.
1964 – At the Academy Awards, Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American male to win the Best Actor award for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field.
1970 – An oxygen tank aboard the Apollo 13 Service Module explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the Apollo command and service module (codenamed “Odyssey“) while en route to the Moon.
1972 – The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.
1972 – Vietnam War: The Battle of An Lộc begins.
1975 – An attack by the Phalangist resistance kills 26 militia members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, marking the start of the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.
1976 – The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson’s 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
1976 – Forty workers die in an explosion at the Lapua ammunition factory, the deadliest accidental disaster in modern history in Finland.
1992 – Basements throughout the Chicago Loop are flooded, forcing the Chicago Board of Trade Building and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to close.
1997 – Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.
2003 – A bus near the Vale of Tempe, Greece was involved in a major vehicle accident with a truck and multiple cars, leaving 21 students in the tenth grade of Makrochori, Imathia High School dead and nine injured during their return to their homes from a trip to Athens.
2017 – The US drops the largest ever non-nuclear weapon on Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
Births on April 13
1229 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1294)
1350 – Margaret III, Countess of Flanders (d. 1405)
1506 – Peter Faber, French priest and theologian, co-founded the Society of Jesus (d. 1546)
1519 – Catherine de’ Medici, Italian-French wife of Henry II of France (d. 1589)
1570 – Guy Fawkes, English soldier, planned the Gunpowder Plot (probable; d. 1606)
1573 – Christina of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1625)
1593 – Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1641)
1618 – Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French author (d. 1693)
1636 – Hendrik van Rheede, Dutch botanist (d. 1691)
1648 – Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (d. 1717)
1713 – Pierre Jélyotte, French tenor (d. 1797)
1729 – Thomas Percy, Irish bishop and poet (d. 1811)
1732 – Frederick North, Lord North, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)
1735 – Isaac Low, American merchant and politician, founded the New York Chamber of Commerce (d. 1791)
1743 – Thomas Jefferson, American lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the United States (d. 1826)
1747 – Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (d. 1793)
1764 – Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French general and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1830)
1769 – Thomas Lawrence, English painter and educator (d. 1830)
1771 – Richard Trevithick, Cornish-English engineer and explorer (d. 1833)
1780 – Alexander Mitchell, Irish engineer, invented the Screw-pile lighthouse (d. 1868)
1784 – Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (d. 1877)
1787 – John Robertson, American lawyer and politician (d. 1873)
1794 – Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist and academic (d. 1867)
1802 – Leopold Fitzinger, Austrian zoologist and herpetologist (d. 1884)
1808 – Antonio Meucci, Italian-American engineer (d. 1889)
1810 – Félicien David, French composer (d. 1876)
1824 – William Alexander, Irish archbishop, poet, and theologian (d. 1911)
1825 – Thomas D’Arcy McGee, Irish-Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1868)
1828 – Josephine Butler, English feminist and social reformer (d. 1906)
1828 – Joseph Lightfoot, English bishop and theologian (d. 1889)
1832 – Juan Montalvo, Ecuadorian author and diplomat (d. 1889)
1841 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (d. 1905)
1850 – Arthur Matthew Weld Downing, Irish astronomer (d. 1917)
1851 – Robert Abbe, American surgeon and radiologist (d. 1928)
1851 – William Quan Judge, Irish occultist and theosophist (d. 1896)
1852 – Frank Winfield Woolworth, American businessman, founded the F. W. Woolworth Company (d. 1919)
1854 – Lucy Craft Laney, Founder of the Haines Normal and Industrial School, Augusta, Georgia (d. 1933)
1860 – James Ensor, English-Belgian painter (d. 1949)
1866 – Butch Cassidy, American criminal (d. 1908)
1872 – John Cameron, Scottish international footballer and manager (d. 1935)
1872 – Alexander Roda Roda, Austrian-Croatian journalist and author (d. 1945)
1873 – John W. Davis, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Solicitor General (d. 1955)
1875 – Ray Lyman Wilbur, American physician, academic, and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1949)
1879 – Edward Bruce, American lawyer and painter (d. 1943)
1879 – Oswald Bruce Cooper, American type designer, lettering artist, graphic designer, and educator (d. 1940)
1880 – Charles Christie, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded the Christie Film Company (d. 1955)
1885 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player (d. 1964)
1885 – Juhan Kukk, Estonian politician, Head of State of Estonia (d. 1942)
1885 – György Lukács, Hungarian philosopher and critic (d. 1971)
1885 – Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy, Dutch politician (d. 1961)
1887 – Gordon S. Fahrni, Canadian physician and golfer (d. 1995)
1889 – Herbert Yardley, American cryptologist and author (d. 1958)
1890 – Frank Murphy, American jurist and politician, 56th United States Attorney General (d. 1949)
1890 – Dadasaheb Torne, Indian director and producer (d. 1960)
1891 – Maurice Buckley, Australian sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1921)
1891 – Nella Larsen, Danish/African-American nurse, librarian, and author (d. 1964)
1891 – Robert Scholl, German accountant and politician (d. 1973)
1892 – Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet, English air marshal (d. 1984)
1892 – Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented Radar (d. 1973)
1894 – Arthur Fadden, Australian accountant and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1973)
1894 – Joie Ray, American runner (d. 1978)
1896 – Fred Barnett, English footballer (d. 1982)
1897 – Werner Voss, German lieutenant and pilot (d. 1917)
1899 – Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and game designer, created Scrabble (d. 1993)
1899 – Harold Osborn, American high jumper and decathlete (d. 1975)
1900 – Sorcha Boru, American potter and ceramic sculptor (d. 2006)
1900 – Pierre Molinier, French painter and photographer (d. 1976)
1901 – Jacques Lacan, French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (d. 1981)
1901 – Alan Watt, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian Ambassador to Japan (d. 1988)
1902 – Philippe de Rothschild, French Grand Prix driver, playwright, and producer (d. 1988)
1902 – Marguerite Henry, American author (d. 1997)
1904 – David Robinson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1987)
1905 – Rae Johnstone, Australian jockey (d. 1964)
1906 – Samuel Beckett, Irish novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
1906 – Bud Freeman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
1907 – Harold Stassen, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Minnesota (d. 2001)
1909 – Eudora Welty, American short story writer and novelist (d. 2001)
1911 – Ico Hitrec, Croatian footballer and manager (d. 1946)
1911 – Jean-Louis Lévesque, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1994)
1911 – Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (d. 1983)
1913 – Dave Albritton, American high jumper and coach (d. 1994)
1913 – Kermit Tyler, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 2010)
1914 – Orhan Veli Kanık, Turkish poet and author (d. 1950)
1916 – Phyllis Fraser, Welsh-American actress, journalist, and publisher, co-founded Beginner Books (d. 2006)
1917 – Robert Orville Anderson, American businessman, founded Atlantic Richfield Oil Co. (d. 2007)
1917 – Bill Clements, American soldier, engineer, and politician, 15th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (d. 2011)
1919 – Roland Gaucher, French journalist and politician (d. 2007)
1919 – Howard Keel, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
1919 – Madalyn Murray O’Hair, American activist, founded American Atheists (d. 1995)
1920 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (d. 1982)
1920 – Claude Cheysson, French lieutenant and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2012)
1920 – Liam Cosgrave, Irish lawyer and politician, 6th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 2017)
1920 – Theodore L. Thomas, American chemical engineer, Patent attorney and writer (d. 2005)
1922 – Heinz Baas, German footballer and manager (d. 1994)
1922 – John Braine, English librarian and author (d. 1986)
1922 – Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian politician and teacher, 1st President of Tanzania (d. 1999)
1922 – Valve Pormeister, Estonian architect (d. 2002)
1923 – Don Adams, American actor and director (d. 2005)
1923 – A. H. Halsey, English sociologist and academic (d. 2014)
1923 – Stanley Tanger, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (d. 2010)
1924 – John T. Biggers, American painter (d. 2001)
1924 – Jack T. Chick, American author, illustrator, and publisher (d. 2016)
1924 – Stanley Donen, American film director and choreographer (d. 2019)
1926 – Ellie Lambeti, Greek actress (d. 1983)
1926 – John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, English businessman (d. 2014)
1927 – Rosemary Haughton, English philosopher, theologian, and author
1927 – Antonino Rocca, Italian-American wrestler (d. 1977)
1927 – Maurice Ronet, French actor and director (d. 1983)
1928 – Alan Clark, English historian and politician, Minister of State for Trade (d. 1999)
1928 – Gianni Marzotto, Italian racing driver and businessman (d. 2012)
1929 – Marilynn Smith, American golfer (d. 2019)
1931 – Anita Cerquetti, Italian soprano (d. 2014)
1931 – Robert Enrico, French director and screenwriter (d. 2001)
1931 – Dan Gurney, American race car driver and engineer (d. 2018)
1931 – Jon Stone, American composer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997)
1932 – Orlando Letelier, Chilean-American economist and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (d. 1976)
1933 – Ben Nighthorse Campbell, American soldier and politician
1934 – John Muckler, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1936 – Pierre Rosenberg, French historian and academic
1937 – Col Joye, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1937 – Edward Fox, English actor
1937 – Lanford Wilson, American playwright, co-founded the Circle Repertory Company (d. 2011)
1938 – Klaus Lehnertz, German pole vaulter
1938 – John Weston, English poet and diplomat
1939 – Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
1939 – Paul Sorvino, American actor and singer
1940 – Mike Beuttler, Egyptian-English racing driver (d. 1988)
1940 – Lester Chambers, American singer and musician
1940 – J. M. G. Le Clézio, Breton French-Mauritian author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1940 – Vladimir Cosma, French composer, conductor and violinist
1940 – Jim McNab, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)
1940 – Max Mosley, English racing driver and engineer, co-founded March Engineering, former president of the FIA
240 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I.
467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted to Christianity by Paulinus, bishop of York.
1012 – Duke Oldřich of Bohemia deposes and blinds his brother Jaromír who flees to Poland.
1204 – The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day.
1606 – The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of English and Scottish ships.
1776 – American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain.
1807 – The Froberg mutiny ends when the remaining mutineers blow up the magazine of Fort Ricasoli.
1820 – Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece.
1831 – Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, cause it to collapse.
1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
1862 – American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw).
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Pillow: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
1865 – American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.
1877 – The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
1910 – SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is launched.
1917 – World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.
1927 – Shanghai massacre of 1927: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Communist Party of China members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front.
1927 – Rocksprings, Texas was hit by an F5 tornado that destroyed 235 of the 247 buildings in the town and killed 72 townspeople and injured 205; third deadliest tornado in Texas history.
1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
1934 – The strongest surface wind gust in the world at the time of 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. It has since been surpassed.
1934 – The U.S. Auto-Lite strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers.
1937 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.
1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office; Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes President upon Roosevelt’s death.
1945 – World War II: The U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reached Tangermünde—only 50 miles from Berlin.
1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
1961 – Cold War: Space Race: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, Vostok 1.
1963 – The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits.
1970 – Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board.
1980 – The Americo-Liberian government of Liberia is violently deposed.
1980 – Transbrasil Flight 303, a Boeing 727, crashes on approach to Hercílio Luz International Airport, in Florianópolis, Brazil. Fifty-five out of the 58 people on board are killed.
1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission.
1983 – Harold Washington is elected as the first black mayor of Chicago.
1990 – Jim Gary’s “Twentieth Century Dinosaurs” exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is the only sculptor ever invited to present a solo exhibition there.
1992 – The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland; the resort and its park’s name are subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris.
1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving “intentionally false statements” in a civil lawsuit; he is later fined and disbarred.
2002 – A suicide bomber blows herself up at the entrance to Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market, killing seven people and wounding 104.
2007 – A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people.
2009 – Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency.
2010 – Merano derailment: A rail accident in South Tyrol kills nine people and injures a further 28.
2013 – Two suicide bombers kill three Chadian soldiers and injure dozens of civilians at a market in Kidal, Mali.
2014 – The Great Fire of Valparaíso ravages the Chilean city of Valparaíso, killing 16 people, displacing nearly 10,000, and destroying over 2,000 homes.
Births on April 12
811 – Muhammad al-Jawad, the ninth Imam of Shia Islam (d. 835)
959 – En’yū, emperor of Japan (d. 991)
1116 – Richeza of Poland, queen of Sweden and Grand Princess of Minsk (d. 1156)
1432 – Anne of Austria, Landgravine of Thuringia (d. 1462)
1484 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace and St. Peter’s Basilica (d. 1546)
1484 – Maharana Sangram Singh, Rana of Mewar (d. 1527)
1500 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar and translator (d. 1574)
1526 – Muretus, French philosopher and author (d. 1585)
1550 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, English courtier and politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (d. 1604)
1577 – Christian IV of Denmark (d. 1648)
1612 – Simone Cantarini, Italian painter and engraver (d. 1648)
1639 – Martin Lister, English naturalist and physician (d. 1712)
1656 – Benoît de Maillet, French diplomat and natural historian (d. 1738)
1705 – William Cookworthy, English minister and pharmacist (d. 1780)
1710 – Caffarelli, Italian actor and singer (d. 1783)
1713 – Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French historian and author (d. 1796)
1716 – Felice Giardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1796)
1722 – Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1793)
1724 – Lyman Hall, American physician, clergyman, and politician, 16th Governor of Georgia (d. 1790)
1748 – Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist and author (d. 1836)
1777 – Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852)
1792 – John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, English soldier and politician, Lord Privy Seal (d. 1840)
1794 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (d. 1847)
1796 – George N. Briggs, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1861)
1799 – Henri Druey, Swiss lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1855)
1801 – Joseph Lanner, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1843)
1816 – Charles Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Victoria (d. 1903)
1823 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian playwright and translator (d. 1886)
1839 – Nikolay Przhevalsky, Russian geographer and explorer (d. 1888)
1845 – Gustaf Cederström, Swedish painter (d. 1933)
1851 – José Gautier Benítez, Puerto Rican soldier and poet (d. 1880)
1851 – Edward Walter Maunder, English astronomer and author (d. 1928)
1852 – Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician and academic (d. 1939)
1856 – Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, English mountaineer, cartographer, and politician (d. 1937)
1863 – Raul Pompeia, Brazilian writer (d. 1895)
1868 – Akiyama Saneyuki, Japanese admiral (d. 1918)
1869 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (d. 1922)
1871 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1941)
1874 – William B. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician, 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1940)
1880 – Addie Joss, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1911)
1883 – Imogen Cunningham, American photographer and educator (d. 1976)
1883 – Dally Messenger, Australian rugby player, cricketer, and sailor (d. 1959)
1884 – Tenby Davies, Welsh runner (d. 1932)
1884 – Otto Meyerhof, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
1885 – Robert Delaunay, French painter (d. 1941)
1887 – Harold Lockwood, American actor and director (d. 1918)
1888 – Dan Ahearn, Irish-American long jumper and police officer (d. 1942)
1888 – Cecil Kimber, English automobile engineer (d. 1945)
1892 – Henry Darger, American writer and artist (d. 1973)
1894 – Dorothy Cumming, Australian-American actress (d. 1983)
1894 – Francisco Craveiro Lopes, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 13th President of Portugal (d. 1964)
1898 – Lily Pons, French-American soprano and actress (d. 1976)
1901 – Lowell Stockman, American farmer and politician (d. 1962)
1902 – Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, 36th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
1903 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
1907 – Zawgyi, Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic (d. 1990)
1907 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian-American sculptor, designed the Marine Corps War Memorial (d. 2003)
1908 – Ida Pollock, English author and painter (d. 2013)
1908 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American pilot and general (d. 2006)
1910 – Gillo Dorfles, Italian art critic, painter and philosopher (d. 2018)
1910 – Irma Rapuzzi, French politician (d. 2018)
1911 – Mahmoud Younis, Egyptian engineer (d. 1976)
1912 – Frank Dilio, Canadian businessman (d. 1997)
1912 – Hamengkubuwono IX, Indonesian politician, 2nd Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1988)
1912 – Hound Dog Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
1913 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist (d. 2013)
1914 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (d. 2013)
1916 – Beverly Cleary, American author
1916 – Russell Garcia, American-New Zealander composer and conductor (d. 2011)
1916 – Benjamin Libet, American neuropsychologist and academic (d. 2007)
1917 – Helen Forrest, American singer and actress (d. 1999)
1917 – Vinoo Mankad, Indian cricketer (d. 1978)
1917 – Robert Manzon, French racing driver (d. 2015)
1919 – István Anhalt, Hungarian-Canadian composer and educator (d. 2012)
1919 – Billy Vaughn, American musician and bandleader (d. 1991)
1921 – Robert Cliche, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1978)
1922 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (d. 1980)
1923 – Ann Miller, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2004)
1924 – Raymond Barre, French economist and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
1924 – Peter Safar, Austrian physician and academic (d. 2003)
1924 – Curtis Turner, American race car driver (d. 1970)
1925 – Evelyn Berezin, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2018)
1925 – Ned Miller, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2016)
1925 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
1926 – Jane Withers, American actress
1927 – Thomas Hemsley, English baritone (d. 2013)
1927 – Alvin Sargent, two-time Academy-Award-winning American screenwriter (d. 2019)
1928 – Hardy Krüger, German actor
1928 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (d. 2013)
1929 – Elspet Gray, Scottish actress (d. 2013)
1929 – Mukhran Machavariani, Georgian poet and educator (d. 2010)
1930 – John Landy, Australian runner and politician, 26th Governor of Victoria
1930 – Bryan Magee, English philosopher and politician (d. 2019)
1930 – Manuel Neri, American sculptor and painter
1930 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (d. 2006)
1931 – Leonid Derbenyov, Russian poet and songwriter (d. 1995)
1932 – Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 5th Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2005)
1932 – Jean-Pierre Marielle, French actor (d. 2019)
1932 – Tiny Tim, American singer and ukulele player (d. 1996)
1933 – Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 2018)
1934 – Heinz Schneiter, Swiss footballer and manager (d. 2017)
1936 – Charles Napier, American actor (d. 2011)
1936 – Kennedy Simmonds, Kittitian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
1937 – Dennis Banks, American author and activist (d. 2017)
1937 – Igor Volk, Ukrainian-Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2017)
1939 – Alan Ayckbourn, English director and playwright
1939 – Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league player and coach
1940 – Woodie Fryman, American baseball player (d. 2011)
1940 – Herbie Hancock, American pianist, composer, and bandleader
1941 – Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (d. 1993)
1942 – Bill Bryden, Scottish actor, director, and screenwriter
1942 – Carlos Reutemann, Argentinian race car driver and politician
1942 – Jacob Zuma, South African politician, 4th President of South Africa
1943 – Sumitra Mahajan, Indian politician, 16th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
1944 – Lisa Jardine, English historian, author, and academic (d. 2015)
1944 – John Kay, German-Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1945 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (d. 2006)
1946 – Ed O’Neill, American actor and comedian
1946 – George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, Scottish politician and diplomat, 10th Secretary General of NATO
1947 – Roy M. Anderson, English epidemiologist, zoologist, and academic
1947 – Martin Brasier, English palaeontologist, biologist, and academic (d. 2014)
1947 – Alex Briley, American disco singer
1947 – Tom Clancy, American historian and author (d. 2013)
1947 – Woody Johnson, American businessman and philanthropist
1947 – Dan Lauria, American actor
1947 – David Letterman, American comedian and talk show host
1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host and producer (d. 2008)
1948 – Joschka Fischer, German academic and politician
1948 – Marcello Lippi, Italian footballer, manager, and coach
1949 – Scott Turow, American lawyer and author
1950 – Flavio Briatore, Italian businessman
1950 – David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
1950 – Joyce Banda, Malawian politician, 4th president of Malawi
1950 – Nick Sackman, English composer and educator
1951 – Tom Noonan, American actor
1952 – Reuben Gant, American football player
1952 – Leicester Rutledge, New Zealand rugby player
1952 – Gary Soto, American poet, novelist, and memoirist
1952 – Ralph Wiley, American journalist (d. 2004)
1953 – Tanino Liberatore, Italian author and illustrator
1954 – John Faulkner, Australian educator and politician, 52nd Australian Minister for Defence
1954 – Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician (d. 2015)
1954 – Pat Travers, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Fabian Hamilton, English graphic designer, engineer, and politician
1956 – Andy Garcia, Cuban-American actor, director, and producer
1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer-songwriter and actor
1957 – Greg Child, Australian mountaineer and author
1957 – Vince Gill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1957 – Tama Janowitz, American novelist and short story writer
1958 – Will Sergeant, English guitarist
1958 – Klaus Tafelmeier, German javelin thrower
1958 – Ginka Zagorcheva, Bulgarian hurdler
1959 – Howard Stableford, English radio and television host
1961 – Corrado Fabi, Italian racing driver
1961 – Charles Mann, American football player and sportscaster
1961 – Magda Szubanski, English-Australian actress, comedian and writer
1962 – Art Alexakis, American singer-songwriter and musician
1962 – Carlos Sainz, Spanish racing driver
1962 – Nobuhiko Takada, Japanese mixed martial artist and wrestler, founded Hustle
1963 – Lydia Cacho, Mexican journalist and author
1964 – Chris Fairclough, English footballer and coach
1965 – Amy Ray, American folk-rock singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer
1965 – Kim Bodnia, Danish actor and director
1965 – Chi Onwurah, English politician
1965 – Gervais Rufyikiri, Burundian politician
1965 – Mihai Stoica, Romanian footballer and manager
1966 – Nils-Olav Johansen, Norwegian guitarist and singer
1966 – Lorenzo White, American football player
1967 – Sarah Cracknell, English singer-songwriter
1968 – Alicia Coppola, American actress
1968 – Toby Gad, German songwriter and producer
1968 – Adam Graves, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Jörn Lenz, German footballer and manager
1969 – Lucas Radebe, South African footballer and sportscaster
1969 – Michael Jackson, American football player and politician (d. 2017)
1970 – Sylvain Bouchard, Canadian speed skater
1971 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor
1971 – Shannen Doherty, American actress, director, and producer
1972 – Paul Lo Duca, American baseball player and sportscaster
1973 – J. Scott Campbell, American author and illustrator
1973 – Ryan Kisor, American trumpet player and composer
1973 – Antonio Osuna, Mexican-American baseball player
1973 – Christian Panucci, Italian footballer and manager
1974 – Belinda Emmett, Australian actress (d. 2006)
1974 – Bryan Fletcher, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
