May 12

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

    • 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church.
    • 907 – Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang dynasty after nearly three hundred years of rule.
    • 1191 – Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus; she is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.
    • 1328 – Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.
    • 1364 – Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland, is founded in Kraków.
    • 1510 – The Prince of Anhua rebellion begins when Zhu Zhifan kills all the officials invited to a banquet and declares his intent on ousting the powerful Ming dynasty eunuch Liu Jin during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.
    • 1551 – National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru.
    • 1588 – French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry I, Duke of Guise, enters the city and a spontaneous uprising occurs.
    • 1593 – London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured by the Privy Council for libel.
    • 1743 – Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia after defeating her rival, Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor.
    • 1778 – Heinrich XI, count of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, is elevated to Prince by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.
    • 1780 – American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
    • 1797 – War of the First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.
    • 1821 – The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks is fought in Valtetsi.
    • 1846 – The Donner Party of pioneers departs Independence, Missouri for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: Two divisions of James B. McPherson’s XVII Corps turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton’s defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army during the Vicksburg Campaign.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Union troops assault a Confederate salient known as the “Mule Shoe”, with the fiercest fighting of the war, much of it hand-to-hand combat, occurring at “the Bloody Angle” on the northwest.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Palmito Ranch: The first day of the last major land action to take place during the Civil War, resulting in a Confederate victory.
    • 1870 – The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.
    • 1881 – In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
    • 1885 – North-West Rebellion: The four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.
    • 1888 – In Southeast Asia, the North Borneo Chartered Company’s territories become the British protectorate of North Borneo.
    • 1926 – The Italian-built airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
    • 1932 – Ten weeks after his abduction, Charles Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, is found dead near Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs’ home.
    • 1933 – The Agricultural Adjustment Act, which restricts agricultural production through government purchase of livestock for slaughter and paying subsidies to farmers when they remove land from planting, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
    • 1937 – The Duke and Duchess of York are crowned as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Westminster Abbey.
    • 1941 – Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world’s first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.
    • 1942 – World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov: In eastern Ukraine, Red Army forces under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launch a major offensive from the Izium bridgehead, only to be encircled and destroyed by the troops of Army Group South two weeks later.
    • 1942 – World War II: The U.S. tanker SS Virginia is torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507.
    • 1948 – Wilhelmina, Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, cedes the throne.
    • 1949 – Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.
    • 1965 – The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
    • 1968 – Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral.
    • 1978 – In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba (now known as Katanga); the local government asks the US, France and Belgium to restore order.
    • 1981 – Francis Hughes, Provisional IRA hunger striker, dies in the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland.
    • 1982 – During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan María Fernández y Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet.
    • 1989 – The San Bernardino train disaster kills four people. A week later an underground gasoline pipeline explodes killing two more people.
    • 1998 – Four students are shot at Trisakti University, leading to widespread riots and the fall of Suharto.
    • 2002 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro, becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro’s 1959 revolution.
    • 2003 – The Riyadh compound bombings, carried out by al-Qaeda, kill 26 people.
    • 2006 – Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.
    • 2006 – Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country.
    • 2008 – An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.
    • 2008 – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts the largest-ever raid of a workplace in Postville, Iowa, arresting nearly 400 immigrants for identity theft and document fraud.
    • 2010 – Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crashes on final approach to Tripoli International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, killing 103 out of the 104 people on board.
    • 2015 – A train derailment in Philadelphia kills eight people and injures more than 200.
    • 2015 – Massive Nepal earthquake kills 218 people and injures more than 3500.
    • 2017 – The WannaCry ransomware attack impacts over 400 thousand computers worldwide, targeting computers of the United Kingdom’s National Health Services and Telefónica computers.
    • 2018 – Paris knife attack: A man was fatally shot by police in Paris after killing one and injuring several others.

    Births on May 13

    1401 – Emperor Shōkō of Japan (d. 1428)

    • 1479 – Pompeo Colonna, Catholic cardinal (d. 1532)
    • 1496 – Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1560)
    • 1590 – Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1621)
    • 1606 – Joachim von Sandrart, German art-historian and painter (d. 1688)
    • 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French-Canadian soldier and politician, 3rd Governor General of New France (d. 1698)
    • 1626 – Louis Hennepin, Flemish priest and missionary (d. 1705)
    • 1670 – Augustus II the Strong, Polish king (d. 1733)
    • 1700 – Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect and engineer, designed the Palace of Caserta and Royal Palace of Milan (d. 1773)
    • 1725 – Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (d. 1785)
    • 1739 – Johann Baptist Wanhal, Czech-Austrian organist and composer (d. 1813)
    • 1754 – Franz Anton Hoffmeister, German composer and publisher (d. 1812)
    • 1755 – Giovanni Battista Viotti, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1824)
    • 1767 – Manuel Godoy, Spanish field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1851)
    • 1774 – Ellis Cunliffe Lister, English politician (d. 1853)
    • 1777 – Mary Reibey, Australian businesswoman (d. 1855)
    • 1803 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist and academic (d. 1873)
    • 1804 – Robert Baldwin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Premier of West Canada (d. 1858)
    • 1806 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish philosopher and politician (d. 1881)
    • 1812 – Edward Lear, English poet and illustrator (d. 1888)
    • 1814 – Adolf von Henselt, German pianist and composer (d. 1889)
    • 1820 – Florence Nightingale, Italian-English nurse, social reformer, and statistician (d. 1910)
    • 1825 – Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French lawyer and explorer (d. 1878)
    • 1828 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (d. 1882)
    • 1829 – Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer and educator (d. 1896)
    • 1839 – Tôn Thất Thuyết, Vietnamese mandarin (d. 1913)
    • 1840 – Alejandro Gorostiaga, Chilean colonel (d. 1912)
    • 1842 – Jules Massenet, French composer (d. 1912)
    • 1845 – Gabriel Fauré, French pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1924)
    • 1850 – Henry Cabot Lodge, American historian and politician (d. 1924)
    • 1850 – Frederick Holder, Australian politician, 19th Premier of South Australia (d. 1909)
    • 1859 – William Alden Smith, American lawyer and politician (d. 1932)
    • 1859 – Frank Wilson, English-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1918)
    • 1863 – Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, Bengali writer, painter, violin player and composer, technologist and entrepreneur. (d. 1915)
    • 1867 – Hugh Trumble, Australian cricketer and accountant (d. 1938)
    • 1869 – Carl Schuhmann, German gymnast, wrestler, and weightlifter (d. 1946)
    • 1872 – Anton Korošec, Slovenian priest and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 1940)
    • 1873 – J. E. H. MacDonald, English-Canadian painter (d. 1932)
    • 1874 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian pediatrician and immunologist (d. 1929)
    • 1875 – Charles Holden, English architect, designed the Bristol Central Library (d. 1960)
    • 1880 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (d. 1951)
    • 1885 – Paltiel Daykan, Lithuanian-Israeli lawyer and jurist (d. 1969)
    • 1885 – Saneatsu Mushanokōji, Japanese author (d. 1976)
    • 1886 – Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain and pilot (d. 1937)
    • 1899 – Abelardo L. Rodríguez, substitute president of Mexico (d. 1967)
    • 1889 – Otto Frank, German-Swiss businessman and Holocaust survivor; father of diarist Anne Frank (d. 1980)
    • 1892 – Fritz Kortner, Austrian-German actor and director (d. 1970)
    • 1895 – William Giauque, Canadian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982)
    • 1895 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian-American philosopher and author (d. 1986)
    • 1900 – Helene Weigel, Austrian-German actress (d. 1971)
    • 1901 – The Duke of Paducah, American country comedian, radio host and banjo player (d. 1986)
    • 1903 – Faith Bennett, British actress and ATA pilot during WWII (d. 1969)
    • 1903 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (d. 1991)
    • 1905 – Édouard Rinfret, Canadian lawyer and politician, Postmaster General of Canada (d. 1994)
    • 1907 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (d. 1993)
    • 1907 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress (d. 2003)
    • 1908 – Nicholas Kaldor, Hungarian-English economist (d. 1986)
    • 1910 – James Dudley, American baseball player, wrestling manager and executive (d. 2004)
    • 1910 – Johan Ferrier, Surinamese educator and politician, 1st President of Suriname (d. 2010)
    • 1910 – Dorothy Hodgkin, English biochemist, crystallographer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
    • 1910 – Gordon Jenkins, American pianist and composer (d. 1984)
    • 1911 – Charles Biro, American author and illustrator (d. 1972)
    • 1912 – Henry Jonsson, Swedish runner (d. 2001)
    • 1912 – Marshal Royal, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1995)
    • 1914 – Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet and author (d. 1993)
    • 1914 – Howard K. Smith, American journalist and actor (d. 2002)
    • 1915 – Tony Strobl, American comics artist and animator (d. 1991)
    • 1916 – Albert Murray, American author and critic (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Cosmetics (d. 2001)
    • 1918 – Julius Rosenberg, American spy (d. 1953)
    • 1921 – Joseph Beuys, German sculptor and illustrator (d. 1986)
    • 1921 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Marco Denevi, Argentinian lawyer and author (d. 1998)
    • 1922 – Murray Gershenz, American actor and businessman (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Bob Goldham, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 1991)
    • 1922 – Roy Salvadori, English race car driver and manager (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Maxine Cooper, American actress and photographer (d. 2009)
    • 1924 – Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian-American mathematician and poet (d. 2016)
    • 1924 – Tony Hancock, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1968)
    • 1925 – Yogi Berra, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2015)
    • 1926 – Paulette Poujol-Oriol, Hatian educator and writer (d. 2011)
    • 1926 – Viren J. Shah, Indian politician, 21st Governor of West Bengal (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Burt Bacharach, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1929 – Sam Nujoma, Namibian politician, 1st President of Namibia
    • 1929 – Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Jesús Franco, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1932 – Joel Joffe, Baron Joffe, South African-English lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1933 – Andrei Voznesensky, Russian poet (d. 2010)
    • 1935 – Felipe Alou, Dominican-American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1935 – Johnny Bucyk, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1936 – Guillermo Endara, Panamanian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Panama (d. 2009)
    • 1936 – Tom Snyder, American journalist and talk show host (d. 2007)
    • 1936 – Frank Stella, American painter and sculptor
    • 1937 – Beryl Burton, English cyclist (d. 1996)
    • 1937 – George Carlin, American comedian, actor, and author (d. 2008)
    • 1937 – Susan Hampshire, English actress
    • 1937 – Miriam Stoppard, English physician and author
    • 1938 – Millie Perkins, American actress
    • 1939 – Cyril Chantler, English pediatrician and academic
    • 1939 – Jalal Dabagh, Kurdish journalist and politician
    • 1939 – Miltiadis Evert, Greek minister and politician, 69th Mayor of Athens (d. 2011)
    • 1939 – Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2014)
    • 1939 – Ron Ziegler, American politician, White House Press Secretary (d. 2003)
    • 1940 – Lill Lindfors, Swedish singer
    • 1940 – Norman Whitfield, American songwriter and producer (d. 2008)
    • 1941 – Ruud de Wolff, Dutch singer (d. 2000)
    • 1942 – Ian Dury, English singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1942 – Michel Fugain, French singer-songwriter
    • 1942 – Billy Swan, American country singer-songwriter
    • 1942 – Dragoljub Velimirović, Serbian chess player and theoretician (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Chris Patten, English academic and politician, 28th Governor of Hong Kong
    • 1945 – Alan Ball, Jr., English footballer and manager (d. 2007)
    • 1945 – Ian McLagan, English keyboard player and songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1945 – Patrick Ricard, French businessman (d. 2012)
    • 1946 – Daniel Libeskind, American architect, designed the Imperial War Museum North and Jewish Museum
    • 1947 – Michael Ignatieff, Canadian journalist and politician
    • 1948 – Lindsay Crouse, American actress
    • 1948 – Dave Heineman, American captain and politician, 39th Governor of Nebraska
    • 1948 – Richard Riehle, American actor
    • 1948 – Steve Winwood, English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
    • 1949 – Ross Bleckner, American painter
    • 1950 – Bruce Boxleitner, American actor and author
    • 1950 – Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor, director, and producer
    • 1950 – Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, Scottish lawyer, academic, and politician
    • 1950 – Billy Squier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – George Karl, American basketball player and coach
    • 1955 – Kix Brooks, American country music singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1956 – Bernie Federko, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
    • 1956 – Sergio Marchi, Argentinean-Canadian urban planner and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of International Trade
    • 1956 – Greg Phillinganes, American keyboardist
    • 1956 – Asad Rauf, Pakistani cricketer and umpire
    • 1957 – Ziya Onis, Turkish economist and academic
    • 1958 – Kim Greist, American actress
    • 1958 – Andreas Petroulakis, Greek cartoonist
    • 1958 – Dries van Noten, Belgian fashion designer
    • 1959 – Dave Christian, American ice hockey player
    • 1959 – Ray Gillen, American rock singer-songwriter (d. 1993)
    • 1959 – Ving Rhames, American actor
    • 1960 – Lisa Martin, Australian runner
    • 1961 – Thomas Dooley, German-American soccer player and manager
    • 1961 – Billy Duffy, English rock guitarist and songwriter
    • 1961 – Bruce McCulloch, Canadian actor and comedian
    • 1962 – Emilio Estevez, American actor
    • 1962 – Brett Gurewitz, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1962 – Gregory H. Johnson, English-born American astronaut
    • 1963 – Panagiotis Fasoulas, Greek basketball player and politician
    • 1963 – Gavin Hood, South African actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Stefano Modena, Italian race car driver
    • 1963 – Vanessa A. Williams, American actress and producer
    • 1964 – Pierre Morel, French director and cinematographer
    • 1965 – Renée Simonsen, Danish model and writer
    • 1965 – Stacy Wilson, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1966 – Stephen Baldwin, American actor
    • 1966 – Bebel Gilberto, American-Brazilian singer-songwriter
    • 1966 – Deborah Kara Unger, Canadian actress
    • 1967 – Mireille Bousquet-Mélou, French mathematician
    • 1967 – Bill Shorten, Australian politician
    • 1968 – Tony Hawk, American skateboarder and actor
    • 1968 – Catherine Tate, English actress and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Suzanne Clément, Canadian actress
    • 1969 – Kim Fields, American actress
    • 1970 – Mark Foster, English swimmer
    • 1970 – Jim Furyk, American golfer
    • 1970 – Samantha Mathis, American actress
    • 1970 – Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
    • 1970 – David A. R. White, American actor and producer
    • 1971 – Doug Basham, American wrestler
    • 1971 – Jamie Luner, American actress
    • 1972 – Christian Campbell, Canadian-American actor, writer and photographer
    • 1973 – Mackenzie Astin, American actor
    • 1973 – Lutz Pfannenstiel, German footballer and manager
    • 1975 – Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2015)
    • 1975 – Ricky Ortiz, American professional wrestler and football player
    • 1976 – Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rap musician and producer
    • 1977 – Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player and coach
    • 1977 – Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician (d. 2017)
    • 1977 – Onur Saylak, Turkish actor, filmmaker and director
    • 1977 – Rachel Wilson, Canadian actress and voice actress
    • 1978 – Aaron Abrams, Canadian actor
    • 1978 – Malin Åkerman, Swedish-Canadian model, actress, and singer
    • 1978 – Jason Biggs, American actor and comedian
    • 1978 – Aya Ishiguro, Japanese singer and fashion designer
    • 1979 – Adrian Serioux,Canadian soccer player
    • 1979 – Aaron Yoo, American actor
    • 1980 – Keith Bogans, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Rami Malek, American actor
    • 1981 – Kentaro Sato, Japanese-American composer and conductor
    • 1981 – Dennis Trillo, Filipino actor and singer
    • 1982 – Donnie Nietes, Filipino boxer
    • 1983 – Domhnall Gleeson, Irish actor
    • 1983 – Alina Kabaeva, Russian gymnast and politician
    • 1983 – Yujiro Kushida, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
    • 1983 – Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
    • 1983 – Virginie Razzano, French tennis player
    • 1983 – Francisco Javier Torres, Mexican footballer
    • 1984 – Clare Bowen, Australian actress and singer
    • 1985 – Paolo Goltz, Argentinian footballer
    • 1985 – Andrew Howe, Italian long jumper and sprinter
    • 1985 – Jeroen Simaeys, Belgian footballer
    • 1986 – Jonathan Orozco, Mexican footballer
    • 1986 – Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
    • 1987 – Kieron Pollard, Trinidadian cricketer
    • 1988 – Marcelo, Brazilian footballer
    • 1989 – Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Greek Cypriot singer, musician, and actress
    • 1990 – Florent Amodio, French figure skater
    • 1992 – Volha Khudzenka, Belarusian kayaker
    • 1995 – Luke Benward, American actor and singer
    • 1995 – Irina Khromacheva, Russian tennis player
    • 1997 – Morgan Lake, English athlete

    Deaths on May 12

    • 805 – Æthelhard, archbishop of Canterbury
    • 940 – Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria (b. 877)
    • 1003 – Sylvester II, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 946)
    • 1012 – Sergius IV, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 970)
    • 1090 – Liutold of Eppenstein, duke of Carinthia
    • 1161 – Fergus of Galloway, Scottish nobleman
    • 1182 – Valdemar I, king of Denmark (b. 1131)
    • 1331 – Engelbert of Admont, Benedictine abbot and scholar
    • 1382 – Joanna I, queen of Naples (b. 1328)
    • 1465 – Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of Morea (b. 1409)
    • 1490 – Joanna, Portuguese princess and regent (b. 1452)
    • 1529 – Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington, English noblewoman (b. 1460)
    • 1599 – Murad Mirza, Mughal prince (b. 1570)
    • 1634 – George Chapman, English poet and playwright (b. 1559)
    • 1641 – Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1593)
    • 1684 – Edme Mariotte, French physicist and priest (b. 1620)
    • 1699 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Flemish painter (b. 1626)
    • 1700 – John Dryden, English poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1631)
    • 1708 – Adolphus Frederick II, duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1658)
    • 1748 – Thomas Lowndes, English astronomer and academic (b. 1692)
    • 1759 – Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (b. 1700)
    • 1784 – Abraham Trembley, Swiss zoologist and academic (b. 1710)
    • 1792 – Charles Simon Favart, French playwright and composer (b. 1710)
    • 1796 – Johann Uz, German poet and author (b. 1720)
    • 1801 – Nicholas Repnin, Russian general and politician, Governor-General of Baltic provinces (b. 1734)
    • 1842 – Walenty Wańkowicz, Belarusian-Polish painter (b. 1799)
    • 1845 – János Batsányi, Hungarian poet and academic (b. 1763)
    • 1856 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1786)
    • 1859 – Sergey Aksakov, Russian author and academic (b. 1791)
    • 1860 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed Upper Brook Street Chapel and the Palace of Westminster (b. 1795)
    • 1864 – J. E. B. Stuart, American general (b. 1833)
    • 1867 – Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist and academic (b. 1795)
    • 1878 – Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (b. 1795)
    • 1876 – Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian activist (b. 1843)
    • 1884 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer and educator (b. 1824)
    • 1907 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author and critic (b. 1848)
    • 1916 – James Connolly, Scottish-born Irish socialist and rebel leader (b. 1868)
    • 1925 – Amy Lowell, American poet and critic (b. 1874)
    • 1931 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1858)
    • 1935 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1867)
    • 1944 – Max Brand, American journalist and author (b. 1892)
    • 1944 – Arthur Quiller-Couch, English author, poet, and critic (b. 1863)
    • 1956 – Louis Calhern, American actor and singer (b. 1895)
    • 1957 – Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
    • 1957 – Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1885)
    • 1963 – Richard Girulatis, German footballer and manager (b. 1878)
    • 1963 – Robert Kerr, Irish-Canadian sprinter and coach (b. 1882)
    • 1964 – Agnes Forbes Blackadder, Scottish medical doctor (b. 1875)
    • 1966 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (b. 1896)
    • 1967 – John Masefield, English poet and author (b. 1878)
    • 1970 – Nelly Sachs, German poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
    • 1971 – Heinie Manush, American baseball player and coach (b. 1901)
    • 1973 – Frances Marion, American screenwriter, novelist and journalist (b. 1888)
    • 1973 – Art Pollard, American race car driver (b. 1927)
    • 1974 – Wayne Maki, Canadian National Hockey League player (b. 1944)
    • 1980 – Lillian Roth, American actress 9b. 1910)
    • 1985 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (b. 1901)
    • 1986 – Elisabeth Bergner, German actress (b. 1897)
    • 1992 – Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and songwriter (b. 1911)
    • 1992 – Robert Reed, American actor (b. 1932)
    • 1993 – Zeno Colò, Italian Olympic alpine skier (b.1920)
    • 1994 – Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1902)
    • 1994 – John Smith, Scottish-English lawyer and politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1938)
    • 1995 – Ștefan Kovács, Romanian football player and coach (b. 1920)
    • 1999 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American illustrator (b. 1914)
    • 2000 – Adam Petty, American race car driver (b. 1980)
    • 2001 – Perry Como, American singer and television host (b. 1912)
    • 2001 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (b. 1925)
    • 2003 – Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French-American diplomat (b. 1933)
    • 2005 – Ömer Kavur, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
    • 2005 – Martin Lings, English author and scholar (b. 1909)
    • 2005 – Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress (b. 1937)
    • 2006 – Hussein Maziq, Libyan politician, Prime Minister of Libya (b. 1918)
    • 2008 – Robert Rauschenberg, American painter and illustrator (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and humanitarian (b. 1910)
    • 2009 – Antonio Vega, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1957)
    • 2012 – Jan Bens, Dutch footballer and coach (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Eddy Paape, Belgian illustrator (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Gerd Langguth, German political scientist, author, and academic (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress and singer (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – H. R. Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
    • 2014 – Lorenzo Zambrano, Mexican businessman and philanthropist (b. 1944)
    • 2015 – Peter Gay, German-American historian, author, and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – William Zinsser American journalist and critic (b. 1922)
    • 2016 – Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (b. 1935)
    • 2017 – Mauno Koivisto, Finnish banker and politician, 9th President of Finland (b. 1923)
    • 2018 – Dennis Nilsen, Scottish serial killer (b. 1945)

    Holidays and observances on May 12

    • 2nd Amendment Day (Pennsylvania, United States)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Blessed Imelda
      • Blessed Joan of Portugal
      • Crispoldus
      • Dominic de la Calzada
      • Epiphanius of Salamis
      • Gregory Dix (Church of England)
      • Modoald
      • Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, and Pancras
      • Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople (Eastern Church)
      • Philip of Agira
      • May 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of the Finnish Identity (Finland)
    • International Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day
    • International Nurses Day
    • Saint Andrea the First Day (Georgia)

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

    • 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
    • 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
    • 1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.
    • 1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
    • 1659 – English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.
    • 1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
    • 1757 – Battle of Prague: A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years’ War.
    • 1757 – The end of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, and the end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757).
    • 1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
    • 1782 – Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
    • 1801 – Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
    • 1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
    • 1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
    • 1857 – The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British in the lead up to the War of Indian Independence.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by the Army of Northern Virginia.
    • 1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
    • 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
    • 1882 – The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
    • 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
    • 1906 – The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).
    • 1910 – George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII.
    • 1915 – Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.
    • 1916 – Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs’ Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha.
    • 1916 – Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tân is captured while calling upon the people to rise up against the French, and is later deposed and exiled to Réunion island.
    • 1933 – The Deutsche Studentenschaft attacked Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books.
    • 1935 – New Deal: Under the authority of the newly-enacted Federal Emergency Relief Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 7034 to create the Works Progress Administration.
    • 1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
    • 1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
    • 1941 – At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
    • 1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
    • 1942 – World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
    • 1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
    • 1949 – EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.
    • 1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
    • 1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
    • 1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.
    • 1972 – Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
    • 1975 – During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
    • 1976 – The 6.5 Mw  Friuli earthquake affected Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 900–978 dead and 1,700–2,400 injured.
    • 1983 – The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.
    • 1984 – One hundred three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul.
    • 1988 – All thirty-six passengers and crew were killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy.
    • 1994 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
    • 1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
    • 1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank’s 300-year history.
    • 1998 – Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his fifth career start.
    • 1998 – Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac.
    • 1999 – The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.
    • 2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
    • 2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio-interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.
    • 2010 – In just 36 minutes, the Dow-Jones average plunged nearly 1000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash.
    • 2013 – Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.

    Births on May 6

    • 973 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1024)
    • 1464 – Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (d. 1512)
    • 1493 – Girolamo Seripando, Italian theologian and cardinal (d. 1563)
    • 1501 – Marcellus II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1555)
    • 1574 – Innocent X, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1655)
    • 1580 – Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (d. 1637)
    • 1635 – Johann Joachim Becher, German physician and alchemist (d. 1682)
    • 1668 – Alain-René Lesage, French author and playwright (d. 1747)
    • 1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French cellist and composer (d. 1755)
    • 1713 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (d. 1780)
    • 1714 – Anton Raaff, German tenor (d. 1797)
    • 1742 – Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor and physiologist (d. 1809)
    • 1758 – André Masséna, French general (d. 1817)
    • 1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
    • 1769 – Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
    • 1769 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (d. 1834)
    • 1781 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (d. 1832)
    • 1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
    • 1800 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish general (d. 1881)
    • 1827 – Hermann Raster, German-American journalist and politician (d. 1891)
    • 1836 – Max Eyth, German engineer and author (d. 1906)
    • 1843 – Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist and academic (d. 1918)
    • 1848 – Henry Edward Armstrong, English chemist and academic (d. 1937)
    • 1851 – Aristide Bruant, French singer and actor (d. 1925)
    • 1856 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1939)
    • 1856 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (d. 1920)
    • 1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (d. 1931)
    • 1868 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (d. 1927)
    • 1869 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and central banker, 8th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (d. 1932)
    • 1870 – Walter Rutherford, Scottish golfer (d. 1936)
    • 1871 – Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
    • 1871 – Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (d. 1914)
    • 1872 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1934)
    • 1872 – Djemal Pasha, Ottoman general (d. 1922)
    • 1879 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
    • 1879 – Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (d. 1929)
    • 1880 – Winifred Brunton, English-South African painter and illustrator (d. 1959)
    • 1880 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German-Swiss painter (d. 1938)
    • 1883 – Alberto Collo, Italian actor (d. 1955)
    • 1895 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and author (d. 1974)
    • 1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian soldier and politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (d. 1946)
    • 1895 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
    • 1896 – Rolf Maximilian Sievert, Swedish physicist and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Paul Alverdes, German author and poet (d. 1979)
    • 1898 – Konrad Henlein, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1945)
    • 1902 – Harry Golden, Ukrainian-American journalist and author (d. 1981)
    • 1902 – Max Ophüls, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1957)
    • 1903 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (d. 1977)
    • 1904 – Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 1984)
    • 1904 – Catherine Lacey, English actress (d. 1979)
    • 1904 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
    • 1905 – Philip N. Krasne, American lawyer and producer (d. 1999)
    • 1906 – André Weil, French mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1907 – Weeb Ewbank, American football player and coach (d. 1998)
    • 1911 – Guy des Cars, French journalist and author (d. 1993)
    • 1913 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (d. 1989)
    • 1913 – Stewart Granger, English-American actor (d. 1993)
    • 1915 – Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1985)
    • 1915 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (d. 1986)
    • 1916 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1997)
    • 1917 – Kal Mann, American songwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1918 – Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and first president of the United Arab Emirates (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – André Guelfi, French race car driver (d. 2016)
    • 1920 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Fiji (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Marguerite Piazza, American soprano and actress (d. 2012)
    • 1921 – Erich Fried, Austrian-German author, poet, and translator (d. 1988)
    • 1922 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
    • 1924 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Patricia Helen Kennedy, American socialite, activist, and author (d. 2006)
    • 1924 – Denny Wright, English guitarist, composer, and producer (d. 1992)
    • 1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Canadian politician, co-founded the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
    • 1929 – Rosemary Cramp, English archaeologist and academic
    • 1929 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
    • 1929 – John Taylor, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
    • 1931 – Willie Mays, American baseball player and coach
    • 1931 – Louis Gambaccini, American government official (d. 2018)
    • 1932 – Ahmet Haxhiu, Kosovan activist (d. 1994)
    • 1932 – Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, English lieutenant and politician (d. 2020)
    • 1934 – Richard Shelby, American lawyer and politician
    • 1937 – Rubin Carter, American-Canadian boxer (d. 2014)
    • 1938 – Jean Garon, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1939 – Eddie C. Campbell, American singer and guitarist (d. 2018)
    • 1939 – Chet Allen, American child actor (d. 1984)
    • 1942 – Ariel Dorfman, Argentinian author, playwright, and academic
    • 1943 – Andreas Baader, German terrorist, co-founded the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
    • 1943 – Milton William Cooper, American theorist and author (d. 2001)
    • 1943 – Wolfgang Reinhardt, German pole vaulter (d. 2011)
    • 1943 – James Turrell, American sculptor and illustrator
    • 1944 – Anton Furst, English-American production designer and art director (d. 1991)
    • 1944 – Masanori Murakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
    • 1945 – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
    • 1945 – Bob Seger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
    • 1947 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher and author
    • 1947 – Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist, founded Real Aikido (d. 2013)
    • 1948 – Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2013)
    • 1950 – Jeffery Deaver, American journalist and author
    • 1951 – Samuel Doe, Liberian sergeant and politician, 21st President of Liberia (d. 1990)
    • 1952 – Gerrit Zalm, Dutch economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
    • 1953 – Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl worker (d. 1986)
    • 1953 – Tony Blair, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    • 1953 – Michelle Courchesne, Canadian urban planner and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
    • 1953 – Ülle Rajasalu, Estonian politician
    • 1953 – Graeme Souness, Scottish international footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Lynn Whitfield, American actress and producer
    • 1954 – Tom Abernethy, American basketball player
    • 1954 – Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician, 120th Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
    • 1954 – Angela Hernández Nuñez, Dominican author and poet
    • 1954 – Ain Lutsepp, Estonian actor and politician
    • 1955 – Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Armagh
    • 1955 – Tom Bergeron, American television host
    • 1955 – John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
    • 1956 – Lakis Lazopoulos, Greek actor and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
    • 1956 – Roland Wieser, German race walker and coach
    • 1958 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (d. 2014)
    • 1959 – Andreas Busse, German runner
    • 1959 – Charles Hendry, English politician
    • 1960 – Lyudmila Andonova, Bulgarian high jumper
    • 1960 – Keith Dowding, English political scientist, philosopher, and academic
    • 1960 – Roma Downey, Irish-American actress and producer
    • 1960 – John Flansburgh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1960 – Aleksei Lotman, Estonian biologist and politician
    • 1960 – Anne Parillaud, French actress
    • 1961 – Oleksandr Apaychev, Ukrainian decathlete and coach
    • 1961 – George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – Tom Hunter, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
    • 1961 – Gina Riley, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – Frans Timmermans, Dutch politician and diplomat, First Vice President of the European Commission
    • 1962 – Tom Brake, English politician
    • 1962 – Brad Izzard, Australian rugby league player
    • 1963 – Alessandra Ferri, Italian ballerina
    • 1965 – Leslie Hope, Canadian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Worku Bikila, Ethiopian runner
    • 1968 – Lætitia Sadier, French singer and keyboard player
    • 1969 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
    • 1970 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
    • 1971 – Chris Shiflett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1972 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1972 – Naoko Takahashi, Japanese runner
    • 1974 – Bernard Barmasai, Kenyan runner
    • 1974 – Daniela Bártová, Czech pole vaulter and gymnast
    • 1975 – Alan Richardson, English cricketer and coach
    • 1976 – Dean Chandler, English footballer
    • 1976 – Iván de la Peña, Spanish footballer
    • 1977 – Christophe Brandt, Belgian cyclist
    • 1977 – Marc Chouinard, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1977 – Chantelle Newbery, Australian diver
    • 1978 – John Abraham, American football player
    • 1978 – Tony Estanguet, French slalom canoeist
    • 1978 – Fredrick Federley, Swedish journalist and politician
    • 1978 – Alexandr Fedorov, Russian bodybuilder
    • 1979 – Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
    • 1979 – Jan Erik Mikalsen, Norwegian composer
    • 1979 – Jon Montgomery, Canadian skeleton racer and television host
    • 1980 – Brooke Bennett, American swimmer
    • 1980 – Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek professional basketball player
    • 1980 – Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
    • 1980 – Matthew Whiley, English cricketer
    • 1982 – Jason Witten, American football player
    • 1983 – Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer
    • 1983 – Ingrid Jonach, Australian author
    • 1983 – Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
    • 1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama
    • 1983 – Fredrik Sjöström, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Anton Babchuk, Ukrainian ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Juan Pablo Carrizo, Argentinian footballer
    • 1985 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Goran Dragic, Slovenian basketball player
    • 1987 – Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer
    • 1987 – Meek Mill, American rapper
    • 1987 – Adrienne Warren, American actress
    • 1988 – Ryan Anderson, American basketball player
    • 1988 – Dakota Kai, New Zealander profesional wrestler
    • 1989 – Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player
    • 1989 – Jesse Hughes, Canadian DJ and producer
    • 1990 – José Altuve, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1992 – Brendan Gallagher, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Byun Baekhyun, South Korean musician and actor
    • 1992 – Jonas Valančiūnas, Lithuanian professional basketball player
    • 1993 – Gustavo Gómez, Paraguayan footballer
    • 1994 – Mateo Kovačić, Austrian-Croatian footballer
    • 1997 – Duncan Scott, Scottish swimmer
    • 2019 – Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, British royal

    Deaths on May 6

    • 698 – Eadberht, bishop of Lindisfarne
    • 850 – Ninmyō, Japanese emperor (b. 808)
    • 932 – Qian Liu, Chinese warlord and king (b. 852)
    • 988 – Dirk II, count of Frisia and Holland
    • 1002 – Ealdwulf, Archbishop of York, Abbot of Peterborough and Bishop of Worcester
    • 1187 – Ruben III, Prince of Armenia (b. 1145)
    • 1236 – Roger of Wendover, Benedictine monk and chronicler
    • 1471 – Edmund Beaufort, English commander (b. 1438)
    • 1471 – Thomas Tresham, Speaker of the House of Commons
    • 1475 – Dieric Bouts, Flemish painter (b. 1415)
    • 1483 – Queen Jeonghui, Korean regent (b. 1418)
    • 1502 – James Tyrrell, English knight (b. 1450)
    • 1527 – Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne (b.1490)
    • 1540 – Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (b. 1492)
    • 1596 – Giaches de Wert, Flemish-Italian composer (b. 1535)
    • 1631 – Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (b. 1570)
    • 1638 – Cornelius Jansen, Dutch-French bishop and theologian (b. 1585)
    • 1708 – François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop (b. 1623)
    • 1757 – Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1683)
    • 1757 – Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
    • 1782 – Christine Kirch, German astronomer and academic (b. 1696)
    • 1840 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (b. 1792)
    • 1859 – Alexander von Humboldt, German geographer and explorer (b. 1769)
    • 1862 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1817)
    • 1877 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Swedish-Finnish poet and hymn-writer (b. 1804)
    • 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke, Irish civil servant (b. 1829)
    • 1882 – Lord Frederick Cavendish, British politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1836)
    • 1902 – Bret Harte, American author and poet (b. 1836)
    • 1905 – Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (b. 1831)
    • 1907 – Emanuele Luigi Galizia, Maltese architect and civil engineer (b. 1830)
    • 1910 – Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1841)
    • 1919 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (b. 1856)
    • 1939 – Konstantin Somov, Russian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1869)
    • 1949 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian-French poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
    • 1951 – Élie Cartan, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1869)
    • 1952 – Maria Montessori, Italian-Dutch physician and educator (b. 1870)
    • 1959 – Maria Dulęba, Polish actress (b. 1881)
    • 1959 – Ragnar Nurkse, Estonian-American economist and academic (b. 1907)
    • 1961 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (b. 1895)
    • 1963 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (b. 1881)
    • 1963 – Ted Weems, American violinist, trombonist, and bandleader (b. 1901)
    • 1963 – Monty Woolley, American raconteur, actor, and director (b. 1888)
    • 1967 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (b. 1885)
    • 1970 – Alexander Rodzyanko, Russian general (b. 1879)
    • 1973 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (b. 1893)
    • 1975 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1892)
    • 1980 – María Luisa Bombal, Chilean writer (b. 1910)
    • 1983 – Ezra Jack Keats, American author and illustrator (b. 1916)
    • 1983 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (b. 1922)
    • 1984 – Mary Cain, American journalist and politician (b. 1904)
    • 1984 – Bonner Pink, English politician (b. 1912)
    • 1987 – William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1913)
    • 1989 – Earl Blaik, American football player and coach (b. 1897)
    • 1990 – Charles Farrell, American actor (b. 1901)
    • 1991 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (b. 1903)
    • 1992 – Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress and singer (b. 1901)
    • 1993 – Ann Todd, English actress and producer (b. 1909)
    • 1995 – Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1956)
    • 2000 – Gordon McClymont, Australian ecologist and academic (b. 1920)
    • 2002 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1906)
    • 2002 – Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1932)
    • 2002 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (b. 1948)
    • 2002 – Bjørn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (b. 1940)
    • 2003 – Art Houtteman, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1927)
    • 2004 – Virginia Capers, American actress and singer (b. 1925)
    • 2004 – Philip Kapleau, American monk and educator (b. 1912)
    • 2004 – Barney Kessel, American guitarist and composer (b. 1923)
    • 2006 – Grant McLennan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
    • 2006 – Lorne Saxberg, Canadian journalist (b. 1958)
    • 2007 – Enéas Carneiro, Brazilian physician and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2007 – Curtis Harrington, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2009 – Kevin Grubb, American race car driver (b. 1978)
    • 2010 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – James R. Browning, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – James Isaac, American director and producer (b. 1960)
    • 2012 – Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and author (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1919)
    • 2013 – Severo Aparicio Quispe, Peruvian bishop (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Michelangelo Spensieri, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – Wil Albeda, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – William H. Dana, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Billy Harrell, American baseball player and scout (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Maria Lassnig, Austrian painter and academic (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Novera Ahmed, Bangladeshi sculptor (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Denise McCluggage, American race car driver and journalist (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Jim Wright, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1922)
    • 2016 – Patrick Ekeng, Cameroonian footballer (b. 1990)
    • 2016 – Reg Grundy, Australian businessman (b. 1923)

    Holidays and observances on May 6

    • Christian Feast Day:
      • Dominic Savio
      • Evodius of Antioch (Roman Catholic Church)
      • François de Laval
      • Gerard of Lunel
      • Lucius of Cyrene
      • Petronax of Monte Cassino
      • St George’s Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church):
        • Day of Bravery, also known as Gergyovden (Bulgaria)
        • Đurđevdan (Gorani, Roma)
        • Police Day (Georgia)
        • Yuri’s Day in the Spring (Russian Orthodox Church)
      • St John before the Latin Gate
      • May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Military Spouse Day can fall, while May 12 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Mother’s Day (United States)
    • International No Diet Day
    • Martyrs’ Day (Gabon)
    • Martyrs’ Day (Lebanon and Syria)
    • Teachers’ Day (Jamaica)
    • The first day of Hıdırellez (Turkey)

  • April 9 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.
    • 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (Enkyklikon) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysite Christological position.
    • 537 – Siege of Rome: The Byzantine general Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements, 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. He starts, despite shortages, raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges is forced into a stalemate.
    • 1241 – Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol forces defeat the Polish and German armies.
    • 1288 – Mongol invasions of Vietnam: Yuan forces are defeated by Trần forces in the Battle of Bach Dang in present-day northern Vietnam.
    • 1388 – Despite being outnumbered 16 to 1, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy are victorious over the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Näfels.
    • 1413 – Henry V is crowned King of England.
    • 1440 – Christopher of Bavaria is appointed King of Denmark.
    • 1454 – The Treaty of Lodi is signed, establishing a balance of power among northern Italian city-states for almost 50 years.
    • 1511 – St John’s College, Cambridge, England, founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, receives its charter.
    • 1585 – The expedition organised by Sir Walter Raleigh departs England for Roanoke Island (now in North Carolina) to establish the Roanoke Colony.
    • 1609 – Eighty Years’ War: Spain and the Dutch Republic sign the Treaty of Antwerp to initiate twelve years of truce.
    • 1609 – Philip III of Spain issues the decree of the “Expulsion of the Moriscos”.
    • 1682 – Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.
    • 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of the Saintes begins.
    • 1784 – The Treaty of Paris, ratified by the United States Congress on January 14, 1784, is ratified by King George III of the Kingdom of Great Britain, ending the American Revolutionary War. Copies of the ratified documents are exchanged on May 12, 1784.
    • 1860 – On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville makes the oldest known recording of an audible human voice.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
    • 1909 – The U.S. Congress passes the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act.
    • 1914 – Mexican Revolution: One of the world’s first naval/air skirmishes takes place off the coast of western Mexico.
    • 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun: German forces launch their third offensive of the battle.
    • 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Arras: The battle begins with Canadian Corps executing a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.
    • 1918 – World War I: The Battle of the Lys: The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps is crushed by the German forces during what is called the Spring Offensive on the Belgian region of Flanders.
    • 1937 – The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London. It is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
    • 1939 – African-American singer Marian Anderson gives a concert at the Lincoln Memorial after being denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
    • 1940 – World War II: Operation Weserübung: Germany invades Denmark and Norway.
    • 1940 – Vidkun Quisling seizes power in Norway.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Bataan ends. An Indian Ocean raid by Japan’s 1st Air Fleet sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and the Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire.
    • 1945 – Execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, anti-Nazi dissident and spy, by the Nazi regime.
    • 1945 – World War II: The German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer is sunk by the Royal Air Force.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Königsberg, in East Prussia, ends.
    • 1945 – The United States Atomic Energy Commission is formed.
    • 1947 – The Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes kill 181 and injure 970 in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
    • 1947 – The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride begins through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court’s 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.
    • 1947 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 22 relating to Corfu Channel incident is adopted.
    • 1948 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán’s assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in Colombia.
    • 1948 – Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing over 100.
    • 1952 – Hugo Ballivián’s government is overthrown by the Bolivian National Revolution, starting a period of agrarian reform, universal suffrage and the nationalization of tin mines
    • 1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping following the Suez Crisis.
    • 1959 – Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States’ first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the “Mercury Seven”.
    • 1960 – Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa and architect of apartheid, narrowly survives an assassination attempt by a white farmer, David Pratt in Johannesburg.
    • 1961 – The Pacific Electric Railway in Los Angeles, once the largest electric railway in the world, ends operations.
    • 1965 – Astrodome opens. First indoor baseball game is played.
    • 1967 – The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) makes its maiden flight.
    • 1969 – The first British-built Concorde 002 makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford.
    • 1975 – The first game of the Philippine Basketball Association, the second oldest professional basketball league in the world.
    • 1976 – The EMD F40PH diesel locomotive enters revenue service with Amtrak.
    • 1980 – The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture.
    • 1981 – The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it.
    • 1989 – Tbilisi massacre: an anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strike in Tbilisi, demanding restoration of Georgian independence, is dispersed by the Soviet Army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
    • 1990 – An IRA bombing in County Down, Northern Ireland, kills three members of the UDR.
    • 1990 – Thirteen thousand members of the Dene and Métis tribes sign a land claim agreement for 180,000 square kilometres (69,000 sq mi) in the Mackenzie Valley of the western Arctic.
    • 1991 – Georgia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
    • 1992 – A U.S. Federal Court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of drug and racketeering charges. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison.
    • 1999 – Kosovo War: The Battle of Košare begins.
    • 2003 – Iraq War: Baghdad falls to American forces.
    • 2005 – Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at Windsor’s Guildhall.
    • 2009 – In Tbilisi, Georgia, up to 60,000 people protest against the government of Mikheil Saakashvili.
    • 2013 – A 6.1–magnitude earthquake strikes Iran killing 32 people and injuring over 850 people.
    • 2013 – At least 13 people are killed and another three injured after a man goes on a spree shooting in the Serbian village of Velika Ivanča.
    • 2014 – A student stabs 20 people at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
    • 2017 – The Palm Sunday church bombings at Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt, take place.
    • 2017 – After refusing to give up his seat on an overbooked United Airlines flight, Dr. David Dao Duy Anh is forcibly dragged off the flight by aviation security officers, leading to major criticism of United Airlines.

    Births on April 9

    • 1285 – Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, Emperor Renzong of Yuan (d. 1320)
    • 1458 – Camilla Battista da Varano, Italian saint (d. 1524)
    • 1498 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (d. 1550)
    • 1586 – Julius Henry, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1665)
    • 1597 – John Davenport, English minister, co-founded the New Haven Colony (d. 1670)
    • 1598 – Johann Crüger, Sorbian-German composer and theorist (d. 1662)
    • 1624 – Henrik Rysensteen, Dutch military engineer (d. 1679)
    • 1627 – Johann Caspar Kerll, German organist and composer (d. 1693)
    • 1634 – Countess Albertine Agnes of Nassau (d. 1696)
    • 1648 – Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1720)
    • 1649 – James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire (d. 1685)
    • 1654 – Samuel Fritz, Czech Jesuit missionary to South America (d. 1725?)
    • 1680 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French playwright (d. 1754)
    • 1686 – James Craggs the Younger, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1721)
    • 1691 – Johann Matthias Gesner, German scholar and academic (d. 1761)
    • 1717 – Georg Matthias Monn, Austrian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1750)
    • 1770 – Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist and academic (d. 1831)
    • 1773 – Étienne Aignan, French author and academic (d. 1824)
    • 1794 – Theobald Boehm, German flute player and composer (d. 1881)
    • 1802 – Elias Lönnrot, Finnish physician and philologist (d. 1884)
    • 1806 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, English engineer, designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge (d. 1859)
    • 1807 – James Bannerman, Scottish theologian and academic (d. 1868)
    • 1821 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet and critic (d. 1867)
    • 1830 – Eadweard Muybridge, English photographer and cinematographer (d. 1904)
    • 1835 – Leopold II of Belgium (d. 1909)
    • 1835 – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore (d. 1913)
    • 1846 – Paolo Tosti, Italian-English composer and educator (d. 1916)
    • 1848 – Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz, Spanish Augustinian Recollect priest and saint (d. 1906)
    • 1865 – Erich Ludendorff, German general and politician (d. 1937)
    • 1865 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Polish-American mathematician and engineer (d. 1923)
    • 1867 – Chris Watson, Chilean-Australian journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1941)
    • 1867 – Charles Winckler, Danish tug of war competitor, discus thrower, and shot putter (d. 1932)
    • 1872 – Léon Blum, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1950)
    • 1875 – Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (d. 1912)
    • 1880 – Jan Letzel, Czech architect (d. 1925)
    • 1882 – Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1946)
    • 1882 – Otz Tollen, German actor (d. 1965)
    • 1883 – Frank King, American cartoonist (d. 1969)
    • 1887 – Konrad Tom, Polish actor, writer, singer, and director (d. 1957)
    • 1888 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American talent manager (d. 1974)
    • 1893 – Charles E. Burchfield, American painter (d.1967)
    • 1893 – Victor Gollancz, English publisher, founded Victor Gollancz Ltd (d. 1967)
    • 1893 – Rahul Sankrityayan, Indian linguist, author, and scholar (d. 1963)
    • 1895 – Mance Lipscomb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976)
    • 1895 – Michel Simon, Swiss-French actor (d. 1975)
    • 1897 – John B. Gambling, American radio host (d. 1974)
    • 1898 – Curly Lambeau, American football player and coach (d. 1965)
    • 1898 – Paul Robeson, American singer, actor, and activist (d. 1976)
    • 1900 – Allen Jenkins, American actor and singer (d. 1974)
    • 1901 – Jean Bruchési, Canadian historian and author (d. 1979)
    • 1901 – Paul Willis, American actor and director (d. 1960)
    • 1902 – Théodore Monod, French explorer and scholar (d. 2000)
    • 1903 – Ward Bond, American actor (d. 1960)
    • 1904 – Sharkey Bonano, American singer, trumpet player, and bandleader (d. 1972)
    • 1905 – J. William Fulbright, American lawyer and politician (d. 1995)
    • 1906 – Rafaela Aparicio, Spanish actress (d. 1996)
    • 1906 – Antal Doráti, Hungarian-American conductor and composer (d. 1988)
    • 1906 – Hugh Gaitskell, British politician and leader of the Labour Party (d. 1963)
    • 1906 – Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter (d. 1997)
    • 1908 – Joseph Krumgold, American author and screenwriter (d. 1980)
    • 1909 – Robert Helpmann, Australian dancer, actor, and choreographer (d. 1986)
    • 1910 – Abraham A. Ribicoff, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (d. 1998)
    • 1912 – Lev Kopelev, Ukrainian-German author and academic (d. 1997)
    • 1915 – Daniel Johnson Sr., Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)
    • 1916 – Julian Dash, American swing music jazz tenor saxophonist (d. 1974)
    • 1916 – Heinz Meyer, German Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) during World War II (d. 1987)
    • 1916 – Bill Leonard, American journalist (d. 1994)
    • 1917 – Johannes Bobrowski, German songwriter and poet (d. 1965)
    • 1917 – Ronnie Burgess, Welsh international footballer left-half and manager (d. 2005)
    • 1917 – Brad Dexter, American actor (d. 2002)
    • 1917 – Henry Hewes, American theater writer (d. 2006)
    • 1918 – Jørn Utzon, Danish architect, designed the Sydney Opera House (d. 2008)
    • 1919 – J. Presper Eckert, American engineer, invented the ENIAC (d. 1995)
    • 1921 – Jean-Marie Balestre, French businessman (d. 2008)
    • 1921 – Yitzhak Navon, Israeli politician (d. 2015)
    • 1921 – Frankie Thomas, American actor (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Mary Jackson, African-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (d. 2005)
    • 1922 – Carl Amery, German author and activist (d. 2005)
    • 1923 – Leonard Levy, American historian and author (d. 2006)
    • 1924 – Arthur Shaw, English professional footballer (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Virginia Gibson, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Art Kane, American photographer (d. 1995)
    • 1926 – Gerry Fitt, Northern Irish soldier and politician; British life peer (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Hugh Hefner, American publisher, founded Playboy Enterprises (d. 2017)
    • 1926 – Harris Wofford, American politician, author and civil rights activist (d. 2019)
    • 1927 – Tiny Hill, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Paul Arizin, American basketball player (d. 2006)
    • 1928 – Tom Lehrer, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and mathematician
    • 1929 – Sharan Rani Backliwal, Indian sarod player and scholar (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist (d. 1993)
    • 1929 – Paule Marshall, American author and academic (d. 2019)
    • 1930 – Nathaniel Branden, Canadian-American psychotherapist and author (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – F. Albert Cotton, American chemist and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1930 – Jim Fowler, American zoologist and television host (d. 2019)
    • 1930 – Wallace McCain, Canadian businessman, founded McCain Foods (d. 2011)
    • 1931 – Richard Hatfield, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1991)
    • 1932 – Armin Jordan, Swiss conductor (d. 2006)
    • 1932 – Peter Moores, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Carl Perkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
    • 1933 – Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor and producer
    • 1933 – René Burri, Swiss photographer and journalist (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Fern Michaels, American author
    • 1933 – Richard Rose, American political scientist and academic
    • 1933 – Gian Maria Volonté, Italian actor (d. 1994)
    • 1934 – Bill Birch, New Zealand surveyor and politician, 38th New Zealand Minister of Finance
    • 1934 – Tom Phillis, Australian motorcycle racer (d. 1962)
    • 1934 – Mariya Pisareva, Russian high jumper
    • 1935 – Aulis Sallinen, Finnish composer and academic
    • 1935 – Avery Schreiber, American actor and comedian (d. 2002)
    • 1936 – Jerzy Maksymiuk, Polish pianist, composer, and conductor
    • 1936 – Valerie Solanas, American radical feminist author, attempted murderer (d. 1988)
    • 1937 – Simon Brown, Baron Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
    • 1937 – Marty Krofft, Canadian screenwriter and producer
    • 1937 – Valerie Singleton, English television and radio host
    • 1938 – Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian businessman and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Russia (d. 2010)
    • 1939 – Michael Learned, American actress
    • 1940 – Hans-Joachim Reske, German sprinter
    • 1940 – Jim Roberts, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1941 – Kay Adams, American singer-songwriter
    • 1942 – Brandon deWilde, American actor (d. 1972)
    • 1942 – Margo Smith, American singer-songwriter
    • 1943 – Leila Khaled, Palestinian activist
    • 1943 – Terry Knight, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
    • 1944 – Joe Brinkman, American baseball player and umpire
    • 1944 – Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg, German shot putter
    • 1945 – Steve Gadd, American drummer and percussionist[9]
    • 1946 – Nate Colbert, American baseball player[10]
    • 1946 – Alan Knott, English cricketer[11]
    • 1946 – Sara Parkin, Scottish activist and politician[12]
    • 1946 – David Webb, English footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1947 – Giovanni Andrea Cornia, Italian economist and academic
    • 1948 – Jaya Bachchan, Indian actress and politician
    • 1948 – Michel Parizeau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1948 – Patty Pravo, Italian singer
    • 1949 – Tony Cragg, English sculptor
    • 1952 – Robert Clark, American author
    • 1952 – Bruce Robertson, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1952 – Tania Tsanaklidou, Greek singer and actress
    • 1953 – John Howard, English singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1953 – Hal Ketchum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1953 – Stephen Paddock, American mass murderer responsible for the 2017 Las Vegas shooting (d. 2017)
    • 1954 – Ken Kalfus, American journalist and author
    • 1954 – Dennis Quaid, American actor
    • 1954 – Iain Duncan Smith, British soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
    • 1955 – Yamina Benguigui, Algerian-French director and politician
    • 1955 – Joolz Denby, English poet and author
    • 1956 – Miguel Ángel Russo, Argentinian footballer and coach
    • 1956 – Nigel Shadbolt, English computer scientist and academic
    • 1956 – Vahur Sova, Estonian architect
    • 1956 – Marina Zoueva, Russian ice dancer and coach
    • 1957 – Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer and architect (d. 2011)
    • 1957 – Martin Margiela, Belgian fashion designer
    • 1957 – Jamie Redfern, English-born Australian television presenter, and pop singer
    • 1958 – Tony Sibson, English boxer
    • 1958 – Nigel Slater, English food writer and author
    • 1959 – Bernard Jenkin, English businessman and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
    • 1960 – Jaak Aab, Estonian educator and politician, Minister of Social Affairs of Estonia
    • 1961 – Mark Kelly, Irish keyboard player
    • 1961 – Kirk McCaskill, Canadian-American baseball and hockey player
    • 1962 – John Eaves, American production designer and illustrator
    • 1962 – Ihor Podolchak, Ukrainian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1962 – Imran Sherwani, English field hockey player
    • 1962 – Jeff Turner, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Marc Jacobs, American-French fashion designer
    • 1963 – Joe Scarborough, American journalist, lawyer, and politician
    • 1964 – Rob Awalt, German-American football player
    • 1964 – Juliet Cuthbert, Jamaican sprinter
    • 1964 – Peter Penashue, Canadian businessman and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
    • 1964 – Margaret Peterson Haddix, American author
    • 1964 – Rick Tocchet, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1965 – Helen Alfredsson, Swedish golfer
    • 1965 – Paulina Porizkova, Czech-born Swedish-American model and actress
    • 1965 – Jeff Zucker, American businessman
    • 1966 – John Hammond, English weather forecaster
    • 1966 – Cynthia Nixon, American actress
    • 1967 – Natascha Engel, German-English translator and politician
    • 1967 – Sam Harris, American author, philosopher, and neuroscientist
    • 1968 – Jay Chandrasekhar, American actor, comedian, writer and director
    • 1969 – Barnaby Kay, English actor
    • 1969 – Linda Kisabaka, German runner
    • 1970 – Chorão, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1971 – Peter Canavan, Irish footballer and manager
    • 1971 – Leo Fortune-West, English footballer and manager
    • 1971 – Austin Peck, American actor
    • 1971 – Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver
    • 1972 – Bernard Ackah, German-Japanese martial artist and kick-boxer
    • 1972 – Siiri Vallner, Estonian architect
    • 1974 – Megan Connolly, Australian actress (d. 2001)
    • 1974 – Jenna Jameson, American actress and pornographic performer
    • 1975 – Robbie Fowler, English footballer and manager
    • 1975 – David Gordon Green, American director and screenwriter
    • 1976 – Kyle Peterson, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1977 – Gerard Way, American singer-songwriter and comic book writer
    • 1978 – Kousei Amano, Japanese actor
    • 1978 – Jorge Andrade, Portuguese footballer
    • 1978 – Rachel Stevens, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
    • 1979 – Jeff Reed, American football player
    • 1979 – Keshia Knight Pulliam, American actress
    • 1980 – Sarah Ayton, English sailor
    • 1980 – Luciano Galletti, Argentinian footballer
    • 1980 – Albert Hammond Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1981 – Milan Bartovič, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1981 – A. J. Ellis, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish footballer
    • 1981 – Dennis Sarfate, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Eric Harris, American mass murderer, responsible for the Columbine High School massacre (d. 1999)
    • 1982 – Jay Baruchel, Canadian actor
    • 1982 – Carlos Hernández, Costa Rican footballer
    • 1982 – Kathleen Munroe, Canadian-American actress
    • 1983 – Ryan Clark, Australian actor
    • 1984 – Habiba Ghribi, Tunisian runner[13]
    • 1984 – Adam Loewen, Canadian baseball player
    • 1984 – Óscar Razo, Mexican footballer
    • 1985 – Antonio Nocerino, Italian footballer
    • 1985 – David Robertson, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Mike Hart, American football player
    • 1986 – Leighton Meester, American actress
    • 1987 – Kassim Abdallah, French-Comorian footballer
    • 1987 – Graham Gano, American football player
    • 1987 – Craig Mabbitt, American singer
    • 1987 – Jesse McCartney, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1987 – Jarrod Mullen, Australian rugby league player
    • 1987 – Jazmine Sullivan, American singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Michel Alves Baroni, Brazilian footballer
    • 1988 – Jeremy Metcalfe, English racing driver
    • 1989 – Danielle Kahle, American figure skater
    • 1990 – Kristen Stewart, American actress
    • 1990 – Ryan Williams, American football player
    • 1991 – Ryan Kelly, American basketball player
    • 1991 – Mary Killman, American synchronized swimmer
    • 1992 – Joshua Ledet, American singer
    • 1994 – Joey Pollari, American actor
    • 1995 – Domagoj Bošnjak, Croatian basketball player
    • 1995 – Robert Bauer, German-Kazakhstani footballer
    • 1996 – Jayden Brailey, Australian rugby league player[14]
    • 1996 – Giovani Lo Celso, Argentinian international footballer, midfielder[15]
    • 1998 – Elle Fanning, American actress[16]
    • 1999 – Montero Lamar Hill, American rapper[17]
    • 2000 – Jackie Evancho, American singer[18]

    Deaths on April 9

    • 585 BC – Jimmu, emperor of Japan (b. 711 BC)
    • AD 93 – Yuan An, Chinese scholar and politician
    • 436 – Tan Daoji, Chinese general and politician
    • 491 – Zeno, emperor of the Byzantine Empire (b. 425)
    • 682 – Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari, Egyptian politician, Governor of Egypt (b. 616)
    • 715 – Constantine, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 664)
    • 1024 – Benedict VIII, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 980)
    • 1137 – William X, duke of Aquitaine (b. 1099)
    • 1241 – Henry II, High Duke of Poland (b. 1196)
    • 1283 – Margaret of Scotland, queen of Norway (b. 1261)
    • 1327 – Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, Scottish nobleman (ca. 1296)
    • 1483 – Edward IV, king of England (b. 1442)
    • 1484 – Edward of Middleheim, prince of Wales (b. 1473)
    • 1550 – Alqas Mirza, Safavid prince (b. 1516)[19]
    • 1553 – François Rabelais, French monk and scholar (b. 1494)
    • 1557 – Mikael Agricola, Finnish priest and scholar (b. 1510)
    • 1626 – Francis Bacon, English jurist and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1561)
    • 1654 – Matei Basarab, Romanian prince (b. 1588)
    • 1693 – Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French author (b. 1618)
    • 1747 – Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1667)
    • 1754 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (b. 1679)
    • 1761 – William Law, English priest and theologian (b. 1686)
    • 1768 – Sarah Fielding, English author (b. 1710)
    • 1804 – Jacques Necker, Swiss-French politician, Chief Minister to the French Monarch (b. 1732)
    • 1806 – William V, stadtholder of the Dutch Republic (b. 1748)
    • 1872 – Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (b. 1794)
    • 1876 – Charles Goodyear, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1804)
    • 1882 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (b. 1828)
    • 1889 – Michel Eugène Chevreul, French chemist and academic (b. 1786)
    • 1909 – Helena Modjeska, Polish-American actress (b. 1840)
    • 1915 – Raymond Whittindale, English rugby player (b. 1883)
    • 1917 – James Hope Moulton, English philologist and scholar (b. 1863)
    • 1922 – Hans Fruhstorfer, German entomologist and explorer (b. 1866)
    • 1926 – Zip the Pinhead, American freak show performer (b. 1857)
    • 1936 – Ferdinand Tönnies, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1855)
    • 1940 – Mrs Patrick Campbell, English actress (b. 1865)
    • 1944 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Ukrainian lieutenant and pilot (b. 1920)
    • 1945 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (b. 1906)
    • 1945 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (b. 1887)
    • 1945 – Johann Georg Elser, German carpenter (b. 1903)
    • 1945 – Hans Oster, German general (b. 1887)
    • 1945 – Karl Sack, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1896)
    • 1945 – Hans von Dohnányi, Austrian-German lawyer and jurist (b. 1902)
    • 1948 – George Carpenter, Australian 5th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1872)
    • 1948 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian lawyer and politician, 16th Colombian Minister of National Education (b. 1903)
    • 1951 – Vilhelm Bjerknes, Norwegian physicist and meteorologist (b. 1862)
    • 1953 – Eddie Cochems, American football player and coach (b. 1877)
    • 1953 – C. E. M. Joad, English philosopher and television host (b. 1891)
    • 1953 – Hans Reichenbach, German philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1891)
    • 1959 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater (b. 1867)
    • 1961 – Zog I of Albania (b. 1895)
    • 1963 – Eddie Edwards, American trombonist (b. 1891)
    • 1963 – Xul Solar, Argentinian painter and sculptor (b. 1887)
    • 1970 – Gustaf Tenggren, Swedish-American illustrator and animator (b. 1896)
    • 1976 – Dagmar Nordstrom, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1903)
    • 1976 – Phil Ochs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940)
    • 1976 – Renato Petronio, Italian rower (b. 1891)
    • 1978 – Clough Williams-Ellis, English-Welsh architect, designed Portmeirion (b. 1883)
    • 1980 – Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Iraqi cleric and philosopher (b. 1935)
    • 1982 – Wilfrid Pelletier, Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1896)
    • 1988 – Brook Benton, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1931)
    • 1988 – Hans Berndt, German footballer (b. 1913)
    • 1988 – Dave Prater, American singer (b. 1937)
    • 1991 – Forrest Towns, American hurdler and coach (b. 1914)
    • 1993 – Joseph B. Soloveitchik, American rabbi and philosopher (b. 1903)
    • 1996 – Richard Condon, American author and publicist (b. 1915)
    • 1997 – Mae Boren Axton, American singer-songwriter (b. 1914)
    • 1997 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (b. 1916)
    • 1998 – Tom Cora, American cellist and composer (b. 1953)
    • 1999 – Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, Nigerien general and politician, President of Niger (b. 1949)
    • 2001 – Willie Stargell, American baseball player and coach (b. 1940)
    • 2002 – Pat Flaherty, American race car driver (b. 1926)
    • 2002 – Leopold Vietoris, Austrian soldier, mathematician, and academic (b. 1891)
    • 2003 – Jerry Bittle, American cartoonist (b. 1949)
    • 2006 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, manager (b. 1916)
    • 2006 – Vilgot Sjöman, Swedish director and screenwriter (b. 1924)
    • 2007 – Egon Bondy, Czech philosopher and poet (b. 1930)
    • 2007 – Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer and academic (b. 1907)
    • 2009 – Nick Adenhart, American baseball player (b. 1986)
    • 2010 – Zoltán Varga, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1945)
    • 2011 – Zakariya Rashid Hassan al-Ashiri, Bahraini journalist (b. 1971)
    • 2011 – Sidney Lumet, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Malcolm Thomas, Welsh rugby player and cricketer (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – David Hayes, American sculptor and painter (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Greg McCrary, American football player (b. 1952)
    • 2013 – Mordechai Mishani, Israeli lawyer and politician (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – McCandlish Phillips, American journalist and author (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Paolo Soleri, Italian-American architect, designed the Cosanti (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Gil Askey, American trumpet player, composer, and producer (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Chris Banks, American football player (b. 1973)
    • 2014 – Rory Ellinger, American lawyer and politician (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Norman Girvan, Jamaican economist, academic, and politician (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Aelay Narendra, Indian politician (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – A. N. R. Robinson, Trinbagonian politician, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Svetlana Velmar-Janković, Serbian author (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Paul Almond, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Margaret Rule, British marine archaeologist (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Nina Companeez, French director and screenwriter (b. 1937)
    • 2015 – Alexander Dalgarno, English physicist and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Ivan Doig, American journalist and author (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Tsien Tsuen-hsuin, Chinese-American academic (b. 1909)
    • 2016 – Duane Clarridge, American spy (b. 1932)
    • 2016 – Will Smith, American football player (b. 1981)
    • 2017 – John Clarke, New Zealand-Australian comedian, writer, and satirist (b. 1948)

    Holidays and observances on April 9

    • Christian feast day:
      • Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Anglicanism, Lutheranism)
      • Gaucherius
      • Materiana
      • Waltrude
      • April 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Anniversary of the German Invasion of Denmark (Denmark)
    • Baghdad Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
    • Bataan Day or Araw ng Kagitingan (Philippines)
    • Constitution Day (Kosovo)
    • Day of National Unity (Georgia)
    • Day of the Finnish Language (Finland)
    • Feast of the Second Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema)
    • Martyr’s Day (Tunisia)
    • National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day (United States)
    • Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson (The Troth)
    • Vimy Ridge Day (Canada)