shivaji

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

    • 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
    • 1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burnt in Paris.
    • 1397 – The Kalmar Union is formed under the rule of Margaret I of Denmark.
    • 1462 – Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack at Târgovişte), forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.
    • 1497 – Battle of Deptford Bridge: Forces under King Henry VII defeat troops led by Michael An Gof.
    • 1565 – Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
    • 1579 – Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.
    • 1596 – The Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz discovers the Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen.
    • 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
    • 1665 – Battle of Montes Claros: Portugal definitively secured independence from Spain in the last battle of the Portuguese Restoration War.
    • 1673 – French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reach the Mississippi River and become the first Europeans to make a detailed account of its course.
    • 1767 – Samuel Wallis, a British sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.
    • 1773 – Cúcuta, Colombia, is founded by Juana Rangel de Cuéllar.
    • 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.
    • 1789 – In France, the Third Estate declares itself the National Assembly.
    • 1794 – Foundation of Anglo-Corsican Kingdom.
    • 1795 – The burghers of Swellendam expel the Dutch East India Company magistrate and declare a republic.
    • 1839 – In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace are established as a result.
    • 1843 – The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers in the New Zealand Wars, takes place.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Vienna, Virginia.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign.
    • 1876 – American Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud: 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook’s forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.
    • 1877 – American Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon: The Nez Perce defeat the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.
    • 1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
    • 1898 – The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.
    • 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: Western Allied and Japanese forces capture the Taku Forts in Tianjin, China.
    • 1901 – The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
    • 1910 – Aurel Vlaicu pilots an A. Vlaicu nr. 1 on its first flight.
    • 1922 – Portuguese naval aviators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral complete the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic.
    • 1929 – The town of Murchison, New Zealand Is rocked by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killing 17. At the time it was New Zealand’s worst natural disaster.
    • 1930 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act into law.
    • 1932 – Bonus Army: Around a thousand World War I veterans amass at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would give them certain benefits.
    • 1933 – Union Station massacre: In Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash are gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.
    • 1939 – Last public guillotining in France: Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is executed in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre prison.
    • 1940 – World War II: RMS Lancastria is attacked and sunk by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France. At least 3,000 are killed in Britain’s worst maritime disaster.
    • 1940 – World War II: The British Army’s 11th Hussars assault and take Fort Capuzzo in Libya, Africa from Italian forces.
    • 1940 – The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union.
    • 1944 – Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic.
    • 1948 – United Airlines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
    • 1952 – Guatemala passes Decree 900, ordering the redistribution of uncultivated land.
    • 1953 – Cold War: East Germany Workers Uprising: In East Germany, the Soviet Union orders a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion.
    • 1958 – The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, in the process of being built to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver (Canada), collapses into the Burrard Inlet killing 18 ironworkers and injuring others.
    • 1960 – The Nez Perce tribe is awarded $4 million for 7 million acres (28,000 km2) of land undervalued at four cents/acre in the 1863 treaty.
    • 1963 – The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.
    • 1963 – A day after South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm announced the Joint Communiqué to end the Buddhist crisis, a riot involving around 2,000 people breaks out. One person is killed.
    • 1967 – Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon.
    • 1972 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process
    • 1985 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-G mission: Space Shuttle Discovery launches carrying Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist.
    • 1987 – With the death of the last individual of the species, the dusky seaside sparrow becomes extinct.
    • 1991 – Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
    • 1992 – A “joint understanding” agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).
    • 1994 – Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
    • 2015 – Nine people are killed in a mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
    • 2017 – A series of wildfires in central Portugal kill at least 64 people and injure 204 others.

    Births on June 17

    • 801 – Drogo of Metz, Frankish bishop (d. 855)
    • 1239 – Edward I, English king (d. 1307)
    • 1530 – François de Montmorency, French nobleman (d. 1579)
    • 1571 – Thomas Mun, English writer on economics (d. 1641)
    • 1603 – Joseph of Cupertino, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1663)
    • 1604 – John Maurice, Dutch nobleman (d. 1679)
    • 1610 – Birgitte Thott, Danish scholar, writer and translator (b. 1662)
    • 1631 – Gauharara Begum, Mughal princess (d. 1706)
    • 1682 – Charles XII, Swedish king (d. 1718)
    • 1691 – Giovanni Paolo Panini, Italian painter and architect (d. 1765)
    • 1693 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian and author (d. 1775)
    • 1704 – John Kay, English engineer, invented the Flying shuttle (d. 1780)
    • 1714 – César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer and cartographer (d. 1784)
    • 1718 – George Howard, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Minorca (d. 1796)
    • 1778 – Gregory Blaxland, English-Australian explorer (d. 1853)
    • 1800 – William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, English-Irish astronomer and politician (d. 1867)
    • 1808 – Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian poet, playwright, and linguist (d. 1845)
    • 1810 – Ferdinand Freiligrath, German poet and translator (d. 1876)
    • 1811 – Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic scholar and politician (d. 1879)
    • 1818 – Charles Gounod, French composer and academic (d. 1893)
    • 1818 – Sophie of Württemberg, queen of the Netherlands (d. 1877)
    • 1821 – E. G. Squier, American archaeologist and journalist (d. 1888)
    • 1832 – William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (d. 1919)
    • 1833 – Manuel González Flores, Mexican general and president (d. 1893)
    • 1858 – Eben Sumner Draper, American businessman and politician, 44th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1914)
    • 1861 – Pete Browning, American baseball player (d. 1905)
    • 1861 – Omar Bundy, American general (d. 1940)
    • 1863 – Charles Michael, duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1934)
    • 1865 – Susan La Flesche Picotte, Native American physician (d. 1915)
    • 1867 – Flora Finch, English-American actress (d. 1940)
    • 1867 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born American educator, publisher, and humanitarian (d. 1948)
    • 1867 – Henry Lawson, Australian poet and author (d. 1922)
    • 1871 – James Weldon Johnson, American author, journalist, and activist (d. 1938)
    • 1876 – William Carr, American rower (d. 1942)
    • 1876 – Edward Anthony Spitzka, American anatomist and author (d. 1922)
    • 1880 – Carl Van Vechten, American author and photographer (d. 1964)
    • 1881 – Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer and promoter (d. 1955)
    • 1882 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1918)
    • 1882 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1971)
    • 1888 – Heinz Guderian, German general (d. 1954)
    • 1897 – Maria Izilda de Castro Ribeiro, Brazilian girl, popular saint (d. 1911)
    • 1898 – M. C. Escher, Dutch illustrator (d. 1972)
    • 1898 – Carl Hermann, German physicist and academic (d. 1961)
    • 1898 – Harry Patch, English soldier and firefighter (d. 2009)
    • 1900 – Martin Bormann, German politician (d. 1945)
    • 1900 – Evelyn Irons, Scottish journalist and war correspondent (d. 2000)
    • 1902 – Sammy Fain, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
    • 1902 – Alec Hurwood, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
    • 1903 – Ruth Graves Wakefield, American chef, created the chocolate chip cookie (d. 1977)
    • 1904 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (d. 1991)
    • 1904 – J. Vernon McGee, American pastor and theologian (d. 1988)
    • 1904 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian farmer and politician (d. 1989)
    • 1907 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
    • 1909 – Elmer L. Andersen, American businessman and politician, 30th Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
    • 1909 – Ralph E. Winters, Canadian-American film editor (d. 2004)
    • 1910 – Red Foley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1968)
    • 1910 – George Hees, Canadian football player and politician (d. 1996)
    • 1914 – John Hersey, American journalist and author (d. 1993)
    • 1915 – David “Stringbean” Akeman, American singer and banjo player (d. 1973)
    • 1915 – Marcel Cadieux, Canadian civil servant and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 1981)
    • 1916 – Terry Gilkyson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
    • 1917 – Dufferin Roblin, Canadian politician, 14th Premier of Manitoba (d. 2010)
    • 1918 – Ajahn Chah, Thai monk and educator (d. 1992)
    • 1919 – William Kaye Estes, American psychologist and academic (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – John Moffat, Scottish lieutenant and pilot (d. 2016)
    • 1919 – Beryl Reid, English actress (d. 1996)
    • 1920 – Jacob H. Gilbert, American lawyer and politician (d. 1981)
    • 1920 – Setsuko Hara, Japanese actress (d. 2015)
    • 1920 – François Jacob, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Peter Le Cheminant, English air marshal and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey (d. 2018)
    • 1922 – John Amis, English journalist and critic (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Elroy Hirsch, American football player (d. 2004)
    • 1923 – Arnold S. Relman, American physician and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Dale C. Thomson, Canadian historian and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1925 – Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Martin Böttcher, German composer and conductor (d. 2019)
    • 1927 – Wally Wood, American author, illustrator, and publisher (d. 1981)
    • 1928 – Juan María Bordaberry, President of Uruguay (d. 2011)
    • 1929 – Bud Collins, American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – Tigran Petrosian, Armenian chess player (d. 1984)
    • 1930 – Cliff Gallup, American rock & roll guitarist (d. 1988)
    • 1930 – Brian Statham, English cricketer (d. 2000)
    • 1931 – John Baldessari, American painter and illustrator (d. 2020)
    • 1932 – Derek Ibbotson, English runner (d. 2017)
    • 1932 – John Murtha, American colonel and politician (d. 2010)
    • 1933 – Harry Browne, American soldier and politician (d. 2006)
    • 1933 – Christian Ferras, French violinist (d. 1982)
    • 1933 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (d. 1970)
    • 1936 – Vern Harper, Canadian tribal leader and activist (d. 2018)
    • 1936 – Ken Loach, English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1937 – Peter Fitzgerald, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – Ted Nelson, American sociologist and philosopher
    • 1937 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian fashion designer, television presenter and politician (d. 2009)
    • 1940 – George Akerlof, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1940 – Bobby Bell, American football player
    • 1940 – Chuck Rainey, American bassist
    • 1941 – Nicholas C. Handy, English chemist and academic (d. 2012)
    • 1942 – Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian politician, Vice President of Egypt, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1942 – Doğu Perinçek, Turkish lawyer and politician
    • 1942 – Roger Steffens, American actor and producer
    • 1943 – Newt Gingrich, American historian and politician, 58th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
    • 1943 – Barry Manilow, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1943 – Chantal Mouffe, Belgian theorist and author
    • 1943 – Burt Rutan, American engineer and pilot
    • 1944 – Randy Johnson, American football player (d. 2009)
    • 1944 – Chris Spedding, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1945 – Tommy Franks, American general
    • 1945 – Ken Livingstone, English politician, 1st Mayor of London
    • 1945 – Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1945 – Art Bell, American broadcaster and author (d. 2018)
    • 1946 – Peter Rosei, Austrian author, poet, and playwright
    • 1947 – Christopher Allport, American actor (d. 2008)
    • 1947 – Timothy Wright, American gospel singer, pastor (d. 2009)
    • 1947 – Linda Chavez, American journalist and author
    • 1947 – George S. Clinton, American composer and songwriter
    • 1947 – Gregg Rolie, American rock singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1947 – Paul Young, English singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1948 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball player and manager
    • 1948 – Jacqueline Jones, American historian and academic
    • 1948 – Aurelio López, Mexican baseball player and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1948 – Karol Sikora, English physician and academic
    • 1949 – Snakefinger, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1987)
    • 1949 – John Craven, English economist and academic
    • 1949 – Russell Smith, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
    • 1950 – Lee Tamahori, New Zealand film director
    • 1951 – Starhawk, American author and activist
    • 1951 – John Garrett, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1951 – Joe Piscopo, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Mike Milbury, American ice hockey player, coach, and manager
    • 1952 – Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, English educator and politician, Secretary of State for Education
    • 1953 – Vernon Coaker, English educator and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
    • 1953 – Juan Muñoz, Spanish sculptor and storyteller (d. 2001)
    • 1954 – Mark Linn-Baker, American actor and director
    • 1955 – Mati Laur, Estonian historian, author, and academic
    • 1955 – Bob Sauvé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1955 – Cem Hakko, Turkish fashion designer and businessman
    • 1956 – Iain Milne, Scottish rugby player
    • 1957 – Philip Chevron, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1957 – Martin Dillon, American tenor and educator (d. 2005)
    • 1957 – Uģis Prauliņš, Latvian composer
    • 1958 – Pierre Berbizier, French rugby player and coach
    • 1958 – Jello Biafra, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1958 – Bobby Farrelly, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Sam Hamad, Syrian-Canadian academic and politician
    • 1958 – Jon Leibowitz, American lawyer and politician
    • 1958 – Daniel McVicar, American actor
    • 1959 – Carol Anderson, American author and historian
    • 1959 – Lawrence Haddad, South African-English economist and academic
    • 1959 – Nikos Stavropoulos, Greek basketball player and coach
    • 1960 – Adrián Campos, Spanish race car driver
    • 1960 – Thomas Haden Church, American actor
    • 1961 – Kōichi Yamadera, Japanese actor and singer
    • 1962 – Michael Monroe, Finnish singer-songwriter and saxophonist
    • 1963 – Greg Kinnear, American actor, television presenter, and producer
    • 1964 – Rinaldo Capello, Italian race car driver
    • 1964 – Michael Gross, German swimmer
    • 1964 – Steve Rhodes, English cricketer and coach
    • 1965 – Dermontti Dawson, American football player and coach
    • 1965 – Dan Jansen, American speed skater and sportscaster
    • 1965 – Dara O’Kearney, Irish runner and poker player
    • 1966 – Mohammed Ghazy Al-Akhras, Iraqi journalist and author
    • 1966 – Tory Burch, American fashion designer and philanthropist
    • 1966 – Ken Clark, American football player (d. 2013)
    • 1966 – Diane Modahl, English runner
    • 1966 – Jason Patric, American actor
    • 1967 – Dorothea Röschmann, German soprano and actress
    • 1967 – Eric Stefani, American keyboard player and composer
    • 1968 – Steve Georgallis, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1968 – Minoru Suzuki, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
    • 1969 – Paul Tergat, Kenyan runner
    • 1969 – Geoff Toovey, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1969 – Ilya Tsymbalar, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1970 – Stéphane Fiset, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1970 – Will Forte, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Jason Hanson, American football player
    • 1970 – Popeye Jones, American basketball player and coach
    • 1970 – Michael Showalter, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Alan Dowson, English football manager and former professional player
    • 1971 – Paulina Rubio, Mexican pop singer
    • 1971 – Mildred Fox, Irish politician
    • 1973 – Leander Paes, Indian tennis player
    • 1974 – Evangelia Psarra, Greek archer
    • 1975 – Joshua Leonard, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1975 – Juan Carlos Valerón, Spanish footballer
    • 1975 – Phiyada Akkraseranee, Thai actress and model
    • 1976 – Scott Adkins, English actor and martial artist
    • 1976 – Sven Nys, Belgian cyclist
    • 1977 – Tjaša Jezernik, Slovenian tennis player
    • 1977 – Mark Tauscher, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Isabelle Delobel, French ice dancer
    • 1978 – Travis Roche, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Nick Rimando, American soccer player
    • 1979 – Tyson Apostol, American television personality
    • 1979 – Young Maylay, American rapper, producer, and voice actor
    • 1980 – Elisa Rigaudo, Italian race walker
    • 1980 – Jeph Jacques, American author and illustrator
    • 1980 – Venus Williams, American tennis player
    • 1981 – Kyle Boller, American football player
    • 1981 – Shane Watson, Australian cricketer
    • 1982 – Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Marek Svatoš, Slovak ice hockey player (d. 2016)
    • 1982 – Stanislava Hrozenská, Slovak tennis player
    • 1982 – Stefan Hodgetts, English racing driver
    • 1982 – Arthur Darvill, English actor
    • 1982 – Jodie Whittaker, English actress
    • 1983 – Lee Ryan, English singer/actor
    • 1983 – Vlasis Kazakis, Greek footballer
    • 1984 – Michael Mathieu, Bahamian sprinter
    • 1984 – Si Tianfeng, Chinese race walker
    • 1985 – Özge Akın, Turkish sprinter
    • 1985 – Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player
    • 1985 – Rafael Sóbis, Brazilian footballer
    • 1986 – Apoula Edel, Armenian footballer
    • 1986 – Helen Glover, English rower
    • 1987 – Kendrick Lamar, American rapper
    • 1987 – Nozomi Tsuji, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1988 – Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player
    • 1988 – Shaun MacDonald, Welsh footballer
    • 1988 – Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer
    • 1989 – Georgios Tofas, Cypriot footballer
    • 1989 – Simone Battle, American singer and actress (d. 2014)
    • 1990 – Jordan Henderson, English footballer
    • 1990 – Josh Mansour, Australian rugby league player
    • 1991 – Daniel Tupou, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
    • 1994 – Amari Cooper, American football player
    • 1995 – Clément Lenglet, French footballer

    Deaths on June 17

    • 656 – Uthman, caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate (b. 579)
    • 676 – Adeodatus, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 811 – Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, Japanese shōgun (b. 758)
    • 850 – Tachibana no Kachiko, Japanese empress (b. 786)
    • 900 – Fulk, French archbishop and chancellor
    • 1025 – Bolesław I the Brave, Polish king (b. 967)
    • 1091 – Dirk V, count of Holland (b. 1052)
    • 1207 – Daoji, Chinese buddhist monk (b. 1130)
    • 1219 – David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
    • 1361 – Ingeborg of Norway, princess consort and regent of Sweden (b. 1301)
    • 1400 – Jan of Jenštejn, archbishop of Prague (b. 1348)
    • 1463 – Catherine of Portugal, Portuguese princess (b. 1436)
    • 1501 – John I Albert, Polish king (b. 1459)
    • 1565 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun (b. 1536)
    • 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal, Mughal princess (b. 1593)
    • 1649 – Injo of Joseon, Korean king (b. 1595)
    • 1674 – Jijabai, Dowager Queen, mother of Shivaji (b. 1598)
    • 1694 – Philip Howard, English cardinal (b. 1629)
    • 1696 – John III Sobieski, Polish king (b. 1629)
    • 1719 – Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician (b. 1672)
    • 1734 – Claude Louis Hector de Villars, French general and politician, French Secretary of State for War (b. 1653)
    • 1740 – Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1687)
    • 1762 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French poet and playwright (b. 1674)
    • 1771 – Daskalogiannis, Greek rebel leader (b. 1722)
    • 1775 – John Pitcairn, Scottish-English soldier (b. 1722)
    • 1797 – Mohammad Khan Qajar, Persian tribal chief (b. 1742)
    • 1813 – Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, Scottish-English admiral and politician (b. 1726)
    • 1821 – Martín Miguel de Güemes, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1785)
    • 1839 – Lord William Bentinck, English general and politician, 14th Governor-General of India (b. 1774)
    • 1866 – Joseph Méry, French poet and author (b. 1798)
    • 1889 – Lozen, Chiracaua Apache warrior woman (b. ~1840)
    • 1898 – Edward Burne-Jones, English soldier and painter (b. 1833)
    • 1904 – Nikolay Bobrikov, Russian soldier and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1839)
    • 1936 – Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist, politician, and diplomat, Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
    • 1939 – Allen Sothoron, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1893)
    • 1939 – Eugen Weidmann, German criminal (b. 1908)
    • 1940 – Arthur Harden, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
    • 1941 – Johan Wagenaar, Dutch organist and composer (b. 1862)
    • 1942 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1853)
    • 1952 – Jack Parsons, American chemist and engineer (b. 1914)
    • 1954 – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (b. 1920)
    • 1956 – Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry, English businessman (b. 1878)
    • 1956 – Paul Rostock, German surgeon and academic (b. 1892)
    • 1956 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (b. 1926)
    • 1957 – Dorothy Richardson, English journalist and author (b. 1873)
    • 1957 – J. R. Williams, Canadian-American cartoonist (b. 1888)
    • 1961 – Jeff Chandler, American actor (b. 1918)
    • 1963 – Aleksander Kesküla, Estonian politician (b. 1882)
    • 1968 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer and manager (b. 1901)
    • 1974 – Refik Koraltan, Turkish lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1889)
    • 1975 – James Phinney Baxter III, American historian and academic (b. 1893)
    • 1979 – Hubert Ashton, English cricketer and politician (b. 1898)
    • 1979 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888)
    • 1981 – Richard O’Connor, Indian-English general (b. 1889)
    • 1981 – Zerna Sharp, American author and educator (b. 1889)
    • 1982 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (b. 1920)
    • 1983 – Peter Mennin, American composer and educator (b. 1923)
    • 1985 – John Boulting, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1913)
    • 1986 – Kate Smith, American singer (b. 1907)
    • 1987 – Dick Howser, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1936)
    • 1996 – Thomas Kuhn, American historian and philosopher (b. 1922)
    • 1996 – Curt Swan, American illustrator (b. 1920)
    • 1999 – Basil Hume, English cardinal (b. 1923)
    • 2000 – Ismail Mahomed, South African lawyer and jurist, 17th Chief Justice of South Africa (b. 1931)
    • 2001 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
    • 2001 – Thomas Winning, Scottish cardinal (b. 1925)
    • 2002 – Willie Davenport, American sprinter and hurdler (b. 1943)
    • 2002 – Fritz Walter, German footballer (b. 1920)
    • 2004 – Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
    • 2006 – Bussunda, Brazilian comedian (b. 1962)
    • 2007 – Gianfranco Ferré, Italian fashion designer (b. 1944)
    • 2007 – Serena Wilson, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1933)
    • 2008 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (b. 1922)
    • 2009 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-English sociologist and politician (b. 1929)
    • 2009 – Darrell Powers, American sergeant (b. 1923)
    • 2011 – Rex Mossop, Australian rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Stéphane Brosse, French mountaineer (b. 1971)
    • 2012 – Patricia Brown, American baseball player (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Nathan Divinsky, Canadian mathematician and chess player (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (b. 1965)
    • 2012 – Fauzia Wahab, Pakistani actress and politician (b. 1956)
    • 2013 – Michael Baigent, New Zealand-English theorist and author (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – Atiqul Haque Chowdhury, Bangladeshi playwright and producer (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Pierre F. Côté, Canadian lawyer and civil servant (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Bulbs Ehlers, American basketball player (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – James Holshouser, American politician, 68th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1934)
    • 2014 – Patsy Byrne, English actress (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Éric Dewailly, Canadian epidemiologist and academic (b. 1954)
    • 2014 – Stanley Marsh 3, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1938)
    • 2014 – Arnold S. Relman, American physician and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Larry Zeidel, Canadian-American ice hockey player and sportscaster (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Ron Clarke, Australian runner and politician, Mayor of the Gold Coast (b. 1937)
    • 2015 – John David Crow, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Süleyman Demirel, Turkish engineer and politician, 9th President of Turkey (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Roberto M. Levingston, Argentinian general and politician, 36th President of Argentina (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Clementa C. Pinckney, American minister and politician (b. 1973)
    • 2017 – Baldwin Lonsdale, president of Vanuatu (b. 1948)

    Holidays and observances on June 17

    • Christian feast day:
      • Albert Chmielowski
      • Botolph (England and Scandinavia)
      • Gondulphus of Berry
      • Hervé
      • Hypatius of Bithynia (Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches)
      • Rainerius
      • Samuel and Henrietta Barnett (Church of England)
      • June 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Father’s Day (El Salvador, Guatemala)
    • Icelandic National Day, celebrates the independence of Iceland from Kingdom of Denmark in 1944.
    • Occupation of the Latvian Republic Day (Latvia)
    • Remembrance to East German uprising of 1953, public holiday in West Germany between 1954 and 1990 (today German Unity Day) is the public holiday day)
    • World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (International)
    • Zemla Intifada Day (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)

  • June 6- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 913 – The 8-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, Constantine VII, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire, under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed by Constantine’s uncle Alexander III on his deathbed.
    • 1513 – Italian Wars: Battle of Novara. Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis II de la Trémoille, forcing the French to abandon Milan. Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored.
    • 1523 – Gustav Vasa, the Swedish regent, is elected King of Sweden, marking a symbolic end to the Kalmar Union. This is the Swedish national day.
    • 1586 – Francis Drake’s forces raid St. Augustine in Spanish Florida.
    • 1674 – Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire, is crowned.
    • 1749 – The Conspiracy of the Slaves in Malta is discovered.
    • 1762 – Seven Years’ War: British forces begin a siege of Havana, Cuba, and temporarily capture the city in the Battle of Havana.
    • 1808 – Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, is crowned King of Spain.
    • 1809 – Sweden promulgates a new Constitution, which restores political power to the Riksdag of the Estates after 20 years of enlightened absolutism. At the same time, Charles XIII is elected to succeed Gustav IV Adolf as King of Sweden.
    • 1813 – War of 1812: Battle of Stoney Creek: A British force of 700 under John Vincent defeats an American force twice its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
    • 1822 – Alexis St. Martin is accidentally shot in the stomach, leading to William Beaumont’s studies on digestion.
    • 1832 – The June Rebellion in Paris is put down by the National Guard.
    • 1844 – The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.
    • 1844 – The Glaciarium, the world’s first mechanically frozen ice rink, opens.
    • 1857 – Sophia of Nassau marries the future King Oscar II of Sweden–Norway.
    • 1859 – Australia: Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales (Queensland Day).
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Memphis: Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee, from the Confederates.
    • 1882 – The Shewan forces of Menelik II of Ethiopia defeat the Gojjame army in the Battle of Embabo. The Shewans capture Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, and their victory leads to a Shewan hegemony over the territories south of the Abay River.
    • 1889 – The Great Seattle Fire destroys all of downtown Seattle.
    • 1892 – The Chicago “L” elevated rail system begins operation.
    • 1894 – Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners’ strike.
    • 1909 – French troops capture Abéché (in modern-day Chad) and install a puppet sultan in the Ouaddai Empire.
    • 1912 – The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. It is the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
    • 1916 – The death of Yuan Shikai marks the beginning of China’s Warlord Era.
    • 1918 – World War I: Battle of Belleau Wood: The U.S. Marine Corps suffers its worst single day’s casualties while attempting to recapture the wood at Château-Thierry.
    • 1919 – After eight days of existence, the Republic of Prekmurje is conquered by the Hungarian Soviet Republic.
    • 1921 – Southwark Bridge in London is opened to traffic by King George V and Queen Mary.
    • 1932 – The Revenue Act of 1932 is enacted, creating the first gas tax in the United States, at a rate of 1 cent per US gallon (​1⁄4¢/L) sold.
    • 1933 – The first drive-in theater opens in Camden, New Jersey, United States.
    • 1934 – New Deal: The U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
    • 1939 – Judge Joseph Force Crater, known as the “Missingest Man in New York”, is declared legally dead.
    • 1942 – World War II: Battle of Midway. U.S. Navy dive bombers sink the Japanese cruiser Mikuma and four Japanese carriers.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Normandy—codenamed Operation Overlord—begins with the execution of Operation Neptune (commonly referred to as D-Day), the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The Allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
    • 1946 – The Basketball Association of America is founded in New York City; the BAA was the precursor to the modern National Basketball Association.
    • 1954 – The grand opening of the sculpture of Yuriy Dolgorukiy took place in Moscow. This statue is one of the main monuments of Moscow.
    • 1964 – Under a temporary order, the rocket launches at Cuxhaven, Germany are terminated. They never resume.
    • 1971 – Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 is launched.
    • 1971 – A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a United States Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet fighter near Duarte, California, claims 50 lives.
    • 1971 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Khanh between Australian and Vietnamese communist forces begins.
    • 1974 – A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.
    • 1981 – Bihar train disaster: A passenger train travelling between Mansi and Saharsa, India, jumps the tracks at a bridge crossing the Bagmati River. The government places the official death toll at 268 plus another 300 missing; however, it is generally believed that the death toll is closer to 1,000.
    • 1982 – The Lebanon War begins. Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Operation Peace for the Galilee, eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
    • 1985 – The grave of “Wolfgang Gerhard” is opened in Embu, Brazil; the exhumed remains are later proven to be those of Josef Mengele, Auschwitz’s “Angel of Death”; Mengele is thought to have drowned while swimming in February 1979.
    • 1993 – Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat wins the first presidential election in Mongolia.
    • 1994 – China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 crashes near Xi’an, China, killing all 160 people on board.
    • 2002 – Eastern Mediterranean event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
    • 2004 – Tamil is established as a “classical language” by the President of India, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, in a joint sitting of the two houses of the Indian Parliament.
    • 2005 – In Gonzales v. Raich, the United States Supreme Court upholds a federal law banning cannabis, including medical marijuana.

    Births on June 6

    pre-19th century

    • 1236 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (d. 1283)
    • 1243 – Alix of Brittany, Dame de Pontarcy, Breton noble (d. 1288)
    • 1296 – Władysław of Legnica (d. 1352)
    • 1436 – Regiomontanus, German mathematician, astronomer, and bishop (d. 1476)
    • 1519 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (d. 1603)
    • 1539 – Catherine Vasa, Regent of East Frisia (d. 1610)
    • 1553 – Bernardino Baldi, Italian mathematician and author (d. 1617)
    • 1556 – Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English politician and diplomat (d. 1625)
    • 1580 – Godefroy Wendelin, Belgian astronomer and author (d. 1667)
    • 1584 – Yuan Chonghuan, politician, military general and writer (d. 1630)
    • 1599 – Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter and educator (d. 1660)
    • 1606 – Pierre Corneille, French playwright and producer (d. 1684)
    • 1622 – Claude-Jean Allouez, French-American missionary and explorer (d. 1689)
    • 1646 – Hortense Mancini, favourite Italian niece of Cardinal Mazarin (d. 1699)
    • 1661 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer and educator (d. 1756)
    • 1699 – Johann Georg Estor, German historian and theorist (d. 1773)
    • 1714 – Joseph I of Portugal (d. 1777)
    • 1735 – Anton Schweitzer, German composer (d. 1787)
    • 1755 – Nathan Hale, American soldier (d. 1776)
    • 1756 – John Trumbull, American soldier and painter (d. 1843)
    • 1772 – Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily (d. 1807)
    • 1799 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian author and poet (d. 1837)

    19th century

    • 1807 – Thiệu Trị, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1847)
    • 1810 – Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin, German philologist and scholar (d. 1856)
    • 1829 – Honinbo Shusaku, Japanese Go player (d. 1862)
    • 1841 – Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author and publisher (d. 1910)
    • 1844 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter and academic (d. 1905)
    • 1850 – Karl Ferdinand Braun, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1918)
    • 1857 – Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1918)
    • 1862 – Henry Newbolt, English historian, author, and poet (d. 1938)
    • 1867 – David T. Abercrombie, American surveyor and businessman, founded Abercrombie & Fitch (d. 1931)
    • 1868 – Robert Falcon Scott, English sailor and explorer (d. 1912)
    • 1872 – Alix of Hesse, German princess and Russian empress (d.1918)
    • 1875 – Thomas Mann, German author and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
    • 1878 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer and politician (d. 1956)
    • 1884 – Jock Hutchison, Scottish-American golfer (d. 1977)
    • 1890 – Ted Lewis, American singer, clarinet player, and bandleader (d. 1971)
    • 1891 – Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, Indian author and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1891 – Erich Marcks, German general (d. 1944)
    • 1896 – Henry Allingham, English World War I soldier and supercentenarian (d. 2009).
    • 1896 – Italo Balbo, Italian air marshal and politician (d. 1940)
    • 1898 – Walter Abel, American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1898 – Jacobus Johannes Fouché, South African politician, 2nd State President of South Africa (d. 1980)
    • 1898 – Ninette de Valois, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (d. 2001)
    • 1900 – Manfred Sakel, Ukrainian-American psychiatrist and physician (d. 1957)

    1901–1930

    • 1901 – Jan Struther, English author and hymnwriter (d. 1953)
    • 1901 – Sukarno, Indonesian engineer and politician, 1st President of Indonesia (d. 1970)
    • 1902 – Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1947)
    • 1903 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor (d. 1978)
    • 1903 – Bakht Singh, Indian evangelist, well-known bible teacher and preacher (d. 2000)
    • 1906 – Max August Zorn, German mathematician and academic (d. 1993)
    • 1907 – Bill Dickey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1993)
    • 1907 – Robin Humphreys, British scholar of Latin America (d. 1999)
    • 1908 – Giovanni Bracco, Italian race car driver (d. 1968)
    • 1909 – Isaiah Berlin, Latvian-English historian and philosopher (d. 1997)
    • 1913 – Carlo L. Golino, Italian-American author, critic, and academic (d. 1991)
    • 1915 – Vincent Persichetti, American pianist and composer (d. 1987)
    • 1916 – Hamani Diori, Nigerien academic and politician, 1st President of Niger (d. 1989)
    • 1917 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation (d. 2015)
    • 1918 – Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, English army officer and politician, 6th Secretary General of NATO (d. 2018)
    • 1923 – V. C. Andrews, American author, illustrator, and painter (d. 1986)
    • 1923 – Jean Pouliot, Canadian broadcaster (d. 2004)
    • 1925 – Maxine Kumin, American poet and author (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Frank Chee Willeto, American soldier and politician, 4th Vice President of the Navajo Nation (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Torsten Andersson, Swedish painter and illustrator (d. 2009)
    • 1926 – Erdal İnönü, Turkish physicist and politician, Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2007)
    • 1926 – Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (d. 1998)
    • 1929 – Sunil Dutt, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (d. 2005)
    • 1930 – Frank Tyson, English-Australian cricketer, coach and journalist (d. 2015)

    1931–1945

    Tommie Smith, born 6 June 1944, at the 1968 Olympic medal ceremony where he and John Carlos (behind) protested against racism.

    • 1932 – David Scott, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
    • 1932 – Billie Whitelaw, English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Eli Broad, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded KB Home
    • 1933 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Albert II of Belgium
    • 1935 – Jon Henricks, Australian swimmer; winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1956.
    • 1936 – Mompati Merafhe, Botswana general and politician, Vice-President of Botswana (d. 2015)
    • 1936 – D. Ramanaidu, Indian actor, director, and producer, founded Suresh Productions (d. 2015)
    • 1936 – Levi Stubbs, American singer (d. 2008)
    • 1938 – Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza
    • 1938 – Ryuchi Matsuda, Japanese martial artist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Louis Andriessen, Dutch pianist and composer
    • 1939 – Gary U.S. Bonds, American singer-songwriter
    • 1939 – Eddie Giacomin, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1940 – Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya, Indian-English engineer and academic (d. 2019)
    • 1940 – Willie John McBride, Northern Irish rugby player, coach, and manager
    • 1941 – Alexander Cockburn, Scottish-American journalist and author (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – José de Jesús Gudiño Pelayo, Mexican lawyer and jurist (d. 2010)
    • 1943 – Richard Smalley, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
    • 1943 – Joe Stampley, American country music singer-songwriter
    • 1944 – Monty Alexander, Jamaican jazz pianist.
    • 1944 – Phillip Allen Sharp, American molecular biologist; 1993 Nobel Prize laureate (Physiology or Medicine).
    • 1944 – Tommie Smith, American sprinter and football player; winner of 1968 Olympic 200m gold medal in a world record time.

    1946–2000

    • 1946 – Tony Levin, American bass player and songwriter.[
    • 1947 – David Blunkett, British Labour politician; Home Secretary 2001–2004.
    • 1947 – Robert Englund, American actor; best known for Nightmare on Elm Street.
    • 1947 – Ada Kok, Dutch butterfly stroke swimmer; winner of three Olympic medals including gold in 1968.
    • 1948 – Arlene Harris, American entrepreneur, inventor, investor and policy advocate.
    • 1949 – Holly Near, American folk singer and songwriter.
    • 1954 – Harvey Fierstein, American actor and playwright; twice a winner at the Tony Awards.
    • 1954 – Wladyslaw Zmuda, Polish footballer and manager; 91 caps for Poland and voted Best Young Player at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
    • 1955 – Sam Simon, American director, producer and screenwriter; co-developer of The Simpsons (d. 2015).
    • 1956 – Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player; winner of eleven Grand Slam singles titles including five consecutive Wimbledons.
    • 1972 – Natalie Morales, American television journalist and NBC News anchor.

    Deaths

    • 184 – Qiao Xuan, Chinese official (b. c. 110).
    • 863 – Abu Musa Utamish, vizier to the Abbasid Caliphate.
    • 913 – Alexander III, Byzantine emperor (b. 870).
    • 1097 – Agnes of Aquitaine, Queen of Aragon and Navarre
    • 1134 – Norbert of Xanten, German bishop and saint (b. 1060)
    • 1217 – Henry I, King of Castile and Toledo (b. 1204)
    • 1237 – John of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon
    • 1251 – William III of Dampierre, Count of Flanders
    • 1252 – Robert Passelewe, Bishop of Chichester
    • 1333 – William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster (b. 1312)
    • 1393 – Emperor Go-En’yū of Japan (b. 1359)
    • 1480 – Vecchietta, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1412)
    • 1548 – João de Castro, Portuguese soldier and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1500)
    • 1561 – Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Italian painter (b. 1483)
    • 1583 – Nakagawa Kiyohide, Japanese daimyō (b. 1556)
    • 1659 – Nadira Banu Begum, Mughal princess (b. 1618)
    • 1661 – Martino Martini, Italian Jesuit missionary (b. 1614)
    • 1730 – Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon, French general (b. 1646)
    • 1740 – Alexander Spotswood, Moroccan-American colonial and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (b. 1676)
    • 1784 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch politician (b. 1741)
    • 1799 – Patrick Henry, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Virginia (b. 1736)
    • 1813 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect, designed the Hôtel de Mademoiselle de Condé (b. 1739)
    • 1813 – Antonio Cachia, Maltese architect, engineer and archaeologist (b. 1739)
    • 1832 – Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (b. 1748)
    • 1840 – Marcellin Champagnat, French priest and saint, founded the Marist Brothers (b. 1789)
    • 1843 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German poet and author (b. 1770)
    • 1861 – Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Italian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1810)
    • 1862 – Turner Ashby, American colonel (b. 1828)
    • 1865 – William Quantrill, American captain (b. 1837)
    • 1878 – Robert Stirling, Scottish minister and engineer, invented the stirling engine (b. 1790)
    • 1881 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (b. 1820)
    • 1883 – Ciprian Porumbescu, Romanian composer and poet (b. 1853)
    • 1891 – John A. Macdonald, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1815)
    • 1916 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese general and politician, 2nd President of the Republic of China (b. 1859)
    • 1922 – Lillian Russell, American actress and singer (b. 1860)
    • 1924 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (b. 1847)
    • 1934 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and author (b. 1864)
    • 1935 – Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, English field marshal and politician, 12th Governor-General of Canada (b. 1862)
    • 1941 – Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver and businessman, founded Chevrolet and Frontenac Motor Corporation (b. 1878)
    • 1943 – Pandelis Pouliopoulos, Greek politician (b. 1900)
    • 1946 – Gerhart Hauptmann, German novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
    • 1947 – James Agate, English author and critic (b. 1877)
    • 1948 – Louis Lumière, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1864)
    • 1951 – Olive Tell, American actress (b. 1894)
    • 1954 – Fritz Kasparek, Austrian mountaineer and author (b. 1910)
    • 1955 – Max Meldrum, Scottish-Australian painter and educator (b. 1875)
    • 1961 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist (b. 1875)
    • 1962 – Yves Klein, French painter (b. 1928)
    • 1962 – Tom Phillis, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1934)
    • 1963 – William Baziotes, American painter and academic (b. 1912)
    • 1968 – Randolph Churchill, English journalist and politician (b. 1911)
    • 1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 64th United States Attorney General (b. 1925)
    • 1968 – Kâzım Özalp, Turkish general and politician, 3rd Turkish Minister of National Defence (b. 1880)
    • 1975 – Larry Blyden, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 1976 – J. Paul Getty, American businessman, founded the Getty Oil Company (b. 1892)
    • 1979 – Jack Haley, American actor (b. 1897)
    • 1980 – Ruth Aarons, American table tennis player and manager (b. 1918)
    • 1982 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and academic (b. 1905)
    • 1983 – Hans Leip, German author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)
    • 1984 – A. Bertram Chandler, English-Australian soldier and author (b. 1912)
    • 1991 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (b. 1927)
    • 1994 – Barry Sullivan, American actor (b. 1912)
    • 1996 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1997 – Magda Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite (b. 1915)
    • 2000 – Frédéric Dard, French author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
    • 2001 – Suzanne Schiffman, French screenwriter and director (b. 1939)
    • 2003 – Ken Grimwood, American author (b. 1944)
    • 2003 – Dave Rowberry, English singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1940)
    • 2005 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (b. 1931)
    • 2005 – Dana Elcar, American actor (b. 1927)
    • 2006 – Arnold Newman, American photographer and educator (b. 1918)
    • 2006 – Billy Preston, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (b. 1946)
    • 2006 – Camille Sandorfy, Hungarian-Canadian chemist and academic (b. 1920)
    • 2009 – Jean Dausset, French-Spanish immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
    • 2009 – Jim Owens, American football player and coach (b. 1927)
    • 2010 – Marvin Isley, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1953)
    • 2012 – Vladimir Krutov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1960)
    • 2012 – Manuel Preciado Rebolledo, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1957)
    • 2012 – Mykola Volosyanko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1972)
    • 2013 – Jerome Karle, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Eugen Merzbacher, German-American physicist and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – Tom Sharpe, English-Spanish author and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Ado Bayero, Nigerian politician and diplomat (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Eric Hill, English-American author and illustrator (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Lorna Wing, English psychiatrist and physician (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Pierre Brice, French actor (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Vincent Bugliosi, American lawyer and author (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Ronnie Gilbert, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Ludvík Vaculík, Czech journalist and author (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Peter Shaffer, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2018 – Ralph Santolla, American guitarist (b. 1969)

    Holidays and observances on June 6

    • Christian feast day:
      • Claude the Thaumaturge
      • Gottschalk
      • Ini Kopuria (Church of England, Episcopal Church, Anglican Church of Melanesia)
      • Marcellin Champagnat
      • Norbert of Xanten
      • June 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Engineer’s Day (Taiwan)
    • Korean Children’s Union Foundation Day (North Korea)
    • Memorial Day (South Korea)
    • National Day, marks the end of the Danish-ruled Kalmar Union. (Sweden)
    • National Huntington’s Disease Awareness Day (United States)
    • Normandy landings of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (D-Day), a.k.a. Operation Neptune, part of Operation Overlord (1944)
    • Queensland Day (Queensland)
    • Teachers’ Day (Bolivia)
    • UN Russian Language Day (United Nations)

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

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

    Births on April 21

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

    Deaths on April 21

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

    Holidays and observances April 21

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

  • April 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich’aak K’ahk’ assumes the crown of Calakmul.
    • 801 – King Louis the Pious captures Barcelona from the Moors after a siege of several months.
    • 1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
    • 1077 – The first Parliament of Friuli is created.
    • 1559 – The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis treaty is signed, ending the Italian Wars.
    • 1860 – The first successful United States Pony Express run from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, begins.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
    • 1882 – American Old West: Robert Ford kills Jesse James.
    • 1885 – Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for his engine design.
    • 1888 – The first of eleven unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurs.
    • 1895 – The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
    • 1922 – Joseph Stalin becomes the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
    • 1933 – First flight over Mount Everest, by the British Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale, and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston.
    • 1936 – Bruno Richard Hauptmann is executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the baby son of pilot Charles Lindbergh.
    • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces begin an assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.
    • 1946 – Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.
    • 1948 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
    • 1948 – In Jeju Province, South Korea, a civil-war-like period of violence and human rights abuses begins, known as the Jeju uprising.
    • 1955 – The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg’s book Howl against obscenity charges.
    • 1956 – Hudsonville–Standale tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado.
    • 1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. He was assassinated the next day.
    • 1969 – Vietnam War: United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to “Vietnamize” the war effort.
    • 1973 – Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the first handheld mobile phone call to Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs.
    • 1974 – The 1974 Super Outbreak occurs, the second biggest tornado outbreak in recorded history (after the 2011 Super Outbreak). The death toll is 315, with nearly 5,500 injured.
    • 1975 – Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.
    • 1980 – US Congress restores a federal trust relationship with the 501 members of the Shvwits, Kanosh, Koosharem, and the Indian Peaks and Cedar City bands of the Paiute people of Utah.
    • 1981 – The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.
    • 1989 – The US Supreme Court upholds the jurisdictional rights of tribal courts under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 in Mississippi Choctaw Band v. Holyfield.
    • 1996 – Suspected “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski is captured at his Montana cabin in the United States.
    • 1997 – The Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
    • 2000 – United States v. Microsoft Corp.: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust law by keeping “an oppressive thumb” on its competitors.
    • 2004 – Islamic terrorists involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves.
    • 2007 – Conventional-Train World Speed Record: A French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line sets an official new world speed record.
    • 2008 – ATA Airlines, once one of the ten largest U.S. passenger airlines and largest charter airline, files for bankruptcy for the second time in five years and ceases all operations.
    • 2008 – Texas law enforcement cordons off the FLDS’s YFZ Ranch. Eventually, 533 women and children will be taken into state custody.
    • 2009 – Jiverly Antares Wong opens fire at the American Civic Association immigration center in Binghamton, New York, killing thirteen and wounding four before committing suicide.
    • 2010 – Apple Inc. released the first generation iPad, a tablet computer.
    • 2013 – More than 50 people die in floods resulting from record-breaking rainfall in La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    • 2016 – The Panama Papers, a leak of legal documents, reveals information on 214,488 offshore companies.
    • 2017 – A bomb explodes in the St Petersburg metro system, killing 14 and injuring several more people.
    • 2018 – YouTube headquarters shooting.

    Births on April 3

    • 1016 – Xing Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1055)
    • 1151 – Igor Svyatoslavich, Russian prince (d. 1202)
    • 1438 – John III of Egmont, Dutch nobleman (d. 1516)
    • 1529 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1581)
    • 1540 – Maria de’ Medici, Italian noblewoman, the eldest daughter of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. (d. 1557)
    • 1593 – George Herbert, English poet (d. 1633)
    • 1639 – Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (d. 1682)
    • 1643 – Charles V, duke of Lorraine (d. 1690)
    • 1682 – Valentin Rathgeber, German organist and composer (d. 1750)
    • 1693 – George Edwards, English ornithologist and entomologist (d. 1773)
    • 1715 – William Watson, English physician, physicist, and botanist (d. 1787)
    • 1764 – John Abernethy, English surgeon and anatomist (d. 1831)
    • 1769 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian politician and diplomat (d. 1835)
    • 1770 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (d. 1843)
    • 1778 – Pierre Bretonneau, French doctor who performed the first successful tracheotomy (d. 1862)
    • 1781 – Swaminarayan, Indian religious leader (d. 1830)
    • 1782 – Alexander Macomb, American general (d. 1841)
    • 1783 – Washington Irving, American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian (d. 1859)
    • 1791 – Anne Lister, English diarist, mountaineer, and traveller (d.1840)
    • 1798 – Charles Wilkes, American admiral, geographer, and explorer (d.1877)
    • 1807 – Mary Carpenter, English educational and social reformer (d. 1877)
    • 1814 – Lorenzo Snow, American religious leader, 5th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1901)
    • 1822 – Edward Everett Hale, American minister, historian, and author (d. 1909)
    • 1823 – George Derby, American lieutenant and journalist (d. 1861)
    • 1823 – William M. Tweed, American politician (d. 1878)
    • 1826 – Cyrus K. Holliday, American businessman (d. 1900)
    • 1837 – John Burroughs, American botanist and author (d. 1921)
    • 1842 – Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel (d. 1864)
    • 1848 – Arturo Prat, Chilean lawyer and captain (d. 1879)
    • 1858 – Jacob Gaudaur, Canadian rower (d. 1937)
    • 1860 – Frederik van Eeden, Dutch psychiatrist and author (d. 1932)
    • 1864 – Emil Kellenberger, Swiss target shooter (d. 1943)
    • 1875 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
    • 1876 – Margaret Anglin, Canadian actress, director, and producer (d. 1958)
    • 1876 – Tomáš Baťa, Czech businessman, founded Bata Shoes (d. 1932)
    • 1880 – Otto Weininger, Jewish-Austrian philosopher and author (d. 1903)
    • 1881 – Alcide De Gasperi, Italian journalist and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1954)
    • 1882 – Philippe Desranleau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1952)
    • 1883 – Ikki Kita, Japanese philosopher and author (d. 1937)
    • 1885 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
    • 1885 – Bud Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 1954)
    • 1885 – Marie-Victorin Kirouac, Canadian botanist and academic (d. 1944)
    • 1885 – St John Philby, English colonial and explorer (d. 1960)
    • 1886 – Dooley Wilson, American actor and singer (d. 1953)
    • 1887 – Ōtori Tanigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 24th Yokozuna (d. 1956)
    • 1887 – Nishizō Tsukahara, Japanese admiral (d. 1966)
    • 1888 – Neville Cardus, English author and critic (d. 1975)
    • 1888 – Thomas C. Kinkaid, American admiral (d. 1972)
    • 1889 – Grigoraș Dinicu, Romanian violinist and composer (d. 1949)
    • 1893 – Leslie Howard, English actor (d. 1943)
    • 1895 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian-American composer and educator (d. 1968)
    • 1895 – Zez Confrey, American pianist and composer (d. 1971)
    • 1897 – Joe Kirkwood Sr., Australian golfer (d. 1970)
    • 1897 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek general (d. 1989)
    • 1898 – David Jack, English footballer and manager (d. 1958)
    • 1898 – George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1981)
    • 1898 – Henry Luce, American publisher, co-founded Time Magazine (d. 1967)
    • 1900 – Camille Chamoun, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Lebanon (d. 1987)
    • 1900 – Albert Walsh, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1958)
    • 1903 – Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Indian social reformer and freedom fighter (d. 1988)
    • 1904 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor and stuntman (d. 1999)
    • 1904 – Sally Rand, American dancer (d. 1979)
    • 1904 – Russel Wright, American furniture designer (d. 1976)
    • 1905 – Robert Sink, American general (d. 1965)
    • 1909 – Stanislaw Ulam, Polish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1984)
    • 1910 – Ted Hook, Australian public servant (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Nanette Bordeaux, Canadian-American actress (d. 1956)
    • 1911 – Michael Woodruff, English-Scottish surgeon and academic (d. 2001)
    • 1911 – Stanisława Walasiewicz, Polish-American runner (d. 1980)
    • 1912 – Dorothy Eden, New Zealand-English author (d. 1982)
    • 1912 – Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek physician and politician (d. 1963)
    • 1913 – Per Borten, Norwegian politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – Ray Getliffe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
    • 1914 – Sam Manekshaw, Indian field marshal (d. 2008)
    • 1915 – Piet de Jong, Dutch politician and naval officer, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2016)
    • 1915 – İhsan Doğramacı, Turkish physician and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1916 – Herb Caen, American journalist and author (d. 1997)
    • 1916 – Cliff Gladwin, English cricketer (d. 1988)
    • 1916 – Louis Guglielmi, Catalan composer (d. 1991)
    • 1918 – Mary Anderson, American actress (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Louis Applebaum, Canadian composer and conductor (d. 2000)
    • 1919 – Ervin Drake, American songwriter and composer (d. 2015)
    • 1919 – Clairette Oddera, French-Canadian actress and singer (d. 2008)
    • 1920 – Stan Freeman, American composer and conductor (d. 2001)
    • 1920 – Yoshibayama Junnosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 43rd Yokozuna (d. 1977)
    • 1921 – Robert Karvelas, American actor (d. 1991)
    • 1921 – Jan Sterling, American actress (d. 2004)
    • 1922 – Yevhen Bulanchyk, Ukrainian hurdler (d. 1996)
    • 1922 – Doris Day, American singer and actress (d. 2019)
    • 1923 – Daniel Hoffman, American poet and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Marlon Brando, American actor and director (d. 2004)
    • 1924 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (d. 1945)
    • 1925 – Tony Benn, English pilot and politician, Secretary of State for Industry (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Alex Grammas, American baseball player, manager, and coach (d. 2019)
    • 1926 – Gus Grissom, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1967)
    • 1927 – Wesley A. Brown, American general and engineer (d. 2012)
    • 1928 – Don Gibson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
    • 1928 – Emmett Johns, Canadian priest, founded Dans la Rue (d. 2018)
    • 1928 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Jennifer Paterson, English chef and television personality (d. 1999)
    • 1929 – Fazlur Rahman Khan, Bangladeshi engineer and architect, co-designed the Willis Tower and John Hancock Center (d. 1982)
    • 1929 – Poul Schlüter, Danish lawyer and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Denmark
    • 1930 – Lawton Chiles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Governor of Florida (d. 1998)
    • 1930 – Helmut Kohl, German politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – Mario Benjamín Menéndez, Argentinian general and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Wally Moon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2018)
    • 1931 – William Bast, American screenwriter and author (d. 2015)
    • 1933 – Bob Dornan, American politician
    • 1933 – Rod Funseth, American golfer (d. 1985)
    • 1934 – Pamela Allen, New Zealand children’s writer and illustrator
    • 1934 – Jane Goodall, English primatologist and anthropologist
    • 1934 – Jim Parker, American football player (d. 2005)
    • 1936 – Jimmy McGriff, American organist and bandleader (d. 2008)
    • 1936 – Harold Vick, American saxophonist and flute player (d. 1987)
    • 1938 – Jeff Barry, American singer-songwriter, and producer
    • 1938 – Phil Rodgers, American golfer (d. 2018)
    • 1939 – François de Roubaix, French composer (d. 1975)
    • 1939 – Hawk Taylor, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
    • 1939 – Paul Craig Roberts, American economist and politician
    • 1941 – Jan Berry, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1941 – Philippé Wynne, American soul singer (d. 1984)
    • 1942 – Marsha Mason, American actress
    • 1942 – Wayne Newton, American singer
    • 1942 – Billy Joe Royal, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
    • 1943 – Mario Lavista, Mexican composer
    • 1943 – Jonathan Lynn, English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Richard Manuel, Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1986)
    • 1943 – Hikaru Saeki, Japanese admiral, the first female star officer of the Japan Self-Defense Forces
    • 1944 – Peter Colman, Australian biologist and academic
    • 1944 – Tony Orlando, American singer
    • 1945 – Doon Arbus, American author and journalist
    • 1945 – Bernie Parent, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1945 – Catherine Spaak, French actress
    • 1946 – Nicholas Jones, English actor
    • 1946 – Dee Murray, English bass player (d. 1992)
    • 1946 – Hanna Suchocka, Polish lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Poland
    • 1947 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (d. 2013)
    • 1948 – Arlette Cousture, Canadian author and screenwriter
    • 1948 – Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Dutch academic, politician, and diplomat, 11th Secretary General of NATO
    • 1948 – Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, German footballer
    • 1948 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexican economist and politician, 53rd President of Mexico
    • 1949 – Lyle Alzado, American football player and actor (d. 1992)
    • 1949 – A. C. Grayling, English philosopher and academic
    • 1949 – Richard Thompson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1950 – Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Sri Lankan cricketer and economist
    • 1951 – Brendan Barber, English trade union leader
    • 1951 – Annette Dolphin, British academician and educator
    • 1951 – Mitch Woods, American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1952 – Mike Moore, American lawyer and politician
    • 1953 – Sandra Boynton, American author and illustrator
    • 1953 – Wakanohana Kanji II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 56th Yokozuna
    • 1953 – James Smith, American boxer
    • 1953 – Craig Taubman, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1954 – Elisabetta Brusa, Italian composer
    • 1954 – K. Krishnasamy, Indian physician and politician
    • 1956 – Kalle Kulbok, Estonian politician
    • 1956 – Boris Miljković, Serbian director and producer
    • 1956 – Miguel Bosé, Spanish musician and actor
    • 1956 – Ray Combs, American game show host (d. 1996)
    • 1958 – Alec Baldwin, American actor, comedian, producer and television host
    • 1958 – Adam Gussow, American scholar, musician, and memoirist
    • 1958 – Francesca Woodman, Jewish-American photographer (d. 1981)
    • 1959 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor and activist
    • 1960 – Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Dutch singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1961 – Tim Crews, American baseball player (d. 1993)
    • 1961 – Eddie Murphy, American actor and comedian
    • 1962 – Dave Miley, American baseball player and manager
    • 1962 – Mike Ness, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1962 – Jaya Prada, Indian actress and politician
    • 1963 – Les Davidson, Australian rugby league player
    • 1963 – Ricky Nixon, Australian footballer and manager
    • 1963 – Criss Oliva, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1993)
    • 1964 – Marco Ballotta, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1964 – Nigel Farage, English politician
    • 1964 – Claire Perry, English banker and politician
    • 1964 – Bjarne Riis, Danish cyclist and manager
    • 1964 – Andy Robinson, English rugby player and coach
    • 1964 – Jay Weatherill, Australian politician, 45th Premier of South Australia
    • 1965 – Nazia Hassan, Pakistani pop singer-songwriter, lawyer and social activist (d. 2000)
    • 1966 – John de Vries, Australian race car driver
    • 1967 – Cat Cora, American chef and author
    • 1967 – Pervis Ellison, American basketball player
    • 1967 – Brent Gilchrist, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1967 – Cristi Puiu, Romanian director and screenwriter
    • 1967 – Mark Skaife, Australian race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Sebastian Bach, Bahamian-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1968 – Charlotte Coleman, English actress (d. 2001)
    • 1968 – Jamie Hewlett, English director and performer
    • 1968 – Tomoaki Kanemoto, Japanese baseball player
    • 1969 – Rodney Hampton, American football player
    • 1969 – Peter Matera, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1969 – Ben Mendelsohn, Australian actor
    • 1969 – Lance Storm, Canadian wrestler and trainer
    • 1971 – Vitālijs Astafjevs, Latvian footballer and manager
    • 1971 – Emmanuel Collard, French race car driver
    • 1971 – Picabo Street, American skier
    • 1972 – Jennie Garth, American actress and director
    • 1972 – Catherine McCormack, English actress
    • 1972 – Sandrine Testud, French tennis player
    • 1973 – Nilesh Kulkarni, Indian cricketer
    • 1973 – Adam Scott, American actor
    • 1974 – Marcus Brown, American basketball player
    • 1974 – Drew Shirley, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1974 – Lee Williams, Welsh model and actor
    • 1975 – Shawn Bates, American ice hockey player
    • 1975 – Michael Olowokandi, Nigerian-American basketball player
    • 1975 – Aries Spears, American comedian and actor
    • 1975 – Yoshinobu Takahashi, Japanese baseball player
    • 1975 – Koji Uehara, Japanese baseball player
    • 1976 – Nicolas Escudé, French tennis player
    • 1978 – Matthew Goode, English actor
    • 1978 – Tommy Haas, German-American tennis player
    • 1978 – John Smit, South African rugby player
    • 1979 – Simon Black, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1980 – Andrei Lodis, Belarusian footballer
    • 1980 – Megan Rohrer, American pastor and transgender activist
    • 1981 – Aaron Bertram, American trumpet player
    • 1981 – DeShawn Stevenson, American basketball player
    • 1982 – Jared Allen, American football player
    • 1982 – Iain Fyfe, Australian footballer
    • 1982 – Cobie Smulders, Canadian actress
    • 1983 – Ben Foster, English footballer
    • 1983 – Stephen Weiss, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Jonathan Blondel, Belgian footballer
    • 1984 – Maxi López, Argentinian footballer
    • 1985 – Jari-Matti Latvala, Finnish race car driver
    • 1985 – Leona Lewis, English singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1986 – Amanda Bynes, American actress
    • 1986 – Stephanie Cox, American soccer player
    • 1986 – Annalisa Cucinotta, Italian cyclist
    • 1986 – Sergio Sánchez Ortega, Spanish footballer
    • 1987 – Rachel Bloom, American actress, writer, and producer
    • 1987 – Jay Bruce, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Yileen Gordon, Australian rugby league player
    • 1987 – Jason Kipnis, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Martyn Rooney, English sprinter
    • 1987 – Julie Sokolow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1988 – Kam Chancellor, American football player
    • 1988 – Brandon Graham, American football player
    • 1988 – Peter Hartley, English footballer
    • 1988 – Tim Krul, Dutch footballer
    • 1989 – Romain Alessandrini, French footballer
    • 1989 – Israel Folau, Australian rugby player and footballer
    • 1989 – Joel Romelo, Australian rugby league player
    • 1989 – Thisara Perera, Sri Lankan cricketer
    • 1990 – Karim Ansarifard, Iranian footballer
    • 1990 – Madison Brengle, American tennis player
    • 1990 – Sotiris Ninis, Greek footballer
    • 1990 – Natasha Negovanlis, Canadian actress and singer
    • 1991 – Hayley Kiyoko, American actress and singer
    • 1992 – Simone Benedetti, Italian footballer
    • 1992 – Yuliya Yefimova, Russian swimmer
    • 1993 – Pape Moussa Konaté, Senegalese footballer
    • 1994 – Kodi Nikorima, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1996 – Mayo Hibi, Japanese tennis player
    • 1997 – Gabriel Jesus, Brazilian footballer
    • 1998 – Paris Jackson, American actress, model and singer

    Deaths on April 3

    • 963 – William III, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 915)
    • 1153 – al-Adil ibn al-Sallar, vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate
    • 1171 – Philip of Milly, seventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1120)
    • 1203 – Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (b. 1187)
    • 1253 – Saint Richard of Chichester
    • 1287 – Pope Honorius IV (b. 1210)
    • 1325 – Nizamuddin Auliya, Sufi saint (b. 1238)
    • 1350 – Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1295)
    • 1538 – Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (b. 1480)
    • 1545 – Antonio de Guevara, Spanish chronicler and moralist (b. 1481)
    • 1606 – Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1563)
    • 1630 – Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey, English noble (b. c.  1593)
    • 1680 – Shivaji, Indian emperor, founded the Maratha Empire (b. 1630)
    • 1682 – Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Spanish painter and educator (b. 1618)
    • 1691 – Jean Petitot, French-Swiss painter (b. 1608)
    • 1695 – Melchior d’Hondecoeter, Dutch painter (b. 1636)
    • 1717 – Jacques Ozanam, French mathematician and academic (b. 1640)
    • 1728 – James Anderson, Scottish lawyer and historian (b. 1662)
    • 1792 – George Pocock, English admiral (b. 1706)
    • 1804 – Jędrzej Kitowicz, Polish priest, historian, and author (b. 1727)
    • 1827 – Ernst Chladni, German physicist and academic (b. 1756)
    • 1838 – François Carlo Antommarchi, French physician and author (b. 1780)
    • 1844 – Edward Bigge, English cleric, 1st Archdeacon of Lindisfarne (b. 1807)
    • 1846 – William Braine, English soldier and explorer (b. 1814)
    • 1849 – Juliusz Słowacki, Polish-French poet and playwright (b. 1809)
    • 1868 – Franz Berwald, Swedish composer and surgeon (b. 1796)
    • 1882 – Jesse James, American criminal and outlaw (b. 1847)
    • 1897 – Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (b. 1833)
    • 1901 – Richard D’Oyly Carte, English composer and talent agent (b. 1844)
    • 1902 – Esther Hobart Morris, American lawyer and judge (b. 1814)
    • 1930 – Emma Albani, Canadian-English operatic soprano (b. 1847)
    • 1936 – Richard Hauptmann, German-American murderer (b. 1899)
    • 1941 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna (b. 1877)
    • 1941 – Pál Teleki, Hungarian academic and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1879)
    • 1943 – Conrad Veidt, German actor, director, and producer (b. 1893)
    • 1946 – Masaharu Homma, Japanese general (b. 1887)
    • 1950 – Kurt Weill, German-American composer and pianist (b. 1900)
    • 1950 – Carter G. Woodson, American historian, author, and journalist, founded Black History Month (b. 1875)
    • 1951 – Henrik Visnapuu, Estonian poet and playwright (b. 1890)
    • 1952 – Miina Sillanpää, Finnish minister and politician (b. 1866)
    • 1957 – Ned Sparks, Canadian-American actor (b. 1883)
    • 1958 – Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (b. 1891)
    • 1962 – Manolis Kalomiris, Greek composer and educator (b. 1883)
    • 1970 – Avigdor Hameiri, Israeli author (b. 1890)
    • 1971 – Joseph Valachi, American gangster (b. 1904)
    • 1972 – Ferde Grofé, American pianist and composer (b. 1892)
    • 1975 – Mary Ure, Scottish-English actress (b. 1933)
    • 1976 – David M. Dennison, American physicist and academic (b. 1900)
    • 1976 – Claude-Henri Grignon, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1894)
    • 1978 – Ray Noble, English bandleader, composer, and actor (b. 1903)
    • 1978 – Winston Sharples, American composer (b. 1909)
    • 1981 – Juan Trippe, American businessman, founded Pan American World Airways (b. 1899)
    • 1982 – Warren Oates, American actor (b. 1928)
    • 1983 – Jimmy Bloomfield, English footballer and manager (b. 1934)
    • 1986 – Peter Pears, English tenor and educator (b. 1910)
    • 1987 – Tom Sestak, American football player (b. 1936)
    • 1988 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (b. 1907)
    • 1990 – Sarah Vaughan, American singer (b. 1924)
    • 1991 – Charles Goren, American bridge player and author (b. 1901)
    • 1991 – Graham Greene, English novelist, playwright, and critic (b. 1904)
    • 1993 – Pinky Lee, American television host (b. 1907)
    • 1994 – Frank Wells, American businessman (b. 1932)
    • 1995 – Alfred J. Billes, Canadian businessman, co-founded Canadian Tire (b. 1902)
    • 1996 – Ron Brown, American captain and politician, 30th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1941)
    • 1998 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
    • 1999 – Lionel Bart, English composer (b. 1930)
    • 1999 – Geoffrey Walsh, Canadian general (b. 1909)
    • 2000 – Terence McKenna, American botanist and philosopher (b. 1946)
    • 2000 – Dina Abramowicz, Librarian and YIVO and Yiddish language expert (b. 1909)
    • 2005 – François Gérin, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1944)
    • 2007 – Nina Wang, Chinese businesswoman (b. 1937)
    • 2008 – Hrvoje Ćustić, Croatian footballer (b. 1983)
    • 2012 – Mingote, Spanish cartoonist and journalist (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Richard Descoings, French civil servant (b. 1958)
    • 2012 – Govind Narain, Indian politician, 8th Governor of Karnataka (b. 1917)
    • 2012 – Chief Jay Strongbow, American wrestler (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – José María Zárraga, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Mariví Bilbao, Spanish actress (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-American author and screenwriter (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Régine Deforges, French author, playwright, and director (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Fred Kida, American illustrator (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Prince Michael of Prussia (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Jovan Pavlović, Serbian metropolitan (b. 1936)
    • 2014 – Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith, American guitarist, fiddler, and composer (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Sarah Brady, American activist and author (b. 1942)
    • 2015 – Bob Burns, American drummer and songwriter (b. 1950)
    • 2015 – Shmuel Wosner, Austrian-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1913)
    • 2016 – Cesare Maldini, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1932)
    • 2016 – Joe Medicine Crow, American anthropologist, historian, and author (b. 1913)
    • 2016 – Koji Wada, Japanese singer and songwriter (b. 1974)
    • 2017 – Kishori Amonkar, Indian Classical Vocalist (b. 1931)

    Holidays and observances on April 3

    • Christian feast day:
      • Agape, Chionia, and Irene
      • Burgundofara
      • Luigi Scrosoppi
      • Richard of Chichester
      • April 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

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

    • 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
    • 356 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire.
    • 1594 – Having already been elected to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1587, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, having succeeded his father John III of Sweden in 1592.
    • 1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
    • 1649 – The Second Battle of Guararapes takes place, effectively ending Dutch colonization efforts in Brazil.
    • 1674 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
    • 1726 – The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia.
    • 1807 – Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama and confined to Fort Stoddert.
    • 1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands and claims them in the name of King George III.
    • 1836 – King William IV signs Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia.
    • 1846 – In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States.
    • 1847 – The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.
    • 1859 – Daniel E. Sickles, a New York Congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity.
    • 1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
    • 1884 – More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.
    • 1913 – Pedro Lascuráin becomes President of Mexico for 45 minutes; this is the shortest term to date of any person as president of any country.
    • 1915 – World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.
    • 1937 – Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Ethiopian nationalists of Eritrean origin attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades.
    • 1942 – World War II: Nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin, killing 243 people.
    • 1942 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps.
    • 1943 – World War II: Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
    • 1945 – World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima: About 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
    • 1948 – The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta.
    • 1949 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
    • 1953 – Book censorship in the United States: The Georgia Literature Commission is established.
    • 1954 – Transfer of Crimea: The Soviet Politburo of the Soviet Union orders the transfer of the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.
    • 1959 – The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
    • 1960 – China successfully launches the T-7, its first sounding rocket.
    • 1963 – The publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique reawakens the feminist movement in the United States as women’s organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.
    • 1965 – Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and a communist spy of the North Vietnamese Viet Minh, along with Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Trần Thiện Khiêm, all Catholics, attempt a coup against the military junta of the Buddhist Nguyễn Khánh.
    • 1976 – Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald Ford’s Proclamation 4417.
    • 1978 – Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.
    • 1985 – William J. Schroeder becomes the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave the hospital.
    • 1985 – Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.
    • 1986 – Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers in eastern Sri Lanka.
    • 1989 – Flying Tiger Line flight 66 crashes into a hill near Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Malaysia, killing four.
    • 2002 – NASA’s Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
    • 2003 – An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275.
    • 2006 – A methane explosion in a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners.
    • 2011 – The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang dynasty artifacts found in one location, begins in Singapore.
    • 2012 – Forty-four people are killed in a prison brawl in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico.

    Births on February 19

    • 1461 – Domenico Grimani, Italian cardinal (d. 1523)
    • 1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (d. 1543)
    • 1497 – Matthäus Schwarz, German fashion writer (d. 1574)
    • 1519 – Froben Christoph of Zimmern, German author of the Zimmern Chronicle (d. 1566)
    • 1526 – Carolus Clusius, Flemish botanist and academic (d. 1609)
    • 1532 – Jean-Antoine de Baïf, French poet (d. 1589)
    • 1552 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal (d. 1630)
    • 1594 – Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (d. 1612)
    • 1611 – Andries de Graeff, Dutch politician (d. 1678)
    • 1630 – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Indian warrior king and the founder of Maratha Empire
    • 1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (d. 1742)
    • 1717 – David Garrick, English actor, playwright, and producer (d. 1779)
    • 1743 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1805)
    • 1798 – Allan MacNab, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Premier of Canada West (d. 1862)
    • 1800 – Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun and social worker, founded the Sisters of Providence (d. 1851)
    • 1804 – Carl von Rokitansky, German physician, pathologist, and philosopher (d. 1878)
    • 1821 – August Schleicher, German linguist and academic (d. 1868)
    • 1833 – Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
    • 1838 – Lydia Thompson, British burlesque performer (d. 1908)
    • 1841 – Elfrida Andrée, Swedish organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1929)
    • 1855 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (d. 1908)
    • 1859 – Svante Arrhenius, Swedish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
    • 1865 – Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (d. 1952)
    • 1869 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian-Russian poet and author (d. 1923)
    • 1872 – Johan Pitka, Estonian admiral (d. 1944)
    • 1876 – Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (d. 1957)
    • 1877 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)
    • 1878 – Harriet Bosse, Swedish–Norwegian actress (d. 1961)
    • 1880 – Álvaro Obregón, Mexican general and politician, 39th President of Mexico (d. 1928)
    • 1886 – José Abad Santos, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (d. 1942)
    • 1888 – José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian lawyer and poet (d. 1928)
    • 1893 – Cedric Hardwicke, English actor and director (d. 1964)
    • 1895 – Louis Calhern, American actor (d. 1956)
    • 1896 – André Breton, French poet and author (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Alma Rubens, American actress (d. 1931)
    • 1899 – Lucio Fontana, Argentinian-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1968)
    • 1902 – Kay Boyle, American novelist, short story writer, and educator (d. 1992)
    • 1904 – Havank, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1964)
    • 1904 – Elisabeth Welch, American-English singer and actress (d. 2003)
    • 1911 – Merle Oberon, Indian-American actress (d. 1979)
    • 1912 – Dorothy Janis, American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1912 – Saul Chaplin, American composer (d. 1997)
    • 1913 – Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (d. 2007)
    • 1913 – Frank Tashlin, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1972)
    • 1914 – Thelma Kench, New Zealand Olympic sprinter (d. 1985)
    • 1915 – John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (d. 2014)
    • 1916 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey and sportscaster (d. 1997)
    • 1917 – Carson McCullers, American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and essayist (d. 1967)
    • 1918 – Fay McKenzie, American actress (d. 2019)
    • 1920 – C. Z. Guest, American actress, fashion designer, and author (d. 2003)
    • 1920 – Jaan Kross, Estonian author and poet (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – George Rose, English actor and singer (d. 1988)
    • 1922 – Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player and theoretician (d. 2006)
    • 1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1926 – György Kurtág, Hungarian composer and academic
    • 1927 – Philippe Boiry, French journalist (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Jacques Deray, French director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1930 – John Frankenheimer, American director and producer (d. 2002)
    • 1930 – Kasinathuni Viswanath, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1932 – Joseph P. Kerwin, American captain, physician, and astronaut
    • 1935 – Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
    • 1935 – Russ Nixon, American MLB catcher and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1936 – Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1936 – Frederick Seidel, American poet
    • 1937 – Terry Carr, American author and educator (d. 1987)
    • 1937 – Norm O’Neill, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2008)
    • 1938 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (d. 1989)
    • 1939 – Erin Pizzey, English activist and author, founded Refuge
    • 1940 – Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
    • 1940 – Smokey Robinson, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1940 – Bobby Rogers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – David Gross, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1941 – Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge, English politician
    • 1942 – Cyrus Chothia, English biochemist and emeritus scientist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Paul Krause, American football player and politician
    • 1942 – Howard Stringer, Welsh businessman
    • 1942 – Will Provine, American biologist, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1943 – Lou Christie, American singer-songwriter
    • 1943 – Homer Hickam, American author and engineer
    • 1943 – Tim Hunt, English biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate
    • 1944 – Les Hinton, English-American journalist and businessman
    • 1945 – Yuri Antonov, Uzbek-Russian singer-songwriter
    • 1946 – Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist
    • 1946 – Peter Hudson, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1946 – Karen Silkwood, American technician and activist (d. 1974)
    • 1947 – Jackie Curtis, American actress and playwright (d. 1985)
    • 1947 – Tim Shadbolt, New Zealand businessman and politician, 42nd Mayor of Invercargill
    • 1948 – Mark Andes, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1948 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (d. 2002)
    • 1948 – Tony Iommi, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1949 – Danielle Bunten Berry, American game designer and programmer (d. 1998)
    • 1949 – Eddie Hardin, English singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2015)
    • 1949 – Barry Lloyd, English footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1949 – William Messner-Loebs, American author and illustrator
    • 1950 – Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1950 – Andy Powell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Pakistani scholar and politician, founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran
    • 1952 – Ryū Murakami, Japanese novelist and filmmaker
    • 1952 – Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican engineer and astronaut
    • 1952 – Gary Seear, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2018)
    • 1952 – Dave Cheadle, American baseball player (d. 2012)
    • 1952 – Amy Tan, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer
    • 1952 – Danilo Türk, Slovene academic and politician, 3rd President of Slovenia
    • 1953 – Corrado Barazzutti, Italian tennis player
    • 1953 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentine lawyer and politician, former President of Argentina and current Vice President of Argentina
    • 1953 – Massimo Troisi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
    • 1954 – Sócrates, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2011)
    • 1954 – Francis Buchholz, German bass player
    • 1954 – Michael Gira, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1955 – Jeff Daniels, American actor and playwright
    • 1956 – Kathleen Beller, American actress
    • 1956 – Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1956 – Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1956 – Dave Wakeling, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1957 – Falco, Austrian singer-songwriter, rapper, and musician (d. 1998)
    • 1957 – Dave Stewart, American baseball player and coach
    • 1957 – Ray Winstone, English actor
    • 1958 – Tommy Cairo, American wrestler
    • 1958 – Helen Fielding, English author and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Steve Nieve, English keyboard player and composer
    • 1959 – Roger Goodell, American businessman
    • 1960 – Prince Andrew, Duke of York
    • 1960 – John Paul Jr., American race car driver
    • 1961 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (d. 1998)
    • 1961 – Ernie Gonzalez, American golfer
    • 1962 – Hana Mandlíková, Czech-Australian tennis player and coach
    • 1963 – Seal, English singer-songwriter
    • 1963 – Jessica Tuck, American actress
    • 1964 – Doug Aldrich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – Jonathan Lethem, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer
    • 1965 – Jon Fishman, American drummer
    • 1965 – Clark Hunt, American businessman
    • 1965 – Leroy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1966 – Justine Bateman, American actress and producer
    • 1966 – Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player and coach
    • 1966 – Eduardo Xol, American designer and author
    • 1967 – Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican-American actor, director, and producer
    • 1968 – Frank Watkins, American bass player (d. 2015)
    • 1968 – Prince Markie Dee, American rapper and actor
    • 1969 – Burton C. Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1969 – Helena Guergis, Canadian businesswoman and politician
    • 1970 – Joacim Cans, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Miguel Batista, Dominican baseball player and poet
    • 1971 – Richard Green, Australian golfer
    • 1971 – Jeff Kinney, American author and illustrator
    • 1972 – Francine Fournier, American wrestler and manager
    • 1972 – Sunset Thomas, American pornographic actress
    • 1975 – Daniel Adair, Canadian drummer and producer
    • 1975 – Daewon Song, South Korean-American skateboarder, co-founded Almost Skateboards
    • 1977 – Ola Salo, Swedish singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1977 – Andrew Ross Sorkin, American journalist and author
    • 1977 – Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Ben Gummer, English scholar and politician
    • 1978 – Immortal Technique, Peruvian-American rapper
    • 1979 – Steve Cherundolo, American soccer player and manager
    • 1980 – Dwight Freeney, American football player
    • 1980 – Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player
    • 1980 – Mike Miller, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Beth Ditto, American singer
    • 1983 – Kotoōshū Katsunori, Bulgarian sumo wrestler
    • 1983 – Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1983 – Ryan Whitney, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Chris Richardson, American singer-songwriter
    • 1985 – Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
    • 1986 – Kyle Chipchura, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Marta, Brazilian footballer
    • 1986 – Maria Mena, Norwegian singer-songwriter
    • 1986 – Michael Schwimer, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Anna Cappellini, Italian ice dancer
    • 1988 – Shawn Matthias, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Seth Morrison, American guitarist
    • 1989 – Sone Aluko, Anglo-Nigerian international footballer, forward/winger
    • 1991 – Christoph Kramer, German national footballer
    • 1991 – Trevor Bayne, American race car driver
    • 1992 – Camille Kostek, American model
    • 1993 – Mauro Icardi, Argentinian footballer
    • 1993 – Victoria Justice, American actress and singer
    • 1994 – Sam Lisone, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player
    • 1994 – Tiina Trutsi, Estonian footballer
    • 1995 – Nikola Jokić, Serbian basketball player
    • 1998 – Katharina Gerlach, German tennis player
    • 2001 – David Mazouz, American actor
    • 2004 – Millie Bobby Brown, English actress

    Deaths on February 19

    • 197 – Clodius Albinus, Roman usurper (b. 150)
    • 446 – Leontius of Trier, Bishop of Trier
    • 1133 – Irene Doukaina, Byzantine wife of Alexios I Komnenos (b. 1066)
    • 1275 – Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Sufi philosopher and poet (b. 1177)
    • 1300 – Munio of Zamora, General of the Dominican Order
    • 1408 – Thomas Bardolf, 5th Baron Bardolf, English rebel
    • 1414 – Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1353)
    • 1445 – Leonor of Aragon, queen of Portugal (b. 1402)
    • 1491 – Enno I, Count of East Frisia, German noble (b. 1460)
    • 1553 – Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1511)
    • 1602 – Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur (b. 1558)
    • 1605 – Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (b. 1550)
    • 1622 – Henry Savile, English scholar and politician (b. 1549)
    • 1672 – Charles Chauncy, English-American minister, theologian, and academic (b. 1592)
    • 1709 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shōgun (b. 1646)
    • 1716 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Norwegian author and poet (b. 1634)
    • 1785 – Mary, Countess of Harold, English aristocrat and philanthropist (b. 1701)
    • 1789 – Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Delaware (b. 1738)
    • 1799 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (b. 1733)
    • 1806 – Elizabeth Carter, English poet and translator (b. 1717)
    • 1837 – Georg Büchner, German-Swiss poet and playwright (b. 1813)
    • 1837 – Thomas Burgess, English bishop and philosopher (b. 1756)
    • 1887 – Multatuli, Dutch-German author and civil servant (b. 1820)
    • 1897 – Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician and academic (b. 1815)
    • 1915 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian philosopher and politician (b. 1866)
    • 1916 – Ernst Mach, Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher (b. 1838)
    • 1927 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (b. 1847)
    • 1928 – George Howard Earle Jr., American lawyer and businessman (b. 1856)
    • 1936 – Billy Mitchell, American general and pilot (b. 1879)
    • 1945 – John Basilone, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1916)
    • 1951 – André Gide, French novelist, essayist, and dramatist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
    • 1952 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
    • 1953 – Richard Rushall, British businessman (b. 1864)
    • 1957 – Maurice Garin, Italian-French cyclist (b. 1871)
    • 1959 – Willard Miller, American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1877)
    • 1962 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek-American pathologist, invented the Pap smear (b. 1883)
    • 1969 – Madge Blake, American actress (b. 1899)
    • 1970 – Ralph Edward Flanders, (b. 1890) US Senator from Vermont.
    • 1972 – John Grierson, Scottish director and producer (b. 1898)
    • 1972 – Lee Morgan, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1938)
    • 1973 – Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (b. 1892)
    • 1977 – Anthony Crosland, English captain and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (b. 1918)
    • 1977 – Mike González, Cuban baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1890)
    • 1980 – Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
    • 1983 – Alice White, American actress (b. 1904)
    • 1988 – André Frédéric Cournand, French-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
    • 1992 – Tojo Yamamoto, American wrestler and manager (b. 1927)
    • 1994 – Derek Jarman, English director and set designer (b. 1942)
    • 1996 – Charlie Finley, American businessman (b. 1918)
    • 1997 – Leo Rosten, Polish-American author and academic (b. 1908)
    • 1997 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1904)
    • 1998 – Grandpa Jones, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (b. 1913)
    • 1999 – Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi cleric (b. 1943)
    • 2000 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian-New Zealand painter and illustrator (b. 1928)
    • 2001 – Stanley Kramer, American director and producer (b. 1913)
    • 2001 – Charles Trenet, French singer-songwriter (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Sylvia Rivera, American transgender LGBT activist (b. 1951)
    • 2003 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938)
    • 2007 – Janet Blair, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
    • 2007 – Celia Franca, English-Canadian dancer and director, founded the National Ballet of Canada (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Yegor Letov, Russian singer-songwriter (b. 1964)
    • 2008 – Lydia Shum, Chinese-Hong Kong actress and singer (b. 1945)
    • 2009 – Kelly Groucutt, English singer and bass player (b. 1945)
    • 2011 – Ollie Matson, American sprinter and football player (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Ruth Barcan Marcus, American philosopher and logician (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Jaroslav Velinský, Czech author and songwriter (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – Vitaly Vorotnikov, Russian politician, 27th Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (b. 1914)
    • 2013 – Park Chul-soo, South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1937)
    • 2013 – Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Eugene Whelan, Canadian farmer and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Dale Gardner, American captain and astronaut (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Valeri Kubasov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Harold Johnson, American boxer (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Nirad Mohapatra, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Harris Wittels, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1984)
    • 2016 – Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (b. 1932)
    • 2016 – Harper Lee, American author (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Chiaki Morosawa, Japanese anime screenwriter (b. 1959)
    • 2016 – Samuel Willenberg, Polish-Israeli sculptor and painter (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (b. 1943)
    • 2019 – Clark Dimond, American musician and author (b. 1941)
    • 2019 – Karl Lagerfeld, German fashion designer (b. 1933)
    • 2020 – José Mojica Marins, Brazilian filmmaker, actor, composer, screenwriter, and television horror host Coffin Joe. (b. 1936)
    • 2020 – Pop Smoke, American rapper (b. 1999)

    Holidays and observances on February 19

    • Armed Forces Day (Mexico)
    • Brâncuși Day (Romania)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Barbatus of Benevento
      • Boniface of Brussels
      • Conrad of Piacenza
      • Lucy Yi Zhenmei (one of Martyrs of Guizhou)
      • February 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commemoration of Vasil Levski (Bulgaria)
    • Flag Day (Turkmenistan)
    • Shivaji Jayanti (Maharashtra, India)9

  • February 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
    • 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.
    • 1509 – The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India.
    • 1661 – Maratha forces under Chattrapati Shivaji defeat the Mughals in the Battle of Umberkhind.
    • 1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas.
    • 1706 – During the Battle of Fraustadt Swedish forces defeat a superior Saxon-Polish-Russian force by deploying a double envelopment.
    • 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.
    • 1783 – Spain–United States relations are first established.
    • 1787 – Militia led by General Benjamin Lincoln crush the remnants of Shays’ Rebellion in Petersham, Massachusetts.
    • 1807 – A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the Spanish Empire city of Montevideo, now the capital of Uruguay.
    • 1809 – The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress.
    • 1813 – José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the Argentine War of Independence.
    • 1830 – The London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of Greece from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.
    • 1834 – Wake Forest University is established (as Wake Forest Institute) in North Carolina, United States.
    • 1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.
    • 1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.
    • 1916 – The Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada burns down with the loss of 7 lives.
    • 1917 – First World War: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
    • 1918 – The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.
    • 1930 – Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a “Unification Conference” held in Kowloon, British Hong Kong.
    • 1931 – The Hawke’s Bay earthquake, New Zealand’s worst natural disaster, kills 258.
    • 1933 – Adolf Hitler announces that the expansion of Lebensraum into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of Third Reich foreign policy.
    • 1943 – The SS Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive.
    • 1944 – World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison.
    • 1945 – World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000.
    • 1945 – World War II: The United States and the Philippine Commonwealth begin a month-long battle to retake Manila from Japan.
    • 1953 – The Batepá massacre occurred in São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleashed a wave of violence against the native creoles known as forros.
    • 1958 – Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community.
    • 1959 – Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
    • 1960 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of “a wind of change”, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.
    • 1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a “Doomsday Plane” is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States’ bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC’s command post.
    • 1966 – The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, and the first spacecraft to take pictures from the surface of the Moon.
    • 1971 – New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption.
    • 1972 – The first day of the seven-day 1972 Iran blizzard, which would kill at least 4,000 people, making it the deadliest snowstorm in history.
    • 1984 – John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history’s first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth.
    • 1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B is launched using Space Shuttle Challenger.
    • 1989 – After a stroke two weeks previously, South African President P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the National Party, but stays on as president for six more months.
    • 1989 – A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
    • 1994 – Space Shuttle program: STS-60 is launched, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard the Shuttle.
    • 1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
    • 1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.
    • 2007 – A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.
    • 2014 – Two people are shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.

    Births on February 3

    • 1338 – Joanna of Bourbon (d. 1378)
    • 1392 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English nobleman and military commander (d. 1455)
    • 1428 – Helena Palaiologina, Queen of Cyprus (d. 1458)
    • 1478 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (d. 1521)
    • 1504 – Scipione Rebiba, Italian cardinal (d. 1577)
    • 1677 – Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect, designed the Karlova Koruna Chateau (d. 1723)
    • 1689 – Blas de Lezo, Spanish admiral (d. 1741)
    • 1690 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and historian (d. 1755)
    • 1721 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
    • 1736 – Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austrian composer and theorist (d. 1809)
    • 1747 – Samuel Osgood, American soldier and politician, 1st United States Postmaster General (d. 1813)
    • 1757 – Joseph Forlenze, Italian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1833)
    • 1763 – Caroline von Wolzogen, German author (d. 1847)
    • 1777 – John Cheyne, Scottish physician and author (d. 1836)
    • 1790 – Gideon Mantell, English scientist (d. 1852)
    • 1795 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd President of Bolivia (d. 1830)
    • 1807 – Joseph E. Johnston, American general and politician (d. 1891)
    • 1809 – Felix Mendelssohn, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1847)
    • 1811 – Horace Greeley, American journalist and politician (d. 1872)
    • 1816 – Ram Singh Kuka, Indian credited with starting the Non-cooperation movement
    • 1817 – Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (d. 1881)
    • 1817 – Émile Prudent, French pianist and composer (d. 1863)
    • 1821 – Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician and educator (d. 1910)
    • 1824 – Ranald MacDonald, American explorer and educator (d. 1894)
    • 1826 – Walter Bagehot, English journalist and businessman (d. 1877)
    • 1830 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)
    • 1842 – Sidney Lanier, American composer and poet (d. 1881)
    • 1843 – William Cornelius Van Horne, American-Canadian businessman (d. 1915)
    • 1857 – Giuseppe Moretti, Italian sculptor, designed the Vulcan statue (d. 1935)
    • 1859 – Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the Junkers J 1 (d. 1935)
    • 1862 – James Clark McReynolds, American lawyer and judge (d. 1946)
    • 1867 – Charles Henry Turner, American biologist, educator and zoologist (d. 1923)
    • 1872 – Lou Criger, American baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
    • 1874 – Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, playwright, (d. 1946)
    • 1878 – Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1943)
    • 1887 – Georg Trakl, Austrian pharmacist and poet (d. 1914)
    • 1889 – Artur Adson, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1977)
    • 1889 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (d. 1968)
    • 1892 – Juan Negrín, Spanish physician and politician, 67th Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1956)
    • 1893 – Gaston Julia, Algerian-French mathematician and academic (d. 1978)
    • 1894 – Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (d. 1978)
    • 1898 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect, designed the Finlandia Hall and Aalto Theatre (d. 1976)
    • 1899 – Café Filho, Brazilian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 18th President of Brazil (d. 1970)
    • 1900 – Mabel Mercer, English-American singer (d. 1984)
    • 1903 – Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 1973)
    • 1904 – Pretty Boy Floyd, American gangster (d. 1934)
    • 1905 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (d. 1990)
    • 1905 – Arne Beurling, Swedish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1906 – George Adamson, Indian-English author and activist (d. 1989)
    • 1907 – James A. Michener, American author and philanthropist (d. 1997)
    • 1909 – André Cayatte, French lawyer and director (d. 1989)
    • 1909 – Simone Weil, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1943)
    • 1911 – Jehan Alain, French organist and composer (d. 1940)
    • 1912 – Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist and politician (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – Mary Carlisle, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2018)
    • 1915 – Johannes Kotkas, Estonian wrestler and hammer thrower (d. 1998)
    • 1917 – Shlomo Goren, Polish-Israeli rabbi and general (d. 1994)
    • 1918 – Joey Bishop, American actor and producer (d. 2007)
    • 1918 – Helen Stephens, American runner, baseball player, and manager (d. 1994)
    • 1920 – Russell Arms, American actor and singer (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Tony Gaze, Australian race car driver and pilot (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Henry Heimlich, American physician and author (d. 2016)
    • 1924 – E. P. Thompson, English historian and author (d. 1993)
    • 1924 – Martial Asselin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Shelley Berman, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – John Fiedler, American actor (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Hans-Jochen Vogel, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Berlin
    • 1927 – Kenneth Anger, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1927 – Blas Ople, Filipino journalist and politician, 21st President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2003)
    • 1933 – Paul Sarbanes, American lawyer and politician
    • 1934 – Juan Carlos Calabró, Argentinian actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1935 – Johnny “Guitar” Watson, American blues, soul, and funk singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
    • 1936 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (d. 1984)
    • 1936 – Bob Simpson, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1937 – Billy Meier, Swiss author and photographer
    • 1938 – Victor Buono, American actor (d. 1982)
    • 1938 – Emile Griffith, American boxer and trainer (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1940 – Fran Tarkenton, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1941 – Dory Funk, Jr., American wrestler and trainer
    • 1941 – Howard Phillips, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1943 – Blythe Danner, American actress
    • 1943 – Dennis Edwards, American soul/R&B singer (d. 2018)
    • 1943 – Eric Haydock, English bass player (d. 2019)
    • 1943 – Shawn Phillips, American-South African singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1945 – Johnny Cymbal, Scottish-American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1993)
    • 1945 – Bob Griese, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1947 – Paul Auster, American novelist, essayist, and poet
    • 1947 – Stephen McHattie, Canadian actor and director
    • 1948 – Henning Mankell, Swedish author and playwright (d. 2015)
    • 1949 – Jim Thorpe, American golfer
    • 1950 – Morgan Fairchild, American actress
    • 1950 – Grant Goldman, Australian radio and television host (d. 2020)
    • 1951 – Eugenijus Riabovas, Lithuanian footballer and manager
    • 1951 – Michael Ruppert, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
    • 1952 – Fred Lynn, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1954 – Tiger Williams, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1956 – John Jefferson, American football player and coach
    • 1956 – Nathan Lane, American actor and comedian
    • 1957 – Eric Lander, American mathematician, geneticist, and academic
    • 1958 – Joe F. Edwards, Jr., American commander, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1958 – Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American economist
    • 1958 – Greg Mankiw, American economist and academic
    • 1959 – Óscar Iván Zuluaga, Colombian economist and politician, 67th Colombian Minister of Finance
    • 1960 – Tim Chandler, American bass player (d. 2018)
    • 1960 – Marty Jannetty, American wrestler and trainer
    • 1960 – Joachim Löw, German footballer and manager
    • 1960 – Kerry Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1993)
    • 1961 – Linda Eder, American singer and actress
    • 1963 – Raghuram Rajan, Indian economist and academic
    • 1964 – Indrek Tarand, Estonian historian, journalist, and politician
    • 1965 – Maura Tierney, American actress and producer
    • 1966 – Frank Coraci, American director and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Danny Morrison, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Tim Flowers, English footballer and coach
    • 1967 – Mixu Paatelainen, Finnish footballer and coach
    • 1968 – Vlade Divac, Serbian-American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Marwan Khoury, Lebanese singer, songwriter, and composer
    • 1969 – Beau Biden, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 44th Attorney General of Delaware (d. 2015)
    • 1969 – Retief Goosen, South African golfer
    • 1970 – Óscar Córdoba, Colombian footballer
    • 1970 – Warwick Davis, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Hong Seok-cheon, South Korean actor
    • 1972 – Jesper Kyd, Danish pianist and composer
    • 1973 – Ilana Sod, Mexican journalist and producer
    • 1976 – Isla Fisher, Omani-Australian actress
    • 1977 – Daddy Yankee, American-Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
    • 1977 – Marek Židlický, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Joan Capdevila, Spanish footballer
    • 1979 – Paul Franks, English cricketer and coach
    • 1982 – Becky Bayless, American wrestler
    • 1982 – Marie-Ève Drolet, Canadian speed skater
    • 1984 – Elizabeth Holmes, American fraudster, founder of Theranos
    • 1985 – Angela Fong, Canadian wrestler and actress
    • 1985 – Andrei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Lucas Duda, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Mathieu Giroux, Canadian speed skater
    • 1986 – Kanako Yanagihara, Japanese actress
    • 1988 – Cho Kyuhyun, South Korean singer
    • 1989 – Slobodan Rajković, Serbian footballer
    • 1990 – Sean Kingston, American-Jamaican singer-songwriter
    • 1990 – Martin Taupau, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1991 – Corey Norman, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Olli Aitola, Finnish ice hockey player

    Deaths on February 3

    • AD 6 – Ping, emperor of the Han Dynasty (b. 9 BC)
    • 456 – Sihyaj Chan K’awiil II, ruler of Tikal
    • 639 – K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I, ruler of Piedras Negras
    • 699 – Werburgh, English nun and saint
    • 865 – Ansgar, Frankish archbishop (b. 801)
    • 929 – Guy, margrave of Tuscany
    • 938 – Zhou Ben, Chinese general (b. 862)
    • 994 – William IV, duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
    • 1014 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (b. 960)
    • 1116 – Coloman, king of Hungary
    • 1161 – Inge I, king of Norway (b. 1135)
    • 1252 – Sviatoslav III, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1196)
    • 1399 – John of Gaunt, Belgian-English politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1340)
    • 1428 – Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shōgun (b. 1386)
    • 1451 – Murad II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1404)
    • 1468 – Johannes Gutenberg, German publisher, invented the Printing press (b. 1398)
    • 1537 – Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (b. 1513)
    • 1566 – George Cassander, Flemish theologian and author (b. 1513)
    • 1618 – Philip II, duke of Pomerania (b. 1573)
    • 1619 – Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1564)
    • 1737 – Tommaso Ceva, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1648)
    • 1802 – Pedro Rodríguez, Spanish statesman and economist (b. 1723)
    • 1813 – Juan Bautista Cabral, Argentinian sergeant (b. 1789)
    • 1820 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1762)
    • 1832 – George Crabbe, English surgeon and poet (b. 1754)
    • 1862 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (b. 1774)
    • 1866 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet, author, and historian (b. 1809)
    • 1873 – Isaac Baker Brown, English gynecologist and surgeon (b. 1811)
    • 1922 – John Butler Yeats, Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1839)
    • 1924 – Woodrow Wilson, American historian, academic, and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
    • 1929 – Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1878)
    • 1935 – Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the Junkers J 1 (b. 1859)
    • 1944 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (b. 1865)
    • 1945 – Roland Freisler, German lawyer and judge (b. 1893)
    • 1947 – Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (b. 1887)
    • 1952 – Harold L. Ickes, American journalist and politician, 32nd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1874)
    • 1955 – Vasily Blokhin, Russian general (b. 1895)
    • 1956 – Émile Borel, French mathematician and academic (b. 1871)
    • 1956 – Johnny Claes, English-Belgian race car driver and trumpet player (b. 1916)
    • 1959 – The Day the Music Died
      • The Big Bopper, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1930)
      • Buddy Holly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
      • Ritchie Valens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 1960 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
    • 1961 – William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil, Scottish-Australian captain and politician, 14th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1893)
    • 1961 – Anna May Wong, American actress (b. 1905)
    • 1963 – Benjamin R. Jacobs (b. 1879)
    • 1967 – Joe Meek, English songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
    • 1969 – C. N. Annadurai, Indian journalist and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Madras State (b. 1909)
    • 1969 – Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambican activist and academic (b. 1920)
    • 1975 – William D. Coolidge, American physicist and engineer (b. 1873)
    • 1975 – Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1904)
    • 1985 – Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (b. 1912)
    • 1989 – John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 1989 – Lionel Newman, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1916)
    • 1991 – Nancy Kulp, American actress (b. 1921)
    • 1993 – Françoys Bernier, Canadian pianist and conductor (b. 1927)
    • 1996 – Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (b. 1922)
    • 1999 – Gwen Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1950)
    • 2005 – Zurab Zhvania, Georgian biologist and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1963)
    • 2005 – Ernst Mayr, German-American biologist and ornithologist (b. 1904)
    • 2006 – Al Lewis, American actor and activist (b. 1923)
    • 2009 – Sheng-yen, Chinese monk and scholar, founded the Dharma Drum Mountain (b. 1930)
    • 2010 – Dick McGuire, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2010 – Frances Reid, American actress (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Maria Schneider, French actress (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – Toh Chin Chye, Singaporean academic and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Ben Gazzara, American actor and director (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Terence Hildner, American general (b. 1962)
    • 2012 – Raj Kanwar, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1961)
    • 2012 – Zalman King, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1942)
    • 2012 – Andrzej Szczeklik, Polish physician and academic (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Cardiss Collins, American politician (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Oscar Feltsman, Ukrainian-Russian composer and producer (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – James Muri, American soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Balochistan (b. 1954)
    • 2015 – Martin Gilbert, English historian, author, and academic (b. 1936)
    • 2015 – Mary Healy, American actress and singer (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Charlie Sifford, American golfer (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Nasim Hasan Shah, Pakistani lawyer and judge, 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Balram Jakhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Madhya Pradesh (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – József Kasza, Serbian politician and economist (b. 1945)
    • 2016 – Saulius Sondeckis, Lithuanian violinist and conductor (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Dritëro Agolli, Albanian poet, writer and politician (b. 1931)
    • 2019 – Julie Adams, American actress (b. 1926)
    • 2019 – Kristoff St. John, American actor (b. 1966)
    • 2020 – George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (b. 1929)

    Holidays and observances on February 3

    • Christian feast day:
      • Aaron the Illustrious (Syriac Orthodox Church)
      • Ansgar
      • Berlinda of Meerbeke
      • Blaise
      • Celsa and Nona
      • Claudine Thévenet
      • Dom Justo Takayama (Philippines and Japan)
      • Hadelin
      • Margaret of England
      • Werburgh
      • February 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of the Virgin of Suyapa (Honduras)
    • Earliest day on which Shrove Tuesday can fall, while March 9 is the latest; celebrated on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity)
    • Four Chaplains Day (United States, also considered a Feast Day by the Episcopal Church)
    • Communist Party of Vietnam Foundation Anniversary (Vietnam)
    • Heroes’ Day (Mozambique)
    • Martyrs’ Day (São Tomé and Príncipe)
    • Setsubun (Japan)
    • Veterans’ Day (Thailand)

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

    • 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned since his election in June 1523.
    • 1554 – Bayinnaung, who would go on to assemble the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, is crowned King of Burma.
    • 1616 – The city of Belém, Brazil is founded on the Amazon River delta, by Portuguese captain Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco.
    • 1808 – John Rennie’s scheme to defend St Mary’s Church, Reculver, founded in 669, from coastal erosion is abandoned in favour of demolition, despite the church being an exemplar of Anglo-Saxon architecture and sculpture.
    • 1808 – The organizational meeting leading to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
    • 1848 – The Palermo rising takes place in Sicily against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
    • 1866 – The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London.
    • 1872 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years.
    • 1895 – The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom.
    • 1911 – The University of the Philippines College of Law is formally established; three future Philippine presidents are among the first enrollees.
    • 1915 – The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to require states to give women the right to vote.
    • 1916 – Both Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann, for achieving eight aerial victories each over Allied aircraft, receive the German Empire’s highest military award, the Pour le Mérite as the first German aviators to earn it.
    • 1918 – The Minnie Pit Disaster coal mining accident occurs in Halmer End, Staffordshire, in which 155 men and boys die.
    • 1921 – Acting to restore confidence in baseball after the Black Sox Scandal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is elected as Major League Baseball’s first commissioner.
    • 1932 – Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.
    • 1942 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the Vistula–Oder Offensive.
    • 1962 – Vietnam War: Operation Chopper, the first American combat mission in the war, takes place.
    • 1964 – Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaim a republic.
    • 1966 – Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
    • 1967 – Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
    • 1969 – The New York Jets of the American Football League defeat the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
    • 1970 – Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian Civil War.
    • 1971 – The Harrisburg Seven: Rev. Philip Berrigan and five other activists are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C.
    • 1976 – The United Nations Security Council votes 11–1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights).
    • 1986 – Space Shuttle program: Congressman Bill Nelson lifts off from Kennedy Space Center aboard Columbia on mission STS-61-C as a payload specialist.
    • 1990 – A seven-day pogrom breaks out against the Armenian civilian population of Baku, Azerbaijan, during which Armenians were beaten, tortured, murdered, and expelled from the city.
    • 1991 – Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of American military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
    • 1998 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
    • 2001 – Downtown Disney opens to the public as part of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
    • 2004 – The world’s largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage.
    • 2005 – Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket.
    • 2006 – A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.
    • 2010 – An earthquake in Haiti occurs, killing between 220,000 and 300,000 people and destroying much of the capital Port-au-Prince.
    • 2012 – Violent protests occur in Bucharest, Romania, as two-day-old demonstrations continue against President Traian Băsescu’s economic austerity measures. Clashes are reported in numerous Romanian cities between protesters and law enforcement officers.
    • 2015 – Government raids kill 143 Boko Haram fighters in Kolofata, Cameroon.
    • 2016 – Ten people are killed and 15 wounded in a bombing near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
    • 2020 – Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupts, and kills 39 people.

    Births on January 12

    • 1483 – Henry III of Nassau-Breda (d. 1538)
    • 1562 – Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1630)
    • 1576 – Petrus Scriverius, Dutch historian and scholar (d. 1660)
    • 1577 – Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist and physician (d. 1644)
    • 1588 – John Winthrop, English lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (d. 1649)
    • 1591 – Jusepe de Ribera, Spanish painter (d. 1652)
    • 1597 – François Duquesnoy, Flemish sculptor and educator (d. 1643)
    • 1598 – Jijabai Shahaji Bhosale, venerated mother of Indian king Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (d. 1674)
    • 1628 – Charles Perrault, French author and academic (d. 1703)
    • 1673 – Rosalba Carriera, Italian painter (d. 1757)
    • 1711 – Gaetano Latilla, Italian composer (d. 1788)
    • 1715 – Jacques Duphly, French organist and composer (d. 1789)
    • 1716 – Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and politician, 1st Spanish Governor of Louisiana (d. 1795)
    • 1721 – Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Prussian field marshal (d. 1792)
    • 1723 – Samuel Langdon, American minister, theologian, and academic (d. 1797)
    • 1724 – Frances Brooke, English author and playwright (d. 1789)
    • 1729 – Edmund Burke, Irish philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1797)
    • 1746 – Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss philosopher and educator (d. 1827)
    • 1751 – Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (d. 1825)
    • 1772 – Mikhail Speransky, Russian academic and politician (d. 1839)
    • 1786 – Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet, English politician (d. 1855)
    • 1792 – Johan August Arfwedson, Swedish chemist and academic (d. 1841)
    • 1797 – Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician and author (d. 1873)
    • 1799 – Priscilla Susan Bury, British botanist (d. 1872)
    • 1822 – Étienne Lenoir, Belgian engineer, designed the internal combustion engine (d. 1900)
    • 1837 – Adolf Jensen, German pianist and composer (d. 1879)
    • 1849 – Jean Béraud, Russian-French painter and academic (d. 1935)
    • 1853 – Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, Italian mathematician (d. 1925)
    • 1856 – John Singer Sargent, American painter and academic (d. 1925)
    • 1863 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian monk and philosopher (d. 1902)
    • 1869 – Bhagwan Das, Indian philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1958)
    • 1873 – Spyridon Louis, Greek runner (d. 1940)
    • 1874 – Laura Adams Armer, American author and photographer (d. 1963)
    • 1876 – Fevzi Çakmak, Turkish field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the Turkish Provisional Government (d. 1950)
    • 1876 – Jack London, American novelist and journalist (d. 1916)
    • 1876 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer and educator (d. 1948)
    • 1877 – Frank J. Corr, American lawyer and politician, 45th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1934)
    • 1878 – Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian-American author and playwright (d. 1952)
    • 1879 – Ray Harroun, American race car driver and engineer (d. 1968)
    • 1879 – Anton Uesson, Estonian engineer and politician, 17th Mayor of Tallinn (d. 1942)
    • 1882 – Milton Sills, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1930)
    • 1884 – Texas Guinan, American entertainer and bootlegger (d. 1933)
    • 1889 – Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, Indian-Pakistani spiritual leader (d. 1965)
    • 1890 – Johannes Vares, Estonian poet, physician, and politician (d. 1946)
    • 1892 – Mikhail Gurevich, Russian engineer and businessman, co-founded the Russian Aircraft Corporation (d. 1976)
    • 1893 – Hermann Göring, German commander, pilot, and politician, Minister President of Prussia (d. 1946)
    • 1893 – Alfred Rosenberg, Estonian-German architect and politician, Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories (d. 1946)
    • 1894 – Georges Carpentier, French boxer and actor (d. 1975)
    • 1895 – Leo Aryeh Mayer, Polish-Israeli scholar and academic (d. 1959)
    • 1896 – David Wechsler, Romanian-American psychologist and author (d. 1981)
    • 1899 – Pierre Bernac, French opera singer and educator (d. 1979)
    • 1899 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
    • 1901 – Karl Künstler, German SS officer (d. 1945)
    • 1903 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1960)
    • 1903 – Andrew J. Transue, American politician and attorney (Morissette v. United States) (d. 1995)
    • 1904 – Mississippi Fred McDowell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
    • 1905 – Nihal Atsız, Turkish author, poet, and philosopher (d. 1975)
    • 1905 – James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist and academic (d. 1997)
    • 1905 – Tex Ritter, American actor and singer (d. 1974)
    • 1906 – Emmanuel Levinas, Lithuanian-French historian, philosopher, and academic (d. 1995)
    • 1907 – Sergei Korolev, Russian colonel and engineer (d. 1966)
    • 1908 – Jean Delannoy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1908 – Clement Hurd, American illustrator (d. 1988)
    • 1910 – Patsy Kelly, American actress and comedian (d. 1981)
    • 1910 – Luise Rainer, German-English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1912 – Richard Kuremaa, Estonian footballer (d. 1991)
    • 1914 – Mieko Kamiya, Japanese psychiatrist and psychologist (d. 1979)
    • 1915 – Paul Jarrico, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1997)
    • 1915 – Joseph-Aurèle Plourde, Canadian archbishop and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Ruth R. Benerito, American chemist and inventor (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx, British poet and Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2018)
    • 1916 – P. W. Botha, South African politician, 8th Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – Walter Hendl, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2007)
    • 1917 – Jimmy Skinner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – James Farmer, American activist, and politician, co-founded Congress of Racial Equality (d. 1999)
    • 1920 – Jerzy Zubrzycki, Polish-Australian sociologist and academic (d. 2009)
    • 1922 – Tadeusz Żychiewicz, Polish journalist and historian (d. 1994)
    • 1923 – Ira Hayes, American marine who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima (d. 1955)
    • 1924 – Olivier Gendebien, Belgian racing driver and businessman (d. 1998)
    • 1925 – Bill Burrud, American television host, producer, and actor (d. 1990)
    • 1926 – Morton Feldman, American composer and academic (d. 1987)
    • 1926 – Ray Price, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Ruth Brown, American R&B singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2006)
    • 1929 – Alasdair MacIntyre, Scottish-American philosopher and academic
    • 1929 – Jaakko Hintikka, Finnish philosopher and logician (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman, founded Tim Hortons (d. 1974)
    • 1930 – Jennifer Johnston, Irish author and playwright
    • 1930 – Glenn Yarbrough, American singer and actor (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Alan Sharp, Scottish-American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Mick Sullivan, English rugby player and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1935 – Teresa del Conde, Mexican historian and critic (d. 2017)
    • 1935 – Kreskin, American mentalist
    • 1936 – Jennifer Hilton, Baroness Hilton of Eggardon, English police officer and politician
    • 1936 – Raimonds Pauls, Latvian pianist and composer
    • 1936 – Brajanath Ratha, Indian poet and activist (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Home Affairs (d. 2016)
    • 1937 – Shirley Eaton, English actress
    • 1938 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Bob Hewitt, Australian-South African tennis player
    • 1940 – Ronald Shannon Jackson, American drummer and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Dick Motz, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2007)
    • 1941 – Long John Baldry, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and voice actor (d. 2005)
    • 1941 – Fiona Caldicott, English psychiatrist and psychotherapist
    • 1941 – Chet Jastremski, American swimmer and physician (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Bernardine Dohrn, American domestic terrorist, political activist and academic
    • 1944 – Hans Henning Atrott, German author and theorist
    • 1944 – Joe Frazier, American boxer (d. 2011)
    • 1944 – Cynthia Robinson, American R&B trumpet player and singer (d 2015)
    • 1945 – Maggie Bell, Scottish singer-songwriter
    • 1946 – Hazel Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove, Scottish lawyer and judge
    • 1946 – George Duke, American keyboard player, composer, and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Richard Carwardine, English historian and academic
    • 1947 – Tom Dempsey, American football player and educator
    • 1947 – Sally Hamwee, Baroness Hamwee, English politician
    • 1948 – Kenny Allen, English footballer
    • 1948 – Anthony Andrews, English actor and producer
    • 1948 – Gordon Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 34th Premier of British Columbia
    • 1948 – Brendan Foster, English runner and sportscaster
    • 1948 – William Nicholson, English author and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Kentarō Haneda, Japanese pianist and composer (d. 2007)
    • 1949 – Ottmar Hitzfeld, German footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Hamadi Jebali, Tunisian engineer, journalist, and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Tunisia
    • 1949 – Haruki Murakami, Japanese novelist, short-story writer, and essayist
    • 1950 – Sheila Jackson Lee, American lawyer, judge, and politician
    • 1950 – Göran Lindblad, Swedish dentist and politician
    • 1950 – Bob McEwen, American businessman and politician
    • 1950 – Dorrit Moussaieff, Israeli-Icelandic jewelry designer and businesswoman, 5th First Lady of Iceland
    • 1951 – Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer
    • 1951 – Chris Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
    • 1951 – Rush Limbaugh, American talk show host and author
    • 1951 – Drew Pearson, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1952 – Phil Perry, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1952 – Ricky Van Shelton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1952 – John Walker, New Zealand runner and politician
    • 1952 – Walter Mosley, American novelist
    • 1953 – Mary Harron, Canadian director and screenwriter
    • 1954 – Howard Stern, American radio host, actor, and author
    • 1954 – Martin Kylhammar, Swedish professor of culture and society
    • 1955 – Tom Ardolino, American rock drummer (NRBQ) (d. 2012)
    • 1956 – Nikolai Noskov, Russian rock singer and singer-songwriter
    • 1957 – John Lasseter, American animator, director, and producer
    • 1957 – Jeremy Sams, English director, playwright, and composer
    • 1958 – Christiane Amanpour, English-born Iranian-American journalist
    • 1958 – Curt Fraser, American-Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1959 – B. Brian Blair, American wrestler and politician
    • 1959 – Per Gessle, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1960 – Oliver Platt, Canadian-American actor
    • 1960 – Dominique Wilkins, French-American basketball player and manager
    • 1961 – Simon Russell Beale, Malaysia-born English actor and historian
    • 1962 – Joe Quesada, American author and illustrator
    • 1962 – Richie Richardson, Antiguan cricketer
    • 1962 – Luna Vachon, American-Canadian wrestler and manager (d. 2010)
    • 1963 – François Girard, Canadian director and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Nando Reis, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1964 – Jeff Bezos, American computer scientist and businessman, founded Amazon.com
    • 1965 – Raekwon, American rapper
    • 1965 – Rob Zombie, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
    • 1966 – Olivier Martinez, French actor
    • 1966 – Craig Parry, Australian golfer
    • 1967 – Vendela Kirsebom, Norwegian-Swedish model and actress
    • 1968 – Junichi Masuda, Japanese director, producer, and composer
    • 1968 – Heather Mills, English businesswoman, activist and model
    • 1968 – Mauro Silva, Brazilian footballer
    • 1969 – David Mitchell, English novelist
    • 1969 – Margaret Nagle, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1970 – Zack de la Rocha, American singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Scott Burrell, American basketball player and coach
    • 1972 – Priyanka Gandhi, Indian politician
    • 1972 – Espen Knutsen, Norwegian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1972 – Paul Wilson, Australian cricketer and umpire
    • 1973 – Brian Culbertson, American pianist and producer
    • 1973 – Hande Yener, Turkish singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1974 – Melanie C, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1974 – Tor Arne Hetland, Norwegian skier
    • 1975 – Jason Freese, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1975 – Jocelyn Thibault, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1977 – Yoandy Garlobo, Cuban baseball player
    • 1978 – Luis Ayala, Mexican baseball player
    • 1978 – Maurizio Zaffiri, Italian rugby player
    • 1979 – Marián Hossa, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Lee Bo-young, South Korean actress and model
    • 1979 – Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer
    • 1979 – David Zabriskie, American cyclist
    • 1980 – Bobby Crosby, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Amerie, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1981 – João Paulo Daniel, Brazilian footballer
    • 1981 – Dan Klecko, American football player
    • 1981 – Angus Macdonald, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1981 – Luis Ernesto Pérez, Mexican footballer
    • 1982 – Paul-Henri Mathieu, French tennis player
    • 1982 – Hans Van Alphen, Belgian decathlete
    • 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
    • 1982 – Dontrelle Willis, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Daniel Sepulveda, American football player
    • 1984 – Jonathan Zydko, French footballer
    • 1985 – Artem Milevskiy, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1985 – Issa Rae, American actress, writer, director, producer and web series creator
    • 1985 – Borja Valero, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Kehoma Brenner, German rugby player
    • 1986 – Miguel Ángel Nieto, Spanish footballer
    • 1987 – Naya Rivera, American actress and singer
    • 1987 – Salvatore Sirigu, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Claude Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Thiemo-Jérôme Kialka, German footballer
    • 1989 – Axel Witsel, Belgian footballer
    • 1991 – Pixie Lott, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
    • 1991 – Matt Srama, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Ishak Belfodil, Algerian footballer
    • 1992 – Samuele Longo, Italian footballer
    • 1993 – Zayn Malik, English singer-songwriter
    • 1993 – Simone Pecorini, Italian footballer
    • 1993 – Do Kyungsoo, South Korean singer and member of boy band EXO
    • 1995 – Sarah Mehain, Canadian Paralympic swimmer
    • 1995 – Alessio Romagnoli, Italian footballer

    Deaths of January 12

    • 690 – Benedict Biscop, English scholar and saint, founded the Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey (b. 628)
    • 914 – Ahmad Samani, Samanid emir
    • 947 – Sang Weihan, Chinese chief of staff (b. 898)
    • 1140 – Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia
    • 1167 – Aelred of Rievaulx, English monk and saint (b. 1110)
    • 1320 – John Dalderby, bishop of Lincoln
    • 1321 – Marie of Brabant, Queen of France (b. 1256)
    • 1405 – Eleanor Maltravers, English noblewoman (b. 1345)
    • 1519 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1459)
    • 1665 – Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician and lawyer (b. 1601)
    • 1674 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (b. 1605)
    • 1700 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal (b. 1620)
    • 1720 – William Ashhurst, English banker and politician, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1647)
    • 1732 – John Horsley, English-Scottish historian and author (b. 1685)
    • 1735 – John Eccles, English composer (b. 1668)
    • 1759 – Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1709)
    • 1765 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (b. 1696)
    • 1777 – Hugh Mercer, Scottish-American general and physician (b. 1726)
    • 1778 – François Bigot, French politician (b. 1703)
    • 1781 – Richard Challoner, English bishop (b. 1691)
    • 1829 – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German philosopher, poet, and critic (b. 1772)
    • 1833 – Marie-Antoine Carême, French chef (b. 1784)
    • 1834 – William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
    • 1856 – Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak philologist and politician (b. 1815)
    • 1861 – Václav Hanka, Czech philologist and author (b. 1791)
    • 1892 – James Caulfeild, 3rd Earl of Charlemont, Irish politician, Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone (b. 1820)
    • 1892 – William Reeves, Irish bishop and historian (b. 1815)
    • 1899 – Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian Club (b. 1816)
    • 1909 – Hermann Minkowski, Lithuanian-German mathematician and academic (b. 1864)
    • 1911 – Andreas Papagiannakopoulos, Greek journalist, judge, and politician (b. 1845)
    • 1916 – Georgios Theotokis, Greek lawyer and politician, 80th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1844)
    • 1921 – Gervase Elwes, English tenor and actor (b. 1866)
    • 1926 – Austin Chapman, Australian businessman and politician, 4th Australian Minister for Defence (b. 1864)
    • 1934 – Paul Kochanski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1887)
    • 1938 – Oscar Florianus Bluemner, German-American painter and illustrator (b. 1867)
    • 1940 – Ralph Hitz, Austrian-American hotelier (b. 1891)
    • 1940 – Edward Smith, English lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1898)
    • 1943 – Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and critic (b. 1902)
    • 1944 – Lance C. Wade, American commander and pilot (b. 1915)
    • 1958 – Charles Hatfield, American meteorologist (b. 1875)
    • 1960 – Nevil Shute, English engineer and author (b. 1899)
    • 1962 – Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, Russian journalist and activist (b. 1869)
    • 1965 – Lorraine Hansberry, American author, playwright, and director (b. 1936)
    • 1967 – Burhan Asaf Belge, Turkish diplomat (b. 1887)
    • 1971 – John Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey, English admiral (b. 1885)
    • 1973 – Roy Franklin Nichols, American historian and academic (b. 1896)
    • 1974 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (b. 1886)
    • 1976 – Agatha Christie, English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1890)
    • 1977 – Henri-Georges Clouzot, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 1983 – Nikolai Podgorny, Ukrainian engineer and politician (b. 1903)
    • 1988 – Connie Mulder, South African politician (b. 1925)
    • 1988 – Piero Taruffi, Italian racing driver and motorcycle racer (b. 1906)
    • 1990 – Laurence J. Peter, Canadian-American author and educator (b. 1919)
    • 1991 – Robert Jackson, Australian public servant and diplomat (b. 1911)
    • 1992 – Kumar Gandharva, a Hindustani classical singer (b. 1924)
    • 1994 – Gustav Naan, Estonian physicist and philosopher (b. 1919)
    • 1996 – Joachim Nitsche, German mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
    • 1997 – Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (b. 1936)
    • 1997 – Charles Brenton Huggins, Canadian-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
    • 1998 – Roger Clark, English racing driver (b. 1939)
    • 1999 – Doug Wickenheiser, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1961)
    • 2000 – Marc Davis, American animator and screenwriter (b. 1913)
    • 2000 – Bobby Phills, American basketball player (b. 1969)
    • 2001 – Luiz Bonfá, Brazilian guitarist and composer (b. 1922)
    • 2001 – William Redington Hewlett, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Cyrus Vance, American lawyer and politician, 57th U.S. Secretary of State (b. 1917)
    • 2003 – Dean Amadon, American ornithologist and author (b. 1912)
    • 2003 – Kinji Fukasaku, Japanese actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
    • 2003 – Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine general and politician, 44th President of Argentina (b. 1926)
    • 2003 – Maurice Gibb, Manx-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1949)
    • 2003 – Alan Nunn May, English physicist and spy (b. 1911)
    • 2004 – Olga Ladyzhenskaya, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Amrish Puri, Indian actor (b. 1932)
    • 2006 – Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Pueblo (Native American) painter (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Alice Coltrane, American pianist and composer (b. 1937)
    • 2007 – James Killen, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 38th Australian Minister for Defence (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – Max Beck, American intersex advocate (b. 1966)
    • 2009 – Claude Berri, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
    • 2010 – Daniel Bensaïd, French philosopher and author (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – Hasib Sabbagh, Palestinian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Consolidated Contractors Company (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Bjørn G. Andersen, Norwegian geologist and academic (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Glenda Dickerson, American director, choreographer, and educator (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – Bill Janklow, American lawyer and politician, 27th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1939)
    • 2012 – Charles H. Price II, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Jim Stanley, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Precious Bryant, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Eugene Patterson, American journalist and activist (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Alexandra Bastedo, English actress (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Connie Binsfeld, American educator and politician, 58th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – George Dement, American soldier, businessman, and politician (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Trevor Colbourn, American historian and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Robert Gover, American journalist and author (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Carl Long, American baseball player (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Elena Obraztsova, Russian soprano and actress (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Inge Vermeulen, Brazilian-Dutch field hockey player (b. 1985)
    • 2017 – William Peter Blatty, American writer and filmmaker (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Graham Taylor, former Grimsby Town player and former manager of the England football team. (b. 1944)
    • 2018 – Keith Jackson, American sports commentator and journalist (b. 1928)
    • 2020 – Sir Roger Scruton, English philosopher, and writer (b. 1944)

    Holidays and observances on January 12

    • Christian feast day:
      • Aelred of Rievaulx
      • Benedict Biscop
      • Bernard of Corleone
      • Marguerite Bourgeoys
      • Tatiana
      • January 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Lee–Jackson Day can fall while January 18 is the latest, celebrated on the Friday before Martin Luther King Day. (Commonwealth of Virginia)
    • Memorial Day (Turkmenistan)
    • National Youth Day (India)
    • Prosecutor General’s Day (Russia)
    • Zanzibar Revolution Day (Tanzania)