1430 – Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to raise the Siege of Compiègne.
1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.
1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.
1568 – Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Arenberg, and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years’ War.
1609 – Official ratification of the Second Virginia Charter takes place.
1618 – The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years’ War.
1701 – After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London.
1706 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies.
1788 – South Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution as the eighth American state.
1793 – Battle of Famars during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
1829 – Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna, Austrian Empire.
1844 – Declaration of the Báb the evening before the 23rd: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement that would later be brutally crushed by the Persian government. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Bahá’í Faith; Bahá’ís celebrate the day as a holy day.
1846 – Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.
1863 – The General German Workers’ Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony.
1873 – The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
1900 – American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.
1907 – The unicameral Parliament of Finland gathers for its first plenary session.
1911 – The New York Public Library is dedicated.
1915 – World War I: Italy joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London.
1932 – In Brazil, four students are shot and killed during a manifestation against the Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas, which resulted in the outbreak of the Constitutionalist Revolution several weeks later.
1934 – Infamous American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
1934 – The Auto-Lite strike culminates in the “Battle of Toledo”, a five-day melée between 1,300 troops of the Ohio National Guard and 6,000 picketers.
1939 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Squalus sinks off the coast of New Hampshire during a test dive, causing the death of 24 sailors and two civilian technicians. The remaining 32 sailors and one civilian naval architect are rescued the following day.
1945 – World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.
1945 – World War II: Germany’s Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces.
1948 – Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel.
1949 – Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany.
1951 – Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement with China.
1960 – A tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile the previous day kills 61 people in Hilo, Hawaii.
1992 – Italy’s most prominent anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife and three body guards are killed by the Corleonesi clan with a half-ton bomb near Capaci, Sicily. His friend and colleague Paolo Borsellino will be assassinated less than two months later, making 1992 a turning point in the history of Italian Mafia prosecutions.
1995 – The first version of the Java programming language is released.
1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes.
2002 – The “55 parties” clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.
2006 – Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts.
2008 – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.
2013 – A freeway bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington.
2014 – Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed and another 14 injured in a killing spree near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.
2015 – At least 46 people are killed as a result of floods caused by a tornado in Texas and Oklahoma.
2016 – Two suicide bombings, conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, killed at least 45 potential army recruits in Aden, Yemen.
2016 – Eight bombings were carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria. One hundred eighty-four people were killed and at least 200 people injured.
2017 – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao, following the Maute’s attack in Marawi.
Births on May 23
635 – K’inich Kan Bahlam II, Mayan king (d. 702)
675 – Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar II, King of Mutharaiyar dynasty, Tamil Nadu, India
1052 – Philip I of France (d. 1108)
1100 – Emperor Qinzong of Song (d. 1161)
1127 – Uijong of Goryeo, Korean monarch of the Goryeo dynasty (d. 1173)
1330 – Gongmin of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 1374)
1586 – Paul Siefert, German composer and organist (d. 1666)
1606 – Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish mathematician and philosopher (d. 1682)
1614 – Bertholet Flemalle, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1675)
1617 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (d. 1692)
1629 – William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, noble of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1663)
1707 – Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (d. 1778)
1718 – William Hunter, Scottish-English anatomist and physician (d. 1783)
1729 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and educator (d. 1799)
1730 – Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Prussian prince and general (d. 1813)
1734 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologer (d. 1815)
1741 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian organist and composer (d. 1801)
1789 – Franz Schlik, Austrian earl and general (d. 1862)
1790 – Jules Dumont d’Urville, French admiral and explorer (d. 1842)
1790 – James Pradier, French neoclassical sculptor (d. 1852)
1794 – Ignaz Moscheles, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1870)
1795 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed the Upper Brook Street Chapel and Halifax Town Hall (d. 1860)
1800 – Rómulo Díaz de la Vega, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1877)
1810 – Margaret Fuller, American journalist and critic (d. 1850)
1817 – Manuel Robles Pezuela, Unconstitutional Mexican interim president (d. 1862)
1820 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (d. 1887)
1820 – Lorenzo Sawyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 1891)
1824 – Ambrose Burnside, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1881)
1834 – Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis, Latvian architect (d. 1891)
1834 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (d. 1890)
1837 – Anatole Mallet, Swiss mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1919)
1837 – Józef Wieniawski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1912)
1838 – Amaldus Nielsen, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
1840 – George Throssell, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Western Australia (d. 1910)
1844 – `Abdu’l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader (d. 1921)
1848 – Otto Lilienthal, German pilot and engineer (d. 1896)
1855 – Isabella Ford, English author and activist (d. 1924)
1861 – József Rippl-Rónai, Hungarian painter (d. 1927)
1863 – Władysław Horodecki, Polish architect (d. 1930)
1864 – William O’Connor, American fencer (d. 1939)
1865 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian jurist and politician, 11th President of Brazil (d. 1942)
1875 – Alfred P. Sloan, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1966)
1882 – William Halpenny, Canadian pole vaulter (d. 1960)
1883 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1939)
1884 – Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist and demographer (d. 1965)
1887 – Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (d. 1963)
1887 – Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian sailor and captain (d. 1951)
1888 – Adriaan Roland Holst, Dutch writer (d. 1976)
1888 – Zack Wheat, American baseball player and police officer (d. 1972)
1889 – Ernst Niekisch, German educator and politician (d. 1967)
1890 – Herbert Marshall, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
1891 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
1892 – Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, British peer and grandfather of Diana Spencer (d. 1975)
1896 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (d. 1966)
1897 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motorcycle racer (d. 1937)
1898 – Scott O’Dell, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1989)
1898 – Josef Terboven, German soldier and politician (d. 1945)
1899 – Jeralean Talley, American super-centenarian (d. 2015)
1900 – Hans Frank, German lawyer and politician (d. 1946)
1900 – Franz Leopold Neumann, German lawyer and theorist (d. 1954)
1908 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
1908 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (d. 1934)
1910 – Margaret Wise Brown, American author and educator (d. 1952)
1910 – Hugh Casson, English architect and academic (d. 1999)
1910 – Scatman Crothers, American actor and comedian (d. 1986)
1910 – Franz Kline, American painter and academic (d. 1962)
1910 – Artie Shaw, American clarinet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2004)
1911 – Lou Brouillard, Canadian boxer (d. 1984)
1911 – Paul Augustin Mayer, German cardinal (d. 2010)
1911 – Betty Nuthall, English tennis player (d. 1983)
1912 – Jean Françaix, French pianist and composer (d. 1997)
1912 – John Payne, American actor (d. 1989)
1914 – Harold Hitchcock, English visionary landscape artist (d. 2009)
1914 – Celestine Sibley, American journalist and author (d. 1999)
1914 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist, journalist, and prominent Catholic layperson (d. 1981)
1915 – S. Donald Stookey, American physicist and chemist, invented CorningWare (d. 2014)
1917 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (d. 2008)
1918 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1997)
1919 – Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (d. 1988)
1919 – Ruth Fernández, Puerto Rican contralto and a member of the Puerto Rican Senate (d. 2012)
1919 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2011)
1920 – Helen O’Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
1923 – Alicia de Larrocha, Catalan-Spanish pianist (d. 2009)
1923 – Irving Millman, American virologist and microbiologist (d. 2012)
1924 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (d. 2014)
1925 – Joshua Lederberg, American biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
1926 – Basil Salvadore D’Souza, Indian bishop (d. 1996)
1926 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African activist and politician (d. 1995)
1928 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
1928 – Nigel Davenport, English actor (d. 2013)
1928 – Nina Otkalenko, Russian runner (d. 2015)
1929 – Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish-Austrian actress (d. 1982)
1930 – Friedrich Achleitner, German poet and critic (d. 2019)
1931 – Barbara Barrie, American actress
1932 – Kevork Ajemian, Syrian-French journalist and author (d. 1998)
1933 – Joan Collins, English actress
1933 – Ove Fundin, Swedish motorcycle racer
1934 – Robert Moog, electronic engineer and inventor of the Moog synthesizer (d. 2005)
1935 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author (d. 2009)
1936 – Ingeborg Hallstein, German soprano and actress
1936 – Charles Kimbrough, American actor
1939 – Michel Colombier, French-American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
1939 – Reinhard Hauff, German director and screenwriter
1940 – Bjorn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (d. 2002)
1940 – Gérard Larrousse, French race car driver
1940 – Cora Sadosky, Argentinian mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
1941 – Zalman King, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1941 – Rod Thorn, American basketball player, coach, and executive
1942 – Gabriel Liiceanu, Romanian philosopher, author, and academic
1942 – Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao, Indian director, screenwriter, and choreographer
1943 – Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (d. 2016)
1944 – John Newcombe, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
1945 – Padmarajan, Indian director, screenwriter, and author (d. 1991)
1946 – David Graham, Australian golfer
1947 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and translator (d. 1995)
1948 – Myriam Boyer, French actress, director, and producer
1949 – Daniel DiNardo, American cardinal
1949 – Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 61st and 64th President of Peru (d. 2019)
1950 – Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 2017)
1951 – Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess player
1951 – Antonis Samaras, Greek economist and politician, 185th Prime Minister of Greece
1952 – Martin Parr, English photographer and journalist
1954 – Gerry Armstrong, Northern Irish international footballer, striker
1954 – Marvelous Marvin Hagler, American boxer and actor
1955 – Luka Bloom, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1956 – Andrea Pazienza, Italian illustrator and painter (d. 1988)
1956 – Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician and diplomat, Foreign Minister of Austria
1956 – Buck Showalter, American baseball player, coach, and manager
1958 – Mitch Albom, American journalist, author, and screenwriter
1958 – Drew Carey, American actor, game show host, and entrepreneur
1958 – Lea DeLaria, American actress and singer
1959 – Marcella Mesker, Dutch tennis player and sportscaster
1960 – Linden Ashby, American actor
1961 – Daniele Massaro, Italian footballer and manager
1961 – Norrie May-Welby, Scottish Australian gender activist
1962 – Karen Duffy, American actress
1963 – Viviane Baladi, Swiss mathematician
1964 – Ruth Metzler, Swiss lawyer and politician
1965 – Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo, Spanish footballer
1965 – Tom Tykwer, German director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
1965 – Melissa McBride, American actress
1965 – Paul Sironen, Australian rugby league player
1966 – Graeme Hick, Zimbabwean-English cricketer and coach
1966 – Gary Roberts, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1967 – Luís Roberto Alves, Mexican footballer
1967 – Anna Ibrisagic, Swedish politician
1968 – Guinevere Turner, American actress and screenwriter
1970 – Bryan Herta, American race car driver and businessman, co-founded Bryan Herta Autosport
1971 – George Osborne, English journalist and politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer
1972 – Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
1972 – Martin Saggers, English cricketer and umpire
1973 – Maxwell, American singer-songwriter and producer
1974 – Jewel, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actress, and poet
1974 – Manuela Schwesig, German politician, German Federal Minister of Family Affairs
1976 – Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
1977 – Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
1978 – Scott Raynor, American drummer
1979 – Rasual Butler, American basketball player (d. 2018)
1979 – Brian Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Theofanis Gekas, Greek footballer
1980 – Ben Ross, Australian rugby league player
1983 – Silvio Proto, Belgian-Italian footballer
1984 – Hugo Almeida, Portuguese footballer
1985 – Sebastián Fernández, Uruguayan footballer
1985 – Teymuraz Gabashvili, Russian tennis player
1985 – Wim Stroetinga, Dutch cyclist
1985 – Ross Wallace, Scottish footballer
1986 – Ryan Coogler, American film director and screenwriter
332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 47. His first coronation was 28 years earlier, in 844, during the reign of his father Lothair I.
1096 – First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany.
1152 – The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. He would become king two years later, after the death of his cousin once removed King Stephen of England.
1268 – The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch.
1291 – Fall of Acre, the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land.
1302 – Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
1388 – During the Battle of Buyur Lake, General Lan Yu leads a Chinese army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Tögüs Temür, the Khan of Northern Yuan.
1499 – Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.
1565 – The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta.
1593 – Playwright Thomas Kyd’s accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
1631 – In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
1652 – Slavery in Rhode Island is abolished, although the law is not rigorously enforced.
1756 – The Seven Years’ War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
1783 – First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called Saint John, New Brunswick), Canada, after leaving the United States.
1794 – Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
1803 – Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
1811 – Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay led by José Artigas.
1812 – John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
1843 – The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.
1848 – Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.
1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
1896 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the “separate but equal” doctrine is constitutional.
1896 – Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
1900 – The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
1912 – The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.
1917 – World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
1926 – Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in Venice, California.
1927 – The Bath School disaster: Forty-five people, including many children, are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Michigan.
1927 – After being founded for 20 years, the Government of the Republic of China approves Tongji University to be among the first national universities of the Republic of China.
1933 – New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
1944 – World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino: Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino.
1944 – Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.
1948 – The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
1953 – Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
1955 – Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.
1965 – Israeli spy Eli Cohen is hanged in Damascus, Syria.
1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
1973 – Aeroflot Flight 109 is hijacked mid-flight and the aircraft is subsequently destroyed when the hijacker’s bomb explodes, killing all 82 people on board.
1974 – Nuclear weapons testing: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
1977 – Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.
1980 – Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
1980 – Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
1990 – In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).
1991 – Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland but is not recognized by the international community.
1993 – Riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum. Police open fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injure 11 demonstrators.
1994 – Israeli troops finish withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, ceding the area to the Palestinian National Authority to govern.
2005 – A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
2006 – The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.
2009 – The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.
2015 – At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.
2018 – A school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas kills 10 people.
Births on May 18
1048 – Omar Khayyám, Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet (d. 1131)
1186 – Konstantin of Rostov (d. 1218)
1450 – Piero Soderini, Italian politician and diplomat (d. 1513)
1537 – Guido Luca Ferrero, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1585)
1631 – Stanislaus Papczyński, Polish priest (d. 1701)
1662 – George Smalridge, English bishop (d. 1719)
1692 – Joseph Butler, English bishop, theologian, and apologist (d. 1752)
1711 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Ragusan physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1787)
1777 – John George Children, English chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist (d. 1852)
1778 – Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, Irish soldier and diplomat, British Ambassador to Austria (d. 1854)
1785 – John Wilson, Scottish author and critic (d. 1854)
1797 – Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (d. 1854)
1822 – Mathew Brady, American photographer and journalist (d. 1896)
1835 – Charles N. Sims, American Methodist preacher and 3rd chancellor of Syracuse University (d. 1908)
1850 – Oliver Heaviside, English engineer, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1925)
1851 – James Budd, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of California (d. 1908)
1852 – Gertrude Käsebier, American photographer (d. 1934)
1854 – Bernard Zweers, Dutch composer and educator (d. 1924)
1855 – Francis Bellamy, American minister and author (d. 1931)
1862 – Josephus Daniels, American publisher and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1948)
1867 – Minakata Kumagusu, Japanese author, biologist, naturalist and ethnologist (d. 1941)
1868 – Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
1869 – Lucy Beaumont, English-American actress (d. 1937)
1871 – Denis Horgan, Irish shot putter and weight thrower (d. 1922)
1872 – Bertrand Russell, British mathematician, historian, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
1876 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1931)
1878 – Johannes Terwogt, Dutch rower (d. 1977)
1882 – Babe Adams, American baseball player, manager, and journalist (d. 1968)
1883 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Brazilian marshal and politician, 16th President of Brazil (d. 1974)
1883 – Walter Gropius, German-American architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building (d. 1969)
1886 – Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1946)
1889 – Thomas Midgley, Jr., American chemist and engineer (d. 1944)
1891 – Rudolf Carnap, German-American philosopher and academic (d. 1970)
1892 – Ezio Pinza, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1957)
1895 – Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (d. 1934)
1896 – Eric Backman, Swedish runner (d. 1965)
1897 – Frank Capra, Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1991)
1898 – Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel, Turkish poet, author, and playwright (d. 1973)
1901 – Henri Sauguet, French composer (d. 1989)
1901 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
1902 – Meredith Willson, American playwright and composer (d. 1984)
1904 – Shunryū Suzuki, Japanese-American monk and educator (d. 1971)
1904 – Jacob K. Javits, American colonel and politician, 58th New York Attorney General (d. 1986)
1905 – Ruth Alexander, pioneering American pilot (d. 1930)
1905 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1943)
1907 – Irene Hunt, American author and educator (d. 2001)
1909 – Fred Perry, English-Australian tennis player and academic (d. 1995)
1910 – Ester Boserup, Danish economist and author (d. 1999)
1911 – Big Joe Turner, American blues/R&B singer (d. 1985)
1912 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
1912 – Perry Como, American singer and television host (d. 2001)
1912 – Walter Sisulu, South African politician (d. 2003)
1913 – Jane Birdwood, Baroness Birdwood, Canadian-English publisher and politician (d. 2000)
1914 – Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer, founded Balmain (d. 1982)
1914 – Boris Christoff, Bulgarian-Italian opera singer (d. 1993)
1917 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (d. 1973)
1919 – Margot Fonteyn, British ballerina (d. 1991)
1920 – Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
1921 – Michael A. Epstein, English pathologist and academic
1922 – Bill Macy, American actor (d. 2019)
1922 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (d. 1983)
1923 – Jean-Louis Roux, Canadian actor and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
1923 – Hugh Shearer, Jamaican journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004)
1924 – Priscilla Pointer, American actress
1924 – Jack Whitaker, American sportscaster (d. 2019)
1925 – Lillian Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 1998)
1927 – Richard Body, English politician (d. 2018)
1927 – Ray Nagel, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
1928 – Pernell Roberts, American actor (d. 2010)
1929 – Jack Sanford, American baseball player and coach (d. 2000)
1929 – Norman St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 2012)
1930 – Warren Rudman, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
1930 – Fred Saberhagen, American soldier and author (d. 2007)
1931 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (d. 2000)
1931 – Robert Morse, American actor
1931 – Kalju Pitksaar, Estonian chess player (d. 1995)
1931 – Clément Vincent, Canadian farmer and politician (d. 2018)
1933 – Bernadette Chirac, French politician, First Lady of France
1933 – H. D. Deve Gowda, Indian farmer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of India
1933 – Don Whillans, English rock climber and mountaineer (d. 1985)
1934 – Dwayne Hickman, American actor and director
1936 – Leon Ashley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1936 – Türker İnanoğlu, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter
1936 – Michael Sandle, English sculptor and academic
1937 – Brooks Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster
1937 – Jacques Santer, Luxembourger jurist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Luxembourg
1938 – Janet Fish, American painter and academic
1939 – Patrick Cormack, Baron Cormack, English historian, journalist, and politician
1939 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
1939 – Gordon O’Connor, Canadian general and politician, 38th Canadian Minister of Defence
1940 – Erico Aumentado, Filipino journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
1941 – Gino Brito, Canadian wrestler and promoter
1941 – Malcolm Longair, Scottish astronomer, physicist, and academic
1941 – Miriam Margolyes, English-Australian actress and singer
1942 – Nobby Stiles, English footballer, coach, and manager
1944 – Albert Hammond, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1944 – W. G. Sebald, German novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2001)
1946 – Frank Hsieh, Taiwanese lawyer and politician, 40th Premier of the Republic of China
1946 – Reggie Jackson, American baseball player and sportscaster
1946 – Gerd Langguth, German political scientist and author (d. 2013)
1947 – John Bruton, Irish politician, 10th Taoiseach of Ireland
1947 – Gail Strickland, American actress
1948 – Joe Bonsall, American country/gospel singer
1948 – Yi Mun-yol, South Korean author and academic
1948 – Richard Swedberg, Swedish sociologist and academic
1948 – Tom Udall, American lawyer and politician, 28th New Mexico Attorney General, United States Senator from New Mexico
1949 – Rick Wakeman, English progressive rock keyboardist and songwriter (Yes)
1949 – Walter Hawkins, American gospel music singer and pastor (d. 2010)
1950 – Rod Milburn, American hurdler and coach (d. 1997)
1950 – Mark Mothersbaugh, American singer-songwriter and painter
1951 – Richard Clapton, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Jim Sundberg, American baseball player and sportscaster
1951 – Angela Voigt, German long jumper (d. 2013)
1952 – Diane Duane, American author and screenwriter
1952 – David Leakey, English general and politician
1952 – George Strait, American singer, guitarist and producer
1952 – Jeana Yeager, American pilot
1953 – Alan Kupperberg, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
1954 – Wreckless Eric, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – Eric Gerets, Belgian footballer and manager
1955 – Chow Yun-fat, Hong Kong actor and screenwriter
1956 – Catherine Corsini, French director and screenwriter
1956 – John Godber, English playwright and screenwriter
1957 – Michael Cretu, Romanian-German keyboard player and producer
1957 – Henrietta Moore, English anthropologist and academic
1958 – Rubén Omar Romano, Argentinian-Mexican footballer and coach
1958 – Toyah Willcox, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1959 – Graham Dilley, English cricketer and coach (d. 2011)
1959 – Jay Wells, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Brent Ashton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Jari Kurri, Finnish ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1960 – Yannick Noah, French tennis player
1961 – Russell Senior, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1963 – Marty McSorley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1963 – Sam Vincent, American basketball player and coach
1964 – Ignasi Guardans, Spanish academic and politician
1966 – Renata Nielsen, Polish-Danish long jumper and coach
1966 – Michael Tait, American singer-songwriter and producer
1967 – Nina Björk, Swedish journalist and author
1967 – Heinz-Harald Frentzen, German race car driver
1967 – Nancy Juvonen, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded Flower Films
1967 – Mimi Macpherson, Australian environmentalist, entrepreneur and celebrity
1968 – Philippe Benetton, French rugby player
1968 – Ralf Kelleners, German race car driver
1969 – Troy Cassar-Daley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1969 – Martika, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1969 – Antônio Carlos Zago, Brazilian footballer and manager
1970 – Tina Fey, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1970 – Tim Horan, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
1970 – Billy Howerdel, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1970 – Javier Cárdenas, Spanish singer, television and radio presenter
1970 – Vicky Sunohara, Canadian former ice hockey player
1971 – Brad Friedel, American international soccer player, goalkeeper, manager and sportscaster
1971 – Mark Menzies, Scottish politician
1971 – Nobuteru Taniguchi, Japanese race car driver
1972 – Turner Stevenson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1973 – Donyell Marshall, American basketball player and coach
1973 – Aleksandr Olerski, Estonian footballer (d. 2011)
1974 – Nelson Figueroa, American baseball player and sportscaster
1975 – Jem, Welsh singer-songwriter and producer
1975 – John Higgins, Scottish snooker player
1975 – Jack Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1976 – Ron Mercer, American basketball player
1976 – Marko Tomasović, Croatian pianist and composer
1976 – Oleg Tverdovsky, Ukrainian-Russian ice hockey player
1977 – Lee Hendrie, English footballer
1977 – Danny Mills, English footballer and sportscaster
1977 – Li Tie, Chinese footballer and manager
1978 – Ricardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer
1978 – Marcus Giles, American baseball player
1978 – Charles Kamathi, Kenyan runner
1979 – Jens Bergensten, Swedish video game designer, co-designed Minecraft
1979 – Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer
1979 – Michal Martikán, Slovak slalom canoeist
1979 – Milivoje Novaković, Slovenian footballer
1979 – Julián Speroni, Argentinian footballer
1980 – Reggie Evans, American basketball player
1980 – Michaël Llodra, French tennis player
1980 – Diego Pérez, Uruguayan footballer
1981 – Mahamadou Diarra, Malian international footballer
1981 – Ashley Harrison, Australian rugby league player
1982 – Jason Brown, English footballer
1982 – Marie-Ève Pelletier, Canadian tennis player
1983 – Gary O’Neil, English footballer
1983 – Luis Terrero, Dominican baseball player
1983 – Vince Young, American football player
1984 – Ivet Lalova, Bulgarian sprinter
1984 – Simon Pagenaud, French race car driver
1984 – Darius Šilinskis, Lithuanian basketball player
1984 – Joakim Soria, Mexican baseball player
1984 – Niki Terpstra, Dutch cyclist
1985 – Oliver Sin, Hungarian painter
1985 – Henrique Sereno, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Ahmed Hamada, Egyptian race car driver
1986 – Kevin Anderson, South African tennis player
1988 – Taeyang, South Korean singer
1990 – Dimitri Daeseleire, Belgian footballer
1990 – Yuya Osako, Japanese footballer
1990 – Josh Starling, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Adwoa Aboah, British fashion model
1993 – Stuart Percy, Canadian ice hockey player
1993 – Jessica Watson, Australian sailor
1998 – Polina Edmunds, American figure skater
1999 – Laura Omloop, Belgian singer-songwriter
2000 – Ryan Sessegnon, English footballer
2000 – Steven Sessegnon, English footballer
2002 – Alina Zagitova, Russian figure skater
Deaths on May 18
526 – Pope John I (b. 470)
893 – Stephen I of Constantinople (b. 867)
932 – Ma Shaohong, general of Later Tang
947 – Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty
978 – Frederick I, duke of Upper Lorraine
1065 – Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine (b. c. 1003)
1096 – Minna of Worms, Jewish martyr killed during the Worms massacre (1096)
1160 – Eric Jedvardsson (King Eric IX) of Sweden (since 1156); (b. circa 1120)
1297 – Nicholas Longespee, Bishop of Salisbury
1401 – Vladislaus II of Opole (b. 1332)
1410 – Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1352)
1550 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (b. 1498)
1551 – Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Italian painter (b. 1486)
1675 – Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer, historian, and theologian (b. 1623)
1675 – Jacques Marquette, French-American missionary and explorer (b. 1637)
1692 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (b. 1617)
1721 – Maria Barbara Carillo, victim of the Spanish Inquisition (b.1625)
1733 – Georg Böhm, German organist and composer (b. 1761)
1780 – Charles Hardy, English-American admiral and politician, 29th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1714)
1781 – Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian-Indian rebel leader (b. 1742)
1792 – Levy Solomons, Canadian merchant and fur trader (b. 1730)
1795 – Robert Rogers, English colonel (b. 1731)
1799 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and publisher (b. 1732)
1800 – Alexander Suvorov, Russian general (b. 1729)
1807 – John Douglas, Scottish bishop and scholar (b. 1721)
1808 – Elijah Craig, American minister, inventor, and educator, invented Bourbon whiskey (b. 1738)
1844 – Richard McCarty, American lawyer and politician (b. 1780)
1853 – Lionel Kieseritzky, Estonian-French chess player (b. 1806)
1867 – Clarkson Stanfield, English painter (b. 1793)
1097 – The Siege of Nicaea begins during the First Crusade.
1264 – Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured and forced to sign the Mise of Lewes, making Simon de Montfort the effective ruler of England.
1509 – Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat the Republic of Venice.
1607 – Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony.
1608 – The Protestant Union, a coalition of Protestant German states, is founded to defend the rights, land and safety of each member against the Catholic Church and Catholic German states.
1610 – Henry IV of France is assassinated by Catholic zealot François Ravaillac, and Louis XIII ascends the throne.
1643 – Four-year-old Louis XIV becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.
1747 – War of the Austrian Succession: A British fleet under Admiral George Anson defeats the French at the First Battle of Cape Finisterre.
1796 – Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox inoculation.
1800 – The 6th United States Congress recesses, and the process of moving the U.S. Government from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., begins the following day.
1804 – William Clark and 42 men depart from Camp Dubois to join Meriwether Lewis at St. Charles, Missouri, marking the beginning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition‘s historic journey up the Missouri River.
1811 – Paraguay: Pedro Juan Caballero, Fulgencio Yegros and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia start actions to depose the Spanish governor.
1836 – The Treaties of Velasco are signed in Velasco, Texas.
1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Jackson takes place.
1868 – Boshin War: The Battle of Utsunomiya Castle ends as former Tokugawa shogunate forces withdraw northward.
1870 – The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.
1878 – The last witchcraft trial held in the United States begins in Salem, Massachusetts, after Lucretia Brown, an adherent of Christian Science, accused Daniel Spofford of attempting to harm her through his mental powers.
1879 – The first group of 463 Indian indentured laborers arrives in Fiji aboard the Leonidas.
1913 – Governor of New York William Sulzer approves the charter for the Rockefeller Foundation, which begins operations with a $100 million donation from John D. Rockefeller.
1918 – Cape Town Mayor, Sir Harry Hands, inaugurates the Two-minute silence.
1925 – Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs Dalloway is published.
1931 – Five unarmed civilians are killed in the Ådalen shootings, as the Swedish military is called in to deal with protesting workers.
1935 – The Constitution of the Philippines is ratified by a popular vote.
1939 – Lina Medina becomes the youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five.
1940 – World War II: Rotterdam, Netherlands is bombed by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany despite a ceasefire, killing about 900 people and destroying the historic city center.
1943 – World War II: A Japanese submarine sinks AHS Centaur off the coast of Queensland.
1948 – Israel is declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established. Immediately after the declaration, Israel is attacked by the neighboring Arab states, triggering the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
1951 – Trains run on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers.
1955 – Cold War: Eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
1961 – Civil rights movement: A white mob twice attacks a Freedom Riders bus near Anniston, Alabama, before fire-bombing the bus and attacking the civil rights protesters who flee the burning vehicle.
1970 – Andreas Baader is freed from custody by Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin and others, a pivotal moment in the formation of the Red Army Faction.
1973 – Skylab, the United States’ first space station, is launched.
1977 – A Dan-Air Boeing 707 leased to IAS Cargo Airlines crashes on approach to Lusaka International Airport (now Kenneth Kaunda International Airport) in Lusaka, Zambia, killing six people.
1980 – Salvadoran Civil War: the Sumpul River massacre occurs in Chalatenango, El Salvador.
1988 – Carrollton bus collision: A drunk driver traveling the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. Twenty-seven die in the crash and ensuing fire.
2004 – The Constitutional Court of South Korea overturns the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun.
2004 – Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4815 crashes into the Amazon rainforest during approach to Eduardo Gomes International Airport in Manaus, Brazil, killing 33 people.
2010 – Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on the STS-132 mission to deliver the first shuttle-launched Russian ISS component — Rassvet. This was originally slated to be the final launch of Atlantis, before Congress approved STS-135.
2012 – Agni Air Flight CHT crashes in Nepal after a failed go-around, killing 15 people.
Births on May 14
1316 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1378)
1553 – Margaret of Valois (d. 1615)
1574 – Francesco Rasi, Italian singer-songwriter, theorbo player, and poet (d. 1621)
1592 – Alice Barnham, wife of statesman Francis Bacon (d. 1650)
1630 – Katakura Kagenaga, Japanese samurai (d. 1681)
1652 – Johann Philipp Förtsch, German composer (d. 1732)
1657 – Sambhaji, Indian emperor (d. 1689)
1666 – Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (d. 1732)
1679 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (d. 1764)
1699 – Hans Joachim von Zieten, Prussian general (d. 1786)
1701 – William Emerson, English mathematician and academic (d. 1782)
1710 – Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (d. 1771)
1725 – Ludovico Manin, the last Doge of Venice (d. 1802)
1727 – Thomas Gainsborough, English painter (d. 1788)
1737 – George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, Irish-English politician and diplomat, Governor of Grenada (d. 1806)
1752 – Timothy Dwight IV, American minister, theologian, and academic (d. 1817)
1752 – Albrecht Thaer, German agronomist and author (d. 1828)
1761 – Samuel Dexter, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of War, 3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1816)
1771 – Robert Owen, Welsh businessman and social reformer (d. 1858)
1771 – Thomas Wedgwood, English photographer (d. 1805)
1781 – Friedrich Ludwig Georg von Raumer, German historian and academic (d. 1873)
1794 – Fanny Imlay, daughter of British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (d. 1816)
1814 – Charles Beyer, German-English engineer, co-founded Beyer, Peacock and Company (d. 1876)
1817 – Alexander Kaufmann, German poet and educator (d. 1893)
1820 – James Martin, Irish-Australian politician, 6th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1886)
1830 – Antonio Annetto Caruana, Maltese archaeologist and author (d. 1905)
1832 – Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician and academic (d. 1903)
1851 – Anna Laurens Dawes, American author and suffragist (d. 1938)
1852 – Henri Julien, Canadian illustrator (d. 1908)
1863 – John Charles Fields, Canadian mathematician, founder of the Fields Medal (d. 1932)
1867 – Kurt Eisner, German journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Bavaria (d. 1919)
1868 – Magnus Hirschfeld, German physician and sexologist (d. 1935)
1869 – Arthur Rostron, English captain (d. 1940)
1872 – Elia Dalla Costa, Italian cardinal (d. 1961)
1878 – J. L. Wilkinson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1964)
1879 – Fred Englehardt, American jumper (d. 1942)
1880 – Wilhelm List, German field marshal (d. 1971)
1881 – Lionel Hill, Australian politician, 30th Premier of South Australia (d. 1963)
1881 – George Murray Hulbert, American judge and politician (d. 1950)
1885 – Otto Klemperer, German composer and conductor (d. 1973)
1887 – Ants Kurvits, Estonian general and politician, 10th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1943)
1888 – Archie Alexander, American mathematician and engineer (d. 1958)
1893 – Louis Verneuil, French actor and playwright (d. 1952)
1897 – Sidney Bechet, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer (d. 1959)
1897 – Ed Ricketts, American biologist and ecologist (d. 1948)
1899 – Charlotte Auerbach, German-Jewish Scottish folklorist, geneticist, and zoologist. (d.1994)
1899 – Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist and academic (d. 1993)
1899 – Earle Combs, American baseball player and coach (d. 1976)
1900 – Hal Borland, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
1900 – Walter Rehberg, Swiss pianist and composer (d. 1957)
1900 – Cai Chang, Chinese first leader of All-China Women’s Federation (d. 1990)
1900 – Leo Smit, Dutch pianist and composer (d. 1943)
1900 – Edgar Wind, German-English historian, author, and academic (d. 1971)
1901 – Robert Ritter, German psychologist and physician (d. 1951)
1903 – Billie Dove, American actress (d. 1997)
1904 – Hans Albert Einstein, Swiss-American engineer and educator (d. 1973)
1904 – Marcel Junod, Swiss physician and anesthesiologist (d. 1961)
1905 – Jean Daniélou, French cardinal and theologian (d. 1974)
1905 – Herbert Morrison, American soldier and journalist (d. 1989)
1905 – Antonio Berni, Argentinian painter, illustrator, and engraver (d. 1981)
1907 – Ayub Khan, Pakistani general and politician, 2nd President of Pakistan (d. 1974)
1907 – Hans von der Groeben, German journalist and diplomat (d. 2005)
1908 – Betty Jeffrey, Australian nurse and author (d. 2000)
1909 – Godfrey Rampling, English sprinter and colonel (d. 2009)
1910 – Ken Viljoen, South African cricketer (d. 1974)
1910 – Ne Win, Prime Minister and President of Burma (d. 2002)
1914 – Gul Khan Nasir, Pakistani journalist, poet, and politician (d. 1983)
1914 – William Thomas Tutte, British codebreaker and mathematician (d. 2002)
1916 – Robert F. Christy, Canadian-American physicist and astronomer (d. 2012)
1916 – Lance Dossor, English-Australian pianist and educator (d. 2005)
1916 – Marco Zanuso, Italian architect and designer (d. 2001)
1917 – Lou Harrison, American composer and critic (d. 2003)
1917 – Norman Luboff, American composer and conductor (d. 1987)
1919 – Solange Chaput-Rolland, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2001)
1919 – John Hope, American soldier and meteorologist (d. 2002)
1921 – Richard Deacon, American actor (d. 1984)
1922 – Franjo Tuđman, Yugoslav historian; later 1st President of Croatia (d. 1999)
1923 – Adnan Pachachi, Iraqi politician, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2019)
1923 – Mrinal Sen, Bangladeshi-Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1925 – Sophie Kurys, American baseball player (d. 2013)
1925 – Patrice Munsel, American soprano and actress (d. 2016)
1925 – Boris Parsadanian, Armenian-Estonian violinist and composer (d. 1997)
1925 – Al Porcino, American trumpet player (d. 2013)
1925 – Ninian Sanderson, Scottish race car driver (d. 1985)
1926 – Eric Morecambe, English comedian and actor (d. 1984)
1927 – Herbert W. Franke, Austrian scientist and author
1928 – Dub Jones, American R&B bass singer (d. 2000)
1928 – Frederik H. Kreuger, Dutch engineer, author, and academic (d. 2015)
1928 – Brian Macdonald, Canadian dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
1929 – Barbara Branden, Canadian-American author (d. 2013)
1929 – Henry McGee, English actor and singer (d. 2006)
1929 – Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
1930 – William James, Australian general and physician (d. 2015)
1931 – Alvin Lucier, American composer and academic
1932 – Robert Bechtle, American lithographer and painter
1933 – Siân Phillips, Welsh actress and singer
1935 – Ethel Johnson, American professional wrestler (d. 2018)
1935 – Rudi Šeligo, Slovenian playwright and politician (d. 2004)
1936 – Bobby Darin, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1973)
1936 – Dick Howser, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1987)
1938 – Robert Boyd, English pediatrician and academic
1939 – Rupert Neudeck, German journalist and humanitarian (d. 2016)
1939 – Troy Shondell, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
1940 – Chay Blyth, Scottish sailor and rower
1940 – H. Jones, English colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1982)
1940 – George Mathewson, Scottish banker and businessman
1941 – Ada den Haan, Dutch swimmer
1942 – Valeriy Brumel, Russian high jumper (d. 2003)
1942 – Byron Dorgan, American lawyer and politician
1942 – Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green, English businessman and politician (d. 2014)
1942 – Tony Pérez, Cuban-American baseball player and manager
1942 – Malise Ruthven, Irish author and academic
1943 – Jack Bruce, Scottish-English singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2014)
1943 – L. Denis Desautels, Canadian accountant and civil servant
1943 – Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Icelandic academic and politician, 5th President of Iceland
1943 – Derek Leckenby, English pop-rock guitarist (d. 1994)
1943 – Richard Peto, English statistician and epidemiologist
1944 – Gene Cornish, Canadian-American guitarist
1944 – George Lucas, American director, producer, and screenwriter, founded Lucasfilm
1944 – David Kelly, Welsh scientist (d. 2003)
1945 – Francesca Annis, English actress
1945 – George Nicholls, English rugby player
1945 – Yochanan Vollach, Israeli footballer
1946 – Sarah Hogg, Viscountess Hailsham, English economist and journalist
1947 – Al Ciner, American pop-rock guitarist
1947 – Ana Martín, Mexican actress, singer producer and former model (Miss Mexico 1963)
1948 – Timothy Stevenson, English lawyer and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire
1948 – Bob Woolmer, Indian-English cricketer and coach (d. 2007)
1949 – Sverre Årnes, Norwegian author, screenwriter, and director
1949 – Walter Day, American game designer and businessman, founded Twin Galaxies
1949 – Johan Schans, Dutch swimmer
1949 – Klaus-Peter Thaler, German cyclist
1951 – Jay Beckenstein, American saxophonist
1952 – David Byrne, Scottish singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1952 – Michael Fallon, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Defence
1952 – Orna Grumberg, Israeli computer scientist and academic
1952 – Raul Mälk, Estonian politician, 22nd Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1952 – Wim Mertens, Belgian composer, countertenor vocalist, pianist, guitarist, and musicologist.
1952 – Donald R. McMonagle, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1952 – Robert Zemeckis, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1953 – Tom Cochrane, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 – Hywel Williams, Welsh politician
1955 – Marie Chouinard, Canadian dancer and choreographer
1955 – Alasdair Fraser, Scottish fiddler
1955 – Peter Kirsten, South African cricketer and rugby player
1955 – Dennis Martínez, Nicaraguan baseball player and coach
1955 – Jens Sparschuh, German author and playwright
1956 – Hazel Blears, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
1956 – Steve Hogarth, English singer-songwriter and keyboardist
1958 – Christine Brennan, American journalist and author
1958 – Chris Evans, English-Australian politician, 26th Australian Minister for Employment
1958 – Rudy Pérez, Cuban-born American composer and music producer
1958 – Wilma Rusman, Dutch runner
1959 – Carlisle Best, Barbadian cricketer
1959 – Patrick Bruel, French actor, singer, and poker player
1959 – Markus Büchel, Liechtensteiner politician, 9th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein (d. 2013)
1959 – Robert Greene, American author and translator
1959 – John Holt, American football player (d. 2013)
1959 – Rick Vaive, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1959 – Heather Wheeler, English politician
1960 – Anne Clark, English singer-songwriter and poet
1960 – Alec Dankworth, English bassist and composer
1960 – Frank Nobilo, New Zealand golfer
1960 – Ronan Tynan, Irish tenor
1961 – David Quantick, English journalist and critic
1961 – Tommy Rogers, American wrestler (d. 2015)
1961 – Tim Roth, English actor and director
1961 – Alain Vigneault, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1962 – Ian Astbury, English-Canadian singer-songwriter
1962 – C.C. DeVille, American guitarist, songwriter, and actor
1962 – Danny Huston, Italian-American actor and director
1963 – Pat Borders, American baseball player and coach
1963 – David Yelland, English journalist and author
1964 – James M. Kelly, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1964 – Suzy Kolber, American sportscaster and producer
1964 – Alan McIndoe, Australian rugby league player
1964 – Eric Peterson, American guitarist and songwriter
1965 – Eoin Colfer, Irish author
1966 – Marianne Denicourt, French actress, director, and screenwriter
1966 – Mike Inez, American rock bass player and songwriter
1966 – Fab Morvan, French singer-songwriter, dancer and model
1966 – Raphael Saadiq, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1967 – Natasha Kaiser-Brown, American sprinter and coach
1967 – Tony Siragusa, American football player and journalist
1968 – Mary DePiero, Canadian diver
1969 – Cate Blanchett, Australian actress
1969 – Sabine Schmitz, German race car driver and sportscaster
1969 – Henry Smith, English politician
1969 – Danny Wood, American singer-songwriter, record producer, and choreographer
1971 – Deanne Bray, American actress
1971 – Sofia Coppola, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Martin Reim, Estonian footballer and manager
1972 – Kirstjen Nielsen, American attorney, 6th United States Secretary of Homeland Security
1973 – Natalie Appleton, Canadian singer and actress
1973 – Voshon Lenard, American basketball player
1973 – Fraser Nelson, Scottish journalist
1973 – Hakan Ünsal, Turkish footballer and sportscaster
1973 – Julian White, English rugby player
1974 – Anu Välba, Estonian journalist
1975 – Nicki Sørensen, Danish cyclist
1976 – Hunter Burgan, American bass player
1976 – Brian Lawrence, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Martine McCutcheon, English actress and singer
1977 – Sophie Anderton, English model and actress
1977 – Roy Halladay, American baseball player (d. 2017)
1977 – Ada Nicodemou, Cypriot-Australian actress
1978 – Brent Harvey, Australian footballer
1978 – Eddie House, American basketball player
1978 – André Macanga, Angolan footballer and manager
1978 – Gustavo Varela, Uruguayan footballer
1979 – Dan Auerbach, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1979 – Edwige Lawson-Wade, French basketball player
1979 – Clinton Morrison, English-Irish footballer
1979 – Carlos Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer
1980 – Zdeněk Grygera, Czech footballer
1980 – Pavel Londak, Estonian footballer
1980 – Eugene Martineau, Dutch decathlete
1980 – Júlia Sebestyén, Hungarian figure skater
1980 – Hugo Southwell, English-Scottish rugby player
1980 – Joe van Niekerk, South African rugby player
1981 – Pranav Mistry, Indian computer scientist, invented SixthSense
1983 – Anahí, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1983 – Keeley Donovan, English journalist
1983 – Frank Gore, American football player
1983 – Uroš Slokar, Slovenian basketball player
1983 – Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwean cricketer
1983 – Amber Tamblyn, American actress, author, model, director
1984 – Gary Ablett, Jr., Australian footballer
1984 – Luke Gregerson, American baseball player
1984 – Olly Murs, English singer-songwriter
1984 – Michael Rensing, German footballer
1984 – Indrek Siska, Estonian footballer
1984 – Mark Zuckerberg, American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Facebook
1985 – Dustin Lynch, American singer-songwriter
1985 – Sam Perrett, New Zealand rugby league player
1985 – Simona Peycheva, Bulgarian gymnast
1985 – Zack Ryder, American wrestler
1986 – Andrea Bovo, Italian footballer
1986 – Clay Matthews III, American football player
1986 – Marco Motta, Italian footballer
1987 – Jeong Min-hyeong, South Korean footballer (d. 2012)
1987 – Franck Songo’o, Cameroonian footballer
1987 – François Steyn, South African rugby player
1988 – Jayne Appel, American basketball player
1989 – Rob Gronkowski, American football player
1989 – Alina Talay, Belorussian hurdler
1993 – Miranda Cosgrove, American actress and singer
1993 – Kristina Mladenovic, French tennis player
1993 – Bence Rakaczki, Hungarian footballer (d. 2014)
1994 – Marcos Aoás Corrêa, Brazilian footballer
1994 – Pernille Blume, Danish swimmer
1994 – Bronte Campbell, Australian swimmer
1994 – Dennis Praet, Belgian footballer
1995 – Bernardo Fernandes da Silva Junior, Brazilian footballer
1995 – Jonah Placid, Australian rugby player
1996 – Martin Garrix, Dutch DJ
2001 – Jack Hughes, American hockey player
Deaths on May 14
649 – Pope Theodore I
934 – Zhu Hongzhao, Chinese general and governor
964 – Pope John XII (b. 927)
1080 – William Walcher, Bishop of Durham
1219 – William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, English soldier and politician (b. 1147)
1470 – Charles VIII of Sweden (b. 1409)
1576 – Tahmasp I, Shah of Persia (b. 1514)
1603 – Magnus II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1543)
1608 – Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1543)
1610 – Henry IV of France (b. 1553)
1643 – Louis XIII of France (b. 1601)
1649 – Friedrich Spanheim, Swiss theologian and academic (b. 1600)
1667 – Georges de Scudéry, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1601)
1688 – Antoine Furetière, French scholar, lexicographer, and author (b. 1619)
1754 – Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French playwright and producer (b. 1692)
1761 – Thomas Simpson, English mathematician and academic (b. 1710)
1847 – Fanny Mendelssohn, German pianist and composer (b. 1805)
1860 – Ludwig Bechstein, German author (b. 1801)
1873 – Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician and author (b. 1797)
1878 – Ōkubo Toshimichi, Japanese samurai and politician (b. 1830)
1881 – Mary Seacole, Jamaican-English nurse and author (b. 1805)
1889 – Volney Howard, American lawyer, jurist, and politician (b. 1809)
1893 – Ernst Kummer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1810)
1906 – Carl Schurz, German-American general, journalist, and politician, 13th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1829)
1912 – Frederick VIII of Denmark (b. 1843)
1912 – August Strindberg, Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist (b. 1849)
1918 – James Gordon Bennett, Jr., American journalist and publisher (b. 1841)
1919 – Henry J. Heinz, American businessman, founded the H. J. Heinz Company (b. 1844)
1923 – N. G. Chandavarkar, Indian jurist and politician (b. 1855)
1923 – Charles de Freycinet, French engineer and politician, 43rd Prime Minister of France (b. 1828)
1931 – David Belasco, American director, producer, and playwright (b. 1853)
1934 – Lou Criger, American baseball player and manager (b. 1872)
1935 – Magnus Hirschfeld, German physician and sexologist (b. 1868)
1936 – Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, English field marshal and diplomat, British High Commissioner in Egypt (b. 1861)
1940 – Emma Goldman, Lithuanian author and activist (b. 1869)
1940 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch author (b. 1902)
1943 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854)
1945 – Heber J. Grant, American religious leader, 7th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1856)
1945 – Wolfgang Lüth, Latvian-German captain (b. 1913)
1945 – Isis Pogson, English astronomer and meteorologist (b. 1852)
1953 – Yasuo Kuniyoshi, American painter and photographer (b. 1893)
1954 – Heinz Guderian, Prussian-German general (b. 1888)
1956 – Joan Malleson, English physician (b. 1889)
1957 – Marie Vassilieff, Russian-French painter (b. 1884)
1959 – Sidney Bechet, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer (b. 1897)
1959 – Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal (b. 1862)
1960 – Lucrezia Bori, Spanish soprano and actress (b. 1887)
1962 – Florence Auer, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1880)
1968 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (b. 1882)
1373 – Julian of Norwich has visions of Jesus while suffering from a life-threatening illness, visions which are later described and interpreted in her book Revelations of Divine Love.
1515 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, are officially married at Greenwich.
1568 – Battle of Langside: The forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother.
1619 – Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after being convicted of treason.
1779 – War of the Bavarian Succession: Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives the part of its territory that was taken from it (the Innviertel).
1780 – The Cumberland Compact is signed by leaders of the settlers in the Cumberland River area of what would become the U.S. state of Tennessee, providing for democratic government and a formal system of justice.
1787 – Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England, with eleven ships full of convicts (the “First Fleet”) to establish a penal colony in Australia.
1804 – Forces sent by Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli to retake Derna from the Americans attack the city.
1830 – Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia.
1846 – Mexican–American War: The United States declares war on the Federal Republic of Mexico following a dispute over the American annexation of the Republic of Texas and a Mexican military incursion.
1861 – American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a “proclamation of neutrality” which recognizes the Confederacy as having belligerent rights.
1861 – The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.
1861 – Pakistan’s (then a part of British India) first railway line opens, from Karachi to Kotri.
1862 – The USS Planter, a steamer and gunship, steals through Confederate lines and is passed to the Union, by a southern slave, Robert Smalls, who later was officially appointed as captain, becoming the first black man to command a United States ship.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Resaca: The battle begins with Union General Sherman fighting toward Atlanta.
1865 – American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch: In far south Texas, the last land battle of the Civil War ends with a Confederate victory.
1880 – In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.
1888 – With the passage of the Lei Áurea (“Golden Law”), Empire of Brazil abolishes slavery.
1909 – The first Giro d’Italia starts from Milan. Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna will be the winner.
1912 – The Royal Flying Corps, the forerunner of the Royal Air Force, is established in the United Kingdom.
1917 – Three children report the first apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal.
1940 – World War II: Germany’s conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse. Winston Churchill makes his “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech to the House of Commons.
1940 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees her country to Great Britain after the German invasion. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety.
1941 – World War II: Yugoslav royal colonel Dragoljub Mihailović starts fighting against German occupation troops, beginning the Serbian resistance.
1943 – World War II: Operations Vulcan and Strike force the surrender of the last Axis troops in Tunisia.
1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The Kfar Etzion massacre is committed by Arab irregulars, the day before the declaration of independence of the state of Israel on May 14.
1950 – The first round of the Formula One World Championship is held at Silverstone.
1951 – The 400th anniversary of the founding of the National University of San Marcos is commemorated by the opening of the first large-capacity stadium in Peru.
1952 – The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, holds its first sitting.
1954 – The anti-National Service Riots, by Chinese middle school students in Singapore, take place.
1954 – The original Broadway production of The Pajama Game opens and runs for another 1,063 performances. Later received three Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, and Best Choreography.
1958 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon’s car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
1958 – May 1958 crisis: A group of French military officers lead a coup in Algiers demanding that a government of national unity be formed with Charles de Gaulle at its head in order to defend French control of Algeria.
1958 – Ben Carlin becomes the first (and only) person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 17,000 kilometres (11,000 mi) by sea and 62,000 kilometres (39,000 mi) by land during a ten-year journey.
1960 – Hundreds of University of California, Berkeley students congregate for the first day of protest against a visit by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
1967 – Dr. Zakir Husain becomes the third President of India. He is the first Muslim President of the Indian Union. He holds this position until August 24, 1969.
1969 – May 13 Incident involving sectarian violence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
1971 – Over 900 unarmed Bengali Hindus are murdered in the Demra massacre.
1972 – Faulty electrical wiring ignites a fire underneath the Playtown Cabaret in Osaka, Japan. Blocked exits and non-functional elevators lead to 118 fatalities, with many victims leaping to their deaths.
1972 – The Troubles: A car bombing outside a crowded pub in Belfast sparks a two-day gun battle involving the Provisional IRA, Ulster Volunteer Force and British Army. Seven people are killed and over 66 injured.
1980 – An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area.
1981 – Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The Pope is rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survives.
1985 – Police bombed MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia to end a stand-off, killing six adults and five children, and destroying the homes of 250 city residents.
1989 – Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike.
1990 – The Dinamo–Red Star riot took place at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, Croatia between the Bad Blue Boys (fans of Dinamo Zagreb) and the Delije (fans of Red Star Belgrade).
1992 – Li Hongzhi gives the first public lecture on Falun Gong in Changchun, People’s Republic of China.
1995 – Alison Hargreaves, a 33-year-old British mother, becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas.
1996 – Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.
1998 – Race riots break out in Jakarta, Indonesia, where shops owned by Indonesians of Chinese descent are looted and women raped.
1998 – India carries out two nuclear weapon tests at Pokhran, following the three conducted on May 11. The United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on India.
2005 – Andijan uprising, Uzbekistan; Troops open fire on crowds of protestors after a prison break; at least 187 people were killed according to official estimates.
2006 – São Paulo violence: Rebellions occur in several prisons in Brazil.
2011 – Two bombs explode in the Charsadda District of Pakistan killing 98 people and wounding 140 others.
2012 – Forty-nine dismembered bodies are discovered by Mexican authorities on Mexican Federal Highway 40.
2013 – American physician Kermit Gosnell is found guilty in Pennsylvania of murdering three infants born alive during attempted abortions, involuntary manslaughter of a woman during an abortion procedure, and other charges.
2014 – An explosion at an underground coal mine in southwest Turkey kills 301 miners.
Births on May 13
1024 – Hugh of Cluny, French abbot and saint (d. 1109)
1179 – Theobald III, Count of Champagne (d. 1201)
1221 – Alexander Nevsky, Russian prince and saint (d. 1263)
1254 – Marie of Brabant, Queen of France (d. 1321)
1453 – Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran, Scottish princess (d. 1488)
1588 – Ole Worm, Danish physician and historian (d. 1654)
1597 – Cornelis Schut, Flemish painter, draughtsman and engraver (d. 1655)
1638 – Richard Simon, French priest and scholar (d. 1712)
1699 – Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, Portuguese politician, Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1782)
1712 – Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, Danish politician and diplomat (d. 1772)
1713 – Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (d. 1765)
1717 – Maria Theresa, Archduchess, Queen, and Empress; Austrian wife of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1780)
1730 – Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1782)
1735 – Horace Coignet, French violinist and composer (d. 1821)
1742 – Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (d. 1798)
1753 – Lazare Carnot, French general, mathematician, and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 1823)
1792 – Pope Pius IX (d. 1878)
1794 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (d. 1835)
1795 – Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist and chronologist (d. 1875)
1811 – Juan Bautista Ceballos, President of Mexico (1853) (b. 1859)
1822 – Francis, Duke of Cádiz (d. 1902)
1830 – Zebulon Baird Vance, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of North Carolina (d. 1894)
1832 – Juris Alunāns, Latvian philologist and author (d. 1864)
1840 – Alphonse Daudet, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1897)
1842 – Arthur Sullivan, English composer (d. 1900)
1853 – Vaiben Louis Solomon, Australian politician, 21st Premier of South Australia (d. 1908)
1856 – Tom O’Rourke, American boxer and manager (d. 1938)
1857 – Ronald Ross, Indian-English physician and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
1868 – Sumner Paine, American target shooter (d. 1904)
1869 – Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Turkish writer (d. 1944)
1877 – Robert Hamilton, Scottish international footballer (d. 1948)
1881 – Lima Barreto, Brazilian journalist and author (d. 1922)
1881 – Joe Forshaw, American runner (d. 1964)
1882 – Georges Braque, French painter and sculptor (d. 1963)
1883 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek-American pathologist, invented the pap smear (d. 1962)
1884 – Oskar Rosenfeld, Jewish-Austrian writer and Holocaust victim (d.1944)
1885 – Mikiel Gonzi, Maltese archbishop (d. 1984)
1887 – Lorna Hodgkinson, Australian educator and educational psychologist (d. 1951)
1888 – Inge Lehmann, Danish seismologist and geophysicist (d. 1993)
1894 – Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, Icelandic politician, 2nd President of Iceland (d. 1972)
1895 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-American psychologist, parapsychologist, and author (d. 1964)
1901 – Murilo Mendes, Brazilian poet and telegrapher (d. 1975)
1904 – Louis Duffus, Australian-South African cricketer and journalist (d. 1984)
1905 – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th President of India (d. 1977)
1907 – Daphne du Maurier, English novelist and playwright (d. 1989)
1908 – Eugen Kapp, Estonian composer and educator (d. 1996)
1909 – Ken Darby, American composer and conductor (d. 1992)
1911 – Robert Middleton, American actor (d. 1977)
1911 – Maxine Sullivan, American singer and actress (d. 1987)
1912 – Gil Evans, Canadian-American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1988)
1912 – Judah Nadich, American colonel and rabbi (d. 2007)
1913 – Robert Dorning, English actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1989)
1913 – Theo Helfrich, German racing driver (d. 1978)
1913 – William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician, 20th President of Liberia (d. 1980)
1914 – Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
1914 – Johnnie Wright, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
1914 – Antonia Ferrín Moreiras, Spanish mathematician, academic, and astronomer (d. 2009)
1916 – Sachidananda Routray, Indian Oriya-language poet (d. 2004)
1918 – Balasaraswati, Indian dancer and instructor (d. 1984)
1918 – Gwyn Howells, Australian public servant (d. 1997)
1920 – Gareth Morris, English flute player (d. 2007)
1922 – Michael Ainsworth, English cricketer (d. 1978)
1922 – Otl Aicher, German graphic designer and typographer (d. 1991)
1922 – Bea Arthur, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson
1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales.
1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.
1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
1686 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.
1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris.
1814 – Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
1814 – King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism.
1836 – Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians
1859 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall in England.
1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate is fought in Japan.
1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1886 – Haymarket affair: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.
1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
1912 – Italy occupies the Greek island of Rhodes.
1919 – May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan.
1926 – The United Kingdom general strike begins.
1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is incorporated.
1932 – In Atlanta, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.
1945 – World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath is signed, coming into effect the following day. It encompasses all Wehrmacht units in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany.
1946 – In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Five people are killed in the riot.
1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash.
1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
1959 – The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held.
1961 – American civil rights movement: The “Freedom Riders” begin a bus trip through the South.
1961 – Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km).
1970 – Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the Cambodian Campaign of the United States and South Vietnam.
1972 – The Don’t Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to “Greenpeace Foundation”.
1978 – The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people.
1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.
1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.
1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal.
1990 – Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation.
1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London).
2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita scale.
2014 – Three people are killed and 62 injured in a pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya.
Births on May 4
1006 – Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Persian mystic and poet (d. 1088)
1008 – Henry I, king of France (d. 1060)
1559 – Alice Spencer, English noblewoman (d. 1637)
1634 – Katherine Ferrers, English aristocrat and heiress (d. 1660)
1649 – Chhatrasal, Indian ruler (d. 1731)
1654 – Kangxi Emperor, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty
1655 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (d. 1731)
1677 – Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, French noblewoman (d.1749)
1715 – Richard Graves, English minister and author (d. 1804)
1733 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (d. 1799)
1752 – John Brooks, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
1757 – Manuel Tolsá, Spanish sculptor and first director of the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City (d. 1816)
1767 – Tyagaraja, Indian composer (d. 1847)
1770 – François Gérard, French painter (d. 1837)
1772 – Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
1796 – Horace Mann, American educator and politician (d. 1859)
1796 – William Pennington, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1862)
1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian and scholar (d. 1859)
1820 – Julia Gardiner Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 11th First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
1820 – John Whiteaker, American soldier, judge, and politician, 1st Governor of Oregon (d. 1902)
1822 – Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Canadian physician and politician, 3rd Premier of Quebec (d. 1915)
1825 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, anatomist, and academic (d. 1895)
1825 – Augustus Le Plongeon, English-American historian, photographer, and academic (d. 1908)
1826 – Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
1827 – John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer (d. 1864)
1851 – Thomas Dewing, American painter (d. 1938)
1852 – Alice Liddell, English model (d. 1934)
1855 – Greyfriars Bobby, faithful dog (d. 1872)
1883 – Wang Jingwei, Chinese politician (d. 1944)
1884 – Richard Baggallay, English army officer and cricketer (d. 1975)
1887 – Andrew Dasburg, French-American painter (d. 1979)
1889 – Francis Spellman, American cardinal (d. 1967)
1890 – Franklin Carmichael, Canadian painter (d. 1945)
1902 – Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (d. 1986)
1902 – Cola Debrot, Dutch physician, lawyer, and politician (d. 1981)
1903 – Luther Adler, American actor (d. 1984)
1903 – Paul Demel, Czech actor (d. 1951)
1905 – Al Dexter, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
1906 – Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1987)
1907 – Lincoln Kirstein, American soldier and playwright, co-founded the New York City Ballet (d. 1996)
1907 – Walter Walsh, American target shooter and FBI agent (d. 2014)
1908 – Wolrad Eberle, German decathlete (d. 1949)
1911 – Evald Seepere, Estonian boxer (d. 1990)
1913 – John Broome, American author (d. 1999)
1913 – Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (d. 2007)
1914 – Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
1916 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
1916 – Richard Proenneke, American soldier, carpenter, and meteorologist (d. 2003)
1917 – Edward T. Cone, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
1917 – Nick Joaquin, Filipino writer, journalist and historian (d. 2004)
1918 – Tom Mead, Australian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
1918 – Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1993)
1919 – Dory Funk, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1973)
1919 – Basil Yamey, South African-English economist and academic
1921 – Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
1921 – John van Kesteren, Dutch-American tenor and actor (d. 2008)
1921 – Edo Murtić, Croatian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2005)
1922 – Paul-Émile Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 2014)
1922 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic (d. 2015)
1923 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (d. 2006)
1923 – Ed Cassidy, American jazz and rock drummer (d. 2012)
1923 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer and producer (d. 1986)
1923 – Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian (d. 2012)
1923 – John Toner, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
1925 – Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
1925 – Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman and philanthropist
1926 – David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon, English politician
1928 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2006)
1928 – Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet, translator, and publisher
1928 – Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt (d. 2020)
1928 – Betsy Rawls, American golfer
1928 – Wolfgang von Trips, German race car driver (d. 1961)
1929 – Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (d. 2015)
1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-British actress and humanitarian (d. 1993)
1930 – Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family
1930 – Roberta Peters, American soprano (d. 2017)
1931 – Jan Pesman, Dutch speed skater (d. 2014)
1931 – Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian conductor and educator (d. 2018)
1931 – Thomas Stuttaford, English physician, journalist, and politician (d. 2018)
1932 – Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
1932 – Alexander MacAra, Scottish epidemiologist and academic (d. 2012)
1933 – J. Fred Duckett, American journalist and educator (d. 2007)
1936 – El Cordobés, Spanish bullfighter
1936 – Med Hondo, Mauritanian filmmaker and actor (d. 2019)
1937 – Ron Carter, American bassist and educator
1937 – Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (d. 2019)
1937 – Wim Verstappen, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
1938 – Tyrone Davis, American blues and soul singer (d. 2005)
1938 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican journalist, author, and critic (d. 2010)
1938 – Gillian Tindall, English historian and author
1939 – Neil Fox, English rugby league player and coach
1939 – Amos Oz, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2018)
1939 – Leon Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player
1940 – Robin Cook, American physician and author
1940 – Peter Gregg, American race car driver and businessman (d. 1980)
1941 – George Will, American journalist and author
1942 – Nickolas Ashford, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2011)
1943 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (d. 1971)
1943 – Mihail Chemiakin, Russian painter and sculptor
1943 – Prasanta Pattanaik, Indian economist and academic
1944 – Steve Liebmann, Australian radio and television host
1944 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress (d. 2019)
1945 – Jan Mulder, Dutch footballer and journalist
1946 – John Barnard, English car designer
1946 – Gary Bauer, American political activist
1946 – John Watson, British race car driver
1947 – John Bosley, Canadian businessman and politician, 31st Canadian Speaker of the House of Commons
1947 – Ronald Sørensen, Dutch historian and politician
1947 – Trivimi Velliste, Estonian politician, 17th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1948 – Alison Britton, English sculptor and educator
1948 – Hurley Haywood, American race car driver
1948 – King George Tupou V of Tonga, (d. 2012)
1949 – Graham Swift, English novelist and short story writer
1950 – Darryl Hunt, English bass player
1951 – Colin Bass, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
1951 – Colleen Hanabusa, American lawyer and politician
1951 – Jackie Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer
1952 – Belinda Green, Australian beauty queen and 1972 Miss World
1953 – Pia Zadora, American actress and singer
1954 – Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino pianist, composer, and conductor
1956 – Michael L. Gernhardt, American astronaut and engineer
1956 – David Guterson, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist
1956 – Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player and coach
1957 – Jaak Huimerind, Estonian architect
1957 – Kathy Kreiner, Canadian skier
1957 – Peter Sleep, Australian cricketer
1957 – Marijke Vos, Dutch educator and politician
1958 – Delbert Fowler, American football player
1958 – Keith Haring, American painter (d. 1990)
1958 – Jane Kennedy, English politician
1958 – Caroline Spelman, English politician, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
1959 – Valdemaras Chomičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
1959 – Randy Travis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1959 – Bob Tway, American golfer
1960 – Werner Faymann, Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria
1961 – Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer
1964 – Silvia Costa, Cuban high jumper
1966 – Gary Elkins, English footballer and manager
1966 – Jane McGrath, English-Australian activist, co-founded the McGrath Foundation (d. 2008)
1967 – Kate Garraway, English journalist
1967 – Ana Gasteyer, American actress and singer
1969 – Micah Aivazoff, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Franz Resch, Austrian footballer and manager
1970 – Gregg Alexander, American singer-songwriter and producer
1970 – Will Arnett, Canadian actor and producer
1970 – Giovanni Mirabassi, Italian jazz musician
1970 – Dawn Staley, American basketball player
1970 – Paul Wiseman, New Zealand cricketer and coach
1971 – Joe Borowski, American baseball player and sportscaster
1971 – Miles Stewart, Australian triathlete
1972 – Manny Aybar, Dominican baseball player
1972 – Mike Dirnt, American bass player and songwriter
1973 – Matthew Barnaby, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1973 – Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentinian footballer and coach
1973 – John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1974 – Miguel Cairo, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
1974 – Tony McCoy, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
1976 – Ben Grieve, American baseball player
1976 – Rory Hamill, Northern Irish international footballer
1976 – Jason Michaels, American baseball player
1976 – Indrek Visnapuu, Estonian basketball player and coach
1977 – John Tripp, Canadian-German ice hockey player
1978 – Erin Andrews, American sportscaster and journalist
1978 – Igor Biscan, Croatian footballer
1978 – Brett Burton, Australian footballer
1978 – Vladimíra Uhlířová, Czech tennis player
1979 – Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, and producer
1979 – Kristin Harmel, American journalist and author
1979 – Marie Poissonnier, French pole vaulter
1979 – Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby player
1980 – Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
1981 – Dallon Weekes, American singer-songwriter and musician
1982 – Kleopas Giannou, Greek footballer
1982 – Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
1982 – Giorgos Tsiaras, Greek basketball player
1983 – Dan Christian, Australian cricketer
1983 – Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Robert Zwinkels, Dutch footballer
1984 – Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricketer (d. 2007)
1984 – Brad Maddox, American wrestler and referee
1984 – Sarah Meier, Swiss figure skater
1984 – Montell Owens, American football player
1984 – Kevin Slowey, American baseball player
1985 – Ravi Bopara, English cricketer
1985 – Anthony Fedorov, Ukrainian-born American singer and actor
1985 – Fernandinho, Brazilian footballer
1985 – Lester “Bo” McCalebb, American-Macedonian professional basketball player
1985 – Jamie Adenuga, English MC and rapper
1986 – Devan Dubnyk, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – George Hill, American basketball player
1987 – Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer
1987 – Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
1988 – Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer
1989 – Dániel Gyurta, Hungarian swimmer
1989 – Henna Lindholm, Finnish figure skater
1989 – Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer
1989 – Aris Tatarounis, Greek basketball player
1989 – James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player
1990 – Irina Falconi, American tennis player
1990 – Ryan Morgan, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Duvashen Padayachee, Australian race car driver
1990 – Andrea Torres, Filipino actress and model
1991 – Brianne Jenner, Canadian women’s ice hockey player
1992 – Victor Oladipo, American basketball player
1993 – Jānis Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
1994 – Abi Masatora, Japanese sumo wrestler
1994 – Joseph Tapine, New Zealand rugby league player
1996 – Pelayo Roza, Spanish sprint canoeist
Deaths on May 4
408 – Venerius, archbishop of Milan
784 – Arbeo, bishop of Freising
1003 – Herman II, duke of Swabia
1038 – Gotthard of Hildesheim, German bishop (b. 960)
1406 – Coluccio Salutati, chancellor of Florence (b. 1331)
1436 – Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish rebel leader
1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, son and heir of Henry VI of England (b. 1453)
1471 – Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (b. 1438)
1483 – George Neville, Duke of Bedford (b. 1457)
1506 – Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (b. 1438)
1519 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, duke of Urbino (b. 1492)
1535 – John Houghton, Carthusian monk and saint
1562 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian Protestant theologian (b. 1525)
1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
1571 – Pierre Viret, Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1511)
1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (b. 1533)
1605 – Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist (b. 1522)
1615 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish priest and mathematician (b. 1561)
1626 – Arthur Lake, English bishop and scholar (b. 1569)
1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian (b. 1630)
1684 – John Nevison, English criminal (b. 1639)
1729 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (b. 1651)
1734 – James Thornhill, English painter and politician (b. 1675)
1737 – Eustace Budgell, English journalist and politician (b. 1686)
1774 – Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, Prussian nobleman (b. 1714)
1776 – Jacques Saly, French painter and sculptor (b. 1717)
1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American politician (b. 1718)
1799 – Tipu, ruler of Mysore (b. 1750)
1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
1816 – Samuel Dexter, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of War, 3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1761)
1824 – Joseph Joubert, French author (b. 1754)
1826 – Sebastián Kindelán y O’Regan, colonial governor of East Florida, Santo Domingo and Cuba (b. 1757)
1839 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (b. 1784)
1858 – Aimé Bonpland, French botanist and explorer (b. 1773)
1859 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1771)
1880 – Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
1901 – John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (b. 1831)
1903 – Gotse Delchev, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary IMRO (b. 1872)
1912 – Nettie Stevens, American geneticist credited with discovering sex chromosomes (b. 1861)
752 – Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico assumes the throne.
1294 – John II becomes Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg.
1481 – The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties.
1491 – Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptized by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I.
1616 – Treaty of Loudun ends French civil war.
1715 – A total solar eclipse was visible across northern Europe, and northern Asia, as predicted by Edmond Halley to within 4 minutes accuracy.
1791 – The Constitution of May 3 (the first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Sejm of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1802 – Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city after Congress abolishes the Board of Commissioners, the District’s founding government. The “City of Washington” is given a mayor-council form of government.
1808 – Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia.
1808 – Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose up on May 2 are executed near Príncipe Pío hill.
1815 – Neapolitan War: Joachim Murat, King of Naples is defeated by the Austrians at the Battle of Tolentino, the decisive engagement of the war.
1830 – The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway is opened; it is the first steam-hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel.
1837 – The University of Athens is founded in Athens, Greece.
1848 – The boar-crested Anglo-Saxon Benty Grange helmet is discovered in a barrow on the Benty Grange farm in Derbyshire.
1849 – The May Uprising in Dresden begins: The last of the German revolutions of 1848–49.
1855 – American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.
1860 – Charles XV of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
1867 – The Hudson’s Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island.
1901 – The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, Florida.
1913 – Raja Harishchandra, the first full-length Indian feature film, is released, marking the beginning of the Indian film industry.
1920 – A Bolshevik coup fails in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
1921 – West Virginia becomes the first state to legislate a broad sales tax, but does not implement it until a number of years later due to enforcement issues.
1921 – The Government of Ireland Act 1920 is passed, dividing Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
1928 – The Jinan incident begins with the deaths of twelve Japanese civilians by Chinese forces in Jinan, China, which leads to Japanese retaliation and the deaths of over 2,000 Chinese civilians in the following days.
1939 – The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
1942 – World War II: Japanese naval troops invade Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands during the first part of Operation Mo that results in the Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese forces and forces from the United States and Australia.
1945 – World War II: Sinking of the prison ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay.
1947 – New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.
1948 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Shelley v. Kraemer that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities are legally unenforceable.
1951 – London’s Royal Festival Hall opens with the Festival of Britain.
1951 – The United States Senate Committee on Armed Services and United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations begin their closed door hearings into the relief of Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.
1952 – Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole.
1952 – The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time, on the CBS network.
1957 – Walter O’Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.
1960 – The Off-Broadway musical comedy The Fantasticks opens in New York City’s Greenwich Village, eventually becoming the longest-running musical of all time.
1960 – The Anne Frank House museum opens in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
1963 – The police force in Birmingham, Alabama switches tactics and responds with violent force to stop the “Birmingham campaign” protesters. Images of the violent suppression are transmitted worldwide, bringing new-found attention to the civil rights movement.
1971 – Erich Honecker becomes First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, remaining in power until 1989
1973 – The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out at 1,451 feet as the world’s tallest building.
1978 – The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (which would later become known as “spam”) is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
1986 – Twenty-one people are killed and forty-one are injured after a bomb explodes on Air Lanka Flight 512 at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka.
1987 – A crash by Bobby Allison at the Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama fencing at the start-finish line would lead NASCAR to develop the restrictor plate for the following season both at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega.
1999 – The southwestern portion of Oklahoma City is devastated by an F5 tornado, killing forty-five people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado is one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. This tornado also produces the highest wind speed ever recorded, measured at 301 +/- 20 mph (484 +/- 32 km/h).
1999 – Infiltration of Pakistani soldiers on Indian side resulted into the kargil war.
2000 – The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.
2001 – The United States loses its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.
2002 – An Indian Air Force MiG-21 crashes into a bank in Jalandhar, killing eight and injuring 17.
2007 – The 3-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann disappears in Praia da Luz, Portugal, starting “the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history”.
2015 – Two gunmen launch an attempted attack on an anti-Islam event in Garland, Texas, which was held in response to the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
2016 – Eighty-eight thousand people were evacuated from their homes in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada as a wildfire ripped through the community, destroying approximately 2,400 homes and buildings.
Births on May 3
490 – K’an Joy Chitam I, ruler of Palenque (d. 565)
612 – Constantine III, Byzantine emperor (d. 641)
1238 – Emilia Bicchieri, Italian saint (d. 1314)
1276 – Louis, Count of Évreux, son of King Philip III of France (d. 1319)
1415 – Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (d. 1495)
1428 – Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal (d. 1495)
1446 – Margaret of York (d. 1503)
1461 – Raffaele Riario, Italian cardinal (d. 1521)
1469 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and philosopher (d. 1527)
1479 – Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1552)
1481 – Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez, Spanish abbess of the Franciscan Third Order Regular (d. 1534)
1536 – Stephan Praetorius, German theologian (d. 1603)
1632 – Catherine of St. Augustine, French-Canadian nurse and saint, founded the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec (d. 1668)
1662 – Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect, designed the Pillnitz Castle (d. 1736)
1678 – Amaro Pargo, Spanish corsair (d. 1747)
1695 – Henri Pitot, French physicist and engineer, invented the Pitot tube (d. 1771)
1729 – Florian Leopold Gassmann, Czech composer (d. 1774)
1761 – August von Kotzebue, German playwright and author (d. 1819)
1764 – Princess Élisabeth of France (d. 1794)
1768 – Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist and businessman (d. 1838)
1783 – José de la Riva Agüero, Peruvian soldier and politician, 1st President of Peru and 2nd President of North Peru (d. 1858)
1814 – Adams George Archibald, Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (d. 1892)
1826 – Charles XV of Sweden (d. 1872)
1844 – Richard D’Oyly Carte, English talent agent and composer (d. 1901)
1849 – Jacob Riis, Danish-American journalist and photographer (d. 1914)
1849 – Bernhard von Bülow, German soldier and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929)
1854 – George Gore, American baseball player and manager (d. 1933)
1859 – August Herrmann, American executive in Major League Baseball (d.1931)
1860 – Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1940)
1867 – Andy Bowen, American boxer (d. 1894)
1867 – J. T. Hearne, English cricketer (d. 1944)
1870 – Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1948)
1871 – Emmett Dalton, American criminal (d. 1937)
1873 – Pavlo Skoropadskyi, German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1945)
1874 – François Coty, French businessman and publisher, founded Coty, Inc. (d. 1934)
1874 – Vagn Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer and academic (d. 1954)
1877 – Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst and author (d. 1925)
1879 – Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman and soldier, co-founded Qantas (d. 1950)
1886 – Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (d. 1971)
1887 – Marika Kotopouli, Greek actress (d. 1954)
1889 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (d. 1981)
1889 – Gottfried Fuchs, German-Canadian Olympic soccer player (d. 1972)
1891 – Tadeusz Peiper, Polish poet and critic (d. 1969)
1891 – Eppa Rixey, American baseball pitcher (d. 1963)
1892 – George Paget Thomson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
1892 – Jacob Viner, Canadian-American economist and academic (d. 1970)
1893 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian author (d. 1975)
1895 – Cornelius Van Til, Dutch philosopher, theologian, and apologist (d. 1987)
1896 – Karl Allmenröder, German soldier and pilot (d. 1917)
1896 – V. K. Krishna Menon, Indian lawyer, jurist, and politician, Indian Minister of Defence (d. 1974)
1896 – Dodie Smith, English author and playwright (d. 1990)
1897 – William Joseph Browne, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Solicitor General of Canada (d. 1989)
1898 – Septima Poinsette Clark, American educator and activist (d. 1987)
1898 – Golda Meir, Ukrainian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1978)
1902 – Alfred Kastler, German-French physicist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
1903 – Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (d. 1977)
1905 – Edmund Black, American hammer thrower (d. 1996)
1905 – Werner Fenchel, German-Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1988)
1905 – Red Ruffing, American baseball pitcher and coach (d. 1986)
1906 – Mary Astor, American actress (d. 1987)
1906 – René Huyghe, French historian and author (d. 1997)
1906 – Anna Roosevelt Halsted, American journalist and author (d. 1975)
1906 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2005)
1910 – Norman Corwin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2011)
1912 – Virgil Fox, American organist and composer (d. 1980)
1912 – May Sarton, American poet, novelist and memoirist (d. 1995)
1913 – William Inge, American playwright and novelist (d. 1973)
1914 – Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, French journalist, author, and poet (d. 2018)
1915 – Stu Hart, Canadian wrestler and trainer, founded Stampede Wrestling (d. 2003)
1915 – Richard Lippold, American sculptor and academic (d. 2002)
1916 – Léopold Simoneau, Canadian tenor and actor (d. 2006)
1917 – Betty Comden, American screenwriter and librettist (d. 2006)
1917 – George Gaynes, Finnish-American actor (d. 2016)
1918 – Ted Bates, English footballer and manager (d. 2003)
1919 – John Cullen Murphy, American soldier and illustrator (d. 2004)
1919 – Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (d. 2014)
1920 – John Lewis, American pianist and composer (d. 2001)
1921 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (d. 1989)
1922 – Len Shackleton, English footballer and journalist (d. 2000)
1923 – George Hadjinikos, Greek pianist, conductor, and educator (d. 2015)
1923 – Ralph Hall, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (d. 2019)
1924 – Yehuda Amichai, German-Israeli author and poet (d. 2000)
1924 – Ken Tyrrell, English race car driver, founded Tyrrell Racing (d. 2001)
1925 – Jean Séguy, French sociologist and author (d. 2007)
1926 – Matt Baldwin, Canadian curler and engineer
1928 – Dave Dudley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
1928 – Jacques-Louis Lions, French mathematician (d. 2001)
1929 – Denise Lor, American singer and actress (d. 2015)
1930 – Juan Gelman, Argentinian poet and author (d. 2014)
1930 – David Harrison, English chemist and academic
1931 – Vasily Rudenkov, Belarusian hammer thrower (d. 1982)
1931 – Sait Maden, Turkish translator, poet, painter and graphic designer (d. 2013)
1932 – Robert Osborne, American actor and historian (d. 2017)
1933 – James Brown, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2006)
1933 – Steven Weinberg, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1934 – Henry Cooper, English boxer and sportscaster (d. 2011)
1934 – Georges Moustaki, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1934 – Frankie Valli, American singer and actor
1935 – Ron Popeil, American businessman, founded the Ronco Company
1937 – Nélida Piñon, Brazilian author and academic
1938 – Omar Abdel-Rahman, Egyptian terrorist
1938 – Chris Cannizzaro, American baseball player
1938 – Napoleon XIV, American singer, songwriter and record producer
1939 – Jonathan Harvey, English composer and educator (d. 2012)
1940 – David Koch, American engineer, businessman, and philanthropist (d. 2019)
1940 – Clemens Westerhof, Dutch footballer and manager
1941 – Alexander Harley, English general
1941 – Edward Malloy, American priest and academic
1942 – Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast and coach (d. 2016)
1942 – Dave Marash, American journalist and sportscaster
1942 – Butch Otter, American soldier and politician, 32nd Governor of Idaho
1943 – Yukio Hashi, Japanese singer and actor
1943 – Jim Risch, American lawyer and politician, 31st Governor of Idaho
1943 – Vicente Saldivar, Mexican boxer (d. 1985)
1944 – Peter Doyle, English bishop
1944 – Pete Staples, English bass player
1945 – Jörg Drehmel, German triple jumper and coach
1945 – Davey Lopes, American baseball player, coach, and manager
1946 – Norm Chow, American football player and coach
1946 – Silvino Francisco, South African snooker player
1946 – Greg Gumbel, American sportscaster
1947 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician (d. 2000)
1948 – Denis Cosgrove, British-American academic and geographer (d. 2008)
1948 – Chris Mulkey, American actor
1949 – Liam Donaldson, English physician and academic
1949 – Ruth Lister, Baroness Lister of Burtersett, English academic and politician
1949 – Ron Wyden, American academic and politician
1950 – Mary Hopkin, Welsh singer-songwriter
1950 – Dag Arnesen, Norwegian pianist and composer
1951 – Alan Clayson, English singer-songwriter and journalist
1951 – Christopher Cross, American singer-songwriter and producer
1951 – Ashok Gehlot, Indian politician, 21st Chief Minister of Rajasthan
1951 – Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian author and publicist
1952 – Chuck Baldwin, American pastor and politician
1952 – Caitlin Clarke, American actress (d. 2004)
1952 – Joseph W. Tobin, American cardinal
1953 – Bruce Hall, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1953 – Jake Hooker, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2014)
1954 – Angela Bofill, American singer-songwriter
1954 – Jean-Marc Roberts, French author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1955 – Stephen D. M. Brown, British geneticist
1955 – Colin Deans, Scottish rugby player
1955 – David Hookes, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2004)
1955 – Seishirō Nishida, Japanese actor
1956 – Marc Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician
1957 – Alain Côté, Canadian ice hockey player
1957 – Rod Langway, Taiwanese-American ice hockey player and coach
1958 – Bill Sienkiewicz, American author and illustrator
1958 – Sandi Toksvig, Danish-English comedian, writer, and broadcaster
1959 – David Ball, English keyboard player and producer
1959 – Uma Bharti, Indian activist and politician, 16th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
1959 – Ben Elton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
1960 – Kathy Smallwood-Cook, English sprinter and educator
1961 – Steve McClaren, English footballer and manager
1961 – David Vitter, American lawyer and politician
1961 – Leyla Zana, Kurdish activist and politician
1962 – Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder
1963 – Jeff Hornacek, American basketball player and coach
1963 – Mona Siddiqui, Pakistani-Scottish journalist and academic
1964 – Sterling Campbell, American drummer and songwriter
1964 – Ron Hextall, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
1965 – Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian patriarch
1965 – Mark Cousins, Northern Irish director, writer, cinematographer
1965 – John Jensen, Danish footballer and coach
1965 – Mikhail Prokhorov, Russian businessman
1966 – Giorgos Agorogiannis, Greek footballer
1966 – Frank Dietrich, German politician (d. 2011)
1967 – Daniel Anderson, Australian rugby league coach and manager
1967 – Kenneth Joel Hotz, Canadian producer, writer, director, actor, and comedian
1968 – Viliami Ofahengaue, Tongan-Australian rugby player
1971 – Douglas Carswell, British politician, the first elected MP for the UK Independence Party
1972 – Stephen Barclay, English lawyer and politician
1973 – Jamie Baulch, Welsh sprinter and television host
1975 – Willie Geist, American television journalist and host
1976 – Jeff Halpern, American ice hockey player
1976 – Brad Scott, Australian footballer and coach
1976 – Chris Scott, Australian footballer and coach
1977 – Eric Church, American country music singer-songwriter
1977 – Ryan Dempster, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster
1977 – Tyronn Lue, American basketball player and coach
1977 – Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician (d. 2017)
1977 – Ben Olsen, American soccer player and coach
1978 – Christian Annan, Ghanaian-Hong Kong footballer
1978 – Paul Banks, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Dai Tamesue, Japanese hurdler
1978 – Lawrence Tynes, American football player
1979 – Steve Mack, American wrestler
1979 – Anastasiya Shvedova, Belarusian pole vaulter
1980 – Zuzana Ondrášková, Czech tennis player
1982 – Igor Olshansky, Ukrainian-American football player
1982 – Nick Stavinoha, American baseball player
1983 – Joseph Addai, American football player
1983 – Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer
1983 – Jérôme Clavier, French pole vaulter
1983 – Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer (d. 2015)
1985 – Ezequiel Lavezzi, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Kadri Lehtla, Estonian biathlete
1985 – Miko Mälberg, Estonian swimmer
1986 – Moon Byung-woo, South Korean footballer
1987 – Lina Grinčikaitė, Lithuanian sprinter
1988 – Ben Revere, American baseball player
1988 – Paddy Holohan, Irish mixed martial artist
1989 – Jesse Bromwich, New Zealand rugby league player
1989 – Katinka Hosszú, Hungarian swimmer
1990 – Brooks Koepka, American golfer
1991 – Samuel Seo, South Korean musician
1992 – Aaron Whitchurch, Australian rugby league player
1995 – Ivan Bukavshin, Russian chess player (d. 2016)
1996 – Mary Cain, American runner
1996 – Alex Iwobi, Nigerian football player
1996 – Domantas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.
1478 – The Pazzi family attack Lorenzo de’ Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral.
1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of actual birth is unknown).
1607 – English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia.
1721 – A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian city of Tabriz.
1777 – Sybil Ludington, aged 16, rode 40 miles (64 km) to alert American colonial forces to the approach of the British regular forces
1794 – Battle of Beaumont during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France.
1803 – Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L’Aigle, France; the event convinces European scientists that meteors exist.
1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines captured Derne under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon.
1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina. Also the date of Confederate Memorial Day for two states.
1865 – Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in Virginia.
1903 – Atlético Madrid Association football club is founded
1923 – The Duke of York weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey.
1925 – Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.
1933 – The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain, is bombed by German Luftwaffe.
1942 – Benxihu Colliery accident in Manchukuo leaves 1549 Chinese miners dead.
1943 – The Easter Riots break out in Uppsala, Sweden.
1944 – Georgios Papandreou becomes head of the Greek government-in-exile based in Egypt.
1944 – Heinrich Kreipe is captured by Allied commandos in occupied Crete.
1945 – World War II: Battle of Bautzen: Last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.
1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army are liberated in Baguio City and they fight against the Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
1954 – The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
1956 – SS Ideal X, the world’s first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey, for Houston, Texas.
1958 – Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
1960 – Forced out by the April Revolution, President of South Korea Syngman Rhee resigns after 12 years of dictatorial rule.
1962 – NASA’s Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.
1963 – In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.
1964 – Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.
1966 – The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.
1966 – A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
1970 – The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force.
1981 – Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world’s first human open fetal surgery.
1982 – Fifty-seven people are killed by former police officer Woo Bum-kon in a shooting spree in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
1986 – A nuclear reactor accident occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, creating the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
1989 – The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
1989 – People’s Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests.
1991 – Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak’s end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year’s only F5 tornado.
1994 – China Airlines Flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
2002 – Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.
2005 – Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country (Syrian occupation of Lebanon).
2018 – American comedian Bill Cosby is found guilty of sexual assault.
Births on April 26
121 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (d. 180)
757 – Hisham I of Córdoba (d. 796)
764 – Al-Hadi, Iranian caliph (d. 786)
1284 – Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick (d. 1324)
1319 – King John II of France (d. 1364)
1538 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter and academic (d. 1600)
1575 – Marie de’ Medici, queen of Henry IV of France (d. 1642)
1647 – William Ashhurst, English banker, Sheriff of London, Lord Mayor of London and politician (d. 1720)
1648 – Peter II of Portugal (d. 1706)
1697 – Adam Falckenhagen, German lute player and composer (d. 1754)
1710 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher and academic (d. 1796)
1718 – Esek Hopkins, American commander (d. 1802)
1774 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (d. 1853)
1782 – Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (d. 1866)
1785 – John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (d. 1851)
1787 – Ludwig Uhland, German poet, philologist, and historian (d. 1862)
1798 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter and lithographer (d. 1863)
1801 – Ambrose Dudley Mann, American politician and diplomat, 1st United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1889)
1804 – Charles Goodyear, American banker, lawyer, and politician (d. 1876)
1822 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American journalist and designer, co-designed Central Park (d. 1903)
1834 – Charles Farrar Browne, American author (d. 1867)
1856 – Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
1862 – Edmund C. Tarbell, American painter and educator (d. 1938)
1876 – Ernst Felle, German rower (d. 1959)
1877 – James Dooley, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of New South Wales (d. 1950)
1878 – Rafael Guízar y Valencia, Mexican bishop and saint (d. 1938)
1879 – Eric Campbell, British actor (d. 1917)
1879 – Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
1886 – Ma Rainey, American singer (d. 1939)
1886 – Ğabdulla Tuqay, Russian poet and publicist (d. 1913)
1889 – Anita Loos, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
1889 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1951)
1894 – Rudolf Hess, Egyptian-German politician (d. 1987)
1896 – Ruut Tarmo, Estonian actor and director (d. 1967)
1896 – Ernst Udet, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941)
1897 – Eddie Eagan, American boxer and bobsledder (d. 1967)
1897 – Douglas Sirk, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
1898 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
1898 – John Grierson, Scottish director and producer (d. 1972)
1899 – Oscar Rabin, Latvian-English saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1958)
1900 – Eva Aschoff, German bookbinder and calligrapher (d. 1969)
1900 – Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (d. 1985)
1900 – Hack Wilson, American baseball player (d. 1948)
1904 – Paul-Émile Léger, Canadian cardinal (d. 1991)
1904 – Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist and politician, 177th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2004)
1905 – Jean Vigo, French director and screenwriter (d. 1934)
1907 – Ilias Tsirimokos, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)
1909 – Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)
1910 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese screenwriter and producer (d. 1997)
1911 – Paul Verner, German soldier and politician (d. 1986)
1912 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (d. 2000)
1914 – Bernard Malamud, Jewish American novelist and short story writer (d. 1986)
1914 – James Rouse, American real estate developer (d. 1996)
1916 – Eyvind Earle, American artist, author, and illustrator (d. 2000)
1916 – Ken Wallis, English commander, engineer, and pilot (d. 2013)
1916 – Morris West, Australian author and playwright (d. 1999)
1917 – Sal Maglie, American baseball player and coach (d. 1992)
1917 – I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect, designed the National Gallery of Art and Bank of China Tower (d. 2019)
1917 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
1918 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch sprinter and long jumper (d. 2004)
1921 – Jimmy Giuffre, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 2008)
1922 – J. C. Holt, English historian and academic (d. 2014)
1922 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada (d. 1993)
1922 – Margaret Scott, South African-Australian ballerina and choreographer (d. 2019)
1924 – Browning Ross, American runner and soldier (d. 1998)
1925 – Vladimir Boltyansky, Russian mathematician, educator and author (d. 2019)
1925 – Gerard Cafesjian, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
1925 – Michele Ferrero, Italian entrepreneur (d. 2015)
1925 – Frank Hahn, British economist (d. 2013)
1926 – Michael Mathias Prechtl, German soldier and illustrator (d. 2003)
1927 – Jack Douglas, English actor (d. 2008)
1927 – Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1927 – Granny Hamner, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1929 – Richard Mitchell, American author and educator (d. 2002)
1930 – Roger Moens, Belgian runner and sportscaster
1931 – Paul Almond, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1931 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent and producer (d. 2008)
1931 – John Cain Jr., Australian politician, 41st Premier of Victoria (d. 2019)
1932 – Israr Ahmed, Indian-Pakistani theologian, philosopher, and scholar (d. 2010)
1932 – Shirley Cawley, English long jumper
1932 – Frank D’Rone, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
1932 – Francis Lai, French accordion player and composer (d. 2018)
1932 – Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
1933 – Carol Burnett, American actress, singer, and producer
1933 – Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican-American general (d. 2005)
1933 – Arno Allan Penzias, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1935 – Patricia Reilly Giff, American author and educator
1937 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 2015)
1938 – Duane Eddy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1938 – Maurice Williams, American doo-wop/R&B singer-songwriter
1940 – Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Indian cleric and politician (d. 2014)
1940 – Giorgio Moroder, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
1940 – Cliff Watson, English rugby league player (d. 2018)
1941 – Claudine Auger, French model and actress (d. 2019)
1942 – Svyatoslav Belza, Russian journalist, author, and critic (d. 2014)
1942 – Sharon Carstairs, Canadian lawyer and politician, Leader of the Government in the Senate
1942 – Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
1942 – Bobby Rydell, American singer and actor
1942 – Jadwiga Staniszkis, Polish sociologist, political scientist, and academic
1943 – Gary Wright, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
1943 – Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect and academic, designed the Therme Vals
1944 – Richard Bradshaw, English conductor (d. 2007)
1945 – Howard Davies, English director and producer (d. 2016)
1945 – Dick Johnson, Australian race car driver
1945 – Sylvain Simard, Canadian academic and politician
1946 – Ralph Coates, English international footballer (d. 2010)
1946 – Marilyn Nelson, American poet and author
1946 – Alberto Quintano, Chilean footballer
1949 – Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer and manager
1949 – Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995)
1951 – John Battle, English politician
1954 – Tatyana Fomina, Estonian chess player
1954 – Alan Hinkes, English mountaineer and explorer
1955 – Kurt Bodewig, German politician
1956 – Koo Stark, American actress and photographer
1958 – John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute, Scottish race car driver
1958 – Giancarlo Esposito, American actor, director, and producer
1958 – Georgios Kostikos, Greek footballer, coach, and manager
1959 – John Corabi, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player and coach
1960 – Roger Taylor, English drummer
1961 – Joan Chen, Chinese-American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Chris Mars, American artist
1962 – Colin Anderson, English footballer
1962 – Debra Wilson, American actress and comedian
1963 – Jet Li, Chinese-Singaporean martial artist, actor, and producer
1963 – Colin Scotts, Australian-American football player
1963 – Cornelia Ullrich, German hurdler
1963 – Bill Wennington, Canadian basketball player
1965 – Susannah Harker, English actress
1965 – Kevin James, American actor and comedian
1967 – Glenn Thomas Jacobs, American professional wrestler, actor, businessman and politician
1967 – Marianne Jean-Baptiste, English actress and singer-songwriter
1967 – Toomas Tõniste, Estonian sailor and politician
1970 – Dean Austin, English footballer and manager
1970 – Melania Trump, Slovene-American model; 47th First Lady of the United States
1970 – Kristen R. Ghodsee, American ethnographer and academic
1970 – Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
1971 – Jay DeMarcus, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1972 – Jason Bargwanna, Australian race car driver
1972 – Kiko, Spanish footballer
1972 – Natrone Means, American football player and coach
1972 – Avi Nimni, Israeli footballer and manager
1973 – Geoff Blum, American baseball player and sportscaster
1973 – Jules Naudet, French-American director and producer
1973 – Chris Perry, English footballer
1973 – Óscar García Junyent, Spanish footballer and coach
1975 – Joey Jordison, American musician, songwriter, record producer
1975 – Rahul Verma, Indian social worker and activist
1976 – Luigi Panarelli, Italian footballer
1976 – Václav Varaďa, Czech ice hockey player
1977 – Samantha Cristoforetti, Italian astronaut
1977 – Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player
1977 – Roxana Saberi, American journalist and author
404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.
775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire.
799 – After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection.
1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094.
1607 – Eighty Years’ War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
1707 – A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
1792 – “La Marseillaise” (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire.
1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.
1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal’s English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
1862 – American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks’ Mills.
1882 – French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry.
1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.
1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class “A” League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
1940 – Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands is approved by the British occupation government.
1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two.
1945 – Liberation Day (Italy): The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini is captured after trying to escape. This day was set as a public holiday to celebrate the Liberation of Italy.
1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.
1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland’s soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland.
1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong.
1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” describing the double helix structure of DNA.
1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government.
1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto’s orbit.
1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
1988 – In Israel, John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position.
2001 – Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.
2004 – The March for Women’s Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion.
2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
2007 – Boris Yeltsin’s funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.
Births on April 25
1214 – Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
1228 – Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
1284 – Edward II of England (d. 1327)
1287 – Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1330)
1502 – Georg Major, German theologian and academic (d. 1574)
1529 – Francesco Patrizi, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1597)
1599 – Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (d. 1658)
1621 – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, English soldier and politician (d. 1679)
1666 – Johann Heinrich Buttstett, German organist and composer (d. 1727)
1694 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (d. 1753)
1710 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer and author (d. 1776)
1723 – Giovanni Marco Rutini, Italian composer (d. 1797)
1725 – Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, English admiral and politician (d. 1786)
1767 – Nicolas Oudinot, French general (d. 1847)
1770 – Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist and academic (d. 1850)
1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1857)
1843 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
1849 – Felix Klein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1925)
1850 – Luise Adolpha Le Beau, German composer and educator (d. 1927)
1851 – Leopoldo Alas, Spanish author, critic, and academic (d. 1901)
1854 – Charles Sumner Tainter, American engineer and inventor (d. 1940)
1862 – Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, English ornithologist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1933)
1868 – John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (d. 1910)
1871 – Lorne Currie, French-English sailor (d. 1926)
1872 – C. B. Fry, English cricketer, footballer, educator, and politician (d. 1956)
1873 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (d. 1956)
1873 – Howard Garis, American author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily series of children’s stories (d. 1962)
1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian businessman and inventor, developed Marconi’s law, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
1874 – Ernest Webb, English-Canadian race walker (d. 1937)
1876 – Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician (d. 1958)
1878 – William Merz, American gymnast and triathlete (d. 1946)
1882 – Fred McLeod, Scottish golfer (d. 1976)
1887 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and critic (d. 1936)
1892 – Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (d. 1980)
1896 – Fred Haney, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1977)
1897 – Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (d. 1965)
1900 – Gladwyn Jebb, English politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1996)
1900 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-Swiss-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
1902 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (d. 1964)
1902 – Mary Miles Minter, American actress (d. 1984)
1903 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1987)
1905 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player and referee (d. 1986)
1906 – William J. Brennan Jr., American colonel and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1997)
1908 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
1909 – William Pereira, American architect, designed the Transamerica Pyramid (d. 1985)
1910 – Arapeta Awatere, New Zealand interpreter, military leader, politician, and murderer (d. 1976)
1911 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
1912 – Earl Bostic, African-American saxophonist (d. 1965)
1913 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (d. 1944)
1914 – Ross Lockridge Jr., American author and academic (d. 1948)
1915 – Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
1916 – Jerry Barber, American golfer (d. 1994)
1917 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
1917 – Jean Lucas, French racing driver (d. 2003)
1918 – Graham Payn, South African-born English actor and singer (d. 2005)
1918 – Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French-American astronomer and academic (d. 1995)
1918 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish-American soprano and actress (d. 2006)
1919 – Finn Helgesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2011)
1921 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter and sculptor (d. 2006)
1923 – Francis Graham-Smith, English astronomer and academic
1923 – Melissa Hayden, Canadian ballerina (d. 2006)
1923 – Albert King, African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1992)
1924 – Ingemar Johansson, Swedish race walker (d. 2009)
1924 – Franco Mannino, Italian pianist, composer, director, and playwright (d. 2005)
1924 – Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (d. 2013)
1925 – Tony Christopher, Baron Christopher, English trade union leader and businessman
1925 – Sammy Drechsel, German comedian and journalist (d. 1986)
1925 – Louis O’Neil, Canadian academic and politician (d. 2018)
1926 – Johnny Craig, American author and illustrator (d. 2001)
1926 – Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (d. 2008)
1926 – Patricia Castell, Argentine actress (d. 2013)
1927 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (d. 2009)
1927 – Albert Uderzo, French author and illustrator (d. 2020)
1928 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 2011)
1929 – Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper, shot putter, and discus thrower (d. 2019)
1930 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1930 – Godfrey Milton-Thompson, English admiral and surgeon (d. 2012)
1930 – Peter Schulz, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Hamburg (d. 2013)
1931 – Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1980)
1931 – David Shepherd, English painter and author (d. 2017)
1932 – Nikolai Kardashev, Russian astrophysicist (d. 2019)
1932 – Meadowlark Lemon, African-American basketball player and minister (d. 2015)
1932 – Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower and politician (d. 1998)
1933 – Jerry Leiber, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
1933 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (d. 1992)
1934 – Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1935 – Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter (d. 1960)
1935 – Reinier Kreijermaat, Dutch footballer (d. 2018)
1936 – Henck Arron, Surinamese banker and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (d. 2000)
1938 – Roger Boisjoly, American aerodynamicist and engineer (d. 2012)
1938 – Ton Schulten, Dutch painter and graphic designer
1939 – Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian footballer and manager
1939 – Michael Llewellyn-Smith, English academic and diplomat
1939 – Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, English historian and academic
1939 – Veronica Sutherland, English academic and British diplomat
1940 – Al Pacino, American actor and director
1941 – Bertrand Tavernier, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1942 – Jon Kyl, American lawyer and politician
1943 – Tony Christie, English singer-songwriter and actor
1944 – Len Goodman, English dancer
1944 – Mike Kogel, German singer-songwriter
1944 – Stephen Nickell, English economist and academic
1944 – Bruce Ponder, English geneticist and cancer researcher
1945 – Stu Cook, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1945 – Richard C. Hoagland, American theorist and author
1945 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
1946 – Talia Shire, American actress
1946 – Peter Sutherland, Irish lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Ireland
1946 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian colonel, lawyer, and politician
1947 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2016)
1947 – Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
1948 – Mike Selvey, English cricketer and sportscaster
1948 – Yu Shyi-kun, Taiwanese politician, 39th Premier of the Republic of China
1949 – Vicente Pernía, Argentinian footballer and race car driver
1949 – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician, French Minister of Finance
1949 – James Fenton, English poet, journalist and literary critic
1950 – Donnell Deeny, Northern Irish lawyer and judge
1950 – Steve Ferrone, English drummer
1950 – Peter Hintze, German politician (d. 2016)
1950 – Valentyna Kozyr, Ukrainian high jumper
1951 – Ian McCartney, Scottish politician, Minister of State for Trade
1952 – Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
1952 – Vladislav Tretiak, Russian ice hockey player and coach
1952 – Jacques Santini, French footballer and coach
1953 – Ron Clements, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
1953 – Gary Cosier, Australian cricketer
1953 – Anthony Venables, English economist, author, and academic
1954 – Melvin Burgess, English author
1954 – Randy Cross, American football player and sportscaster
1954 – Róisín Shortall, Irish educator and politician
1955 – Américo Gallego, Argentinian footballer and coach
1955 – Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor and singer
1955 – Zev Siegl, American businessman, co-founded Starbucks
1956 – Dominique Blanc, French actress, director, and screenwriter
1956 – Abdalla Uba Adamu, Nigerian professor, media scholar
1957 – Theo de Rooij, Dutch cyclist and manager
1958 – Fish, Scottish singer-songwriter
1958 – Misha Glenny, British journalist
1959 – Paul Madden, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to Australia
1959 – Daniel Kash, Canadian actor and director
1959 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player (d. 2016)
1960 – Paul Baloff, American singer (d. 2002)
1960 – Robert Peston, English journalist
1960 – Bruce Redman, Australian director, producer, and critic
1961 – Dinesh D’Souza, Indian-American journalist and author
1961 – Miran Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper
1962 – Foeke Booy, Dutch footballer and manager
1963 – Joy Covey, American businesswoman (d. 2013)
1963 – Dave Martin, English footballer
1963 – David Moyes, Scottish footballer and manager
1963 – Bernd Müller, German footballer and manager
1963 – Paul Wassif, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1964 – Hank Azaria, American actor, voice artist, comedian and producer
1964 – Andy Bell, English singer-songwriter
1965 – Eric Avery, American bass player and songwriter
1965 – Mark Bryant, American basketball player and coach
1965 – John Henson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2014)
1966 – Diego Domínguez, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
1966 – Femke Halsema, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician
1966 – Darren Holmes, American baseball player and coach
1966 – Erik Pappas, American baseball player and coach
1967 – Angel Martino, American swimmer
1968 – Vitaliy Kyrylenko, Ukrainian long jumper
1968 – Thomas Strunz, German footballer
1969 – Joe Buck, American sportscaster
1969 – Martin Koolhoven, Dutch director and screenwriter
1969 – Jon Olsen, American swimmer
1969 – Darren Woodson, American football player and sportscaster
1969 – Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer
1970 – Jason Lee, American skateboarder, actor, comedian and producer
1971 – Sara Baras, Spanish dancer
1971 – Brad Clontz, American baseball player
1973 – Carlota Castrejana, Spanish triple jumper
1973 – Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer
1973 – Barbara Rittner, German tennis player
1975 – Jacque Jones, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Gilberto da Silva Melo, Brazilian footballer
1976 – Tim Duncan, American basketball player
1976 – Breyton Paulse, South African rugby player
1976 – Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player and coach
215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik’nal and sacking the city.
711 – Dagobert III succeeds his father King Childebert III as King of the Franks.
1014 – Battle of Clontarf: High King of Ireland Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.
1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as King of England.
1343 – St. George’s Night Uprising commences in the Duchy of Estonia.
1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St. George’s Day.
1516 – The Munich Reinheitsgebot (regarding the ingredients of beer) takes effect in all of Bavaria.
1521 – Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.
1635 – The first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston.
1655 – The Siege of Santo Domingo begins during the Anglo-Spanish War, and fails seven days later.
1660 – Treaty of Oliva is established between Sweden and Poland.
1661 – King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
1815 – The Second Serbian Uprising: A second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.
1879 – Fire burns down the second main building and dome of the University of Notre Dame, which prompts the construction of the third, and current, Main Building with its golden dome.
1914 – First baseball game at Wrigley Field, then known as Weeghman Park, in Chicago.
1918 – World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.
1920 – The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara. The assembly denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces the preparation of a temporary constitution.
1927 – Cardiff City defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, the only time it has been won by a team not based in England.
1935 – The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.
1940 – The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.
1941 – World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.
1942 – World War II: Baedeker Blitz: German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.
1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler’s designated successor, Hermann Göring, sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of the Third Reich. Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels advise Hitler that the telegram is treasonous.
1946 – Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
1949 – Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
1951 – Cold War: American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.
1961 – Algiers putsch by French generals.
1967 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1) a manned spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov is launched into orbit.
1968 – Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
1985 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
1990 – Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
1993 – Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.
1993 – Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.
1999 – NATO bombs the headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia, as part of their aerial campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
2005 – The first ever YouTube video, titled “Me at the zoo”, was published by co-founder Jawed Karim.
2013 – At least 28 people are killed and more than 70 are injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq.
2018 – A vehicle-ramming attack kills 10 people and injures 16 in Toronto. A 25-year-old suspect, Alek Minassian, is arrested.
2019 – The 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse in Myanmar kills four miners and two rescuers.
Births on April 23
1141 (probable) – Malcolm IV of Scotland (d. 1165)
1185 – Afonso II of Portugal (d. 1223)
1408 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford (d. 1462)
1420 – George of Poděbrady, King of Bohemia (d. 1471)
1464 – Joan of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1505)
1464 – Robert Fayrfax, English Renaissance composer (d. 1521)
1484 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian physician and scholar (d. 1558)
1500 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian and academic (d. 1565)
1500 – Johann Stumpf, Swiss writer (d. 1576)
1512 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, Chancellor of the University of Oxford (d. 1580)
1516 – Georg Fabricius, German poet, historian, and archaeologist (d. 1571)
1598 – Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1653)
1621 – William Penn, English admiral and politician (d. 1670)
1628 – Johannes Hudde, Dutch mathematician and politician (d. 1704)
1661 – Issachar Berend Lehmann, German-Jewish banker, merchant and diplomat (d. 1730)
1715 – Johann Friedrich Doles, German composer and conductor (d. 1797)
1720 – Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi and author (d. 1797)
1744 – Princess Charlotte Amalie Wilhelmine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (d. 1770)
1748 – Félix Vicq-d’Azyr, French physician and anatomist (d. 1794)
1791 – James Buchanan, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 15th President of the United States (d. 1868)
1792 – Thomas Romney Robinson, Irish astronomer and physicist (d. 1882)
1794 – Wei Yuan, Chinese scholar and author (d. 1856)
1805 – Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher and academic (d. 1879)
1812 – Frederick Whitaker, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)
1813 – Stephen A. Douglas, American educator and politician, 7th Illinois Secretary of State (d. 1861)
1813 – Frédéric Ozanam, Italian-French historian and scholar (d. 1853)
1818 – James Anthony Froude, English historian, novelist, biographer and editor (d. 1894)
1819 – Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1901)
1853 – Winthrop M. Crane, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1920)
1856 – Granville Woods, American inventor and engineer (d. 1910)
1857 – Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
1858 – Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
1860 – Justinian Oxenham, Australian public servant (d. 1932)
1861 – Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, English field marshal and diplomat, British High Commissioner in Egypt (d. 1936)
1861 – John Peltz, American baseball player and manager (d. 1906)
1865 – Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (d. 1943)
1867 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
1876 – Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian and author (d. 1925)
1880 – Michel Fokine, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1942)
1882 – Albert Coates, English composer and conductor (d. 1953)
1888 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967)
1889 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (d. 1942)
1893 – Frank Borzage, American actor and director (d. 1952)
1895 – Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author and director (d. 1982)
1897 – Folke Jansson, American general (d. 1965)
1897 – Lester B. Pearson, Canadian historian and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
1898 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (d. 1978)
1899 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
1899 – Minoru Shirota, Japanese physician and microbiologist, invented Yakult (d. 1982)
1900 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1959)
1900 – Joseph Green, Polish-American actor and director (d. 1996)
1901 – E. B. Ford, English biologist and geneticist (d. 1988)
1902 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1903 – Guy Simonds, English-Canadian general (d. 1974)
1904 – Clifford Bricker, Canadian long-distance runner (d. 1980)
1904 – Louis Muhlstock, Polish-Canadian painter (d. 2001)
1904 – Duncan Renaldo, American actor (d. 1985)
1907 – Lee Miller, American model and photographer (d. 1977)
1907 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor, designed the Wotruba Church (d. 1975)
1908 – Myron Waldman, American animator and director (d. 2006)
1910 – Sheila Scott Macintyre, Scottish mathematician (d. 1960)
1910 – Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)
1911 – Ronald Neame, English-American director, cinematographer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1913 – Diosa Costello, Puerto Rican-American entertainer, producer and club owner (d. 2013)
1915 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer, academic, and businessman (d. 2000)
1916 – Yiannis Moralis, Greek painter and educator (d. 2009)
1916 – Sinah Estelle Kelley, American chemist (d. 1982)
1917 – Dorian Leigh, American model (d. 2008)
1917 – Tony Lupien, American baseball player and coach (d. 2004)
1918 – Maurice Druon, French author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1919 – Oleg Penkovsky, Russian colonel (d. 1963)
1920 – Eric Grant Yarrow, 3rd Baronet, English businessman (d. 2018)
1921 – Judy Agnew, Second Lady of the United States (d. 2012)
1921 – Cleto Bellucci, Italian archbishop (d. 2013)
1921 – Janet Blair, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
1921 – Warren Spahn, American baseball player and coach (d. 2003)
1923 – Dolph Briscoe, American lieutenant and politician, 41st Governor of Texas (d. 2010)
1923 – Avram Davidson, American soldier and author (d. 1993)
1924 – Chuck Harmon, American baseball player and scout (d. 2019)
1924 – Bobby Rosengarden, American drummer and bandleader (d. 2007)
1926 – J.P. Donleavy, American-Irish novelist and playwright (d. 2017)
1926 – Rifaat el-Mahgoub, Egyptian politician (d. 1990)
1928 – Shirley Temple, American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat (d. 2014)
1929 – George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (d. 2020)
1932 – Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
1932 – Jim Fixx, American runner and author (d. 1984)
1933 – Annie Easley, American computer scientist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 2011)
1934 – George Canseco, Filipino composer and producer (d. 2004)
1936 – Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter (d. 1988)
1937 – Victoria Glendinning, English author and critic
1937 – David Mills, English cricketer (d. 2013)
1937 – Barry Shepherd, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
1939 – Jorge Fons, Mexican director and screenwriter
1939 – Bill Hagerty, English journalist
1939 – Lee Majors, American actor
1939 – Ray Peterson, American pop singer (d. 2005)
1940 – Michael Copps, American academic and politician
1940 – Dale Houston, American singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
1940 – Michael Kadosh, Israeli footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1941 – Jacqueline Boyer, French singer and actress
1941 – Arie den Hartog, Dutch road bicycle racer (d. 2018)
1941 – Paavo Lipponen, Finnish journalist and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Finland
1941 – Michael Lynne, American film producer, co-founded New Line Cinema
1941 – Ed Stewart, English radio and television host (d. 2016)
1941 – Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (d. 2016)
1942 – Sandra Dee, American model and actress (d. 2005)
1943 – Gail Goodrich, American basketball player and coach
1943 – Tony Esposito, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1943 – Frans Koppelaar, Dutch painter
1943 – Hervé Villechaize, French actor (d. 1993)
1944 – Jean-François Stévenin, French actor and director
1946 – Blair Brown, American actress
1946 – Carlton Sherwood, American soldier and journalist (d. 2014)
1947 – Robert Burgess, English sociologist and academic
1947 – Glenn Cornick, English bass player (d. 2014)
1947 – Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Irish civil rights leader and politician
1948 – Pascal Quignard, French author and screenwriter
1948 – Serge Thériault, Canadian actor
1949 – Paul Collier, English economist and academic
1949 – David Cross, English violinist
1949 – John Miles, British rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1950 – Rowley Leigh, English chef and journalist
1950 – Barbara McIlvaine Smith, Sac and Fox Nation Native American politician
1951 – Martin Bayerle, American treasure hunter
1952 – Narada Michael Walden, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer
1953 – James Russo, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1954 – Stephen Dalton, English air marshal
1954 – Michael Moore, American director, producer, and activist
1955 – Judy Davis, Australian actress
1955 – Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
1955 – Urmas Ott, Estonian journalist and author (d. 2008)
1957 – Neville Brody, English graphic designer, typographer, and art director
1957 – Jan Hooks, American actress and comedian (d. 2014)
1958 – Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic composer and producer
1958 – Ryan Walter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1959 – Unity Dow, Botswanan judge, author, and rights activist
1960 – Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
1960 – Steve Clark, English guitarist and songwriter (d. 1991)
1960 – Barry Douglas, Irish pianist and conductor
1960 – Léo Jaime, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1960 – Claude Julien, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1961 – George Lopez, American comedian, actor, and talk show host
1961 – Pierluigi Martini, Italian race car driver
1962 – John Hannah, Scottish actor and producer
1962 – Shaun Spiers, English businessman and politician
1963 – Paul Belmondo, French race car driver
1963 – Robby Naish, American windsurfer
1964 – Gianandrea Noseda, Italian pianist and conductor
1965 – Leni Robredo, Filipina human rights lawyer, 14th Vice President of the Philippines
1966 – Jörg Deisinger, German bass player
1966 – Matt Freeman, American bass player
1966 – Lembit Oll, Estonian chess Grandmaster (d. 1999)
1967 – Rheal Cormier, Canadian baseball player
1967 – Melina Kanakaredes, American actress
1968 – Bas Haring, Dutch philosopher, writer, television presenter and professor.
1968 – Ken McRae, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist, Oklahoma City bombing co-perpetrator (d. 2001)
1969 – Martín López-Zubero, American-Spanish swimmer and coach
1969 – Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast
1970 – Egemen Bağış, Turkish politician, 1st Minister of European Union Affairs
1970 – Dennis Culp, American singer-songwriter and trombonist
1970 – Andrew Gee, Australian rugby league player and manager
1970 – Hans Välimäki, Finnish chef and author
1970 – Tayfur Havutçu, Turkish international footballer and manager
238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas.
1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.
1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity.
1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
1876 – The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of Major League Baseball.
1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
1898 – Spanish–American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games, now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
1944 – World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station.
1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.
1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces.
1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
1969 – The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta.
1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
1972 – Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
1992 – In a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham.
1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria where 93 villagers are killed.
2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami.
2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
2005 – Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan’s war record.
2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
2013 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.
2014 – More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Katanga Province.
2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.
2019 – The 2019 Luzon earthquake kills at least 18 people in the Philippines.
Births on April 22
1412 – Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (d. 1452)
1444 – Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (d. 1503)
1451 – Isabella I of Castile (d. 1504)
1518 – Antoine of Navarre (d. 1562)
1592 – Wilhelm Schickard, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1635)
1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1709)
1690 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1763)
1707 – Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (d. 1754)
1711 – Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy, Austrian soldier (d. 1762)
1724 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1804)
1732 – John Johnson, English architect and surveyor (d. 1814)
1744 – James Sullivan, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1808)
1757 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1841)
1766 – Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (d. 1817)
1812 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-English orientalist (d. 1894)
1816 – Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general (d. 1897)
1830 – Emily Davies, British suffragist and educator, co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge University
1832 – Julius Sterling Morton, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 1902)
1844 – Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (d. 1865)
1852 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912)
1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)
1854 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
1860 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (d. 1916)
1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924)
1872 – Princess Margaret of Prussia (d. 1954)
1873 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
1876 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
1876 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler and strongman (d. 1920)
1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
1884 – Otto Rank, Austrian-American psychologist and academic (d. 1939)
1886 – Izidor Cankar, Slovenian historian, author, and diplomat (d. 1958)
1889 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (d. 1945)
1891 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (d. 1979)
1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965)
1891 – Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1989)
1891 – Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (d. 1927)
1892 – Vernon Johns, African-American minister and activist (d. 1965)
1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (d. 1977)
1900 – Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1966–67 (d. 1988)
1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1967)
1905 – Robert Choquette, American-Canadian author, poet, and diplomat (d. 1991)
1906 – Eric Fenby, English composer and educator (d. 1997)
1906 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (d. 1947)
1908 – Ivan Yefremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d. 1972)
1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Sephardic Jewish-Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001)
1909 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician and academic (d. 1971)
1912 – Kathleen Ferrier, English operatic singer (d. 1953)
1912 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1914 – Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer (d. 2008)
1914 – Jan de Hartog, Dutch-American author and playwright (d. 2002)
1914 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (d. 1941)
1914 – Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (d. 1944)
1916 – Hanfried Lenz, German mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
1916 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 1999)
1917 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (d. 2016)
1917 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (d. 1992)
1918 – William Jay Smith, American poet and academic (d. 2015)
1918 – Mickey Vernon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
1919 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
1919 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2011)
1922 – Richard Diebenkorn, American soldier and painter (d. 1993)
1922 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1979)
1922 – Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist and academic (d. 1973)
1923 – Peter Kane Dufault, American soldier, pilot, and poet (d. 2013)
1923 – Bettie Page, American model and actress (d. 2008)
1923 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
1924 – Nam Duck-woo, South Korean politician, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2013)
1926 – Charlotte Rae, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
1926 – James Stirling, Scottish architect, designed the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Seeley Historical Library (d. 1992)
1927 – Laurel Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer (d. 2005)
1929 – Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (d. 2019)
1929 – Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India (d. 2015)
1930 – Enno Penno, Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 2016)
1931 – John Buchanan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
1931 – Ronald Hynd, English dancer and choreographer
1933 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist and astronaut (d. 2013)
1935 – Christopher Ball, English linguist and academic
1935 – Paul Chambers, African-American bassist and composer (d. 1969)
1935 – Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic
1936 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
1936 – Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (d. 1998)
1937 – Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer
1937 – Jack Nitzsche, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 2000)
1938 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (d. 2015)
1938 – Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and activist (d. 2009)
1938 – Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer
1938 – Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
1939 – Mel Carter, American singer and actor
1939 – John Foley, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
1939 – Ray Guy, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2013)
1939 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (d. 2001)
1939 – Theodor Waigel, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Finance
1941 – Greville Howard, Baron Howard of Rising, English politician
1942 – Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic
1942 – Mary Prior, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol
1943 – Keith Crisco, American businessman and politician (d. 2014)
1943 – Janet Evanovich, American author
1943 – Louise Glück, American poet
1943 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2012)
1943 – Scott W. Williams, American mathematician and professor
1944 – Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, and sailor (d. 2007)
1944 – Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
1944 – Joshua Rifkin, American conductor and musicologist
1945 – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
1945 – Demetrio Stratos, Egyptian-Italian singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
1946 – Steven L. Bennett, American captain and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1972)
1946 – Paul Davies, English physicist and author
1946 – Louise Harel, Canadian lawyer and politician
1946 – Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Scottish lawyer and politician
1946 – Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, English economist and academic
1946 – John Waters, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1948 – John Pritchard, English bishop
1949 – Spencer Haywood, American basketball player
1950 – Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1950 – Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic
1951 – Paul Carrack, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Aivars Kalējs, Latvian organist, composer, and pianist
1951 – Ana María Shua, Argentinian author and poet
1952 – François Berléand, French actor
1952 – Dave Loveridge, New Zealand rugby player
1952 – Phil Smith, American basketball player (d. 2002)
1953 – Valeri Bondarenko, Estonian footballer and coach
1953 – Richard Broadbent, English businessman
1955 – David Collier, English businessman
1957 – Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland
1959 – Keith Boanas, English footballer and manager
1959 – Terry Francona, American baseball player, coach, and manager
1959 – Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
1959 – Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian actor and producer
1960 – Lloyd Honeyghan, Jamaican-English boxer
1960 – Mart Laar, Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia
1960 – Randall L. Stephenson, American businessman
1961 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (d. 1996)
1961 – Ann McKechin, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
1961 – Dewey Nicks, American photographer and director
1962 – Danièle Sauvageau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1963 – Rosalind Gill, English sociologist and academic
1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic weightlifter and strongman
1964 – Paul Baxter, English footballer
1965 – Miguel Leal, Portuguese footballer and manager
1965 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (d. 2009)
1966 – Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager
1966 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
1967 – David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic
1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American actress and talk show panelist
1967 – Harvey Williams, American football player
1968 – Jo Angel, Australian cricketer
1968 – Bimbo Coles, American basketball player and coach
1968 – Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Dion Dublin, English footballer and sportscaster
1970 – Erkki Bahovski, Estonian journalist
1971 – Eric Mabius, American actor
1971 – Spencer Prior, English footballer
1972 – Sabine Appelmans, Belgian tennis player
1972 – Owen Finegan, Australian rugby player and coach
1972 – Milka Duno, Venezuelan race car driver and engineer
1972 – Sergei Hohlov-Simson, Estonian footballer and manager
1972 – Willie Robertson, American hunter and businessman
1973 – Adem Poric, English-Australian footballer
1973 – Ofer Talker, Israeli footballer and manager
1974 – Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1975 – Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)
1975 – Carlos Sastre, Spanish cyclist
1975 – Anders Nyström, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
1976 – Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1976 – Paul Henderson, Australian footballer
1976 – Michał Żewłakow, Polish footballer
1977 – Mark van Bommel, Dutch footballer
1978 – Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach
1978 – David Masters, English cricketer
1978 – Matt Orford, Australian rugby league player
1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Esteban Tuero, Argentinian race car driver
1979 – Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager
1979 – Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1980 – Igor Budan, Croatian footballer
1980 – Clarke Dermody, New Zealand rugby player
1980 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
1980 – Courtney Friel, American journalist
1980 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
1980 – Quincy Timberlake, Kenyan-Australian activist, engineer, and politician
1980 – Rutledge Wood, American racing analyst and television personality
1981 – Madis Kallas, Estonian decathlete and activist
1981 – Rafael Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2007)
1981 – Jonathan Trott, South African-English cricketer
1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer
1982 – Cassidy Freeman, American actress and musician
1982 – Joel Monaghan, Australian rugby league player
1982 – David Purcey, American baseball player
1982 – Aidas Reklys, Lithuanian figure skater
1982 – Aleksander Saharov, Estonian footballer
1982 – Noriko Shitaya, Japanese voice actress
1983 – Remi Ayodele, American football player
1983 – Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist
1983 – Jos Hooiveld, Dutch footballer
1983 – Matt Jones, American football player
1983 – Vangelis Mantzios, Greek footballer
1984 – Amelle Berrabah, English singer-songwriter
1985 – Kristin Fairlie, Canadian actress
1986 – Amber Heard, American actress and producer
1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player
1986 – Dušan Šakota, Serbian-Greek basketball player
1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
1987 – David Mateos, Spanish footballer
1988 – Dee Gordon, American baseball player
1989 – DeJuan Blair, American basketball player
1989 – Jasper Cillessen, Dutch footballer
1989 – Aron Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer
1990 – Óscar González, Mexican boxer (d. 2014)
1990 – Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper and actor
1991 – Jordi Murphy, Irish international rugby player
1991 – Braydon Smith, Australian boxer (d. 2015)
1992 – Kenny Stills, American football player
1992 – Joonas Vaino, Estonian basketball player
1993 – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Australian footballer
1993 – Ngani Laumape, New Zealand rugby player
1993 – Marcel Ritzmaier, Austrian footballer
Deaths on April 22
296 – Pope Caius
536 – Pope Agapetus I
591 – Peter III of Raqqa
613 – Saint Theodore of Sykeon
846 – Wuzong, Chinese emperor (b. 814)
1208 – Philip of Poitou, Prince-Bishop of Durham
1322 – Francis of Fabriano, Italian writer (b. 1251)
1355 – Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (b. 1318)
1585 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (b. 1550)
1616 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1547)
1672 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish linguist and poet (b. 1598)
1699 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet (b. 1646)
1758 – Antoine de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (b. 1686)
1778 – James Hargreaves, British inventor (b. 1720)
1806 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (b. 1763)
1821 – Gregory V of Constantinople, Greek patriarch and saint (b. 1746)
1833 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (b. 1771)
1850 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist and physician (b. 1798)
1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican general and politician, 11th President of Mexico (b. 1786)
1871 – Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (b. 1806)
1877 – James P. Kirkwood, Scottish-American engineer (b. 1807)
1892 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (b. 1823)
1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian businessman and author (b. 1825)
1894 – Kostas Krystallis, Greek author and poet (b. 1868)
1896 – Thomas Meik, English engineer, founded Halcrow Group (b. 1812)
1908 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Scottish-English merchant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
1925 – André Caplet, French composer and conductor (b. 1878)
1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter and art collector (b. 1848)
1932 – Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian and author (b. 1883)
1933 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1863)
1944 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (b. 1913)
1945 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (b. 1867)
1946 – Lionel Atwill, English-American actor (b. 1885)
1946 – Harlan F. Stone, American lawyer and jurist, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1872)
1949 – Charles Middleton, American actor (b. 1874)
1950 – Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer and academic (b. 1895)
1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist and coleopterist (b. 1870)
1956 – Walt Faulkner, American race car driver (b. 1918)
1968 – Stephen H. Sholes, American record producer (b. 1911)
1978 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902)
1980 – Jane Froman, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
1980 – Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (b. 1902)
1983 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1903)
1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (b. 1902)
1985 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemist and academic (b. 1900)
1985 – Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician and author (b. 1921)
1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (b. 1907)
1987 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect (b. 1905)
1988 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1917)
1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891)
1989 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
1990 – Albert Salmi, American actor (b. 1928)
1994 – Richard Nixon, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913)
1995 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (b. 1947)
1996 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (b. 1927)
1996 – Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (b. 1908)
1998 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (b. 1940)
