Events

Pre-1600

• 769 The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings.

• 1071 Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to the Norman Robert Guiscard.

• 1071 The sharif of Mecca changes the khutbah from the Shiite Fatimid caliph in Cairo to the Sunni Abbasid Caliph in Bagdhad.

• 1191 Henry VI, King of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by pope Celestine III.

• 1277 The Mamluk Sultanate defeats the Mongols in the battle of Elbistan.

• 1450 Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.

1601–1900

• 1632 Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.

• 1642 Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.

• 1715 The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.

• 1736 Foundation of the short-lived Kingdom of Corsica.

• 1738 Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, receives its premiere performance in London, England.

• 1755 Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.

• 1817 Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc found the American School for the Deaf (then called the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons), the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.

• 1861 President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 militiamen to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.

• 1865 President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president.

• 1892 The General Electric Company is formed.

• 1896 Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.

• 1900 Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.

1901–present

• 1912 The British passenger liner sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,224 passengers and crew on board survive.

• 1920 Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.

• 1922 U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.

• 1923 Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.

• 1923 Racially motivated Nihon Shōgakkō fire lit by a serial arsonist kills 10 children in Sacramento, California.

• 1936 First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.

• 1941 World War II: In the Belfast Blitz, 200 bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing some 1,000 people.

• 1942 World War II: The George Cross is awarded "to the island fortress of Malta" by King George VI.

• 1945 Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.

• 1947 Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.

• 1952 First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.

• 1955 McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

• 1960 At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

• 1969 The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.

• 1970 During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.

• 1986 The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.

• 1989 Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans.

• 1989 Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.

• 1994 Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.

• 2002 Air China Flight 129 crashes on approach to Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people.

• 2013 Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring over 500 others.

• 2013 A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.

• 2014 In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, more than 400 civilians are gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.

• 2019 The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.

• 2021 A mass shooting occurs at a FedEx Ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, killing nine and injuring seven.

• 2026 Twelve people and the perpetrator are killed and twelve others injured in a mass shooting at a school in Onikişubat, Turkey.

Births

Pre-1600

• 68 BC Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (died 8 BC)

• 1282 Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (died 1329)

• 1442 John Paston, English noble (died 1479)

• 1452 Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (died 1519)

• 1469 Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (died 1539)

• 1552 Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (died 1626)

• 1563 Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (died 1606)

• 1588 Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (died 1653)

• 1592 Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (died 1675)

1601–1900

• 1641 Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (died 1722)

• 1642 Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (died 1691)

• 1646 Christian V of Denmark (died 1699)

• 1684 Catherine I of Russia (died 1727)

• 1688 Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (died 1758)

• 1707 Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (died 1783)

• 1710 William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (died 1790)

• 1731 William B. Whiting, New York politician (died 1796)

• 1741 Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (died 1827)

• 1771 Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (died 1844)

• 1772 Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (died 1844)

• 1793 Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (died 1864)

• 1795 Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (died 1847)

• 1800 James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (died 1862)

• 1808 William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (died 1892)

• 1809 Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (died 1877)

• 1817 William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (died 1885)

• 1828 Jean Danjou, French captain (died 1863)

• 1829 Mary Harris Thompson, Mary Harris Thompson, American physician and surgeon (died 1895)

• 1832 Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (died 1908)

• 1841 Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (died 1921)

• 1841 Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (died 1919)

• 1843 Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (died 1916)

• 1856 Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (died 1910)

• 1858 Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (died 1917)

• 1861 Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (died 1929)

• 1863 Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (died 1914)

• 1874 George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (died 1954)

• 1874 Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1957)

• 1875 James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (died 1953)

• 1877 Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (died 1947)

• 1877 William David Ross, Scottish philosopher (died 1971)

• 1878 Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (died 1956)

• 1879 Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (died 1980)

• 1883 Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1967)

• 1885 Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (died 1947)

• 1886 Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (died 1921)

• 1887 Felix Pipes, Austrian tennis player (died 1983)

• 1887 William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (died 1953)

• 1888 Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (died 1904)

• 1889 Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (died 1975)

• 1889 A. Philip Randolph, American activist (died 1979)

• 1890 Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat's eye (died 1976)

• 1892 Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (died 1975)

• 1892 Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (died 1983)

• 1894 Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (died 1971)

• 1894 Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (died 1937)

• 1895 Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (died 1980)

• 1895 Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (died 1941)

• 1896 Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1986)

• 1898 Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (died 1973)

• 1900 Ramón Iribarren, Spanish civil engineer (died 1967)

1901–present

• 1901 Joe Davis, English snooker player (died 1978)

• 1901 Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (died 1986)

• 1901 René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1993)

• 1902 Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (died 2002)

• 1903 John Williams, English-American actor (died 1983)

• 1904 Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (died 1948)

• 1907 Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1988)

• 1908 eden ahbez, American songwriter and recording artist (died 1995)

• 1908 Lita Grey, American actress (died 1995)

• 1909 Robert Edison Fulton Jr., American inventor and adventurer (died 2004)

• 1910 Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (died 1986)

• 1910 Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (died 1997)

• 1912 William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (died 1998)

• 1912 Kim Il Sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (died 1994)

• 1915 Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (died 2012)

• 1916 Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (died 1982)

• 1916 Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (died 1997)

• 1917 Hans Conried, American actor (died 1982)

• 1917 Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (died 1944)

• 1917 James Kee, American lawyer and politician (died 1989)

• 1918 Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (died 2007)

• 1919 Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (died 1993)

• 1920 Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (died 2013)

• 1920 Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (died 2012)

• 1920 Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (died 2015)

• 1921 Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (died 1995)

• 1921 Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (died 2009)

• 1922 Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (died 2013)

• 1922 Donn F. Draeger, American martial arts practitioner (died 1982)

• 1922 Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (died 1999)

• 1922 Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (died 1987)

• 1922 Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (died 1981)

• 1923 Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (died 1966)

• 1923 Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (died 2009)

• 1924 M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (died 1980)

• 1924 Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (died 2004)

• 1924 Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (died 2016)

• 1926 Jurriaan Schrofer, Dutch sculptor, designer, and educator (died 1990)

• 1927 Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (died 1999)

• 1929 Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (died 2008)

• 1929 Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (died 2015)

• 1930 Georges Descrières, French actor (died 2013)

• 1930 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland

• 1931 Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant (died 2025)

• 1931 Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (died 2015)

• 1933 Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (died 2018)

• 1933 David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (died 2016)

• 1933 Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (died 1995)

• 1935 Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (died 2008)

• 1936 Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist (died 2019)

• 1937 Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1978)

• 1937 Robert W. Gore, American engineer and businessman, co-inventor of Gore-Tex (died 2020)

• 1938 Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress (died 2025)

• 1938 Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (died 2016)

• 1939 Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor

• 1939 Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (died 2009)

• 1940 Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician

• 1940 Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World

• 1940 Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (died 2010)

• 1940 Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic

• 1940 Robert Walker, American actor (died 2019)

• 1941 Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician

• 1942 Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (died 2017)

• 1942 Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (died 2011)

• 1942 Kenneth Lay, American businessman and criminal (died 2006)

• 1942 Tim Lankester, English economist and academic

• 1943 Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic (died 2025)

• 1943 Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate

• 1943 Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician (died 2022)

• 1943 Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (died 2006)

• 1944 Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

• 1946 John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author

• 1946 Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff

• 1947 Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer

• 1947 Martin Broughton, English businessman

• 1947 Lois Chiles, American model and actress

• 1947 David Omand, English civil servant and academic

• 1947 Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security

• 1948 Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic

• 1948 Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (died 2003)

• 1948 Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician

• 1949 Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress

• 1949 Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2018)

• 1950 Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter

• 1950 Amy Wright, American actress

• 1950 Karel Kroupa, Czech football player

• 1951 Heloise, American journalist and author

• 1951 John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut

• 1951 Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer

• 1951 Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut

• 1952 Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter

• 1952 Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer

• 1952 Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic

• 1952 Glenn Shadix, American actor, (died 2010)

• 1955 Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (died 1997)

• 1955 Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician

• 1956 Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach

• 1957 Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach

• 1958 Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

• 1958 John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer

• 1958 Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach

• 1958 Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright (died 2023)

• 1959 Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1959 Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager

• 1959 Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter

• 1960 Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1960 Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter

• 1960 Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster

• 1960 Tony Jones, English snooker player

• 1961 Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician

• 1961 Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist

• 1961 Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer

• 1962 Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician

• 1962 Tom Kane, American voice actor (died 2026)

• 1963 Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist

• 1963 Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer

• 1963 Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster

• 1964 Andre Joubert, South African rugby player

• 1964 Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1965 Soichi Noguchi, Japanese engineer and astronaut

• 1965 Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer

• 1965 Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player

• 1966 Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress

• 1966 Mott Green, American businessman (died 2013)

• 1967 Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter

• 1967 Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist

• 1968 Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach

• 1968 Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner

• 1968 Ed O'Brien, English guitarist

• 1969 Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player

• 1969 Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor

• 1969 Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach

• 1970 Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach

• 1971 Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player

• 1971 Finidi George, Nigerian footballer

• 1971 Jason Sehorn, American football player

• 1971 Josia Thugwane, South African runner

• 1971 Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician

• 1972 Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (died 2009)

• 1972 Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor

• 1974 Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director

• 1974 Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter

• 1974 Mike Quinn, American football player

• 1974 Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer

• 1974 Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player

• 1975 Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist

• 1976 Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

• 1976 Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer

• 1976 Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player

• 1976 Steve Williams, English rower

• 1977 Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor

• 1977 Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player

• 1978 Milton Bradley, American baseball player

• 1978 Tim Corcoran, American baseball player

• 1978 Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer

• 1978 Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1979 Luke Evans, Welsh actor and singer

• 1980 Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer

• 1980 James Foster, English cricketer

• 1980 Raül López, Spanish basketball player

• 1980 Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player

• 1980 Billy Yates, American football player

• 1981 Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer

• 1982 Michael Aubrey, American baseball player

• 1982 Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter

• 1982 Albert Riera, Spanish footballer and manager

• 1982 Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1983 Alice Braga, Brazilian actress

• 1983 Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1983 Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer

• 1983 Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (died 2014)

• 1983 Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player

• 1983 Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist

• 1984 Antonio Cromartie, American football player

• 1984 Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player

• 1984 Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1985 Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1986 Tom Heaton, English footballer

• 1986 Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer

• 1988 Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player

• 1988 Steven Defour, Belgian footballer

• 1988 Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher

• 1989 Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player

• 1990 Emma Watson, English actress

• 1991 Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor

• 1991 Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater

• 1992 Remo Freuler, Swiss footballer

• 1992 John Guidetti, Swedish footballer

• 1992 Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player

• 1993 Felipe Anderson, Brazilian footballer

• 1994 Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player

• 1994 Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter

• 1995 Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer

• 1997 Ashleigh Gardner, Australian cricketer

• 1997 Maisie Williams, English actress

• 1998 Sexyy Red, American rapper

• 2001 Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 628 Suiko, emperor of Japan (born 554)

• 943 Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (born 920)

• 956 Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch

• 1053 Godwin, Earl of Wessex (born 1001)

• 1136 Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (born 1094)

• 1220 Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (born 1157)

• 1237 Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic

• 1415 Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (born 1355)

• 1446 Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (born 1377)

• 1502 John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (born 1443)

• 1558 Hurrem Sultan, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent and the Haseki sultan of Ottoman Empire (born 1505)

• 1578 Wolrad II, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, German nobleman (born 1509)

1601–1900

• 1610 Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (born 1546)

• 1632 George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (born 1580)

• 1652 Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch

• 1659 Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (born 1605)

• 1719 Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV (born 1635)

• 1754 Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (born 1676)

• 1757 Rosalba Carriera, Italian painter (born 1673)

• 1761 Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (born 1682)

• 1761 William Oldys, English historian and author (born 1696)

• 1764 Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (born 1679)

• 1764 Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV (born 1721)

• 1765 Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (born 1711)

• 1788 Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (born 1711)

• 1793 Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (born 1718)

• 1854 Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (born 1773)

• 1861 Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (born 1792)

• 1865 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (born 1809)

• 1888 Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (born 1822)

• 1889 Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (born 1840)

• 1898 Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician

1901–present

1912 Victims of the Titanic disaster:

• Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (born 1873)

• John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (born 1864)

• Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (born 1865)

• Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (born 1875)

• Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (born 1865)

• Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (born 1866)

• Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (born 1878)

• Charles Melville Hays, American businessman (born 1856)

• James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (born 1887)

• William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (born 1873)

• Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (born 1887)

• Edward Smith, English Captain (born 1850)

• William Thomas Stead, English journalist (born 1849)

• Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (born 1849)

• Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (born 1845)

• John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (born 1862)

• Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (born 1872)

• 1917 János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (born 1839)

• 1925 Fritz Haarmann, German serial killer (born 1879)

• 1927 Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (born 1868)

• 1938 César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (born 1892)

• 1942 Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (born 1880)

• 1943 Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (born 1882)

• 1944 Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (born 1901)

• 1945 Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (born 1895)

• 1948 Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (born 1892)

• 1949 Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1885)

• 1962 Clara Blandick, American actress (born 1880)

• 1962 Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (born 1912)

• 1963 Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (born 1903)

• 1966 Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan (born 1906)

• 1967 Totò, Italian comedian (born 1898)

• 1971 Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (born 1915)

• 1971 Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (born 1886)

• 1979 David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (born 1912)

• 1980 Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (born 1904)

• 1980 Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)

• 1982 Arthur Lowe, English actor (born 1915)

• 1984 Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (born 1921)

• 1986 Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1910)

• 1988 Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (born 1926)

• 1989 Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (born 1915)

• 1990 Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (born 1905)

• 1993 Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (born 1907)

• 1993 John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (born 1908)

• 1998 William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (born 1912)

• 1998 Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (born 1925)

• 1999 Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (born 1944)

• 2000 Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (born 1925)

• 2001 Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (born 1951)

• 2002 Damon Knight, American author and critic (born 1922)

• 2002 Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (born 1917)

• 2004 Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (born 1934)

• 2007 Brant Parker, American illustrator (born 1920)

• 2008 Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (born 1921)

• 2009 Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (born 1924)

• 2009 László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (born 1907)

• 2009 Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (born 1947)

• 2010 Jack Herer, American author and activist (born 1939)

• 2010 Michael Pataki, American actor and director (born 1938)

• 2011 Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (born 1975)

• 2012 Paul Bogart, American director and producer (born 1919)

• 2012 Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (born 1968)

• 2013 Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (born 1930)

• 2013 Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (born 1946)

• 2013 Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (born 1928)

• 2014 John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (born 1919)

• 2014 Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (born 1935)

• 2015 Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (born 1966)

• 2015 Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1928)

• 2017 Clifton James, American actor (born 1920)

• 2017 Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (born 1899)

• 2018 R. Lee Ermey, American actor (born 1944)

• 2018 Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (born 1929)

• 2022 Bilquis Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist and wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi (born 1947)

• 2022 Henry Plumb, British politician and farmer (born 1925)

• 2022 Liz Sheridan, American actress (born 1929)

• 2024 Whitey Herzog, American professional baseball outfielder and manager (born 1931)

• 2024 Josip Manolić, Croatian politician, prime minister, and speaker of the Chamber of Counties (born 1920)

• 2025 Wink Martindale, American DJ, radio personality, and TV personality (born 1933)

• 2026 José Santamaría, Uruguayan-Spanish footballer and manager (born 1929)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

• Abbo II of Metz

• Blessed César de Bus

• Father Damien (Catholic and Episcopal Church)

• Hunna

• Paternus of Avranches

• April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Day of the Sun (North Korea)

• Father Damien Day (Hawaii)

• Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)

• Jackie Robinson Day (United States)

• National American Sign Language Day (United States)

• Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year; India)

• Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)

• Universal Day of Culture

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on April 15