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Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links

Events

★ 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII.

★ 1534 - Jacques Cartier begins his voyage, in which he will discover Canada and Labrador.

★ 1653 - Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament.

★ 1657 - Admiral Robert Blake destroys a Spanish silver fleet under heavy fire at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

★ 1657 - Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).

★ 1689 - The former King James II of England, now deposed, lays siege to Derry.

★ 1775 - American Revolutionary War: the siege of Boston begins, which followed the first battles at Lexington and Concord.

★ 1792 - France declares war on Austria, the beginning of French Revolutionary Wars.

★ 1810 - The Governors of Caracas declares the national sovereignty from Spain.

★ 1828 - René Caillié is first non-Muslim to enter in Timbouctou.

★ 1836 - U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.

★ 1861 - American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.

★ 1862 - The first pasteurization test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard.

★ 1871 - Civil Rights Act of 1871

★ 1884 - Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical, ''Humanum Genus''.

★ 1902 - Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.

★ 1908 - Opening day of competition of the New South Wales Rugby League.

★ 1912 - Opening day for baseball stadiums Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.

★ 1914 - Seventeen men, women, and children die in the Ludlow Massacre during a bitter Colorado coal-miner's strike.

★ 1918 - Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims marking his final victories before his death the following day.

★ 1926 - Western Electric and Warner Bros. announce Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.

★ 1945 - World War II: US troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.

★ 1945 - World War II: U.S. B-29 bombers destroy the Musashi Aircraft plants, halting production of the Nakajima Ki-84 fighter planes.

★ 1961 - Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US troops against Cuba.

★ 1962 - First production of Bentlage brand cigars, Habana, Cuba.

★ 1964 - BBC Two launches with the power cut because of the fire at Battersea Power Station.

★ 1967 - A Swiss Bristol Britannia turboprop crashes at Nicosia, Cyprus, killing 126.

★ 1968 - A South African Airways Boeing 707 crashes during takeoff at Windhoek, South-West Africa, killing 122.

★ 1968 - English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial Rivers of Blood speech.

★ 1972 - Apollo 16 lands on the Moon.

★ 1978 - Korean Air Flight 902 shot down by Soviets.

★ 1980 - Climax of Berber Spring in Algeria as hundreds of Berber political activists are arrested.

★ 1985 - ATF raid on The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound in northern Arkansas.

★ 1986 - Pianist Vladimir Horowitz performed in his native Russia for the first time in 61 years.

★ 1986 - Professional basketball player Michael Jordan sets all-time record for points in a NBA playoff game with 63 against the Boston Celtics.

★ 1998 - TAME Boeing 727-200 chartered by Air France crashes into Cerro El Cable mountain after takeoff from Bogotá, Colombia, killing 53.

★ 1998 - German terrorist group Red Army Faction announces their dissolution after 28 years.

★ 1999 - The Columbine High School massacre leaves 15 people (including the two gunmen) dead and 24 wounded in Jefferson County, Colorado.

★ 2004 - In Iraq, 12 mortars are fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents, killing 22 detainees and wounding 92.

★ 2007 - Johnson Space Center Shooting: A man with a hand gun barricades himself in NASA's Johnson Space Center before killing a male hostage and himself.

Births

★ 570 - Prophet Muhammed, founder of Islam (d. 632) (date disputed)

★ 702 - Jafar Sadiq, Muslim scholar (d. 765)

★ 1494 - Johannes Agricola, German Protestant reformer (d. 1566)

★ 1586 - Saint Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (d. 1617)

★ 1633 - Emperor Go-Komyo of Japan (d. 1654)

★ 1646 - Charles Plumier, French botanist (d. 1704)

★ 1650 - William Bedloe, English informer (d. 1680)

★ 1668 - Yuri Troubetzkoy, Governor of Belgorod (d. 1739)

★ 1718 - David Brainerd, American missionary (d. 1747)

★ 1723 - Cornelius Harnett, American delegate to the Continental Congress (d. 1781)

★ 1745 - Philippe Pinel, French physician (d. 1826)

★ 1808 - Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (d. 1873)

★ 1818 - Heinrich Göbel, German-born inventor (d. 1893)

★ 1826 - Dinah Craik, English author (d. 1887)

★ 1850 - Daniel Chester French, American sculptor (d. 1931)

★ 1851 - Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (d. 1875)

★ 1870 - Maulvi Abdul Haq, ''Father of Urdu'', Pakistani scholar (d.1961)

★ 1879 - Paul Poiret, French couturier (d. 1944)

★ 1882 - Holland Smith, U.S. General (d. 1967)

★ 1889 - Albert Jean Amateau, Turkish-born businessman and social activist (d. 1996)

★ 1889 - Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany (d. 1945)

★ 1890 - Maurice Duplessis, premier of Québec, known as "Le Chef" (d. 1959)

★ 1891 - Caresse Crosby, American poet (d. 1970)

★ 1893 - Harold Lloyd, American actor (d. 1971)

★ 1893 - Joan Miró, Spanish Catalan painter (d. 1983)

★ 1895 - Emile Christian, American musician (d. 1973)

★ 1896 - Wop May, Canadian aviator (d. 1952)

★ 1904 - Bruce Cabot, American actor (d. 1972)

★ 1904 - George Stibitz, American scientist (d. 1995)

★ 1908 - Lionel Hampton, American musician (d. 2002)

★ 1914 - Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (d. 1999)

★ 1915 - Joseph Wolpe, South African-born psychotherapist (d. 1997)

★ 1918 - Edward L. Beach, Jr., American naval officer, author (d. 2002)

★ 1918 - Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

★ 1919 - Richard Hillary, Australian Spitfire pilot and author (d. 1943)

★ 1920 - John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

★ 1920 - Ronald Speirs, WWII Veteran (d. 2007)

★ 1921 - Janine Sutto, French Canadian actress

★ 1923 - Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster

★ 1923 - Tito Puente, American musician (d. 2000)

★ 1924 - Leslie Phillips, English actor

★ 1925 - Ernie Stautner, German-born American football player (d. 2006)

★ 1927 - Karl Alexander Müller, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

★ 1928 - Gerald S. Hawkins, English astronomer (d. 2003)

★ 1936 - Pat Roberts, American politician

★ 1937 - George Takei, American actor

★ 1939 - Peter S. Beagle, American author

★ 1939 - Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway

★ 1939 - Johnny Tillotson, American singer

★ 1941 - Ryan O'Neal, American actor

★ 1943 - John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor

★ 1943 - Edie Sedgwick, American actress (d. 1971)

★ 1945 - Michael Brandon, American actor

★ 1945 - Steve Spurrier, American football player and coach

★ 1946 - Julien Poulin, French Canadian actor

★ 1947 - Björn Skifs, Swedish singer (Blue Swede)

★ 1947 - Andrew Tobias, American journalist and author

★ 1947 - David Leland, British actor, director and screenwriter

★ 1948 - Craig Frost, American musician (Grand Funk & Bob Seger)

★ 1948 - Adolf Lu Hitler Marak, Indian politician

★ 1948 - Gregory Itzin, American actor

★ 1948 - Rémy Trudel, French Canadian politician

★ 1949 - Massimo D'Alema, Prime Minister of Italy

★ 1949 - Veronica Cartwright, American actress

★ 1949 - Toller Cranston, Canadian figure skater and artist

★ 1949 - Jessica Lange, American actress

★ 1950 - Steve Erickson, American novelist

★ 1950 - Aleksandr Lebed, Russian general and politician (d. 2002)

★ 1950 - Chandra Babu Naidu, Indian politician

★ 1951 - Luther Vandross, American singer (d. 2005)

★ 1952 - Božidar Maljković, Serbian basketball coach

★ 1953 - Sebastian Faulks, British novelist

★ 1953 - Michael Q. Schmidt, American actor and model

★ 1954 - Gilles Lupien, French Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1956 - Beatrice Ask, Swedish politician

★ 1957 - Geraint Wyn Davies, Welsh-Canadian actor

★ 1958 - Viacheslav Fetisov, Russian ice hockey player

★ 1961 - Don Mattingly, American baseball player

★ 1961 - Konstantin Lavronenko, Russian actor

★ 1963 - Mauricio Gugelmin, Brazilian racing driver

★ 1964 - Crispin Glover, American actor

★ 1964 - Andy Serkis, English actor

★ 1964 - Rosalynn Sumners, American figure skater

★ 1965 - Ralph Cirella, stylist and friend of Howard Stern

★ 1965 - Adrian Fernández, Mexican racing driver

★ 1967 - Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts player

★ 1967 - Mike Portnoy, American drummer (Dream Theater)

★ 1967 - Lara Jill Miller, American actress

★ 1968 - J.D. Roth, American game show host and television personality

★ 1970 - Shemar Moore, American actor

★ 1970 - Adriano Moraes, Brazilian rodeo performer

★ 1971 - Carla Geurts, Dutch swimmer

★ 1971 - Allan Houston, basketball player

★ 1971 - Tina Cousins, English singer

★ 1972 - Carmen Electra, American actress

★ 1972 - Le Huynh Đuc, Vietnamese footballer

★ 1972 - Stephen Marley, Jamaican musician

★ 1976 - Joey Lawrence, American actor

★ 1976 - Shay Given, Irish footballer

★ 1977 - Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli, professional wrestler

★ 1978 - Mirei Kuroda, Japanese gravure idol

★ 1980 - Jasmin Wagner, German singer

★ 1981 - Matus Valent, male fitness model

★ 1983 - Terrence J, American television host

★ 1986 - Cameron Duncan, New Zealand director (d. 2003)

Deaths

★ 1176 - Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English soldier (b. 1130)

★ 1314 - Pope Clement V (b. 1264)

★ 1521 - Zhengde, Emperor of China (b. 1491)

★ 1534 - Elizabeth Barton, English nun (executed)

★ 1558 - Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (b. 1485)

★ 1643 - Christoph Demantius, German composer (b. 1567)

★ 1703 - Lancelot Addison, English royal chaplain (b. 1632)

★ 1765 - Abigail Williams, American accuser in the Salem witch trials (b. 1674)

★ 1769 - Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa

★ 1831 - John Abernethy, English surgeon (b. 1764)

★ 1874 - Alexander H. Bailey, American politician (b. 1817)

★ 1887 - Muhammad Sharif Pasha, Egyptian statesman (b. 1826)

★ 1873 - William Tite, English architect (b. 1798)

★ 1899 - Joseph Wolf, German artist (b. 1820)

★ 1912 - Bram Stoker, Irish author (b. 1847)

★ 1918 - Karl Ferdinand Braun, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1850)

★ 1932 - Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (b. 1858)

★ 1945 - Erwin Bumke, German jurist (b. 1874)

★ 1947 - King Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870)

★ 1951 - Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1873)

★ 1964 - Eddie Dyer, baseball player (b. 1899)

★ 1977 - Sepp Herberger, German football coach (b. 1897)

★ 1982 - Archibald MacLeish, American poet and Librarian of Congress (b. 1892)

★ 1984 - Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer (b. 1943)

★ 1986 - Sibte Hassan, Pakistani activist, journalist and writer (b. 1916)

★ 1989 - Doru Davidovici, Romanian writer and fighter pilot (b. 1945)

★ 1991 - Don Siegel, American film director (b. 1912)

★ 1992 - Benny Hill, British comedian (b. 1924)

★ 1993 - Cantinflas, Mexican comedian and actor (b. 1911)

★ 1994 - Jean Carmet, French actor (b. 1920)

★ 1996 - Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne (b. 1920)

★ 1999 - Victims of the Columbine High School massacre

★ 1999 - Rick Rude, American professional wrestler (b. 1958)

★ 1999 - Señor Wences, Spanish ventriloquist and comedian (b. 1896)

★ 2001 - Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1946)

★ 2002 - Alan Dale, American singer (b. 1925)

★ 2003 - Ruth Hale, American playwright and actress (b. 1908)

★ 2003 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1976)

★ 2003 - Bernard Katz, German-born biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)

★ 2005 - Fumio Niwa, Japanese novelist (b. 1904)

★ 2005 - Zygfryd Blaut, Polish football player (b. 1943)

★ 2006 - Anna Svidersky (b. April 26, 1988)

★ 2007 - Andrew Hill, American jazz composer and pianist (b. 1931)

★ 2007 - Michael Fu Tieshan, Chinese bishop (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

★ Ridván begins at sunset (Bahá'í Faith).

★ 4/20 in cannabis culture.

Liturgical feasts

★ Saint Agnes of Montepulciano

★ Saint Marcellinus

★ Saint Victor (d. 303)

★ Saint Theotimus (d. 407)

★ Blessed Oda (d. 1158)

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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