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It is also the Ides (middle day) of April.

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links

Events

★ 1055 - Victor II is consecrated pope.

★ 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

★ 1180 - Frederick Barbarossa issues the Gelnhausen Charter.

★ 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople.

★ 1250 - The Seventh Crusade is defeated in Egypt, Louis IX of France is captured.

★ 1256 - The Grand Union of the Augustinian order formed when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull ''Licet ecclesiae catholicae''.

★ 1598 - Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

★ 1742 - George Frideric Handel's oratorio ''Messiah'' makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.

★ 1829 - The British Parliament grants freedom of religion to Roman Catholics.

★ 1849 - Hungary becomes a republic.

★ 1861 - American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.

★ 1868 - Abyssinian War ends as British and Indian troops capture Magdala.

★ 1873 - Colfax Massacre.

★ 1883 - Alferd Packer is convicted of murder.

★ 1902 - James C. Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

★ 1919 - The Establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

★ 1919 - Amritsar massacre: British troops massacre at least 379 unarmed demonstrators in Amritsar, India.

★ 1921 - Foundation of the Spanish Communist Workers' Party.

★ 1924 - AEK Athens FC is established in Constantinople.

★ 1939 - In India, the Hindustani Lal Sena (Indian Red Army) is formed and vows to engage in armed struggle against the British.

★ 1941 - Pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.

★ 1943 - World War II: The discovery of a mass grave of Polish prisoners-of-war executed by Soviet forces in the Katyń Forest Massacre was announced in Germany, driving a wedge between the Western Allies, the Polish government-in-exile in London, and the Soviet Union.

★ 1943 - James Boarman, Fred Hunter, Harold Brest and Floyd G. Hamilton take part in Alcatraz escape attempt.

★ 1943 - The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, DC, on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth.

★ 1945 - German troops massacre more than 1000 political and military prisoners in Gardelegen Germany. The atrocity is discovered two days later by American forces.

★ 1953 - Ian Fleming publishes the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale.

★ 1969 - Closure of the Brisbane tramway network.

★ 1970 - An oxygen tank aboard ''Apollo 13'' explodes, putting the crew into deadly peril.

★ 1972 - The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.

★ 1974 - Western Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the USA's first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1.

★ 1975 - An attack by unidentified gunmen on a church in Ain El Remmeneh followed by an attack on a bus that killed 17 Palestinian civilians, Lebanon marks the beginning of a 15 year civil war.

★ 1983 - Harold Washington is elected as the first African-American mayor in Chicago's history.

★ 1984 - India moves into Siachen Glacier thus annexed more territory from the Line of Control.

★ 1984 - Pete Rose becomes the first player in National League history to collect 4,000 hits.

★ 1985 - Enver Hoxha is succeeded by Ramiz Alia as the leader of Albania.

★ 1987 - Portugal and the People's Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau would be returned to the latter in 1999.

★ 1992 - Neil Kinnock resigns as British Labour leader following the party's defeat by the Conservatives in the general election four days earlier.

★ 1997 - Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win golf's Masters Tournament.

★ 2003 - 21 Students from Makrohori, Imathia Prefecture, Greece are killed when their bus collides with a truck carrying lumber, at the Vale of Tempe.

Births

★ 1506 - Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (d. 1546)

★ 1519 - Catherine de' Medici, wife of Henry II of France (d. 1589)

★ 1547 - Elisabeth of Valois, third wife of Philip II of Spain (d. 1568)

★ 1570 - Guy Fawkes, English Catholic conspirator (d. 1606)

★ 1584 - Albert VI of Bavaria (d. 1666)

★ 1593 - Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English statesman (d. 1641)

★ 1618 - Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French writer (d. 1693)

★ 1648 - Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (d. 1717)

★ 1715 - John Hanson, President of the United States in Congress Assembled (d. 1783)

★ 1729 - Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore and magazine editor (d. 1811)

★ 1732 - Frederick North, Lord North, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)

★ 1735 - Isaac Low, New York delegate to the Continental Congress (d. 1791)

★ 1743 - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States (New style date) (d. 1826)

★ 1747 - Louis Philip II, Duke of Orléans (d. 1793)

★ 1764 - Laurent, Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French marshal (d. 1830)

★ 1769 - Thomas Lawrence, English painter (d. 1830)

★ 1771 - Richard Trevithick, English engineer and inventor (d. 1833)

★ 1780 - Alexander Mitchell, Irish engineer (d. 1868)

★ 1784 - Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (d. 1877)

★ 1787 - John Robertson, U.S. congressman (d. 1873)

★ 1802 - Leopold Fitzinger, Austrian zoologist (d. 1884)

★ 1808 - Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (d. 1896)

★ 1825 - Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1868)

★ 1828 - Joseph Barber Lightfoot, English theologian and Bishop of Durham (d. 1889)

★ 1832 - Juan Montalvo, Ecuadoran author (d. 1889)

★ 1841 - Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor (d. 1905)

★ 1850 - Arthur Matthew Weld Downing, British astronomer (d. 1917)

★ 1851 - Robert Abbe, American surgeon (d. 1928)

★ 1852 - F.W. Woolworth, American businessman (d. 1919)

★ 1860 - James Ensor, Belgian painter (d. 1949)

★ 1866 - Butch Cassidy, American outlaw (d. 1908)

★ 1872 - Alexander Roda Roda, Austrian writer (d. 1945)

★ 1873 - John W. Davis, American politician (d. 1955)

★ 1875 - Ray Lyman Wilbur, President of Stanford University and U.S. Secretary of the Interior (d. 1949)

★ 1879 - Edward Bruce, Director of the New Deal art projects during the Great Depression (d. 1943)

★ 1880 - Charles Christie, Canadian film studio owner (d. 1955)

★ 1885 - Georg Lukács, Hungarian-born philosopher and literary critic (d. 1971)

★ 1885 - Vean Gregg, American baseball player (d. 1964)

★ 1887 - Gordon S. Fahrni, Canadian physician and President of the Canadian Medical Association (d. 1995)

★ 1889 - Herbert Osborne Yardley, American cryptographer (d. 1958)

★ 1890 - Frank Murphy, American public servant (d. 1949)

★ 1891 - Maurice Vincent Buckley, Australian winner of the Victoria Cross (d. 1921)

★ 1891 - Nella Larsen, African-American novelist (d. 1964)

★ 1892 - Arthur Travers 'Bomber' Harris, British Air Force commander in World War II (d. 1984)

★ 1892 - Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, Scottish inventor (d. 1973)

★ 1894 - Arthur Fadden, thirteenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1973)

★ 1897 - Werner Voss, German World War I pilot (d. 1917)

★ 1899 - Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and inventor of the Scrabble (d. 1993)

★ 1900 - Pierre Molinier, French painter and photographer (d. 1976)

★ 1901 - Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst and semanticist (d. 1981)

★ 1902 - Philippe de Rothschild, French race car driver and wine grower (d. 1988)

★ 1904 - Sir David Robinson, British philanthropist and entrepreneur (d. 1987)

★ 1906 - Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1989)

★ 1906 - Bud Freeman, American jazz musician (d. 1991)

★ 1907 - Harold Stassen, American Presidential candidate (d. 2001)

★ 1909 - Stanislaw Marcin Ulam, Polish mathematician (d. 1984)

★ 1909 - Eudora Welty, American writer (d. 2001)

★ 1911 - Ico Hitrec, Croatian footballer (d. 1946)

★ 1911 - Jean-Louis Lévesque, Canadian entrepreneur, racehorse owner and philanthropist (d. 1994)

★ 1916 - Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner, American actress, journalist, and children's book publisher (d. 2006)

★ 1919 - Roland Gaucher, French journalist

★ 1919 - Howard Keel, American actor, singer, and president of the Screen Actors Guild (d. 2004)

★ 1919 - Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American atheist activist (d. 1995)

★ 1919 - Phil Tonken, American radio and television announcer (d. 2000)

★ 1920 - Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (d. 1982)

★ 1920 - Claude Cheysson, French politician

★ 1920 - Liam Cosgrave, fifth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland

★ 1920 - John LaPorta, American musician (d. 2004)

★ 1922 - John Braine, British novelist (d. 1986)

★ 1922 - Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian politician (d. 1999)

★ 1923 - Don Adams, American actor and comedian (d. 2005)

★ 1924 - Jack Chick, American evangelist

★ 1924 - Stanley Donen, American film director

★ 1926 - John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough

★ 1926 - Ellie Lambeti, Greek actress

★ 1927 - Maurice Ronet, French film actor (d. 1983)

★ 1928 - Alan Clark, English politician (d. 1999)

★ 1931 - Robert Enrico, French film director and screenwriter (d. 2001)

★ 1931 - Dan Gurney, American race car driver

★ 1931 - Jon Stone, co-creator of ''Sesame Street'' (d. 1997)

★ 1932 - Orlando Letelier, Chilean politician (d. 1976)

★ 1933 - Ben Nighthorse Campbell, U.S. Senator

★ 1935 - Lyle Waggoner, American actor

★ 1937 - Edward Fox, English actor

★ 1937 - Lanford Wilson, American playwright

★ 1939 - Seamus Heaney, Irish writer, Nobel laureate

★ 1939 - Paul Sorvino, American actor

★ 1940 - Mike Beuttler, British racing driver (d. 1988)

★ 1940 - Jim McNab, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)

★ 1941 - Michael Stuart Brown, American geneticist, Nobel laureate

★ 1942 - Bill Conti, American composer

★ 1943 - Billy Kidd, American alpine skier

★ 1944 - Jack Casady, American musician (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)

★ 1944 - Susan Davis, American politician

★ 1944 - Brian Pendleton, musician, The Pretty Things (d. 2001)

★ 1945 - Tony Dow, American actor

★ 1945 - Lowell George, American country/rock singer/guitarist (Little Feat) (d. 1979)

★ 1945 - Bob Kalsu, American football player (d. 1970)

★ 1945 - Judy Nunn, Australian actress

★ 1945 - Charles Robinson, American actor

★ 1946 - Al Green, American singer and pastor

★ 1947 - Thanos Mikroutsikos, Greek composer & former minister

★ 1948 - Sue Doughty, British politician

★ 1948 - Nam Hae-il, Chief of Naval Operations of Republic of Korea Navy

★ 1949 - Frank Doran, Scottish politician

★ 1949 - Christopher Hitchens, English-born journalist, critic, and author

★ 1949 - Ricardo Zuniño, Argentine racing driver

★ 1950 - Terry Lester, American actor (d. 2003)

★ 1950 - Ron Perlman, American actor

★ 1950 - William Sadler, American actor

★ 1951 - Peabo Bryson, American singer

★ 1951 - Peter Davison, English actor

★ 1951 - Joachim Streich, East German footballer

★ 1951 - Max Weinberg, American drummer

★ 1952 - Ron Dittemore, American space administrator

★ 1952 - David Drew, British politician

★ 1952 - Erick Avari, British-Indian actor

★ 1953 - Stephen Byers, British politician

★ 1954 - Niels Olsen, Danish singer and Eurovision Song Contest winner

★ 1955 - Ole von Beust, Mayor of Hamburg

★ 1955 - Lupe Pintor, Mexican boxer

★ 1956 - Peter 'Possum' Bourne, New Zealand rally driver (d. 2003)

★ 1956 - Alison Wheeler, British activist

★ 1957 - Saundra Santiago, American actress

★ 1957 - Dallas Moir, Scottish cricketer

★ 1960 - Rudi Völler, German football coach

★ 1960 - Olaf Ludwig, German cyclist

★ 1962 - Dave Miley, former baseball player and manager

★ 1962 - Hillel Slovak, Israeli-born guitarist (Red Hot Chili Peppers) (d. 1988)

★ 1962 - Jennifer Rubin, American actress

★ 1963 - Garry Kasparov, Russian chess player

★ 1964 - Caroline Rhea, Canadian actress

★ 1965 - Patricio Pouchulu, Argentinean architect

★ 1966 - Ali Boumnijel, Tunisian football player

★ 1966 - Marc Ford, American musician (The Black Crowes)

★ 1967 - Olga Tañón, Puerto Rican singer

★ 1970 - Monty Brown, American professional wrestler

★ 1970 - Gerry Creaney, Scottish footballer

★ 1970 - Rick Schroder, American actor

★ 1971 - Dina Korzun, Russian actress

★ 1971 - Bo Outlaw, American basketball player

★ 1971 - Valensia, Dutch singer

★ 1972 - Mariusz Czerkawski, Polish ice hockey player

★ 1972 - Aaron Lewis, American singer (Staind)

★ 1974 - Darren Turner , Britsh Race Driver

★ 1974 - Sergei Gonchar, Russian ice hockey player

★ 1974 - David Zdrilić, Australian soccer player

★ 1975 - Lou Bega, German-born musician and artist

★ 1975 - Bruce Dyer, English footballer

★ 1976 - Jonathan Brandis, American actor (d. 2003)

★ 1976 - Patrik Eliáš, Czech ice hockey player

★ 1976 - Yu Ji-tae, South Korean actor

★ 1978 - Arron Asham, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1978 - Kyle Howard, American actor

★ 1978 - Carles Puyol, Spanish footballer

★ 1978 - Chris Sligh, American Idol finalist

★ 1979 - Baron Davis, American basketball player

★ 1979 - Meghann Shaughnessy, American tennis player

★ 1980 - Jana Cova, Czech pornographic actress

★ 1980 - Quentin Richardson, American basketball player

★ 1980 - Colleen Clinkenbeard, American voice actress

★ 1982 - Nellie McKay, American singer

★ 1982 - Janice Vidal, Hong Kong singer

★ 1982 - Jill Vidal, Hong Kong singer

★ 1983 - Schalk Burger, South African rugby player

★ 1987 - Brandon Hardesty, American internet entertainer

★ 1988 - Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira, Brazilian footballer

★ 1992 - Emma Degerstedt, American actress

Deaths

★ 799 - Paul the Deacon, Italian monk and chronicler

★ 814 - Krum, Khan of Bulgaria

★ 1093 - Prince Vsevolod I of Kiev (b. 1030)

★ 1279 - Boleslaus the Pious, Polish duke

★ 1605 - Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia

★ 1635 - Fahkr-al-Din II, Druze Prince of Lebanon (executed)

★ 1638 - Henri, duc de Rohan, French Huguenot leader (b. 1579)

★ 1641 - Richard Montagu, English clergyman (b. 1577)

★ 1695 - Jean de la Fontaine, French author (b. 1621)

★ 1722 - Charles Leslie, Irish Anglican theologian (b. 1650)

★ 1793 - Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, French revolutionary (b. 1763)

★ 1794 - Nicolas Chamfort, French writer (b. 1741)

★ 1826 - Franz Danzi, German composer (b. 1763)

★ 1853 - Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (b. 1788)

★ 1853 - James Iredell, Jr., Governor of North Carolina (b. 1788)

★ 1855 - Henry De la Beche, English geologist (b. 1796)

★ 1868 - Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1818)

★ 1880 - Robert Fortune, Scottish botanist (b. 1813)

★ 1882 - Bruno Bauer, German theologian (b. 1809)

★ 1890 - Samuel J. Randall, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1828)

★ 1909 - Whitley Stokes, British lawyer (b. 1830)

★ 1910 - William Quiller Orchardson, British painter (b. 1835)

★ 1911 - George Washington Glick, Governor of Kansas (b. 1827)

★ 1911 - John McLane, Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1852)

★ 1912 - Ishikawa Takuboku, Japanese author (b. 1886)

★ 1918 - Lavr Georgevich Kornilov, Russian general (b. 1870)

★ 1936 - Milton Brown, American swing bandleader (b. 1903)

★ 1938 - Grey Owl, proponent of nature conservation (b. 1888)

★ 1941 - Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer (b. 1863)

★ 1944 - Cécile Chaminade, French composer and pianist (b. 1857)

★ 1945 - Ernst Cassirer, German philosopher (b. 1874)

★ 1959 - Eduard van Beinum, Dutch conductor (b. 1901)

★ 1962 - Culbert Olson, Governor of California (b. 1876)

★ 1966 - Abdul Salam Arif, President of Iraq (b. 1921)

★ 1966 - Georges Duhamel, French writer (b. 1884)

★ 1971 - Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1949)

★ 1971 - Juhan Smuul, Estonian author (b. 1921)

★ 1975 - Larry Parks, American actor (b. 1914)

★ 1975 - François (Ngarta) Tombalbaye, first President of Chad (b. 1918)

★ 1978 - Jack Chambers, Canadian artist and film maker (b. 1931)

★ 1980 - Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (b. 1956)

★ 1981 - Prince Asaka Yasuhiko of Japan (b. 1887)

★ 1983 - Theodore Stephanides, Greek poet, author, doctor and naturalist (b. 1896)

★ 1984 - Richard Hurndall. British actor (b. 1910)

★ 1984 - Ralph Kirkpatrick, American musician (b. 1911)

★ 1993 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (car accident) (b. 1909)

★ 1997 - Dorothy Frooks, American author, publisher, military figure, and actress (b. 1896)

★ 1997 - Voldemar Väli, Estonian wrestler, Olympic medalist (b. 1903)

★ 1998 - Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and skysurfing pioneer (b. 1960)

★ 1999 - Ortvin Sarapu, New Zealand chess player "Mr NZ Chess" (b. 1924)

★ 1999 - Willi Stoph, German politician (b. 1914)

★ 2000 - Giorgio Bassani, Italian writer (b. 1916)

★ 2001 - Robert Moon, Postal Inspector and "Father" of the ZIP Code (b. 1917)

★ 2002 - Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racecar driver (b. 1928)

★ 2004 - Lou Berberet, baseball player (b. 1929)

★ 2004 - Caron Keating, British television presenter (b. 1962)

★ 2005 - Don Blasingame, baseball player (b. 1932)

★ 2005 - Johnnie Johnson, American blues musician (b. 1924)

★ 2006 - Bill Baker, baseball player (b. 1911)

Holidays and observances

★ First day of Thai New Year.

★ First day of Cambodian New Year.

★ Vaisakhi

★ Aerosmith Day is celebrated in Massachusetts

★ Friday the 13th is observed on this day in the year 2007

Liturgical feasts

★ The Feast Day of St. Martin the Confessor in the Greek Orthodox Church.
In the Catholic Church:

★ Saint Martinus I

★ Saint Hermenegild

★ Caradoc

★ Carpus

★ Edward Catheriek

★ Saint Guinoc

★ James of Certaldo (Jacopo Guidi)

★ Blessed John Lockwood

★ Martius

★ Maximus

★ Blessed Ursus of Ravenna

★ Blessed Ida of Boulogne

★ Blessed Ida of Louvain

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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