Εvents of this day in the past 13/4

[edit]

• 1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.
• 1612 – Miyamoto Musashi defeats Sasaki Kojirō at Funajima island.
• 1613 – Samuel Argall captures Native American princess Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia to ransom her for some English prisoners held by her father; she is brought to Henricus as hostage.
• 1699 – Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Sikh Guru, Created Khalsa on this day at Anandpur Sahib, Punjab.
• 1742 – George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces are ambushed and defeated in the Battle of Bound Brook, New Jersey.
• 1829 – The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 gives Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom the right to vote and to sit in Parliament.
• 1849 – Hungary becomes a republic.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Raleigh, North Carolina is occupied by Union Forces.
• 1870 – The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded.
• 1873 – The Colfax massacre, in which more than 60 African Americans are murdered, takes place.
• 1902 – James C. Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
• 1909 – The military of the Ottoman Empire reverses the Ottoman countercoup of 1909 to force the overthrow of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
• 1919 – The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea is established.
• 1919 – Jallianwala Bagh massacre: British troops gun down at least 379 unarmed demonstrators in Amritsar, India; at least 1200 are wounded.
• 1919 – Eugene V. Debs is imprisoned at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, for speaking out against the draft during World War I.
• 1941 – A Pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.
• 1943 – World War II: The discovery of mass graves of Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet forces in the Katyń Forest Massacre is announced, causing a diplomatic rift between the Polish government-in-exile in London from the Soviet Union, which denies responsibility.
• 1943 – The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson's birth.
• 1944 – Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the Soviet Union are established.
• 1945 – World War II: German troops kill more than 1,000 political and military prisoners in Gardelegen, Germany.
• 1945 – World War II: Soviet and Bulgarian forces capture Vienna.
• 1948 – In an ambush, 78 Jewish doctors, nurses and medical students from Hadassah Hospital, and a British soldier, are massacred by Arabs in Sheikh Jarrah.
• 1953 – CIA director Allen Dulles launches the mind-control program Project MKUltra.
• 1958 – American Van Cliburn wins the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
• 1960 – The United States launches Transit 1-B, the world's first satellite navigation system.
• 1964 – At the Academy Awards, Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American male to win the Best Actor award for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field.
• 1970 – An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the spacecraft while en route to the Moon.
• 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.
• 1972 – Vietnam War: The Battle of An Lộc begins.
• 1974 – Western Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1.
• 1975 – An attack by the Phalangist resistance kills 26 militia members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, marking the start of the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.
• 1976 – The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
• 1976 – Forty workers die in an explosion at the Lapua ammunition factory, the deadliest accidental disaster in modern history in Finland.
• 1987 – Portugal and the People's Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau would be returned to China in 1999.
• 1992 – Basements throughout the Chicago Loop are flooded, forcing the Chicago Board of Trade Building and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to close.
• 1997 – Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.

Births[edit]

• 1229 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1294)
• 1350 – Margaret III, Countess of Flanders (d. 1405)
• 1506 – Peter Faber, French priest and theologian, co-founded the Society of Jesus (d. 1546)
• 1519 – Catherine de' Medici, Italian-French wife of Henry II of France (d. 1589)
• 1570 – Guy Fawkes, English soldier, planned the Gunpowder Plot (d. 1606)
• 1573 – Christina of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1625)
• 1593 – Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1641)
• 1618 – Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French author (d. 1693)
• 1713 – Pierre Jélyotte, French tenor (d. 1797)
• 1729 – Thomas Percy, Irish bishop and poet (d. 1811)
• 1732 – Frederick North, Lord North, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)
• 1735 – Isaac Low, American merchant and politician, founded the New York Chamber of Commerce (d. 1791)
• 1743 – Thomas Jefferson, American lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the United States (d. 1826)
• 1747 – Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (d. 1793)
• 1764 – Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French general and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1830)
• 1769 – Thomas Lawrence, English painter and educator (d. 1830)
• 1771 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (d. 1833)
• 1780 – Alexander Mitchell, Irish engineer, invented the Screw-pile lighthouse (d. 1868)
• 1784 – Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (d. 1877)
• 1787 – John Robertson, American lawyer and politician (d. 1873)
• 1794 – Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist and academic (d. 1867)
• 1802 – Leopold Fitzinger, Austrian zoologist and herpetologist (d. 1884)
• 1808 – Antonio Meucci, Italian-American engineer (d. 1889)
• 1810 – Félicien David, French composer (d. 1876)
• 1824 – William Alexander, Irish archbishop, poet, and theologian (d. 1911)
• 1825 – Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Irish-Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1868)
• 1828 – Josephine Butler, English feminist and social reformer (d. 1906)
• 1828 – Joseph Lightfoot, English bishop and theologian (d. 1889)
• 1832 – Juan Montalvo, Ecuadorian author and diplomat (d. 1889)
• 1841 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (d. 1905)
• 1850 – Arthur Matthew Weld Downing, Irish astronomer (d. 1917)
• 1851 – Robert Abbe, American surgeon and radiologist (d. 1928)
• 1851 – William Quan Judge, Irish occultist and theosophist (d. 1896)
• 1852 – Frank Winfield Woolworth, American businessman, founded the F. W. Woolworth Company (d. 1919)
• 1860 – James Ensor, Belgian painter (d. 1949)
• 1866 – Butch Cassidy, American criminal (d. 1908)
• 1872 – John Cameron, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1935)
• 1872 – Alexander Roda Roda, Austrian-Croatian journalist and author (d. 1945)
• 1873 – John W. Davis, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Solicitor General (d. 1955)
• 1875 – Ray Lyman Wilbur, American physician, academic, and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1949)
• 1879 – Edward Bruce, American lawyer and painter (d. 1943)
• 1880 – Charles Christie, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded the Christie Film Company (d. 1955)
• 1885 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player (d. 1964)
• 1885 – Juhan Kukk, Estonian politician, Head of State of Estonia (d. 1942)
• 1885 – György Lukács, Hungarian philosopher and critic (d. 1971)
• 1887 – Gordon S. Fahrni, Canadian physician and golfer (d. 1995)
• 1889 – Herbert Yardley, American cryptologist and author (d. 1958)
• 1890 – Frank Murphy, American jurist and politician, 56th United States Attorney General (d. 1949)
• 1890 – Dadasaheb Torne, Indian director and producer (d. 1960)
• 1891 – Maurice Buckley, Australian sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1921)
• 1891 – Nella Larsen, American nurse, librarian, and author (d. 1964)
• 1891 – Robert Scholl, German accountant and politician (d. 1973)
• 1892 – Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet, English air marshal (d. 1984)
• 1892 – Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented the Radar (d. 1973)
• 1894 – Arthur Fadden, Australian accountant and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1973)
• 1894 – Joie Ray, American runner (d. 1978)
• 1896 – Fred Barnett, English footballer (d. 1982)
• 1897 – Werner Voss, German lieutenant and pilot (d. 1917)
• 1899 – Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and game designer, created Scrabble (d. 1993)
• 1899 – Harold Osborn, American high jumper and decathlete (d. 1975)
• 1900 – Pierre Molinier, French painter and photographer (d. 1976)
• 1901 – Jacques Lacan, French psychiatrist and academic (d. 1981)
• 1901 – Alan Watt, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian Ambassador to Japan (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Philippe de Rothschild, French car driver, playwright, and producer (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Marguerite Henry, American author (d. 1997)
• 1904 – David Robinson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1987)
• 1906 – Samuel Beckett, Irish novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
• 1906 – Bud Freeman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
• 1907 – Harold Stassen, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Minnesota (d. 2001)
• 1909 – Stanislaw Ulam, Polish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1984)
• 1909 – Eudora Welty, American short story writer and novelist (d. 2001)
• 1911 – Ico Hitrec, Croatian footballer and manager (d. 1946)
• 1911 – Jean-Louis Lévesque, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1994)
• 1911 – Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (d. 1983)
• 1913 – Dave Albritton, American high jumper and coach (d. 1994)
• 1913 – Kermit Tyler, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Orhan Veli Kanık, Turkish poet and author (d. 1950)
• 1916 – Phyllis Fraser, American actress, journalist, and publisher, co-founded Beginner Books (d. 2006)
• 1917 – Robert Orville Anderson, American businessman, founded Atlantic Richfield Oil Co. (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Bill Clements, American soldier, engineer, and politician, 15th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (d. 2011)
• 1919 – Roland Gaucher, French journalist and politician (d. 2007)
• 1919 – Howard Keel, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American activist, founded American Atheists (d. 1995)
• 1920 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (d. 1982)
• 1920 – Claude Cheysson, French lieutenant and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Liam Cosgrave, Irish lawyer and politician, 6th Taoiseach of Ireland
• 1922 – Heinz Baas, German footballer and manager (d. 1994)
• 1922 – John Braine, English librarian and author (d. 1986)
• 1922 – Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian educator and politician, 1st President of Tanzania (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Valve Pormeister, Estonian architect (d. 2002)
• 1923 – Don Adams, American actor and director (d. 2005)
• 1923 – A. H. Halsey, English sociologist and academic (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Stanley Tanger, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (d. 2010)
• 1924 – John T. Biggers, American painter (d. 2001)
• 1924 – Jack T. Chick, American author, illustrator, and publisher (d. 2016)
• 1924 – Stanley Donen, American director and choreographer
• 1926 – Ellie Lambeti, Greek actress (d. 1983)
• 1926 – John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, English businessman (d. 2014)
• 1927 – Rosemary Haughton, English philosopher, theologian, and author
• 1927 – Antonino Rocca, Italian-American wrestler (d. 1977)
• 1927 – Maurice Ronet, French actor and director (d. 1983)
• 1928 – Alan Clark, English historian and politician, Minister of State for Trade (d. 1999)
• 1928 – Gianni Marzotto, Italian race car driver and businessman (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Marilynn Smith, American golfer
• 1931 – Anita Cerquetti, Italian soprano (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Robert Enrico, French director and screenwriter (d. 2001)
• 1931 – Dan Gurney, American race car driver and engineer
• 1931 – Jon Stone, American composer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997)
• 1932 – Orlando Letelier, Chilean-American economist and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (d. 1976)
• 1933 – Ben Nighthorse Campbell, American soldier and politician
• 1934 – John Muckler, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1936 – Col Joye, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1936 – Pierre Rosenberg, French historian and academic
• 1937 – Edward Fox, English actor
• 1937 – Lanford Wilson, American playwright, co-founded the Circle Repertory Company (d. 2011)
• 1938 – Klaus Lehnertz, German pole vaulter
• 1938 – John Weston, English poet and diplomat
• 1939 – Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Paul Sorvino, American actor and singer
• 1940 – Mike Beuttler, Egyptian-English race car driver (d. 1988)
• 1940 – Lester Chambers, American singer and musician (The Chambers Brothers)
• 1940 – J. M. G. Le Clézio, French author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1940 – Vladimir Cosma, French composer, conductor and violonist
• 1940 – Jim McNab, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)
• 1940 – Max Mosley, English race car driver and engineer, co-founded March Engineering, former president of the FIA
• 1940 – Ruby Puryear Hearn, American biophysicist
• 1941 – Michael Stuart Brown, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1941 – Jean-Marc Reiser, French author and illustrator (d. 1983)
• 1942 – Bill Conti, American composer and conductor
• 1943 – Alan Jones, Australian rugby coach, radio host, and educator
• 1943 – Billy Kidd, American skier
• 1943 – Tim Krabbé, Dutch journalist and author
• 1943 – Philip Norman, English journalist, author, and playwright
• 1944 – Franco Arese, Italian runner
• 1944 – Charles Burnett, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1944 – Jack Casady, American bass guitarist (Jefferson Airplane)
• 1944 – Susan Davis, American social worker and politician
• 1945 – Ed Caruthers, American high jumper
• 1945 – Tony Dow, American actor
• 1945 – Lowell George, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1979)
• 1945 – Bob Kalsu, American football player and lieutenant (d. 1970)
• 1945 – Judy Nunn, Australian actress and author
• 1946 – Al Green, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor
• 1947 – Rae Armantrout, American poet and academic
• 1947 – Mike Chapman, Australian-English songwriter and producer
• 1947 – Jean-Jacques Laffont, French economist and academic (d. 2004)
• 1947 – Yves Landry. Canadian cyclist
• 1948 – Nam Hae-il, South Korean admiral
• 1948 – Drago Jančar, Slovenian author and playwright
• 1948 – Mikhail Shufutinsky, Soviet and Russian singer, actor, TV presenter
• 1949 – Len Cook, New Zealand-English mathematician and statistician
• 1949 – Frank Doran, Scottish lawyer and politician
• 1949 – Christopher Hitchens, English-American essayist, literary critic, and journalist (d. 2011)
• 1949 – Ricardo Zunino, Argentinian race car driver
• 1950 – Ron Perlman, American actor
• 1950 – Tommy Raudonikis, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1951 – Leszek Borysiewicz, Welsh immunologist and academic
• 1951 – Peabo Bryson, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1951 – Peter Davison, English actor
• 1951 – Joachim Streich, German footballer and manager
• 1951 – Max Weinberg, American drummer
• 1952 – David Drew, English lawyer and politician
• 1952 – Gabrielle Gourdeau, Quebec writer (d. 2006)
• 1952 – Jonjo O'Neill, Irish jockey and trainer
• 1953 – Stephen Byers, English politician, Secretary of State for Transport
• 1953 – Dany Laferrière, Haitian-Canadian journalist and author
• 1954 – Jimmy Destri, American keyboard player and songwriter
• 1954 – Niels Olsen, Danish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1954 – Barbara Roche, English lawyer and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
• 1955 – Steve Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1955 – Louis Johnson, American bass player and producer (d. 2015)
• 1955 – Lupe Pintor, Mexican boxer
• 1955 – Ole von Beust, German lawyer and politician, 1st Mayor of Hamburg
• 1956 – Possum Bourne, New Zealand race car driver (d. 2003)
• 1956 – Alan Devonshire, English footballer and manager
• 1956 – Edward Forbes Smiley III, American art thief and map dealer
• 1957 – Amy Goodman, American journalist and author
• 1957 – Saundra Santiago, American actress
• 1960 – Lyn Brown, English social worker and politician
• 1960 – Bob Casey, Jr., American lawyer and politician, senior senator of Pennsylvania
• 1960 – Olaf Ludwig, German cyclist and manager
• 1960 – Rudi Völler, German footballer and manager
• 1961 – Hiro Yamamoto, American bass player and songwriter
• 1962 – Hillel Slovak, Israeli-American guitarist (d. 1988)
• 1963 – Garry Kasparov, Russian chess player and author
• 1964 – Davis Love III, American golfer and sportscaster
• 1964 – Caroline Rhea, Canadian actress and comedian
• 1964 – John Swinney, Scottish businessman and politician, Deputy First Minister of Scotland
• 1965 – Patricio Pouchulu, Argentinian architect and educator
• 1966 – Ali Boumnijel, Tunisian footballer
• 1966 – Marc Ford, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1967 – Dana Barros, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1967 – Michael Eisen, American biologist and academic
• 1967 – Olga Tañón, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter
• 1968 – Ted Washington, American football player
• 1969 – Dirk Muschiol, German footballer
• 1970 – Monty Brown, American football player and wrestler
• 1970 – Gerry Creaney, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1970 – Szilveszter Csollány, Hungarian gymnast
• 1970 – Ricardo Rincón, Mexican-American baseball player
• 1970 – Ricky Schroder, American actor
• 1971 – Franck Esposito, French swimmer
• 1971 – Danie Mellor, Australian painter and sculptor
• 1971 – Bo Outlaw, American basketball player
• 1971 – Valensia, Dutch singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1972 – Mariusz Czerkawski, Polish ice hockey player and golfer
• 1972 – Aaron Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1974 – Valentina Cervi, Italian actress
• 1974 – Sergei Gonchar, Russian ice hockey player
• 1974 – Darren Turner, English race car driver
• 1974 – David Zdrilic, Australian footballer and manager
• 1975 – Jasey-Jay Anderson, Canadian snowboarder
• 1975 – Lou Bega, German singer-songwriter
• 1975 – Bruce Dyer, English footballer
• 1975 – Tatiana Navka, Russian ice dancer
• 1976 – Jonathan Brandis, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1976 – Patrik Eliáš, Czech-American ice hockey player
• 1976 – Glenn Howerton, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1977 – Margus Tsahkna, Estonian lawyer and politician
• 1978 – Arron Asham, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Nick Garrett, English singer
• 1978 – Carles Puyol, Spanish footballer
• 1978 – Raemon Sluiter, Dutch tennis player
• 1978 – Keydrick Vincent, American football player
• 1979 – Gréta Arn, Hungarian tennis player
• 1979 – Baron Davis, American basketball player
• 1979 – Tony Lundon, Irish singer-songwriter, producer, and dancer
• 1979 – Meghann Shaughnessy, American tennis player
• 1980 – Colleen Clinkenbeard, American voice actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1980 – Jason Maguire, Irish jockey
• 1980 – Wayne Purser, English footballer
• 1980 – Quentin Richardson, American basketball player
• 1981 – Nat Borchers, American soccer player
• 1981 – Gemma Doyle, Scottish politician
• 1982 – Nellie McKay, British-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress
• 1983 – Claudio Bravo, Chilean footballer
• 1983 – Schalk Burger, South African rugby player
• 1983 – Nicole Cooke, Welsh cyclist
• 1983 – Hunter Pence, American baseball player
• 1984 – Jarmo Ahjupera, Estonian footballer
• 1984 – Anders Lindegaard, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Anna Jennings-Edquist, Australian actress, director, and playwright
• 1985 – Algo Kärp, Estonian skier
• 1986 – Michael Bingham, American-English sprinter
• 1986 – Lorenzo Cain, American baseball player
• 1987 – Brandon Hardesty, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1987 – Massimiliano Pesenti, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Allison Weiss, American singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Anderson, Brazilian footballer
• 1988 – Petteri Koponen, Finnish basketball player
• 1988 – Allison Williams, American actress and singer
• 1989 – Ryan Bailey, American sprinter
• 1989 – Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova, Belarusian long jumper
• 1989 – Josh Reynolds, Australian rugby league player
• 1991 – Akeem Adams, Trinidadian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1991 – Ulises Dávila, Mexican footballer
• 1991 – Josh Gordon, American football player
• 1992 – Denis Kudryavtsev, Russian hurdler
• 1993 – Tony Wroten, American basketball player
• 1994 – Ángelo Henríquez, Chilean footballer
• 1994 – Elvis Merzļikins, Latvian ice hockey player