April 15

April 15 is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 260 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 769 – The Lateran Council condemned the Council of Hieria and anathematized its iconoclastic rulings.
• 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard.
• 1395 – Tokhtamysh–Timur war: Battle of the Terek River: Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde at the Volga. The Golden Horde capital city, Sarai, is razed to the ground and Timur installs a puppet ruler on the Golden Horde throne. Tokhtamysh escapes to Lithuania.
• 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.
• 1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.
• 1638 – Tokugawa shogunate forces put down the Shimabara Rebellion when they retake Hara Castle from the rebels.
• 1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Parliamentarian army.
• 1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
• 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.
• 1783 – Preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence) are ratified.
• 1802 – William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy see a "long belt" of daffodils, inspiring the former to pen I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.
• 1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf, the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.
• 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War
• 1865 – Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth.
• 1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.
  

  RMS Titanic disaster.
• 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.
• 1907 – Triangle Fraternity was founded at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
• 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,227 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.
• 1921 – Black Friday: mine owners announce more wage and price cuts, leading to the threat of a strike all across England.
• 1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.
• 1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
• 1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
• 1927 – The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the most destructive river flood in U.S. history, begins.
• 1935 – Roerich Pact signed in Washington, D.C.
• 1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.
• 1936 – Aer Lingus (Aer Loingeas) is founded by the Irish government as the national airline of the Republic of Ireland.
• 1940 – The Allies begin their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which is occupied by Nazi Germany.
• 1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two-hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom killing one thousand people.
• 1942 – The George Cross is awarded "to the island fortress of Malta – its people and defenders" by King George VI.
• 1945 – The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
• 1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.
• 1952 – The maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress
• 1955 – McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois
• 1957 – White Rock, British Columbia officially separates from Surrey, British Columbia and is incorporated as a new city.
• 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 African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.
• 1964 – The first Ford Mustang rolls off the show room floor, two days before it is set to go on sale nationwide.
• 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, massacres of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong River into South Vietnam.
• 1984 – The inaugural World Youth Day is held in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City.
• 1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a 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 96 Liverpool fans.
• 1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.
• 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
• 2014 – More than 200 female students are declared missing after a mass kidnapping in Borno State, Nigeria.
• 2014 – A total lunar eclipse occurs, producing a Blood Moon.

Births

• 1367 – Henry IV of England (d. 1413)
• 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)
• 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)
• 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French scholar (d. 1653)
• 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician (d. 1722)
• 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)
• 1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
• 1646 – Pierre Poiret, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1719)
• 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
• 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)
• 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)
• 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)
• 1721 – Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (d. 1765)
• 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)
• 1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French educator (d. 1844)
• 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist (d. 1844)
• 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)
• 1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)
• 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)
• 1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)
• 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)
• 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
• 1843 – Henry James, American-English author (d. 1916)
• 1851 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (d. 1930)
• 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)
• 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist (d. 1917)
• 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-American poet (d. 1929)
• 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)
• 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
• 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer (d. 1953)
• 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author (d. 1956)
• 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
• 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
• 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
• 1886 – Nikolay Gumilev, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)
• 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (d. 1904)
• 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter (d. 1975)
• 1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
• 1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat's eye (d. 1976)
• 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German pilot (d. 1975)
• 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American author and Holocaust survivor (d. 1983)
• 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
• 1894 – Bessie Smith, American singer and actress (d. 1937)
• 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)
• 1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
• 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
• 1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)
• 1901 – René Pleven, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
• 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
• 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter (d. 1948)
• 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ethologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
• 1908 – Eden Ahbez, American singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
• 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
• 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player (d. 1997)
• 1912 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean politician, Eternal President of North Korea (d. 1994)
• 1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, American sculptor and printmaker (d. 2012)
• 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
• 1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1917 – James Kee, American politician (d. 1989)
• 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)
• 1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German politician, 6th President of Germany
• 1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)
• 1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Joyce Jacobs, English-Australian actress (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
• 1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet (d. 1966)
• 1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen Organization (d. 2009)
• 1923 – Douglas Wass, English civil servant
• 1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)
• 1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor
• 1925 – George Shuffler, American guitarist (The Bailey Brothers and the Happy Valley Boys) (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Maurice Shock, English academic
• 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist (d. 1999)
• 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman
• 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland
• 1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Irish civil servant
• 1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet and psychologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 – Suresh Bhat, Indian poet (d. 2003)
• 1933 – Roy Clark, American singer and actor
• 1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director
• 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)
• 1933 – Jim Towers, English footballer (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Kōji Yada, Japanese voice actor (d. 2014)
• 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor (d. 2008)
• 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
• 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
• 1937 – Uldis Pūcītis, Latvian actor and film director (d. 2000)
• 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Tunisian-Italian actress
• 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician
• 1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor
• 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician
• 1940 – Sean Caffrey, Irish actor (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)
• 1940 – Woodie Fryman, American baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic
• 1940 – Yossef Romano, Libyan-Israeli weightlifter (d. 1972)
• 1940 – Robert Walker, Jr., American actor
• 1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician
• 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop
• 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
• 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)
• 1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic
• 1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)
• 1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician
• 1944 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Russian-Chechen general and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (d. 1996)
• 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer, guitarist, and producer (Love Sculpture and Rockpile)
• 1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist
• 1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff
• 1946 – Michael Tucci, American actor
• 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
• 1947 – Woolly Wolstenholme, English singer and keyboard player (Barclay James Harvest) (d. 2010)
• 1948 – Christopher Brown, English curator
• 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
• 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
• 1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author
• 1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut
• 1951 – Stuart Prebble, English broadcaster
• 1952 – Bengt Gingsjö, Swedish swimmer
• 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor
• 1952 – Sam McMurray, American actor
• 1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer
• 1952 – Avital Ronell, American philosopher
• 1952 – Glenn Shadix, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1954 – Seka, American porn actress
• 1955 – Mark Damazer, English broadcaster and academic
• 1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
• 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
• 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner
• 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1958 – Abu Hamza al-Masri, Egyptian-English criminal
• 1958 – Noni Ioannidou, Greek model and actress
• 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1958 – Sir Robert Smith, 3rd Baronet, Scottish politician
• 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright
• 1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress and screenwriter
• 1959 – Thomas F. Wilson, American actor
• 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter
• 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist
• 1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player
• 1960 – Philippe of Belgium
• 1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician
• 1962 – Surjit Bindrakhia, Indian singer (d. 2003)
• 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan hurdler
• 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
• 1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist
• 1963 – Bobby Pepper, American journalist
• 1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (4 Non Blondes)
• 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer and actress
• 1966 – Mott Green, American businessman, founded the Grenada Chocolate Company (d. 2013)
• 1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter (The Darkness)
• 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer
• 1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player
• 1968 – Ed O'Brien, English guitarist and songwriter (Radiohead)
• 1968 – Stacey Williams, American model and actress
• 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
• 1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian conductor
• 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player
• 1970 – Flex Alexander, American actor
• 1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete
• 1971 – Kate Harbour, English voice actress
• 1971 – Katy Hill, English television host
• 1971 – Meelis Loit, Estonian fencer
• 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
• 1971 – Karl Turner, English politician
• 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
• 1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
• 1974 – Keith Malley, American comedian and actor
• 1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director
• 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor
• 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
• 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer
• 1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player
• 1975 – Paul Dana, American race car driver (d. 2006)
• 1975 – Philip Labonte, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (All That Remains and Shadows Fall)
• 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer
• 1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1976 – Susan Ward, American actress
• 1976 – Steve Williams, English rower
• 1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor
• 1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
• 1978 – Austin Aries, American wrestler
• 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
• 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
• 1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter
• 1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer (The Black Keys and Drummer)
• 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
• 1980 – Michelle L'amour, American dancer
• 1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player
• 1980 – Willie Mason, Australian rugby player
• 1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author
• 1980 – Víctor Núñez, Costa Rican footballer
• 1980 – Fränk Schleck, Luxembourger cyclist
• 1980 – Billy Yates, American football player
• 1981 – Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer
• 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
• 1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter (Circa Survive, The Sound of Animals Fighting, Saosin, High and Driving, and Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer)
• 1982 – Albert Riera, Spanish footballer
• 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1983 – Blu, American rapper and producer (All City Chess Club)
• 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
• 1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Seven Summers and Darwyn)
• 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Bronson La'Cassie, Australian golfer
• 1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
• 1983 – Anthony Sedlak, Canadian chef (d. 2012)
• 1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Ben Kasica, American guitarist and producer (Skillet)
• 1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian hockey player
• 1985 – Chris Cates, American baseball player
• 1985 – John Danks, American baseball player
• 1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Aaron Laffey, American baseball player
• 1985 – Amy Ried, American porn actress
• 1985 – Diana Zubiri, Filipino actress
• 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
• 1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
• 1986 – Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Ghanaian footballer
• 1987 – Iyaz, Virgin Islander singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Sapphire Elia, English actress and singer
• 1987 – Samira Wiley, American Actress
• 1988 – Thomas Albanese, Italian footballer
• 1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
• 1988 – Yann David, French rugby player
• 1988 – Eliza Doolittle, English singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Manami Numakura, Japanese voice actress
• 1988 – Beate Schrott, Austrian hurdler
• 1989 – Andre Kinney, American actor
• 1990 – Lily Carter, American porn actress
• 1990 – Emma Watson, French-English actress
• 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese actor and singer (Hey! Say! JUMP)
• 1992 – Amy Diamond, Swedish singer and actress
• 1992 – Kimberly Dos Ramos, Venezuelan actress and singer
• 1992 – John Guidetti, Swedish footballer
• 1992 – Richard Sandrak, Ukrainian-American bodybuilder, martial artist, and actor
• 1993 – Madeleine Martin, American actress
• 1995 – Kim Nam-joo, South Korean singer, vocalist, dancer, actress and model (A Pink and Apink BnN)
• 1996 – İpek Soylu, Turkish tennis player
• 1997 – Maisie Williams, English actress

Deaths

• 628 – Empress Suiko of Japan (b. 554)
• 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
• 1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)
• 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek educator (b. 1355)
• 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)
• 1610 – Robert Persons, English priest (b. 1546)
• 1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580)
• 1641 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (b. 1581)
• 1652 – Patriarch Joseph, Russian patriarch
• 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet (b. 1605)
• 1704 – Johannes Hudde, Dutch mathematician and politician (b. 1628)
• 1719 – Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
• 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (b. 1676)
• 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician (b. 1682)
• 1761 – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)
• 1764 – Madame de Pompadour, French mistress of Louis XV of France (b. 1721)
• 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)
• 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)
• 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
• 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)
• 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)
• 1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)
• 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
• 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)
• 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)
• 1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander
• 1912 – Victims of the RMS Titanic disaster
  • Thomas Andrews, Irish businessman and shipbuilder (b. 1873)
  • John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)
  • Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)
  • Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)
  • Benjamin Guggenheim American businessman (b. 1865)
  • Henry B. Harris, American Theatrical Producer (b. 1866)
  • Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)
  • James Paul Moody, English sixth officer (b. 1887)
  • William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish sailor and first officer (b. 1873)
  • Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887)
  • Edward Smith, English captain (b. 1850)
  • William Thomas Stead English journalist (b. 1849)
  • Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)
  • Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)
  • John Thayer, American cricketer (b. 1862)
  • Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)
• 1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)
• 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)
• 1931 – Joe Masseria, Mafia Boss, (b. 1886)
• 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)
• 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian author (b. 1880)
• 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)
• 1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)
• 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)
• 1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)
• 1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885)
• 1957 – Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (b. 1917)
• 1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880)
• 1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1911)
• 1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)
• 1967 – Totò, Italian actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1898)
• 1969 – Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (b. 1887)
• 1970 – Ripper Collins, American baseball player (b. 1904)
• 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
• 1971 – Dan Reeves, American businessman (b. 1912)
• 1971 – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)
• 1974 – Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (b. 1906)
• 1975 – Richard Conte, American actor (b. 1910)
• 1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor (b. 1904)
• 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
• 1982 – Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915)
• 1983 – John Engstead, American photographer (b. 1909)
• 1983 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American author and holocaust survivor (b. 1892)
• 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
• 1984 – Alexander Trocchi, Scottish author (b. 1925)
• 1986 – Jean Genet, French author and playwright (b. 1910)
• 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor (b. 1926)
• 1989 – Nesuhi Ertegun, Turkish-American record producer (b. 1917)
• 1989 – Charles Vanel, French actor and director (b. 1892)
• 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese politician (b. 1915)
• 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905)
• 1992 – Otis Barton, American diver and actor (b. 1899)
• 1993 – Leslie Charteris, Singaporean-English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
• 1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geologist (b. 1908)
• 1994 – John Curry, English figure skater (b. 1949)
• 1995 – Harry Shoulberg, American painter (b. 1903)
• 1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)
• 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)
• 2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)
• 2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (Ramones and Sniper) (b. 1951)
• 2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)
• 2002 – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)
• 2003 – Reg Bundy, English actor and dancer (b. 1941)
• 2003 – Erin Fleming, Canadian-American actress (b. 1941)
• 2004 – Ray Condo, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)
• 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)
• 2005 – Margaretta Scott, English actress (b. 1912)
• 2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Sean Costello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1979)
• 2008 – Benoît Lamy, Belgian director and screenwriter (b. 1945)
• 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Ed Blake, American baseball player (b. 1925)
• 2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist and politician (b. 1924)
• 2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and educator (b. 1907)
• 2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)
• 2010 – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)
• 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)
• 2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Bob Perani, Italian-American ice hockey player (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and actor (b. 1939)
• 2012 – Rich Saul, American football player (b. 1948)
• 2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)
• 2012 – Bob Wright, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Tadashi Yamamoto, Japanese businessman (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Sal Castro, American educator and activist (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Benny Frankie Cerezo, Puerto Rican-American lawyer and politician (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Richard Collins, Canadian actor (b. 1947)
• 2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Joe Francis, American football player and coach (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Dave McArtney, New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist (Hello Sailor) (b. 1951)
• 2013 – Scott Miller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Game Theory and The Loud Family) (b. 1960)
• 2013 – Cleyde Yáconis, Brazilian actress (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Júnior, Filipino-Spanish singer and actor (b. 1943)
• 2014 – Little Joe Cook, American singer-songwriter (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Shane Gibson, American guitarist (stOrk and Jonathan Davis and the SFA) (b. 1979)
• 2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)
• 2014 – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Owen Woodhouse, New Zealand commander and jurist (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abbo II of Metz
  • Father Damien and Sister Marianne Cope (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Hunna
  • Paternus of Avranches
  • April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Father Damien Day (Hawaii)
• Earliest day on which Sechseläuten can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in April. (Zurich)
• Fordicidia (Roman Empire)
• Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Anfield at Liverpool)
• Jackie Robinson Day (Major League Baseball)
• Latest day on which New Year festivals in South and Southeast Asian cultures can fall. (see April 14)
• Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)
• World Art Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada