April 15
| April 15 in recent years |
| 2024 (Monday) |
| 2023 (Saturday) |
| 2022 (Friday) |
| 2021 (Thursday) |
| 2020 (Wednesday) |
| 2019 (Monday) |
| 2018 (Sunday) |
| 2017 (Saturday) |
| 2016 (Friday) |
| 2015 (Wednesday) |
April 15 is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 260 days remain 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 the British Army.
- 1715 – Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
- 1738 – Premiere in London, England, Great Britain of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel.
- 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.
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.
- 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 survived.
- 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 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 "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.
- 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.
- 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 the People's Republic of China.
- 1992 – The National Assembly of Vietnam adopts the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- 1994 – Representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities sign the Marrakesh Agreements revising the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and initiating the World Trade Organization (effective January 1, 1995).
Births
- 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance polymath (d. 1519)
- 1469 – Guru Nanak Dev, Indian religious leader, founder of the religion of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus (d. 1539)
- 1489 – Mimar Sinan, Ottoman architect (d. 1588)
- 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)
- 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French classical 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 (d. 1719)
- 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
- 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (d. 1758)
- 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (d. 1783)
- 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician (d. 1790)
- 1721 – Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (d. 1765)
- 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter, soldier and naturalist (d. 1827)
- 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French naturalist (d. 1844)
- 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer (d. 1864)
- 1794 – Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist (d. 1867)
- 1800 – James Clark Ross, English explorer (d. 1862)
- 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German mathematician (d. 1877)
- 1828 – Jean Danjou, French Foreign Legion officer (d. 1863)
- 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet (d. 1908)
- 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian politician, philanthropist, and founder of the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
- 1843 – Henry James, American author (d. 1916)
- 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet (d. 1910)
- 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist (d. 1917)
- 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian poet (d. 1929)
- 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American plant geneticist (d. 1954)
- 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1957)
- 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer (d. 1953)
- 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss writer (d. 1956)
- 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer (d. 1980)
- 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
- 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet (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)
- 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author and Holocaust survivor (d. 1983)
- 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German fighter pilot (d. 1975)
- 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet politician, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
- 1894 – Bessie Smith, American singer (d. 1937)
- 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards player (d. 1980)
- 1896 – Robert Henry Best, South Carolina-born broadcaster of Nazi propaganda convicted of treason in 1948 (d. 1952)
- 1896 – Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, Russian chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
- 1901 – René Pleven, French Politician (d. 1993)
- 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
- 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian artist (d. 1948)
- 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ethologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1988)
- 1908 – Eden Ahbez, American songwriter (d. 1995)
- 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Argentine chess grandmaster (d. 1997)
- 1912 – Kim Il-sung, Korean politician, Eternal President of North Korea (d. 1994)
- 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American heir and businessman (d. 1982)
- 1916 – Helene Hanff, American writer (d. 1997)
- 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1917 – James Kee, American politician (d. 1989)
- 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguay-Argentine illustrator and writer (d. 1993)
- 1920 – René Pleven, French politician (d. 1993)
- 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German politician, President of Germany
- 1921 – Georgi Beregovoi, Russian cosmonaut (d. 1995)
- 1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, Italian-American pediatric endocrinologist (d. 2009)
- 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor
- 1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Hindi and Urdu poet and film lyricist (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Harold Washington, American politician (d. 1987)
- 1923 – Robert DePugh, American anti-Communist activist (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Sir Neville Marriner, English conductor
- 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist (d. 1999)
- 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
- 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor
- 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic politician, President of Iceland
- 1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish writer, poet and translator, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature
- 1932 – Suresh Bhat, noted Marathi poet from the state of Maharashtra, India (d. 2003)
- 1933 – Roy Clark, American singer, musician, and television host
- 1933 – David Hamilton, British photographer, director and producer
- 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1933 – Jim Towers, English footballer (d. 2010)
- 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor
- 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
- 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
- 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Tunisian-born Italian actress
- 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese politician
- 1939 – Marty Wilde, British singer and songwriter
- 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, British author
- 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player (d. 2010)
- 1940 – Woodie Fryman, American baseball player (d. 2011)
- 1940 – Robert Lacroix, French-Canadian professor
- 1940 – Yossef Romano, Israeli weightlifter (d. 1972)
- 1940 – Robert Walker Jr., American actor
- 1941 – Howard Berman, American politician
- 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop
- 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player (d. 2011)
- 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)
- 1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician, NobelPrize laureate
- 1944 – Dzhokhar Dudaev, Chechen leader, first President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (d. 1996)
- 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh musician and producer (Love Sculpture and Rockpile)
- 1946 – Pete Rouse, American political consultant
- 1946 – Michael Tucci, American actor
- 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American television producer and writer
- 1947 – Mike Chapman, British songwriter and producer
- 1947 – Lois Chiles, American actress
- 1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish politician
- 1947 – Woolly Wolstenholme, British musician (Barclay James Harvest)
- 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)
- 1949 – Tonio K, American singer-songwriter
- 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer
- 1949 – Craig Zadan, American producer, director, and writer
- 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
- 1951 – Heloise, American columnist
- 1951 – John L. Phillips, American astronaut
- 1952 – Bengt Gingsjö, Swedish swimmer
- 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian comedian
- 1952 – Sam McMurray, American actor
- 1952 – Glenn Shadix, American actor (d. 2010)
- 1952 – Brian Muir, British sculptor and designer
- 1952 – Avital Ronell, American philosopher
- 1953 – Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Greek politician
- 1954 – Seka, American porn actress
- 1955 – Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
- 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player
- 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American athlete
- 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian hockey player and coach
- 1958 – Dolores Gordon-Smith, British writer
- 1958 – Noni Ioannidou, Greek model and actress
- 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player
- 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer
- 1959 – Fruit Chan, Hong Kong director
- 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian hockey player and manager
- 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress
- 1959 – Thomas F. Wilson, American actor
- 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian hockey player
- 1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director
- 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist
- 1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player
- 1960 – Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant
- 1962 – Surjit Bindrakhia, Punjabi singer
- 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan hurdler
- 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
- 1963 – Bobby Pepper, American journalist
- 1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (4 Non Blondes)
- 1966 – Samantha Fox, English model, singer, and actress
- 1967 – Frankie Poullain, British musician (The Darkness)
- 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer
- 1968 – Ed O'Brien, British musician and songwriter (Radiohead)
- 1968 – Stacey Williams, American model
- 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
- 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian hockey player
- 1970 – Flex Alexander, American actor
- 1971 – Kate Harbour, English voice actress
- 1971 – Katy Hill, British television presenter
- 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
- 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
- 1972 – Lou Romano, American voice actor
- 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
- 1974 – Keith Malley, American comedian and podcaster
- 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor
- 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor
- 1974 – Tim Thomas, American hockey player
- 1975 – Paul Dana, American race car driver (d. 2006)
- 1975 – Phil Labonte, American singer and guitarist (All That Remains and Shadows Fall)
- 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian hockey player
- 1976 – Susan Ward, American actress
- 1977 – Brian Pothier, American hockey player
- 1977 – Sudarshan Pattnaik, Indian Sand artist
- 1978 – Austin Aries, American wrestler
- 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
- 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
- 1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican singer and composer
- 1980 – Natalie Casey, British actress
- 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
- 1980 – Michelle L'amour, American burlesque performer
- 1980 – Raúl López, Spanish basketball player
- 1980 – Willie Mason, Australian rugby player
- 1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and writer
- 1980 – Victor Núñez, Costa Rican footballer
- 1980 – Fränk Schleck, Luxembourgish cyclist
- 1980 – Billy Yates, American football player
- 1981 – Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentine football player
- 1981 – Seth Wulsin, American artist
- 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
- 1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter and musician (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 actor and writer
- 1983 – Blu, American rapper and producer (All City Chess Club)
- 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
- 1983 – Matt Cardle, British singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian hockey player
- 1983 – Bronson La'Cassie, Australian golfer
- 1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
- 1984 – Cam Janssen, American hockey player
- 1984 – Ben Kasica, American guitarist and producer (Skillet)
- 1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian hockey player
- 1985 – Diana Zubiri, Filipina actress
- 1985 – Chris Cates, American baseball player
- 1985 – John Danks, American baseball player
- 1985 – Aaron Laffey, American baseball player
- 1985 – Amy Reid, American porn actress
- 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
- 1986 – Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Ghanaian footballer
- 1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
- 1987 – Iyaz, Virgin Islander singer-songwriter
- 1987 – Sapphire Elia, English actress
- 1988 – Thomas Albanese, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Yann David, French rugby player
- 1988 – Eliza Doolittle, English singer-songwriter
- 1988 – Emily Parr, English actress
- 1988 – Beate Schrott, Austrian hurdler
- 1989 – Andre Kinney, American actor
- 1990 – Emma Watson, 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, model, and singer
- 1992 – Richard Sandrak, American bodybuilder, martial artist, and actor
- 1992 – John Guidetti, Swedish footballer
- 1993 – Madeleine Martin, American actress
- 1997 – Maisie Williams, English actress
- 1999 – Sharlene San Pedro, Filipino actress
Deaths
- 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
- 1220 – Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne (b. 1157)
- 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek humanist and grammarian (b. 1355)
- 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (b. 1377)
- 1610 – Robert Parsons, English priest (b. 1546)
- 1621 – John Carver, English merchant, first governor of Plymouth Colony (b. 1576)
- 1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician and colonizer (b. 1580)
- 1641 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (b. 1581)
- 1652 – Patriarch Joseph, Russian religious leader
- 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet (b. 1605)
- 1704 – Johann van Waveren Hudde, Dutch mathematician (b. 1628)
- 1719 – Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon, second wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
- 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (b. 1676)
- 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish politician (b. 1682)
- 1761 – William Oldys, English antiquarian and bibliographer (b. 1696)
- 1764 – Madame de Pompadour, French court, mistress of King Louis XV of France (b. 1721)
- 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer (b. 1679)
- 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian scientist and writer (b. 1711)
- 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
- 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian missionary and geographer (b. 1718)
- 1804 – Charles Pichegru, French general (b. 1761)
- 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist, mineralogist, and writer (b. 1773)
- 1861 – Sylvester Jordan, German politician and lawyer (b. 1792)
- 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, American politician, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
- 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet (b. 1822)
- 1889 – Father Damien, Flemish missionary (b. 1840)
- 1898 – Kepa Te Rangihiwinui, Maori military leader
- 1912 – Victims of the RMS Titanic disaster
- Edward Smith, English navy officer and captain of the RMS Titanic (b. 1850)
- Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)
- William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish sailor and first officer (b. 1873)
- Wallace Hartley, English violinist (b. 1878)
- James Paul Moody, English sixth officer (b. 1887)
- Jack Phillips, British wireless telegraphist (b. 1887)
- John Jacob Astor IV, American businessman, real estate builder, investor, inventor and writer (b. 1864)
- Thomas Andrews, Irish businessman and shipbuilder (b. 1873)
- Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and mystery writer (b. 1875)
- John Thayer, American cricket player (b. 1862)
- William T. Stead English author and journalist (b. 1849)
- Isidor Straus co-owner of Macy's department store and former Congressman from New York (b. 1845) and his wife Ida (b. 1849)
- Benjamin Guggenheim American businessman (b. 1865)
- 1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene writer and teacher (b. 1839)
- 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French writer (b. 1868)
- 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (b. 1892)
- 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian novelist (b. 1880)
- 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian artist (b. 1882)
- 1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Soviet general (b. 1901)
- 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German Nazi leader (b. 1895)
- 1948 – Radola Gajda, Czech military commander 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 politician and writer (b. 1911)
- 1963 – Edward Greeves, Australian footballer (b. 1903)
- 1967 – Totò, Italian comedian, actor, writer, singer, and songwriter (b. 1898)
- 1969 – Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (b. 1887)
- 1970 – Ripper Collins, American baseball player (b. 1904)
- 1971 – Dan Reeves, American football team owner (b. 1912)
- 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
- 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 writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1905)
- 1982 – Arthur Lowe, British actor (b. 1915)
- 1983 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author and Holocaust survivor (b. 1892)
- 1983 – John Engstead, American photographer (b. 1909)
- 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
- 1984 – Alexander Trocchi, Scottish writer (b. 1925)
- 1986 – Jean Genet, French author (b. 1910)
- 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)
- 1988 – Youri Egorov, Soviet pianist (b. 1954)
- 1989 – Nesuhi Ertegün, American record executive (b. 1917)
- 1989 – Charles Vanel, French actor (b. 1892)
- 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese politician (b. 1915)
- 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (b. 1905)
- 1992 – Otis Barton, American diver (b. 1899)
- 1993 – Leslie Charteris, Singapore author (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 dictator (b. 1925)
- 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, British engineer and race car designer (b. 1944)
- 2000 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator (b. 1925)
- 2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Ramones and Sniper) (b. 1951)
- 2002 – Damon Knight, American author (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Byron "Whizzer" White, American football player and United States Supreme Court Justice (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Reg Bundy, British drag queen, actor, and dancer (b. 1941)
- 2003 – Erin Fleming, Canadian actress (b. 1941)
- 2004 – Ray Condo, Canadian singer and musician (b. 1950)
- 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese manga artist (b. 1934)
- 2005 – John Fred, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
- 2007 – Brant Parker, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
- 2008 – Sean Costello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1979)
- 2008 – Benoît Lamy, Belgian director (b. 1945)
- 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish theologian and bishop (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Ed Blake, American baseball player (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Clement Freud, British writer and broadcaster (b. 1924)
- 2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist (b. 1907)
- 2010 – Jack Herer, American author and cannabis activist (b. 1939)
- 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian activist (b. 1975)
- 2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)
Holidays and observances
- Arirang Festival (North Korea)
- Christian Feast Day:
- 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)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to April 15.