April 14

April 14 in recent years

2024 (Sunday)

2023 (Friday)

2022 (Thursday)

2021 (Wednesday)

2020 (Tuesday)

2019 (Sunday)

2018 (Saturday)

2017 (Friday)

2016 (Thursday)

2015 (Tuesday)

April 14 is the 104th day of the year (105th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 261 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 43 BC – Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Caesar's assassin Decimus Brutus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, but is then immediately defeated by the army of the other consul, Aulus Hirtius.
• 69 – Vitellius, commander of the Rhine armies, defeats Emperor Otho in the Battle of Bedriacum and seizes the throne.
• 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, surrounds the Jewish capital with four Roman legions.
• 193 – Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans).
• 966 – After his marriage to the Christian Doubravka of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converts to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state.
• 1028 – Henry III, son of Conrad, is elected King of Germany.
• 1205 – Battle of Adrianople between Bulgarians and Crusaders.
• 1294 – Temür, grandson of Kublai, is elected Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan dynasty with the reigning titles Oljeitu and Chengzong.
• 1341 – Sack of Saluzzo (Italy) by Italian-Angevine troops under Manfred V, Marquess of Saluzzo.
• 1434 – The foundation stone of Nantes Cathedral, France is laid.
• 1471 – In England, the Yorkists under Edward IV defeat the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet; the Earl is killed and Edward IV resumes the throne.
• 1561 – A Celestial phenomenon is reported over Nuremberg, described as an aerial battle.
• 1639 – Imperial forces are defeated by the Swedes at the Battle of Chemnitz. The Swedish victory prolongs the Thirty Years' War and allows them to advance into Bohemia.
• 1699 – Khalsa: The Sikh religion was formalised as the Khalsa - the brotherhood of Warrior-Saints - by Guru Gobind Singh in northern India, in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar.
• 1715 – The Yamasee War begins in South Carolina.
• 1775 – The first abolition society in North America is established. The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage is organized in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.
• 1816 – Bussa, a slave in British-ruled Barbados, leads a slave rebellion and is killed. For this, he is remembered as the first national hero of Barbados.
• 1828 – Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary.
• 1846 – The Donner Party of pioneers departs Springfield, Illinois, for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism.
• 1849 – Hungary declares itself independent of Austria with Lajos Kossuth as its leader.
• 1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth (died April 15th).
• 1865 – U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family are attacked at home by Lewis Powell.
• 1881 – The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight is fought in El Paso, Texas.
• 1890 – The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.
• 1894 – The first ever commercial motion picture house opened in New York City using ten Kinetoscopes, a device for peep-show viewing of films.
• 1900 – The Exposition Universelle begins.
• 1906 – The Azusa Street Revival opens and will launch Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement.
• 1909 – A massacre is organized by Ottoman Empire against Armenian population of Cilicia.
• 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 (sinks morning of April 15th).
• 1927 – The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden.
• 1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, reaches Greenly Island, Canada - the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
• 1931 – The Spanish Cortes deposes King Alfonso XIII and proclaims the Second Spanish Republic.
• 1939 – The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck is first published by the Viking Press.
• 1940 – World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway in preparation for a larger force to arrive two days later.
• 1941 – World War II: German general Erwin Rommel attacks Tobruk.
• 1942 – Malta receives the George Cross for its gallantry. The George Cross was given by King George VI himself and is now an emblem on the Maltese national flag.
• 1944 – Bombay explosion: A massive explosion in Bombay harbor kills 300 and causes economic damage valued then at 20 million pounds.
• 1958 – The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit after a mission duration of 162 days. This was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a female dog named Laika, who likely lived only a few hours.
• 1967 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma overthrows President of Togo Nicolas Grunitzky and installs himself as the new president, a title he would hold for the next 38 years.
• 1978 – Tbilisi Demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
• 1981 – STS-1: The first operational Space Shuttle, Columbia completes its first test flight.
• 1986 – In retaliation for the April 5 bombing in West Berlin that killed two U.S. servicemen, U.S. president Ronald Reagan orders major bombing raids against Libya, killing 60 people.
• 1986 – The heaviest hailstones ever recorded (1 kilogram (2.2 lb)) fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.
• 1988 – The USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will.
• 1988 – In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
• 1991 – The Republic of Georgia introduces the post of President after its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1994 – In a U.S. friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shoot-down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people.
• 1999 – NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees. Yugoslav officials say 75 people were killed.
• 1999 – A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$2.3 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history.
• 2002 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country's military.
• 2003 – The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
• 2003 – U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the MS Achille Lauro in 1985.
• 2005 – The Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.
• 2010 – Nearly 2,700 are killed in a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai, China.
• 2014 – Twin bomb blasts in Abuja, Nigeria, kill at least 75 people and injures 141 others.
• 2014 – Two hundred seventy-six schoolgirls are abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Northeastern Nigeria.
• 2016 – First foreshock of the earthquakes in Kumamoto, Japan occur.

Births

• 1126 – Averroes, Spanish physician and philosopher (d. 1198)
• 1527 – Abraham Ortelius, Flemish cartographer and geographer (d. 1598)
• 1572 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1632)
• 1578 – Philip III of Spain (d. 1621)
• 1629 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1695)
• 1668 – Magnus Julius De la Gardie, Swedish general and politician (d. 1741)
• 1678 – Abraham Darby I, English iron master (d. 1717)
• 1709 – Charles Collé, French playwright and songwriter (d. 1783)
• 1714 – Adam Gib, Scottish minister and author (d. 1788)
• 1738 – William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1809)
• 1741 – Emperor Momozono of Japan (d. 1762)
• 1773 – Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, French politician, 6th Prime Minister of France (d. 1854)
• 1788 – David G. Burnet, American politician, 2nd Vice-President of Texas (d. 1870)
• 1800 – John Appold, English engineer (d. 1865)
• 1812 – George Grey, Portuguese-New Zealand soldier, explorer, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1898)
• 1814 – Dimitri Kipiani, Georgian publicist and author (d. 1887)
• 1827 – Augustus Pitt Rivers, English general, ethnologist, and archaeologist (d. 1900)
• 1854 – Martin Lipp, Estonian pastor and poet (d. 1923)
• 1857 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (d. 1944)
• 1865 – Alfred Hoare Powell, English architect, and designer and painter of pottery (d. 1960)
• 1866 – Anne Sullivan, American educator (d. 1936)
• 1868 – Peter Behrens, German architect, designed the AEG turbine factory (d. 1940)
• 1870 – Victor Borisov-Musatov, Russian painter and educator (d. 1905)
• 1870 – Syd Gregory, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 1929)
• 1872 – Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-English scholar and translator (d. 1953)
• 1881 – Husain Salaahuddin, Maldivian poet and scholar (d. 1948)
• 1882 – Moritz Schlick, German-Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1936)
• 1886 – Ernst Robert Curtius, German philologist and scholar (d. 1956)
• 1886 – Árpád Tóth, Hungarian poet and translator (d. 1928)
• 1889 – Arnold J. Toynbee, English historian and academic (d. 1975)
• 1891 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian economist, jurist, and politician, 1st Indian Minister of Law and Justice (d. 1956)
• 1891 – Otto Lasanen, Finnish wrestler (d. 1958)
• 1892 – Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1962)
• 1892 – V. Gordon Childe, Australian archaeologist and philologist (d. 1957)
• 1897 – Claire Windsor, American actress (d. 1972)
• 1902 – Sylvio Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and referee (d. 1974)
• 1903 – Henry Corbin, French philosopher and academic (d. 1978)
• 1903 – Ruth Svedberg, Swedish discus thrower and triathlete (d. 2002)
• 1904 – John Gielgud, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2000)
• 1905 – Elizabeth Huckaby, American author and educator (d. 1999)
• 1905 – Georg Lammers, German sprinter (d. 1987)
• 1905 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French author and activist (d. 1999)
• 1906 – Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian king (d. 1975)
• 1907 – François Duvalier, Haitian physician and politician, 40th President of Haiti (d. 1971)
• 1912 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer and journalist (d. 1994)
• 1912 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (d. 1978)
• 1913 – Jean Fournet, French conductor (d. 2008)
• 1916 – Don Willesee, Australian telegraphist and politician, 29th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 2003)
• 1917 – Valerie Hobson, Irish-born English actress (d. 1998)
• 1917 – Marvin Miller, American businessman (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Mary Healy, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
• 1919 – Shamshad Begum, Pakistani-Indian singer (d. 2013)
• 1919 – K. Saraswathi Amma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1975)
• 1920 – Ivor Forbes Guest, English lawyer, historian, and author
• 1921 – Thomas Schelling, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1922 – Audrey Long, American actress (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Roberto De Vicenzo, Argentinian golfer
• 1924 – Shorty Rogers, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1994)
• 1924 – Joseph Ruskin, American actor and producer (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, English philosopher, and academic
• 1925 – Abel Muzorewa, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (d. 2010)
• 1925 – Rod Steiger, American soldier and actor (d. 2002)
• 1926 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Frank Daniel, Czech director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1996)
• 1926 – Gloria Jean, American actress and singer
• 1926 – Liz Renay, American actress and author (d. 2007)
• 1927 – Alan MacDiarmid, New Zealand chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
• 1927 – Dany Robin, French actress and singer (d. 1995)
• 1929 – Gerry Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Inez Andrews, American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Arnold Burns, American lawyer and politician, 21st United States Deputy Attorney General (d. 2013)
• 1930 – René Desmaison, French mountaineer (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Bradford Dillman, American actor and author
• 1931 – Geoffrey Dalton, English admiral
• 1931 – Paul Masnick, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1932 – Atef Ebeid, Egyptian academic and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2014)
• 1932 – Bob Grant, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1932 – Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter and musician
• 1932 – Cameron Parker, Scottish businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire
• 1933 – Paddy Hopkirk, Northern Irish race car driver
• 1933 – Boris Strugatsky, Russian author (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Shani Wallis, English-American actress and singer
• 1934 – Fredric Jameson, American philosopher and theorist
• 1935 – Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Baroness Masham of Ilton, English table tennis player, swimmer, and politician
• 1935 – John Oliver, English bishop
• 1935 – Erich von Däniken, Swiss historian and author
• 1936 – Arlene Martel, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
• 1936 – Bobby Nichols, American golfer
• 1936 – Frank Serpico, American-Italian soldier, police officer and lecturer
• 1937 – Efi Arazi, Israeli businessman, founded the Scailex Corporation (d. 2013)
• 1937 – Sepp Mayerl, Austrian mountaineer (d. 2012)
• 1938 – Mahmud Esad Coşan, Turkish author and academic (d. 2001)
• 1940 – Julie Christie, English actress and activist
• 1940 – David Hope, Baron Hope of Thornes English archbishop and academic
• 1940 – Richard Thompson English physician and academic
• 1941 – Pete Rose, American baseball player and manager
• 1942 – Valentin Lebedev, Russian engineer and astronaut
• 1942 – Björn Rosengren, Swedish politician, Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Innovation
• 1942 – Ni Zhiqin, Chinese high jumper
• 1943 – Fouad Siniora, Lebanese businessman and politician, 65th Prime Minister of Lebanon
• 1944 – John Sergeant, English journalist
• 1945 – Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Samoan economist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Samoa
• 1946 – Mireille Guiliano, French-American author
• 1946 – Michael Sarris, Cypriot economist and politician, Cypriot Minister of Finance
• 1946 – Knut Kristiansen, Norwegian pianist and orchestra leader
• 1947 – Dominique Baudis, French journalist and politician (d. 2014)
• 1947 – Bob Massie, Australian cricketer
• 1948 – Berry Berenson, American model, actress, and photographer (d. 2001)
• 1948 – Anastasios Papaligouras, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Justice
• 1949 – Dave Gibbons, English author and illustrator
• 1949 – DeAnne Julius, American-British economist and academic
• 1949 – Chris Langham, English actor and screenwriter
• 1949 – Chas Mortimer, English racing motorcyclist
• 1949 – John Shea, American actor and director
• 1950 – Francis Collins, American physician and geneticist
• 1950 – Péter Esterházy, Hungarian author (d. 2016)
• 1951 – José Eduardo González Navas, Spanish politician
• 1951 – Julian Lloyd Webber, English cellist, conductor, and educator
• 1951 – Elizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, English politician
• 1952 – Mickey O'Sullivan, Irish footballer and manager
• 1952 – David Urquhart, Scottish bishop
• 1953 – David Buss, American psychologist and academic
• 1954 – Sue Hill, English pathologist and civil servant
• 1954 – Katsuhiro Otomo, Japanese director, screenwriter, and illustrator
• 1954 – Bruce Sterling, American author and blogger
• 1956 – Barbara Bonney, American soprano and educator
• 1956 – Boris Šprem, Croatian lawyer and politician, 8th President of Croatian Parliament (d. 2012)
• 1957 – Mikhail Pletnev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor
• 1958 – Peter Capaldi, Scottish actor
• 1960 – Brad Garrett, American actor and comedian
• 1960 – Myoma Myint Kywe, Burmese historian and journalist
• 1960 – Osamu Sato, Japanese graphic artist, programmer, and composer
• 1960 – Tina Rosenberg, American journalist and author
• 1960 – Pat Symcox, South African cricketer
• 1961 – Robert Carlyle, Scottish actor and director
• 1961 – Daniel Clowes, American cartoonist and screenwriter
• 1962 – Scott Boman, American politician
• 1962 – Guillaume LeBlanc, Canadian race walker
• 1963 – Kalle Vellevoog, Estonian architect
• 1964 – Jeff Andretti, American race car driver
• 1964 – Greg Battle, American-Canadian football player
• 1964 – Gina McKee, English actress
• 1965 – Tom Dey, American director and producer
• 1965 – Alexandre Jardin, French author
• 1965 – Craig McDermott, Australian cricketer and coach
• 1966 – André Boisclair, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1966 – David Justice, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1966 – Greg Maddux, American baseball player, coach, and manager
• 1967 – Nicola Berti, Italian footballer
• 1967 – Steve Chiasson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1999)
• 1967 – Alain Côté, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1967 – Barrett Martin, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
• 1967 – Julia Zemiro, French-Australian actress, comedian, singer and writer
• 1968 – Anthony Michael Hall, American actor
• 1969 – Brad Ausmus, American baseball player and manager
• 1969 – Martyn LeNoble, Dutch-American bass player
• 1969 – Vebjørn Selbekk, Norwegian journalist
• 1970 – Emre Altuğ, Turkish singer-songwriter and actor
• 1970 – Steve Avery, American baseball player
• 1970 – Shizuka Kudō, Japanese singer and actress
• 1971 – Miguel Calero, Colombian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
• 1971 – Carlos Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
• 1971 – Gregg Zaun, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Paul Devlin, English-Scottish footballer and manager
• 1972 – Roberto Mejía, Dominican baseball player
• 1972 – Dean Potter, American rock climber and BASE jumper (d. 2015)
• 1973 – Roberto Ayala, Argentinian footballer
• 1973 – Adrien Brody, American actor
• 1973 – David Miller, American tenor
• 1974 – Da Brat, American rapper
• 1975 – Lita, American wrestler
• 1975 – Luciano Almeida, Brazilian footballer
• 1975 – Avner Dorman, Israeli-American composer and academic
• 1975 – Konstantinos Nebegleras, Greek footballer
• 1975 – Anderson Silva, Brazilian mixed martial artist and boxer
• 1976 – Christian Älvestam, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1976 – Georgina Chapman, English model, actress, and fashion designer, co-founded Marchesa
• 1976 – Anna DeForge, American basketball player
• 1976 – Kyle Farnsworth, American baseball player
• 1976 – Jason Wiemer, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Nate Fox, American basketball player (d. 2014)
• 1977 – Martin Kaalma, Estonian footballer
• 1977 – Sarah Michelle Gellar, American actress and producer
• 1977 – Rob McElhenney, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1977 – JD McPherson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1978 – Roland Lessing, Estonian biathlete
• 1979 – Iain Balshaw, English rugby player
• 1979 – Rebecca DiPietro, American wrestler and model
• 1979 – Marios Elia, Cypriot footballer
• 1979 – Ross Filipo, New Zealand rugby player
• 1979 – Noé Pamarot, French footballer
• 1979 – Patrick Somerville, American novelist and short story writer
• 1979 – Kerem Tunçeri, Turkish basketball player
• 1980 – Win Butler, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1980 – Jeremy Smith, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1981 – Mustafa Güngör, German rugby player
• 1981 – Amy Leach, English director and producer
• 1982 – Uğur Boral, Turkish footballer
• 1982 – Larissa França, Brazilian volleyball player
• 1983 – Simona La Mantia, Italian triple jumper
• 1983 – James McFadden, Scottish footballer
• 1983 – William Obeng, Ghanaian-American football player
• 1983 – Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Georgian basketball player
• 1984 – Blake Costanzo, American football player
• 1984 – Charles Hamelin, Canadian speed skater
• 1984 – Harumafuji Kōhei, Mongolian sumo wrestler, the 70th Yokozuna
• 1984 – Adán Sánchez, American-Mexican musician (d. 2004)
• 1984 – Tyler Thigpen, American football player
• 1985 – Grant Clitsome, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Matt Derbyshire, English footballer
• 1986 – Goran Gogić, Serbian footballer (d. 2015)
• 1987 – Michael Baze, American jockey (d. 2011)
• 1987 – Erwin Hoffer, Austrian footballer
• 1987 – Wilson Kiprop, Kenyan runner
• 1987 – Korina Perkovic, German tennis player
• 1988 – Roberto Bautista Agut, Spanish tennis player
• 1988 – Eliška Klučinová, Czech heptathlete
• 1988 – Vasileios Pliatsikas, Greek footballer
• 1988 – Brad Sinopoli, Canadian football player
• 1989 – Aleksei Olegovich Alekseyev, Russian footballer
• 1989 – Joe Haden, American football player
• 1990 – Markus Smarzoch, German footballer
• 1992 – Frederik Sørensen, Danish footballer
• 1996 – Abigail Breslin, American actress

Deaths

• 1132 – Mstislav I of Kiev (b. 1076)
• 1279 – Bolesław the Pious, Polish husband of Yolanda of Poland (b. 1224)
• 1322 – Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere, English soldier and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1275)
• 1345 – Richard de Bury, English bishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of The United Kingdom (b. 1287)
• 1471 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, English commander and politician (b. 1428)
• 1574 – Louis of Nassau (b. 1538)
• 1578 – James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, English husband of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1534)
• 1599 – Henry Wallop, English politician (b. 1540)
• 1662 – William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, English politician (b. 1582)
• 1682 – Avvakum, Russian priest and saint (b. 1620)
• 1721 – Michel Chamillart, French politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1652)
• 1759 – George Frideric Handel, German-English organist and composer (b. 1685)
• 1785 – William Whitehead, English poet and playwright (b. 1715)
• 1792 – Maximilian Hell, Slovak-Hungarian astronomer and priest (b. 1720)
• 1843 – Joseph Lanner, Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1801)
• 1864 – Charles Lot Church, American-Canadian politician (b. 1777)
• 1910 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1856)
• 1911 – Addie Joss, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1880)
• 1911 – Henri Elzéar Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and jurist, 4th Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1836)
• 1912 – Henri Brisson, French politician, 50th Prime Minister of France (b. 1835)
• 1914 – Hubert Bland, English activist, co-founded the Fabian Society (b. 1855)
• 1917 – L. L. Zamenhof, Polish physician and linguist, created Esperanto (b. 1859)
• 1925 – John Singer Sargent, American painter (b. 1856)
• 1930 – Vladimir Mayakovsky, Georgian-Russian actor, playwright, and poet (b. 1893)
• 1931 – Richard Armstedt, German philologist, historian, and educator (b. 1851)
• 1935 – Emmy Noether, German-American mathematician and academic (b. 1882)
• 1938 – Gillis Grafström, Swedish figure skater and architect (b. 1893)
• 1943 – Yakov Dzhugashvili, Georgian-Russian lieutenant (b. 1907)
• 1950 – Ramana Maharshi, Indian guru and philosopher (b. 1879)
• 1951 – Al Christie, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1881)
• 1962 – M. Visvesvaraya, Indian engineer and scholar (b. 1860)
• 1963 – Rahul Sankrityayan, Indian monk and historian (b. 1893)
• 1964 – Tatyana Afanasyeva, Russian-Dutch mathematician and theorist (b. 1876)
• 1964 – Rachel Carson, American biologist and author (b. 1907)
• 1965 – Perry Smith, American murderer (b. 1928)
• 1968 – Al Benton, American baseball player (b. 1911)
• 1969 – Matilde Muñoz Sampedro, Spanish actress (b. 1900)
• 1975 – Günter Dyhrenfurth, German-Swiss mountaineer, geologist, and explorer (b. 1886)
• 1975 – Fredric March, American actor (b. 1897)
• 1976 – José Revueltas, Mexican author and activist (b. 1914)
• 1978 – Joe Gordon, American baseball player and manager (b. 1915)
• 1978 – F. R. Leavis, English educator and critic (b. 1895)
• 1983 – Pete Farndon, English bass player (b. 1952)
• 1983 – Gianni Rodari, Italian journalist and author (b. 1920)
• 1986 – Simone de Beauvoir, French novelist and philosopher (b. 1908)
• 1990 – Olabisi Onabanjo, Nigerian politician, 3rd Governor of Ogun State (b. 1927)
• 1994 – Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Pakistani chemist and scholar (b. 1897)
• 1995 – Burl Ives, American actor, writer and folk singer (b. 1909)
• 1999 – Ellen Corby, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1911)
• 1999 – Anthony Newley, English singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1931)
• 1999 – Bill Wendell, American television announcer (b. 1924)
• 2000 – Phil Katz, American computer programmer, co-created the zip file format (b. 1962)
• 2000 – Wilf Mannion, English footballer (b. 1918)
• 2001 – Jim Baxter, Scottish footballer (b. 1939)
• 2001 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Jyrki Otila, Finnish politician (b. 1941)
• 2004 – Micheline Charest, English-Canadian television producer, co-founded the Cookie Jar Group (b. 1953)
• 2006 – Mahmut Bakalli, Kosovo politician (b. 1936)
• 2007 – June Callwood, Canadian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Don Ho, American singer and ukulele player (b. 1930)
• 2007 – René Rémond, French historian and economist (b. 1918)
• 2008 – Tommy Holmes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Ollie Johnston, American animator and voice actor (b. 1912)
• 2009 – Maurice Druon, French author (b. 1918)
• 2010 – Israr Ahmed, Pakistani theologian and scholar (b. 1932)
• 2010 – Alice Miller, Polish-French psychologist and author (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Peter Steele, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1962)
• 2012 – Émile Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Jonathan Frid, Canadian actor (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Piermario Morosini, Italian footballer (b. 1986)
• 2012 – Martin Poll, American film producer (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Efi Arazi, Israeli businessman, founded the Scailex Corporation (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Colin Davis, English conductor and educator (b. 1927)
• 2013 – R. P. Goenka, Indian businessman, founded RPG Group (b. 1930)
• 2013 – George Jackson, American singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Rentarō Mikuni, Japanese actor and director (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Armando Villanueva, Peruvian politician, 121st Prime Minister of Peru (b. 1915)
• 2013 – Charlie Wilson, American politician (b. 1943)
• 2014 – Nina Cassian, Romanian poet and critic (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Karl-Heinz Euling, German SS officer (b. 1919)
• 2014 – Crad Kilodney, American-Canadian author (b. 1948)
• 2014 – Wally Olins, English businessman and academic (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Armando Peraza, Cuban-American drummer (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Mick Staton, American soldier and politician (b. 1940)
• 2015 – Klaus Bednarz, German journalist and author (b. 1942)
• 2015 – Mark Reeds, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1960)
• 2015 – Percy Sledge, American singer (b. 1940)
• 2015 – Roberto Tucci, Italian cardinal and theologian (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• Ambedkar Jayanti (India)
• Black Day (South Korea)
• Christian feast day:
  • Bénézet
  • Henry Beard Delany (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Domnina of Terni
  • Lidwina
  • Peter González
  • Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus
  • April 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commemoration of Anfal Genocide Against the Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan)
• Dhivehi Language Day (Maldives)
• Day of Mologa (Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia)
• Day of the Georgian language (Georgia)
• N'Ko Alphabet Day (Mande speakers)
• New Year festivals in South and Southeast Asian cultures, celebrated on the sidereal vernal equinox. (see April 13):
  • Assamese New Year, or Bohag Bihu (India's Assam Valley)
  • Bengali New Year, or Pohela Boishakh (Bangladesh and India's West Bengal state)
  • Burmese New Year, or Thingyan (Burma)
  • Hindu and Sikh New Year, or Vaisakhi (Punjab region)
  • Khmer New Year, or Chol Chnam Thmey (Cambodia)
  • Lao New Year, or Songkan / Pi Mai Lao (Laos)
  • Mahl New Year, or Alathu Aharudhuvas (Maldives and India's Lakshadweep and Kerala state)
  • Maithili New Year, or Jude Sheetal (Mithila region)
  • Malayali New Year, or Vishu (India's Kerala state)
  • Nepali New Year, or Navabarsha / Vaishak Ek (Nepal)
  • Oriya New Year, or Pana Sankranti (India's Orissa state)
  • Sinhalese New Year, or Aluth Avurudhu (Sri Lanka)
  • Tamil New Year, or Puthandu (India's Tamil Nadu state)
  • Thai New Year, or Songkran, celebrated from 13 to 15 April (Thailand)
  • Tuluva New Year, or Bisu (India's Karnataka state)
• Pan American Day (several countries in The Americas)
• The first day of Takayama Spring Festival (Takayama, Gifu, Japan)
• Youth Day (Angola)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History