April 26

April 26 in recent years

2024 (Friday)

2023 (Wednesday)

2022 (Tuesday)

2021 (Monday)

2020 (Sunday)

2019 (Friday)

2018 (Thursday)

2017 (Wednesday)

2016 (Tuesday)

2015 (Sunday)

April 26 is the 116th day of the year (117th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 249 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.
• 1478 – The Pazzi family attack Lorenzo de' Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral.
• 1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of actual birth is unknown).
• 1607 – English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia.
• 1721 – A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian city of Tabriz.
• 1777 – Sybil Ludington, aged 16, rides 40 miles to alert American colonial forces to the approach of the British.
• 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France, as part of a reconciliary gesture with the factions of the Ancien Régime and to eventually consolidate his own rule.
• 1803 – Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L'Aigle, France; the event convinces European scientists that meteors exist.
• 1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines captured Derne under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina. Also the date of Confederate Memorial Day for two states.
• 1865 – Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Lincoln, in Virginia.
• 1903 – Atlético Madrid Association football club is founded
• 1923 – The Duke of York weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey.
• 1925 – Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.
• 1933 – The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.
• 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Guernica (or Gernika in Basque), Spain is bombed by German Luftwaffe.
• 1942 – Benxihu Colliery accident in Manchukuo leaves 1549 Chinese miners dead.
• 1943 – The Easter Riots break out in Uppsala, Sweden.
• 1944 – Georgios Papandreou becomes head of the Greek government-in-exile based in Egypt.
• 1944 – Heinrich Kreipe is captured by Allied commandos in occupied Crete.
• 1945 – World War II: Battle of Bautzen: Last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.
• 1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army are liberated in Baguio City and they fight against the Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
• 1954 – The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
• 1956 – SS Ideal X, the world's first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas.
• 1958 – Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
• 1960 – Forced out by the April Revolution, President of South Korea Syngman Rhee resigns after twelve years of dictatorial rule.
• 1962 – NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.
• 1963 – In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.
• 1964 – Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.
• 1965 – A Rolling Stones concert in London, Ontario is shut down by police after 15 minutes due to rioting.
• 1966 – The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.
• 1966 – A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
• 1970 – The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force.
• 1981 – Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world's first human open fetal surgery.
• 1982 – Fifty-seven people are killed by former police officer Woo Bum-kon in a shooting spree in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
• 1986 – A nuclear reactor accident occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine), creating the world's worst nuclear disaster.
• 1989 – The deadliest tornado in world history strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
• 1989 – People's Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests
• 1991 – Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak's end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year's only F5 tornado.
• 1994 – China Airlines Flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
• 2002 – Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.
• 2005 – Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country (Syrian occupation of Lebanon).

Births

• 121 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (d. 180)
• 757 – Hisham I of Córdoba (d. 796)
• 1538 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter and academic (d. 1600)
• 1575 – Marie de' Medici, Italian wife of Henry IV of France (d. 1642)
• 1607 – Countess Palatine Magdalene Catherine of Zweibrücken (d. 1648)
• 1647 – William Ashhurst, English banker, Sheriff of London, Lord Mayor of London and politician (d. 1720)
• 1648 – Peter II of Portugal (d. 1706)
• 1697 – Adam Falckenhagen, German lute player and composer (d. 1754)
• 1710 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher and academic (d. 1796)
• 1718 – Esek Hopkins, American commander (d. 1802)
• 1774 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (d. 1853)
• 1782 – Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (d. 1866)
• 1785 – John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (d. 1851)
• 1787 – Ludwig Uhland, German poet, philologist, and historian (d. 1862)
• 1798 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter and lithographer (d. 1863)
• 1801 – Ambrose Dudley Mann, American politician and diplomat, 1st United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1889)
• 1804 – Charles Goodyear, American banker, lawyer, and politician (d. 1876)
• 1822 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American journalist and designer, co-designed Central Park (d. 1903)
• 1826 – George Hull Ward, American general (d. 1863)
• 1826 – Ambrose R. Wright, American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1872)
• 1834 – Charles Farrar Browne, American author (d. 1867)
• 1856 – Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
• 1862 – Edmund C. Tarbell, American painter and educator (d. 1938)
• 1876 – Ernst Felle, German rower (d. 1959)
• 1878 – Rafael Guízar y Valencia, Mexican bishop and saint (d. 1938)
• 1879 – Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
• 1886 – Ma Rainey, American singer (d. 1939)
• 1886 – Ğabdulla Tuqay, Russian poet and publicist (d. 1913)
• 1889 – Anita Loos, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
• 1889 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1951)
• 1894 – Rudolf Hess, Egyptian-German politician (d. 1987)
• 1896 – Ruut Tarmo, Estonian actor and director (d. 1967)
• 1896 – Ernst Udet, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941)
• 1897 – Eddie Eagan, American boxer and bobsledder (d. 1967)
• 1897 – Douglas Sirk, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
• 1898 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• 1898 – John Grierson, Scottish director and producer (d. 1972)
• 1899 – Oscar Rabin, Latvian-English saxophonist and bandleader (Oscar Rabin Band) (d. 1958)
• 1900 – Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (d. 1985)
• 1900 – Hack Wilson, American baseball player (d. 1948)
• 1904 – Paul-Émile Léger, Canadian cardinal (d. 1991)
• 1909 – Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)
• 1910 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese screenwriter and producer (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Paul Verner, German soldier and politician (d. 1986)
• 1912 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (d. 2000)
• 1914 – Charlie Chester, English radio and television host (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Bernard Malamud, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1986)
• 1914 – James Rouse, American real estate developer, founded The Rouse Company (d. 1996)
• 1916 – Morris West, Australian author and playwright (d. 1999)
• 1916 – Vic Perrin, American actor (d. 1989)
• 1916 – George Tuska, American illustrator (d. 2009)
• 1916 – Ken Wallis, English commander, engineer, and pilot (d. 2013)
• 1917 – Sal Maglie, American baseball player and coach (d. 1992)
• 1917 – I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect, designed the National Gallery of Art and Bank of China Tower
• 1917 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch sprinter and long jumper (d. 2004)
• 1918 – Stafford Repp, American actor (d. 1974)
• 1921 – Jimmy Giuffre, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 2008)
• 1922 – J. C. Holt, English historian and academic (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada (d. 1993)
• 1922 – Margaret Scott, South African-Australian ballerina and choreographer
• 1924 – Browning Ross, American runner and soldier (d. 1998)
• 1925 – Vladimir Boltyansky, Russian mathematician, educator and author
• 1925 – Gerard Cafesjian, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Michele Ferrero, Italian entrepreneur (d. 2015)
• 1925 – Frank Hahn, British economist (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Jørgen Ingmann, Danish singer and guitarist (Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann) (d. 2015)
• 1925 – Mac Martin, American bluegrass musician
• 1926 – David Coleman, English sportscaster and game show host (d. 2013)
• 1926 – J. B. Hutto, American singer and guitarist (d. 1983)
• 1926 – Michael Mathias Prechtl, German soldier and illustrator (d. 2003)
• 1927 – Jack Douglas, English actor (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Richard Mitchell, American author and educator (d. 2002)
• 1930 – Roger Moens, Belgian runner and sportscaster
• 1931 – Paul Almond, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent and producer (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Israr Ahmed, Indian-Pakistani theologian, philosopher, and scholar (d. 2010)
• 1932 – Shirley Cawley, English long jumper
• 1932 – Frank D'Rone, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
• 1932 – Francis Lai, French accordion player and composer
• 1932 – Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
• 1933 – Carol Burnett, American actress, singer, and producer
• 1933 – Aleksander Tšutšelov, Estonian sailor
• 1933 – Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican-American general (d. 2005)
• 1933 – Arno Allan Penzias, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1935 – Patricia Reilly Giff, American author and educator
• 1937 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 2015)
• 1938 – Nino Benvenuti, Italian boxer and actor
• 1938 – Duane Eddy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1938 – Willie Wood, Scottish bowler
• 1940 – Harry Fielder, English actor and stuntman
• 1940 – Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Indian cleric and politician (d. 2014)
• 1940 – Giorgio Moroder, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1940 – Cliff Watson, English rugby league player
• 1941 – Claudine Auger, French model and actress
• 1941 – Claudine Clark, American singer-songwriter
• 1941 – Robin Jacob, English academic and judge
• 1941 – John Mitchell, American composer and educator
• 1942 – Svyatoslav Belza, Russian journalist, author, and critic (d. 2014)
• 1942 – Sharon Carstairs, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Leader of the Government in the Senate
• 1942 – Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
• 1942 – Bobby Rydell, American singer and actor
• 1942 – Jadwiga Staniszkis, Polish sociologist, political scientist, and academic
• 1943 – Gary Wright, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (Spooky Tooth)
• 1943 – Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect and academic, designed the Therme Vals
• 1944 – Richard Bradshaw, English conductor (d. 2007)
• 1944 – Roger Coulam, English keyboard player (Blue Mink)
• 1944 – Amien Rais, Indonesian scholar and politician
• 1945 – Howard Davies, English director and producer
• 1945 – Dick Johnson, Australian race car driver
• 1945 – Sylvain Simard, Canadian academic and politician
• 1946 – Ralph Coates, English footballer (d. 2010)
• 1946 – Marilyn Nelson, American poet and author
• 1946 – Alberto Quintano, Chilean footballer
• 1949 – Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer and manager
• 1949 – Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995)
• 1949 – Dominic Sena, American director and screenwriter
• 1951 – John Battle, English politician
• 1953 – David Reddaway, Canadian-English diplomat, British High Commissioner to Canada
• 1953 – Moushumi Chatterjee, Indian actress
• 1953 – Nancy Lenehan, American actress
• 1953 – Linda Thompson, American lawyer and theorist
• 1954 – Tatyana Fomina, Estonian chess player
• 1954 – Alan Hinkes, English mountaineer and explorer
• 1954 – Chito S. Roño, Filipino director and screenwriter
• 1955 – Kurt Bodewig, German politician
• 1955 – Mike Scott, American baseball player
• 1956 – Koo Stark, American actress and photographer
• 1957 – Edwina Hart, Welsh banker and politician
• 1958 – John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute, Scottish race car driver
• 1958 – Giancarlo Esposito, American actor, director, and producer
• 1958 – Jeffrey Guterman, American psychotherapist, author, and academic
• 1958 – Georgios Kostikos, Greek footballer, coach, and manager
• 1959 – John Corabi, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mötley Crüe, Angora, The Scream, Union, and Brides of Destruction)
• 1959 – Thanasis Papakonstantinou, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player
• 1960 – Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player and coach
• 1960 – Roger Taylor, English drummer (Duran Duran and Arcadia)
• 1961 – Joan Chen, Chinese-American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1961 – Chris Mars, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer (The Replacements and Golden Smog)
• 1962 – Colin Anderson, English footballer
• 1962 – Michael Damian, American actor, singer and producer
• 1962 – Trevor Marmalade, Australian comedian and television host
• 1962 – Debra Wilson, American actress and comedian
• 1963 – Jet Li, Chinese-Singaporean martial artist, actor, and producer
• 1963 – Colin Scotts, Australian-American football player
• 1963 – Cornelia Ullrich, German hurdler
• 1963 – Bill Wennington, Canadian basketball player
• 1964 – Rebecka Törnqvist, Swedish singer
• 1965 – Susannah Harker, English actress
• 1965 – Kevin James, American actor and comedian
• 1967 – Kane, Spanish-American wrestler and actor
• 1967 – Marianne Jean-Baptiste, English actress and singer-songwriter
• 1967 – Curtis Jones, American electronica and house music singer, songwriter and producer
• 1967 – Toomas Tõniste, Estonian sailor and politician
• 1969 – Kate Hardie, English actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1970 – Dean Austin, English footballer and manager
• 1970 – Kristen R. Ghodsee, American ethnographer and academic
• 1970 – Melania Trump, Slovenian-American model and jewelry designer
• 1970 – Tionne Watkins, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (TLC)
• 1971 – Jay DeMarcus, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (Rascal Flatts and East to West)
• 1972 – Kiko, Spanish footballer
• 1972 – Jason Bargwanna, Australian race car driver
• 1972 – Natrone Means, American football player and coach
• 1972 – Avi Nimni, Israeli footballer and manager
• 1973 – Geoff Blum, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1973 – Jules Naudet, French-American director and producer
• 1973 – Chris Perry, English footballer
• 1973 – Óscar García Junyent, Spanish footballer and coach
• 1974 – Ivana Miličević, Bosnian-American actress and model
• 1975 – Joey Jordison, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (Slipknot, Murderdolls, and Scar the Martyr)
• 1975 – Nerina Pallot, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1975 – Rahul Verma, Indian social worker and activist; founded the Uday Foundation
• 1976 – Luigi Panarelli, Italian footballer
• 1976 – Václav Varaďa, Czech ice hockey player
• 1977 – Jason Earles, American actor, director, and producer
• 1977 – Samantha Cristoforetti, Italian astronaut
• 1977 – Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player
• 1977 – Roxana Saberi, American journalist and author
• 1977 – Tom Welling, American actor
• 1978 – Avant, American singer-songwriter
• 1978 – Joe Crede, American baseball player
• 1978 – Stana Katic, Canadian actress
• 1978 – Tyler Labine, Canadian actor
• 1978 – Peter Madsen, Danish footballer
• 1978 – Shinnosuke Tachibana, Japanese voice actor
• 1979 – Ariane Moffatt, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1979 – Janne Wirman, Finnish keyboard player (Children of Bodom, Warmen, and Masterplan)
• 1980 – Jordana Brewster, Panamanian-American actress
• 1980 – Marlon King, English footballer
• 1980 – Anna Mucha, Polish actress and journalist
• 1980 – Channing Tatum, American actor and producer
• 1980 – Marnette Patterson, American actress
• 1981 – Matthieu Delpierre, French footballer
• 1981 – Ms. Dynamite, English rapper and producer
• 1981 – Sandra Schmitt, German skier (d. 2000)
• 1982 – Brock Gillespie, American basketball player
• 1982 – Joanne Gobure, Nauruan poet and academic
• 1982 – Jon Lee, English singer and actor (S Club)
• 1982 – Cooper Wallace, American football player
• 1982 – Novlene Williams-Mills, Jamaican sprinter
• 1983 – José María López, Argentinian race car driver
• 1983 – Jessica Lynch, American soldier and POW
• 1984 – Emily Wickersham, American actress
• 1985 – Nam Gyu-ri, South Korean singer and actress (SeeYa)
• 1985 – John Isner, American tennis player
• 1985 – Andrea Koch Benvenuto, Chilean tennis player
• 1986 – Lior Refaelov, Israeli footballer
• 1986 – Yuliya Zaripova, Russian runner
• 1987 – Jorge Andújar Moreno, Spanish footballer
• 1988 – Hazel Ann Mendoza, Spanish-Filipino actress
• 1988 – Eric Salamat, Filipino basketball player
• 1988 – Ben Spina, Australian rugby league player
• 1988 – Manuel Viniegra, Mexican footballer
• 1988 – Gareth Evans, English footballer
• 1989 – Daesung, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor (Big Bang)
• 1990 – Jonathan dos Santos, Mexican footballer
• 1990 – Mitch Rein, Australian rugby league player
• 1990 – Nevin Spence, Northern Irish rugby player (d. 2012)
• 1990 – Kim Yu-mi, South Korean model and actress, Miss Korea 2012
• 1991 – Isaac Liu, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1991 – Ignacio Lores Varela, Uruguayan footballer
• 1991 – Will Heard, British singer and songwriter
• 1991 – Lazaros Fotias, Greek footballer
• 1991 – Wojciech Pszczolarski, Polish professional racing cyclist
• 1994 – Daniil Kvyat, Russian race car driver

Deaths

• 499 – Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (b. 467)
• 645 – Richarius, Frankish monk and saint (b. 560)
• 757 – Pope Stephen II (b. 715)
• 1192 – Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (b. 1127)
• 1444 – Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b. 1378)
• 1476 – Simonetta Vespucci, Italian model (b. 1453)
• 1478 – Giuliano de' Medici, Italian ruler (b. 1453)
• 1489 – Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (b. 1465)
• 1716 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English jurist and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1651)
• 1717 – Samuel Bellamy, English pirate (b. 1689)
• 1784 – Nano Nagle, Irish nun and educator, founded the Presentation Sisters (b. 1718)
• 1789 – Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian general (b. 1721)
• 1865 – John Wilkes Booth, American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1838)
• 1881 – Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (b. 1815)
• 1892 – Provo Wallis, Canadian-English admiral (b. 1791)
• 1895 – Eric Stenbock, Estonian-English author and poet (b. 1860)
• 1910 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian-French author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1832)
• 1915 – John Bunny, American actor (b. 1863)
• 1920 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (b. 1887)
• 1932 – William Lockwood, English cricketer (b. 1868)
• 1934 – Arturs Alberings, Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (b. 1876)
• 1936 – Tammany Young, American actor (b. 1886)
• 1940 – Carl Bosch, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
• 1944 – Violette Morris, French footballer, shot putter, and discus thrower (b. 1893)
• 1945 – Sigmund Rascher, German physician (b. 1909)
• 1945 – Pavlo Skoropadskyi, German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (b. 1871)
• 1946 – James Larkin White, American miner, explorer, and park ranger (b. 1882)
• 1950 – George Murray Hulbert, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1881)
• 1951 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic (b. 1868)
• 1956 – Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890)
• 1957 – Gichin Funakoshi, Japanese martial artist, founded Shotokan (b. 1868)
• 1964 – E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet and author (b. 1882)
• 1968 – John Heartfield, German illustrator and photographer (b. 1891)
• 1969 – Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist, founded aikido (b. 1883)
• 1970 – Erik Bergman, Swedish minister and author (b. 1886)
• 1970 – Charles January, American soccer player (b. 1888)
• 1970 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress, exotic dancer, and writer (b. 1911)
• 1973 – Irene Ryan, American actress and philanthropist (b. 1902)
• 1976 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (b. 1903)
• 1976 – Sid James, South African-English actor and singer (b. 1913)
• 1976 – Armstrong Sperry, American author and illustrator (b. 1897)
• 1980 – Cicely Courtneidge, Australian-English actress and singer (b. 1893)
• 1981 – Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909)
• 1981 – Herb Voland, American actor (b. 1918)
• 1984 – Count Basie, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1904)
• 1986 – Broderick Crawford, American actor and producer (b. 1911)
• 1986 – Bessie Love, American actress (b. 1898)
• 1986 – Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899)
• 1987 – Shankar, Indian composer and conductor (b. 1922)
• 1987 – John Silkin, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (b. 1923)
• 1989 – Lucille Ball, American actress and producer (b. 1911)
• 1991 – Leo Arnaud, French-American composer and conductor (b. 1904)
• 1991 – Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor (b. 1910)
• 1991 – A. B. Guthrie, Jr., American novelist and historian, (b. 1901)
• 1991 – Richard Hatfield, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1931)
• 1991 – Emily McLaughlin, American actress (b. 1928)
• 1994 – Mas Oyama, Japanese martial artist, founded Kyokushin kaikan (b. 1927)
• 1996 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1918)
• 1999 – Adrian Borland, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (The Sound and The Outsiders) (b. 1957)
• 1999 – Jill Dando, English journalist (b. 1961)
• 2003 – Rosemary Brown, Jamaican-Canadian academic and politician (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Yun Hyon-seok, South Korean poet and author (b. 1984)
• 2003 – Edward Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1904)
• 2003 – Peter Stone, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1930)
• 2004 – Hubert Selby, Jr., American author, poet, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
• 2005 – Mason Adams, American actor (b. 1919)
• 2005 – Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (b. 1926)
• 2005 – Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan journalist, author, and academic (b. 1917)
• 2006 – Ali Ekber Çiçek, Turkish musician (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Jack Valenti, American businessman, created the MPAA film rating system (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal investigator and author (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Mariam A. Aleem, Egyptian graphic designer and academic (b. 1930)
• 2010 – Urs Felber, Swiss engineer and businessman (b. 1942)
• 2011 – Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Sisters of Glory) (b. 1950)
• 2012 – Pete Fornatale, American radio host and author (b. 1945)
• 2012 – Ardian Klosi, Albanian author, publicist, and translator (b. 1957)
• 2012 – Ted Newall, Canadian businessman (b. 1935)
• 2012 – David Nunn, English actor (b. 1962)
• 2012 – Terence Spinks, English boxer and trainer (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Jacqueline Brookes, American actress and educator (b. 1930)
• 2013 – William L. Guy, American soldier and politician, 26th Governor of North Dakota (b. 1919)
• 2013 – George Jones, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Marion Rushing, American football player (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Mary Thom, American journalist and author (b. 1944)
• 2013 – Jim Tucker, American journalist and author (b. 1934)
• 2014 – William Ash, American-English pilot and author (b. 1917)
• 2014 – Gerald Guralnik, American physicist and academic (b. 1936)
• 2014 – Michael Heisley, American businessman (b. 1937)
• 2014 – Lee Marshall, American wrestling announcer and actor (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Antonio Pica, Spanish actor (b. 1933)
• 2014 – DJ Rashad, American DJ and producer (b. 1979)
• 2014 – Paul Robeson, Jr., American historian and author (b. 1927)
• 2014 – W. E. "Pete" Snelson, American soldier, journalist, and politician (b. 1923)
• 2015 – Wang Guozhen, Chinese poet and educator (b. 1956)
• 2015 – Jayne Meadows, American actress (b. 1919)
• 2015 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1930)
• 2015 – Bill Valentine, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1932)
• 2016 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Aldobrandesca
  • Franca Visalta
  • Lucidius of Verona
  • Our Lady of Good Counsel
  • Pope Anacletus and Marcellinus
  • Riquier
  • Paschasius Radbertus
  • Robert Hunt (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Stephen of Perm, see also Old Permic Alphabet Day
  • Trudpert
  • April 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Latest day on which Easter Monday can fall, while March 23 is the earliest; celebrated on Monday after Easter.
• Chernobyl disaster related observances:
  • Memorial Day of Radiation Accidents and Catastrophes (Russia)
  • Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl tragedy (Belarus)
• Confederate Memorial Day (Florida, United States)
• Hug A Friend Day
• Old Permic Alphabet Day
• Union Day (Tanzania)
• World Intellectual Property Day

External links

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