April 15
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Contents |
Births [change]
- 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian polymath (d. 1519)
- 1469 – Guru Nanak Dev, Sikh guru (d. 1539)
- 1552 - Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)
- 1641 - Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician (d. 1722)
- 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1691)
- 1646 – King Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
- 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
- 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (d. 1783)
- 1721 – Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (d. 1765)
- 1744 - Charles Wilson Peale, American painter (d. 1827)
- 1800 – James Clark Ross, English explorer (d. 1862)
- 1814 - John Lothrop Motley, American diplomat (d. 1877)
- 1821 - Joseph E. Brown, American politician, Governor of Georgia (d. 1894)
- 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet and writer (d. 1908)
- 1841 - Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian politician and philanthropist (d. 1919)
- 1843 – Henry James, American author (d. 1916)
- 1858 – Emile Durkheim, French sociologist and ethnologist (d. 1917)
- 1866 - Robert Livingston Beeckman, Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1935)
- 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist (d. 1957)
- 1877 – W. D. Ross, Scottish philosopher (d. 1971)
- 1883 – Stanley Bruce, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
- 1886 - Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet (d. 1921)
- 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author, activist, and Holocaust survivor (d. 1983)
- 1894 – Bessie Smith, American blues singer (d. 1937)
- 1894 - Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
- 1896 – Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, Russian chemist (d. 1986)
- 1901 - Rene Pleven, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
- 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ethologist (d. 1988)
- 1910 - Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentine chess player (d. 1997)
- 1912 – Kim Il-Sung, President of North Korea (d. 1994)
- 1915 – Walter Washington, American politician, Mayor of Washington, DC (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Richard von Weizsaecker, former President of Germany
- 1920 - Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Georgi Beregovoi, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut (d. 1995)
- 1922 – Harold Washington, American politician, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
- 1924 - Neville Marriner, English conductor and violinist
- 1927 - Robert Mills, American physicist (d. 1999)
- 1930 – Vigdis Finnbogadottir, 4th President of Iceland
- 1931 – Tomas Transtromer, Swedish poet
- 1933 - Roy Clark, American singer, musician and television host
- 1933 - Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1936 - Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
- 1938 - Claudia Cardinale, Tunisian-born Italian actress
- 1939 – Marty Wilder, British rock singer
- 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, British politician and author
- 1940 - Yossef Romano, Israeli weightlifter
- 1941 - Howard Berman, American politician
- 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball coach (d. 2011)
- 1943 - Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and Nobel Prize winner
- 1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician
- 1949 - Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer and composer
- 1951 - John L. Phillips, American astronaut
- 1955 – Dodi al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (d. 1997)
- 1956 - Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
- 1957 - Evelyn Ashford, American athlete
- 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer
- 1958 – Abu Hamza al-Masri, Egyptian Islamic fundamentalist preacher
- 1959 – Emma Thompson, British actress
- 1960 – Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, heir to the throne of Belgium
- 1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist and Nobel Prize winner
- 1962 - Tom Kane, American voice actor
- 1966 – Samantha Fox, British singer, actress and model
- 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer
- 1967 - Frankie Poullain, British musician
- 1968 – Ed O'Brien, British musician (Radiohead)
- 1968 - Vano Merabishvili, Georgian politician
- 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
- 1972 - Lou Romano, American voice actor
- 1977 - Sudarshan Pattnaik, Indian sand artist
- 1977 - Lilia Vaygina-Efremova, Ukrainian biathlete
- 1978 – Soumaila Coulibaly, Malian footballer
- 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
- 1982 – Albert Riera, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian actor and writer
- 1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer
- 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
- 1986 - Quincy Owusu-Abeyje, Ghanaian footballer
- 1988 - Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Eliza Doolittle, English singer
- 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress
- 1991 – Anastasia Vinnikova, Belarussian singer
- 1992 – Amy Diamond, Swedish singer
- 1992 - Richard Sandrak, American bodybuilder, martial artist and actor
- 1993 - Madeleine Martin, American actress
Deaths [change]
- 1053 - Godwin, Earl of Wessex
- 1415 - Manuel Chrysolaris, Greek humanist and grammarian (b. 1355)
- 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (b. 1377)
- 1621 - John Carver, English merchant and Governor of the Plymouth colony (b. 1576)
- 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet (b. 1605)
- 1697 – King Charles XI of Sweden (b. 1665)
- 1719 - Francoise d'Aubigne, marquise de Maintenon, Queen of France (b. 1635)
- 1754 - Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (b. 1676)
- 1764 – Madame de Pompadour, mistress to King Louis XV of France (b. 1721)
- 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian scientist and writer (b. 1711)
- 1854 - Arthur Aikin, English chemist, mineralogist and writer (b. 1773)
- 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
- 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian Roman Catholic priest and missionary (b. 1840)
- 1898 - Kepa Te Rangihiwini, Maori military leader
- 1912 – Edward Smith, captain of the RMS Titanic (b. 1850) (Titanic sinking)
- 1912 – Jack Phillips, British wireless telegraphist (b. 1887) (Titanic sinking)
- 1912 – John Jacob Astor IV, American businessman and billionaire (b. 1864) (Titanic sinking)
- 1912 - Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865) (Titanic sinking)
- 1913 – Gabdulla Tukay, Tatar poet (b. 1886)
- 1925 – Fritz Haarmann, German serial killer (b. 1879)
- 1925 – John Singer Sargent, American painter (b. 1856)
- 1927 - Gaston Leroux, French writer (b. 1868)
- 1938 - Cesar Vallejo, Peruvian poet (b. 1892)
- 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian writer (b. 1880)
- 1944 - Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Soviet military commander (b. 1901)
- 1949 - Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885)
- 1957 - Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (b. 1917)
- 1967 - Toto, Italian comedian, actor, writer and singer-songwriter (b. 1898)
- 1969 – Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (b. 1887)
- 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
- 1972 – Frank Knight, American economist (b. 1885)
- 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher (b. 1905)
- 1983 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author, activist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1892)
- 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedy magician (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Jean Genet, French writer (b. 1910)
- 1988 – Kenneth Williams, British actor and comedian (b. 1926)
- 1989 - Hu Yaobang, Chinese politician (b. 1915)
- 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (b. 1905)
- 1994 – John Curry, British figure skater (b. 1949)
- 1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (b. 1925)
- 2001 – Joey Ramone, American Punk Rocker (b. 1951)
- 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese manga artist (b. 1934)
- 2008 – Sean Costello, American blues musician (b. 1979)
- 2009 – Clement Freud, British writer, broadcaster and Member of Parliament (b. 1924)
- 2009 - Laszlo Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist (b. 1907)
- 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian activist (b. 1975)
- 2012 – Murray Rose, Scottish-born Australian swimmer (b. 1939)
Events [change]
- 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.
- 1738 – Premiere in London of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel.
- 1755 – Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language published in London.
- 1783 – Preliminary articles of peace ending Revolutionary War ratified.
- 1802 – William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy come across a "long belt" of daffodils, inspiring the former to pen I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.
- 1861 - Abraham Lincoln calls for a volunteer force of 25,000 to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.
- 1865 – Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th President of the United States.
- 1892 – The General Electric Company is formed through the merger of the Edison General Electric Company and the Thomson-Houston Company.
- 1896 - Closing ceremony of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.
- 1900 - Philippine-American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on the US infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.
- 1912 – The passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks at about 2:20 am after hitting an iceberg almost three hours earlier.
- 1915 – The Armenian Genocide began when the Ottoman Empire undertook the systematic annihilation of Armenian intellectuals and entrepreneurs within the city of Constantinople and later the entire Armenian population of the Empire.
- 1917 - Troop transporter Cameronia is sunk by a German U-boat east of Malta.
- 1920 – Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti allegedly murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store.
- 1923 – Insulin first became generally available for use by diabetics.
- 1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
- 1927 – Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Norma and Constance Talmadge become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
- 1935 – Roerich Pact signed in Washington D.C.
- 1936 - First day of the Arab revolt in Palestine.
- 1936 - Aer Lingus is founded, as the national airline of the Republic of Ireland.
- 1940 – The Allies start their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which was occupied by Nazi Germany.
- 1941 - World War II: The German Luftwaffe attack Belfast in a bombing raid, killing 1,000 people.
- 1942 – George Cross 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 baseball team, breaking that sport's color line.
- 1955 – The first McDonald's restaurant opens in Des Plaines, Illinois.
- 1969 - North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 people on board.
- 1970 - Cambodian Civil War: Massacres of the Vietnamese minority result in bodies flowing down the Mekong River to South Vietnam.
- 1983 – Tokyo Disneyland opens.
- 1985 – Bernhard Langer becomes the first German to win the US Masters golf tournament.
- 1985 – Marvin Hagler defeats Thomas Hearns by a knockout in round three to retain boxing's world Middleweight championship in a fight nicknamed The War.
- 1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human stampede occurs at Hillsborough, a football stadium in Sheffield, England, resulting in the loss of 96 lives.
- 1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.
- 1994 – Representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities sign the Marrakesh Agreements revising the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and setting up the World Trade Organization (effective January 1 1995).
- 1997 – Fire sweeps through a campsite of Muslims making the Hajj pilgrimage; the official death toll is 343.
- 2001 – Easter day (not again until 2063).
- 2002 – An Air China Boeing 767-200, flight CA129 crashes into hillside during heavy rain and fog near Pusan, South Korea killing 128.
- 2010 – In response to the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland, Norway, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland shut all of their airspace for a week. Several European countries also have to shut their airspace in the following days and weeks, due to the volcanic ash cloud.
- 2013 - 2013 Boston Marathon bombings: Two bombs explode near the finishing line of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people and injuring over 140. In the immediate aftermath, it is not known who carried out the attack.
Observances [change]
- Tax Day (United States)
- Kim Il-Sung's birthday (North Korea)
- Father Damien Day (Hawaii)
- Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball
