April 16

April 16 in recent years

2024 (Tuesday)

2023 (Sunday)

2022 (Saturday)

2021 (Friday)

2020 (Thursday)

2019 (Tuesday)

2018 (Monday)

2017 (Sunday)

2016 (Saturday)

2015 (Thursday)

April 16 is the 106th day of the year (107th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 259 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1457 BC – Likely date of the Battle of Megiddo between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh, the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
• 73 – Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Great Jewish Revolt.
• 1346 – Dušan the Mighty is proclaimed Emperor, with the Serbian Empire occupying much of the Balkans.
• 1520 – The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V.
• 1582 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
• 1746 – The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland. After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
• 1780 – The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
• 1799 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
• 1818 – The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
• 1847 – The accidental shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand land wars.
• 1853 – The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
• 1858 – The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is wound up.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg: Ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
• 1881 – In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
• 1894 – Manchester City F.C. was formed from Ardwick A.F.C..
• 1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
• 1910 – The oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena still used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.
• 1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
• 1917 – Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia from exile in Switzerland.
• 1919 – Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier.
• 1919 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.
• 1922 – The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed.
• 1925 – During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
• 1940 – Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians throws the only Opening Day no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball, beating the Chicago White Sox 1–0.
• 1941 – World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
• 1941 – World War II: The Ustaše, a Croatian ultranationalist organization is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis powers after Operation 25 is effected.
• 1943 – Albert Hoffman accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19.
• 1944 – World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
• 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
• 1945 – The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).
• 1945 – More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.
• 1947 – Texas City disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.
• 1947 – Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• 1953 – Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia.
• 1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
• 1962 – Walter Cronkite takes over as the lead news anchor of the CBS Evening News, during which time he would become "the most trusted man in America".
• 1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
• 1972 – Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 1990 – The "Doctor of Death", Jack Kevorkian, participates in his first assisted suicide.
• 1992 – The Katina P runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
• 1995 – George W. Bush names April 16 as Selena Day in Texas, after she was killed two weeks earlier.
• 2001 – India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.
• 2003 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union.
• 2007 – Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho guns down 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide.
• 2012 – The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway.
• 2012 – The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
• 2013 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others.
• 2014 – The MV Sewol ferry carrying more than 450 people capsizes near Jindo Island off South Korea, leaving 295 passengers and crew dead and 9 more missing.

Births

• 1319 – John II of France (d. 1364)
• 1488 – Jungjong of Joseon (d. 1544)
• 1495 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1557)
• 1516 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (d. 1550)
• 1635 – Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dutch painter (d. 1681)
• 1646 – Jules Hardouin-Mansart, French architect, designed the Château de Dampierre and Grand Trianon (d. 1708)
• 1660 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician and academic (d. 1753)
• 1661 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician, First Lord of the Treasury (d. 1715)
• 1682 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (d. 1744)
• 1693 – Anne Sophie Reventlow, Danish wife of Frederick IV of Denmark (d. 1743)
• 1697 – Johann Gottlieb Görner, German organist and composer (d. 1778)
• 1728 – Joseph Black, French-Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1799)
• 1730 – Henry Clinton, English general and politician (d. 1795)
• 1755 – Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)
• 1786 – John Franklin, English admiral and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (d. 1847)
• 1800 – George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, English field marshal and politician (d. 1888)
• 1808 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1864)
• 1821 – Ford Madox Brown, French-English soldier and painter (d. 1893)
• 1823 – Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1852)
• 1827 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian poet and bookseller (d. 1879)
• 1839 – Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, Italian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908)
• 1834 – Charles Lennox Richardson, English-Chinese merchant (d. 1862)
• 1844 – Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
• 1847 – Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (d. 1906)
• 1848 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (d. 1919)
• 1851 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (d. 1930)
• 1865 – Harry Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
• 1866 – José de Diego, Puerto Rican journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1918)
• 1871 – John Millington Synge, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1909)
• 1874 – Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (d. 1936)
• 1878 – R. E. Foster, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1914)
• 1882 – Seth Bingham, American organist and composer (d. 1972)
• 1884 – Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, English cricketer, journalist, and politician (d. 1963)
• 1885 – Leó Weiner, Hungarian composer and educator (d. 1960)
• 1886 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek-American football player and javelin thrower (d. 1957)
• 1886 – Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)
• 1886 – Margaret Woodrow Wilson, American daughter of Woodrow Wilson (d. 1944)
• 1888 – Billy Minter, English footballer and manager (d. 1940)
• 1889 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1977)
• 1890 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (d. 1954)
• 1890 – Gertrude Chandler Warner, American author and educator (d. 1979)
• 1891 – Dorothy P. Lathrop, American author and illustrator (d. 1980)
• 1892 – Howard Mumford Jones, American author, critic, and academic (d. 1980)
• 1893 – Germaine Guèvremont, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1968)
• 1893 – John Norton, American hurdler (d. 1979)
• 1894 – Ernst Ziegler, German actor (d. 1974)
• 1895 – Ove Arup, English-Danish engineer and businessman, founded Arup (d. 1988)
• 1896 – Robert Henry Best, American journalist (d. 1952)
• 1896 – Pat Clayton, English soldier and surveyor (d. 1962)
• 1896 – Tristan Tzara, Romanian-French poet and critic (d. 1963)
• 1899 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist and academic (d. 1988)
• 1903 – Paul Waner, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
• 1904 – Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian-American vaudevillian and actress (d. 1983)
• 1905 – Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
• 1907 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Bombardier Inc. (d. 1964)
• 1907 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (d. 1947)
• 1908 – Ellis Marsalis, Sr., American businessman and activist (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Ray Ventura, French-Spanish pianist and bandleader (d. 1979)
• 1910 – Berton Roueché, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
• 1911 – Guy Burgess, English-Russian spy (d. 1963)
• 1912 – Gordon Dunn, American discus thrower (d. 1964)
• 1912 – David Langton, Scottish-English actor (d. 1994)
• 1915 – Gerard McLarnon, English-Irish actor and playwright (d. 1997)
• 1915 – Robert Speck, Canadian politician, 1st Mayor of Mississauga (d. 1972)
• 1916 – Behçet Necatigil, Turkish author, poet, and translator (d. 1979)
• 1917 – Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, 18th Duchess of Medinaceli (d. 2013)
• 1917 – Barry Nelson, American actor (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Dick Gibson, English race car driver (d. 2010)
• 1918 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese-American monk and author (d. 1995)
• 1918 – Juozas Kazickas, Lithuanian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2014)
• 1918 – Spike Milligan, Irish actor, singer, screenwriter, and author (d. 2002)
• 1919 – Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (d. 2011)
• 1919 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and National Museum of Anthropology (d. 2013)
• 1919 – Thomas Willmore, English geometer and academic (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Ananda Dassanayake, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Prince George Valdemar of Denmark (d. 1986)
• 1921 – Arlin M. Adams, American lawyer and judge (d. 2015)
• 1921 – Wolfgang Leonhard, German historian and author (d. 2014)
• 1921 – Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Kingsley Amis, English author, poet, and critic (d. 1995)
• 1922 – John Christopher, English author (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Lawrence N. Guarino, American colonel (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Leo Tindemans, Belgian politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Warren Barker, American composer (d. 2006)
• 1923 – Arch A. Moore, Jr., American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 28th Governor of West Virginia (d. 2015)
• 1924 – John Harvey-Jones, English academic and businessman (d. 2008)
• 1924 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (d. 1994)
• 1924 – Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets) (d. 1976)
• 1924 – Madanjeet Singh, Indian diplomat, author, and philanthropist (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Pierre Fabre, French pharmacist, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Edie Adams, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Pope Benedict XVI
• 1927 – Dick Lane, American football player and soldier (d. 2002)
• 1927 – Rolf Schult, German actor (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Nader Jahanbani, Iranian general and pilot (d. 1979)
• 1929 – Ralph Slatyer, Australian biologist and ecologist (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Ed Townsend, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2003)
• 1930 – Doug Beasy, Australian footballer and educator (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Fyodor Bogdanovsky, Russian weightlifter (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Herbie Mann, American flute player and composer (d. 2003)
• 1931 – Herman van Ham, Dutch chef (d. 2012)
• 1932 – Maury Meyers, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014)
• 1933 – Marcos Alonso Imaz, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Joan Bakewell, English journalist and author
• 1933 – Vera Krepkina, Russian long jumper
• 1933 – Ike Pappas, American journalist and actor (d. 2008)
• 1934 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (d. 2012)
• 1934 – Robert Stigwood, Australian producer and manager (d. 2016)
• 1935 – Marcel Carrière, Canadian director and screenwriter
• 1935 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet and author (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Lennart Risberg, Swedish boxer (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Dominique Venner, French journalist and historian (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Bobby Vinton, American singer
• 1936 – Šaban Bajramović, Serbian singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
• 1936 – Tom Lodge, English radio host (d. 2012)
• 1936 – Ayla Arslancan, Turkish actress (d. 2015)
• 1937 – Vince Hill, English singer-songwriter, producer, and playwright
• 1937 – Vadim Kuzmin, Russian physicist and academic (d. 2015)
• 1937 – Gert Potgieter, South African hurdler and coach
• 1938 – Rich Rollins, American baseball player
• 1938 – Gordon Wilson, Scottish lawyer and politician
• 1939 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
• 1939 – John Delafose, American accordion player (d. 1994)
• 1939 – Dusty Springfield, English singer and record producer (The Lana Sisters and The Springfields) (d. 1999)
• 1940 – Benoît Bouchard, Canadian academic and politician, 18th Canadian Minister of Transport
• 1940 – Margaret Maden, English academic
• 1940 – Margrethe II of Denmark
• 1940 – Joan Snyder, American painter
• 1940 – Thomas Stonor, 7th Baron Camoys, English banker and politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom
• 1941 – Allan Segal, American director and producer (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Jim Lonborg, American baseball player
• 1942 – Frank Williams, English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team
• 1943 – Ruth Madoc, Welsh actress and singer
• 1943 – Dave Peverett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Foghat and Savoy Brown) (d. 2000)
• 1943 – Morris Stevenson, Scottish footballer (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Petro Tyschtschenko, Austrian-German businessman
• 1944 – Sue Clifford, English environmentalist and academic, co-founded Common Ground
• 1945 – Tom Allen, American lawyer and politician
• 1945 – Sebastian Barker, English poet and journalist (d. 2014)
• 1946 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
• 1946 – Ernst Bakker, Dutch politician (d. 2014)
• 1946 – Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (d. 2015)
• 1946 – R. Carlos Nakai, American flute player
• 1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach
• 1947 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Humblebums and Stealers Wheel) (d. 2011)
• 1948 – Reg Alcock, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Canadian President of the Treasury Board (d. 2011)
• 1948 – Ammar El Sherei, Egyptian accordion player, composer, and academic (d. 2012)
• 1948 – Lynne Franks, English businesswoman
• 1948 – Kazuyuki Sogabe, Japanese voice actor and guitarist (d. 2006)
• 1950 – Robert Dutil, Canadian businessman and politician
• 1950 – David Graf, American actor (d. 2001)
• 1951 – Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian author and photographer
• 1951 – Mordechai Ben David, American singer-songwriter
• 1951 – David Nutt, English psychiatrist and academic
• 1952 – Bill Belichick, American football player and coach
• 1952 – Michel Blanc, French actor and director
• 1952 – Esther Roth-Shahamorov, Israeli sprinter and hurdler
• 1952 – Nick Young, English lawyer and activist
• 1953 – Peter Garrett, Australian singer-songwriter and politician (Midnight Oil)
• 1953 – Jay O. Sanders, American actor
• 1954 – Ellen Barkin, American actress
• 1954 – John Bowe, Australian race car driver
• 1954 – Mike Zuke, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1955 – Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager
• 1955 – Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
• 1956 – David M. Brown, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
• 1956 – T Lavitz, American keyboard player, composer, and producer (Dixie Dregs, Jazz Is Dead, and Widespread Panic) (d. 2010)
• 1956 – Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
• 1957 – Patricia De Martelaere, Belgian philosopher, author, and academic (d. 2009)
• 1958 – Tim Flach, English photographer and director
• 1958 – Ulf Wakenius, Swedish guitarist (Oscar Peterson Tro)
• 1959 – Robert Casilla, American illustrator
• 1959 – Scott McKinsey, American director and producer
• 1959 – Alison Ramsay, English-Scottish field hockey player and lawyer
• 1960 – Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
• 1960 – Rafael Benítez, Spanish footballer and manager
• 1960 – Pierre Littbarski, German footballer and manager
• 1961 – Doris Dragović, Croatian singer-songwriter
• 1961 – Jarbom Gamlin, Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (d. 2014)
• 1961 – Linda Ruth Williams, British film studies academic
• 1962 – Anna Dello Russo, Italian journalist
• 1962 – Douglas Elmendorf, American economist and politician
• 1962 – Ian MacKaye, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Teen Idles, The Evens, and Embrace)
• 1963 – Nick Berry, English actor and singer
• 1963 – Saleem Malik, Pakistani cricketer
• 1963 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer and actor (The Osmonds)
• 1964 – David Kohan, American screenwriter and producer
• 1964 – Dave Pirner, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Soul Asylum)
• 1964 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish pianist (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) (d. 2008)
• 1965 – Yves-François Blanchet, Canadian politician
• 1965 – Jon Cryer, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Martin Lawrence, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1966 – Jarle Vespestad, Norwegian drummer (Farmers Market)
• 1968 – Vickie Guerrero, American wrestler and manager
• 1968 – Rüdiger Stenzel, German runner
• 1969 – Stacy Francis, American singer and actress (Ex Girlfriend)
• 1969 – Patrik Järbyn, Swedish skier
• 1969 – Fernando Viña, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1970 – Dero Goi, German singer-songwriter and drummer (Oomph!)
• 1970 – Walt Williams, American basketball player
• 1971 – Selena, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer (Selena y Los Dinos) (d. 1995)
• 1971 – Max Beesley, English actor and singer
• 1971 – Peter Billingsley, American actor, director, and producer
• 1971 – Seigo Yamamoto, Japanese race car driver
• 1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Belarusian tennis player
• 1972 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish-American tennis player
• 1972 – John McGuinness, English motorcycle racer
• 1972 – Tracy K. Smith, American poet and educator
• 1973 – Akon, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1973 – Gary Delaney, English comedian
• 1973 – Hirofumi Nojima, Japanese voice actor
• 1973 – Bonnie Pink, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1973 – Oksana Yermakova, Estonian-Russian fencer
• 1974 – Mat Devine, American singer-songwriter and actor (Kill Hannah)
• 1974 – Xu Jinglei, Chinese actress and director
• 1974 – Fabián Robles, Mexican actor
• 1975 – Keon Clark, American basketball player
• 1975 – Sean Maher, American actor
• 1975 – Nick Pickard, English actor
• 1975 – Karl Yune, American actor
• 1976 – Phil Baroni, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
• 1976 – Robert Dahlqvist, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Hellacopters, Dundertåget, and Thunder Express)
• 1976 – Lukas Haas, American actor, pianist, drummer, and composer
• 1976 – Dan Kellner, American fencer
• 1976 – David Lyons, Australian actor
• 1976 – Kelli O'Hara, American actress and singer
• 1976 – Shu Qi, Taiwanese actress and singer
• 1977 – Tameka Empson, English actress and screenwriter
• 1977 – Florentijn Hofman, Dutch sculptor
• 1977 – Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
• 1978 – Lara Dutta, Indian model and actress, Miss Universe 2000
• 1978 – Jody Marie Gnant, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1978 – Nikki Griffin, American actress
• 1978 – Matthew Lloyd, Australian footballer and coach
• 1978 – John Buffalo Mailer, American actor, producer, and playwright
• 1978 – Igor Tudor, Croatian footballer and manager
• 1978 – Ivan Urgant, Russian television host and actor
• 1978 – Christos Vasilopoulos, Greek actor
• 1979 – Christijan Albers, Dutch race car driver
• 1979 – Lars Börgeling, German pole vaulter
• 1979 – Daniel Browne, New Zealand rugby player
• 1979 – Sean Costello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
• 1979 – Sixto Peralta, Argentinian-English footballer
• 1980 – Jens Hartwig, German actor
• 1980 – Paul London, American wrestler
• 1981 – Anestis Agritis, Greek footballer
• 1981 – Maya Dunietz, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1981 – Russell Harvard, American actor
• 1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player
• 1982 – Michael Ratajczak, German footballer
• 1982 – Jonathan Vilma, American football player
• 1983 – Marié Digby, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
• 1983 – Manuela Martelli, Chilean actress
• 1983 – Cat Osterman, American softball player
• 1983 – George Patis, Greek badminton player
• 1984 – Natalie Blair, Australian actress
• 1984 – Teddy Blass, American composer and producer
• 1984 – Claire Foy, English actress
• 1984 – Tucker Fredricks, American speed skater
• 1984 – Paweł Kieszek, Polish footballer
• 1984 – Kerron Stewart, Jamaican sprinter
• 1985 – Luol Deng, Sudanese-English basketball player
• 1985 – Nate Diaz, American mixed martial artist
• 1985 – Brendon Leonard, New Zealand rugby player
• 1985 – Benjamín Rojas, Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor (Erreway)
• 1985 – Taye Taiwo, Nigerian footballer
• 1986 – Paul di Resta, Scottish race car driver
• 1986 – Laura Langman, New Zealand netball player
• 1986 – Shinji Okazaki, Japanese footballer
• 1986 – Peter Regin, Danish ice hockey player
• 1986 – Epke Zonderland, Dutch gymnast
• 1987 – Savant, Norwegian DJ and producer
• 1987 – Cenk Akyol, Turkish basketball player
• 1987 – Aaron Lennon, English footballer
• 1988 – Alisa Durbrow, Japanese model, actress, and singer
• 1988 – Jullie, Brazilian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1990 – Reggie Jackson, American basketball player
• 1990 – Jérémy Kapone, French actor and singer
• 1990 – Lily Loveless, English actress
• 1990 – Vangelis Mantzaris, Greek basketball player
• 1990 – Tony McQuay, American sprinter
• 1990 – Nia Ramadhani, Indonesian actress
• 1990 – Jules Sitruk, French actor
• 1991 – Nolan Arenado, American baseball player
• 1991 – Kim Kyung-jung, South Korean footballer
• 1991 – Yurie Midori, Japanese actress and gravure idol
• 1992 – Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg
• 1993 – Mirai Nagasu, American figure skater
• 1993 – Chance the Rapper, American rapper
• 2008 – Princess Eléonore of Belgium

Deaths

• 69 – Otho, Roman emperor (b. 32)
• 665 – Fructuosus of Braga, French archbishop and saint
• 1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev (b. 1050)
• 1118 – Adelaide del Vasto, Italian wife of Roger II of Sicily (b. 1075)
• 1198 – Frederick I, Duke of Austria (b. 1175)
• 1640 – Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (b. 1579)
• 1645 – Tobias Hume, Scottish soldier, viol player, and composer (b. 1569)
• 1687 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English poet and politician, Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire (b. 1628)
• 1689 – Aphra Behn, English author and playwright (b. 1640)
• 1742 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet and translator (b. 1672)
• 1756 – Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (b. 1677)
• 1783 – Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer and educator (b. 1719)
• 1788 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (b. 1707)
• 1828 – Francisco Goya, Spanish-French painter and illustrator (b. 1746)
• 1846 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (b. 1763)
• 1850 – Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (b. 1761)
• 1859 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1805)
• 1879 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (b. 1844)
• 1888 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist and chemist (b. 1845)
• 1899 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino journalist and activist (b. 1875)
• 1904 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (b. 1888)
• 1904 – Samuel Smiles, Scottish-English author (b. 1812)
• 1914 – George William Hill, American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1838)
• 1915 – Nelson W. Aldrich, American businessman and politician (b. 1841)
• 1924 – Amleto Novelli, Italian actor (b. 1885)
• 1925 – Stefan Nerezov, Bulgarian general (b. 1867)
• 1928 – Henry Birks, Canadian businessman, founded Henry Birks and Sons (b. 1840)
• 1928 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrestler (b. 1900)
• 1930 – José Carlos Mariátegui, Peruvian journalist, philosopher, and activist (b. 1894)
• 1935 – Panait Istrati, Romanian journalist and author (b. 1884)
• 1937 – Jay Johnson Morrow, American military engineer and politician, 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (b. 1870)
• 1938 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and manager (b. 1874)
• 1941 – Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, English economist and civil servant (b. 1880)
• 1942 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1878)
• 1942 – Denis St. George Daly, Irish polo player (b. 1862)
• 1946 – Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver and engineer (b. 1884)
• 1947 – Rudolf Höss, German SS officer (b. 1900)
• 1950 – Eduard Oja, Estonian composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1905)
• 1950 – Anders Peter Nielsen, Danish target shooter (b. 1867)
• 1955 – David Kirkwood, Scottish engineer and politician (b. 1872)
• 1957 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mobster (b. 1882)
• 1958 – Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist and academic (b. 1920)
• 1959 – Charles Halton, American actor (b. 1876)
• 1960 – Mihály Fekete, Hungarian actor, screenwriter and film director (b. 1884)
• 1961 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist and academic (b. 1912)
• 1965 – Francis Cecil Campbell Balfour, English Lieutenant-Colonel in the british Army and colonial administrator (b. 1884)
• 1966 – Eric Lambert, Australian author (b. 1918)
• 1968 – Fay Bainter, American actress (b. 1893)
• 1968 – Edna Ferber, American author and playwright (b. 1885)
• 1969 – Hem Vejakorn, Thai illustrator and painter (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (b. 1892)
• 1970 – Péter Veres, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Defence (b. 1897)
• 1972 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1972 – Frank O'Connor, Australian public servant (b. 1894)
• 1973 – Nino Bravo, Spanish singer (b. 1944)
• 1973 – István Kertész, Hungarian conductor and educator (b. 1929)
• 1978 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (b. 1897)
• 1980 – Morris Stoloff, American composer (b. 1898)
• 1985 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1988 – Khalil al-Wazir, Palestinian commander, founded Fatah (b. 1935)
• 1988 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist (b. 1954)
• 1989 – Jocko Conlan, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1899)
• 1989 – Kaoru Ishikawa Japanese author and educator (b. 1915)
• 1989 – Miles Lawrence, English cricketer (b. 1940)
• 1989 – Hakkı Yeten, Turkish footballer and manager (b. 1910)
• 1991 – David Lean, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
• 1992 – Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)
• 1992 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian spy and activist (b. 1915)
• 1992 – Andy Russell, American singer (b. 1919)
• 1994 – Ralph Ellison, American novelist and critic (b. 1913)
• 1996 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (b. 1927)
• 1996 – Stavros Niarchos, Greek-Swiss businessman (b. 1909)
• 1997 – Roland Topor, French actor, director, and painter (b. 1938)
• 1998 – Alberto Calderón, Argentinian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1920)
• 1998 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
• 1998 – Marie-Louise Meilleur, Canadian super-centenarian (b. 1880)
• 1999 – Skip Spence, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape) (b. 1946)
• 2000 – Putra of Perlis (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Michael Ritchie, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
• 2001 – Alec Stock, English footballer and manager (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Billy Ayre, English footballer and manager (b. 1952)
• 2002 – Ruth Fertel, American businesswoman, founded Ruth's Chris Steak House (b. 1927)
• 2002 – Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
• 2003 – Graham Jarvis, Canadian actor (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Graham Stuart Thomas, English horticulturalist and author (b. 1909)
• 2005 – Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (b. 1943)
• 2005 – Kay Walsh, English actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Francisco Adam, Portuguese actor (b. 1983)
• 2007 – Seung-Hui Cho, perpetrator of the Virginia Tech shooting (b. 1984) and 32 victims
• 2007 – Frank Bateson, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1909)
• 2007 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1962)
• 2007 – Maria Lenk, Brazilian swimmer (b. 1915)
• 2007 – Chandrabose Suthaharan, Sri Lankan journalist
• 2008 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
• 2010 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general (b. 1949)
• 2010 – Daryl Gates, American police officer, created the D.A.R.E. Program (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Gerry Alexander, Jamaican cricketer and veterinarian (b. 1928)
• 2011 – Allan Blakeney, Canadian scholar and politician, 10th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Sol Saks, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1910)
• 2012 – Sári Barabás, Hungarian soprano (b. 1914)
• 2012 – Marian Biskup, Polish author and academic (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Ray Davey, Northern Irish minister, founded the Corrymeela Community (b. 1915)
• 2012 – Alan Hacker, English clarinet player and conductor (b. 1938)
• 2012 – George Kunda, Zambian lawyer and politician, 11th Vice-President of Zambia (b. 1956)
• 2012 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (b. 1913)
• 2012 – Carlo Petrini, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Charles Bruzon, Gibraltarian politician (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Jack Daniels, American baseball player (b. 1927)
• 2013 – George Horse Capture, American anthropologist and author (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Ali Kafi, Algerian colonel and politician (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Francis Leo Lawrence, American academic and scholar (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Siegfried Ludwig, Austrian politician, 18th Governor of Lower Austria (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Pentti Lund, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Rita MacNeil, Canadian singer and actress (b. 1944)
• 2013 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1909)
• 2013 – Edwin Shirley, English businessman (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Pat Summerall, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and National Museum of Anthropology (b. 1919)
• 2014 – Gyude Bryant, Liberian businessman and politician (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Stan Kelly-Bootle, English author and songwriter (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Frank Kopel, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Basil A. Paterson, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Ernst Florian Winter, Austrian-American historian and political scientist (b. 1923)
• 2015 – Valery Belousov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1948)
• 2015 – Attaphol Buspakom, Thai footballer and manager (b. 1962)
• 2015 – Oles Buzina, Ukrainian journalist and author (b. 1969)
• 2015 – Stanislav Gross, Czech lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (b. 1969)
• 2015 – Nimal Mendis, Sri Lankan singer-songwriter (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances

• Birthday of José de Diego (Puerto Rico)
• Birthday of Queen Margrethe II (Denmark)
• Christian feast day:
  • Benedict Joseph Labre
  • Bernadette Soubirous
  • Drogo
  • Fructuosus of Braga
  • Isabella Gilmore (Church of England)
  • Martyrs of Zaragoza
  • Molly Brant (Konwatsijayenni) (Anglican Church of Canada, Episcopal Church)
  • Turibius of Astorga
  • April 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Emancipation Day (Washington, D.C.)
• Memorial Day for the Victims of the Holocaust (Hungary)
• Remembrance of Chemical Attack on Balisan and Sheikh Wasan (Iraqi Kurdistan)
• World Voice Day

External links

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