text:
April 15

Pre-1600

 * 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings.
 * 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard.
 * 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.

1601–1900

 * 1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.
 * 1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.
 * 1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
 * 1736 – Foundation of the short-lived Kingdom of Corsica.
 * 1738 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, receives its premiere performance in London, England.
 * 1755 – Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.
 * 1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc found the American School for the Deaf (then called the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons), the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.
 * 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.
 * 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Three hours later, Vice President Andrew Johnson is sworn in as president.
 * 1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.
 * 1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.
 * 1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.

1901–present

 * 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,224 passengers and crew on board survive.
 * 1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.
 * 1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.
 * 1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
 * 1923  – Racially motivated Nihon Shōgakkō fire lit by a serial arsonist kills 10 children in Sacramento, California.
 * 1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.
 * 1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.
 * 1942 – The George Cross is awarded "to the island fortress of Malta" by King George VI.
 * 1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
 * 1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.
 * 1952 – First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
 * 1955 – McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
 * 1960 – At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
 * 1969 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.
 * 1970 – During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.
 * 1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.
 * 1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans.
 * 1989  – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.
 * 1994 – Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.
 * 2002 – Air China Flight 129 crashes on approach to Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people.
 * 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 281 others.
 * 2013  – A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.
 * 2014 – In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, at least 200 civilians are gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.
 * 2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.
 * 2021 – A mass shooting occurred at a Fedex Ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, killing nine and injuring seven.

Pre-1600

 * 68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)
 * 1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)
 * 1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479)
 * 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)
 * 1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)
 * 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)
 * 1563 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)
 * 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)
 * 1592 – Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675)

1601–1900

 * 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)
 * 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)
 * 1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
 * 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
 * 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)
 * 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)
 * 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)
 * 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)
 * 1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)
 * 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)
 * 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)
 * 1795 – Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d. 1847)
 * 1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)
 * 1808 – William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892)
 * 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)
 * 1817 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885)
 * 1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)
 * 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)
 * 1841 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921)
 * 1841  – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
 * 1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916)
 * 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)
 * 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)
 * 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)
 * 1863 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914)
 * 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)
 * 1874  – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
 * 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)
 * 1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)
 * 1877 – William David Ross, Scottish philosopher (d. 1971)
 * 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)
 * 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
 * 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
 * 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
 * 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)
 * 1887 – Felix Pipes, Austrian tennis player (d. 1983)
 * 1887  – William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953)
 * 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)
 * 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975)
 * 1889  – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
 * 1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat's eye (d. 1976)
 * 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)
 * 1892  – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (d. 1983)
 * 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
 * 1894  – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937)
 * 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)
 * 1895  – Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941)
 * 1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
 * 1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)
 * 1900 – Ramón Iribarren, Spanish civil engineer (d. 1967)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
 * 1901  – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)
 * 1901  – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
 * 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
 * 1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983)
 * 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
 * 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
 * 1908 – eden ahbez, American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)
 * 1908  – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
 * 1909 – Robert Edison Fulton Jr., American inventor and adventurer (d. 2004)
 * 1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)
 * 1910  – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)
 * 1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)
 * 1912  – Kim Il Sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)
 * 1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)
 * 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
 * 1916  – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
 * 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
 * 1917  – Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944)
 * 1917  – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
 * 1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)
 * 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)
 * 1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)
 * 1920  – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
 * 1920  – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)
 * 1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)
 * 1921  – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)
 * 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)
 * 1922  – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)
 * 1922  – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
 * 1922  – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)
 * 1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)
 * 1923  – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)
 * 1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)
 * 1924  – Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004)
 * 1924  – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)
 * 1926 – Jurriaan Schrofer, Dutch sculptor, designer, and educator (d. 1990)
 * 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
 * 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
 * 1929  – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)
 * 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)
 * 1930  – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland
 * 1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant
 * 1931  – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
 * 1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018)
 * 1933  – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)
 * 1933  – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995)
 * 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)
 * 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist (d. 2019)
 * 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
 * 1937  – Robert W. Gore, American engineer and businessman, co-inventor of Gore-Tex (d. 2020)
 * 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress
 * 1938  – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)
 * 1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor
 * 1939  – Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009)
 * 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician
 * 1940  – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World
 * 1940  – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)
 * 1940  – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic
 * 1940  – Robert Walker, American actor (d. 2019)
 * 1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician
 * 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017)
 * 1942  – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
 * 1942  – Kenneth Lay, American businessman and criminal(d. 2006)
 * 1942  – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic
 * 1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic
 * 1943  – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1943  – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician
 * 1943  – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)
 * 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
 * 1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author
 * 1946  – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff
 * 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer
 * 1947  – Martin Broughton, English businessman
 * 1947  – Lois Chiles, American model and actress
 * 1947  – David Omand, English civil servant and academic
 * 1947  – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security
 * 1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic
 * 1948  – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
 * 1948  – Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician
 * 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress
 * 1949  – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
 * 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
 * 1950  – Amy Wright, American actress
 * 1950  – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player
 * 1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author
 * 1951  – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut
 * 1951  – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer
 * 1951  – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut
 * 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter
 * 1952  – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer
 * 1952  – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic
 * 1952  – Glenn Shadix, American actor, (d. 2010)
 * 1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
 * 1955  – Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician
 * 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
 * 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach
 * 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1958  – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer
 * 1958  – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach
 * 1958  – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright (d. 2023)
 * 1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1959  – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
 * 1959  – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter
 * 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1960  – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter
 * 1960  – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster
 * 1960  – Tony Jones, English snooker player
 * 1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician
 * 1961  – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist
 * 1961  – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer
 * 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician
 * 1962  – Tom Kane, American voice actor
 * 1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist
 * 1963  – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer
 * 1963  – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
 * 1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player
 * 1964  – Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1965 – Soichi Noguchi, Japanese engineer and astronaut
 * 1965  – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
 * 1965  – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player
 * 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress
 * 1966  – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)
 * 1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter
 * 1967  – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist
 * 1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach
 * 1968  – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner
 * 1968  – Ed O'Brien, English guitarist
 * 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
 * 1969  – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor
 * 1969  – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach
 * 1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach
 * 1971 – Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player
 * 1971  – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer
 * 1971  – Jason Sehorn, American football player
 * 1971  – Josia Thugwane, South African runner
 * 1971  – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician
 * 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
 * 1972  – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
 * 1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director
 * 1974  – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter
 * 1974  – Mike Quinn, American football player
 * 1974  – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer
 * 1974  – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player
 * 1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist
 * 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1976  – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer
 * 1976  – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player
 * 1976  – Steve Williams, English rower
 * 1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor
 * 1977  – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
 * 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
 * 1978  – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
 * 1978  – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer
 * 1978  – Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1979 – Luke Evans, Welsh actor and singer
 * 1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer
 * 1980  – James Foster, English cricketer
 * 1980  – Raül López, Spanish basketball player
 * 1980  – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player
 * 1980  – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author
 * 1980  – Billy Yates, American football player
 * 1981 – Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer
 * 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
 * 1982  – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter
 * 1982  – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
 * 1983  – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1983  – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
 * 1983  – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)
 * 1983  – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
 * 1983  – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
 * 1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player
 * 1984  – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
 * 1984  – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
 * 1986  – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
 * 1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player
 * 1988  – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
 * 1988  – Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher
 * 1989 – Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
 * 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress
 * 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor
 * 1991  – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater
 * 1992 – Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player
 * 1994 – Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player
 * 1994  – Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter
 * 1995 – Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer
 * 1997 – Ashleigh Gardner, Australian cricketer
 * 1997  – Maisie Williams, English actress
 * 1998 – Sexyy Red, American rapper
 * 1999 – Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player
 * 2001 – Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper

Pre-1600

 * 628 – Suiko, emperor of Japan (b. 554)
 * 943 – Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (b. 920)
 * 956 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch
 * 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
 * 1136 – Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094)
 * 1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)
 * 1237 – Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic
 * 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355)
 * 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)
 * 1502 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (b. 1443)
 * 1558 – Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500)
 * 1578 – Wolrad II, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, German nobleman (b. 1509)

1601–1900

 * 1610 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546)
 * 1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580)
 * 1652 – Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch
 * 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605)
 * 1719 – Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
 * 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676)
 * 1757 – Rosalba Carriera, Italian painter (b. 1673)
 * 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682)
 * 1761  – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)
 * 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)
 * 1764  – Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV (b. 1721)
 * 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)
 * 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
 * 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)
 * 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)
 * 1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)
 * 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
 * 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)
 * 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)
 * 1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician

1901–present

 * 1912 – Victims of the Titanic disaster:
 * Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (b. 1873)
 * John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)
 * Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)
 * Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)
 * Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)
 * Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866)
 * Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)
 * Charles Melville Hays, American businessman (b. 1856)
 * James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (b. 1887)
 * William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (b. 1873)
 * Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887)
 * Edward Smith, English Captain (b. 1850)
 * William Thomas Stead, English journalist (b. 1849)
 * Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)
 * Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)
 * John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (b. 1862)
 * Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)
 * 1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)
 * 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)
 * 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)
 * 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880)
 * 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)
 * 1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)
 * 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)
 * 1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)
 * 1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
 * 1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880)
 * 1962  – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912)
 * 1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)
 * 1966 – Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan (b. 1906)
 * 1967 – Totò, Italian comedian (b. 1898)
 * 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
 * 1971  – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)
 * 1979 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1912)
 * 1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904)
 * 1980  – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
 * 1982 – Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915)
 * 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
 * 1986 – Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)
 * 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)
 * 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1915)
 * 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905)
 * 1993 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
 * 1993  – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908)
 * 1998 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912)
 * 1998  – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)
 * 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)
 * 2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)
 * 2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
 * 2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)
 * 2002  – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)
 * 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)
 * 2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)
 * 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)
 * 2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924)
 * 2009  – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
 * 2009  – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947)
 * 2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)
 * 2010  – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)
 * 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)
 * 2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)
 * 2012  – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)
 * 2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)
 * 2013  – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)
 * 2013  – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (b. 1928)
 * 2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)
 * 2014  – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)
 * 2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966)
 * 2015  – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928)
 * 2017 – Clifton James, American actor (b. 1920)
 * 2017  – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (b. 1899)
 * 2018 – R. Lee Ermey, American actor (b. 1944)
 * 2018  – Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1929)
 * 2022 – Bilquis Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist and wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi (b. 1947)
 * 2022  – Henry Plumb, British politician and farmer (b. 1925)
 * 2022 – Liz Sheridan, American actress (b. 1929)
 * 2024 – Whitey Herzog, American professional baseball outfielder and manager (b. 1931)
 * 2024 – Josip Manolić, Croatian politician, prime minister, and speaker of the Chamber of Counties (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Abbo II of Metz
 * Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)
 * Hunna
 * Paternus of Avranches
 * April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Day of the Sun (North Korea)
 * Father Damien Day (Hawaii)
 * Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)
 * Jackie Robinson Day (United States)
 * National American Sign Language Day (United States)
 * Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year; India)
 * Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)
 * Universal Day of Culture
 * World Art Day

title: April 15


text:
April 30

Pre-1600

 * 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
 * 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois.
 * 1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration. He is named admiral of the ocean sea, viceroy and governor of any territory he discovers.
 * 1513 – Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.
 * 1598 – Juan de Oñate begins the conquest of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.
 * 1598  – Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

1601–1900

 * 1636 – Eighty Years' War: Dutch Republic forces recapture a strategically important fort from Spain after a nine-month siege.
 * 1789 – On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first President of the United States.
 * 1803 – Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
 * 1812 – The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.
 * 1838 – Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.
 * 1863 – A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.
 * 1871 – The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.
 * 1885 – Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use.
 * 1897 – J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
 * 1900 – Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.

1901–present

 * 1905 – Albert Einstein completes his doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich.
 * 1925 – Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Co. for US$146 million plus $50 million for charity.
 * 1927 – The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.
 * 1937 – The Commonwealth of the Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative.
 * 1939 – The 1939–40 New York World's Fair opens.
 * 1939  – NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.
 * 1943 – World War II: The British submarine HMS Seraph (P219) surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and carrying false invasion plans.
 * 1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building.
 * 1945  – World War II: Stalag Luft I prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Germany is liberated by Soviet soldiers, freeing nearly 9,000 American and British airmen.
 * 1947 – In Nevada, Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam.
 * 1948 – In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.
 * 1956 – Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia.
 * 1957 – Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery entered into force.
 * 1961 – K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.
 * 1963 – The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.
 * 1973 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon fires White House Counsel John Dean; other top aides, most notably H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, resign.
 * 1975 – Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Dương Văn Minh.
 * 1979 – Eruption of Mount Marapi: Mount Marapi, a complex volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, erupted. 80 up to 100 people were killed.
 * 1980 – Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana.
 * 1980  – The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London.
 * 1982 – The Bijon Setu massacre occurs in Calcutta, India.
 * 1993 – CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.
 * 1994 – Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy.
 * 1999 – Neo-Nazi David Copeland carries out the last of his three nail bombings in London at the Admiral Duncan gay pub, killing three people and injuring 79 others.
 * 2000 – Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide.
 * 2004 – U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers committing war crimes against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
 * 2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei and Anastasia, two of the children of the last Tsar of Russia, whose entire family was executed at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks.
 * 2009 – Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
 * 2009  – Seven civilians and the perpetrator are killed and another ten injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.
 * 2012 – An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 108 people. At least 150 more are missing and presumed dead.
 * 2013 – Willem-Alexander is inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Beatrix.
 * 2014 – A bomb blast in Ürümqi, China kills three people and injures 79 others.
 * 2021 – Forty-five men and boys are killed in the Meron stampede in Israel.

Pre-1600

 * 1310 – King Casimir III of Poland (d. 1368)
 * 1331 – Gaston III, Count of Foix (d. 1391)
 * 1383 – Anne of Gloucester, English countess, granddaughter of King Edward III of England (d. 1438)
 * 1425 – William III, Landgrave of Thuringia (d. 1482)
 * 1504 – Francesco Primaticcio, Italian painter (d. 1570)
 * 1553 – Louise of Lorraine (d. 1601)

1601–1900

 * 1623 – François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop and saint (d. 1708)
 * 1651 – Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest and saint (d. 1719)
 * 1662 – Mary II of England (d. 1694)
 * 1664 – François Louis, Prince of Conti (d. 1709)
 * 1710 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (d. 1795)
 * 1723 – Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French zoologist and philosopher (d. 1806)
 * 1758 – Emmanuel Vitale, Maltese commander and politician (d. 1802)
 * 1770 – David Thompson, English-Canadian cartographer and explorer (d. 1857)
 * 1777 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1855)
 * 1799 – Joseph Dart, American businessman and entrepreneur (d. 1879)
 * 1803 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (d. 1879)
 * 1829 – Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic (d. 1884)
 * 1848 – Eugène Simon, French naturalist (d. 1924)
 * 1857 – Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist (d. 1940)
 * 1857  – Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist (d. 1920)
 * 1865 – Max Nettlau, German historian and academic (d. 1944)
 * 1866 – Mary Haviland Stilwell Kuesel, American pioneer dentist (d. 1936)
 * 1869 – Hans Poelzig, German architect, designed the IG Farben Building and Großes Schauspielhaus (d. 1936)
 * 1870 – Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (d. 1948)
 * 1870  – Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1944)
 * 1874 – Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish priest and author (d. 1949)
 * 1876 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician (d. 1937)
 * 1877 – Léon Flameng, French cyclist (d. 1917)
 * 1877  – Alice B. Toklas, American memoirist (d. 1967)
 * 1878 – Władysław Witwicki, Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian (of philosophy and art) and artist (d. 1948)
 * 1879 – Richárd Weisz, Hungarian Olympic champion wrestler (d. 1945)
 * 1880 – Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie, Scottish cartoonist (d. 1967)
 * 1883 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech soldier and author (d. 1923)
 * 1883  – Luigi Russolo, Italian painter and composer (d. 1947)
 * 1884 – Olof Sandborg, Swedish actor (d. 1965)
 * 1888 – John Crowe Ransom, American poet, critic, and academic (d. 1974)
 * 1893 – Harold Breen, Australian public servant (d. 1966)
 * 1893  – Joachim von Ribbentrop, German soldier and politician, 14th German Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1946)
 * 1895 – Philippe Panneton, Canadian physician, academic, and diplomat (d. 1960)
 * 1896 – Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist (d. 1972)
 * 1896  – Hans List, Austrian scientist and businessman, founded the AVL Engineering Company (d. 1996)
 * 1897 – Humberto Mauro, Brazilian director and screenwriter (d. 1983)
 * 1900 – Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet (d. 1984)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Simon Kuznets, Belarusian-American economist, statistician, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
 * 1902 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
 * 1905 – Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2012)
 * 1908 – Eve Arden, American actress (d. 1990)
 * 1908  – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic professor of law and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1970)
 * 1908  – Frank Robert Miller, Canadian air marshal and politician (d. 1997)
 * 1909 – F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor and educator (d. 1992)
 * 1909  – Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
 * 1910 – Levi Celerio, Filipino pianist, violinist, and composer (d. 2002)
 * 1914 – Charles Beetham, American middle-distance runner (d. 1997)
 * 1914  – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter (d. 2008)
 * 1916 – Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (d. 2003)
 * 1916  – Claude Shannon, American mathematician and engineer (d. 2001)
 * 1916  – Robert Shaw, American conductor (d. 1999)
 * 1917 – Bea Wain, American singer (d. 2017)
 * 1920 – Duncan Hamilton, Irish-English race car driver and pilot (d. 1994)
 * 1920  – Gerda Lerner, Austrian-American historian and woman's history author (d. 2013)
 * 1920  – Tom Moore, British army officer and fundraiser (d. 2021)
 * 1921 – Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (d. 2014)
 * 1922 – Anton Murray, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
 * 1923 – Percy Heath, American bassist (d. 2005)
 * 1923  – Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (d. 2004)
 * 1924 – Sheldon Harnick, American lyricist (d. 2023)
 * 1924  – Uno Laht, Estonian KGB officer and author (d. 2008)
 * 1925 – Corinne Calvet, French actress (d. 2001)
 * 1925  – Johnny Horton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1960)
 * 1926 – Shrinivas Khale, Indian composer (d. 2011)
 * 1926  – Cloris Leachman, American actress and comedian (d. 2021)
 * 1928 – Hugh Hood, Canadian author and academic (d. 2000)
 * 1928  – Orlando Sirola, Italian tennis player (d. 1995)
 * 1930 – Félix Guattari, French psychotherapist and philosopher (d. 1992)
 * 1933 – Charles Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden, English politician
 * 1934 – Jerry Lordan, English singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
 * 1934  – Don McKenney, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2022)
 * 1937 – Tony Harrison, English poet and playwright
 * 1938 – Gary Collins, American actor and talk show host (d. 2012)
 * 1938  – Juraj Jakubisko, Slovak director and screenwriter (d. 2023)
 * 1938  – Larry Niven, American author and screenwriter
 * 1940 – Jeroen Brouwers, Dutch journalist and writer (d. 2022)
 * 1940  – Michael Cleary, Australian rugby player and politician
 * 1940  – Ülo Õun, Estonian sculptor (d. 1988)
 * 1940  – Burt Young, American actor and painter (d. 2023)
 * 1941 – Stavros Dimas, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * 1941  – Max Merritt, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter (d. 2020)
 * 1942 – Sallehuddin of Kedah, Sultan of Kedah
 * 1943 – Frederick Chiluba, Zambian politician, 2nd President of Zambia (d. 2011)
 * 1943  – Bobby Vee, American pop singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
 * 1944 – Jon Bing, Norwegian author, scholar, and academic (d. 2014)
 * 1944  – Jill Clayburgh, American actress (d. 2010)
 * 1945 – J. Michael Brady, British radiologist
 * 1945  – Annie Dillard, American novelist, essayist, and poet
 * 1945  – Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (d. 2001)
 * 1945  – Michael J. Smith, American pilot, and astronaut (d. 1986)
 * 1946 – King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
 * 1946  – Bill Plympton, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1946  – Don Schollander, American swimmer
 * 1947 – Paul Fiddes, English theologian and academic
 * 1947  – Finn Kalvik, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1947  – Tom Køhlert, Danish footballer and manager
 * 1947  – Mats Odell, Swedish economist and politician, Swedish Minister for Financial Markets
 * 1948 – Wayne Kramer, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (d. 2024)
 * 1948  – Pierre Pagé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1948  – Margit Papp, Hungarian athlete
 * 1949 – Phil Garner, American baseball player and manager
 * 1949  – António Guterres, Portuguese academic and politician, 114th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations
 * 1949  – Karl Meiler, German tennis player (d. 2014)
 * 1952 – Jacques Audiard, French director and screenwriter
 * 1952  – Jack Middelburg, Dutch motorcycle racer (d. 1984)
 * 1953 – Merrill Osmond, American singer and bass player
 * 1954 – Jane Campion, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1954  – Kim Darroch, English diplomat, UK Permanent Representative to the European Union
 * 1954  – Frank-Michael Marczewski, German footballer
 * 1955 – Nicolas Hulot, French journalist and environmentalist
 * 1955  – David Kitchin, English lawyer and judge
 * 1955  – Pradeep Sarkar, Indian director and screenwriter (d. 2023)
 * 1955  – Zlatko Topčić, Bosnian writer and screenwriter
 * 1956 – Lars von Trier, Danish director and screenwriter
 * 1957 – Wonder Mike, American rapper and songwriter
 * 1958 – Charles Berling, French actor, director, and screenwriter
 * 1959 – Stephen Harper, Canadian economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada
 * 1960 – Geoffrey Cox, English lawyer and politician
 * 1960  – Kerry Healey, American academic and politician, 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
 * 1961 – Arnór Guðjohnsen, Icelandic footballer
 * 1961  – Isiah Thomas, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
 * 1963 – Andrew Carwood, English tenor and conductor
 * 1963  – Michael Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster
 * 1964 – Tony Fernandes, Malaysian-Indian businessman, co-founded Tune Group
 * 1964  – Ian Healy, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster
 * 1964  – Lorenzo Staelens, Belgian footballer and manager
 * 1964  – Abhishek Chatterjee, Indian actor (d. 2022)
 * 1965 – Daniela Costian, Romanian-Australian discus thrower
 * 1965  – Adrian Pasdar, American actor
 * 1966 – Jeff Brown, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1966  – Dave Meggett, American football player and coach
 * 1967 – Phil Chang, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and actor
 * 1967  – Philipp Kirkorov, Bulgarian-born Russian singer, composer and actor
 * 1967  – Turbo B, American rapper
 * 1969 – Warren Defever, American bass player and producer
 * 1969  – Justine Greening, English accountant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development
 * 1969  – Paulo Jr., Brazilian bass player
 * 1972 – Takako Tokiwa, Japanese actress
 * 1973 – Leigh Francis, English comedian and actor
 * 1974 – Christian Tamminga, Dutch athlete
 * 1975 – Johnny Galecki, American actor
 * 1976 – Davian Clarke, Jamaican sprinter
 * 1976  – Amanda Palmer, American singer-songwriter and pianist
 * 1976  – Daniel Wagon, Australian rugby league player
 * 1976  – Victor J. Glover, American astronaut
 * 1977 – Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, American politician
 * 1977  – Meredith L. Patterson, American technologist, journalist, and author
 * 1978 – Liljay, Taiwanese singer
 * 1979 – Gerardo Torrado, Mexican footballer
 * 1980 – Luis Scola, Argentinian basketball player
 * 1980  – Jeroen Verhoeven, Dutch footballer
 * 1981 – Nicole Kaczmarski, American basketball player
 * 1981  – John O'Shea, Irish footballer
 * 1981  – Kunal Nayyar, British-Indian actor
 * 1981  – Justin Vernon, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer
 * 1982 – Kirsten Dunst, American actress
 * 1982  – Drew Seeley, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
 * 1983 – Chris Carr, American football player
 * 1983  – Tatjana Hüfner, German luger
 * 1983  – Marina Tomić, Slovenian hurdler
 * 1983  – Troy Williamson, American football player
 * 1984 – Seimone Augustus, American basketball player
 * 1984  – Shawn Daivari, American wrestler and manager
 * 1984  – Risto Mätas, Estonian javelin thrower
 * 1984  – Lee Roache, English footballer
 * 1985 – Brandon Bass, American basketball player
 * 1985  – Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model
 * 1985  – Ashley Alexandra Dupré, American journalist, singer, and prostitute
 * 1986 – Dianna Agron, American actress and singer
 * 1986  – Martten Kaldvee, Estonian biathlete
 * 1987 – Alipate Carlile, Australian footballer
 * 1987  – Chris Morris, South African cricketer
 * 1987  – Rohit Sharma, Indian cricketer
 * 1988 – Andy Allen, Australian chef
 * 1988  – Sander Baart, Dutch field hockey player
 * 1988  – Ana de Armas, Cuban actress
 * 1988  – Liu Xijun, Chinese singer
 * 1988  – Oh Hye-ri, South Korean taekwondo athlete
 * 1989 – Jang Wooyoung, South Korean singer and actor
 * 1990 – Jonny Brownlee, English triathlete
 * 1990  – Mac DeMarco, Canadian singer-songwriter
 * 1990  – Kaarel Kiidron, Estonian footballer
 * 1990  – Paula Ribó, Spanish singer-songwriter and actress
 * 1991 – Chris Kreider, American ice hockey player
 * 1991 – Travis Scott, American rapper and producer
 * 1992  – Marc-André ter Stegen, German footballer
 * 1993 – Dion Dreesens, Dutch swimmer
 * 1993  – Martin Fuksa, Czech canoeist
 * 1994 – Chae Seo-jin, South Korean actress
 * 1994  – Wang Yafan, Chinese tennis player
 * 1996 – Luke Friend, English singer
 * 1997 – Adam Ryczkowski, Polish footballer
 * 1998 – Georgina Amorós, Spanish actress
 * 1999 – Jorden van Foreest, Dutch chess grandmaster
 * 1999  – Krit Amnuaydechkorn, Thai actor and singer
 * 2000 – Yui Hiwatashi, Japanese singer
 * 2002 – Anna Cramling, Spanish-Swedish chess player
 * 2002  – Teden Mengi, English footballer
 * 2003 – Emily Carey, British actress
 * 2003  – Jung Yun-seok, South Korean actor

Pre-1600

 * AD 65 – Lucan, Roman poet (b. 39)
 * 125 – An, Chinese emperor (b. 94)
 * 535 – Amalasuntha, Ostrogothic queen and regent
 * 783 – Hildegard of the Vinzgau, Frankish queen
 * 1002 – Eckard I, German nobleman
 * 1030 – Mahmud of Ghazni, Ghaznavid emir (b. 971)
 * 1063 – Ren Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1010)
 * 1131 – Adjutor, French knight and saint
 * 1305 – Roger de Flor, Italian military adventurer (b. 1267)
 * 1341 – John III, duke of Brittany (b. 1286)
 * 1439 – Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, English commander (b. 1382)
 * 1524 – Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, French soldier (b. 1473)
 * 1544 – Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1488)
 * 1550 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (b. 1516)

1601–1900

 * 1632 – Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, Bavarian general (b. 1559)
 * 1632  – Sigismund III Vasa, Swedish-Polish son of John III of Sweden (b. 1566)
 * 1637 – Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyō (b. 1571)
 * 1655 – Eustache Le Sueur, French painter (b. 1617)
 * 1660 – Petrus Scriverius, Dutch historian and scholar (b. 1576)
 * 1672 – Marie of the Incarnation, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Ursulines of Quebec (b. 1599)
 * 1696 – Robert Plot, English chemist and academic (b. 1640)
 * 1712 – Philipp van Limborch, Dutch theologian and author (b. 1633)
 * 1733 – Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, 1st Marquis of Abrantes, Portuguese diplomat (b. 1676)
 * 1736 – Johann Albert Fabricius, German scholar and author (b. 1668)
 * 1758 – François d'Agincourt, French organist and composer (b. 1684)
 * 1792 – John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1718)
 * 1795 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and author (b. 1716)
 * 1806 – Onogawa Kisaburō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 5th Yokozuna (b. 1758)
 * 1841 – Peter Andreas Heiberg, Danish philologist and author (b. 1758)
 * 1847 – Charles, Austrian commander and duke of Teschen (b. 1771)
 * 1863 – Jean Danjou, French captain (b. 1828)
 * 1865 – Robert FitzRoy, English admiral, meteorologist, and politician, 2nd Governor of New Zealand (b. 1805)
 * 1870 – Thomas Cooke, Canadian bishop and missionary (b. 1792)
 * 1875 – Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, French explorer, lithographer, and cartographer (b. 1766)
 * 1879 – Emma Smith, American religious leader (b. 1804)
 * 1883 – Édouard Manet, French painter (b. 1832)
 * 1891 – Joseph Leidy, American paleontologist and author (b. 1823)
 * 1900 – Casey Jones, American railroad engineer (b. 1864)

1901–present

 * 1903 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (b. 1831)
 * 1910 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (b. 1856)
 * 1926 – Bessie Coleman, American pilot (b. 1892)
 * 1936 – A. E. Housman, English poet and scholar (b. 1859)
 * 1939 – Frank Haller, American boxer (b. 1883)
 * 1943 – Eddy Hamel, American footballer (b. 1902)
 * 1943  – Otto Jespersen, Danish linguist and academic (b. 1860)
 * 1943  – Beatrice Webb, English sociologist and economist (b. 1858)

 * 1945 – Eva Braun, German photographer and office and lab assistant, wife of Adolf Hitler (b. 1912)
 * 1945  – Adolf Hitler, Austrian-German politician and author, dictator of Nazi Germany (b. 1889)
 * 1953 – Jacob Linzbach, Estonian linguist and author (b. 1874)
 * 1956 – Alben W. Barkley, American lawyer and politician, 35th Vice President of the United States (b. 1877)
 * 1970 – Jacques Presser, Dutch historian, writer and poet (b. 1899)
 * 1970  – Inger Stevens, Swedish-American actress (b. 1934)
 * 1972 – Gia Scala, English-American model and actress (b. 1934)
 * 1973 – Václav Renč, Czech poet and playwright (b. 1911)
 * 1974 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (b. 1900)
 * 1980 – Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican journalist and politician, 1st Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1898)
 * 1982 – Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (b. 1949)
 * 1983 – George Balanchine, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1904)
 * 1983  – Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader (b. 1913)
 * 1983  – Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (b. 1897)
 * 1986 – Robert Stevenson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1905)
 * 1989 – Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
 * 1993 – Tommy Caton, English footballer (b. 1962)
 * 1994 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (b. 1960)
 * 1994  – Richard Scarry, American author and illustrator (b. 1919)
 * 1995 – Maung Maung Kha, Burmese colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma (b. 1920)
 * 1998 – Nizar Qabbani, Syrian-English poet, publisher, and diplomat (b. 1926)
 * 2000 – Poul Hartling, Danish politician, 36th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1914)
 * 2002 – Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, German philanthropist, founded the Gründerzeit Museum (b. 1928)
 * 2003 – Mark Berger, American economist and academic (b. 1955)
 * 2003  – Possum Bourne, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1956)
 * 2005 – Phil Rasmussen, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1918)
 * 2006 – Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (b. 1924)
 * 2006  – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author and academic (b. 1925)
 * 2007 – Kevin Mitchell, American football player (b. 1971)
 * 2007  – Tom Poston, American actor, comedian, and game show panelist (b. 1921)
 * 2007  – Gordon Scott, American film and television actor (b. 1926)
 * 2008 – Juancho Evertsz, Dutch Antillean politician (b. 1923)
 * 2009 – Henk Nijdam, Dutch cyclist (b. 1935)
 * 2011 – Dorjee Khandu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (b. 1955)
 * 2011  – Evald Okas, Estonian painter (b. 1915)
 * 2011  – Ernesto Sabato, Argentinian physicist, author, and painter (b. 1911)
 * 2012 – Tomás Borge, Nicaraguan poet and politician, co-founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (b. 1930)
 * 2012  – Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (b. 1985)
 * 2012  – Giannis Gravanis, Greek footballer (b. 1958)
 * 2012  – Benzion Netanyahu, Russian-Israeli historian and academic (b. 1910)
 * 2013 – Roberto Chabet, Filipino painter and sculptor (b. 1937)
 * 2013  – Shirley Firth, Canadian skier (b. 1953)
 * 2013  – Viviane Forrester, French author and critic (b. 1925)
 * 2014 – Khaled Choudhury, Indian painter and set designer (b. 1919)
 * 2014  – Julian Lewis, English biologist and academic (b. 1946)
 * 2014  – Carl E. Moses, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)
 * 2014  – Ian Ross, Australian journalist (b. 1940)
 * 2015 – Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1938)
 * 2016 – Daniel Berrigan, American priest and activist (b. 1921)
 * 2016  – Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939)
 * 2017 – Belchior, Brazilian singer and composer (b. 1946)
 * 2019 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (b. 1944)
 * 2020 – Tony Allen, Nigerian drummer and composer (b. 1940)
 * 2020  – Rishi Kapoor, Indian actor, film director and producer (b. 1952)
 * 2021 – Anthony Payne, English composer (b. 1936)
 * 2022 – Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1946)
 * 2022  – Mino Raiola, Italian football agent (b. 1967)
 * 2023 – Jock Zonfrillo, Scottish television presenter and chef (b. 1976)
 * 2024 – Paul Auster, American writer and film director (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances

 * Armed Forces Day (Georgia)
 * Camarón Day (French Foreign Legion)
 * Children's Day (Mexico)
 * Christian feast day:
 * Adjutor
 * Aimo
 * Amator, Peter and Louis
 * Donatus of Evorea
 * Eutropius of Saintes
 * Marie Guyart (Anglican Church of Canada)
 * Marie of the Incarnation (Ursuline)
 * Maximus of Rome
 * Blessed Miles Gerard
 * Pomponius of Naples
 * Pope Pius V
 * Quirinus of Neuss
 * Sarah Josepha Hale (Episcopal Church)
 * Suitbert the Younger
 * April 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Consumer Protection Day (Thailand)
 * Honesty Day (United States)
 * International Jazz Day (UNESCO)
 * Martyrs' Day (Pakistan)
 * May Eve, the eve of the first day of summer in the Northern hemisphere (see May 1):
 * Beltane begins at sunset in the Northern hemisphere, Samhain begins at sunset in the Southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year)
 * Walpurgis Night (Central and Northern Europe)
 * National Persian Gulf Day (Iran)
 * Reunification Day (Vietnam)
 * Rincon Day (Bonaire)
 * Russian State Fire Service Day (Russia)
 * Teachers' Day (Paraguay)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: April 30


text:
August 22

Pre-1600

 * 392 – Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor.
 * 851 – Battle of Jengland: Erispoe defeats Charles the Bald near the Breton town of Jengland.
 * 1138 – Battle of the Standard between Scotland and England.
 * 1153 – Crusader–Fatimid wars: The fortress of Ascalon was surrendered by Fatimid Egypt to an army of crusaders, Templars, and Hospitallers led by King Baldwin III of Jerusalem.
 * 1485 – The Battle of Bosworth Field occurs; King Richard III of England's death in battle marks the end of the reigning Plantagenet dynasty and the beginning of the Tudors under Henry VII.
 * 1559 – Spanish archbishop Bartolomé Carranza is arrested for heresy.

1601–1900

 * 1614 – Fettmilch Uprising: Jews are expelled from Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire, following the plundering of the Judengasse.
 * 1639 – Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers.
 * 1642 – Charles I raises his standard in Nottingham, which marks the beginning of the English Civil War.
 * 1654 – Jacob Barsimson arrives in New Amsterdam. He is the first known Jewish immigrant to America.
 * 1711 – Britain's Quebec Expedition loses eight ships and almost nine hundred soldiers, sailors and women to rocks at Pointe-aux-Anglais.
 * 1717 – Spanish troops land on Sardinia.
 * 1770 – James Cook names and lands on Possession Island, and claims the east coast of Australia for Britain as New South Wales.
 * 1777 – British forces abandon the Siege of Fort Stanwix after hearing rumors of Continental Army reinforcements.
 * 1780 – James Cook's ship HMS Resolution (1771) returns to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage).
 * 1791 – The Haitian slave revolution begins in Saint-Domingue, Haiti.
 * 1798 – French troops land at Kilcummin, County Mayo, Ireland to aid the rebellion.
 * 1827 – José de La Mar becomes President of Peru.
 * 1846 – The Second Federal Republic of Mexico is established.
 * 1849 – Passaleão incident: João Maria Ferreira do Amaral, the governor of Portuguese Macau, is assassinated by a group of Chinese locals, triggering a military confrontation between China and Portugal at the Battle of Passaleão three days after.
 * 1851 – The first America's Cup is won by the yacht America.
 * 1864 – Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention, establishing the rules of protection of the victims of armed conflicts.
 * 1875 – The Treaty of Saint Petersburg between Japan and Russia is ratified, providing for the exchange of Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands.
 * 1894 – Mahatma Gandhi forms the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in order to fight discrimination against Indian traders in Natal.

1901–present

 * 1902 – The Cadillac Motor Company is founded.
 * 1902  – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to make a public appearance in an automobile.
 * 1902  – At least 6,000 people are killed by the magnitude 7.7 Kashgar earthquake in the Tien Shan mountains.
 * 1922 – Michael Collins, Commander-in-chief of the Irish Free State Army, is shot dead in an ambush during the Irish Civil War.
 * 1934 – Bill Woodfull of Australia becomes the only test cricket captain to twice regain The Ashes.
 * 1941 – World War II: German troops begin the Siege of Leningrad.
 * 1942 – Brazil declares war on Germany, Japan and Italy.
 * 1944 – World War II: Holocaust of Kedros in Crete by German forces.
 * 1949 – The Queen Charlotte earthquake is Canada's strongest since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake.
 * 1953 – The penal colony on Devil's Island is permanently closed.
 * 1962 – The OAS attempts to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle.
 * 1963 – X-15 Flight 91 reaches the highest altitude of the X-15 program (107.96 km (354,200 feet)).
 * 1965 – Juan Marichal, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, strikes John Roseboro, catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, on the head with a bat, sparking a 14-minute brawl, one of the most violent on-field incidents in sports history.
 * 1966 – Labor movements NFWA and AWOC merge to become the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), the predecessor of the United Farm Workers.
 * 1968 – Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America.
 * 1971 – J. Edgar Hoover and John Mitchell announce the arrest of 20 of the Camden 28.
 * 1972 – Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies.
 * 1973 – The Congress of Chile votes in favour of a resolution condemning President Salvador Allende's government and demands that he resign or else be unseated through force and new elections.
 * 1978 – Nicaraguan Revolution: The FLSN seizes the National Congress of Nicaragua, along with over a thousand hostages.
 * 1978  – The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment is passed by the U.S. Congress, although it is never ratified by a sufficient number of states.
 * 1981 – Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes in Sanyi Township, Miaoli County, Taiwan. All 110 people on board are killed.
 * 1985 – British Airtours Flight 28M suffers an engine fire during takeoff at Manchester Airport. The pilots abort but due to inefficient evacuation procedures 55 people are killed, mostly from smoke inhalation.
 * 1989 – Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 5,000 strikeouts.
 * 1991 – Iceland is the first nation in the world to recognize the independence of the Baltic states.
 * 1992 – FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shoots and kills Vicki Weaver during an 11-day siege at her home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.
 * 1999 – China Airlines Flight 642 crashes at Hong Kong International Airport, killing three people and injuring 208 more.
 * 2003 – Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building.
 * 2004 – Versions of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway.
 * 2006 – Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border over eastern Ukraine, killing all 170 people on board.
 * 2006  – Grigori Perelman is awarded the Fields Medal for his proof of the Poincaré conjecture in mathematics but refuses to accept the medal.
 * 2007 – The Texas Rangers defeat the Baltimore Orioles 30–3, the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history.
 * 2012 – Ethnic clashes over grazing rights for cattle in Kenya's Tana River District result in more than 52 deaths.

Pre-1600

 * 1412 – Frederick II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1464)
 * 1570 – Franz von Dietrichstein, Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal (d. 1636)
 * 1599 – Agatha Marie of Hanau, German noblewoman (d. 1636)

1601–1900

 * 1601 – Georges de Scudéry, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1667)
 * 1624 – Jean Regnault de Segrais, French author and poet (d. 1701)
 * 1647 – Denis Papin, French physicist and mathematician, developed pressure cooking (d. 1712)
 * 1679 – Pierre Guérin de Tencin, French cardinal (d. 1758)
 * 1760 – Pope Leo XII (d. 1829)
 * 1764 – Charles Percier, French architect and interior designer (d. 1838)
 * 1771 – Henry Maudslay, English engineer (d. 1831)
 * 1773 – Aimé Bonpland, French botanist and explorer (d. 1858)
 * 1778 – James Kirke Paulding, American poet, playwright, and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1860)
 * 1800 – Samuel David Luzzatto, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1865)
 * 1818 – Rudolf von Jhering, German jurist (d. 1892)
 * 1827 – Ezra Butler Eddy, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1906)
 * 1834 – Samuel Pierpont Langley, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1906)
 * 1836 – Archibald Willard, American soldier and painter (d. 1918)
 * 1844 – George W. De Long, American Naval officer and explorer (d. 1881)
 * 1845 – William Lewis Douglas, American businessman and politician, 42nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1924)
 * 1847 – John Forrest, Australian politician, 1st Premier of Western Australia (d. 1918)
 * 1848 – Melville Elijah Stone, American publisher, founded the Chicago Daily News (d. 1929)
 * 1854 – Milan I of Serbia (d. 1901)
 * 1857 – Ned Hanlon, American baseball player and manager (d. 1937)
 * 1860 – Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, Polish-German technician and inventor, created the Nipkow disk (d. 1940)
 * 1860  – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (d. 1940)
 * 1862 – Claude Debussy, French pianist and composer (d. 1918)
 * 1867 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (d. 1939)
 * 1867  – Charles Francis Jenkins, American inventor (d. 1934)
 * 1868 – Willis R. Whitney, American chemist (d. 1958)
 * 1873 – Alexander Bogdanov, Russian physician and philosopher (d. 1928)
 * 1874 – Max Scheler, German philosopher and author (d. 1928)
 * 1880 – Gorch Fock, German author and poet (d. 1916)
 * 1880  – George Herriman, American cartoonist (d. 1944)
 * 1881 – Bede Jarrett, English Dominican priest (d. 1934)
 * 1881  – James Newland, Australian soldier and policeman (d. 1949)
 * 1882 – Raymonde de Laroche, French pilot (d. 1919)
 * 1887 – Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German jurist and politician, German Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1977)
 * 1890 – Cecil Kellaway, South African actor (d. 1973)
 * 1891 – Henry Bachtold, Australian soldier and railway engineer (d. 1983)
 * 1891  – Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuanian-Italian sculptor (d. 1973)
 * 1893 – Wilfred Kitching, English 7th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1977)
 * 1893  – Dorothy Parker, American poet, short story writer, critic, and satirist (d. 1967)
 * 1893  – Ernest H. Volwiler, American chemist (d. 1992)
 * 1895 – László Almásy, Hungarian captain, pilot, and explorer (d. 1951)
 * 1895  – Paul Comtois, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1966)
 * 1896 – Laurence McKinley Gould, American geologist, educator, and polar explorer (d. 1995)
 * 1897 – Bill Woodfull, Australian cricketer and educator (d. 1965)
 * 1900 – Lisy Fischer, Swiss-born pianist and child prodigy (d. 1999)

1901–present

 * 1902 – Thomas Pelly, American lawyer and politician (d. 1973)
 * 1902  – Leni Riefenstahl, German actress, film director and propagandist (d. 2003)
 * 1902  – Edward Rowe Snow, American historian and author (d. 1982)
 * 1903 – Jerry Iger, American cartoonist, co-founded Eisner & Iger (d. 1990)
 * 1904 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese soldier and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1997)
 * 1908 – Henri Cartier-Bresson, French photographer and painter (d. 2004)
 * 1908  – Erwin Thiesies, German rugby player and coach (d. 1993)
 * 1909 – Julius J. Epstein, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2000)
 * 1909  – Mel Hein, American football player and coach (d. 1992)
 * 1913 – Leonard Pagliero, English businessman and pilot (d. 2008)
 * 1913  – Bruno Pontecorvo, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1993)
 * 1914 – Jack Dunphy, American author and playwright (d. 1992)
 * 1914  – Connie B. Gay, American businessman, co-founded the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (d. 1989)
 * 1915 – David Dellinger, American activist (d. 2004)
 * 1915  – James Hillier, Canadian-American scientist, co-designed the electron microscope (d. 2007)
 * 1915  – Edward Szczepanik, Polish economist and politician, 15th Prime Minister of the Polish Republic in Exile (d. 2005)
 * 1917 – John Lee Hooker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001)
 * 1918 – Mary McGrory, American journalist and author (d. 2004)
 * 1920 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (d. 2012)
 * 1920  – Denton Cooley, American surgeon and scientist (d. 2016)
 * 1921 – Dinos Dimopoulos, Greek director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
 * 1921  – Tony Pawson, English cricketer, footballer, and journalist (d. 2012)
 * 1922 – Roberto Aizenberg, Argentine painter and sculptor (d. 1996)
 * 1922  – Theoni V. Aldredge, Greek-American costume designer (d. 2011)
 * 1922  – Frank Kelly Freas, American science fiction and fantasy artist (d. 2005)
 * 1924 – James Kirkwood, Jr., American playwright and author (d. 1989)
 * 1924  – Harishankar Parsai, Indian writer, satirist and humorist (d. 1995)
 * 1925 – Honor Blackman, English actress and republican (d. 2020)
 * 1926 – Marc Bohan, French fashion designer (d. 2023)
 * 1926  – Bob Flanigan, American pop singer (d. 2011)
 * 1928 – Tinga Seisay, Sierra Leonean academic and diplomat (d. 2015)
 * 1928  – Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer and academic (d. 2007)
 * 1929 – Valery Alekseyev, Russian anthropologist and author (d. 1991)
 * 1929  – Ulrich Wegener, German police officer and general (d. 2017)
 * 1930 – Gylmar dos Santos Neves, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
 * 1932 – Gerald P. Carr, American engineer, colonel, and astronaut (d. 2020)
 * 1933 – Sylva Koscina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
 * 1934 – Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., American general and engineer (d. 2012)
 * 1935 – Annie Proulx, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist
 * 1936 – Chuck Brown, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2012)
 * 1936  – John Callaway, American journalist and producer (d. 2009)
 * 1936  – Dale Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
 * 1936  – Werner Stengel, German roller coaster designer and engineer, designed the Maverick roller coaster
 * 1938 – Jean Berkey, American businesswoman and politician (d. 2013)
 * 1939 – Valerie Harper, American actress (d. 2019)
 * 1939  – Carl Yastrzemski, American baseball player
 * 1941 – Bill Parcells, American football player and coach
 * 1943 – Alun Michael, Welsh police commissioner and politician, inaugural First Minister of Wales
 * 1943  – Masatoshi Shima, Japanese computer scientist and engineer, co-designed the Intel 4004
 * 1944 – Roger Cashmore, English physicist and academic
 * 1945 – David Chase, American screenwriter and producer
 * 1945  – Ron Dante, American singer-songwriter and producer
 * 1947 – Cindy Williams, American actress and producer (d. 2023)
 * 1948 – David Marks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1949 – Diana Nyad, American swimmer and author
 * 1949 – Joop Donkervoort, Dutch businessman
 * 1950 – Ray Burris, American baseball player and coach
 * 1950  – Scooter Libby, American lawyer and politician, Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States
 * 1952 – Peter Laughner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1977)
 * 1953 – Paul Ellering, American weightlifter, wrestler, and manager
 * 1955 – Chiranjeevi, Indian film actor, producer and politician
 * 1956 – Paul Molitor, American baseball player and coach
 * 1956  – Peter Taylor, Australian cricketer
 * 1957 – Steve Davis, English snooker player, sportscaster, and author
 * 1957  – Holly Dunn, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
 * 1958 – Colm Feore, American-Canadian actor
 * 1958  – Stevie Ray, American semi-retired wrestler
 * 1958  – Vernon Reid, English-born American guitarist and songwriter
 * 1959 – Juan Croucier, Cuban-American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
 * 1959  – Pia Gjellerup, Danish lawyer and politician, Danish Minister of Finance
 * 1959  – Mark Williams, English actor
 * 1960 – Holger Gehrke, German footballer and manager
 * 1960  – Collin Raye, American country music singer
 * 1960  – Regina Taylor, American actress and playwright
 * 1961 – Andrés Calamaro, Argentine singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
 * 1961  – Roland Orzabal, English singer and musician
 * 1961  – Debbi Peterson, American singer-songwriter and drummer
 * 1962 – Stefano Tilli, Italian sprinter
 * 1963 – Tori Amos, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
 * 1963  – James DeBarge, American R&B/soul singer
 * 1964 – Mats Wilander, Swedish-American tennis player and coach
 * 1965 – Wendy Botha, South African-Australian surfer
 * 1965  – David Reimer, Canadian man, born male but reassigned female and raised as a girl after a botched circumcision (d. 2004)
 * 1966 – GZA, American rapper and producer
 * 1966  – Rob Witschge, Dutch footballer and manager
 * 1967 – Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, English actor
 * 1967  – Ty Burrell, American actor and comedian
 * 1967  – Paul Colman, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1967  – Layne Staley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
 * 1968 – Casper Christensen, Danish comedian, actor, and screenwriter
 * 1968  – Aleksandr Mostovoi, Russian footballer
 * 1968  – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian businesswoman
 * 1968  – Horst Skoff, Austrian tennis player (d. 2008)
 * 1970 – Charlie Connelly, English author and broadcaster
 * 1970  – Giada De Laurentiis, Italian-American chef and author
 * 1970  – Tímea Nagy, Hungarian fencer
 * 1971 – Richard Armitage, English actor
 * 1971  – Craig Finn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1971  – Melinda Page Hamilton, American actress
 * 1971  – Rick Yune, American actor
 * 1972 – Okkert Brits, South African pole vaulter
 * 1972  – Paul Doucette, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
 * 1972  – Max Wilson, German-Brazilian race car driver
 * 1973 – Roslina Bakar, Malaysian sport shooter
 * 1973  – Howie Dorough, American singer-songwriter and dancer
 * 1973  – Kristen Wiig, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
 * 1973  – Eurelijus Žukauskas, Lithuanian basketball player
 * 1974 – Cory Gardner, American politician
 * 1974  – Jenna Leigh Green, American actress and singer
 * 1974  – Agustín Pichot, Argentinian rugby player
 * 1975 – Clint Bolton, Australian footballer
 * 1975  – Rodrigo Santoro, Brazilian actor
 * 1976 – Marius Bezykornovas, Lithuanian footballer
 * 1976  – Bryn Davies, American bassist, cellist, and pianist
 * 1976  – Laurent Hernu, French decathlete
 * 1976  – Jeff Weaver, American baseball player
 * 1976  – Randy Wolf, American baseball player
 * 1977 – Heiðar Helguson, Icelandic footballer
 * 1977  – Keren Cytter, Israeli visual artist and writer
 * 1978 – James Corden, English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter
 * 1978  – Ioannis Gagaloudis, Greek basketball player
 * 1979 – Brandon Adams, American actor
 * 1979  – Matt Walters, American football player
 * 1980 – Roland Benschneider, German footballer
 * 1980  – Nicolas Macrozonaris, Canadian sprinter
 * 1980  – Seiko Yamamoto, Japanese wrestler
 * 1981 – Alex Holmes, American football player
 * 1981  – Jang Hyun-kyu, South Korean footballer (d. 2012)
 * 1981  – Christina Obergföll, German athlete
 * 1983 – Theo Bos, Dutch cyclist
 * 1983  – Jahri Evans, American football player
 * 1984 – Lee Camp, English footballer
 * 1984  – Lawrence Quaye, Ghanaian-Qatari footballer
 * 1985 – Luke Russert, American journalist
 * 1985  – Jey Uso, Samoan-American wrestler
 * 1985  – Jimmy Uso, Samoan-American wrestler
 * 1985  – Salih Yoluç, Turkish Automobile Racer
 * 1986 – Stephen Ireland, Irish footballer
 * 1986  – Tokushōryū Makoto, Japanese sumo wrestler
 * 1987 – Leonardo Moracci, Italian footballer
 * 1987  – Apollo Crews, American wrestler
 * 1989 – Giacomo Bonaventura, Italian footballer
 * 1990 – Randall Cobb, American football player
 * 1990  – Drew Hutchison, American baseball player
 * 1990  – Robbie Rochow, Australian rugby league player
 * 1990  – Adam Thielen, American football player
 * 1991 – Federico Macheda, Italian footballer
 * 1991  – Brayden Schenn, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1992 – Ema Burgić Bucko, Bosnian tennis player
 * 1993 – Dillon Danis, American mixed martial artist
 * 1994 – Israel Broussard, American actor
 * 1994  – Olli Määttä, Finnish ice hockey player
 * 1995 – Dua Lipa, English singer-songwriter
 * 1996 – Jessica-Jane Applegate, British Paralympic swimmer
 * 1996  – Jeon So-min, South Korean singer-songwriter
 * 1997 – Maxx Crosby, American football player
 * 1997  – Lautaro Martínez, Argentine footballer
 * 2001 – LaMelo Ball, American basketball player
 * 2003 – Cooper Connolly, Australian cricketer

Pre-1600

 * 408 – Stilicho, Roman general (b. 359)
 * 1155 – Emperor Konoe of Japan (b. 1139)
 * 1241 – Pope Gregory IX, (b. 1143)
 * 1280 – Pope Nicholas III (b. 1225)
 * 1304 – John II, Count of Holland (b. 1247)
 * 1338 – William II, Duke of Athens (b. 1312)
 * 1350 – Philip VI of France (b. 1293)
 * 1358 – Isabella of France (b. 1295)
 * 1425 – Eleanor, Princess of Asturias (b. 1423)
 * 1456 – Vladislav II of Wallachia
 * 1485 – Richard III of England (b. 1452)
 * 1485  – James Harrington, Yorkist knight
 * 1485  – John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk (b. 1430)
 * 1485  – Richard Ratcliffe, supporter of Richard III
 * 1485  – William Brandon, supporter of Henry VII (b. 1426)
 * 1532 – William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1450)
 * 1545 – Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician and husband of Mary Tudor (b. c. 1484)
 * 1553 – John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English admiral and politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1504)
 * 1572 – Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, English leader of the Rising of the North (b. 1528)
 * 1584 – Jan Kochanowski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1530)
 * 1599 – Luca Marenzio, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1553)

1601–1900

 * 1607 – Bartholomew Gosnold, English lawyer and explorer, founded the London Company (b. 1572)
 * 1652 – Jacob De la Gardie, Estonian-Swedish soldier and politician, Lord High Constable of Sweden (b. 1583)
 * 1664 – Maria Cunitz, Polish astronomer and author (b. 1610)
 * 1680 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (b. 1613)
 * 1681 – Philippe Delano, Dutch Plymouth Colony settler (b. 1602)
 * 1701 – John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1628)
 * 1711 – Louis François, duc de Boufflers, French general (b. 1644)
 * 1752 – William Whiston, English mathematician, historian, and theologian (b. 1667)
 * 1773 – George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1709)
 * 1793 – Louis de Noailles, French general (b. 1713)
 * 1797 – Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, French-Austrian field marshal (b. 1724)
 * 1806 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French painter and illustrator (b. 1732)
 * 1818 – Warren Hastings, English lawyer and politician, 1st Governor-General of Bengal (b. 1732)
 * 1828 – Franz Joseph Gall, Austrian neuroanatomist and physiologist (b. 1758)
 * 1850 – Nikolaus Lenau, Romanian-Austrian poet and author (b. 1802)
 * 1861 – Xianfeng, Emperor of China (b. 1831)
 * 1888 – Ágoston Trefort, Hungarian jurist and politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (b. 1817)
 * 1891 – Jan Neruda, Czech journalist, author, and poet (b. 1834)

1901–present

 * 1903 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1830)
 * 1904 – Kate Chopin, American novelist and poet (b. 1850)
 * 1909 – Henry Radcliffe Crocker, English dermatologist and author (b. 1846)
 * 1914 – Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi, Italian bishop and academic (b. 1859)
 * 1918 – Korbinian Brodmann, German neurologist and academic (b. 1868)
 * 1920 – Anders Zorn, Swedish artist (b. 1860)
 * 1922 – Michael Collins, Irish rebel, counter-intelligence and military tactician, and politician; 2nd Irish Minister of Finance (b. 1890)
 * 1926 – Charles William Eliot, American academic (b. 1834)
 * 1933 – Alexandros Kontoulis, Greek general and diplomat (b. 1858)
 * 1940 – Oliver Lodge, English physicist and academic (b. 1851)
 * 1940  – Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, Maltese lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1861)
 * 1942 – Michel Fokine, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1880)
 * 1946 – Döme Sztójay, Hungarian general and politician, 35th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1883)
 * 1950 – Kirk Bryan, American geologist and academic (b. 1888)
 * 1951 – Jack Bickell, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1884)
 * 1953 – Jim Tabor, American baseball player (b. 1916)
 * 1958 – Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist and paleographer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
 * 1960 – Johannes Sikkar, Estonian soldier and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (b. 1897)
 * 1963 – William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Morris Motors (b. 1877)
 * 1967 – Gregory Goodwin Pincus, American biologist and academic, co-created the birth-control pill (b. 1903)
 * 1970 – Vladimir Propp, Russian philologist and scholar (b. 1895)
 * 1971 – Birger Nerman, Swedish archaeologist (b. 1888)
 * 1974 – Jacob Bronowski, Polish-English mathematician, biologist, and author (b. 1908)
 * 1976 – Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist and composer (b. 1913)
 * 1976  – Juscelino Kubitschek, Brazilian physician and politician, 21st President of Brazil (b. 1902)
 * 1977 – Sebastian Cabot, English actor (b. 1918)
 * 1977  – Chunseong, Korean monk, philosopher and writer (b. 1891)
 * 1977  – Rex Connor, Australian politician (b. 1907)
 * 1978 – Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan politician, 1st President of Kenya (b. 1894)
 * 1979 – James T. Farrell, American novelist, short-story writer, and poet (b. 1904)
 * 1980 – James Smith McDonnell, American pilot, engineer, and businessman, founded McDonnell Aircraft (b. 1899)
 * 1981 – Vicente Manansala, Filipino painter (b. 1910)
 * 1985 – Charles Gibson (historian), Historian of Mexico and its Indians, President of the American Historical Association (b. 1920)
 * 1986 – Celâl Bayar, Turkish lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Turkey (b. 1883)
 * 1987 – Joseph P. Lash, American author and journalist (b. 1909)
 * 1989 – Robert Grondelaers, Belgian cyclist (b. 1933)
 * 1989  – Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (b. 1942)
 * 1991 – Colleen Dewhurst, Canadian-American actress (b. 1924)
 * 1991  – Boris Pugo, Russian soldier and politician, Soviet Minister of Interior (b. 1937)
 * 1994 – Gilles Groulx, Canadian director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
 * 1994  – Allan Houser, American sculptor and painter (b. 1914)
 * 1995 – Johnny Carey, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1919)
 * 1996 – Erwin Komenda, Austrian car designer and engineer (b. 1904)
 * 2000 – Abulfaz Elchibey, 2nd President of Azerbaijan (b. 1938)
 * 2003 – Arnold Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skater and coach (b. 1914)
 * 2004 – Konstantin Aseev, Russian chess player and trainer (b. 1960)
 * 2004  – Angus Bethune, Australian soldier and politician, 33rd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1908)
 * 2004  – Daniel Petrie, Canadian director and producer (b. 1920)
 * 2005 – Luc Ferrari, French-Italian director and composer (b. 1929)
 * 2005  – Ernest Kirkendall, American chemist and metallurgist (b. 1914)
 * 2007 – Grace Paley, American short story writer and poet (b. 1922)
 * 2008 – Gladys Powers, English-Canadian soldier (b. 1899)
 * 2009 – Muriel Duckworth, Canadian pacifist, feminist, and activist (b. 1908)
 * 2009  – Elmer Kelton, American journalist and author (b. 1926)
 * 2010 – Stjepan Bobek, Croatian footballer and manager (b. 1923)
 * 2011 – Nick Ashford, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1942)
 * 2011  – Jack Layton, Canadian academic and politician (b. 1950)
 * 2011  – Casey Ribicoff, American philanthropist (b. 1922)
 * 2012 – Nina Bawden, English author (b. 1925)
 * 2012  – Paul Shan Kuo-hsi, Chinese cardinal (b. 1923)
 * 2012  – Jeffrey Stone, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)
 * 2013 – Paul Poberezny, American pilot and businessman, founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (b. 1921)
 * 2013  – Andrea Servi, Italian footballer (b. 1984)
 * 2014 – U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1932)
 * 2014  – Emmanuel Kriaras, Greek lexicographer and philologist (b. 1906)
 * 2014  – Pete Ladygo, American football player and coach (b. 1928)
 * 2014  – Noella Leduc, American baseball player (b. 1933)
 * 2014  – John Sperling, American businessman, founded the University of Phoenix (b. 1921)
 * 2014  – John S. Waugh, American chemist and academic (b. 1929)
 * 2015 – Arthur Morris, Australian cricketer and journalist (b. 1922)
 * 2015  – Ieng Thirith, Cambodian academic and politician (b. 1932)
 * 2015  – Eric Thompson, English race car driver and book dealer (b. 1919)
 * 2016 – S. R. Nathan, 6th President of Singapore (b. 1924)
 * 2016  – Toots Thielemans, Belgian and American jazz musician (b. 1922)
 * 2017 – Michael J. C. Gordon, British Computer scientist (b. 1948)
 * 2018 – Ed King, American musician (b. 1949)
 * 2018  – Krishna Reddy, Indian printmaker, sculptor and teacher (b. 1925)
 * 2021 – Rod Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Guinefort, the holy greyhound, feast day traditionally.
 * Immaculate Heart of Mary (Roman Catholic calendar of 1960)
 * Queenship of Mary
 * August 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Earliest day on which National Heroes' Day (Philippines) can fall, while August 28 is the latest; celebrated on the fourth Monday in August.
 * Flag Day (Russia)
 * Madras Day (Chennai and Tamil Nadu, India)

title: August 22