Events

• 1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

• 1204 – The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople.

• 1250 – The Seventh Crusade is defeated in Egypt, Louis IX of France is captured.

• 1256 – The Grand Union of the Augustinian order formed when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.

• 1598 – Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots. (Edict repealed in 1685.)

• 1742 – George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.

• 1796 – The first elephant ever seen in the United States arrives from India.

• 1829 – The British Parliament grants freedom of religion to Roman Catholics.

• 1849 – Hungary becomes a republic.

• 1861 – American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.

• 1868 – The Abyssinian War ends as British and Indian troops capture Magdala.

• 1870 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art founded.

• 1873 – The Colfax Massacre takes place.

• 1902 – James C. Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

• 1919 – The Establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

• 1919 – Jallianwala Bagh massacre: British troops massacre at least 379 unarmed demonstrators in Amritsar, India. At least 1200 wounded.

• 1921 – Foundation of the Spanish Communist Workers' Party.

• 1939 – In India, the Hindustani Lal Sena (Indian Red Army) is formed and vows to engage in armed struggle against the British.

• 1941 – Pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.

• 1943 – World War II: The discovery of a mass grave of Polish prisoners of war executed by Soviet forces in the Katyń Forest Massacre is announced, alienating the Western Allies, the Polish government in exile in London, from the Soviet Union.

• 1943 – James Boarman, Fred Hunter, Harold Brest and Floyd G. Hamilton take part in an attempt to escape from Alcatraz .

• 1943 – The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth.

• 1944 – Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the Soviet Union are established.

• 1945 – German troops kill more than 1,000 political and military prisoners in Gardelegen Germany.

• 1945 – Ninth American army crosses The Elbe River in Germany

• 1948 – The Hadassah medical convoy massacre: In an ambush, 79 Jewish doctors, nurses and medical students from Hadassah Hospital and a British soldier are massacred by Arabs in Sheikh Jarra near Jerusalem.

• 1953 – CIA director Allen Dulles launches the mind-control program MKULTRA.

• 1958 – Van Cliburn is the first American to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

• 1964 – At the Academy Awards, Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American male to win the Best Actor award for Lilies of the Field.

• 1969 – Closure of the Brisbane tramway network.

• 1970 – An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the spacecraft while en route to the Moon.

• 1972 – The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.

• 1974 – Western Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1.

• 1975 – Bus Massacre in Lebanon: Attack by the Phalangist resistance kill 26 militia members of the P.F.L. of Palestine, marking the start of the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.

• 1983 – Harold Washington is elected as the first African-American mayor in Chicago's history.

• 1984 – India moves into Siachen Glacier thus annexing more territory from the Line of Control.

• 1987 – Portugal and the People's Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau would be returned to China in 1999.

• 1992 – The Great Chicago Flood.

• 1997 – Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win The Masters Tournament.

Births

• 1506 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (d. 1546)

• 1519 – Catherine de' Medici, wife of Henry II of France (d. 1589)

• 1570 – Guy Fawkes, English Catholic conspirator (d. 1606)

• 1573 – Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, queen consort of Sweden (d. 1625)

• 1584 – Albert VI of Bavaria (d. 1666)

• 1593 – Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English statesman (d. 1641)

• 1618 – Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French writer (d. 1693)

• 1648 – Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (d. 1717)

• 1715 – John Hanson, President of the United States in Congress Assembled (d. 1783)

• 1729 – Thomas Percy, Bishop and magazine editor (d. 1811)

• 1732 – Frederick North, Lord North, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)

• 1735 – Isaac Low, delegate to the Continental Congress (d. 1791)

• 1743 – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States (d. 1826)

• 1747 – Louis Philip II, Duke of Orléans (d. 1793)

• 1764 – Laurent, Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French marshal (d. 1830)

• 1769 – Thomas Lawrence, English painter (d. 1830)

• 1771 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and inventor (d. 1833)

• 1780 – Alexander Mitchell, Irish engineer (d. 1868)

• 1784 – Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (d. 1877)

• 1787 – John Robertson, U.S. politician (d. 1873)

• 1802 – Leopold Fitzinger, Austrian zoologist (d. 1884)

• 1808 – Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (d. 1889)

• 1825 – Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1868)

• 1828 – Joseph Barber Lightfoot, English theologian and Bishop (d. 1889)

• 1832 – Juan Montalvo, Ecuadoran author (d. 1889)

• 1841 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor (d. 1905)

• 1850 – Arthur Matthew Weld Downing, British astronomer (d. 1917)

• 1851 – Robert Abbe, American surgeon (d. 1928)

• 1852 – F.W. Woolworth, American businessman (d. 1919)

• 1860 – James Ensor, Belgian painter (d. 1949)

• 1866 – Butch Cassidy, American outlaw (d. 1908)

• 1872 – Alexander Roda Roda, Austrian writer (d. 1945)

• 1873 – John W. Davis, American politician (d. 1955)

• 1875 – Ray Lyman Wilbur, U.S. university president and politician (d. 1949)

• 1879 – Edward Bruce, Director art projects (d. 1943)

• 1880 – Charles Christie, Canadian film studio owner (d. 1955)

• 1885 – Georg Lukács, Hungarian-born philosopher and literary critic (d. 1971)

• 1885 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player (d. 1964)

• 1887 – Gordon S. Fahrni, Canadian physician and President of the Canadian Medical Association (d. 1995)

• 1889 – Herbert Osborne Yardley, American cryptographer (d. 1958)

• 1890 – Frank Murphy, American public servant (d. 1949)

• 1891 – Maurice Vincent Buckley, Australian winner of the Victoria Cross (d. 1921)

• 1891 – Nella Larsen, African-American novelist (d. 1964)

• 1892 – Arthur Travers 'Bomber' Harris, British Air Force commander (d. 1984)

• 1892 – Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, Scottish inventor (d. 1973)

• 1895 – Arthur Fadden, thirteenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1973)

• 1897 – Werner Voss, German World War I pilot (d. 1917)

• 1899 – Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and Scrabble inventor (d. 1993)

• 1900 – Pierre Molinier, French painter and photographer (d. 1976)

• 1901 – Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst and semanticist (d. 1981)

• 1902 – Philippe de Rothschild, French race car driver and wine grower (d. 1988)

• 1904 – Sir David Robinson, British philanthropist and entrepreneur (d. 1987)

• 1906 – Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1989)

• 1906 – Bud Freeman, American musician (d. 1991)

• 1907 – Harold Stassen, American Presidential candidate (d. 2001)

• 1909 – Stanislaw Marcin Ulam, Polish mathematician (d. 1984)

• 1909 – Eudora Welty, American writer (d. 2001)

• 1911 – Ico Hitrec, Croatian footballer (d. 1946)

• 1911 – Jean-Louis Lévesque, Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist (d. 1994)

• 1916 – Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner, American actress, journalist, and publisher (d. 2006)

• 1917 – Robert O. Anderson, American businessman (d. 2007)

• 1919 – Roland Gaucher, French journalist (d. 2007)

• 1919 – Howard Keel, American actor, singer, and president of the Screen Actors Guild (d. 2004)

• 1919 – Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American atheist activist (d. 1995)

• 1919 – Phil Tonken, American radio and television announcer (d. 2000)

• 1920 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (d. 1982)

• 1920 – Claude Cheysson, French politician

• 1920 – Liam Cosgrave, fifth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland

• 1920 – John LaPorta, American musician (d. 2004)

• 1922 – John Braine, British novelist (d. 1986)

• 1922 – Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian politician (d. 1999)

• 1923 – Don Adams, American actor and comedian (d. 2005)

• 1924 – Jack Chick, American evangelist

• 1924 – Stanley Donen, American film director

• 1926 – John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough

• 1926 – Ellie Lambeti, Greek actress (d. 1983)

• 1927 – Maurice Ronet, French film actor (d. 1983)

• 1928 – Alan Clark, English politician (d. 1999)

• 1931 – Robert Enrico, French film director and screenwriter (d. 2001)

• 1931 – Dan Gurney, American race car driver and team owner

• 1931 – Jon Stone, co-creator of Sesame Street (d. 1997)

• 1932 – Orlando Letelier, Chilean politician (d. 1976)

• 1933 – Ben Nighthorse Campbell, U.S. politician

• 1935 – Lyle Waggoner, American actor

• 1937 – Edward Fox, English actor

• 1937 – Lanford Wilson, American playwright

• 1939 – Seamus Heaney, Irish writer, Nobel laureate

• 1939 – Paul Sorvino, American actor

• 1940 – Mike Beuttler, British racing driver (d. 1988)

• 1940 – J.M.G. Le Clézio, French novelist, Nobel laureate in Literature.

• 1940 – Jim McNab, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)

• 1941 – Michael Stuart Brown, American geneticist, Nobel laureate

• 1942 – Bill Conti, American composer

• 1942 – Ataol Behramoglu Turkish poet and writer.

• 1943 – Billy Kidd, American skier

• 1944 – Jack Casady, American musician

• 1944 – Susan Davis, American politician

• 1944 – Brian Pendleton, musician (d. 2001)

• 1945 – Tony Dow, American actor

• 1945 – Lowell George, American singer/guitarist (d. 1979)

• 1945 – Bob Kalsu, American football player (d. 1970)

• 1945 – Judy Nunn, Australian actress

• 1945 – Charles Robinson, American actor

• 1946 – Al Green, American singer and pastor

• 1947 – Thanos Mikroutsikos, Greek composer & former minister

• 1948 – Sue Doughty, British politician

• 1948 – Nam Hae-il, Chief of Naval Operations of Republic of Korea Navy

• 1948 – Drago Jančar, Slovenian writer

• 1949 – Frank Doran, Scottish politician

• 1949 – Christopher Hitchens, English-born journalist, critic, and author

• 1949 – Ricardo Zuniño, Argentine racing driver

• 1950 – Terry Lester, American actor (d. 2003)

• 1950 – Ron Perlman, American actor

• 1950 – William Sadler, American actor

• 1951 – Peabo Bryson, American singer

• 1951 – Peter Davison, English actor

• 1951 – Joachim Streich, East German footballer

• 1951 – Max Weinberg, American drummer

• 1952 – Ron Dittemore, American space administrator

• 1952 – David Drew, British politician

• 1952 – Erick Avari, British-Indian actor

• 1953 – Stephen Byers, British politician

• 1954 – Niels Olsen, Danish singer

• 1955 – Ole von Beust, Mayor of Hamburg

• 1955 – Lupe Pintor, Mexican boxer

• 1956 – Peter 'Possum' Bourne, New Zealand rally driver (d. 2003)

• 1957 – Saundra Santiago, American actress

• 1957 – Gary Kroeger, American actor

• 1957 – Dallas Moir, Scottish cricketer

• 1957 – Amy Goodman, American activist, host of Democracy Now

• 1960 – Rudi Völler, German football coach

• 1960 – Bob Casey, Jr., Democratic U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania

• 1960 – Olaf Ludwig, German cyclist

• 1961 – Hiro Yamamoto, American rock bassist

• 1962 – Dave Miley, former baseball player and manager

• 1962 – Hillel Slovak, Israeli-born guitarist (d. 1988)

• 1962 – Jennifer Rubin, American actress

• 1963 – Garry Kasparov, Russian chess player

• 1964 – Davis Love III, Professional Golfer

• 1964 – Caroline Rhea, Canadian actress

• 1965 – Patricio Pouchulu, Argentine architect

• 1966 – Ali Boumnijel, Tunisian football player

• 1966 – Mando, Greek singer

• 1966 – Marc Ford, American musician

• 1967 – Olga Tañón, Puerto Rican singer

• 1967 – Dana Barros, American basketball player

• 1970 – Monty Brown, American professional wrestler

• 1970 – Gerry Creaney, Scottish footballer

• 1970 – Rick Schroder, American actor

• 1970 – Szilveszter Csollány, Hungarian gymnast, Olympic gold medalist

• 1970 – Ricardo Rincon, Mexican baseball player

• 1971 – Dina Korzun, Russian actress

• 1971 – Bo Outlaw, American basketball player

• 1971 – Valensia, Dutch singer

• 1972 – Mariusz Czerkawski, Polish ice hockey player

• 1972 – Aaron Lewis, American singer (Staind)

• 1974 – Darren Turner , British Race Driver

• 1974 – Sergei Gonchar, Russian ice hockey player

• 1974 – David Zdrilić, Australian soccer player

• 1974 – David Schurmann, Brazilian film director

• 1975 – Lou Bega, German-born musician and artist

• 1975 – Bruce Dyer, English footballer

• 1976 – Jonathan Brandis, American actor (d. 2003)

• 1976 – Valentina Cervi, Italian actress

• 1976 – Patrik Eliáš, Czech ice hockey player

• 1976 – Yu Ji-tae, South Korean actor

• 1978 – Arron Asham, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1978 – Kyle Howard, American actor

• 1978 – Carles Puyol, Spanish footballer

• 1978 – Chris Sligh, American Idol finalist

• 1979 – Baron Davis, American basketball player

• 1979 – Meghann Shaughnessy, American tennis player

• 1980 – Jana Cova, Czech pornographic actress

• 1980 – Quentin Richardson, American basketball player

• 1980 – Colleen Clinkenbeard, American voice actress

• 1981 – Courtney Peldon, American actress

• 1981 – Nat Borchers, American soccer player

• 1982 – Nellie McKay, American singer

• 1982 – Janice Vidal, Hong Kong singer

• 1982 – Jill Vidal, Hong Kong singer

• 1983 – Schalk Burger, South African rugby player

• 1983 – Hunter Pence, American baseball player

• 1984 – Hiro Mizushima, Japanese actor

• 1987 – Brandon Hardesty, American internet entertainer

• 1988 – Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira, Brazilian footballer

Deaths

• 799 – Paul the Deacon, Italian monk and chronicler (b. c. 720)

• 814 – Krum of Bulgaria

• 1093 – Prince Vsevolod I of Kiev (b. 1030)

• 1279 – Boleslaw the Pious, Polish duke

• 1605 – Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia (b. c. 1551)

• 1612 – Sasaki Kojirō, Japanese samurai

• 1635 – Fakhr-al-Din II, Druze Prince of Lebanon (b. 1572)

• 1638 – Henri, duc de Rohan, French Huguenot leader (b. 1579)

• 1641 – Richard Montagu, English clergyman (b. 1577)

• 1695 – Jean de la Fontaine, French author (b. 1621)

• 1722 – Charles Leslie, Irish Anglican theologian (b. 1650)

• 1793 – Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, French revolutionary (b. 1763)

• 1794 – Nicolas Chamfort, French writer (b. 1741)

• 1826 – Franz Danzi, German composer (b. 1763)

• 1853 – Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (b. 1788)

• 1853 – James Iredell, Jr., American politician (b. 1788)

• 1855 – Henry De la Beche, English geologist (b. 1796)

• 1868 – Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1818)

• 1880 – Robert Fortune, Scottish botanist (b. 1813)

• 1882 – Bruno Bauer, German theologian (b. 1809)

• 1890 – Samuel J. Randall, American politician (b. 1828)

• 1909 – Whitley Stokes, British lawyer (b. 1830)

• 1910 – William Quiller Orchardson, British painter (b. 1835)

• 1911 – George Washington Glick, American politician (b. 1827)

• 1911 – John McLane, American politician (b. 1852)

• 1912 – Ishikawa Takuboku, Japanese author (b. 1886)

• 1918 – Lavr Georgevich Kornilov, Russian general (b. 1870)

• 1936 – Milton Brown, American swing bandleader (b. 1903)

• 1936 – Konstantinos Demertzis, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1876)

• 1938 – Archibald Belaney, Canadian conservationist (b. 1888)

• 1941 – Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer (b. 1863)

• 1944 – Cécile Chaminade, French composer and pianist (b. 1857)

• 1945 – Ernst Cassirer, German philosopher (b. 1874)

• 1954 – Angus Lewis Macdonald, Canadian politician (b. 1890)

• 1959 – Eduard van Beinum, Dutch conductor (b. 1901)

• 1961 – John A. Bennett, American convicted rapist (b. 1935)

• 1962 – Culbert Olson, American politician (b. 1876)

• 1966 – Abdul Salam Arif, Iraqi politician (b. 1921)

• 1966 – Georges Duhamel, French writer (b. 1884)

• 1971 – Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1949)

• 1971 – Juhan Smuul, Estonian author (b. 1921)

• 1975 – Larry Parks, American actor (b. 1914)

• 1975 – François (Ngarta) Tombalbaye, Chadian politician (b. 1918)

• 1978 – Jack Chambers, Canadian artist (b. 1931)

• 1980 – Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (b. 1956)

• 1981 – Prince Asaka Yasuhiko of Japan (b. 1887)

• 1983 – Theodore Stephanides, Greek doctor and naturalist (b. 1896)

• 1984 – Richard Hurndall. British actor (b. 1910)

• 1984 – Ralph Kirkpatrick, American musician (b. 1911)

• 1984 – Dionyssis Papayannopoulos, Greek actor (b. 1912)

• 1986 – Stephen Stucker. American actor (b. 1947)

• 1993 – Wallace Stegner, American writer (b. 1909)

• 1997 – Dorothy Frooks, American author and military figure (b. 1896)

• 1997 – Voldemar Väli, Estonian wrestler (b. 1903)

• 1998 – Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and skysurfer (b. 1960)

• 1999 – Ortvin Sarapu, New Zealand chess player (b. 1924)

• 1999 – Willi Stoph, German politician (b. 1914)

• 2000 – Giorgio Bassani, Italian writer (b. 1916)

• 2001 – Robert Moon, American postal inspector (b. 1917)

• 2002 – Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racecar driver (b. 1928)

• 2004 – Lou Berberet, American baseball player (b. 1929)

• 2004 – Caron Keating, British television presenter (b. 1962)

• 2005 – Don Blasingame, American baseball player (b. 1932)

• 2005 – Johnnie Johnson, American blues musician (b. 1924)

• 2005 – Johnny Loughrey, Irish singer (b. 1945)

• 2005 – Philippe Volter, Belgian actor (b. 1959)

• 2006 – Bill Baker, American baseball player (b. 1911)

• 2007 – Don Selwyn, Māori actor and film director (b. c. 1936)

• 2008 – John Wheeler, American physicist and educator (b. 1911)

• 2009 – Harry Kalas, American sportscaster (b. 1936)

• 2009 – Bruce Snyder, American football coach (b. 1940)

• 2009 – Mark Fidrych, American baseball player (b. 1954)

Holidays and observances

• First day of Lao New Year.

• First day of Thai New Year.

• First day of Cambodian New Year.

• Vaisakhi

• Saint Hermenegild