Events

• 1336 – Francesco Petrarca's (aka Petrarch) ascent of Mt. Ventoux.

• 
  *1478 – The Pazzi attack Lorenzo de' Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in the Duomo of Florence.

• 1607 – English colonists of the Jamestown settlement make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia.

• 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France, as part of a reconciliary gesture with the factions of the Ancien Regime and to eventually consolidate his own rule.

• 1805 – United States Marines captured Derne, Tripoli under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.

• 1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina.

• 1865 – Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin, in Virginia.

• 1925 – Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.

• 1933 – The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.

• 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain is bombed by German Luftwaffe.

• 1945 – World War II: Battle of Bautzen – last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.

• 1946 – Father Divine, a controversial religious leader who claims to be God, marries the much-younger Edna Rose Ritchings, a celebrated anniversary in the International Peace Mission movement.

• 1954 – The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.

• 1956 – First container ship left Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas

• 1962 – NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.

• 1963 – In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.

• 1964 – Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.

• 1965 – A Rolling Stones concert in London, Ontario is shut down by police after 15 minutes due to rioting.

• 1966 – An earthquake of magnitude 7.5 destroys Tashkent.

• 1970 – The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force

• 1982 – 57 people are killed by former police officer Woo Bum-kon in a shooting spree in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea.

• 1986 – A nuclear reactor accident occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine), creating the world's worst nuclear disaster.

• 1991 – Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak's end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year's only F5 tornado (see Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak).

• 1994 – A China Airlines Airbus A300-600R crashes at Nagoya Airport, Japan killing everyone on board, with a death toll amounting to 264. See also China Airlines flight 140.

• 1994 – Physicists announce first evidence of the top quark subatomic particle.

• 2002 – Robert Steinhäuser infiltrates and kills 17 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt,Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.

• 2005 – Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country.

• 2007 – Queen's Pier is officially closed by the Hong Kong Government, after a bitter struggle by conservationists, in order to facilitate land reclamation in Hong Kong's Central district

• 2007 – Bronze Night in Tallinn

Births

• 121 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (d. 180)

• 570 – Muhammed, founder of Islam, according to the Shi'a sect. Other sources suggest April 20. (d. 632)

• 1538 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (d. 1600)

• 1564 – William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright (baptism) (d. 1616)

• 1573 – Marie de' Medici, wife of Henry IV of France (d. 1642)

• 1648 – King Peter II of Portugal (d. 1706)

• 1662 – Maria Luisa of Orleans, queen consort of Spain (d. 1689)

• 1710 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (d. 1796)

• 1718 – Esek Hopkins, American Revolutionary War admiral (d. 1802)

• 1774 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist (d. 1853)

• 1782 – Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies, queen of France (d. 1866)

• 1785 – John James Audubon, French-American naturalist and illustrator (d. 1851)

• 1787 – Ludwig Uhland, German poet (d. 1862)

• 1798 – James Beckwourth, American explorer (d. 1867)

• 1798 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter (d. 1863)

• 1801 – Ambrose Dudley Mann, American diplomat (d. 1889)

• 1804 – Charles Goodyear, American politician (d. 1876)

• 1812 – Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d. 1887)

• 1822 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American landscape architect (d. 1903)

• 1826 – George Hull Ward, American general (d. 1863)

• 1826 – Ambrose R. Wright, American Civil War General (d. 1872)

• 1856 – Sir Joseph Ward, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)

• 1878 – Saint Rafael Guízar Valencia, Mexican Catholic bishop (d. 1938)

• 1879 – Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)

• 1886 – Ma Rainey, American singer (d. 1939)

• 1886 – Ğabdulla Tuqay, Tatar poet (d. 1913)

• 1888 – Anita Loos, American writer (d. 1981)

• 1889 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-born philosopher (d. 1951)

• 1893 – Draza Mihajlovic, Serbian WWII hero and war criminal (d. 1946)

• 1894 – Rudolf Hess, Nazi official (d. 1987)

• 1896 – Ernst Udet, WWI pilot and film actor, Luftwaffe officer (d. 1941)

• 1897 – Eddie Eagan, American sportsman (d. 1967)

• 1897 – Douglas Sirk, German-born film director (d. 1987)

• 1898 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1984)

• 1898 – John Grierson, Scottish filmmaker (d. 1972)

• 1900 – Charles Richter, American geophysicist (d. 1985)

• 1900 – Hack Wilson, American baseball player (d. 1948)

• 1904 – Paul-Émile Léger, Quebec cardinal and archbishop (d. 1991)

• 1910 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese movie producer and creator of Godzilla (d. 1997)

• 1911 – Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)

• 1912 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian writer (d. 2000)

• 1914 – Bernard Malamud, American author (d. 1986)

• 1914 – James W. Rouse, American investor (d. 1996)

• 1916 – Morris West, Australian writer (d. 1999)

• 1916 – Vic Perrin, American actor (d. 1989)

• 1916 – George Tuska, American comic book illustrator (d. 2009)

• 1917 – Sal Maglie, American baseball player (d. 1992)

• 1917 – I.M. Pei, Chinese-born architect

• 1918 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (d. 2004)

• 1918 – Stafford Repp, American actor (d. 1974)

• 1922 – Jeanne Sauvé, French Canadian politician (d. 1993)

• 1924 – H. Browning Ross, American long-distance running Olympian (d. 1998)

• 1925 – Jørgen Ingmann, Danish musician

• 1926 – David Coleman, British TV sports broadcaster

• 1926 – Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator (d. 2003)

• 1927 – Jack Douglas, English actor (d. 2008)

• 1929 – Richard Mitchell, American author and professor (d. 2002)

• 1930 – Roger Moens, Belgian athlete

• 1932 – Francis Lai, French film music composer

• 1932 – Michael Smith, English-born chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2000)

• 1933 – Carol Burnett, American comedian

• 1933 – Arno Allan Penzias, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate

• 1933 – Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican activist (d. 2005)

• 1938 – Duane Eddy, American musician

• 1940 – Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer

• 1940 – Cliff Watson, English rugby league footballer

• 1941 – Claudine Clark, American R&B singer-composer

• 1941 – John Mitchell, American composer

• 1942 – Claudine Auger, French actress

• 1942 – Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat

• 1942 – Bobby Rydell, American singer

• 1943 – Gary Wright, American singer

• 1943 – Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect

• 1944 – Amien Rais, Indonesian politician

• 1945 – Sylvain Simard, Quebec politician

• 1946 – Wolf Kahler, German actor

• 1947 – Warren Clarke, English actor

• 1949 – Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer

• 1949 – Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995)

• 1949 – Dominic Sena, American film director

• 1954 – Alan Hinkes, British mountaineer

• 1955 – Mike Scott, American baseball player

• 1956 – Koo Stark, American actress

• 1958 – John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute

• 1958 – Giancarlo Esposito, American actor

• 1958 – Jeffrey Guterman, American mental health counselor

• 1959 – John Corabi, American musician

• 1959 – Thanassis Papakonstantinou, Greek singer and songwriter

• 1960 – Roger Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)

• 1960 – Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player

• 1961 – Joan Chen, Chinese-born actress

• 1961 – Anthony Cumia, American radio personality (The Opie and Anthony Show)

• 1961 – Chris Mars, American rock drummer (The Replacements)

• 1962 – Colin Anderson, English footballer

• 1962 – Michael Damian, American actor, singer and producer

• 1962 – Debra Wilson, American actress and comedian

• 1963 – Li Lianjie/Jet Li, Chinese martial artist and actor

• 1963 – Colin Scotts, Australian-born American football player

• 1965 – Kevin James, American comedian

• 1966 – Yoshihiro Togashi, Mangaka who created YuYu Hakusho

• 1967 – Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Academy Award nominated British actress

• 1967 – Glenn Jacobs, American professional wrestler

• 1970 – Melania Trump, Slovenian model

• 1970 – Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, American singer (TLC)

• 1971 – Shondrella Avery, American actress

• 1971 – Jay DeMarcus, American bassist (Rascal Flatts)

• 1972 – Jason Bargwanna, Australian racing driver

• 1972 – Kiko Narváez, Spanish footballer

• 1972 – Avi Nimni, Israeli Footballer

• 1973 – Chris Perry, English footballer

• 1974 – Ivana Milicevic, Croatian-American actress

• 1974 – Adil Ray, English radio presenter (BBC Asian Network)

• 1975 – Nathan "Joey" Jordison, American musician (Slipknot)

• 1975 – Nerina Pallot, British singer

• 1976 – Vaclav Varada, Czech ice hockey player

• 1977 – Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player

• 1977 – Chris Johnston, Irish rugby player

• 1977 – Tom Welling, American actor

• 1978 – Avant, American singer

• 1978 – Joe Crede, American baseball player

• 1978 – Peter Madsen, Danish footballer

• 1978 – Tyler Labine, Canadian actor

• 1978 – Stana Katic, Canadian actress

• 1979 – Ariane Moffatt, Quebec singer and songwriter

• 1979 – Janne Wirman, Finnish musician (Children of Bodom)

• 1980 – Jordana Brewster, American actress

• 1980 – Marlon King, Jamaican footballer

• 1980 – Anna Mucha, Polish actress

• 1980 – Channing Tatum, American actor

• 1980 – Marnette Patterson, American actress, famous YouTube star LG15: The Resistance

• 1981 – Matthieu Delpierre, French footballer

• 1981 – Ms. Dynamite, English musician

• 1982 – Joanne Gobure, Nauruan poet

• 1982 – Brock Gillespie, American basketball player

• 1982 – Jon Lee, British singer (S Club)

• 1982 – Cooper Wallace, American football player

• 1983 – José María López, Argentine racing driver

• 1983 – Jessica Lynch, American P.O.W.

• 1984 – Mija Martina, Bosnian singer

• 1985 – John Isner, American Tennis player

• 1985 – Nam Gyu-Ri, Korean singer (See Ya)

• 1987 – Jessica Lee Rose, American-born New Zealand actress, YouTube star lonelygirl15

Deaths

• 1192 – Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (b. 1127)

• 1444 – Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b. 1378)

• 1476 – Simonetta Vespucci, inspiration of Botticelli (b. 1453)

• 1478 – Giuliano di Piero de' Medici, ruler of Florence (assassinated) (b. 1453)

• 1489 – Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (b. 1465)

• 1716 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1651)

• 1784 – Nano Nagle, Irish convent founder (b. 1718)

• 1789 – Count Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian soldier (b. 1721)

• 1852 – Charles Athanase Walckenaer, French naturalist (b. 25 December 1771)

• 1865 – John Wilkes Booth, America's first successful presidential assassin; also an actor, the lesser of his noteworthy achievements (shot) (b. 1838)

• 1881 – Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (b. 1815)

• 1892 – Sir Provo Wallis, British Admiral and naval hero (b. 1791)

• 1910 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author, Nobel laureate (b. 1832)

• 1915 – John Bunny, silent film comedian (b. 1863)

• 1920 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)

• 1932 – William Lockwood, English cricketer (b. 1868)

• 1936 – Tammany Young, American actor (b. 1886)

• 1938 – Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (b. 1859)

• 1940 – Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1874)

• 1944 – Violette Morris, French athlete (b. 1893)

• 1945 – Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian politician and general (b. 1871)

• 1945 – Sigmund Rascher, Nazi doctor (b. 1909)

• 1946 – Jim White, discoverer of Carlsbad Caverns (b. 1882)

• 1950 – G. Murray Hulbert, American politician (b. 1881)

• 1951 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist (b. 1868)

• 1956 – Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890)

• 1957 – Gichin Funakoshi, Father of Japanese Shotokan Karatedo (b. 1868)

• 1964 – E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet born Newfoundland (b. 1882)

• 1969 – Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of aikido (b. 1883)

• 1970 – Erik Bergman, Lutheran pastor (b. 1886)

• 1970 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress (b. 1911)

• 1972 – Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (b. 1892)

• 1973 – Irene Ryan, American actress (b. 1902)

• 1976 – Sid James, South African–born British comedian (b. 1913)

• 1980 – Cicely Courtneidge, English actress and comedian (b. 1893)

• 1981 – Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909)

• 1984 – Count Basie, American musician and composer (b. 1904)

• 1986 – Broderick Crawford, American actor (stroke) (b. 1911)

• 1986 – Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899)

• 1986 – Bessie Love, American actress (b. 1898)

• 1987 – John Ernest Silkin, British politician (b. 1923)

• 1987 – Shankar, Of Noted Bollywood Music Director Duo Shankar-Jaikishan (b. 1922)

• 1989 – Lucille Ball, American actress and comedian (b. 1911)

• 1991 – Leo Arnaud, French-American composer (b. 1904)

• 1991 – Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor, father of Francis Ford Coppola(b. 1910)

• 1991 – Emily McLaughlin, American actress (b. 1928)

• 1991 – Richard Hatfield, Canadian politician (b. 1931)

• 1994 – Masutatsu Oyama, Founder of Japanese Kyokushin Karate (b. 1927)

• 1996 – Stirling Silliphant, American writer and producer (b. 1918)

• 1999 – Adrian Borland, English musician (The Sound) (b. 1957)

• 1999 – Jill Dando, British television presenter (b. 1961)

• 2002 – Robert Steinhäuser German spree killer (b. 1983)

• 2003 – Rosemary Brown, Canadian politician (b. 1930)

• 2003 – Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist (b. 1904)

• 2003 – Peter Stone, American writer (b. 1930)

• 2004 – Hubert Selby Jr., American author (b. 1928)

• 2005 – Mason Adams, American actor (b. 1919)

• 2005 – Maria Schell, Swiss-Austrian actress (b. 1926)

• 2005 – Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan author (b. 1917)

• 2007 – Jack Valenti, American political advisor and film executive (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• Tanzania – Union Day.

• Florida and Georgia, USA – Confederate Memorial Day.

• World Intellectual Property Day (since 2001).

• Our Lady of Good Counsel

• Saint Alda (d. 1309)

• Franca Visalta (d. 1218)

• Richarius or Riquier (d. 643)

• Paschasius (d. 865)

• Saint Cletus (Pope Anacletus) and Marcellinus (Popes and martyrs)

• Lucidius (4th century)

• Trudpert (Irish monk martyred in Germany in 607).

• Stephen of Perm – also Old Permic Alphabet Day