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About April 15

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Events

★ 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.

★ 1632 - Battle of Rain; Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.

★ 1715 - Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.

★ 1738 - Premiere in London of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel.

★ 1755 - Samuel Johnson's ''A Dictionary of the English Language'' published in London.

★ 1783 - Preliminary articles of peace ending Revolutionary War ratified.

★ 1802 - William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy see a "long belt" of daffodils, inspiring the former to pen ''I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud''.

★ 1865 - Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth.

★ 1865 - Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th President of the United States.

★ 1892 - The General Electric Company forms.

★ 1906 - The establishing of the Armenian organization, AGBU

★ 1912 - The British passenger liner RMS ''Titanic'' sinks after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic, causing the deaths of about 1,503 people.

★ 1920 - Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti allegedly murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store.

★ 1923 - Insulin first became generally available for use by diabetics.

★ 1924 - Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.

★ 1927 - Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Norma and Constance Talmadge become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

★ 1940 - The Allies start their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which was occupied by Nazi Germany.

★ 1942 - George Cross awarded to "to the island fortress of Malta - its people and defenders" by King George VI.

★ 1943 - An Allied bomber attack misses the Minerva automobile factory and hits the Belgian town of Mortsel instead, killing 936 civilians.

★ 1945 - The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.

★ 1947 - Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, breaking that sport's color line.

★ 1955 - Ray Kroc opens his first franchise of McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.

★ 1957 - White Rock, British Columbia officially separates from Surrey, British Columbia and is incorporated as a new city.

★ 1967 - Scotland defeat rivals England 3-2 at Wembley stadium, causing the scots fans to jokingly claim their side as "Unofficial world Champions", creating the phenomenon of the Unofficial Football World Championships.

★ 1984 - British comedian Tommy Cooper suffers a massive heart attack while live on TV.

★ 1986 - The United States launch Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya.

★ 1989 - Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, a football stadium in Sheffield, resulting in 96 deaths.

★ 1989 - Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.

★ 1992 - National Assembly of Vietnam adopts the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

★ 1994 - Representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities sign the Marrakesh Agreements revising the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and initiating the World Trade Organization (effective January 1 1995).

★ 1997 - Fire sweeps through a campsite of Muslims making the Hajj pilgrimage; the official death toll is 343.

★ 2002 - An Air China Boeing 767-200, flight CA129 crashes into hillside during heavy rain and fog near Busan, South Korea, killing 128.

Births

★ 1452 - Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance Roman Catholic polymath (d. 1519)

★ 1469 - Guru Nanak Dev, Founder of Sikhism (d. 1539)

★ 1489 - Sinan, Ottoman architect (d. 1588)

★ 1552 - Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)

★ 1588 - Claudius Salmasius, French classical scholar (d. 1653)

★ 1641 - Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician (d. 1722)

★ 1642 - Suleiman II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1691)

★ 1646 - King Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)

★ 1646 - Pierre Poiret, French mystic (d. 1719)

★ 1684 - Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)

★ 1688 - Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (d. 1758)

★ 1707 - Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (d. 1783)

★ 1710 - William Cullen, Scottish physician (d. 1790)

★ 1721 - Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (d. 1765)

★ 1741 - Charles Willson Peale, American painter, soldier and naturalist (d. 1827)

★ 1772 - Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French naturalist (d. 1844)

★ 1793 - Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer (d. 1864)

★ 1794 - Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist (d. 1867)

★ 1800 - James Clark Ross, English explorer (d. 1862)

★ 1809 - Hermann Grassmann, German mathematician (d. 1877)

★ 1832 - Wilhelm Busch, German poet (d. 1908)

★ 1841 - Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian distillery founder (d. 1919)

★ 1843 - Henry James, American author (d. 1916)

★ 1858 - Émile Durkheim, French sociologist (d. 1917)

★ 1861 - Bliss Carman, Canadian poet (d. 1929)

★ 1874 - George Harrison Shull, American plant geneticist (d. 1954)

★ 1874 - Johannes Stark, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1957)

★ 1875 - James J. Jeffries, American heavyweight boxer (d. 1953)

★ 1878 - Robert Walser, Swiss writer (d. 1956)

★ 1879 - Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer (d. 1980)

★ 1883 - Stanley Bruce, eighth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)

★ 1885 - Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)

★ 1886 - Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet (d. 1921)

★ 1888 - Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (d. 1904)

★ 1889 - Thomas Hart Benton, American muralist (d. 1975)

★ 1889 - A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)

★ 1892 - Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author and Holocaust survivor (d. 1983)

★ 1894 - Bessie Smith, American blues singer (d. 1937)

★ 1895 - Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards player (d. 1980)

★ 1896 - Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, Russian chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1986)

★ 1901 - Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)

★ 1902 - Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)

★ 1907 - Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ethologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1988)

★ 1908 - Eden Ahbez, American songwriter (d. 1995)

★ 1912 - Kim Il-sung, President of North Korea (d. 1994)

★ 1916 - Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)

★ 1917 - Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)

★ 1917 - James Kee, American politician (d. 1989)

★ 1920 - Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany

★ 1921 - Georgi Beregovoi, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 1995)

★ 1922 - Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor

★ 1922 - Harold Washington, American politician (d. 1987)

★ 1924 - Sir Neville Marriner, English conductor

★ 1927 - Robert Mills, American physicist (d. 1999)

★ 1930 - Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, President of Iceland

★ 1933 - Roy Clark, American musician

★ 1933 - Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)

★ 1933 - Boris Strugatsky, Russian author

★ 1936 - Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist

★ 1937 - Bob Luman, American country singer (d. 1978)

★ 1938 - Hso Khan Pha, Burmese politician

★ 1939 - Claudia Cardinale, Tunisian-born actress

★ 1939 - Marty Wilde, British singer

★ 1940 - Jeffrey Archer, British author

★ 1940 - Willie Davis, American baseball player

★ 1940 - Woodie Fryman, American baseball player

★ 1940 - Robert Lacroix, French Canadian professor of economics

★ 1940 - Robert Walker Jr., American actor

★ 1941 - Howard Berman, American politician

★ 1942 - Francis X. DiLorenzo, American Catholic prelate

★ 1942 - Walt Hazzard, American basketball player

★ 1942 - Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)

★ 1944 - Dzhokhar Dudaev, Chechen leader (d. 1996)

★ 1944 - Dave Edmunds, Welsh musician

★ 1947 - Lois Chiles, American actress

★ 1947 - Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish politician

★ 1947 - Mike Chapman, British songwriter

★ 1948 - Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)

★ 1949 - Tonio K, American singer

★ 1949 - Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer

★ 1950 - Amy Wright, American actress

★ 1950 - Josiane Balasko, French actress, director and screenwriter

★ 1951 - Heloise, American newspaper columnist

★ 1952 - Kym Gyngell, Australian comedian

★ 1952 - Bengt Gingsjö, Swedish swimmer

★ 1954 - Seka, American pornographic actress

★ 1955 - Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (d. 1997)

★ 1957 - Evelyn Ashford, American athlete

★ 1958 - Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

★ 1958 - Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer

★ 1959 - Fruit Chan, Hong Kong film director

★ 1959 - Emma Thompson, English actress

★ 1959 - Thomas F. Wilson, American actor

★ 1959 - Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player and general manager

★ 1960 - Tony Jones (snooker), English snooker player

★ 1960 - Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist

★ 1960 - HRH Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, heir to the Belgian throne

★ 1962 - Nawal El Moutawakel, Morrocan hurdler

★ 1963 - Bobby Pepper, American journalist

★ 1965 - Linda Perry, American musician

★ 1966 - Samantha Fox, English singer

★ 1967 - Frankie Poullain, British musician (The Darkness)

★ 1967 - Dara Torres, American swimmer

★ 1967 - Alt, Brazilian comic creator

★ 1968 - Ed O'Brien, British musician (Radiohead)

★ 1968 - Stacey Williams, American model

★ 1969 - Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player

★ 1969 - Milton Bradley, American baseball player

★ 1969 - Jimmy Waite, Canadian ice hockey goaltender

★ 1970 - Flex Alexander, American actor

★ 1971 - Katy Hill, British television presenter

★ 1971 - Sarah Jane Hamilton, British pornographic actress

★ 1972 - Lou Romano, American voice actor

★ 1972 - Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer

★ 1974 - Mike Quinn, American football player

★ 1974 - Danny Pino, American actor

★ 1974 - Josh Todd, American musician (Buckcherry)

★ 1975 - Paul Dana, American race car driver (d. 2006)

★ 1976 - Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1976 - Susan Ward, American actress

★ 1977 - Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player

★ 1978 - Austin Aries, American wrestler

★ 1978 - Tim Corcoran, American baseball player

★ 1980 - Natalie Casey, British actress

★ 1980 - James Foster, English cricketer

★ 1980 - Raúl López, Spanish basketball player

★ 1980 - Victor Núñez, Costa Rican footballer

★ 1980 - Fränk Schleck, Luxembourgish cyclist

★ 1981 - Andrés d'Alessandro, Argentine football player

★ 1981 - Seth Wulsin, American artist

★ 1982 - Seth Rogen, Canadian actor and writer

★ 1983 - Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player

★ 1983 - Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer

★ 1984 - Rodney Carney, NBA athlete

★ 1984 - Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player

★ 1985 - John Danks, American baseball player

★ 1985 - Aaron Laffey, American baseball player

★ 1986 - Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Dutch footballer

★ 1986 - Thomas Heaton, English footballer

★ 1990 - Emma Watson, English actress

★ 1991 - Luke Hrenko, American actor and singer

★ 1992 - Amy Diamond, Swedish singer

★ 1992 - Richard Sandrak, Ukrainian bodybuilder, martial artist, dancer and actor

★ 1998 - Sharlene san Pedro, Filipino actress

Deaths

★ 1053 - Godwin, Earl of Wessex

★ 1220 - Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne

★ 1415 - Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek humanist

★ 1446 - Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (b. 1377

★ 1610 - Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (b. 1546)

★ 1621 - John Carver, first governor of Plymouth Colony

★ 1632 - George Calvert, Proprietor of the Avalon (Maryland) Colony (b. 1580)

★ 1641 - Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (b. 1581)

★ 1652 - Patriarch Joseph, head of the Russian Orthodox Church

★ 1659 - Simon Dach, German poet (b. 1605)

★ 1704 - Johann van Waveren Hudde, Dutch mathematician (b. 1628)

★ 1719 - Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon, second wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)

★ 1754 - Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (b. 1676)

★ 1761 - Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish politician (b. 1682)

★ 1761 - William Oldys, English antiquarian and bibliographer (b. 1696)

★ 1764 - Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (b. 1721)

★ 1764 - Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer (b. 1679)

★ 1765 - Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian scientist and writer (b. 1711)

★ 1788 - Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)

★ 1793 - Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian Jesuit missionary and geographer (b. 1718)

★ 1804 - Charles Pichegru, French general (strangled in prison) (b. 1761)

★ 1854 - Arthur Aikin, English chemist, mineralogist, and writer (b. 1773)

★ 1865 - Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)

★ 1888 - Matthew Arnold, English poet (b. 1822)

★ 1889 - Father Damien, Belgian missionary (b. 1840)

★ 1898 - Kepa Te Rangihiwinui, Maori military leader

★ 1912 - Victims of the RMS Titanic

★ 1912 - Edward Smith, captain of the RMS Titanic (b. 1850)

★ 1927 - Gaston Leroux, French writer (b. 1868)

★ 1938 - César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (b. 1892)

★ 1942 - Robert Musil, Austrian novelist (b. 1880)

★ 1943 - Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian artist (d. 1882)

★ 1945 - Hermann Florstedt, Nazi leader (b. 1895)

★ 1948 - Radola Gajda, Czech military commander and politician (d. 1892)

★ 1949 - Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885)

★ 1957 - Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (b. 1917)

★ 1962 - Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1881)

★ 1969 - Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen of Spain (b. 1887)

★ 1970 - Ripper Collins, baseball player (b. 1904)

★ 1971 - Dan Reeves, owner of the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams (b. 1912)

★ 1974 - Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (b. 1906)

★ 1975 - Richard Conte, American actor (b. 1910)

★ 1980 - Raymond Bailey, American actor (b. 1904)

★ 1980 - Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)

★ 1982 - Arthur Lowe, British actor (b. 1915)

★ 1983 - Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author and Holocaust survivor (b. 1892)

★ 1984 - Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedy magician (b. 1921)

★ 1984 - Alexander Trocchi, Scottish writer (b. 1925)

★ 1986 - Jean Genet, French author (b. 1910)

★ 1988 - Kenneth Williams, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)

★ 1989 - Nesuhi Ertegün, American record executive (b. 1917)

★ 1989 - Hu Yaobang, Chinese politician (b. 1915)

★ 1990 - Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (b. 1905)

★ 1993 - John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geologist (b. 1908)

★ 1993 - Leslie Charteris, Singapore-born author (b. 1907)

★ 1994 - John Curry, English figure skater (b. 1949)

★ 1995 - Harry Shoulberg, American painter, serigrapher (b. 1903)

★ 1998 - Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (b. 1925)

★ 1999 - Harvey Postlethwaite, British engineer and racing car designer (b. 1944)

★ 2000 - Edward Gorey, American illustrator (b. 1925)

★ 2001 - Joey Ramone, American musician and singer (The Ramones) (b. 1951)

★ 2001 - Jack Elway, father of John Elway (b. 1932)

★ 2002 - Damon Knight, American author (b. 1922)

★ 2002 - Byron "Whizzer" White, American football player and U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1917)

★ 2003 - Erin Fleming, Canadian actress (b. 1941)

★ 2003 - Reg Bundy, British performer (b. 1941)

★ 2004 - Ray Condo, Canadian musician (b. 1950)

★ 2005 - John Fred, American singer (b. 1941)

★ 2007 - Brant Parker, American cartoonist (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances

★ Ancient Latvia — Tipsa Diena was observed.

★ Hawai'i - Father Damien Day — celebrated annually.

★ India - Baisakhi, P%C3%B4hela_Boishakh, Rongali Bihu

★ North Korea - Arirang Festival held to commemorate Kim Il-sung's birth.

★ Roman Empire — the Fordicia was celebrated in honor of Terra.

★ United States - is the official deadline for filing tax return in most areas of the country.
===Liturgical feast days===

★ translation of relics of Goeric of Metz

★ Abbo II of Metz

★ Saint Petrus Gonzalez

★ Saint Paternus

★ Saint Hunna

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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