On this day in History - Apr. 09

• 0093 - Yuan An dies. Minister over the Masses of the Han dynasty
• 0193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans).
• 0475 - Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (Enkyklikon) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysiste christological position.
• 0491- Zeno dies. Byzantine emperor.
• 0715 - Pope Constantine dies.
• 0999 - Sylvester II (Gerbert of Aurillac) consecrated as first French Pope.
• 1024 - Pope Benedict VIII dies.
• 1137 - William X, Duke of Aquitaine dies (b. 1099).
• 1241 - Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol forces defeats the Polish and German armies.
• 1336 - Tamerlane (Timur) was born (d. 1405). Central Asian, Turkic conqueror.
• 1348 - William of Ockham dies at 68. Mathematical logician and philosopher excommunicated in 1328. Known for “Ockham's Razor”: “Frustra fit per plura, quod fieri potest per pauciora.” or “Essentia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.” Author of Opus nonaginta dierum — Compendium errorum Joannis Papæ XXII — Quæstiones octo de auctoritate summi pontificis.
• 1388 - Battle of Noefels; Glarius Swiss defeat Habsburg (Austrian) army.
• 1413 - Henry V is crowned King of England.
• 1440 - Christopher of Bavaria is appointed King of Denmark.
• 1483 - King Edward IV of England dies (b. 1442).
• 1484 - Edward of Middleham dies (b. 1473). Prince of Wales.
  
• 1492 - Lorenzo de' Medici dies (b. 1449). Italian statesmen.
• 1498 - John, Cardinal of Lorraine was born (d. 1550). French churchman.
• 1500 - A esquadra de Pedro Álvares Cabral cruza o Equador.
• 1553 - François Rabelais dies (b. c. 1493). French writer.
• 1555 - Marcel II becomes the 222nd Pope (9 Apr 1555 - 30 Apr 1555).
• 1557 - Mikael Agricola dies (b. 1510). Finnish scholar.
• 1588 - Paolo Caliari “Veronese” dies (b. 1528). Venetian Mannerist painter.
• 1597 - John Davenport was born (d. 1670). Connecticut pioneer.
• 1626 - Sir Francis Bacon dies (b. 1561). English philosopher, statesman, essayist.
• 1634 - Albertine Agnes of Nassau was born (d. 1696). Regent of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe.
• 1648 - Henri de Massue, Marquis de Ruvigny, 1st Viscount Galway was born (d. 1720). French soldier and diplomat.
• 1649 - James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth was born (d. 1685). Illegitimate son of Charles II of Great Britain.
  
• 1652 - Jean Le Fèvre was born (d. 1706).French mathematician and astronomer who died in 1706.
• 1654 - Matei Basarab dies (b. 1588). Prince of Wallachia.
• 1656 - Francesco Trevisani was born (d. 30 Jul 1746). Cavaliere romano, Italian Rococo painter.
• 1667 - First ever public art exhibition opens in Paris.
• 1680 - Philippe Néricault Destouches was born (d. 1754). French dramatist.
• 1682 - Robert Cavelier de La Salle Robert de LaSalle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.
• 1686 - James Craggs the Younger was born (d. 1721). British politician.
• 1691 - Johann Matthias Gesner was born (d. 1761). German classical scholar.
• 1693 - Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy dies (b. 1618). French writer.
• 1747 - Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat dies executed. Scottish clan chief.
• 1754 - Christian Wolff dies (b. 1679). German philosopher.
• 1757 - Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth was born (d. 1833). British admiral.
• 1759 - D. Carlos da Cunha e Menezes was born. Portuguese Cardinal.
• 1761 - William Law dies (b. 1686). British minister.
• 1770 - Capt James Cook discovers Botany Bay (Australia).
• 1770 - Thomas Johann Seebeck was born (d. 1831). German physicist.
• 1773 - Étienne Aignan was born. Translator, political writer, librettist, playwright.
• 1791 - Georges Peacock was born (d. 08 Nov 1858). English mathematician. In 1830 he published Treatise on Algebra which attempted to give algebra a logical treatment comparable to Euclid's Elements.
• 1794 - Theobald Boehm was born. German inventor of the modern flute.
• 1804 - Jacques Necker dies (b. 1732). French statesman, finance minister of Louis XVI.
• 1806 - Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born (d. 1859). British engineer.
• 1806 - William V of Orange dies. Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic.
• 1807 - Jphn Opie dies (b. May 1761). English portrait and historical painter.
• 1813 - Jan Michiel Ruyten was born (d. 12 Nov 1881). Belgian artist.
• 1816 - Charles Eugène Delaunay was born (d. 05 Aug 1872). French mathematician and astronomer.
• 1813 - Robert Richard Anstice was born (d. 17 Dec 1853). English mathematician.
• 1821 - Charles Baudelaire was born (d. 1867). French lyricist, symbolist poet.
• 1824 - John George Naish was born (d. 1905). British artist.
• 1829 - Joseph-François Ducq dies (b. 10 Sep 1762). French artist.
• 1830 - Eadweard Muybridge was born (d. 1904). English-born photographer and motion picture pioneer.
• 1835 - King Leopold II of Belgium [Léopold-Louis-Philippe-Marie-Victor] was born. King of the Belgians from the death of his father Léopold I (16 Dec 1790 – 10 Dec 1865) to his own death on 17 Dec 1909.
• 1835 - Willem Karel Nakken was born (d. 04 Jan 1926). Dutch British artist.
• 1836 - Casamento (2º) de Dona Maria II com o duque Fernando Augusto.
• 1837 - Domenico Quaglio, dies (b. 01 Jan 1787). German painter, draftsman, and printmaker.
• 1838 - Inauguração em Londres da National Gallery.
• 1839 - Jean-Georges Hirn dies (b. 15 Dec 1777). French artist.
• 1848 - Helene Lange was born (d. 1930). Teacher.
• 1852 - Antoine Joseph Michel Romagnesi dies (b. 1782). French artist.
• 1858 - Joseph Karl Stieler dies (b. 01 Nov 1758). German painter.
• 1864 - Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana (Red River Expedition).
• 1865 - American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
• 1865 - Charles Proteus Steinmetz was born in Breslau, Prussia (d. 1923). German-born American mathematician and electrical engineer well known by his investigation about alternating current.
• 1865 - Abade de Baçal was born in Bragança (d. 13 Nov 1947). Portuguese historian and archeologist.
• 1865 - Erich Ludendorff was born (d. 1937). German general in World War I.
• 1867 - Alaska purchase: Passing by a single vote, the United States Senate ratifies a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska.
• 1867 - Chris Watson was born (d. 1941). Third Prime Minister of Australia.
• 1868 - At Islamgee in Abyssinia, Emperor Theodore massacres at least 197 of his own people.
• 1869 - Élie Joseph Cartan was born (d. 06 May 1951). French mathematician. He worked on continuous groups, Lie algebras, differential equations and geometry .
• 1872 - Léon Blum was born (d. 1950). French prime minister.
• 1876 - Charles Goodyear dies (b. 1804). American politician.
• 1879 - W C Fields was born (d. 1946). American comedian and actor.
• 1882 - Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was born (d. 1946).
• 1882 - Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti dies (b. 12 May 1828). English Pre-Raphaelite poet and painter.
• 1886 - Maria Eugênia Celso Carneiro de Mendonça was born. Brazilian writer.
• 1888 - Sol Hurok was born (d. 1974). Russian-born impresario.
• 1889 - Efrem Zimbalist was born (d. 1985). Russian violinist.
• 1889 - Michel Eugène Chevreul dies (b. 1786). French chemist.
• 1891 - Benjamín Matienzo was born in Tucumán (d. 1919). Argentine aviation pioneer whose name was given to the International Airport serving the city of San Miguel de Tucumán and its surrounding area.
• 1895 - Gunnar-Fredrik Berndtson dies (b. 24 Oct 1854). Swedish-Finnish French painter and illustrator.
• 1895 - Michel Simon was born (d. 1975). French actor.
• 1897 - John B. Gambling was born (d. 1974). American radio talk-show host.
• 1898 - Paul Robeson was born (d. 1976). American singer and political activist.
• 1898 - Curly Lambeau was born (d. 1965). American football coach, executive.
• 1903 - Ward (Wardell) Bond was born (d. 05 Nov 1960). Actor ( Wagon Train, Gone with the Wind, Drums Along the Mohawk, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Maltese Falcon, Mister Roberts, Rio Bravo, Tall in the Saddle, The Time of Your Life).
• 1904 - Sharkey Bonano was born (d. 1972). American jazz musician.
• 1904 - Queen Isabella II dies at 73, Queen of Spain (1833-68).
• 1905 - J. William Fulbright was born (d. 1995). Former Senator from Arkansas.
• 1905 - King Faisal I was born in Saudi Arabia (d. 25 March 1975 assassination). King of Saudi Arabia 1964-1975 .
• 1906 - Antal Dorati was born (d. 1988). Hungarian conductor.
• 1906 - Rafaela Aparício was born in Marbella, Málaga. Spanish actress.
• 1908 - Victor Vasarely was born (d. 1997). Hungarian French School of Paris abstract painter and screenprintmaker, specialized in Optical Art.
• 1909 - The U.S. Congress passes the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act.
• 1909 - Helena Modrzejewska dies (b. 1840). Polish-American actress.
• 1910 - Abraham Ribicoff was born (d. 1998). American politician.
• 1911 - Em Portugal, foi criado o Primeiro Corpo de Escuteiros.
• 1912 - Lew Kopelew (Lev Kopelev) was born (d. 1997). Russian author.
• 1912 - Mazzaropi (Amácio Mazzaropi) was born in São Paulo. Unforgettable Brazilian comic actor.
• 1913 - The Brooklyn Dodgers' Ebbets Field opens.
• 1915 - Daniel Johnson, Sr was born (d. 1968). Quebec politician.
• 1916 - World War I: Battle of Verdun - German forces launch their third offensive of the battle.
• 1917 - World War I: Battle of Arras - The battle begins with Canadian forces executing a massive assault on the Vimy Ridge.
• 1917 - Johannes Bobrowski was born (d. 1965). German lyricist and writer.
• 1917 - Brad Dexter was born (d. 2002). American actor.
• 1917 - James Hope Moulton dies (b. 1863). British scholar of Classical Greek.
• 1918 - Latvia proclaims independence .
• 1918 - Batalha de La Lys.
• 1918 - Jørn Utzon was born. Danish architect.
• 1919 - J. Presper Eckert was born (d. 1995). American computer pioneer, inventor of the ENIAC computer.
• 1919 - Sérgio Bernardes was born. Brazilian architect.
• 1920 - Moritz Benedikt Cantor dies (b. 23 Aug 1829). German historian of mathematics. He is best remembered for the four-volume Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Mathematik a history of mathematics up to 1799.
• 1920 - Banco Espirito Santo is created in Portugal/ Criação do Banco Espírito Santo - Portugal.
• 1921 - Juho Vennolah assume (pela 2º vez) o cargo de primeiro-ministro da Finlândia.
• 1921 - Frankie Thomas was born (d. 2006). American actor.
• 1921 - Jean-Marie Balestre was born. French motorsports official (FIA).
• 1922 - Carl Amery was born (d. 2005). German writer.
• 1925 - Heinz Nixdorf was born (d. 1985). Industrialist.
• 1926 - Hugh Hefner was born. American editor and publisher (Playboy).
• 1926 - Sujeto a que FIFA acepta la afiliación de Chile, el Congreso de CONMEBOL, reunido en Uruguay, le concede a este país la organización del Campeonato Sudamericano de 1926
• 1927 - Sacco and Vanzetti are sentenced to death for the murders in South Braintree, Massachusetts, on 15 April 1920, of F.A. Parmenter, paymaster of a shoe factory, and Alessandro Berardelli, the guard accompanying him, in order to secure the payroll that they were carrying.
• 1928 - Tom Lehrer was born. American musician and satirist.
• 1928 - Paul Arizin was born (d. 2006). American basketball.
• 1930 - F. Albert Cotton was born (d. 1991). American chemist.
• 1930 - Nathaniel Branden was born. Canadian psychotherapist.
• 1931 - Richard Hatfield was born (d. 1991). Canadian politician.
• 1932 - Armin Jordan was born (d. 2006). Swiss conductor.
• 1932 - Carl Perkins was born (d. 1998). American musician.
• 1932 - Jim Fowler was born. American zoologist.
• 1932 - Cheeta was born. Animal actor chimpanzee.
  
• 1932 - Jim Fowler was born. American zoologist.
• 1933 - Gian Maria Volonté was born in Milan (d. 1994). Italian actor.
• 1933 - Jean-Paul Belmondo was born. French actor (Casino Royale, The Brain, Is Paris Burning?, Swashbuckler, Le Magnifique, Love and the Frenchwoman).
• 1934 - Bill Birch was born. New Zealand politician.
• 1935 - Avery Schreiber was born (d.2002). American actor.
• 1936 - Addis Ababa falls to the invading Italians, who, four days later, annex Ethiopia to Italian East Africa.
• 1936 - Ferdinand Toennies dies (b. 1855). German sociologist.
• 1937 - The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London - it is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
• 1937 - Marty Krofft was born. Children's television producer.
• 1938 - Viktor Chernomyrdin was born. Russian politician.
• 1939 - Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln Memorial, after having been refused the right to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitution Hall.
• 1939 - Michael Learned was born. American actress.
• 1940 - World War II: Germany invades Denmark and Norway.
• 1940 - Jim Roberts was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1940 - Mrs. Patrick Campbell dies (b. 1865). British actress.
• 1941 - Chu Song-woong was born (d. 1985). Korean stage actor.
• 1941 - Kaye Adams was born. American country singer.
• 1942 - World War II: Battle of Bataan/Bataan Death March - United States forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula.
• 1942 - Adriano Correia de Oliveira was born (d. 16 Oct 1982). Portuguese singer and composer.
• 1942 - Brandon De Wilde was born (d. 1972). American actor.
• 1943 - Club Veracruz (México) is founded.
• 1943 - Terry Knight was born (d. 2004). American music promoter (Grand Funk Railroad)
• 1943 - Frank Brown dies in Buenos Aires. Argentine clown best known by "el clown chocolatín".
• 1944 - Pius XII issued the encyclical Orientalis ecclesiae decus, which seeks to foster closer relations between Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Uniat churches.
• 1944 - Evgeniya Rudneva dies killed by Nazis (b. 1920). Soviet World War II heroine.
• 1945 - World War II: The German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer is sunk.
• 1945 - World War II: Battle of Königsberg, in East Prussia, ends.
• 1945 - The United States Atomic Energy Commission formed.
• 1945 - Peter Gammons was born. Baseball sportswriter and journalist.
• 1945 - Steve Gadd was born. American session drummer.
• 1945 - Wilhelm Canaris dies (b. 1887). German Nazi leader, Chief of the Abwehr.
• 1945 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer dies hanged at Flossenburg concentration camp (b. 1906). German theologian and martyr.
• 1945 - Georg Elser dies (b. 1903). Failed assassin of Hitler.
• 1946 - David Webb was born. English football player and coach.
• 1946 - Manuel José de Jesus was born. Portuguese football manager.
• 1947 - The Glazier-Higgins-Woodward Tornadoes kill 181 and injure 970 in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
• 1947 - The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride of 16 black and white men traveling through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws begins. The riders, sponsored by CORE and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, are seeking to force southern states to enforce the Supreme Court's 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned segregation in interstate travel.
• 1947 - Atomic Energy Commission formed.
• 1947 - Julio de Sousa Brandão dies in Porto (b. in Famalicaão on 9 Aug 1869). Portuguese journalist, archaelogist, poet and novelist.
• 1948 - Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in all of Colombia (La violencia).
• 1948 - Massacre at Deir Yassin.
• 1948 - Jaya Bachchan was born. Indian actress.
• 1948 - Bagão Felix was born. Portuguese politician.
• 1948 - Bernard-Marie Koltès was born (d. 15 April 1989).
• 1948 - Jaya Bachchan was born. Indian actress.
• 1948 - Jorge Eliécer Gaitán dies (b. 1903). Colombian politician.
• 1948 - George Carpenter dies (b. 1872). Australian Salvation Army general.
• 1951 - Carlos Quintas was born. Portuguese actor and singer.
• 1951 - Vilhelm Frimann Koren Bjerknes dies (b. 14 Mar 1862). Norwegian mathematician and physicist.
• 1953 - Warner Brothers premieres the first 3-D film, entitled House of Wax.
• 1953 - Hal Ketchum was born. American musician.
• 1953 - Stanislaw Wojciechowski dies (b. 15 March 1869). One of the leaders in the struggle for Polish independence from Russia in the years before World War I. He later served as the second president of the Polish Republic (1922–1926).
• 1953 - Hans Reichenbach dies (b. 26 Sep 1891). German US mathematician. Author of Elements of Symbolic Logic (1947), and The Rise of Scientific Philosophy (1951).
• 1953 - Se suicida Juan Duarte, hermano de Eva, y secretario privado del presidente Perón .
• 1953 - Hal Ketchum was born. American musician.
• 1954 – Gena Rowlands/John Cassevetes wed.
• 1954 - Arnold Stadler was born.
• 1954 - Dennis Quaid was born. American actor (The Right Stuff, Any Given Sunday, Traffic).
• 1954 - Iain Duncan Smith was born. United Kingdom MP.
• 1955 - Joolz Denby was born. English poet and novelist.
• 1955 - Kate Heyhoe was born. American food writer.
• 1957 - The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping.
• 1957 - Seve Ballesteros was born. Spanish golfer.
• 1957 - Brian Alexander was born. British broadcaster.
• 1957 - Martin Margiela was born. Belgian fashion designer.
• 1959 - Mercury program: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts which the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven".
• 1959 - Frank Lloyd Wright dies (b. 1867). American architect.
• 1961 - Mark Kelly was born. British keyboard player (Marillion).
• 1961 - King Zog of Albania dies (b. 1895).
• 1962 - 34th Annual Academy Awards held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles and hosted by comedian Bob Hope. The Broadway musical "West Side Story", was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture (Robert Wise, producer); Best Director (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins); Best Supporting Actor and Actress (George Chakiris, Rita Moreno); Best Cinematography/Color (Daniel L. Fapp); Best Art Direction/Set Decoration/Color (Boris Leven, Victor A. Gangelin); Best Costume Design/Color (Irene Sharaff); Best Sound (Fred Hynes-Todd-AO SSD & Gordon Sawyer-Samuel Goldwyn SSD); Best Film Editing (Thomas Stanford); Best Music/Scoring of a Musical Picture (Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal). The Best Actor award went to Maximilian Schell for his role in "Judgment at Nuremberg" , and for the first time in Oscar history, the Best Actress award went to an actress in a foreign film, Sophia Loren for the lead in "La Ciociara" (or "Two Women"). "The Hustler", "Splendor in the Grass" and "The Guns of Navarone" won a total of four Oscars. Now, back to musicals -- the Best Music/Song was "Moon River" (Henry Mancini-music, Johnny Mercer-lyrics) from "Breakfast at Tiffany’s".
• 1962 - Imran Sherwani was born. British field hockey player.
• 1963 - Joe Scarborough was born. American television personality.
• 1963 - Marc Jacobs was born. American fashion designer.
• 1963 - Eddie Edwards dies (b. 1891). American jazz musician.
• 1963 - Xul Solar dies. Argentine auto-didact painter.
• 1964 - Rodrigo Mendonça, nasce no Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Actor: "Chiquinha Gonzaga" (1999) (mini) TV Series .... José ; "Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos" (1998) (mini) TV Series .... Moraes ; "Memorial de Maria Moura" (1994) (mini) TV Series ;"Dono do Mundo, O" (1991) TV Series ;
• 1964 - Rick Tocchet was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1964 - Rob Awalt was born. German football player.
• 1964 - Soyo Oka was born. Japanese musician.
• 1965 - Club Deportivo Universidad Catolica is founded in Quito, Ecuador.
• 1965 - En Buenos Aires, Argentina, se juega el partido de ida de la final de la Copa Libertadores entre Independiente y Peñarol, ganando Independiente por 1 gol a 0.
• 1965 – Paulina Porizkova was born in Prostejov, Czechoslovakia. [now Czech Republic]. Emigrated to Sweden early in her life. Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world. [1990]. Is a U.S. citizen. Measurements: 35B-23 1/2-35 1/2 (Elite modeling card- 1987), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine). Was the object of adulation for Octavia St. Laurent, a black transsexual, in the cult documentary Paris Is Burning (1990), thus making her a cult within a cult. In insider circles it is considered her biggest claim to fame. One of the world's top fashion models of the 1980s. (Large photo here).
• 1965 - Jay Wesley Neill was born (d. 2002). American convicted murderer.
• 1965 - Jeff Zucker was born. American television executive.
• 1966 – Sofia Loren /Carlo Ponti wed.
• 1966 - Cynthia Nixon was born. American actress.
• 1967 - The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) takes its maiden flight.
• 1967 - Rajendra Yadav was born. Indian writer.
• 1968 - Martin Luther King, Jr. is buried In his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, slain American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was laid to rest during a ceremony attended by one hundred thousand persons. On 04 April 1968, the most important leader of the US Blacks' civil rights movement was shot and killed by a sniper while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Motel Lorraine.
• 1969 - The "Chicago Eight" plead not guilty on federal charges of conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1970 - Mike Barz was born. American meteorologist and TV anchor.
• 1970 - Gustaf Tenggren dies (b. 1896). Swedish illustrator.
• 1971 - Jacques Villeneuve was born in St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada. Was Formula One driver for BAR from 1999-2003, scoring no championship points whatsoever in 1999. 1997 Formula 1 World Drivers Champion. His father's name Gilles Villeneuve. 1995 CART World Champion. 1995 Indianapolis 500 Winner. Made a comeback to F1 in 2004 season with Renault. He drove for Renault in China, Japan and Brazil. He made a deal with Sauber team and moved to Sauber from Renault after 2004.
• 1971 - Peter Canavan was born. Gaelic footballer.
• 1972 - James F. Byrnes dies (b. 02 May 1879). US politician, US representative (1911-1925) and senator (1931-1941) from South Carolina, Supreme Court justice, Director of Economic Stabilization, Director of the Office of War Mobilization, Secretary of State (1945-1947), Governor of South Carolina (1951-1955).
• 1974 - Andrew Hansen was born. Australian comedian The Chaser.
• 1974 - Alexander Pichushkin was born. Russian serial killer.
• 1974 - Jenna Jameson [Jenna Marie Massoli] was born in Las Vegas. American porn star.
• 1975 - The first game of the Philippine Basketball Association, the second oldest professional basketball league in the world.
• 1975 - Erika Ortiz Rocasolano was born (d. 2007). Spanish artist and sister of Letizia, Princess of Asturias.
• 1975 - Robbie Fowler was born. English footballer.
• 1976 - Phil Ochs dies (b. 1940). American singer.
• 1976 - Dagmar Nordstrom dies (b. 1903). American composer, pianist.
• 1977 – Donald Trump /Ivana Trump wed.
• 1977 - Gerard Way was born. American singer (My Chemical Romance).
• 1978 - Jorge Andrade was born. Portuguese football player.
• 1978 - Rachel Stevens was born in London, England, UK. Singer. Rachel started drama school at the age of 5. At 15 she was picked from 5000 people to win a modelling competition organised by Just 17 magazine. She did some modelling work and she then went to the London School of Fashion to study the fashion business. She got a diploma and then moved into fashion PR. Then at age 21 she joined the pop group S Club 7.
  
• 1978 - Vesna Pisarović was born in Brcko, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatian singer who had participation into The Eurovision Song Contest (2002) (11th place).
• 1978 - Clough Williams-Ellis dies (b. 1883). Welsh architect.
• 1979 - 51st Annual Academy Awards ceremony at Los Angeles’ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (L.A. Music Center) hosted by Johny Carsson. The Best Picture, "The Deer Hunter" (Barry Spikings, Michael Deeley, Michael Cimino, John Peverall, producers), also won for Best Director (Michael Cimino); Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken); Best Film Editing (Peter Zinner); and Best Sound (Richard Portman, William McCaughey, Aaron Rochin, C. Darin Knight). The Best Actor and Actress awards for performances in "Coming Home" were awarded to Jon Voight and Jane Fonda, respectively. This 1978 film also won a golden statuette for Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Nancy Dowd, Waldo Salt, Robert C. Jones). The intense "Midnight Express" won for Best Music/Original Score (Giorgio Moroder)and Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Oliver Stone). The Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role went to Maggie Smith in "California Suite", the Best Music/Song Oscar, for "Last Dance" from "Thank God It’s Friday", went to Paul Jabara.
• 1979 - Keshia Knight Pulliam was born. Americam actress (Rudy Huxtable, The Cosby Show).
• 1979 - Albert Hammond, Jr. was born. American guitarist (The Strokes).
• 1979 - Keith Nobbs was born. American actor.
• 1980 - Israeli troops move into Lebanon.
• 1980 - La Soyuz 35 lleva 2 cosmonautas hasta la estación Salyut 6.
• 1980 - Jerko Leko was born. Croatian footballer.
• 1980 - Yoanna House was born. American model.
• 1981 - Eric Harris was born in Wichita, Kansas, USA (d. 20 Apr 1999). Killed twelve students and one teacher with Dylan Klebold at Columbine High School. He commited suicide by gun shot wound to the head. His nickname 'Reb' was based on a character in his favourite computer game Doom 64.
• 1981 - Ireneusz Jeleń was born. Polish footballer.
• 1981 - Milan Bartovič was born. Slovak ice hockey player.
• 1981 - Dennis Sarfate was born. American baseball player.
• 1982 - Carlos Hernández was born. Costa Rican footballer.
• 1982 - Wilfrid Pelletier dies (b. 1896). French Canadian conductor.
• 1983 - Apple Computer hires Pepsi's John Sculley.
• 1984 - Johnny Carson was the host at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles for the 56th Annual Academy Awards. "Terms of Endearment" (James L. Brooks, producer) was voted Best Picture of 1983. "Terms of Endearment" also won for Best Director (James L. Brooks, again ... and, again for Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium); and Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson); and for Best Actress (Shirley MacLaine). MacLaine had been nominated five times over 26 years before winning the statuette. Robert Duvall won the Best Actor Award ("Tender Mercies") and the Best Supporting Actress title was bestowed on Linda Hunt for "The Year of Living Dangerously". A foreign film, "Fanny & Alexander", won three Academy Awards: Best Costume Design (Marik Vos-Lundh), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Anna Asp, Susanne Lingheim), & Best Cinematography (Sven Nykvist). Another film that endeared itself to audiences in 1983 was "The Right Stuff", honored for Best Music/Original Score (Bill Conti); Best Effects/Sound Effects Editing (Jay Boekelheide); Best Film Editing (Glenn Farr, Lisa Fruchtman, Stephen A. Rotter, Douglas Stewart, Tom Rolf); and Best Sound (Mark Berger, Thomas Scott, Randy Thom, David MacMillan). The Best Music/Song: "Flashdance...What a Feeling" (Giorgio Moroder-music, Keith Forsey and Irene Cara-lyrics) from the movie, "Flashdance".
• 1984 - Adam Loewen was born. Canadian baseball player.
• 1984 - Linda Chung was born. Hong Kong actress and singer.
• 1985 - Yamashita Tomohisa was born. Japanese singer.
• 1986 - The government of France rules against the privatization of French automaker Renault.
• 1986 - Primeiro CD musical lançado no Brasil: Garota de Ipanema, de Nara Leão e Roberto Menescal.
  
• 1986 - Brian Larsen was born. American musician and record producer.
• 1986 - Alison Angel was born. American amateur pornography actress.
• 1986 - Leighton Meester was born. American actress.
• 1987 - Dikye Baggett becomes the first person to undergo corrective surgery for Parkinson's disease.
• 1987 - Jarrod Mullen was born. Australian rugby league footballer.
• 1987 - Danny Guthrie was born. British footballer.
• 1987 - Jesse McCartney was born. American actor and singer.
• 1988 - US imposes economic sanctions on Panama.
• 1988 - Brook Benton dies (b. 1931). American singer.
• 1988 - David Prater dies (b. 1937). American singer (Sam & Dave).
• 1989 - April 9 tragedy in Tbilisi, Georgia: An anti-Soviet demonstration was quashed by the Soviet army.
• 1990 - Kristen Stewart was born. American actress.
• 1991 - Georgia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1991 - The Pulitzer Prize for fiction is awarded to John Updike for "Rabbit at Rest"; the drama prize goes to Neil Simon for Lost in Yonkers. In journalism, The Des Moines Register receives the gold medal for public service for its series about rape victim Nancy Ziegenmeyer, who'd allowed her name and pictures to be used.
• 1991 - Martin Hannett dies (b. 1948). Record producer.
• 1992 - US Federal Court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty on drug and racketeering charges. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison.
• 1992 - John Major wins the UK general election.
• 1992 - Sali Berisha assumes the Presidency of Albania.
• 1994 - The Saudi government revokes Osama bin Laden's citizenship and moves to freeze his assets in Saudi Arabia because of his support for Muslim fundamentalist movements.
• 1995 - Independiente de Avellaneda, Argentina gana la Recopa Sudamericana al derrotar a sus compatriotas de Vélez Sarsfield por 1 gol a 0. El partido se juega en Kobe, Japón.
• 1995 - Alberto Fujimori is reelected President of Perú.
• 1996 - Carlos Daniel dies in Lisbon (b. 11 May 1952). Portuguese actor.
• 1996 - Richard Condon dies (b. 1915). American novelist.
• 1996 - James W. Rouse dies (b. 1914). American real estate developer, activist, and philanthropist.
• 1997 - Inventor of the computer mouse wins inventor's award. Douglas Engelbart wins the $500'000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, a prestigious award for inventors, for inventing the computer mouse.
• 1997 - Lockheed Martin unveils the F-22 Raptor Stealth air superiority fighter.
• 1997 - Helene Hanff dies (b. 1916). American writer.
• 1997 - Mae Boren Axton dies (b. 1914). American singer and songwriter.
• 1998 - The National Prisoner of War Museum is dedicated in Andersonville, Georgia, on the site of an American Civil War POW camp.
• 1998 - Arabia Saudita: en la Meca 118 personas mueren aplastadas por una multitud, en el último día de la peregrinación ritual musulmana.
• 1998 - Elle Fanning was born. American child actress.
• 1998 - Tom Cora dies (b. 1953). American cellist and composer.
• 1999 - Ismail Omar Guelleh is elected president of Djibouti.
• 1999 - Emiko Kado dies (b. 1976). Japanese wrestler.
• 1999 - Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara is assassinated (b. 1949). Nigerian President and general.
• 2000 - Eduard Shevardnadze is re-elected president of the republic of Georgia in the Caucasus.
• 2000 - Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori falls just short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff for an unprecedented third term.
• 2000 - Five beatifications : 1) Mariam Theresia Chiramel Mankidiyan (1876-1926), born in the state of Kerala in 1876. She was a mystic famous for her visions and religious ecstasies, who underwent numerous exorcisms. She spent her life tending to the poorest of the poor. She founded the Congregation of the Holy Family. 2) Mary Elisabeth Hesselblad (1870-1957), born in Sweden, emigrated to the United States when she was 18 and worked as a nurse at Roosevelt Hospital in New York from 1888 to 1904. A Lutheran, she converted to Catholicism in 1902 and two years later became a nun. She returned to Sweden in 1923 and established the Order of St. Bridget. During World War II, she gave refuge to many Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis. 3) Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867), born in Bavaria, emigrated to the United States, was ordained a priest in Baltimore in 1844. He began his career ministering to German immigrants in Pittsburgh. Seelos was known for his humility — he once refused appointment as a bishop. During the US Civil War, Seelos went to Washington to lobby to keep his seminary students from being sent to the front. 4) Mariano de Jesús Euse-Hoyos (1845-1926), a Colombian priest ordained in Medellin in 1869. He spent his life ministering to peasants in Colombia. 5) Anna Rosa Gattorno (1831-1900), born in Genoa she became a nun after she was widowed at age 27. She founded the missionary Institute of the Daughters of St. Anne in 1866.
• 2000 - PASOK wins the national election in Greece.
• 2001 - Willie Stargell dies (b. 1940). Baseball player.
• 2002 - The funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother of the United Kingdom is held at Westminster Abbey.
• 2002 - Patrick Holey, suicide by swallowing painkillers, together with his wife Jennifer Holey, 19 and pregnant, who survives. The two had been accused of an 01 April sex crime at their home against a 14-year-old girl. On 25 April 2002, Jennifer Holey is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct for aiding her husband in the assault. Patrick Holey's mother, Kathleen Holey, faces two charges of assisted suicide.
• 2002 - Leopold Vietoris dies (b. 1891). Austrian mathematician.
• 2002 - Pat Flaherty dies (b. 1926). American racecar driver.
• 2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: The Ba'ath regime headed by Saddam Hussein in Iraq is deposed, falling to American forces.
• 2003 - The threat of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) has altered religious practices in Singapore. Reuters reports that Muslims who have SARS symptoms have been excused from Friday prayers by the local Islamic council; and that Catholic Archbishop Nicholas Chia has ordered general absolution to replace individual confessions, and the option of receiving the Eucharist on the tongue to be suspended, it is to be given only in the hand.
• 2003 - Jorge Oteiza dies. Spanish sculptor.
• 2003 - Abraham Zabludovsky dies. Polish-born Mexican architect.
• 2004 - Silvio Berlusconi, Italian premier, does a surprising visito to Iraq.
• 2004 - Lélia Abramo dies (b. 1911). Brazilian actress.
• 2005 - HRH Charles, Prince of Wales weds Camilla Parker Bowles.
• 2005 - Andrea Dworkin dies (b. 1946). American feminist and writer.
• 2005 - Scott Mason dies (b. 1976). Australian cricketer.
• 2006 - Billy Hitchcock dies (b. 1916). American baseball player, coach, and official.
• 2006 - Vilgot Sjöman dies (b. 1924). Swedish writer and film director.
• 2007 - Egon Bondy dies (b. 1930). Czech philosopher and writer.
• Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor, celebrated as Bataan Day in Bataan) in the Philippines.
• Vimy Ridge Day in Canada commemorating the Battle of Vimy Ridge.