On this day in History - Apr. 16

• 1178 BC - A solar eclipse may mark the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca to his Kingdom after the Trojan War.
• 0069 - Otho dies (b. 0032). Roman Emperor.
• 0073 - Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt.
• 0556 - Pelagius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
• 0744 - al-Walid II ibn Abd al-Malik dies. Umayyad caliph.
• 0778 - King Louis the Pious was born (d. 0840).
• 0924 - Berengar of Friuli dies. King of Italy.
• 1071 - Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy.
• 1113 - Sviatopolk II of Kiev dies (b. 1050). Russian prince.
• 1118 - Adelaide del Vasto dies. Wife of Roger II of Sicily.
• 1198 - Duke Frederick I of Austria dies.
• 1319 - King John II of France was born (d. 1364).
• 1346 - The Serbian Empire is proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, occupying much of the South-Eastern Europe.
• 1395 - Azzo X d'Este is defeated at the Battle of Castelmaggiore by Venetian-Ferrarese troops.
• 1495 - Petrus Apianus was born (d. 1557). German mathematician.
• 1521 - Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the rest of the estates of the empire.
• 1581 - Spanish Felipe II is proclaimed King of Portugal.
• 1582 - Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
• 1635 - Frans van Mieris, the Elder, was born (d. 12 Mar 1681). Baroque Dutch painter.
• 1645 - Tobias Hume dies. English composer.
• 1646 - Jules Hardouin Mansart was born (d. 1708). French architect.
• 1647 - (infant baptism) Matthijs Naiveu (or Neveu) was born (d. 04 Jun 1726). Dutch painter.
• 1652 - Clement XII, [Lorenzo Corsini], Italy, Pope, 1730-40.
• 1660 - Hans Sloane was born (d. 1753). British collector, naturalist and physician.
• 1661 - Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax was born (d. 1715). British poet and statesman.
• 1682 - John Hadley was born (d. 1744). British inventor.
• 1687 - Gaspar Pieter Verbruggen dies (b. 08 Sep 1635). Flemish artist.
• 1687 - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham dies (b. 1628). English statesman.
• 1689 - Aphra Behn dies (b. c.1640). English dramatist.
• 1693 - Anne Sophie Reventlow was born (d. 1743). Queen of Denmark and Norway.
• 1705 - Isaac Newton is knighted.
• 1728 - Joseph Black was born (d. 1799). Scottish chemist, discoverer of carbon dioxide and magnesium.
• 1730 - Henry Clinton was born (d. 1795). British general.
• 1746 - Second Jacobite Rebellion: The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the Hanoverian British Government.
• 1755 - Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun was born (d. 1842). French Neoclassical painter specialized in portraits.
• 1763 - George Grenville assume o cargo de primeiro-ministro britânico.
• 1780 - The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
• 1782 - Giuseppe Vasi dies (b. 28 Aug 1710). Italian engraver and painter.
• 1783 - Christian Mayer dies (b. 1719). Czech astronomer.
• 1788 - Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon dies (b. 1707). French naturalist.
• 1799 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Mount Tabor - Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
• 1800 - George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan was born (d. 1888). British soldier.
• 1812 - Martin von Molitor dies (b. 20 Feb 1759). Austrian artist.
• 1813 - Muere Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, mariscal de campo ruso que rechazó la invasión de Napoleón.
• 1817 - Martin Drölling, dies. French academic painter baptized as an infant on 19 Sep 1752.
• 1821 - Ford Madox Brown was born (d. 11 Oct 1893). English Pre-Raphaelite painter.
• 1823 - Ferdinand Eisenstein was born (d. 1852). German mathematician.
• 1825 - Johann Heinrich Füssli, “Henry Fuseli”, was born (d. 07 Feb 1741). Swiss British Romantic painter, draftsman, and writer, active in England.
• 1825 - Jacob Bronnun Scavenius Estrup was born (d. 1913). Danish politician who was Council President of Denmark (1875-1994).
• 1827 - Octave Crémazie was born (d. 1879). French Canadian poet.
• 1828 - Francisco de Goya [Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes] dies (b. 30 Mar 1746). Spanish painter. One of the great Spanish masters, known for such works as Nude Maja, Clothed Maja and Third of May, 1808.
• 1838 - Ernest Solvay was born. Belgian chemist.
• 1844 - Anatole France was born (d. 1924). French writer, winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in literature.
• 1846 - Domenico Dragonetti dies (b. 1763). Italian composer.
• 1847 - Hans Auer was born (d. 1906). Swiss architect.
• 1848 - Kandukuri Veeresalingam was born (d. 1919). Social Reformer of Andhra Pradesh, India.
  
• 1850 - Marie Tussaud dies (b. 1761). Founder of the Madame Tussauds wax museum.
• 1853 - The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
• 1854 - Un terremoto destruye San Salvador. Se traslada la capital de forma provisional a Cojutepeque.
• 1855 - João Lúcio de Azevedo was born (d. 1933). Portuguese historian.
• 1858 - The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, was wound up.
• 1859 - Winifred Cochrane was born (d. 1924). Countess of Dundonald and philanthropist.
• 1859 - Alexis de Tocqueville dies in Cannes (b. 1805). French historian.
• 1862 - American Civil War: The Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
• 1862 - American Civil War: A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.
• 1863 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg - 12 ships lead by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Only one ship was lost.
• 1865 - Henry George Chauvel was born (d. 1945). Australian general.
• 1866 - José de Diego was born (d. 1918). Puerto Rico statesman and journalist.
• 1867 - Wilbur Wright was born (d. 30 May 1912). One of the Wright Brothers. American pioneer pilot.
• 1871 - John Millington Synge was born (d. 24 Mar 1909). Irish playwright: The Playboy of the Western World, The Aran Islands, Shadow of the Glen, Riders to the Sea, The Well of the Saints.
• 1878 - Reginald (Tip) Foster was born (d. 1914). Only man to captain England at both football and cricket.
• 1879 - Jacob Jan van Der Maaten dies (b. 1810). Dutch painter.
• 1879 - Bernadette Soubirous dies (b. 1844). French shepherd girl.
• 1881 - In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
• 1883 - Paul Kruger becomes the first President of South Africa.
• 1886 - Ernst Thälmann was born (d. 1944). German politician.
• 1888 - Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski dies (b. 1845). Polish physicist.
• 1889 - Charlie Chaplin was born (d. 1977). English actor, writer and film producer.
• 1893 - Joseph Yasser was born. Composer.
• 1895 - Robert Dean Frisbie was born (d. 1948). American writer.
• 1896 – Pat Clayton, British surveyor and explorer (d. 1962)
• 1896 - Tristan Tzara was born (d. 1963). Romanian poet and essayist.
• 1897 - Frederick William Winterbotham was born (d. 1990). Code breaker.
• 1899 - Osman Achmatowicz was born (d. 1988). Polish chemist.
• 1904 - Fifi D'Orsay was born (d. 1983). Canadian actress.
• 1904 - Maximilian Kronberger dies (b. 1888). German poet.
• 1904 - Samuel Smiles dies (b. 1812). Scottish writer and reformer.
• 1905 - Frits Philips was born (d. 2005). Dutch businessman.
• 1907 - August Eigruber was born (d. 1947). Austrian war criminal.
• 1907 - Joseph-Armand Bombardier was born (d. 1964). French Canadian inventor and businessman (Bombardier).
• 1908 - António Lopes Ribeiro was born in Lisbon (d. Apr 1975). Portuguese film director and producer (Director: Pai Tirano, O (1941) Amor de Perdição (1943) Frei Luís de Sousa (1950) Primo Basílio, O ; Producer : Amor de Perdição (1943); Aniki Bóbó (1942); Pátio das Cantigas, O (1942); Pai Tirano, O (1941) (producer) (1959). Brother of Francisco Ribeiro (Ribeirinho) - actor.
• 1910 – The University of Queensland is founded, with the names of the members of the first Senate published in the Queensland Government Gazette.
• 1910 - Berton Roueché was born (d. 1994). American medical writer, The New Yorker magazine staff writer.
• 1912 - Harriett Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
• 1912 – Catherine Scorsese was born (d. 1997). Italian-American actress.
• 1912 - Garth Williams was born (d. 1996). American illustrator.
• 1913 - Les Tremayne (Henning) was born (d. 19 Dec 2003). Actor: The War of the Worlds, Francis Goes to West Point, The Slime People, I Love Melvin.
• 1914 - John Hodiak was born (d. 19 Oct 1955). American actor : The Miniver Story, Conquest of Cochise.
• 1914 - George William Hill dies (b. 1838). American astronomer.
• 1915 - Gerard McLarnon was born (d. 1997). Irish playwright and actor.
• 1915 - Nelson W. Aldrich dies (b. 1841). Senator from Rhode Island.
• 1917 - Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd (present-day Saint Petersburg) from exile in Finland.
• 1917 - Barry Nelson was born (d. 2007). American actor.
• 1918 - Dick Gibson was born. British racing driver.
• 1918 - Joan Alexander was born. American actress.
• 1918 - Spike Milligan was born (d. 2002). British comedian.
• 1919 - Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of Indian protestors during the Amritsar Massacre. By organizing this event, Gandhi indirectly opposed the British government by temporarily halting the economy (as no Hindus worked on that day).
• 1919 - Merce Cunningham was born. American dancer and choreographer - films: Changing Steps, Beach Birds for Camera.
• 1919 - Tom Willmore was born (d. 2005). English geometer.
• 1920 - Theodore Vail dies (b. 1845). American telephone industrialist who was the forst President of AT&T.
• 1921 - Sir Peter Ustinov was born (d. 28 Mar 2004). Academy Award-winning actor: Spartacus [1960], Topkapi [1964]; Quo Vadis, Death on the Nile, Beau Bummel, Logan's Run, Billy Budd. Film director.
• 1922 - The Treaty of Rapallo, in which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations between Berlin and Moscow, is signed.
• 1922 - Kingsley Amis was born (d. 22 Oct 1995). English author (The Crime of the Century, Lucky Jim).
• 1923 - Bennie Green was born (d. 23 Mar 1977). Trombonist, lyricist: The Diamond and the Goose; journalist.
• 1924 - Henry Mancini [Enrico Nicola Mancini] was born (d. 14 Jun 1994). Amerian Academy Award-winning composer: Moon River [1961], Days of Wine and Roses [1962], Breakfast at Tiffany’s score [1961], Victor/Victoria score [1982]; composed themes for The Pink Panther, Mr. Lucky, Peter Gunn, Charade, NBC Mystery Movie, NBC Nightly News, Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet; 20 Grammy Awards.
• 1924 - John Harvey-Jones was born (d. 2008). English industrialist.
• 1924 - Rudy Pompilli was born (d. 1976). American saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets).
• 1925 - During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
• 1926 - Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner is distributed as the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection.
• 1927 - Edie Adams was born. American actress.
• 1927 - [Joseph Alois Ratzinger] Pope Benedict XVI was born.
• 1927 - Peter Mark Richman was born. American actor.
• 1927 - Gaston Leroux dies (b. 1868). French author.
• 1928 - Dick "Night Train" Lane was born (d. 2002). American football player.
• 1928 - Henry Birks dies (b. 1840). Canadian businessman, founder of Henri Birks and Sons.
• 1929 - Ed Townsend was born (d. 2003). American singer and songwriter.
• 1929 - Roy Hamilton was born (d. 20 Jul 1969). American singer: You’ll Never Walk Alone, If I Loved You, Ebb Tide, Unchained Melody, Don’t Let Go, You Can Have Her.
• 1930 - Herbie Mann was born (d. 2003). American jazz flute player.
• 1930 - José Carlos Mariátegui dies. Peruvian journalist and writer.
• 1931 - Edie Adams (Elizabeth Edith Enke) was born. Actress: The Apartment, The Oscar, Love with the Proper Stranger, The Ernie Kovacs Show; spokesperson for Muriel Cigars: “Hey big spender, spend a little time with me”.
• 1932 - Ronaldo Simões Coelho was born. Brazilian writer and psychiatrist.
• 1932 - Walter Launt Palmer dies (b. 01 Aug 1854). US painter, son of the sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer.
• 1933 - Ike Pappas was born. Newsman: CBS News.
• 1933 - Joan Bakewell was born. British broadcaster.
• 1935 - Bobby Vinton [Stanley Vintulla] was born. Singer: Roses are Red [My Love], Blue on Blue, Blue Velvet, Mr. Lonely, There! I’ve Said It Again, My Melody of Love.
• 1935 - Sarah Kirsch was born. German poet.
• 1935 - Radio program Fibber McGee and Molly debuts.
• 1937 - Joseph Whipp was born. American actor.
• 1938 - Gordon Wilson was born. Scottish politician.
• 1938 - Rich Rollins was born. American baseballer.
• 1938 - Steve Bloomer dies (b. 1874). English footballer.
• 1939 - Boris Dvornik was born. Croatian actor.
• 1939 - Dusty Springfield [Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien] was born in Hampstead, London, England, UK (d. 02 Mar 1999). Singer: Wishin’ and Hopin’, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, The Look of Love, Son-of-a-Preacher Man, The Windmills of Your Mind, A Brand New Me; group: The Springfields: Silver Threads and Golden Needles; inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [15- Mar-99].
• 1940 - Benoît Bouchard was born. French Canadian politician.
• 1940 - Javier Adúriz was born. Argentine poet.
• 1940 - Queen Margaret II of Denmark was born.
• 1940 - Rolf Dieter Brinkmann was born (d. 1975). German poet (Pop-Literatur).
• 1941 - World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
• 1941 - Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians throws the only Opening Day no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
• 1941 - Émile Bernard dies (b. 28 Apr 1868). French painter and writer.
• 1942 - Frank Williams was born. English Formula 1 constructor and team principal (WilliamsF1).
• 1942 - Jim Lonborg was born. American baseball: pitcher: Boston Red Sox [Cy Young Award: 1967/World Series: 1967/all-star: 1967], Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies.
• 1943 - Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.
• 1943 – Dave Peverett was born (d. 2000). English musician (Foghat, Savoy Brown).
  
• 1943 - Ruth Madoc was born. British actress.
• 1944 – Richard Bradshaw was born. British opera conductor.
• 1945 - WWII: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin.
• 1945 - The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War camp Oflag IVc (Colditz Castle).
• 1945 - German troops in Groningen surrender.
• 1945 - German ship Goya, overfilled with refugees, sinks after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing more than 7,000 people.
• 1945 - Tom Allen was born. American politician.
• 1946 - Syria gains independence.
• 1946 - Margot Adler was born. American journalist.
• 1946 - Arthur Chevrolet dies (b. 1884). Pioneer automobile racer and designer.
• 1947 - Texas City Disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas to catch fire, killing almost 600.
• 1947 - Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• 1947 - Gerry Rafferty was born. British musician and songwriter: Stuck in the Middle with You, Star, Baker Street.
• 1947 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) was born. American basketball Hall of Famer: LA Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks: NBA career record: games played [1.560], points [38,387], field goals [15,387], blocked shots [3,189] cameo role: Airplane!
• 1947 - Rudolf Hoess dies (b. 1900). Commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
• 1948 - Elpidio Quirino y Rivera becomes President of Philipines.
• 1948 - Lynne Franks was born. British public relations consultant.
• 1949 - Dave Garroway moves to television from radio to host the musical-variety show Garroway at Large.
• 1949 - Bill Spooner was born. Musician: guitar: group: The Tubes: LPs: Young and Rich, T.R.A.S.H., Love Bomb.
• 1949 - Melody Patterson was born. American actress.
• 1950 - David Graf was born (d. 2001). American actor.
• 1951 - HMS Submarine Affray disappeared mysteriously with 75 lives.
• 1951 - Björgvin Halldórsson was born. Icelandic singer.
• 1951 - Ioan Mihai Cochinescu was born. Romanian writer and photographer.
• 1951 – Mordechai Ben David was born. Jewish singer
• 1951 - Pierre Toutain-Dorbec was born. French photographer, painter, sculptor.
• 1952 - Bill Belichick was born. American football coach.
• 1952 - Billy West was born. American voice actor.
• 1952 - Michel Blanc was born. French actor.
• 1953 - Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht Brittania.
• 1953 - A fire at a Chicago metalworking plant kills 35 people.
• 1953 - Diogo Dória was born. Portuguese actor.
• 1953 - J. Neil Schulman was born. American science fiction writer and activist.
• 1953 - Jay O. Sanders was born. American actor: Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Crime Story, Aftermash.
• 1953 - Peter Garrett was born. Australian musician (Midnight Oil).
• 1954 - Ellen Barkin was born in Bronx, New York. American Emmy Award-winning actress: Before Women Had Wings [1997 miniseries]; Diner, Tender Mercies, Wild Bill, Bad Company, Daniel, Sea of Love, Eddie and the Cruisers.
• 1954 - John Bowe was born. Australian racing driver.
• 1955 - Bruce Bochy was born. American baseball player and manager.
• 1955 – Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg was born. Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
• 1955 - Rita Ribeiro was born. Portuguese actress.
• 1956 - David McDowell Brown ws born (d. 2003). American astronaut.
• 1956 - Lise-Marie Morerod was born. Swiss slalom skier.
• 1958 - 22nd Golf Masters Championship: Arnold Palmer wins, shooting a 284.
• 1958 - Javier Sardá was born. Spanish TV presenter.
• 1958 - Rosalind Franklin dies (b. 1920). British chemist.
• 1959 - Alison Ramsay was born. Scottish field hockey player.
• 1959 - Scott McKinsey was born. American television director.
• 1960 - Pierre Littbarski was born in Berlin, Germany. German former soccer player.
• 1960 - Rafael Benitez was born. Spanish football manager.
• 1960 - Wahab Akbar was born (d. 2007). Filipino politician.
• 1961 - Doris Dragović was born. Croatian singer.
• 1962 - Ian MacKaye was born. American musician (Fugazi and Minor Threat).
• 1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter From a Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
• 1963 - Great Train Robbery - 12 men are sentenced to a total of 307 years.
• 1963 - Jimmy Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah. American singer (The Osmonds: the youngest Osmond).
• 1963 – Salim Malik was born. Pakistani cricket player.
• 1964 - Sentences totalling 307 years were passed on 12 men who stole £2.6m in used bank otes after holding up the night mail train travelling from Glasgow to London in August of 1963 - a heist that became known as the Great Train Robbery.
• 1964 - Dave Pirner was born. American rock singer (Soul Asylum).
• 1964 - David Kohan was born. American television producer.
• 1965 - Jon Cryer was born. American actor: Heads, Hot Shots!, Superman 4: The Quest for Peace, Pretty in Pink, No Small Affair, Partners, The Famous Teddy Z.
• 1965 - Martin Lawrence was born. American actor, comedian and producer.
• 1965 - Michael Wong Man Tak was born. Hong Kong based actor, director, singer and producer.
• 1965 - Floris Jespers dies (b. 1889). Belgian artist.
• 1968 - Martin Dahlin was born. Swedish footballer.
• 1968 – Vickie Guerrero was born. WWE professional wrestling personality.
• 1968 - Edna Ferber dies (b. 1885). American author.
• 1969 - Fernando Viña was born. American baseball player.
• 1969 – Patrik Järbyn was born. Swedish alpine ski racer.
• 1970 - Comienza en Viena la conferencia SALT, entre soviéticos y estadounidenses, en la que tratan la limitación de armas estratégicas.
• 1970 - Paisley victory rattles NI parliament : Protestant right-winger Ian Paisley has won a seat in Northern Ireland's parliament.
• 1970 - Walt Williams was born. American basketball player.
• 1970 - Richard Neutra dies (b. 1892). American architect.
• 1971 – Moses Chan was born. Hong Kong actor.
• 1971 - Natasha Zvereva was born in Minsk, Belarus. Tennis ace, finals 1995 Indian Wells.
• 1971 - Peter Billingsley was born. American actor.
• 1971 - Seigo Yamamoto was born. Japanese racing driver.
• 1971 - Selena [Quintanilla Perez] was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, USA singer Grammy-1994) (d. 31 Mar 1995 Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. - homicide).
• 1972 - Apollo program: Apollo 16 launches toward the Moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive - Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
• 1972 - Conchita Martinez was born. Spanish tennis player.
• 1972 - Yasunari Kawabata dies (b. 1899). Japanese novelist Nobel Prize in Literature - 1968.
• 1973 – Aliaune Thiam Akon was born. American singer and song writer.
• 1973 - Bonnie Pink was born. Japanese singer.
• 1973 - Nino Bravo was born. Spanish singer, songwriter.
• 1974 - Mat Devine was born. American singer (Kill Hannah).
• 1974 – Valarie Rae Miller was born. American actress.
• 1974 - Xu Jinglei was born. Chinese actress, singer and director.
• 1975 - Cambodian Red Khmer occupy Phnom Penh.
• 1975 - Domi Chirongo (Domingos Carlos Pedro) was born in Maputo. Mozambican poet.
• 1975 – Kelli O'Hara was born. American singer/actress.
• 1975 - Nick Pickard was born. British actor.
• 1975 - Sean Maher was born. American actor.
• 1975 - Tiago (Tiago Alexandre B. Ferreira) was born. Portuguese footballer (goalkeeper of Sporting).
• 1976 - Dan Kellner was born. American fencer.
• 1976 - Lukas Haas was born. American actor: Boys, Leap of Faith, Rambling Rose, The Lady in White, Witness, Mars Attacks!
• 1976 - Shu Qi was born. Taiwanese actress.
• 1977 – Akon was born. American singer.
• 1977 - Alek Wek was born. Sudanese supermodel.
• 1977 - Fredrik Ljungberg was born. Swedish footballer.
• 1977 - Thomas Rasmussen was born. Danish footballer.
• 1978 - André Valadão was born. Brazilian singer.
• 1978 - Igor Tudor was born. Croatian football player.
• 1978 - Lara Dutta was born. Indian actress and ex-Miss Universe.
• 1978 - Matthew Lloyd was born. Australian football player.
• 1978 - Richard Lindner dies (b. 11 Nov 1901). German born /US Pop painter.
• 1978 - Vicente Leporace dies (b. 1912). Brazilian actor.
• 1978 - Lucius Clay dies (b. 1897). American general.
• 1979 - 83rd Boston Marathon won by Bill Rodgers of Mass in 2:09:27.
• 1979 - 8th Boston Women's Marathon won by Joan Benoit Samuelson in 2:35:15.
• 1979 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Sam Shepard for "Buried child".
• 1979 - Christijan Albers was born. Dutch Formula One driver.
• 1979 - Howlin' Pelle Almqvist was born. Swedish musician (The Hives).
• 1979 – Sean Costello was born. American Blues musician.
• 1979 - Sixto Peralta was born. Argentine footballer.
• 1980 - Adriana Sage was born in Los Angeles, California. American pornostar.
• 1980 - Paul London was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1981 - The first American space shutte, Columbia, returns safely to Earth.
• 1981 – Anestis Agritis was born. Greek footballer.
• 1982 - Barry Jones was born. Scottish magician.
• 1982 - Boris Diaw was born. French basketball player.
• 1982 - Gina Carano was born. American Mixed Martial Arts fighter.
• 1982 - Jonathan Vilma was born. American football player.
• 1983 - Cat Osterman was born. University of Texas softball pitcher.
• 1983 - George Patis was born. Greek bandminton player.
• 1983 - Marié Digby was born. American singer.
• 1984 - 13th Boston Women's Marathon won by Lorraine Moller of NZ in 2:29:28.
• 1984 - 88th Boston Marathon won by Geoff Smith of Great Britain in 2:10:34.
• 1984 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Mary Oliver for "American Primitive".
• 1984 - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes was born. American author.
• 1984 – Noah Fleiss was born. American actor.
• 1984 – Tucker Fredricks was born. American speed skater.
• 1985 - O governo da África do Sul abole a lei que proíbe o casamento entre negros e brancos.
• 1985 - Benjamín Rojas was born. Argentine actor and singer.
• 1985 - Luol Deng was born. British-Sudanese basketball player.
• 1985 - Mark Baker was born. Welsh author and historian.
• 1985 - Scott Brady dies (b. 1924). American actor.
• 1986 - O Congresso Nacional brasileiro aprova o Plano Cruzado.
• 1986 – Neil Haskell was born. Finalist of SYTYCD Season 3.
• 1986 - Paul di Resta was born. British racing driver.
• 1987 - Comienza en Argentina la insurrección militar de Semana Santa, liderada por Aldo Rico y el coronel Venturino.
• 1987 - Peter Taylor's "Summons to Memphis" wins Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
• 1987 - Pulitzer prize awarded to August Wilson for "Fences".
• 1987 - British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in central London charged with gross indecency.
• 1987 - Aaron Lennon was born. British footballer.
• 1988 - In Forlì (Italy), Red Brigades kill a Italian Italian_senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita.
• 1990 - 19th Boston Women's Marathon won by Rosa Mota of Portugal (third time in a row) in 2:25:23. Uta Pippig (RDA) was second (2.28.03) and Mexican Maria Trujillo., third (2.28.53).
• 1990 - 94th Boston Marathon won by Italian Gelindo Bordin in 2:08:19.
• 1990 - The "Doctor of Death," Jack Kevorkian, goes through with his first assisted suicide.
• 1990 - Lorraine Nicholson was born. American actress.
• 1991 - David Lean dies (b. 25 Mar 1908). American film director director (2 Academy Awards-Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia).
• 1992 - Afghanistan president Najibullah resigns.
• 1992 - The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
• 1992 - Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg was born. Prince of Luxembourg.
• 1992 - Neville Brand dies (b. 1920). American actor.
• 1993 - Presta juramento el nuevo presidente de Nigeria, Mahaman Usman, el primero elegido democráticamente en más de tres décadas.
• 1993 - Mirai Nagasu was born. American Figure Skater.
• 1994 - Liliana Mumy was born. American child actress.
• 1994 - Ralph Ellison dies (b. 1914). American writer.
• 1995 - 56th PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Ray Floyd wins.
• 1995 - Iqbal Masih dies (b. 1982). Pakistani child slave labourer, activist.
• 1996 - France Télécom introduces its Wanadoo Internet service.
• 1996 - El príncipe Andrés de Inglaterra y su esposa Sara, Duques de York, anuncian su divorcio.
• 1996 - Juddy Collins /Louis Nelson wed.
• 1996 - Tomás Gutiérrez Alea dies in Habana (b. 11 Dec 1928). Cuban film director.
• 1996 - Raymond Earl Hill dies at 62. Saxophonist.
• 1996 - Stavros Niarchos dies (b. 1909). Greek shipping tycoon.
• 1997 - Doris McGowen Beck Angleton, a Houston, Texas socialite, is murdered in her River Oaks home. Robert Nicholas Angleton, Doris' husband, was found innocent of the crime by a Texas jury. His brother, Roger Nicholas Angleton would later admit to killing her in a suicide note.
• 1997 - Roland Topor dies (b. 1938). French illustrator.
• 1997 - Incêndio em boite na cidade de Amarante - Portugal (12 vítimas).
• 1998 - The Nashville Tornado of 1998, one of the most serious urban tornadoes causes one death and significantly damages downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
• 1998 - Alberto Calderón dies (b. 1920). Argentine mathematician.
• 1998 - Fred Davis dies (b. 1913). English snooker player.
• 1999 - Skip Spence dies (b. 1946). Canadian-born guitarist, singer and songwriter (Jefferson Airplane).
• 2000 - Protests against the World Bank and IMF in Washington, DC.
• 2001 - First 3G voice call on Vodafone UK's 3G network.
• 2001 - Alec Stock dies (b. 1917). English football manager.
• 2001 - Giacomo Gentilomo dies. Italian film director.
• 2001 - Michael Ritchie dies (b. 1920). American film director.
• 2002 – Billy Ayre dies (b. 1952). English footballer and manager.
• 2002 - Robert Urich dies (b. 1946). American actor.
• 2002 - Ruth Fertel dies (b. 1927). American restaurateur.
• 2003 - Makobo Modjadji is crowned the new Rain Queen of Balobedu.
• 2003 - The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.
• 2003 – Alina Foley was born. Amertican child actress.
• 2008 – Princess Eléonore of Belgium, Belgian princess
• 2003 - Graham Jarvis dies (b. 1930). Canadian actor.
• 2003 - Graham Stuart Thomas dies (b. 1930). English horticultural artist, author, and garden designer.
• 2004 – The super liner Queen Mary 2 embarks on her first Trans-Atlantic crossing, linking the golden age of ocean travel to the modern age of ocean travel.
• 2004 - Parlamento espanhol aprova José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero para o cargo de primeiro-ministro.
• 2004 - Início do processo por corrupção contra o primeiro-ministro Silvio Berlusconi.
• 2005 - Indiana funeral procession of longtime Little Oscar mascot George Molchan, 82, is led by Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.
• 2005 - Kay Walsh dies (b. 1911). British actress.
• 2005 - Kim Mu-saeng dies (b. 1943). South Korean actor.
• 2005 - Marla Ruzicka dies (b. 1976). American humanitarian worker and peace activist.
• 2006 - Francisco Adam dies (b. 1983). Portuguese actor and model.
• 2007 - Virginia Tech massacre: the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, in which a gunman shoots 32 people to death and injures 23 others before committing suicide.
• 2007 – Frank Bateson dies (b. 1909). New Zealand astronomer.
• 2007 – G. V. Loganathan dies (b. 1954). Indian American professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
• 2007 - Gaetan Duchesne dies (b. 1962). Canadian hockey player.
• 2007 – Jocelyne Couture-Nowak dies (b. 1958). American instructor of French.
  
• 2007 – Kevin Granata dies (b. 1961). American professor of Engineering.
• 2007 – Liviu Librescu dies (b. 1930). American Jewish-Romanian professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics.
• 2007 – Maria Lenk dies (b. 1915). Brazilian swimmer and first Brazilian woman to compete in the Olympic Games.
• 2007 – Seung-Hui Cho dies (b. 1984). Korean murderer; see List of victims of the Virginia Tech massacre.
• 2008 – Democratic senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama participate in the final Democratic primary debate of 2008 in Philadelphia.
• 2008 - Princess Eléonore of Belgium was born. Belgian princess.
• 2008 - Edward Lorenz dies (b. 1917). American mathematician and meteorologist.
• 2008 – Joseph Solman dies (b. 1909). American painter.
• Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C.
• Worl Voice Day.
• Birthday of the Queen celebrated in Greenland.