1457 BC – Likely date of the Battle of Megiddo between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh, the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
73 – Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Great Jewish Revolt.
1346 – Dušan the Mighty is proclaimed Emperor, with the Serbian Empire occupying much of the Balkans.
1520 – The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V.
1521 – Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the other estates of the empire.
1582 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
1746 – The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland. After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
1780 – The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
1799 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor – Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
1818 – The United States Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
1847 – The accidental shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand land wars.
1853 – The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
1858 – The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is wound up.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
1862 – American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1881 – In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
1910 – The oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena still used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.
1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
1917 – Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia from exile in Switzerland.
1919 – Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier.
1919 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.
1922 – The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed.
1925 – During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
1941 – World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
1941 – World War II: The Ustaše, a Croatian far-right organization is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers after the Axis Operation 25 invasion.
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.
1944 – World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
1945 – The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).
1945 – More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.
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.
1953 – Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia.
1962 – Walter Cronkite takes over as the lead news anchor of the CBS Evening News, during which time he would become "the most trusted man in America".
1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1972 – Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1990 – The "Doctor of Death", Jack Kevorkian, participates in his first assisted suicide.
1992 – The Katina P runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
2001 – India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.
2003 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.
2007 – Virginia Tech massacre: Seung-Hui Cho guns down 32 people and injures 23 before committing suicide.
2012 – The trial for Anders Behring Breivik begins in Oslo, Norway.
2012 – The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
2013 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, the strongest in the country in 40 years, killing at least 35 people.
***
Births
1319 – John II of France (d. 1364)
1488 – Jungjong of Joseon (d. 1544)
1495 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1557)
1516 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (d. 1550)
1646 – Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect, designed the Château de Dampierre and Grand Trianon (d. 1708)
1660 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician (d. 1753)
1661 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician (d. 1715)
1682 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (d. 1744)
1693 – Anne Sophie Reventlow, Danish wife of Frederick IV of Denmark (d. 1743)
1697 – Johann Gottlieb Görner, German organist and composer (d. 1778)
1728 – Joseph Black, French-Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1799)
1730 – Henry Clinton, English general and politician (d. 1795)
1755 – Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)
1786 – John Franklin, English admiral and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (d. 1847)
1800 – George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, English field marshal (d. 1888)
1808 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 6th U.S. Secretary of the Interior (d. 1864)
1821 – Ford Madox Brown, French-English painter (d. 1893)
1823 – Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician (d. 1852)
1827 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian poet (d. 1879)
1839 – Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, Italian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908)
1834 – Charles Lennox Richardson, English-Chinese merchant (d. 1862)
1844 – Anatole France, French journalist, author, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
1847 – Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (d. 1906)
1848 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (d. 1919)
1851 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (d. 1930)
1865 – Harry Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
1866 – José de Diego, Puerto Rican journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1918)
1867 – Wilbur Wright, American pilot, engineer, and businessman, co-founded the Wright Company (d. 1912)
1871 – John Millington Synge, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1909)
1878 – R. E. Foster, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1914)
1882 – Seth Bingham, American organist and composer (d. 1972)
1885 – Leo Weiner, Hungarian composer and educator (d. 1960)
1886 – Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)
1886 – Margaret Woodrow Wilson, American daughter of Woodrow Wilson (d. 1944)
1888 – Billy Minter, English footballer, trainer, manager and assistant secretary (d. 1940)
1889 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1977)
1890 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek javelin thrower (d. 1957)
1890 – Gertrude Chandler Warner, American author (d. 1979)
1891 – Dorothy P. Lathrop, American children's author (d. 1980)
1892 – Howard Mumford Jones, American writer (d. 1980)
1893 – Germaine Guèvremont, Canadian author (d. 1968)
1894 – Ernst Ziegler, German actor (d. 1974)
1895 – Ove Arup, English-Danish engineer and businessman, founded Arup (d. 1988)
1896 – Robert Henry Best, American journalist (d. 1952)
1896 – Pat Clayton, English soldier and surveyor (d. 1962)
1896 – Tristan Tzara, Romanian-French poet and critic (d. 1963)
1899 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist and educator (d. 1988)
1904 – Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian-American actress (d. 1983)
1904 – Elizabeth Ann Duncan, American murderer (d. 1962)
1905 – Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
1907 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor and businessman (d. 1964)
1907 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (d. 1947)
1908 – Ray Ventura, French pianist and bandleader (d. 1979)
1910 – Berton Roueché, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
1911 – Guy Burgess, English-Russian spy (d. 1963)
1912 – David Langton, Scottish-English actor (d. 1994)
1912 – Catherine Scorsese, American actress (d. 1997)
1912 – Garth Williams, American illustrator (d. 1996)
1913 – Les Tremayne, English-American actor (d. 2003)
1915 – Joan Alexander, American actress (d. 2009)
1915 – Gerard McLarnon, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1997)
1916 – Ted Mann, American businessman (d. 2001)
1917 – Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, 18th Duchess of Medinaceli (d. 2013)
1917 – Barry Nelson, American actor (d. 2007)
1918 – Dick Gibson, English race car driver (d. 2010)
1918 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese monk (d. 1995)
1918 – Spike Milligan, Indian-Irish actor, singer, screenwriter, and author (d. 2002)
1919 – Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
1919 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (d. 2011)
1919 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and Museo Nacional de Antropología (d. 2013)
1919 – Thomas Willmore, English geometer (d. 2005)
1920 – Ananda Dassanayake, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2012)
1920 – Alan Pegler, English businessman (d. 2012)
1921 – Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
1922 – Kingsley Amis, English author, poet, and critic (d. 1995)
1922 – John Christopher, English author (d. 2012)
1922 – Pat Peppler, American football player and coach
1922 – Leo Tindemans, Belgian politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium
1923 – Warren Barker, American composer (d. 2006)
1924 – John Harvey-Jones, English businessman (d. 2008)
1924 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (d. 1994)
1924 – Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets) (d. 1976)
1924 – Madanjeet Singh, Indian diplomat, author, and philanthropist (d. 2013)
1926 – Pierre Fabre, French pharmacist, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (d. 2013)
1927 – Edie Adams, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
1927 – Pope Benedict XVI
1927 – Dick Lane, American football player (d. 2002)
1927 – Peter Mark Richman, American actor
1927 – Rolf Schult, German actor (d. 2013)
1929 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (d. 1969)
1929 – Ralph Slatyer, Australian biologist (d. 2012)
1929 – Ed Townsend, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2003)
1930 – Doug Beasy, Australian footballer and educator (d. 2013)
1930 – Herbie Mann, American flute player (d. 2003)
1931 – Herman van Ham, Dutch chef (d. 2012)
1933 – Marcos Alonso Imaz, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
1933 – Joan Bakewell, English journalist
1933 – Erol Günaydın, Turkish actor (d. 2012)
1933 – Ike Pappas, American journalist (d. 2008)
1934 – Geoffrey Owen, British journalist and businessman
1934 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (d. 2012)
1935 – Marcel Carrière, Canadian director and screenwriter
1935 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet (d. 2013)
1935 – Lennart Risberg, Swedish boxer (d. 2013)
1935 – Dominique Venner, French journalist and historian (d. 2013)
1935 – Bobby Vinton, American singer and actor
1936 – Šaban Bajramović, Serbian singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
1936 – Tom Lodge, English radio host (d. 2012)
1937 – George Steele, American wrestler and actor
1938 – Gordon Wilson, Scottish politician
1938 – Rich Rollins, American baseball player
1939 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
1939 – John Delafose, American accordion player (d. 1994)
1939 – Boris Dvornik, Croatian actor (d. 2008)
1939 – Huw Morgan Daniel, Lord Lieutenant for Gwynedd
1939 – Dusty Springfield, English singer and producer (The Lana Sisters and The Springfields) (d. 1999)
1940 – Benoît Bouchard, Canadian politician
1940 – Margrethe II of Denmark
1940 – Thomas Stonor, Lord Camoys, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom
1941 – Allan Segal, American director and producer (d. 2012)
1942 – Jim Lonborg, American baseball player
1942 – George Purdy, Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories
1942 – Frank Williams, English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team
1943 – Ruth Madoc, English-Welsh actress and singer
1943 – Dave Peverett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Foghat and Savoy Brown) (d. 2000)
1945 – Tom Allen, American lawyer and politician
1945 – Sebastian Barker, English poet (d. 2014)
1946 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author
1946 – Ernst Bakker, Dutch politician (d. 2104)
1946 – R. Carlos Nakai, American flute player
1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach
1947 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Humblebums and Stealers Wheel) (d. 2011)
1948 – Reg Alcock, Canadian politician (d. 2011)
1948 – Ammar El Sherei, Egyptian accordion player, composer, and academic (d. 2012)
1948 – Lynne Franks, English businesswoman
1949 – Melody Patterson, American actress
1949 – Ann Romney, American wife of Mitt Romney
1949 – Pirkko Saisio, Finnish actress and director
1950 – Robert Dutil, Canadian politician
1950 – David Graf, American actor (d. 2001)
1951 – Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian author and photographer
1951 – Mordechai Ben David, American singer-songwriter
1951 – Björgvin Halldórsson, Icelandic singer
1951 – M. S. Narayana, Indian actor and director
1951 – David Nutt, British neuropsychopharmacologist
1951 – Billy West, American voice actor
1952 – Bill Belichick, American football player and coach
1952 – Michel Blanc, French actor and director
1952 – Esther Roth-Shahamorov, Israeli sprinter and hurdler
1952 – Nicholas 'Nick' Young, British charity worker
1953 – Douglas M. Fraser, American general
1953 – Peter Garrett, Australian singer-songwriter and politician (Midnight Oil)
1953 – Jay O. Sanders, American actor
1953 – J. Neil Schulman, American author, actor, director, and producer
1954 – Ellen Barkin, American actress
1954 – John Bowe, Australian race car driver
1954 – Mike Zuke, Canadian ice hockey player
1955 – Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager
1955 – Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
1956 – David M. Brown, American captain and astronaut (d. 2003)
1956 – T Lavitz, American keyboard player, composer, and producer (Dixie Dregs, Jazz Is Dead, and Widespread Panic) (d. 2010)
1956 – Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
1957 – Patricia De Martelaere, Flemish author (d. 2009)
1959 – Robert Casilla, American illustrator
1959 – Scott McKinsey, American director
1959 – Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
1960 – Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
1960 – Rafael Benítez, Spanish footballer and manager
1960 – Pierre Littbarski, German footballer and manager
1961 – Doris Dragović, Croatian singer-songwriter
1962 – Anna Dello Russo, Italian magazine editor
1962 – Ian MacKaye, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Teen Idles, The Evens, and Embrace)
1963 – Saleem Malik, Pakistani cricketer
1963 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer and actor (The Osmonds)
1964 – David Kohan, American screenwriter and producer
1964 – Dave Pirner, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Soul Asylum)
1964 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish pianist (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) (d. 2008)
1965 – Yves-François Blanchet, Canadian politician
1965 – Jon Cryer, American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer
1965 – Martin Lawrence, American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer
1965 – Michael Wong, American-Hong Kong actor and director
1968 – Vickie Guerrero, American wrestler and manager
1968 – Rüdiger Stenzel, German runner
1969 – Stacy Francis, American singer and actress (Ex Girlfriend)
1969 – Patrik Järbyn, Swedish skier
1969 – Fernando Viña, American baseball player and sportscaster
1970 – Dero Goi, German singer-songwriter (Oomph!)
1970 – Walt Williams, American basketball player
1971 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (Selena y Los Dinos) (d. 1995)
1971 – Max Beesley, English actor and singer
1971 – Peter Billingsley, American actor, director, and producer
1971 – Moses Chan, Hong Kong actor
1971 – Belinda Stewart-Wilson, English actress
1971 – Seigo Yamamoto, Japanese race car driver
1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Russian tennis player
1972 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish-American tennis player
1972 – Tracy K. Smith, American poet
1973 – Akon, American singer-songwriter and producer
1973 – Bonnie Pink, Japanese singer-songwriter
1973 – Gary Delaney, English writer and stand-up comedian
1973 – Oksana Yermakova, Estonian-Russian fencer
1974 – Mat Devine, American singer-songwriter, actor, and author (Kill Hannah)
1974 – Xu Jinglei, Chinese actress and director
1974 – Valarie Rae Miller, American actress
1974 – Fabián Robles, Mexican actor
1974 – Thomas Tevana, American actor
1975 – Keon Clark, American basketball player
1975 – Sean Maher, American actor
1975 – Nick Pickard, English actor
1975 – Karl Yune, American actor
1976 – Phil Baroni, American mixed martial artist
1976 – Robert Dahlqvist, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Hellacopters, Dundertåget, and Thunder Express)
1976 – Lukas Haas, American actor
1976 – Dan Kellner, American fencer
1976 – David Lyons, Australian actor
1976 – Kelli O'Hara, American actress and singer
1976 – Shu Qi, Taiwanese actress
1977 – Tameka Empson, English actress
1977 – Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
1977 – Hayes MacArthur, American actor
1977 – Alek Wek, Sudanese-English model
1978 – Lara Dutta, Indian model and actress, Miss Universe 2000
1978 – Jody Marie Gnant, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1978 – Nikki Griffin, American actress
1978 – Matthew Lloyd, Australian footballer
1978 – John Buffalo Mailer, American actor, playwright, and producer
1978 – Kristin Proctor, American-Norwegian actress
1978 – Igor Tudor, Croatian footballer and manager
1978 – Ivan Urgant, Russian television host
1978 – Christos Vasilopoulos, Greek actor
1979 – Christijan Albers, Dutch race car driver
1979 – Lars Börgeling, German pole vaulter
1979 – Daniel Browne, New Zealand rugby player
1979 – Sean Costello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
1979 – Sixto Peralta, Argentinian-English footballer
1980 – Jens Hartwig, German actor
1980 – Paul London, American wrestler
1980 – Juliette Marquis, Ukrainian actress, model, and ballerina
1980 – Adriana Sage, Mexican-American porn actress and model
1981 – Anestis Agritis, Greek footballer
1981 – Maya Dunietz, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist
1981 – Russell Harvard, American actor
1981 – Matthieu Proulx, Canadian football player
1981 – Jake Scott, American football player
1981 – Vico Thai, Australian actor
1982 – Gina Carano, American mixed martial artist, actress, and model
1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player
1982 – Barry Jones, Scottish magician
1982 – Michael Ratajczak, German footballer
1982 – Jonathan Vilma, American football player
1983 – Marié Digby, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1983 – Manuela Martelli, Chilean actress
1983 – Cat Osterman, American softball pitcher
1983 – George Patis, Greek badminton player
1984 – Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, American author
1984 – Natalie Blair, Australian actress
1984 – Teddy Blass, American composer and producer
1984 – Dane Brookes, English actor
1984 – Noah Fleiss, American actor
1984 – Paweł Kieszek, Polish footballer
1984 – Claire Foy, English actress
1984 – Tucker Fredricks, American speed skater
1985 – Mark Baker, Welsh author
1985 – Luol Deng, Sudanese-English basketball player
1985 – Nate Diaz, American mixed martial artist
1985 – Rhiana Griffith, Australian model and actress
1985 – Brendon Leonard, New Zealand rugby player
1985 – Benjamín Rojas, Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor (Erreway)
1985 – Taye Taiwo, Nigerian footballer
1985 – JC Tiuseco, Filipino model, actor, and basketball player
1986 – Paul di Resta, Scottish race car driver
1986 – Laura Langman, New Zealand netball player
1986 – Shinji Okazaki, Japanese footballer
1986 – Andres Olvik, Estonian swimmer
1986 – Peter Regin, Danish ice hockey player
1986 – Epke Zonderland, Dutch gymnast
1987 – Neil Haskell, American dancer
1987 – Aaron Lennon, English footballer
1987 – Kyley Statham, Canadian actress
1987 – Aleksander Vinter, Norwegian DJ and producer
1988 – Jullie, Brazilian singer-songwriter and actress
1988 – Alisa Durbrow, Japanese model, actress, and singer
1990 – Jérémy Kapone, French actor and singer
1990 – Lily Loveless, English actress
1990 – Vangelis Mantzaris, Greek basketball player
1990 – Lorraine Nicholson, American actress
1990 – Nia Ramadhani, Indonesian actress
1990 – Jules Sitruk, French actor
1991 – Kim Kyung-Jung, South Korean footballer
1992 – Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg
1993 – Mirai Nagasu, American figure skater
1993 – Chance The Rapper, American rapper
1994 – Liliana Mumy, American actress
2003 – Alina Foley, American actress
2008 – Princess Eléonore of Belgium
***
Deaths
69 – Otho, Roman emperor (b. 32)
665 – Fructuosus of Braga, French archbishop and saint
1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev (b. 1050)
1118 – Adelaide del Vasto, Italian wife of Roger II of Sicily (b. 1075)
1198 – Frederick I, Duke of Austria (b. 1175)
1640 – Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (b. 1579)
1645 – Tobias Hume, Scottish soldier, viol player, and composer (b. 1569)
1687 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English poet and politician (b. 1628)
1689 – Aphra Behn, English author and playwright (b. 1640)
1742 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet (b. 1672)
1756 – Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (b. 1677)
1783 – Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer and educator (b. 1719)
1788 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (b. 1707)
1828 – Francisco Goya, Spanish painter (b. 1746)
1846 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (b. 1763)
1850 – Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (b. 1761)
1859 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805)
1879 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (b. 1844)
1888 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist and chemist (b. 1845)
1899 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino journalist and activist (b. 1875)
1904 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (b. 1888)
1904 – Samuel Smiles, Scottish author (b. 1812)
1914 – George William Hill, American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1838)
1915 – Nelson W. Aldrich, American politician (b. 1841)
1925 – Stefan Nerezov, Bulgarian general (b. 1867)
1928 – Henry Birks, Canadian businessman, founded Henry Birks and Sons (b. 1840)
1928 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrsetler (b. 1900)
1930 – José Carlos Mariátegui, Peruvian journalist, philosopher, and activist (b. 1894)
1938 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and manager (b. 1874)
1942 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1878)
1942 – Denis St. George Daly, Irish polo player (b. 1862)
1946 – Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver (b. 1884)
1947 – Rudolf Höss, German SS officer (b. 1900)
1950 – Eduard Oja, Estonian composer, conductor, music teacher and critic (b. 1905)
1950 – Anders Peter Nielsen, Danish target shooter (b. 1867)
1955 – David Kirkwood, Scottish politician (b. 1872)
1957 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mobster (b. 1882)
1958 – Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist (b. 1920)
1959 – Charles Halton, American actor (b. 1876)
1961 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist (b. 1912)
1968 – Fay Bainter, American actress (b. 1893)
1968 – Edna Ferber, American author and playwright (b. 1885)
1969 – Hem Vejakorn, Thai illustrator (b. 1904)
1970 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (b. 1892)
1970 – Péter Veres, Hungarian politician, Minister of Defence for Hungary (b. 1897)
1972 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
1973 – István Kertész, Hungarian conductor (b. 1929)
1973 – Nino Bravo, Spanish singer (b. 1944)
1978 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (b. 1897)
1980 – Morris Stoloff, American composer (b. 1898)
1985 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
1988 – Khalil al-Wazir, Palestinian military leader, founded Fatah (b. 1935)
1988 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist (b. 1954)
1989 – Kaoru Ishikawa Japanese author and educator (b. 1915)
1989 – Miles Lawrence, English cricketer (b. 1940)
1991 – David Lean, English director and producer (b. 1908)
1992 – Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)
1992 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian activist, agent, and officer (b. 1915)
1992 – Andy Russell, American singer (b. 1919)
1994 – Ralph Ellison, American author and critic (b. 1913)
1995 – Arthur English, English actor (b. 1919)
1995 – Iqbal Masih, Pakistani activist (b. 1982)
1996 – Stavros Niarchos, Greek businessman (b. 1909)
1997 – Doris Angleton, American murder victim (b. 1951)
1997 – Roland Topor, French actor, director, and painter (b. 1938)
1998 – Alberto Calderón, Argentinian-American mathematician (b. 1920)
1998 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
1998 – Marie-Louise Meilleur, Canadian super-centenarian (b. 1880)
1999 – Skip Spence, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape) (b. 1946)
2000 – Putra of Perlis (b. 1920)
2001 – Michael Ritchie, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
2001 – Alec Stock, English footballer and manager (b. 1917)
2002 – Billy Ayre, English footballer and manager (b. 1952)
2002 – Ruth Fertel, American businesswoman, founder of Ruth's Chris Steak House (b. 1927)
2002 – Robert Urich, American actor and producer (b. 1946)
2003 – Graham Jarvis, Canadian-American actor (b. 1930)
2003 – Graham Stuart Thomas, English horticulturalist and author (b. 1909)
2005 – Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (b. 1943)
2005 – Marla Ruzicka, American activist, founded Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (b. 1976)
2005 – Kay Walsh, English actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
2006 – Francisco Adam, Portuguese actor (b. 1983)
2007 – People of the Virginia Tech massacre:
– Jamie Bishop, American instructor of the German language (b. 1971)
– Seung-Hui Cho, American student and murderer (b. 1984)
– Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, Canadian-American instructor of the French language (b. 1958)
– Kevin Granata, American engineer and academic (b. 1961)
– Liviu Librescu, Romanian-American academic and holocaust survivor (b. 1930)
– G. V. Loganathan, Indian-American academic (b. 1954)
2007 – Frank Bateson, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1909)
2007 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1962)
2007 – Maria Lenk, Brazilian swimmer (b. 1915)
2007 – Chandrabose Suthaharan, Sri Lankan Tamil journalist
2008 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
2008 – Joseph Solman, American painter (b. 1909)
2010 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general (b. 1949)
2010 – Daryl Gates, American police officer, created the D.A.R.E. Program (b. 1926)
2011 – Allan Blakeney, Canadian politician, 10th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1925)
2011 – Sol Saks, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1910)
2012 – Sári Barabás, Hungarian soprano (b. 1914)
2012 – Marian Biskup, Polish author and academic (b. 1922)
2012 – Ray Davey, Irish minister, founded the Corrymeela Community (b. 1915)
2012 – Alan Hacker, English clarinet player (b. 1938)
2012 – George Kunda, Zambian lawyer and politician, 11th Vice-President of Zambia (b. 1956)
2012 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (b. 1913)
2012 – Carlo Petrini, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1948)
2012 – Ageeth Scherphuis, Dutch journalist and broadcaster (b. 1933)
2013 – Charles Bruzon, Gibraltarian politician (b. 1938)
2013 – Jack Daniels, American baseball player (b. 1927)
2013 – George Horse-Capture, American anthropologist and author (b. 1937)
2013 – Gérard Jaquet, French politician (b. 1916)
2013 – Ali Kafi, Algerian politician (b. 1928)
2013 – Helmut Kasimier, German politician (b. 1926)
2013 – Francis Leo Lawrence, American academic and scholar (b. 1937)
2013 – Reinhard Lettmann, German bishop (b. 1933)
2013 – Siegfried Ludwig, Austrian politician, 18th Governor of Lower Austria (b. 1926)
2013 – Pentti Lund, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
2013 – Rita MacNeil, Canadian singer and actress (b. 1944)
2013 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1909)
2013 – Edwin Shirley, English businessman (b. 1948)
2013 – Pat Summerall, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1930)
2013 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and Museo Nacional de Antropología (b. 1919)
2013 – Murray Vernon, Australian cricketer (b. 1937)
73 – Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Great Jewish Revolt.
1346 – Dušan the Mighty is proclaimed Emperor, with the Serbian Empire occupying much of the Balkans.
1520 – The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V.
1521 – Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the other estates of the empire.
1582 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
1746 – The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland. After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
1780 – The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
1799 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor – Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
1818 – The United States Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
1847 – The accidental shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand land wars.
1853 – The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
1858 – The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is wound up.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
1862 – American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1881 – In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
1910 – The oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena still used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.
1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
1917 – Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia from exile in Switzerland.
1919 – Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier.
1919 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.
1922 – The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed.
1925 – During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
1941 – World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
1941 – World War II: The Ustaše, a Croatian far-right organization is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers after the Axis Operation 25 invasion.
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.
1944 – World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
1945 – The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).
1945 – More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.
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.
1953 – Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia.
1962 – Walter Cronkite takes over as the lead news anchor of the CBS Evening News, during which time he would become "the most trusted man in America".
1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1972 – Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1990 – The "Doctor of Death", Jack Kevorkian, participates in his first assisted suicide.
1992 – The Katina P runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
2001 – India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.
2003 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.
2007 – Virginia Tech massacre: Seung-Hui Cho guns down 32 people and injures 23 before committing suicide.
2012 – The trial for Anders Behring Breivik begins in Oslo, Norway.
2012 – The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
2013 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, the strongest in the country in 40 years, killing at least 35 people.
***
Births
1319 – John II of France (d. 1364)
1488 – Jungjong of Joseon (d. 1544)
1495 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1557)
1516 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (d. 1550)
1646 – Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect, designed the Château de Dampierre and Grand Trianon (d. 1708)
1660 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician (d. 1753)
1661 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician (d. 1715)
1682 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (d. 1744)
1693 – Anne Sophie Reventlow, Danish wife of Frederick IV of Denmark (d. 1743)
1697 – Johann Gottlieb Görner, German organist and composer (d. 1778)
1728 – Joseph Black, French-Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1799)
1730 – Henry Clinton, English general and politician (d. 1795)
1755 – Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)
1786 – John Franklin, English admiral and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (d. 1847)
1800 – George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, English field marshal (d. 1888)
1808 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 6th U.S. Secretary of the Interior (d. 1864)
1821 – Ford Madox Brown, French-English painter (d. 1893)
1823 – Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician (d. 1852)
1827 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian poet (d. 1879)
1839 – Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, Italian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908)
1834 – Charles Lennox Richardson, English-Chinese merchant (d. 1862)
1844 – Anatole France, French journalist, author, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
1847 – Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (d. 1906)
1848 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (d. 1919)
1851 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (d. 1930)
1865 – Harry Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
1866 – José de Diego, Puerto Rican journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1918)
1867 – Wilbur Wright, American pilot, engineer, and businessman, co-founded the Wright Company (d. 1912)
1871 – John Millington Synge, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1909)
1878 – R. E. Foster, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1914)
1882 – Seth Bingham, American organist and composer (d. 1972)
1885 – Leo Weiner, Hungarian composer and educator (d. 1960)
1886 – Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)
1886 – Margaret Woodrow Wilson, American daughter of Woodrow Wilson (d. 1944)
1888 – Billy Minter, English footballer, trainer, manager and assistant secretary (d. 1940)
1889 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1977)
1890 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek javelin thrower (d. 1957)
1890 – Gertrude Chandler Warner, American author (d. 1979)
1891 – Dorothy P. Lathrop, American children's author (d. 1980)
1892 – Howard Mumford Jones, American writer (d. 1980)
1893 – Germaine Guèvremont, Canadian author (d. 1968)
1894 – Ernst Ziegler, German actor (d. 1974)
1895 – Ove Arup, English-Danish engineer and businessman, founded Arup (d. 1988)
1896 – Robert Henry Best, American journalist (d. 1952)
1896 – Pat Clayton, English soldier and surveyor (d. 1962)
1896 – Tristan Tzara, Romanian-French poet and critic (d. 1963)
1899 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist and educator (d. 1988)
1904 – Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian-American actress (d. 1983)
1904 – Elizabeth Ann Duncan, American murderer (d. 1962)
1905 – Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
1907 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor and businessman (d. 1964)
1907 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (d. 1947)
1908 – Ray Ventura, French pianist and bandleader (d. 1979)
1910 – Berton Roueché, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
1911 – Guy Burgess, English-Russian spy (d. 1963)
1912 – David Langton, Scottish-English actor (d. 1994)
1912 – Catherine Scorsese, American actress (d. 1997)
1912 – Garth Williams, American illustrator (d. 1996)
1913 – Les Tremayne, English-American actor (d. 2003)
1915 – Joan Alexander, American actress (d. 2009)
1915 – Gerard McLarnon, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1997)
1916 – Ted Mann, American businessman (d. 2001)
1917 – Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, 18th Duchess of Medinaceli (d. 2013)
1917 – Barry Nelson, American actor (d. 2007)
1918 – Dick Gibson, English race car driver (d. 2010)
1918 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese monk (d. 1995)
1918 – Spike Milligan, Indian-Irish actor, singer, screenwriter, and author (d. 2002)
1919 – Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
1919 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (d. 2011)
1919 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and Museo Nacional de Antropología (d. 2013)
1919 – Thomas Willmore, English geometer (d. 2005)
1920 – Ananda Dassanayake, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2012)
1920 – Alan Pegler, English businessman (d. 2012)
1921 – Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
1922 – Kingsley Amis, English author, poet, and critic (d. 1995)
1922 – John Christopher, English author (d. 2012)
1922 – Pat Peppler, American football player and coach
1922 – Leo Tindemans, Belgian politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium
1923 – Warren Barker, American composer (d. 2006)
1924 – John Harvey-Jones, English businessman (d. 2008)
1924 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (d. 1994)
1924 – Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets) (d. 1976)
1924 – Madanjeet Singh, Indian diplomat, author, and philanthropist (d. 2013)
1926 – Pierre Fabre, French pharmacist, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (d. 2013)
1927 – Edie Adams, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
1927 – Pope Benedict XVI
1927 – Dick Lane, American football player (d. 2002)
1927 – Peter Mark Richman, American actor
1927 – Rolf Schult, German actor (d. 2013)
1929 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (d. 1969)
1929 – Ralph Slatyer, Australian biologist (d. 2012)
1929 – Ed Townsend, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2003)
1930 – Doug Beasy, Australian footballer and educator (d. 2013)
1930 – Herbie Mann, American flute player (d. 2003)
1931 – Herman van Ham, Dutch chef (d. 2012)
1933 – Marcos Alonso Imaz, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
1933 – Joan Bakewell, English journalist
1933 – Erol Günaydın, Turkish actor (d. 2012)
1933 – Ike Pappas, American journalist (d. 2008)
1934 – Geoffrey Owen, British journalist and businessman
1934 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (d. 2012)
1935 – Marcel Carrière, Canadian director and screenwriter
1935 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet (d. 2013)
1935 – Lennart Risberg, Swedish boxer (d. 2013)
1935 – Dominique Venner, French journalist and historian (d. 2013)
1935 – Bobby Vinton, American singer and actor
1936 – Šaban Bajramović, Serbian singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
1936 – Tom Lodge, English radio host (d. 2012)
1937 – George Steele, American wrestler and actor
1938 – Gordon Wilson, Scottish politician
1938 – Rich Rollins, American baseball player
1939 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
1939 – John Delafose, American accordion player (d. 1994)
1939 – Boris Dvornik, Croatian actor (d. 2008)
1939 – Huw Morgan Daniel, Lord Lieutenant for Gwynedd
1939 – Dusty Springfield, English singer and producer (The Lana Sisters and The Springfields) (d. 1999)
1940 – Benoît Bouchard, Canadian politician
1940 – Margrethe II of Denmark
1940 – Thomas Stonor, Lord Camoys, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom
1941 – Allan Segal, American director and producer (d. 2012)
1942 – Jim Lonborg, American baseball player
1942 – George Purdy, Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories
1942 – Frank Williams, English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team
1943 – Ruth Madoc, English-Welsh actress and singer
1943 – Dave Peverett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Foghat and Savoy Brown) (d. 2000)
1945 – Tom Allen, American lawyer and politician
1945 – Sebastian Barker, English poet (d. 2014)
1946 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author
1946 – Ernst Bakker, Dutch politician (d. 2104)
1946 – R. Carlos Nakai, American flute player
1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach
1947 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Humblebums and Stealers Wheel) (d. 2011)
1948 – Reg Alcock, Canadian politician (d. 2011)
1948 – Ammar El Sherei, Egyptian accordion player, composer, and academic (d. 2012)
1948 – Lynne Franks, English businesswoman
1949 – Melody Patterson, American actress
1949 – Ann Romney, American wife of Mitt Romney
1949 – Pirkko Saisio, Finnish actress and director
1950 – Robert Dutil, Canadian politician
1950 – David Graf, American actor (d. 2001)
1951 – Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian author and photographer
1951 – Mordechai Ben David, American singer-songwriter
1951 – Björgvin Halldórsson, Icelandic singer
1951 – M. S. Narayana, Indian actor and director
1951 – David Nutt, British neuropsychopharmacologist
1951 – Billy West, American voice actor
1952 – Bill Belichick, American football player and coach
1952 – Michel Blanc, French actor and director
1952 – Esther Roth-Shahamorov, Israeli sprinter and hurdler
1952 – Nicholas 'Nick' Young, British charity worker
1953 – Douglas M. Fraser, American general
1953 – Peter Garrett, Australian singer-songwriter and politician (Midnight Oil)
1953 – Jay O. Sanders, American actor
1953 – J. Neil Schulman, American author, actor, director, and producer
1954 – Ellen Barkin, American actress
1954 – John Bowe, Australian race car driver
1954 – Mike Zuke, Canadian ice hockey player
1955 – Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager
1955 – Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
1956 – David M. Brown, American captain and astronaut (d. 2003)
1956 – T Lavitz, American keyboard player, composer, and producer (Dixie Dregs, Jazz Is Dead, and Widespread Panic) (d. 2010)
1956 – Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
1957 – Patricia De Martelaere, Flemish author (d. 2009)
1959 – Robert Casilla, American illustrator
1959 – Scott McKinsey, American director
1959 – Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
1960 – Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
1960 – Rafael Benítez, Spanish footballer and manager
1960 – Pierre Littbarski, German footballer and manager
1961 – Doris Dragović, Croatian singer-songwriter
1962 – Anna Dello Russo, Italian magazine editor
1962 – Ian MacKaye, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Teen Idles, The Evens, and Embrace)
1963 – Saleem Malik, Pakistani cricketer
1963 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer and actor (The Osmonds)
1964 – David Kohan, American screenwriter and producer
1964 – Dave Pirner, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Soul Asylum)
1964 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish pianist (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) (d. 2008)
1965 – Yves-François Blanchet, Canadian politician
1965 – Jon Cryer, American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer
1965 – Martin Lawrence, American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer
1965 – Michael Wong, American-Hong Kong actor and director
1968 – Vickie Guerrero, American wrestler and manager
1968 – Rüdiger Stenzel, German runner
1969 – Stacy Francis, American singer and actress (Ex Girlfriend)
1969 – Patrik Järbyn, Swedish skier
1969 – Fernando Viña, American baseball player and sportscaster
1970 – Dero Goi, German singer-songwriter (Oomph!)
1970 – Walt Williams, American basketball player
1971 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (Selena y Los Dinos) (d. 1995)
1971 – Max Beesley, English actor and singer
1971 – Peter Billingsley, American actor, director, and producer
1971 – Moses Chan, Hong Kong actor
1971 – Belinda Stewart-Wilson, English actress
1971 – Seigo Yamamoto, Japanese race car driver
1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Russian tennis player
1972 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish-American tennis player
1972 – Tracy K. Smith, American poet
1973 – Akon, American singer-songwriter and producer
1973 – Bonnie Pink, Japanese singer-songwriter
1973 – Gary Delaney, English writer and stand-up comedian
1973 – Oksana Yermakova, Estonian-Russian fencer
1974 – Mat Devine, American singer-songwriter, actor, and author (Kill Hannah)
1974 – Xu Jinglei, Chinese actress and director
1974 – Valarie Rae Miller, American actress
1974 – Fabián Robles, Mexican actor
1974 – Thomas Tevana, American actor
1975 – Keon Clark, American basketball player
1975 – Sean Maher, American actor
1975 – Nick Pickard, English actor
1975 – Karl Yune, American actor
1976 – Phil Baroni, American mixed martial artist
1976 – Robert Dahlqvist, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Hellacopters, Dundertåget, and Thunder Express)
1976 – Lukas Haas, American actor
1976 – Dan Kellner, American fencer
1976 – David Lyons, Australian actor
1976 – Kelli O'Hara, American actress and singer
1976 – Shu Qi, Taiwanese actress
1977 – Tameka Empson, English actress
1977 – Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
1977 – Hayes MacArthur, American actor
1977 – Alek Wek, Sudanese-English model
1978 – Lara Dutta, Indian model and actress, Miss Universe 2000
1978 – Jody Marie Gnant, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1978 – Nikki Griffin, American actress
1978 – Matthew Lloyd, Australian footballer
1978 – John Buffalo Mailer, American actor, playwright, and producer
1978 – Kristin Proctor, American-Norwegian actress
1978 – Igor Tudor, Croatian footballer and manager
1978 – Ivan Urgant, Russian television host
1978 – Christos Vasilopoulos, Greek actor
1979 – Christijan Albers, Dutch race car driver
1979 – Lars Börgeling, German pole vaulter
1979 – Daniel Browne, New Zealand rugby player
1979 – Sean Costello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
1979 – Sixto Peralta, Argentinian-English footballer
1980 – Jens Hartwig, German actor
1980 – Paul London, American wrestler
1980 – Juliette Marquis, Ukrainian actress, model, and ballerina
1980 – Adriana Sage, Mexican-American porn actress and model
1981 – Anestis Agritis, Greek footballer
1981 – Maya Dunietz, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist
1981 – Russell Harvard, American actor
1981 – Matthieu Proulx, Canadian football player
1981 – Jake Scott, American football player
1981 – Vico Thai, Australian actor
1982 – Gina Carano, American mixed martial artist, actress, and model
1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player
1982 – Barry Jones, Scottish magician
1982 – Michael Ratajczak, German footballer
1982 – Jonathan Vilma, American football player
1983 – Marié Digby, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1983 – Manuela Martelli, Chilean actress
1983 – Cat Osterman, American softball pitcher
1983 – George Patis, Greek badminton player
1984 – Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, American author
1984 – Natalie Blair, Australian actress
1984 – Teddy Blass, American composer and producer
1984 – Dane Brookes, English actor
1984 – Noah Fleiss, American actor
1984 – Paweł Kieszek, Polish footballer
1984 – Claire Foy, English actress
1984 – Tucker Fredricks, American speed skater
1985 – Mark Baker, Welsh author
1985 – Luol Deng, Sudanese-English basketball player
1985 – Nate Diaz, American mixed martial artist
1985 – Rhiana Griffith, Australian model and actress
1985 – Brendon Leonard, New Zealand rugby player
1985 – Benjamín Rojas, Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor (Erreway)
1985 – Taye Taiwo, Nigerian footballer
1985 – JC Tiuseco, Filipino model, actor, and basketball player
1986 – Paul di Resta, Scottish race car driver
1986 – Laura Langman, New Zealand netball player
1986 – Shinji Okazaki, Japanese footballer
1986 – Andres Olvik, Estonian swimmer
1986 – Peter Regin, Danish ice hockey player
1986 – Epke Zonderland, Dutch gymnast
1987 – Neil Haskell, American dancer
1987 – Aaron Lennon, English footballer
1987 – Kyley Statham, Canadian actress
1987 – Aleksander Vinter, Norwegian DJ and producer
1988 – Jullie, Brazilian singer-songwriter and actress
1988 – Alisa Durbrow, Japanese model, actress, and singer
1990 – Jérémy Kapone, French actor and singer
1990 – Lily Loveless, English actress
1990 – Vangelis Mantzaris, Greek basketball player
1990 – Lorraine Nicholson, American actress
1990 – Nia Ramadhani, Indonesian actress
1990 – Jules Sitruk, French actor
1991 – Kim Kyung-Jung, South Korean footballer
1992 – Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg
1993 – Mirai Nagasu, American figure skater
1993 – Chance The Rapper, American rapper
1994 – Liliana Mumy, American actress
2003 – Alina Foley, American actress
2008 – Princess Eléonore of Belgium
***
Deaths
69 – Otho, Roman emperor (b. 32)
665 – Fructuosus of Braga, French archbishop and saint
1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev (b. 1050)
1118 – Adelaide del Vasto, Italian wife of Roger II of Sicily (b. 1075)
1198 – Frederick I, Duke of Austria (b. 1175)
1640 – Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (b. 1579)
1645 – Tobias Hume, Scottish soldier, viol player, and composer (b. 1569)
1687 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English poet and politician (b. 1628)
1689 – Aphra Behn, English author and playwright (b. 1640)
1742 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet (b. 1672)
1756 – Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (b. 1677)
1783 – Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer and educator (b. 1719)
1788 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (b. 1707)
1828 – Francisco Goya, Spanish painter (b. 1746)
1846 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (b. 1763)
1850 – Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (b. 1761)
1859 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805)
1879 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (b. 1844)
1888 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist and chemist (b. 1845)
1899 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino journalist and activist (b. 1875)
1904 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (b. 1888)
1904 – Samuel Smiles, Scottish author (b. 1812)
1914 – George William Hill, American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1838)
1915 – Nelson W. Aldrich, American politician (b. 1841)
1925 – Stefan Nerezov, Bulgarian general (b. 1867)
1928 – Henry Birks, Canadian businessman, founded Henry Birks and Sons (b. 1840)
1928 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrsetler (b. 1900)
1930 – José Carlos Mariátegui, Peruvian journalist, philosopher, and activist (b. 1894)
1938 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and manager (b. 1874)
1942 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1878)
1942 – Denis St. George Daly, Irish polo player (b. 1862)
1946 – Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver (b. 1884)
1947 – Rudolf Höss, German SS officer (b. 1900)
1950 – Eduard Oja, Estonian composer, conductor, music teacher and critic (b. 1905)
1950 – Anders Peter Nielsen, Danish target shooter (b. 1867)
1955 – David Kirkwood, Scottish politician (b. 1872)
1957 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mobster (b. 1882)
1958 – Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist (b. 1920)
1959 – Charles Halton, American actor (b. 1876)
1961 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist (b. 1912)
1968 – Fay Bainter, American actress (b. 1893)
1968 – Edna Ferber, American author and playwright (b. 1885)
1969 – Hem Vejakorn, Thai illustrator (b. 1904)
1970 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (b. 1892)
1970 – Péter Veres, Hungarian politician, Minister of Defence for Hungary (b. 1897)
1972 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
1973 – István Kertész, Hungarian conductor (b. 1929)
1973 – Nino Bravo, Spanish singer (b. 1944)
1978 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (b. 1897)
1980 – Morris Stoloff, American composer (b. 1898)
1985 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
1988 – Khalil al-Wazir, Palestinian military leader, founded Fatah (b. 1935)
1988 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist (b. 1954)
1989 – Kaoru Ishikawa Japanese author and educator (b. 1915)
1989 – Miles Lawrence, English cricketer (b. 1940)
1991 – David Lean, English director and producer (b. 1908)
1992 – Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)
1992 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian activist, agent, and officer (b. 1915)
1992 – Andy Russell, American singer (b. 1919)
1994 – Ralph Ellison, American author and critic (b. 1913)
1995 – Arthur English, English actor (b. 1919)
1995 – Iqbal Masih, Pakistani activist (b. 1982)
1996 – Stavros Niarchos, Greek businessman (b. 1909)
1997 – Doris Angleton, American murder victim (b. 1951)
1997 – Roland Topor, French actor, director, and painter (b. 1938)
1998 – Alberto Calderón, Argentinian-American mathematician (b. 1920)
1998 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
1998 – Marie-Louise Meilleur, Canadian super-centenarian (b. 1880)
1999 – Skip Spence, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape) (b. 1946)
2000 – Putra of Perlis (b. 1920)
2001 – Michael Ritchie, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
2001 – Alec Stock, English footballer and manager (b. 1917)
2002 – Billy Ayre, English footballer and manager (b. 1952)
2002 – Ruth Fertel, American businesswoman, founder of Ruth's Chris Steak House (b. 1927)
2002 – Robert Urich, American actor and producer (b. 1946)
2003 – Graham Jarvis, Canadian-American actor (b. 1930)
2003 – Graham Stuart Thomas, English horticulturalist and author (b. 1909)
2005 – Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (b. 1943)
2005 – Marla Ruzicka, American activist, founded Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (b. 1976)
2005 – Kay Walsh, English actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
2006 – Francisco Adam, Portuguese actor (b. 1983)
2007 – People of the Virginia Tech massacre:
– Jamie Bishop, American instructor of the German language (b. 1971)
– Seung-Hui Cho, American student and murderer (b. 1984)
– Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, Canadian-American instructor of the French language (b. 1958)
– Kevin Granata, American engineer and academic (b. 1961)
– Liviu Librescu, Romanian-American academic and holocaust survivor (b. 1930)
– G. V. Loganathan, Indian-American academic (b. 1954)
2007 – Frank Bateson, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1909)
2007 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1962)
2007 – Maria Lenk, Brazilian swimmer (b. 1915)
2007 – Chandrabose Suthaharan, Sri Lankan Tamil journalist
2008 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
2008 – Joseph Solman, American painter (b. 1909)
2010 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general (b. 1949)
2010 – Daryl Gates, American police officer, created the D.A.R.E. Program (b. 1926)
2011 – Allan Blakeney, Canadian politician, 10th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1925)
2011 – Sol Saks, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1910)
2012 – Sári Barabás, Hungarian soprano (b. 1914)
2012 – Marian Biskup, Polish author and academic (b. 1922)
2012 – Ray Davey, Irish minister, founded the Corrymeela Community (b. 1915)
2012 – Alan Hacker, English clarinet player (b. 1938)
2012 – George Kunda, Zambian lawyer and politician, 11th Vice-President of Zambia (b. 1956)
2012 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (b. 1913)
2012 – Carlo Petrini, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1948)
2012 – Ageeth Scherphuis, Dutch journalist and broadcaster (b. 1933)
2013 – Charles Bruzon, Gibraltarian politician (b. 1938)
2013 – Jack Daniels, American baseball player (b. 1927)
2013 – George Horse-Capture, American anthropologist and author (b. 1937)
2013 – Gérard Jaquet, French politician (b. 1916)
2013 – Ali Kafi, Algerian politician (b. 1928)
2013 – Helmut Kasimier, German politician (b. 1926)
2013 – Francis Leo Lawrence, American academic and scholar (b. 1937)
2013 – Reinhard Lettmann, German bishop (b. 1933)
2013 – Siegfried Ludwig, Austrian politician, 18th Governor of Lower Austria (b. 1926)
2013 – Pentti Lund, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
2013 – Rita MacNeil, Canadian singer and actress (b. 1944)
2013 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1909)
2013 – Edwin Shirley, English businessman (b. 1948)
2013 – Pat Summerall, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1930)
2013 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and Museo Nacional de Antropología (b. 1919)
2013 – Murray Vernon, Australian cricketer (b. 1937)
