April 15

Events

769 – The Lateran Council condemned the Council of Hieria and anathematized its iconoclastic rulings.

1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard.

1395 – Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde at the Battle of the Terek River. The Golden Horde capital city, Sarai, is razed to the ground and Timur installs a puppet ruler on the throne.

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

1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.

1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.

1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.

1738 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel receives its premiere performance in London, England.

1755 – Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.

1783 – Preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence) are ratified.

1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf, the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.

1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War

1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson, becomes President upon Lincoln's death.

1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.

1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.

1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.

1907 – Triangle Fraternity is founded at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew on board survive.

1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.

1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.

1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.

1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.

1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.

1936 – Aer Lingus (Aer Loingeas) is founded by the Irish government as the national airline of the Republic of Ireland.

1940 – The Allies begin their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which is occupied by Nazi Germany.

1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two-hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.

1942 – The George Cross is awarded "to the island fortress of Malta: Its people and defenders" by King George VI.

1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.

1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.

1952 – The maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress

1955 – McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois

1960 – At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

1964 – The first Ford Mustang rolls off the show room floor, two days before it is set to go on sale nationwide.

1969 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.

1970 – During the Cambodian Civil War, massacres of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.

1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.

1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.

1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.

2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 264 others.

2014 – More than 200 female students are declared missing after a mass kidnapping in Borno State, Nigeria.

Births

68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)

1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)

1367 – Henry IV of England (d. 1413)

1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479)

1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)

1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)

1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)

1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)

1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)

1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)

1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)

1646 – Pierre Poiret, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1719)

1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)

1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)

1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)

1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)

1721 – Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (d. 1765)

1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)

1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)

1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)

1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)

1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)

1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)

1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)

1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)

1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)

1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short writer, and critic (d. 1916)

1851 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (d. 1930)

1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)

1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)

1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)

1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)

1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)

1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)

1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)

1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)

1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)

1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)

1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)

1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)

1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)

1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975)

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

1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat's eye (d. 1976)

1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)

1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith and author (d. 1983)

1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)

1894 – Bessie Smith, American singer and actress (d. 1937)

1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)

1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)

1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)

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

1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)

1901 – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)

1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)

1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983)

1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)

1904 – Antero Kivi, Finnish discus thrower (d. 1981)

1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)

1908 – eden ahbez, American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)

1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)

1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)

1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)

1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)

1912 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)

1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)

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

1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)

1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)

1917 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)

1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)

1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)

1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)

1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)

1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)

1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)

1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)

1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)

1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)

1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)

1922 – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)

1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)

1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)

1923 – Douglas Wass, English civil servant

1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)

1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)

1925 – George Shuffler, American guitarist (d. 2014)

1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999)

1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)

1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)

1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)

1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland

1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant

1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)

1932 – Suresh Bhat, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 2003)

1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality

1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)

1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)

1933 – Jim Towers, English footballer (d. 2010)

1934 – Merle Louise, American actress and singer

1934 – Soichiro Tahara, Japanese journalist

1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)

1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist

1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)

1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress

1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)

1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor

1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician

1940 – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World

1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)

1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic

1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician

1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop

1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)

1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)

1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic

1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic

1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate

1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician

1943 – Mighty Sam McClain, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)

1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)

1944 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Russian-Chechen general and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (d. 1996)

1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer, guitarist, and producer

1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author

1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff

1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer

1947 – Martin Broughton, English businessman

1947 – Lois Chiles, American model and actress

1947 – Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor

1947 – David Omand, English civil servant and academic

1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security

1947 – Woolly Wolstenholme, English singer and keyboard player (d. 2010)

1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic

1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)

1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress

1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter

1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter

1950 – Amy Wright, American actress

1950 – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player

1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author

1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut

1951 – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer

1951 – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut

1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer

1952 – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic

1955 – Mark Damazer, English broadcaster and academic

1955 – Jeff Golub, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2015)

1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach

1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach

1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1958 – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer

1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach

1958 – Sir Robert Smith, 3rd Baronet, Scottish politician

1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright

1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter

1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager

1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter

1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player

1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter

1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster

1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player

1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician

1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist

1961 – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer

1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist

1963 – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer

1963 – Bobby Pepper, American journalist

1963 – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster

1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player

1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1965 – Michele Redman, American golfer

1965 – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player

1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress

1966 – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)

1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter

1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist

1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach

1968 – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner

1968 – Ed O'Brien, English guitarist and songwriter

1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player

1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor

1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach

1970 – Flex Alexander, American actor, dancer, and producer

1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach

1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player

1971 – Josia Thugwane, South African runner

1971 – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician

1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)

1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor

1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director

1974 – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter

1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player

1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer

1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player

1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist

1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer

1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player

1976 – Susan Ward, American actress and model

1976 – Steve Williams, English rower

1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor

1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player

1977 – Jamie Wall, English racing driver

1978 – Austin Aries, American wrestler

1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player

1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player

1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer

1980 – James Foster, English cricketer

1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player

1980 – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player

1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author

1980 – Billy Yates, American football player

1981 – Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer

1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player

1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter

1982 – Ester Dean, American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress

1982 – Albert Riera, Spanish footballer

1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

1983 – Blu, American rapper and producer

1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress

1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer

1983 – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)

1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player

1983 – Bronson La'Cassie, Australian golfer

1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist

1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player

1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player

1984 – Ben Kasica, American guitarist and producer

1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player

1985 – Chris Cates, American baseball player

1985 – John Danks, American baseball player

1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player

1985 – Aaron Laffey, American baseball player

1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer

1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer

1986 – Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Ghanaian footballer

1986 – Giorgio Rubino, Italian race walker

1987 – Iyaz, Virgin Islander singer-songwriter

1988 – Thomas Albanese, Italian footballer

1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player

1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer

1988 – Yann David, French rugby player

1988 – Eliza Doolittle, English singer-songwriter

1990 – Emma Watson, English actress

1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol

1991 – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater

1992 – John Guidetti, Swedish footballer

Deaths

628 – Empress Suiko of Japan (b. 554)

1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)

1136 – Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094)

1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)

1237 – Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic

1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355)

1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)

1610 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546)

1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580)

1652 – Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch

1659 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605)

1704 – Johannes Hudde, Dutch mathematician and politician (b. 1628)

1719 – Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)

1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676)

1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682)

1761 – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)

1764 – Madame de Pompadour, French mistress of Louis XV of France (b. 1721)

1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)

1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)

1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)

1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)

1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)

1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)

1865 – Abraham Lincoln, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)

1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)

1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)

1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician

1912 – Victims of the RMS Titanic disaster

Thomas Andrews, Irish businessman and shipbuilder (b. 1873)

John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)

Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)

Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)

Benjamin Guggenheim American businessman (b. 1865)

Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866)

Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)

James Paul Moody, English sailor and sixth officer (b. 1887)

William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish sailor and first officer (b. 1873)

Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887)

Edward Smith, English captain (b. 1850)

William Thomas Stead English journalist (b. 1849)

Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)

Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)

John Thayer, American cricketer (b. 1862)

Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)

1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)

1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)

1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)

1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880)

1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)

1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)

1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)

1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)

1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)

1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880)

1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912)

1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)

1966 – Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan

1970 – Ripper Collins, American baseball player (b. 1904)

1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)

1971 – Dan Reeves, American businessman (b. 1912)

1971 – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)

1975 – Richard Conte, American actor (b. 1910)

1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904)

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

1983 – John Engstead, American photographer and journalist (b. 1909)

1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)

1984 – Alexander Trocchi, Scottish author and poet (b. 1925)

1986 – Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)

1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)

1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician (b. 1915)

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

1993 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)

1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908)

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

1995 – Harry Shoulberg, American painter and illustrator (b. 1903)

1998 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912)

1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)

1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)

2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)

2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)

2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)

2002 – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)

2004 – Ray Condo, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)

2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)

2005 – Margaretta Scott, English actress (b. 1912)

2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)

2008 – Benoît Lamy, Belgian director and screenwriter (b. 1945)

2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)

2009 – Ed Blake, American baseball player and plumber (b. 1925)

2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924)

2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907)

2009 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947)

2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)

2010 – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)

2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)

2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)

2012 – Bob Perani, Italian-American ice hockey player (b. 1942)

2012 – Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and actor (b. 1939)

2012 – Rich Saul, American football player (b. 1948)

2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)

2012 – Bob Wright, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)

2013 – Benny Frankie Cerezo, Puerto Rican-American lawyer and politician (b. 1943)

2013 – Richard Collins, Canadian actor (b. 1947)

2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)

2013 – Joe Francis, American football player and coach (b. 1936)

2013 – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)

2013 – Dave McArtney, New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1951)

2013 – Scott Miller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1960)

2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)

2014 – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)

2014 – Owen Woodhouse, New Zealand commander and jurist (b. 1916)

2015 – Sidney Abbott, American author and activist (b. 1937)

2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966)

2015 – Barbara Strauch, American journalist and author (b. 1951)

2015 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

Abbo II of Metz

Father Damien Day (Hawaii)

Hunna

Paternus of Avranches

April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Day of the Sun (North Korea)

Earliest day on which Sechseläuten can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in April. (Zürich)

Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)

Jackie Robinson Day (United States)

Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)

Universal Day of Culture

World Art Day