April 15 is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 260 days remaining until the end of the year. [edit] Events - 1912 – The British passenger liner, the RMS Titanic, sinks in the North Atlantic, after hitting an iceberg two and a half hours earlier, the previous day, killing over 1,500 people.
- 1920 – Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti supposedly murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store.
- 1921 – Black Friday, mine owners announce increase in wages and price cuts leading to the threat of a strike all across England
- 1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
- 1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
- 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 Air Force (Luftwaffe) attack Belfast, Northern Ireland killing one thousand people.
- 1942 – George Cross is awarded to "to the island fortress of Malta – its people and defenders" by King George VI.
- 1943 – An Allied bomber attack misses the Minerva automobile factory and hits the Belgian town of Mortsel instead, killing 936 civilians.
- 1945 – The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
- 1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.
- 1952 – The maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress
- 1957 – White Rock, British Columbia officially separates from Surrey, British Columbia and is incorporated as a new city.
- 1979 – A disastrous earthquake (of M 7.1) on Montenegro coast.
- 1986 – The United States launches 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 F.C. fans.
- 1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.
- 1992 – The National Assembly of Vietnam adopts the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- 1994 – Representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities sign the Marrakesh Agreements revising the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and initiating the World Trade Organization (effective January 1, 1995).
- 2002 – An Air China Boeing 767-200, flight CA129 crashes into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Busan, South Korea, killing 128.
[edit] Births - 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance polymath (d. 1519)
- 1469 – Guru Nanak Dev, Founder of Sikhism (d. 1539)
- 1489 – Sinan, Ottoman architect (d. 1588)
- 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)
- 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French classical scholar (d. 1653)
- 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician (d. 1722)
- 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1691)
- 1646 – King Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
- 1646 – Pierre Poiret, French mystic (d. 1719)
- 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
- 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (d. 1758)
- 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (d. 1783)
- 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician (d. 1790)
- 1721 – Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (d. 1765)
- 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter, soldier and naturalist (d. 1827)
- 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French naturalist (d. 1844)
- 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer (d. 1864)
- 1794 – Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist (d. 1867)
- 1800 – James Clark Ross, English explorer (d. 1862)
- 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German mathematician (d. 1877)
- 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet (d. 1908)
- 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian distillery founder (d. 1919)
- 1843 – Henry James, American author (d. 1916)
- 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet (d. 1910)
- 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist (d. 1917)
- 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian poet (d. 1929)
- 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American plant geneticist (d. 1954)
- 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1957)
- 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American heavyweight boxer (d. 1953)
- 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss writer (d. 1956)
- 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer (d. 1980)
- 1883 – Stanley Bruce, eighth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
- 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet (d. 1921)
- 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (d. 1904)
- 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American muralist (d. 1975)
- 1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
- 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author and Holocaust survivor (d. 1983)
- 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, World War I and World War II German fighter pilot (d. 1975)
- 1894 – Bessie Smith, American blues singer (d. 1937)
- 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards player (d. 1980)
- 1896 – Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, Russian chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
- 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
- 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian Artist (d. 1948)
- 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ethologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1988)
- 1908 – Eden Ahbez, American songwriter (d. 1995)
- 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Argentine chess grandmaster (d. 1997)
- 1912 – Kim Il-sung, President of North Korea (d. 1994)
- 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
- 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1917 – James Kee, American politician (d. 1989)
- 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist
- 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany
- 1921 – Georgi Beregovoi, Russian cosmonaut (d. 1995)
- 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor
- 1922 – Harold Washington, American politician (d. 1987)
- 1924 – Sir Neville Marriner, English conductor
- 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist (d. 1999)
- 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, President of Iceland
- 1933 – Roy Clark, American musician
- 1933 – David Hamilton, British photographer, film director and producer
- 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1933 – Boris Strugatsky, Russian author
- 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
- 1937 – Bob Luman, American country singer (d. 1978)
- 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese politician
- 1939 – Claudia Cardinale, Tunisian-born actress
- 1939 – Marty Wilde, British singer
- 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, British author
- 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player
- 1940 – Woodie Fryman, American baseball player
- 1940 – Robert Lacroix, French Canadian professor of economics
- 1940 – Robert Walker Jr., American actor
- 1941 – Howard Berman, American politician
- 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American Catholic prelate
- 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player
- 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)
- 1944 – Dzhokhar Dudaev, Chechen leader (d. 1996)
- 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh musician
- 1947 – Lois Chiles, American actress
- 1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish politician
- 1947 – Mike Chapman, British songwriter
- 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American writer and television producer
- 1947 – Woolly Wolstenholme, British Musician
- 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)
- 1949 – Tonio K, American singer
- 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer
- 1949 – Craig Zadan, American film producer
- 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director and screenwriter
- 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
- 1951 – Heloise, American newspaper columnist
- 1952 – Bengt Gingsjö, Swedish swimmer
- 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian comedian
- 1952 – Sam McMurray, American actor
- 1953 – Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Greek politician
- 1954 – Seka, American pornographic actress
- 1955 – Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (d. 1997)
- 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player
- 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American athlete
- 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1958 – Dolores Gordon-Smith, British writer
- 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player
- 1958 – Noni Ιoannidou, Greek fashion model and actress
- 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer
- 1959 – Fruit Chan, Hong Kong film director
- 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress
- 1959 – Thomas F. Wilson, American actor
- 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player and general manager
- 1960 – Tony Jones (snooker), English snooker player
- 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist
- 1960 – HRH Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, heir to the Belgian throne
- 1962 – Surjit Bindrakhia, Punjabi Bhangra singer
- 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Morrocan hurdler
- 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
- 1963 – Bobby Pepper, American journalist
- 1965 – Linda Perry, American musician
- 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer
- 1967 – Frankie Poullain, British musician (The Darkness)
- 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer
- 1967 – Alt, Brazilian comic creator
- 1968 – Ed O'Brien, British musician (Radiohead)
- 1968 – Stacey Williams, American model
- 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
- 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
- 1970 – Flex Alexander, American actor
- 1971 – Katy Hill, British television presenter
- 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
- 1971 – Kate Harbour, English voice actress
- 1972 – Lou Romano, American voice actor
- 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
- 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
- 1974 – Keith Malley, American comedian and podcaster (Keith and The Girl)
- 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor
- 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor
- 1975 – Paul Dana, American race car driver (d. 2006)
- 1975 – Phil Labonte, Lead vocalist for Metalcore band All That Remains.
- 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976 – Susan Ward, American actress
- 1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
- 1978 – Austin Aries, American wrestler
- 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
- 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
- 1979 – Anna Torv, Australian actress
- 1980 – Natalie Casey, British actress
- 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
- 1980 – Raúl López, Spanish basketball player
- 1980 – Victor Núñez, Costa Rican footballer
- 1980 – Willie Mason, Australian Rugby League Player
- 1980 – Fränk Schleck, Luxembourgish cyclist
- 1981 – Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentine football player
- 1981 – Seth Wulsin, American artist
- 1982 – Anthony Green, American musician
- 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian actor and writer
- 1982 – Albert Riera, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
- 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
- 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Bronson La'Cassie, Australian professional golfer
- 1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
- 1984 – Ben Kasica, Guitarist (rock band "Skillet")
- 1985 – John Danks, American baseball player
- 1985 – Aaron Laffey, American baseball player
- 1985 – Amy Reid, German pornographic actress
- 1986 – Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Dutch footballer
- 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
- 1987 – Sapphire Elia, English actress
- 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress
- 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese actor & singer
- 1992 – Richard Sandrak, American bodybuilder
- 1992 – Amy Diamond, Swedish singer
- 1993 – Madeleine Martin, American television actress
[edit] Deaths - 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
- 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek humanist and grammarian (b. 1355)
- 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (b. 1377)
- 1610 – Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (b. 1546)
- 1621 – John Carver, first governor of Plymouth Colony (b. 1576)
- 1632 – George Calvert, Proprietor of the Avalon (Maryland) Colony (b. 1580)
- 1641 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (b. 1581)
- 1652 – Patriarch Joseph, head of the Russian Orthodox Church
- 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet (b. 1605)
- 1704 – Johann van Waveren Hudde, Dutch mathematician (b. 1628)
- 1220 – Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne (b. 1157)
- 1719 – Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon, second wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
- 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (b. 1676)
- 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish politician (b. 1682)
- 1761 – William Oldys, English antiquarian and bibliographer (b. 1696)
- 1764 – Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (b. 1721)
- 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer (b. 1679)
- 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian scientist and writer (b. 1711)
- 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
- 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian Jesuit missionary and geographer (b. 1718)
- 1804 – Charles Pichegru, French general (strangled in prison) (b. 1761)
- 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist, mineralogist, and writer (b. 1773)
- 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
- 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet (b. 1822)
- 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian missionary (b. 1840)
- 1898 – Kepa Te Rangihiwinui, Maori military leader
- 1912 – Edward Smith, captain of the RMS Titanic (b. 1850)
- 1912 – Jack Phillips, British wireless telegraphist. (b. 1887)
- 1912 – John Jacob Astor IV, billionaire (b. 1864)
- 1912 – Thomas Andrews (shipbuilder), Irish-born businessman and shipbuilder. (b. 1873)
- 1912 – William T. Stead American author and journalist. (b. 1849)
- 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French writer (b. 1868)
- 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (b. 1892)
- 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian novelist (b. 1880)
- 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian artist (d. 1882)
- 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, Nazi leader (b. 1895)
- 1948 – Radola Gajda, Czech military commander and politician (d. 1892)
- 1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885)
- 1957 – Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (b. 1917)
- 1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1881)
- 1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino politician and sportswriter (b. 1911)
- 1963 – Edward "Carji" Greeves, Australian rules footballer (b. 1903)
- 1969 – Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen of Spain (b. 1887)
- 1970 – Ripper Collins, American baseball player (b. 1904)
- 1971 – Dan Reeves, American football team owner (b. 1912)
- 1974 – Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (b. 1906)
- 1975 – Richard Conte, American actor (b. 1910)
- 1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1905)
- 1982 – Arthur Lowe, British actor (b. 1915)
- 1983 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author and Holocaust survivor (b. 1892)
- 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedy magician (b. 1921)
- 1984 – Alexander Trocchi, Scottish writer (b. 1925)
- 1986 – Jean Genet, French author (b. 1910)
- 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)
- 1988 – Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist (b. 1954)
- 1989 – Nesuhi Ertegün, American record executive (b. 1917)
- 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese politician (b. 1915)
- 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (b. 1905)
- 1992 – Otis Barton, American deep-sea diver, inventor and actor (b. 1899)
- 1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geologist (b. 1908)
- 1993 – Leslie Charteris, Singapore-born author (b. 1907)
- 1994 – John Curry, English figure skater (b. 1949)
- 1995 – Harry Shoulberg, American painter, serigrapher (b. 1903)
- 1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (b. 1925)
- 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, British engineer and racing car designer (b. 1944)
- 2000 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator (b. 1925)
- 2001 – Joey Ramone, American musician and singer (The Ramones) (b. 1951)
- 2002 – Damon Knight, American author (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Byron "Whizzer" White, American football player and U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Erin Fleming, Canadian actress (b. 1941)
- 2003 – Reg Bundy, British performer (b. 1941)
- 2004 – Ray Condo, Canadian musician (b. 1950)
- 2005 – John Fred, American singer (b. 1941)
- 2007 – Brant Parker, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
- 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish Lutheran theologian and bishop (b. 1921)
- 2008 – Benoît Lamy, Belgian movie director (b. 1945)
- 2008 – Sean Costello, American blues musician (b. 1979)
- 2009 – Clement Freud, British writer, broadcaster and former liberal MP (b. 1924)
- 2009 – Ed Blake, American baseball player (b. 1925)
- 2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-born American physicist (b. 1907)
[edit] Holidays and observances [edit] External links
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