Events

Up to 1900 
 598 - Balkan campaign: The Avars lift the siege of the Byzantine Empire stronghold of Tomis.
 1282 - The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin King, Charles I of Naples, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers.
 1296 – Edward I storms Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the then-Scottish border town, slaughtering almost everyone, even those fleeing to the churches.
 1492 – Ferdinand and Isabella sign a decree aimed at expelling all Jews from Spain unless they convert to Roman Catholicism.
 1533 – Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.
 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris.
 1814 - Joachim Murat issues the Rimini Declaration which would later inspire the unification of Italy into being one country.
 1822 – Florida Territory created in the United States.
 1841 - The National Bank of Greece is founded in Athens.
 1842 – Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long.
 1844 – One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.
 1855 – Origins of the American Civil War: Bleeding Kansas – "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature.
 1856 – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.
 1858 – Hyman Lipman patents a pencil with an attached eraser.
 1863 – Prince Wilhelm Georg of Sleeswÿk-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg is chosen as King George I of Greece.
 1867 – Alaska is purchased for $7.2 million, about 2 cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. The news media call this Seward's Folly.
 1870 – Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.
 1899 - British passenger steamship Stella hits a rock off Guernsey in the English Channel, in thick fog, sinking within eight minutes.

1901  2000 
 1909 – In New York City the Queensboro Bridge connecting Manhattan and Queens is opened to traffic.
 1912 – Sultan Abdelhafid signs the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French protectorate.
 1939 - The Henkel He 100 fighter aircraft sets a record airspeed of 745 kilometers per hour (463 miles per hour).
 1940 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking to be the capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Ching-wei.
 1944 - World War II: Allied bombing raid on Nuremberg.
 1944 - World War II: The Allies conduct their most severe bombing raid on Sofia, Bulgaria.
 1945 – World War II: Soviet Union forces invade Austria and take Vienna; Alger Hiss congratulated in Moscow for his part in bringing about the Western betrayal at the Yalta Conference.
 1949 - Riots occur in Reykjavik after the decision of Iceland's government for the country to join NATO.
 1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
 1954 – The first subway in Canada opens after five years of construction, in Toronto.
 1961 – The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed at New York.
 1962 – Jack Paar hosts his last episode of The Tonight Show.
 1964 – The game show Jeopardy! debuts on television.
 1965 – Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.
 1972 – Vietnam War: The Eastertide Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.
 1974 – The Ramones play their first ever gig as a trio at CBGB's in New York City.
 1976 - First Land Day protests in Israel and Palestine.
 1981 – President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., family friend of the Vice President.
 1982 - Space Shuttle program: The STS-3 mission ends, with the landing of the Space Shuttle Columbia at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, United States. 
 1987 – One of Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" paintings is bought by Japanese insurance magnate Yasuo Goto for $39.85 million.

From 2001 
 2001 - The result of the People's Republic of China's census is announced. The population at this time is estimated at 1,285,830,000.
 2002 – Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother, dies at Windsor Castle, aged 101, just seven weeks after her daughter, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.
 2006 – The United Kingdom Terrorism Act 2006 becomes law.
 2006 – Marcos Pontes becomes the first Brazilian in space on board the Soyuz TMA-8 aircraft, to the International Space Station.
 2008 – The controversial 2008 Zimbabwean Presidential election is held.
 2017 - SpaceX conducts the world's first re-flight of an orbital-class rocket.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1135 – Maimonides, Jewish philosopher (d. 1204)
 1326 – Ivan II of Russia (d. 1359)
 1432 – Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1481)
 1510 - Antonio de Cabezon, Spanish composer and organist (d. 1566)
 1566 - Carlo Gesualdo, Italian nobleman, composer and murderer (d. 1613)
 1633 - Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (d. 1708)
 1727 - Tommaso Traetta, Italian composer (d. 1779)
 1746 – Francisco Goya, Spanish painter (d. 1828)
 1750 - John Stafford Smith, English organist and composer (d. 1836)
 1757 - Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier, French physicist and aviation pioneer (d. 1785)
 1785 - Henry Hardinge, Governor-General of India (d. 1856)
 1793 – Juan Manuel de Rosas, Argentine military leader (d. 1877)
 1805 - Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann, German-Swedish linguist (d. 1887)
 1811 - Robert Bunsen, German chemist (d. 1899)
 1818 - Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, German social reformer (d. 1888)
 1820 – Anna Sewell, British writer (d. 1878)
 1844 – Paul Verlaine, French poet (d. 1896)
 1853 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (d. 1890)
 1857 – Thevenin, French telegraph engineer (d. 1926)
 1863 - Joseph Caillaux, Prime Minister of France (d. 1944)
 1863 - Mary Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (d. 1930)
 1864 - Franz Oppenheimer, German sociologist (d. 1943)
 1874 - Charles Lightoller, English 2nd Officer of the RMS Titanic (d. 1952)
 1874 - Nicolae Radescu, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1953)
 1879 - Coen de Koning, Dutch ice skater (d. 1954)
 1879 - Bernhard Schmidt, German optician (d. 1935)
 1880 – Sean O'Casey, Irish dramatist (d. 1964)
 1882 - Melanie Klein, Austrian-British psychoanalyst (d. 1960)
 1892 - Stefan Banack, Polish mathematician (d. 1945)
 1892 - Fortunato Depero, Italian painter, writer, sculptor and graphic designer (d. 1960)
 1892 - Sanzo Nozaka, Japanese politician (d. 1993)
 1892 - Sidney Soyers, CIA director (d. 1973)
 1894 – Sergey Ilyushin, Russian aerospace engineer (d. 1977)
 1894 - Tommy Green, English race walker (d. 1975)
 1895 - Jean Giono, French author (d. 1970)
 1899 - Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, Bengali writer (d. 1970)
 1900 – Santos Urdinaran, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1979)

1901  1950 
 1902 - Brooke Astor, American philanthropist (d. 2007)
 1902 - Victor E. Anderson, Governor of Nebraska (d. 1962)
 1902 - Frieda Szwillus, German supercentenarian (d. 2014)
 1905 – Albert Pierrepoint, British executioner (d. 1992)
 1908 - Leo A. Hoegh, Territorial Governor of Hawaii (d. 2000)
 1909 - John A. Burns, Governor of Hawaii (d. 1975)
 1910 – Jozef Marcinkiewicz, Polish mathematician (d. 1940)
 1913 – Frankie Laine, American singer (d. 2007)
 1913 – Censu Tabone, former President of Malta (d. 2012)
 1913 – Richard Helms, American CIA director (d. 2002)
 1913 – Marc Davis, American animator (d. 2000)
 1914 – Sonny Boy Williamson I, American musician (d. 1948)
 1915 - Arsenio Erico, Paraguayan footballer (d. 1977)
 1915 - Pietro Ingrao, Italian politician (d. 2015)
 1917 - Els Aarne, Estonian composer (d. 1995)
 1919 - McGeorge Bundy, American diplomat (d. 1996)
 1922 – Virgilio Noè, Italian cardinal (d. 2011)
 1923 - Milton Acorn, Canadian poet (d. 1986)
 1924 - Milko Kelemen, Croatian composer (d. 2018)
 1926 – Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish businessman (IKEA) (d. 2018)
 1926 - Peter Marshall, American actor, singer and game show host
 1926 - Larissa Volpert, Russian chess player (d. 2017)
 1928 - Tom Sharpe, British author (d. 2013)
 1929 - Richard Dysart, American actor (d. 2015)
 1930 - John Astin, American actor
 1930 – Rolf Harris, Australian artist, singer and entertainer
 1933 - Anna-Lisa, Norwegian-American actress (d. 2018)
 1933 - Jean-Claude Brialy, French actor and director (d. 2007) 
 1934 - Mahmut Atalay, Turkish wrestler (d. 2004)
 1934 - Hans Hollein, Austrian architect and designer (d. 2014)
 1937 – Warren Beatty, American actor
 1938 - Klaus Schwab, German economist and engineer
 1940 - Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer
 1940 - Jerry Lucas, American basketball player
 1940 - Uwe Timm, German actor
 1941 – Wasim Sajjad, former President of Pakistan
 1942 – Ruben Kun, former President of Nauru
 1943 - Jay Traynor, American singer (d. 2014)
 1943 - Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa, Malagasy sprinter (d. 2016)
 1945 – Eric Clapton, British guitarist and singer
 1945 - Johnnie Walker, British DJ and broadcaster
 1945 - Bob Miller, former Governor of Nevada
 1947 - Ryszard Kotla, Polish writer and activist
 1947 - Dick Roche, Irish politician
 1948 – Eddie Jordan, Irish racing driver and team owner
 1948 – Mervyn King, British economist
 1948 - Naomi Sims, model
 1950 – Robbie Coltrane, Scottish actor
 1950 - Beverley Hughes, English politician
 1950 - Frans Bolweg, Dutch sailor (d. 2015)

1951  1975 
 1951 - Yves Séguin, Quebec politician and actor
 1956 - Juanito Oiarzabal, Basque mountaineer
 1957 - Michael Lehmann, American director
 1957 - Paul Reiser, American actor and screenwriter
 1958 - Maurice LaMarche, Canadian voice actor
 1959 - Sabine Meyer, German classical clarinettist
 1959 - Martina Cole, English author
 1960 - Bill Johnson, American skier
 1962 – M.C. Hammer, American rapper and musician
 1962 – Bil Dwyer, American actor
 1962 - Mark Begich, American politician 
 1963 - Eli-Eri Moura, Brazilian composer and conductor
 1963 - Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko, Ukrainian footballer and coach
 1963 - Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, 4th President of Mongolia
 1964 – Tracy Chapman, American singer
 1964 - Abu Anas al-Libi, Libyan terrorist (d. 2015)
 1965 – Piers Morgan, British journalist and television personality
 1966 - Joey Castillo, American drummer
 1967 - Megumi Hayashibara, Japanese voice actor and singer
 1968 – Céline Dion, Canadian singer
 1968 - Donna D'Errico, American actress and model
 1971 - Mark Consuelos, Spanish-American motorcycle racer
 1972 - Karel Poborsky, Czech footballer
 1973 – Jan Koller, Czech footballer
 1973 - Adam Goldstein, American keyboardist, DJ and producer (d. 2009)
 1975 - Paul Griffen, New Zealand-Italian rugby player

From 1976 
 1976 - Ty Conklin, American ice hockey player
 1976 - Ayako Kawasumi, Japanese voice actress
 1976 - Mark McClelland, Irish musician
 1976 - Troels Lund Poulsen, Danish politician
 1978 – Chris Paterson, Scottish rugby player
 1978 - Simon Webbe, English singer (Blue)
 1978 - Teemu Aalto, Finnish ice hockey player
 1979 – Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Ukrainian footballer
 1979 – Norah Jones, American singer and musician
 1980 – Ricardo Osorio, Mexican footballer
 1981 – Andrea Masi, Italian rugby player
 1981 - Jammal Brown, American football player
 1981 - Katy Mixon, American actress
 1982 - A-Trak, Canadian DJ and record producer
 1982 - Jason Dohring, American actor
 1982 - Philippe Mexès, French footballer
 1983 - Sarah Stevenson, British taekwondoka
 1984 – Mario Ancic, Croatian tennis player
 1984 – Samantha Stosur, Australian tennis player
 1986 – Sergio Ramos, Spanish footballer
 1986 - Beni, Japanese singer
 1987 - Juan Pablo Pino, Colombian footballer
 1987 - Calum Elliot, Scottish footballer
 1987 - Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Canadian ice hockey player
 1988 - Richard Sherman, American football player
 1990 - Lee Gi-kwang, South Korean singer, dancer and actor
 1990 - Cassie Scerbo, American singer, dancer and actress
 1992 - Stuart Armstrong, Scottish footballer
 1993 - Anitta, Brazilian singer, songwriter, actress and dancer
 1993 - Song Min-ho, South Korean rapper, composer and songwriter
 1994 - Haruka Shimazaki, Japanese singer (AKB48)
 1994 - Sarah Solovay, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 1994 - Jetro Willems, Dutch footballer

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 116 - Quirinus of Neuss, Roman martyr and saint
 365 – Jin Aidi, Emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (b. 341)
 987 - Arnulf II of Flanders
 1202 - Joachim Fiore, Italian mystic and theologian (b. 1135)
 1472 - Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy (b. 1435)
 1486 - Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury
 1526 – Konrad Mutian, German humanist (b. 1471)
 1559 – Adam Ries, German mathematician (b. 1492)
 1587 - Ralph Sadler, English statesman (b. 1507)
 1764 – Pietro Locatelli, Italian composer (b. 1695)
 1783 – William Hunter, Scottish anatomist (b. 1718)
 1804 - Victor-François, 2nd duc de Broglie, French aristocrat and soldier (b. 1718)
 1830 – Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Baden (b. 1763)
 1864 - Louis Schindelmeisser, German clarinetist, composer and conductor (b. 1811)
 1873 - Benedict Morel, French physicist (b. 1809)
 1879 - Thomas Couture, French painter and teacher (b. 1815)
 1886 - Joseph-Alfred Mousseau, 6th Premier of Quebec (b. 1838)
 1896 – Charilaos Trikoupis, Greek Prime Minister (b. 1832)

1901  2000 
 1912 – Karl May, German writer (b. 1842)
 1914 – John Henry Poynting, English physicist (b. 1852)
 1925 – Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher (b. 1861)
 1935 - Romanos Melikian, Armenian composer (b. 1873)
 1939 - Richard Steiff, German businessman and teddy bear creator (b. 1877)
 1943 - Jan Bytnar, Polish activist (b. 1921)
 1943 - Maciej Aleksy Dawidowski, Polish activist (b. 1920)
 1949 – Friedrich Bergius, German chemist (b. 1884)
 1950 – Léon Blum, Prime Minister of France (b. 1872)
 1952 – Jigme Wangchuck, King of Bhutan (b. 1905)
 1954 - Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (b. 1881)
 1955 - Harl McDonald, American pianist, composer and conductor (b. 1899)
 1959 - Daniil Andreev, Russian writer and mystic (b. 1906)
 1959 - Riccardo Zandla, Italian-Slovenian poet (b. 1875)
 1961 - Philibert Jacques Melotte, British astronomer (b. 1880)
 1963 - Alexander Gauk, Russian conductor and composer (b. 1893)
 1964 - Nella Larsen, American writer (b. 1891)
 1965 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician (b. 1896)
 1966 - Erwin Piscator, German director and producer (b. 1893)
 1967 - Jean Toomer, American writer (b. 1894)
 1968 - Bobby Driscoll, American actor (b. 1937)
 1970 – Heinrich Bruening, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1885)
 1973 - Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish aristocrat and aviator (b. 1903)
 1977 – Abdel Halim Hafez, Egyptian singer and actor (b. 1929)
 1979 - Airey Neave, English soldier and politician (b. 1916)
 1984 - Karl Rahner, German theologian (b. 1904)
 1985 - Harold Peary, American actor and singer (b. 1908)
 1986 – James Cagney, American actor (b. 1899)
 1988 - Edgar Faure, Prime Minister of France (b. 1908)
 1990 - Harry Peary, Australian-American union leader (b. 1901)
 2000 – Rudolf Kirchschlaeger, President of Austria (b. 1915)

From 2001 
 2002 – Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)
 2003 – Valentin Pavlov, Soviet politician (b. 1937)
 2003 - Michael Jeter, American actor (b. 1952)
 2005 – Mitch Hedberg, American comedian (b. 1968)
 2008 – Dith Pran, Cambodian photojournalist (b. 1942)
 2010 – Martin Sandberger, German military officer (b. 1911)
 2011 – Lyudmila Gurchenko, Russian actress and singer (b. 1935)
 2013 - Phil Ramone, South African-American record producer (b. 1934)
 2013 - Valeri Zolotuchin, Russian actor (b. 1941)
 2014 - Phuntsok Wangyal, Tibetan-Chinese politician (b. 1922)
 2014 - Kate O'Mara, British actress (b. 1939)
 2014 - Jan de Graaff, Dutch television journalist (b. 1943)
 2015 - Helmut Dietl, German movie director (b. 1944)
 2015 - Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, Dutch astronomer (b. 1921)
 2015 - Philip A. Potter, Dominican Methodist church leader (b. 1921)
 2016 - Anne Aasheim, Norwegian newspaper editor (b. 1962)
 2016 - Bernard Lamarre, Canadian engineer and businessman (b. 1931)
 2016 - Bill Rosendahl, American politician (b. 1945)
 2016 - Gianmaria Testa, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1958)
 2016 - Shirley Hufstedler, American lawyer and judge (b. 1925)
 2016 - Khuzaima Qutbuddin, Indian Islamic leader (b. 1940)
 2017 - Richard Bustillo, American martial arts instructor (b. 1942)
 2017 - Donald Harvey, American serial killer (b. 1952)
 2018 - André Bo-Boliko Lokonga, 9th Prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1934)
 2018 - Bill Maynard, English actor (b. 1928)
 2020 - Bill Withers, American musician (b. 1938)

Observances 
 Land Day (Palestine)
 National Doctors' Day (United States)

Days of the year