Events

Up to 1900 
 37 - Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate.
 193 – Roman Emperor Pertinax was assassinated by Praetorian Guards, who then sold the throne in an auction to Didius Julianus.
 364 - Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens as co-Emperor.
 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
 1566 - The foundation stone is laid for Valletta, Malta, by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
 1776 – Juan Bautista de Anza sails into San Francisco Bay and claims the nearby land for Spain.
 1795 – Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland, a northern fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceased to exist and became part of Imperial Russia.
 1802 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid known to man.
 1809 – Battle of Medellin, Colombia.
 1814 - The Royal Navy defeats the United States Navy in the Battle of Valparaiso, Chile.
 1834 – The United States Senate censures President Andrew Jackson for his actions in defunding the Second Bank of the United States.
 1854 – Crimean War: United Kingdom and France declare war on Russia.
 1860 – First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka broke out.
 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass – In New Mexico, Union forces succeed in stopping the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26.
 1871 - The Paris Commune is officially created in Paris.
 1883 - Tonkin Campaign: French victory in the Battle of Gia Cuc.
 1889 - The Yngsjö murder occurs in Sweden, as Anna Mansdotter and her son are arrested for the crime.

1901  2000 
 1910 – Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
 1913 – Guatemala becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires Convention.
 1915 - British passenger steamship Falaba is sunk by a German U-boat off Wales, killing 104 people, including the first American to die as a direct result of World War I.
 1920 – Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford marry.
 1930 – Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara.
 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid
 1941 – World War II: Battle of Cape Matapan – In the Mediterranean Sea, British Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham leads the Royal Navy in the destruction of three major Italian battleships and two destroyers.
 1942 – World War II: In occupied France, British naval forces raid the German-occupied port of St. Nazaire.
 1946 – Cold War: The United States State Department releases the Acheson-Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
 1947 – The last episode of the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century airs on radio.
 1951 - First Indochina War: Battle of Mao Khe.
 1959 - The State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolves the Government of Tibet.
 1964 – The first British offshore pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, is established.
 1964 - Tsunamis from the previous day's Good Friday earthquake strike along western coasts of North America, killing 107 people in Alaska, 11 in California and 4 in Oregon.
 1965 - An earthquake causes a dam to break near the town of El Cobre, Chile, which is flooded, killing over 200 people.
 1969 - Greek poet Giorgos Seferis makes his famous statement on the BBC World Service against the ruling junta in Greece.
 1970 - An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 hits Gediz, Turkey, killing 1,086 people.
 1978 – US Supreme Court hands down 5-3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
 1979 – In Pennsylvania, a pump in the reactor cooling system fails at Three Mile Island, resulting in the evaporation of some contaminated water causing a nuclear meltdown.
 1979 - The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister James Callaghan's Labour Party government. A new election on May 3 results in Margaret Thatcher being elected Prime Minister.
 1990 – President George H. W. Bush posthumously gives Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.
 1994 – In South Africa, Zulus and African National Congress supporters battle in central Johannesburg resulting in eighteen deaths.
 1997 - A rock fall in Afghanistan kills 380 people.
 1999 - Kosovo War: Serbian paramilitary and military forces kill 146 Kosovo Albanians in the Izbica Massacre.
 1999 - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits southwestern China and northern India, killing 100 people.

From 2001 
 2002 – The exhibit "The Italians: Three Centuries of Italian Art" opens at the National Gallery of Australia.
 2005 – The 2005 Sumatran earthquake rocks Indonesia, and at magnitude 8.7 is the second strongest earthquake since 1965. It kills around 1,300 people, mainly on the island of Nias.
 2006 – Strikes take place in France, in protest at the government proposition First Employment Contract. On the same day, strikes are also held across the United Kingdom.
 2014 - It is announced that former Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg will succeed Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Secretary-General of NATO on October 1 of the same year.
 2017 - The Scottish Parliament, by a majority of 69 to 59, approves plans to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence.
 2018 - It is revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un travelled to Beijing to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for talks.
 2018 - A fire at a police station's cells in Valencia, Venezuela kills 78 people.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1472 – Fra Bartolommeo, Italian artist (d. 1517)
 1496 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France (d. 1533)
 1515 – Teresa of Avila, Spanish saint (d. 1582)
 1522 - Albert the Warlike, Prince of Bayreuth (d. 1577)
 1569 - Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1622)
 1592 – John Amos Comenius, Bohemian philosopher and theologian (d. 1670)
 1613 – Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang of the Qing Dynasty of China (d. 1688)
 1743 - Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova, major figure in the Russian Enlightenment (d. 1810)
 1749 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician, physicist and astronomer (d. 1827)
 1750 – Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan revolutionary (d. 1816)
 1760 - Thomas Clarkson, British abolitionist (d. 1846)
 1773 - Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (d. 1844)
 1793 - Henry Schoolcraft, American explorer and ethnologist (d. 1864)
 1811 - Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, Bohemian-born American bishop and Roman Catholic saint (d. 1860)
 1815 - Arsène Houssaye, French novelist (d. 1896)
 1818 - Wade Hampton III, Governor of South Carolina (d. 1902)
 1819 - Joseph Bazalgette, English engineer (d. 1891)
 1832 - Henry D. Washburn, American politician, general and explorer (d. 1871)
 1840 - Emin Pasha, Ottoman-German naturalist and politician (d. 1892)
 1847 - Gyula Farkas, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1930)
 1851 – Bernardino Machado, President and Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1944)
 1862 – Aristide Briand, Prime Minister of France (d. 1932)
 1868 – Maxim Gorky, Russian writer (d. 1936)
 1878 - Herbert H. Lehman, Governor of New York (d. 1963)
 1890 - Paul Whiteman, American bandleader and composer (d. 1967)
 1892 – Corneille Heymans, Belgian doctor, won the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1968)
 1894 - Ernst Lindemann, German captain (d. 1941)
 1895 - Christian Herter, Governor of Massachusetts and United States Secretary of State (d. 1966)
 1895 - Spencer W. Kimball, American Mormon leader (d. 1985)
 1897 – Sepp Herberger, German football coach (d. 1977)
 1899 – August Anheuser Busch, Jr., American brewer (d. 1989)
 1899 - Harold B. Lee, American religious figure (d. 1973)

1901  1950 
 1903 – Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (d. 1991)
 1910 – Ingrid of Sweden, Queen Consort of Denmark (d. 2000)
 1911 - J. L. Austin, British philosopher (d. 1960)
 1912 – Marina Raskova, Soviet pilot (d. 1943)
 1913 – Kazuo Taoka, Japanese crime boss (d. 1981)
 1913 – Toko Shinoda, Japanese artist
 1914 - Bohumil Hrabal, Czech writer (d. 1997)
 1914 – Edmund Muskie, American politician, Governor of Maine and United States Secretary of State (d. 1996)
 1917 - Claude Bertrand, Canadian neurosurgeon (d. 2014)
 1921 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor (d. 1999)
 1921 - Herschel Grynszpan, German-Jewish refugee and assassin (d. 1942)
 1922 - Neville Bonner, Australian politician (d. 1999)
 1922 – Theo Albrecht, German businessman (Aldi Nord) (d. 2010)
 1923 - Paul C. Donnelly, American scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
 1925 - Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Soviet-Russian actor (d. 1994)
 1926 - Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, Spanish noblewoman (d. 2014)
 1926 - Yvon Taillandier, French artist, author and critic (d. 2018)
 1927 - Theo Colborn, American zoologist (d. 2014)
 1927 - Marianne Fredriksson, Swedish writer (d. 2007)
 1928 - Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-American political scientist (d. 2017)
 1928 – Alexander Grothendieck, German-French mathematician (d. 2014)
 1930 – Jerome Isaac Friedman, American physicist
 1930 - Robert Ashley, American composer
 1931 - Anatoly Lein, Soviet-Russian-born American chess player (d. 2018)
 1933 – Frank Murkowski, American politician, former Governor of Alaska
 1933 - Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, Archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico
 1935 - Frank Judd, Baron Judd, British politician
 1935 – Michael Parkinson, British broadcaster
 1936 – Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian writer and politician
 1936 - Amancio Ortega, Spanish businessman
 1936 - Zdenek Sverak, Czech actor
 1940 - Luis Cubilla, Uruguayan footballer (d. 2013)
 1941 – Alf Clausen, American orchestra conductor
 1942 – Daniel Dennett, American philosopher
 1942 – Neil Kinnock, British politician, former leader of the Labour Party
 1942 – Mike Newell, British director
 1942 - Kitanofuji Katsuaki, Japanese sumo wrestler
 1942 - Conrad Schumann, East German border guard (d. 1998)
 1942 - Jerry Sloan, American basketball player and coach
 1943 - Richard Eyre, English director, producer and screenwriter
 1944 - Rick Barry, American basketball player
 1944 - Ken Howard, American actor (d. 2016)
 1945 - Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines
 1946 – Alejandro Toledo, former President of Peru
 1946 - Wubbo Ockels, Dutch physicist and astronaut (d. 2014)
 1946 - Henry Paulson, American politician
 1948 – Dianne Wiest, American actress
 1948 – John Evan, British musician (Jethro Tull)
 1949 - Josephine Chaplin, American actress
 1949 - Kevin Lloyd, British actor (d. 1998)

1951  1975 
 1952 - Tony Brise, English racing driver (d. 1975)
 1953 – Melchior Ndadaye, Burundian politician (d. 1993)
 1955 – Reba McEntire, American singer and actress
 1955 - John Alderdice, Baron Alderdice, Northern Irish politician
 1956 - Evelin Jahl, German athlete
 1956 - April Margera, American television personality
 1959 – Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica
 1960 - José Antonio Alonso, Spanish politician (d. 2017)
 1960 – José Maria Neves, Prime Minister of Cape Verde
 1961 – Orla Brady, Irish actress
 1961 - Byron Scott, American basketball player and coach
 1962 - Jure Franko, Slovenian skier
 1963 – Nina Ananiashvili, Georgian prima ballerina
 1966 - Cheryl James, American rapper and actress
 1967 - John Ziegler, American radio host
 1968 – Nasser Hussain, English cricketer
 1968 - Tim Lovejoy, English television presenter
 1969 - Ilke Wyludda, German discus thrower
 1969 - Laurie Brett, Scottish actress
 1970 - Michelle Gildernew, Northern Irish politician
 1970 – Vince Vaughn, American actor
 1971 – Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi, British solicitor and politician
 1972 - Nick Frost, British actor
 1973 – Eddie Fatu, Samoan-American professional wrestler (d. 2009)
 1973 – Scott Mills, British radio presenter
 1975 - Kate Gosselin, American television personality
 1975 - Ivan Helguera, Spanish footballer
 1975 - Richard Kelly, American director and screenwriter

From 1976 
 1976 – Dave Keuning, American guitarist (The Killers)
 1976 - Stephen Gethins, Scottish politician
 1977 – Erik Rasmussen, American ice hockey player
 1979 - Crystal Cox, American athlete
 1980 - Albert Streit, German footballer
 1981 – Julia Stiles, American actress
 1982 - Luis Tejada, Panamanian footballer
 1984 – Christopher Samba, Congolese footballer
 1984 - Nikki Sanderson, British actress and model
 1985 – Stanislas Wawrinka, Swiss tennis player
 1986 – Lady Gaga, American singer
 1986 - Bowe Bergdahl, American sergeant
 1986 - Amaia Salamanca, Spanish actress
 1988 - Lacey Turner, English actress
 1989 – David Goodwillie, Scottish footballer
 1990 - Luca Marrone, Italian footballer
 1990 - Ekaterina Bobrova, Russian ice dancer
 1991 - Marie-Philip Poulin, Canadian ice hockey player
 1991 - Amy Bruckner, American actress and singer
 1991 - Hoya, South Korean singer and actor
 1992 - Sergi Gomez, Spanish footballer
 1994 - Jackson Wang, South Korean singer, dancer and model
 1995 - Jonathan Drouin, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 193 – Pertinax, Roman Emperor (b. 126)
 1072 - Ordulf, Duke of Saxony
 1239 – Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (b. 1180)
 1241 – King Valdemar II of Denmark (b. 1170)
 1552 - Guru Angad Dev, Indian Sikh Guru (b. 1504)
 1584 - Tsar Ivan IV of Russia (Ivan the Terrible) (b. 1530)
 1687 – Constantijn Huygens, Dutch poet and composer (b. 1596)
 1794 - Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1743)
 1818 - Antonio Capuzzi, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1755)
 1850 - Gerard Brandon, Governor of Mississippi (b. 1788)
 1866 - Solomon Foot, American lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
 1881 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer (b. 1839)
 1884 - Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (b. 1853)

1901  2000 
 1908 - Hermann Clemenz, Estonian chess player (b. 1846)
 1928 - Nathan Stubblefield, American inventor (b. 1860)
 1929 - Katharine Lee Bates, American poet and songwriter (b. 1859)
 1929 - Lomar Gouin, 13th Premier of Quebec (b. 1861)
 1934 - Mahmoud Mokhtar, Egyptian sculptor (b. 1891)
 1937 - Karol Szymanowksi, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1882)
 1941 – Virginia Woolf, English feminist writer (b. 1882)
 1942 – Miguel Hernandez, Spanish poet (b. 1910)
 1943 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer and pianist (b. 1873)
 1953 – Jim Thorpe, American athlete (b. 1887)
 1958 – W. C. Handy, American blues musician and composer (b. 1873)
 1965 - Clemence Dane, British novelist and playwright (b. 1888)
 1969 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890)
 1974 - Arthur Crudup, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1905)
 1974 – Dorothy Fields, American librettist and lyricist (b. 1905)
 1975 - Ernst Fraenkel, German-American jurist (b. 1898)
 1977 – Eric Shipton, British explorer and mountain climber (b. 1907)
 1979 - Emmett Kelly, American clown (b. 1898)
 1980 - Dick Haymes, Argentine-American actor and singer (b. 1918)
 1982 – William Giauque, Canadian chemist (b. 1895)
 1985 – Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (b. 1887)
 1987 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian singer (b. 1905)
 1987 – Patrick Troughton, British actor (b. 1920)
 1994 – Eugene Ionescu, Romanian-born playwright (b. 1909)
 1996 - Shin Kanemaru, Japanese politician (b. 1914)
 2000 – Anthony Powell, British novelist (b. 1905)

From 2001 
 2004 – Peter Ustinov, British actor (b. 1921)
 2006 – Caspar Weinberger, American politician (b. 1917)
 2009 – Janet Jagan, American-born President of Guyana (b. 1920)
 2010 – Herb Ellis, American musician (b. 1921)
 2010 – June Havoc, Canadian-American actress (b. 1912)
 2011 - Wenche Foss, Norwegian actress (b. 1917)
 2012 – Alexander Arutunian, Armenian composer (b. 1920)
 2012 - Earl Scruggs, American musician (b. 1924)
 2013 - Richard Griffiths, British actor (b. 1947)
 2013 - Boris Strel, Slovenian skier (b. 1959)
 2014 - Jeremiah Denton, American politician and admiral (b. 1924)
 2014 - Edwin Kagin, American lawyer (b. 1940)
 2014 - Lorenzo Semple Jr., American screenwriter (b. 1923)
 2015 - Miroslav Ondricek, Czech cinematographer (b. 1934)
 2015 - Gene Saks, American director (b. 1921)
 2015 - Richard L. Bare, American director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1913)
 2016 - Daan Myngheer, Belgian cyclist (b. 1993)
 2016 - James Noble, American actor (b. 1922)
 2017 - Infanta Alicia, Duchess of Calabria (b. 1917)
 2017 - Ahmed Kathrada, South African anti-Apartheid activist and politician (b. 1929)
 2017 - Christine Kaufmann, Austrian-German actress (b. 1945)
 2017 - William McPherson, American journalist, author and critic (b. 1933)
 2017 - Janine Sutto, French-born Canadian actress (b. 1921)
 2017 - Enn Vetemaa, Estonian writer (b. 1936)
 2018 - Peter Munk, Hungarian-born Canadian businessman (b. 1927)
 2018 - Eugène Van Roosbroeck, Belgian racing cyclist (b. 1928)

Observances 
 Serfs Emancipation Day (Tibet)
 Teachers' Day (Czech Republic of Slovakia)

Days of the year