April 1

### Up to 1900

- 286 – Roman Emperor Diocletian makes his general Maximian co–emperor.
- 325 – Emperor Cheng of Jin, at the age of 4 years, becomes Emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China, succeeding his father, Emperor Ming of Jin.
- 527 – Byzantine Empire: Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co–ruler.
- 1318 – Scotland takes control of Berwick-upon-Tweed from England.
- 1545 – The Bolivian city of Potosi is founded after the discovery of major silver deposits in the area.
- 1605 – Alessandro Ottaviano de Medici is elected Pope, and becomes Pope Leo XI.
- 1789 – Frederick Muhlenberg is elected as the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
- 1790 – William Herschel discovers the barred spiral galaxy NGC 3079.
- 1814 – The first gas lighting is used in London's streets.
- 1826 – Samuel Morey patents the internal combustion engine.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Battle of Five Forks.
- 1867 – Singapore becomes a British Crown colony.
- 1873 – The RMS _Atlantic_ sinks near Nova Scotia, killing 545 people.
- 1887 – Bombay's Fire Brigade is founded.
- 1888 – The Dutch football team Sparta Rotterdam is founded.
- 1891 – The painter Paul Gauguin leaves Marseille for Tahiti.
- 1891 – The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago.
- 1893 – The rank of Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy is created.
- 1893 – Germany officially adopts "Central European Time", one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
- 1897 – The Japanese city of Nagano is founded.
- 1899 – Germany takes of control of present–day Papua New Guinea, calling it German New Guinea.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1908 – Territorial Force, which is later renamed the Territorial Army, is as a volunteer reserve component of the British Army.
- 1918 – The Royal Air Force is founded.
- 1919 – The Bauhaus school is founded in Germany by the architect Walter Gropius.
- 1921 – Adrienne Bolland becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Andes, from Mendoza in Argentina to Santiago, Chile.
- 1924 – The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.
- 1924 – Adolf Hitler is sent to five years in prison for his part in the Beer Hall Putsch, he only spends nine months there, writing _Mein Kampf_.
- 1933 – England cricketer Wally Hammond sets a record for the highest individual test innings of 336 against New Zealand.
- 1935 – India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, is founded.
- 1936 – Orissa becomes a state of India.
- 1937 – Aden becomes a British Crown colony.
- 1939 – The Spanish Civil War ends, as the last Republicans surrender.
- 1941 – Fântâna Albă massacre: Between 200 and 2,000 Romanian civilians are killed by Soviet Border Troops.
- 1944 – World War II: Navigation errors lead to a mistaken United States air raid on Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
- 1945 – World War II: As part of Operation Iceberg, American soldiers land on Okinawa.
- 1946 – The Malayan Union is formed.
- 1946 – An earthquake in Alaska leads to a tsunami which destroys the town of Hilo, Hawaii.
- 1948 – The Faroe Islands gain autonomy from Denmark.
- 1949 – The Irish Free State becomes the Republic of Ireland.
- 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Chinese Communist Party holds successful talks with the Kuomintang.
- 1949 – Canada's government ends Japanese internment after seven years.
- 1954 – American President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
- 1957 – The BBC current affairs programme _Panorama_ plays an April Fools' Day joke, about a spaghetti harvest in Switzerland.
- 1960 – The first Dr. Martens boots go on sale.
- 1967 – The United States Department of Transportation begins its operations.
- 1973 – Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, is introduced in India.
- 1974 – Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan counties are created in the United Kingdom.
- 1976 – Apple Inc. is founded.
- 1979 – The Islamic Republic of Iran is founded.
- 1989 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher introduces the Community Charge (poll tax) in Scotland.
- 1992 – Start of the war in present–day Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 1997 – Comet Hale-Bopp is seen passing perihelion.
- 1999 – Nunavut becomes a territory of Canada, after being part of the Northwest Territories.
- 2000 – In the United Kingdom the wartime coding machine, used to crack the Enigma code, is stolen. It is found the following October.

### From 2001

- 2001 – Slobodan Milosevic is arrested, to be placed on trial for war crimes.
- 2001 – Same-sex marriage is legalised in the Netherlands, the first country to do so.
- 2002 – New euthanasia laws come into force in the Netherlands.
- 2004 – Google announces the creation of Gmail to the public.
- 2006 – The Serious Organised Crime Agency is created in the United Kingdom.
- 2009 – Albania and Croatia join NATO.
- 2009 – Protests occur at the G-20 summit in London.
- 2009 – A Super Puma helicopter crashes in the North Sea off the east coast of Scotland, killing all 18 people on board.
- 2012 – Aung San Suu Kyi wins a seat in the Burmese parliament.
- 2017 – A landslide in Mocoa, Colombia, kills at least 254 people.
- 2018 – Mokgweetsi Masisi becomes President of Botswana.
- 2018 – Carlos Alvarado Quesada is elected President of Costa Rica, defeating Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz.
- 2018 – The People's Republic of China's Tiangong-1 space station breaks up on re–entry to Earth's atmosphere and lands in the Southern Pacific Ocean near Tahiti.
- 2019 – It is revealed that "Reiwa" will be the name of Japan's new imperial era when Emperor Akihito abdicates at the end of the month in favour of his son Naruhito.

### Up to 1800

- 1220 – Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (d. 1272)
- 1282 – Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1347)
- 1578 – William Harvey, English physician (d. 1657)
- 1624 – Maria Miloslavskaya, Empress of Russia (d. 1669)
- 1629 – Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, French harpsichordist and organist (d. 1691)
- 1640 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician (d. 1697)
- 1647 – John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet (d. 1680)
- 1697 – Antoine François Prévost, French writer and novelist (d. 1763)
- 1730 – Salomon Gessner, Swiss poet and artist (d. 1788)
- 1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
- 1753 – Joseph de Maistre, French philosopher, writer, lawyer and diplomat (d. 1821)
- 1755 – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French writer, philosopher and gastronome (d. 1826)
- 1757 – Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, Swedish–Finnish statesman, military and diplomat (d. 1814)
- 1776 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician (d. 1831)

### 1801 – 1900

- 1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Russian writer (d. 1852)
- 1815 – Otto von Bismarck, German politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1898)
- 1815 – Edward Clark, 8th Governor of Texas (d. 1880)
- 1815 – Henry B. Anthony, 21st Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1884)
- 1823 – Simon Bolivar Buckner, 30th Governor of Kentucky (d. 1891)
- 1825 – Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria (d. 1864)
- 1834 – James Fisk, entrepreneur (d. 1872)
- 1837 – Jorge Isaacs, Colombian writer (d. 1895)
- 1848 – Commodore Nutt, American entertainer (d. 1881)
- 1851 – Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (d. 1928)
- 1865 – Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian–born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1929)
- 1866 – Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1924)
- 1873 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer, pianist, and conductor (d. 1943)
- 1873 – Bibb Graves, Governor of Alabama (d. 1942)
- 1874 – Prince Karl of Bavaria (d. 1927)
- 1875 – Edgar Wallace, English writer (d. 1932)
- 1883 – Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (d. 1930)
- 1885 – Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill (d. 1977)
- 1885 – Wallace Beery, American actor (d. 1949)
- 1888 – Jean Alavoine, French cyclist (d. 1943)
- 1889 – K. B. Hedgewar, Indian physician and advocate of Hindu nationalism (d. 1940)
- 1895 – Alexander Aitken, New Zealand mathematician (d. 1967)
- 1895 – Alberta Hunter, American singer (d. 1984)
- 1899 – Gustavs Celmins, politician (d. 1968)

### 1901 – 1925

- 1901 – Whittaker Chambers, American writer and Alger Hiss case witness (d. 1961)
- 1901 – William Anderson, English ice hockey player (d. 1983)
- 1902 – Maria Polydouri, Greek poet (d. 1930)
- 1905 – Gaston Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1988)
- 1905 – Paul Hasluck, 17th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1993)
- 1906 – Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev, Russian engineer and airplane designer (d. 1989)
- 1907 – Kyozan Joshu Sasaki, Japanese–American Rinzai Zen teacher and centenarian (d. 2014)
- 1908 – Abraham Maslow, American psychologist (d. 1970)
- 1911 – Fauja Singh, Indian–British marathon runner
- 1915 – Otto Wilhelm Fischer, Austrian actor (d. 2004)
- 1917 – Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist (d. 1950)
- 1917 – Sydney Newman, Canadian television producer (d. 1997)
- 1919 – Joseph Murray, American surgeon and Nobel Prize winner (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997)
- 1920 – Harry Lewis, American actor (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, American composer and producer (d. 2014)
- 1922 – William Manchester, writer (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Alan Perlis, American computer scientist (d. 1990)
- 1923 – Don Butterfield, American tuba player (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Leora Dana, American actress (d. 1983)
- 1924 – Brendan Byrne, former Governor of New Jersey (d. 2018)

### 1926 – 1950

- 1926 – Charles Bressler, American tenor
- 1926 – Anne McCaffrey, American writer (d. 2011)
- 1927 – Ferenc Puskas, Hungarian footballer (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Walter Bahr, American soccer player and coach (d. 2018)
- 1928 – Kiyonori Kikutake, Japanese architect (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Jane Powell, American dancer, actress and singer
- 1929 – Jonathan Haze, American actor
- 1929 – Milan Kundera, Czech writer
- 1929 – Bo Schembechler, American football coach (d. 2006)
- 1930 – Grace Lee Whitney, American actress (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Rolf Hochhuth, German writer
- 1932 – Gordon Jump, American television actor (d. 2003)
- 1932 – Debbie Reynolds, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, French physicist
- 1934 – Rod Kanehl, Major League Baseball player (d. 2004)
- 1934 – Jim Ed Brown, American country music singer (d. 2015)
- 1934 – Don Hastings, American actor
- 1935 – Larry McDonald, American politician (d. 1983)
- 1936 – Tarun Gogoi, Indian politician
- 1936 – Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, Swiss politician (d. 1998)
- 1936 – Dhiraj Choudhury, Indian painter (d. 2018)
- 1938 – Akihito Kondo, Japanese baseball player (d. 2019)
- 1939 – Rudolph Isley, American singer (The Isley Brothers)
- 1939 – Ali MacGraw, American actress
- 1939 – Phil Niekro, American baseball pitcher
- 1939 – Vitali Davydov, Soviet–Russian ice hockey player
- 1940 – Wangari Maathai, Kenyan political and environmental activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 2011)
- 1941 – David Childs, American architect
- 1942 – Max Keeping, Canadian broadcaster (d. 2015)
- 1942 – Samuel R. Delany, science fiction writer
- 1942 – Philip Margo, American singer (The Tokens)
- 1942 – Annie Nightingale, British disc jockey
- 1943 – Mario Botta, Swiss architect
- 1943 – Dafydd Wigley, Welsh academic and politician, former leader of Plaid Cymru
- 1944 – Rusty Staub, American baseball player (d. 2018)
- 1946 – Ronnie Lane, British musician (The Small Faces, The Faces) (d. 1997)
- 1946 – Arrigo Sacchi, Italian football manager
- 1946 – Nikitas Kaklamanis, 77th Mayor of Athens
- 1947 – Alain Connes, French mathematician
- 1947 – Ingrid Steeger, German actress
- 1947 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player (d. 2009)
- 1948 – J. J. Williams, Welsh rugby player
- 1948 – Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican musician
- 1949 – Gil Scott-Heron, American musician and composer (d. 2011)
- 1949 – Paul Manafort, American lobbyist, lawyer and political consultant
- 1950 – Samuel Alito, American jurist
- 1950 – Paolo Conti, Italian footballer

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Brendan Grace, Irish actor, comedian and singer (d. 2019)
- 1952 – Annette O'Toole, American actress
- 1952 – Bernard Stiegler, French philosopher
- 1952 – Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, Libyan intelligence officer (d. 2012)
- 1953 – Barry Sonnenfeld, American producer and director
- 1953 – Alberto Zaccheroni, Italian footballer and coach
- 1954 – Giancarlo Antognoni, Italian footballer
- 1954 – Jeff Porcaro, American musician (Toto) (d. 1992)
- 1955 – Humayun Akhtar Khan, Pakistani statesman
- 1955 – Ronnie Burk, artist and AIDS activist (d. 2003)
- 1955 – Roberto Pruzzo, Italian footballer
- 1956 – Libby Riddles, American dogsled racer
- 1957 – David Gower, English cricketer
- 1957 – Denise Nickerson, American actress (d. 2019)
- 1958 – Anton Innauer, Austrian ski jumper
- 1958 – Tita, Brazilian footballer
- 1959 – Christian Thielemann, German conductor
- 1960 – Reijo Ruotsalainen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1961 – Susan Boyle, Scottish singer
- 1962 – Chris Grayling, English politician
- 1962 – Phillip Schofield, English television presenter
- 1965 – Jane Adams, American actress
- 1965 – Simona Ventura, Italian journalist and television presenter
- 1965 – Mark Jackson, American basketball player
- 1966 – Chris Evans, English television presenter
- 1968 – Mike Baird, Australian politician, 44th Premier of New South Wales
- 1968 – Ingrid Klimke, German equestrian
- 1968 – Alexander Stubb, former Prime Minister of Finland
- 1969 – Dean Windass, English footballer and coach
- 1970 – Sung Hi Lee, model
- 1971 – Method Man, American musician
- 1971 – Karen Dunbar, Scottish comedienne
- 1972 – Darren McCarty, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Jesse Tobias, American musician
- 1972 – Allen and Albert Hughes, American movie directors
- 1973 – Kris Marshall, English actor
- 1973 – Rachel Maddow, American broadcaster
- 1975 – Washington Stecanela Cerqueira, Brazilian footballer

### From 1976

- 1976 – Gábor Király, Hungarian footballer
- 1976 – David Oyelowo, British actor
- 1976 – Clarence Seedorf, Dutch footballer
- 1978 – Antonio de Nigris, Mexican footballer (d. 2009)
- 1978 – Mirka Federer, Swiss tennis player
- 1979 – Ivano Balic, Croatian handball player
- 1980 – Randy Orton, American professional wrestler
- 1981 – Hannah Spearritt, British actress and singer (S Club 7)
- 1982 – Róbert Vittek, Slovakian footballer
- 1983 – Sean Taylor, American football player (d. 2007)
- 1983 – Sergey Lazarev, Russian singer
- 1983 – Amr Zaki, Egyptian footballer
- 1983 – Franck Ribéry, French footballer
- 1983 – Olafur Ingi Skulason, Icelandic footballer
- 1984 – Craig Samson, Scottish footballer
- 1985 – Beth Tweddle, British gymnast
- 1986 – Haminu Draman, Ghanaian footballer
- 1986 – Ireen Wüst, Dutch speed skater
- 1986 – Hillary Scott, American singer (Lady Antebellum)
- 1987 – Ding Junhui, Chinese snooker player
- 1987 – Li Ting, Chinese diver
- 1987 – Vitorino Antunes, Portuguese footballer
- 1987 – Andrew Considine, Scottish footballer
- 1987 – José Ortigoza, Paraguayan footballer
- 1988 – Fatmire Bajramaj, German footballer
- 1988 – Robin Lopez, American basketball player
- 1988 – Brook Lopez, American basketball player
- 1989 – David N'Gog, French footballer
- 1990 – Justin Hamilton, American basketball player
- 1993 – Keito Okamoto, Japanese singer
- 1994 – Ella Eyre, English singer-songwriter
- 1995 – Logan Paul, American social media entertainer and actor
- 1997 – Asa Butterfield, English actor

### Up to 1900

- 1085 – Emperor Shenzhong of China (b. 1048)
- 1204 – Eleanor of Aquitaine (b. 1122)
- 1205 – Amalric II of Jerusalem (b. 1145)
- 1340 – Gerhard III of Holstein (b. 1292)
- 1580 – Alonso Mudarra, Spanish guitarist and composer (b. 1510)
- 1621 – Cristofori Allori, Italian painter (b. 1577)
- 1637 – Niwa Nagashige, Japanese warlord (b. 1571)
- 1839 – Benjamin Pierce, American politician (b. 1757)
- 1865 – Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (b. 1797)
- 1868 – Rasoherina, Queen of Madagascar (b. 1814)
- 1872 – Frederick Denison Maurice, English theologian and academic (b. 1805)
- 1890 – Alexander F. Mozhayskiy, Russian aviation pioneer (b. 1825)
- 1890 – David Wilber, American politician (b. 1820)
- 1897 – Jandamarra, Indigenous–Australian resistance leader (b. 1873)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1914 – Rube Waddell, American baseball player (b. 1826)
- 1917 – Scott Joplin, American musician and composer (b. 1868)
- 1922 – Emperor Karl I of Austria (b. 1887)
- 1922 – Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychologist (b. 1884)
- 1930 – Cosima Wagner, daughter of Franz Liszt and widow of Richard Wagner (b. 1837)
- 1946 – Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (b. 1882)
- 1947 – King George II of Greece (b. 1890)
- 1950 – Recep Peker, 6th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1889)
- 1960 – Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan, King of Malaysia (b. 1895)
- 1962 – Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish major (b. 1910)
- 1966 – Flann O'Brien, Irish humorist (b. 1911)
- 1967 – Dang Van Ngu, Vietnamese doctor and intellectual (b. 1910)
- 1968 – Lev Davidovich Landau, Russian physicist (b. 1908)
- 1976 – Max Ernst, German painter (b. 1891)
- 1984 – Marvin Gaye, American singer (b. 1939)
- 1990 – Carlos Peucelle, Argentine footballer (b. 1908)
- 1991 – Martha Graham, American choreographer (b. 1894)
- 1991 – Jaime Guzman, Chilean politician (b. 1946)
- 1991 – Detlev Rohwedder, German manager and politician (b. 1932)
- 1992 – Michael Havers, Baron Havers, English lawyer and politician (b. 1923)
- 1992 – Nigel Preston, English musician (b. 1959)
- 1993 – Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, Spanish royal (b. 1913)
- 1994 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer (b. 1912)
- 1997 – Makar Honcharenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1912)
- 1998 – Gene Evans, American actor (b. 1922)

### From 2001

- 2002 – Simo Hayha, Finnish sniper (b. 1905)
- 2004 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (b. 1946)
- 2005 – Harald Juhnke, German entertainer (b. 1929)
- 2006 – In Tam, Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1916)
- 2007 – Hans Filbinger, German politician (b. 1913)
- 2009 – Arne Andersson, Swedish middle-distance runner (b. 1917)
- 2009 – Umberto Betti, Italian cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2010 – John Forsythe, American actor (b. 1918)
- 2010 – Ed Roberts, American computer engineer (b. 1941)
- 2010 – Tzannis Tzannetakis, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1927)
- 2011 – Varkey Vithayathil, Indian cardinal (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian footballer (b. 1947)
- 2012 – Leila Denmark, American pediatrician and supercentenarian (b. 1898)
- 2012 – Miguel de la Madrid, 52nd President of Mexico (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Moses Blah, President of Liberia (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Jacques Le Goff, French historian (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Merimeri Penfold, New Zealand academic (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Anker Buch, Danish violinist (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Carlos Oneto, Peruvian actor and comic (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Bill Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1930)
- 2014 – King Fleming, American jazz pianist (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Misao Okawa, Japanese supercentenarian (b. 1898)
- 2015 – Cynthia Lennon, first wife of John Lennon and mother of Julian Lennon (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Eddie LeBaron, American football player (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Nicolae Rainea, Romanian football referee (b. 1933)
- 2015 – John Paul Hammerschmidt, American politician (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Pratyusha Banerjee, Indian actress (b. 1991)
- 2016 – Emil Keres, Hungarian actor (b. 1925)
- 2017 – Gary Austin, American theatre writer and director (b. 1941)
- 2017 – Lonnie Brooks, American blues guitarist and singer (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Gösta Ekman, Swedish actor (b. 1939)
- 2017 – Darcus Howe, Trinidadian–born British editor and civil rights activist (b. 1943)
- 2017 – Antonio Lamela, Spanish architect (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet (b. 1932)
- 2017 – Burton Watson, American translator (b. 1925)
- 2018 – Bob Beattie, American skiing coach and sports commentator (b. 1933)
- 2018 – Steven Bochco, American television producer (b. 1943)
- 2018 – Evert Kroon, Dutch water polo player (b. 1946)
- 2018 – Avichai Rontzki, Israeli general (b. 1951)
- 2018 – Michel Sénéchal, French tenor (b. 1927)
- 2018 – Efraín Ríos Montt, President of Guatemala (b. 1926)
- 2019 – Dimitar Dobrev, Bulgarian wrestler (b. 1931)
- 2019 – Francisco Massiani, Venezuelan writer and painter (b. 1944)
- 2019 – Vonda N. McIntyre, American science fiction author (b. 1948)
- 2019 – Kit Napier, Scottish footballer (b. 1943)
- 2019 – Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, Spanish writer (b. 1927)
- 2019 – Ruth-Margret Pütz, German soprano (b. 1930)

## Observances

- April Fools' Day
- Islamic Republic Day in Iran
- Orissa Day in Orissa, India
- First day of school in Japan