April 16

### Up to 1900

- 73 – Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege.
- 1520 – The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1521 – Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and other estates of the empire.
- 1582 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the city of Salta, Argentina.
- 1705 – Isaac Newton is knighted, becoming a Sir.
- 1746 – The Battle of Culloden is fought near Inverness, Scotland, as a Highlander army is defeated by a Lowlander army, led by the Duke of Cumberland.
- 1780 – The University of Muenster in Germany is founded.
- 1799 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Mount Tabor – Napoleon Bonaparte drives the Ottoman Turks across the Jordan River near Acre, in present-day Israel.
- 1818 – The United States Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
- 1847 – The accidental shooting of a Maori by an English sailor results in the start of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand Land Wars.
- 1853 – India's first passenger rail opens from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills, Virginia
- 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg
- 1881 – Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle in Dodge City, Kansas.
- 1888 – Germany annexes Nauru.
- 1894 – Manchester City F.C. is formed from Ardwick F.C.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1908 – The Natural Bridges National Monument is created in Utah.
- 1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
- 1917 – Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd from exile in Switzerland.
- 1919 – Mahatma Gandhi organizes a day of "Prayer and Fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protestors in Amritsar, in the Jallianwala Massacre by British colonial troops three days earlier.
- 1919 – Polish-Soviet War: The Polish army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in present-day Lithuania.
- 1922 – The Treaty of Rapallo is signed, re-establishing diplomatic relations between Germany and Soviet Russia.
- 1925 – A Communist assault on Saint Nedelya Church in Sofia, Bulgaria, kills 150 people.
- 1941 – World War II: Italian convoy _Duisburg_ is destroyed by British ships.
- 1941 – A Fascist government led by Ante Pavelic comes to power in Croatia.
- 1941 – Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians throws the only opening day no-hitter in Major League Baseball, defeating the Chicago White Sox 1–0.
- 1943 – Albert Hofmann first discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.
- 1944 – World War II: The Allied bombing of Belgrade kills around 1,100 people.
- 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins its final assault on German forces around Berlin.
- 1945 – World War II: German refugee ship _Goya_ is sunk by a Soviet submarine torpedo, killing around 7,000 people.
- 1947 – Texas City, Texas, is set on fire after an explosion on a freighter, killing around 600 people.
- 1947 – Bernard Baruch first uses the term _Cold War_.
- 1953 – Queen Elizabeth II launches the royal yacht HMY _Britannia_.
- 1961 – Fidel Castro declares himself a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is officially adopting Communism.
- 1962 – Walter Cronkite becomes the lead anchor of CBS Evening News.
- 1963 – Martin Luther King, Jr. writes the 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' while imprisoned in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against racial segregation.
- 1964 – The participants of the Great Train Robbery are sentenced to prison.
- 1972 – Apollo 16 is launched.
- 1990 – Jack Kevorkian participates in his first assisted suicide.
- 1992 – The _Katina P_ runs aground off Maputo, Mozambique, spilling around 60,000 tons of crude oil into the Indian Ocean.
- 1994 – Hutu soldiers in Rwanda begin the Massacre of Nyarubuye on the Tutsi people. By the time it ends the next day, around 2,000 people have been killed.
- 1996 – Basketball: The Chicago Bulls win a record 70th game in one NBA season. The team's most famous player at the time was Michael Jordan.

### From 2001

- 2001 – India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border war.
- 2003 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens, allowing 10 new members to join the EU on May 1, 2004.
- 2007 – Seung-Hui Cho, kills 33 people, including himself in the Virginia Tech massacre, the worst shooting spree in modern US history.
- 2012 – Anders Behring Breivik goes on trial for the July 22, 2011 Norway attacks.
- 2013 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes southeast Iran, near the border with Pakistan. Damage is reported on both sides of the border.
- 2014 – The MV _Sewol_ ferry, travelling from Incheon to Jeju Island off the south coast of South Korea, sinks near Jindo Island off the southwest coast, killing 295 people.
- 2014 – Scientists announce the possible discovery of a new moon of Saturn being created out of its rings.
- 2016 – A large scale earthquake strikes Ecuador.
- 2017 – Turkey holds a referendum on changing the constitution to that of a Presidential republic; Results indicate just over half of voters support the proposal.
- 2019 – The Notre-Dame de Paris fire, which broke out the previous evening, is extinguished by firefighters.

### Up to 1800

- 778 – King Louis the Pious (d. 840)
- 1319 – King John II of France (d. 1364)
- 1488 – Jungjong of Joseon of Korea (d. 1544)
- 1495 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician (d. 1557)
- 1516 – Tabinshwehti, King of Burma (d. 1550)
- 1619 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch ship doctor, salesman and colonial official (d. 1677)
- 1646 – Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect (d. 1708)
- 1652 – Pope Clement XII (d. 1740)
- 1660 – Hans Sloane, English scientist (d. 1753)
- 1661 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and statesman (d. 1715)
- 1682 – John Hadley, English inventor (d. 1744)
- 1693 – Anne Sophie Reventlow, Queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1743)
- 1728 – Joseph Black, Scottish scientist who discovered carbon gas (d. 1799)
- 1730 – Henry Clinton, English general and politician (d. 1795)
- 1786 – John Franklin, British royal navy officer and Arctic explorer (d. 1847)
- 1799 – John Wesley Davis, American politician (d. 1850)

### 1801 – 1900

- 1808 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist and politician (d. 1864)
- 1821 – Ford Madox Brown, English painter (d. 1893)
- 1823 – Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1852)
- 1838 – Ernest Solvay, Belgian chemist (d. 1922)
- 1839 – Antonio Starabba, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908)
- 1844 – Anatole France, French writer (d. 1924)
- 1847 – Hans Auer, Swiss architect (d. 1906)
- 1848 – Kandukuri Veerasalingam, Indian social reformer (d. 1919)
- 1863 – Emile Friant, French painter (d. 1932)
- 1866 – Jose de Diego, Puerto Rican statesman and journalist (d. 1918)
- 1867 – Wilbur Wright of the Wright brothers, air travel pioneer (d. 1912)
- 1868 – Spottiswoode Aitken, Scottish-American actor (d. 1933)
- 1871 – Henry Stephenson, English actor (d. 1956)
- 1871 – John Millington Synge, Irish writer (d. 1909)
- 1885 – Leo Weiner, Hungarian composer and music educator (d. 1960)
- 1886 – Ernst Thaelmann, German politician (d. 1944)
- 1886 – Margaret Woodrow Wilson, daughter of Woodrow Wilson (d. 1944)
- 1887 – Gudjon Samuelsson, Icelandic architect (d. 1950)
- 1888 – Billy Minter, English footballer (d. 1940)
- 1889 – Charlie Chaplin, British actor and movie producer (d. 1977)
- 1890 – Vernon Sturdee, Australian army commander (d. 1966)
- 1890 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek javelin thrower (d. 1957)
- 1890 – Nikolai Trubetzkoy, Russian linguist and ethnologist (d. 1938)
- 1893 – Federico Mompou, Catalan composer and pianist (d. 1987)
- 1894 – Ernst Ziegler, German actor (d. 1974)
- 1895 – Ove Arup, English-Danish engineer (d. 1988)
- 1896 – Pat Clayton, British surveyor and explorer (d. 1962)
- 1896 – Tristan Tzara, Romanian poet (d. 1963)
- 1900 – Polly Adler, Russian–born writer (d. 1962)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1905 – Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
- 1907 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor of the snowmobile (d. 1964)
- 1908 – Ray Ventura, French pianist and bandleader (d. 1979)
- 1911 – Guy Burgess, English-Soviet spy (d. 1963)
- 1912 – Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (d. 1997)
- 1915 – Joan Alexander, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1917 – Barry Nelson, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1917 – Charlotte Salomon, German artist (d. 1943)
- 1918 – Spike Milligan, Irish comedian (d. 2002)
- 1919 – Merce Cunningham, American choreographer (d. 2009)
- 1921 – Wolfgang Leonhard, German historian and writer (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Peter Ustinov, British actor (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Kingsley Amis, British writer (d. 1995)
- 1922 – Samuel Youd, British writer (d. 2012)
- 1922 – Leo Tindemans, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Arch A. Moore, Jr., American politician, 28th and 30th Governor of West Virginia (d. 2015)
- 1924 – Henry Mancini, American composer (d. 1994)
- 1924 – Rudy Pompilli, American musician (d. 1976)
- 1927 – Peter Mark Richman, American actor
- 1927 – Pope Benedict XVI
- 1930 – Herbie Mann, American jazz flute player (d. 2003)
- 1932 – Henk Schouten, Dutch footballer (d. 2018)
- 1933 – Joan Bakewell, British broadcaster
- 1933 – Vera Krepkina, Russian long jumper
- 1933 – Marcos Alonso Imaz, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
- 1934 – Robert Stigwood, Australian-British music entrepreneur (d. 2016)
- 1934 – Barrie Unsworth, Australian politician, 38th Premier of New South Wales
- 1935 – Sarah Kirsch, German writer (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Dominique Venner, French historian and writer (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Bobby Vinton, American musician
- 1936 – Derrick Sherwin, English television producer and actor (d. 2018)
- 1937 – Vince Hill, English singer-songwriter and record producer
- 1937 – Vadim Kuzmin, Russian physicist (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Gordon Wilson, Scottish politician (d. 2017)
- 1939 – Dusty Springfield, British singer (d. 1999)
- 1940 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
- 1940 – Konstantin K. Kuzminsky, Russian poet (d. 2015)
- 1941 – Cliff Stearns, American businessman and politician
- 1942 – Frank Williams, Formula One team principal
- 1944 – Richard Bradshaw, British opera conductor
- 1944 – Dennis Russell Davies, American conductor and pianist
- 1944 – Elmar Wepper, German actor
- 1945 – Tom Allen, American politician
- 1946 – Margot Adler, American writer, journalist and Wiccan priest (d. 2014)
- 1946 – Ernst Bakker, Dutch politician (d. 2014)
- 1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player
- 1947 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish musician (d. 2011)
- 1949 – Ann Romney, wife of Mitt Romney and former First Lady of Massachusetts

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Björgvin Halldórsson, Icelandic singer
- 1951 – Ari Kristinsson, Icelandic director and screenwriter
- 1951 – Bill Walker, American politician, former Governor of Alaska
- 1952 – Bill Belichick, American football coach
- 1952 – Yoshikazu Nagai, Japanese footballer
- 1952 – Billy West, American voice actor
- 1954 – Ellen Barkin, American actress
- 1954 – Sibylle Lewitscharoff, German writer
- 1955 – Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
- 1956 – David M. Brown, American captain, pilot and astronaut (d. 2003)
- 1960 – Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
- 1960 – Rafael Benítez, Spanish football manager
- 1960 – Pierre Littbarski, German footballer
- 1961 – Jarbom Gamlin, Indian politician, 7th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (d. 2014)
- 1963 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer
- 1963 – Saleem Malik, Pakistani cricketer
- 1964 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish jazz pianist (d. 2008)
- 1965 – Jon Cryer, American actor, screenwriter, movie director and producer
- 1965 – Martin Lawrence, American actor and comedian
- 1965 – Michael Wong Man Tak, Hong Kong actor and singer
- 1968 – Martin Dahlin, Swedish footballer
- 1969 – Patrik Jaerbyn, Swedish ski racer
- 1969 – Michael Baur, Austrian footballer
- 1970 – Gabrielle, English singer
- 1971 – Selena, Mexican-American singer (d. 1995)
- 1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Belarussian tennis player
- 1971 – Max Beesley, English actor and singer
- 1971 – Peter Billingsley, American actor, director and producer
- 1972 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish tennis player
- 1973 – Akon, American singer
- 1975 – Sean Maher, American actor

### From 1976

- 1976 – Shu Qi, Taiwanese actress
- 1976 – Robert Dahlqvist, Swedish guitarist and singer (d. 2017)
- 1977 – Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
- 1977 – Thomas Rasmussen, Danish footballer
- 1977 – Alek Wek, Sudanese model
- 1978 – Lara Dutta, Indian actress and model
- 1978 – Igor Tudor, Croatian footballer
- 1978 – Nikki Griffin, American actress
- 1979 – Sixto Peralta, Argentine footballer
- 1979 – Sean Costello, American blues musician (d. 2008)
- 1980 – Reeyot Alemu, Ethiopian journalist
- 1982 – Gina Carano, American actress, television personality, model and former mixed martial artist
- 1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player
- 1983 – Marié Digby, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress
- 1984 – Claire Foy, British actress
- 1985 – Luol Deng, Sudanese-British basketball player
- 1985 – Brendon Leonard, New Zealand rugby player
- 1985 – Sam Tillen, English footballer
- 1985 – Taye Taiwo, Nigerian footballer
- 1986 – Shinji Okazaki, Japanese footballer
- 1986 – Paul di Resta, Scottish racing driver
- 1986 – Epke Zonderland, Dutch gymnast
- 1987 – Aaron Lennon, English footballer
- 1987 – Aleksander Vinter, Norwegian musician
- 1988 – Hayley Squires, British actress
- 1990 – Lily Loveless, British actress
- 1990 – Lorraine Nicholson, American actress
- 1991 – Kim Kyung-jung, South Korean footballer
- 1992 – Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg
- 1993 – Mirai Nagasu, American figure skater
- 1993 – Chance the Rapper, American singer and rapper
- 1994 – Liliana Mumy, American actress
- 1996 – Kento Misao, Japanese footballer
- 2002 – Sadie Sink, American actress
- 2008 – Princess Eléonore of Belgium

### Up to 1900

- 69 – Otho, Roman Emperor (b. 32)
- 665 – Fructuosus of Braga, French archbishop and saint
- 744 – al-Walid II ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad caliph
- 1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev (b. 1050)
- 1118 – Adelaide of Vasto, Italian wife of Roger II of Sicily (b. 1075)
- 1198 – Duke Frederick I of Austria
- 1687 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman and poet (b. 1628)
- 1689 – Aphra Behn, dramatist (b. ca. 1640)
- 1742 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet (b. 1672)
- 1756 – Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (b. 1677)
- 1783 – Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer (b. 1719)
- 1788 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist (b. 1707)
- 1828 – Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter (b. 1746)
- 1846 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian composer (b. 1763)
- 1850 – Marie Tussaud, French creator of waxworks (Madame Tussaud's) (b. 1761)
- 1859 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805)
- 1879 – Bernadette Soubirous, French Roman Catholic saint (b. 1844)
- 1888 – Zygmunt Florenty Wroblewski, Polish physicist (b. 1845)
- 1898 – Robert Milligan McLane, Governor of Maryland (b. 1815)
- 1899 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino poet and revolutionary (b. 1875)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1904 – Samuel Smiles, Scottish writer and reformer (b. 1812)
- 1914 – George William Hill, astronomer (b. 1838)
- 1915 – Nelson W. Aldrich, Senator from Rhode Island (b. 1841)
- 1930 – Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peruvian journalist, philosopher and activist (b. 1894)
- 1934 – John J. Blaine, 24th Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1875)
- 1938 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer (b. 1874)
- 1941 – Hans Driesch, German biologist and philosopher (b. 1867)
- 1942 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1878)
- 1946 – Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver and Automobile designer (b. 1884)
- 1958 – Rosalind Franklin, British chemist (b. 1920)
- 1968 – Fay Bainter, American actress (b. 1893)
- 1968 – Edna Ferber, American writer (b. 1885)
- 1972 – Kawabata Yasunari, Japanese writer (b. 1899)
- 1973 – Istvan Kertesz, Hungarian conductor (b. 1929)
- 1973 – Nino Bravo, Spanish pop singer (b. 1944)
- 1978 – Lucius Clay, American general (b. 1897)
- 1978 – Philibert Tsiranana, President of Madagascar (b. 1912)
- 1985 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1988 – Khalil al-Wazir, Palestinian military leader (b. 1935)
- 1991 – David Lean, American movie director (b. 1908)
- 1991 – Sergio Peresson, Italian violin maker (b. 1913)
- 1992 – Neville Brand, actor (b. 1920)
- 1994 – Ralph Ellison, American writer (b. 1914)
- 1995 – Iqbal Masih, Pakistani child slave (b. 1982)
- 1996 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (b. 1927)
- 1997 – Doris Angleton, American socialite (b. 1951)
- 1997 – Roland Topor, French actor, director and painter (b. 1938)
- 1998 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
- 1998 – Marie-Louise Meilleur, Canadian supercentenarian (b. 1880)

### From 2001

- 2001 – Michael Ritchie, American movie director (b. 1938)
- 2002 – Olivier Eggimann, Swiss footballer (b. 1919)
- 2002 – Ruth Fertel, American restaurateur (b. 1927)
- 2002 – Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
- 2003 – Graham Stuart Thomas, British horticultural artist, writer, and garden designer (b. 1909)
- 2005 – Kay Walsh, British actress (b. 1911)
- 2007 – Deaths in the Virginia Tech Massacre:
    - Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, Canadian French instructor (b. 1958)
    - Kevin Granata, American professor of languages (b. 1961)
    - Liviu Librescu, Romanian-born engineer and professor (b. 1930)
    - Seung-Hui Cho, perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre (b. 1984)
- 2007 – Maria Lenk, Brazilian swimmer (b. 1915)
- 2008 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
- 2010 – Carlos Franqui, Cuban writer and political activist (b. 1921)
- 2010 – Tomas Spidlik, Czech cardinal (b. 1919)
- 2011 – Allan Blakeney, Canadian politician, 10th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, Danish shipping magnate (b. 1913)
- 2013 – Pat Summerall, American football player (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Pentti Lund, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
- 2013 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American gospel singer (b. 1909)
- 2013 – Ali Kafi, Algerian politician (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Gyude Bryant, Liberian politician (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Ernst Florian Winter, Austrian-American historian and political scientist (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Albert André, German Roman Catholic priest (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Valery Belousov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Attaphol Buspakom, Thai footballer and coach (b. 1962)
- 2015 – Stanislav Gross, 5th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (b. 1969)
- 2015 – Lee Remmel, American PR spokesman (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Oles Buzina, Ukrainian journalist (b. 1969)
- 2015 – Johnny Kemp, Bahamian singer (b. 1959)
- 2015 – Heino Kleiminger, German footballer (b. 1939)
- 2016 – Rubén Mendoza Ayala, Mexican politician (b. 1961)
- 2016 – Jeanette Bonnier, Swedish media proprietor, journalist and writer (b. 1934)
- 2016 – Rod Daniel, American film director (b. 1942)
- 2016 – William M. Gray, American meteorologist (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Charlie Hodge, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1933)
- 2016 – Louis Pilot, Luxembourgian footballer (b. 1940)
- 2016 – Helmut Rohde, German politician (b. 1925)
- 2016 – Peter Rock, Chilean musician and actor (b. 1945)
- 2016 – Kit West, British special effects artist (b. 1936)
- 2017 – Gianni Boncompagni, Italian television presenter, producer and screenwriter (b. 1932)
- 2017 – Arcan Cetin, Turkish-American terrorist (b. 1996)
- 2017 – Allan Holdsworth, British guitarist and composer (b. 1946)
- 2018 – Harry Anderson, American actor (b. 1952)
- 2018 – Choi Eun-hee, South Korean actress (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Dona Ivone Lara, Brazilian singer and composer (b. 1921)
- 2018 – Ivan Mauger, New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider (b. 1939)
- 2018 – Lynn Stout, American law scholar (b. 1957)
- 2018 – Pamela Gidley, American actress (b. 1965)
- 2018 – Henri Landwirth, Belgian-American hotelier (b. 1927)
- 2018 – Paul Singer, Austrian-Brazilian economist (b. 1932)
- 2019 – Ahmad Eghtedari, Iranian teacher, writer and lawyer (b. 1925)
- 2019 – Guro Fjellanger, Norwegian politician (b. 1964)
- 2019 – Jörg Demus, Austrian pianist (b. 1928)
- 2019 – Kent Harris, American songwriter and record producer (b. 1930)
- 2019 – Suzanne Twelftree, Australian wheelchair tennis player and powerlifter (b. 1956)
- 2019 – Hansjörg Auer, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1984)
- 2019 – David Lama, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1990)
- 2019 – Jess Roskelley, American mountaineer (b. 1982)

## Observances

- Birthday of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
- Emancipation Day (Washington, DC)
- World Voice Day