April 15

DateTemplate:SHORTDESC:Date**April 15** is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. 260 days remain until the end of the year.

## Events

* 769 – The Lateran Council condemned the Council of Hieria and anathematized its iconoclastic rulings.
* 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard.
* 1395 – Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde at the Battle of the Terek River. The Golden Horde capital city, Sarai, is razed to the ground and Timur installs a puppet ruler on the throne.
* 1450 – Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.
* 1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.
* 1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.
* 1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
* 1736 – Foundation of the Kingdom of Corsica.
* 1738 – *Serse*, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel receives its premiere performance in London, England.
* 1755 – Samuel Johnson's *A Dictionary of the English Language* is published in London.
* 1783 – Preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence) are ratified.
* 1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf, the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.
* 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.
* 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes President upon Lincoln's death.
* 1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.
* 1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.
* 1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.
* 1907 – Triangle Fraternity is founded at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
* 1912 – The British passenger liner Template:RMS sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew on board survive.
* 1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.
* 1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.
* 1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
* 1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
* 1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.
* 1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two-hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.
* 1942 – The George Cross is awarded "to the island fortress of Malta" by King George VI.
* 1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
* 1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.
* 1952 – First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
* 1955 – McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
* 1960 – At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
* 1969 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.
* 1970 – During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.
* 1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque 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 fans.
* 1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.
* 1994 – Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.
* 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
* 2013 – A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.
* 2014 – In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, at least 200 civilians were gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.
* 2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.

## Births

* 68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)
* 1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)
* 1367 – Henry IV of England (d. 1413)
* 1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479)
* 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)
* 1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)
* 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)
* 1563 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)
* 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)
* 1592 – Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675)
* 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)
* 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)
* 1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
* 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
* 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)
* 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)
* 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)
* 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)
* 1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)
* 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)
* 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)
* 1795 – Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d.1847)
* 1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)
* 1808 – William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892)
* 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)
* 1817 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885)
* 1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)
* 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)
* 1841 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921)
* 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
* 1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916)
* 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)
* 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)
* 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)
* 1863 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914)
* 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)
* 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
* 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)
* 1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)
* 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)
* 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
* 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
* 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
* 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)
* 1887 – William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953)
* 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)
* 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975)
* 1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
* 1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat's eye (d. 1976)
* 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)
* 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (d. 1983)
* 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
* 1894 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937)
* 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)
* 1895 – Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941)
* 1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
* 1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)
* 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
* 1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)
* 1901 – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
* 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
* 1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983)
* 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
* 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
* 1908 – eden ahbez, Scottish-American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)
* 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
* 1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)
* 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)
* 1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)
* 1912 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)
* 1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)
* 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
* 1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
* 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
* 1917 – Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944)
* 1917 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
* 1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)
* 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)
* 1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)
* 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
* 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)
* 1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)
* 1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)
* 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)
* 1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)
* 1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
* 1922 – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)
* 1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)
* 1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)
* 1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)
* 1924 – Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004)
* 1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)
* 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
* 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
* 1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)
* 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)
* 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland
* 1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant
* 1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
* 1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018)
* 1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)
* 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995)
* 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)
* 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
* 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
* 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress
* 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)
* 1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor
* 1939 – Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009)
* 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician
* 1940 – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World
* 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)
* 1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic
* 1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician
* 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017)
* 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
* 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)
* 1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic
* 1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic
* 1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
* 1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician
* 1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)
* 1944 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Russian-Chechen general and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (d. 1996)
* 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer, guitarist, and producer
* 1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author
* 1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff
* 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer
* 1947 – Martin Broughton, English businessman
* 1947 – Lois Chiles, American model and actress
* 1947 – David Omand, English civil servant and academic
* 1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security
* 1947 – Woolly Wolstenholme, English singer and keyboard player (d. 2010)
* 1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic
* 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
* 1948 – Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician
* 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress
* 1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
* 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
* 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
* 1950 – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player
* 1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author
* 1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut
* 1951 – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer
* 1951 – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut
* 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter
* 1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer
* 1952 – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic
* 1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
* 1955 – Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician
* 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
* 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach
* 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* 1958 – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer
* 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach
* 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright
* 1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
* 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
* 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter
* 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter
* 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster
* 1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player
* 1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician
* 1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist
* 1961 – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer
* 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician
* 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
* 1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist
* 1963 – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer
* 1963 – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
* 1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player
* 1964 – Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
* 1965 – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player
* 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress
* 1966 – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)
* 1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter
* 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist
* 1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach
* 1968 – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner
* 1968 – Ed O'Brien, English guitarist
* 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
* 1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor
* 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach
* 1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach
* 1971 – Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player
* 1971 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer
* 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
* 1971 – Josia Thugwane, South African runner
* 1971 – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician
* 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
* 1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
* 1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director
* 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter
* 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
* 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer
* 1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player
* 1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist
* 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* 1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer
* 1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player
* 1976 – Steve Williams, English rower
* 1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor
* 1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
* 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
* 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
* 1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer
* 1978 – Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer
* 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
* 1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player
* 1980 – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player
* 1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author
* 1980 – Billy Yates, American football player
* 1981 – Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer
* 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
* 1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter
* 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
* 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
* 1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
* 1983 – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)
* 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
* 1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
* 1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player
* 1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
* 1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
* 1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
* 1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player
* 1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
* 1988 – Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher
* 1989 – Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
* 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress
* 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor
* 1991 – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater
* 1992 – Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player
* 1994 – Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player
* 1994 – Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter
* 1995 – Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer
* 1999 – Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player
* 2001 – Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper

## Deaths

* 628 – Suiko, emperor of Japan (b. 554)
* 943 – Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (b. 920)
* 956 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch
* 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
* 1136 – Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094)
* 1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)
* 1237 – Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic
* 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355)
* 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)
* 1502 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (b. 1443)
* 1558 – Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500)
* 1610 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546)
* 1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580)
* 1652 – Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch
* 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605)
* 1719 – Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
* 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676)
* 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682)
* 1761 – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)
* 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)
* 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)
* 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
* 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)
* 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)
* 1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)
* 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
* 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)
* 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)
* 1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician
* 1912 – Victims of the *Titanic* disaster:
	+ Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (b. 1873)
	+ John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)
	+ Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)
	+ Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)
	+ Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)
	+ Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866)
	+ Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)
	+ James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (b. 1887)
	+ William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (b. 1873)
	+ Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887)
	+ Edward Smith, English Captain (b. 1850)
	+ William Thomas Stead, English journalist (b. 1849)
	+ Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)
	+ Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)
	+ John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (b. 1862)
	+ Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)
* 1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)
* 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)
* 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)
* 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880)
* 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)
* 1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)
* 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)
* 1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)
* 1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
* 1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1876)
* 1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912)
* 1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)
* 1966 – Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan
* 1967 – Totò, Italian comedian (b. 1898)
* 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
* 1971 – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)
* 1979 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1912)
* 1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904)
* 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
* 1982 – Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915)
* 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
* 1986 – Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)
* 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)
* 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. 1915)
* 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905)
* 1993 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
* 1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908)
* 1998 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912)
* 1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)
* 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)
* 2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)
* 2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
* 2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)
* 2002 – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)
* 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)
* 2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)
* 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)
* 2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924)
* 2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
* 2009 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947)
* 2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)
* 2010 – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)
* 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)
* 2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)
* 2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)
* 2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)
* 2013 – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)
* 2013 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (b. 1928)
* 2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)
* 2014 – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)
* 2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966)
* 2015 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928)
* 2017 – Clifton James, American actor (b. 1920)
* 2017 – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (b. 1899)
* 2018 – R. Lee Ermey, American actor (b. 1944)
* 2018 – Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1929)

## Holidays and observances

* Christian feast day:
	+ Abbo II of Metz
	+ Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)
	+ Hunna
	+ Paternus of Avranches
	+ April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
* Day of the Sun (North Korea)
* Earliest day on which Sechseläuten can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in April. (Zürich)
* Father Damien Day (Hawaii)
* Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)
* Jackie Robinson Day (United States)
* National American Sign Language Day (United States)
* One Boston Day (United States)
* Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)
* Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)
* Universal Day of Culture
* World Art Day

## References

1. ↑ "Notre-Dame: Massive fire ravages Paris cathedral". *BBC News*. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
2. ↑ Guiler, Eric. "Roberts, Mary Grant (1841–1921)". *Australian Dictionary of Biography*. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
3. ↑ Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael; Rubinstein, Hilary L. (2011). *The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History*. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 301. ISBN 9781403939104.
4. ↑ Bedingfield, Gary (2009). *Baseball's Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players Who Died in Service*. McFarland. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-7864-4454-0.
5. ↑ "Presentism, Contested Narratives and Dissonances in Zimbabwe’s Liberation War Heritage: The Case of." Colonial Heritage, Memory and Sustainability in Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects (2015): p 11.
6. ↑ Anderson, Jason. "Artist Biography [Linda Perry]". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
7. ↑ "Shaunae Miller". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
8. ↑ "Artist of the Month: 10 Things to Know About Shanti Dope". *Wave 89.1*. Retrieved 6 December 2019. Cite has empty unknown parameter: `|1=` (help)
9. ↑ https://www.newsweek.com/asl-day-2019-american-sign-language-1394695

## External links

* BBC: On This Day
* *The New York Times*: On This Day
* Historical Events on April 15
* Today in Canadian History