/year

April 12 in history

224 sourced entries recorded on April 12, from 46 BCE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 240Prince Shapur I becomes co-ruler of the Sasanian Empire with his father King Ardashir I.source
  • 467Emperor Leo I has his general Anthemius elected emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He allies himself with Ricimer, de facto ruler of Rome, and marries Anthemius's daughter Alypia to him, to strengthen the relationship and end the hostilities between the Eastern and Western Empire.source
  • 627King Edwin of Northumbria is converted to Christianity by Bishop Paulinus of York, who previously saved his life.source
  • 627Paulinus, last of the missionaries sent by Pope Gregory I, builds a wooden church in the old Roman legionary headquarters in York, and baptises Edwin of Northumbria as the first Christian king in northern England.source
  • 769April 12–15 – Pope Stephen III holds a Lateran Council: the papal election procedure (abuse of which has led to the election of antipopes) is changed, and the iconoclasm of the Council of Hieria is anathematized.source
  • 806Nikephoros I is elected patriarch of Constantinople, succeeding Tarasios.source
  • 1012Oldřich, Duke of Bohemia, deposes his brother Jaromír, who flees to Poland. Oldřich recognises the suzerainty of King Henry II of Germany over Bohemia. He secures his rule by suppressing the Vršovci insurgents.source
  • 1204Sack of Constantinople: Crusaders enter Constantinople by storm and start pillaging the city as part of the Fourth Crusade. Forces of the Republic of Venice seize the antique statues that will become the horses of Saint Mark.source
  • 1229Treaty of Paris: Count Raymond VII is forced to sign a peace treaty (also known as the "Treaty of Meaux"). This brings the Albigensian Crusade to an end. Raymond regains his feudal rights but has to swear his allegiance to King Louis IX (the Saint). The fortifications, such as these of Avignon and Toulouse, are dismantled.source
  • 1296King Mangrai the Great of Ngoenyang establishes a new capital by founding Chiangmai, and founds the Mangrai Dynasty, that will rule the Lanna Kingdom of Chiangmai from 1296 to 1578 (the 700th Anniversary Stadium will be built in remembrance of this foundation).source
  • 1302Ghazan of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division sends a letter to Pope Boniface and announces preparations for a new campaign against the Mamluk Sultanate.source
  • 1321Sweden's governing council votes to bar foreigners from the royal palace, and to request that the Norwegian council admonish the regent Ingeborg to avoid taking advice from foreigners when making decisions. Ingeborg, who is serving as regent for her minor son, King Magnus, ruler of Sweden and Norway, has become infamous for making decisions without consultation from the councils of either of the kingdoms.source
  • 1387Admiral Arundel of the English Navy brings 68 captured ships from Margate battle to the port of Orwell.source
  • 1404Centurione II Zaccaria buys the Principality of Achaea, located on the Peloponnese peninsula in modern-day Greece, from King Ladislaus of Naples.source
  • 1412Albert V, son of the former King of Sweden, Duke Albert IV, becomes the Duke of Mecklenburg (part of modern-day Germany) upon the death of his father.source
  • 1421Hedwig Jagiellon, the 13-year-old daughter of and heiress presumptive to Wladyslaw II, King of Poland, is betrothed in a marriage contract to Prince Frederick, the 7-year-old son of Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg as part of an alliance between Poland and Brandenburg during the Brandenburg–Pomeranian conflict. The marriage is scheduled to take place after November 19, 1427, when Prince Frederick is to be 14 years old, at which time he will live in Poland and become eligible to serve with Hedwig as ruler of Poland and Lithuania. The marriage will never take place, and the contract is annulled in 1424 when a male heir to the Polish throne, Wladyslaw, is born.source
  • 1439In a battle on Lake Garda in Italy, a passage to the Adriatic Sea, ships from the Duchy of Milan defeat those of the Republic of Venice in battle and take control of the lake.source
  • 1457Ştefan cel Mare secures the throne of Moldavia, which he retains for the next 47 years.source
  • 1493Battle of Anfao: Askia Mohammad I defeats Sonni Baru in what becomes the African nation of Mali, and usurps the throne of the Songhai Empire.source
  • 1517Lopo Soares de Albergaria of Portugal begins the siege of Jeddah (now part of Saudi Arabia), attempting to invade, but is unable to land because of artillery fire from the Ottoman and Mamluk defenders. Bad weather prevents the Portuguese fleet of 15 ships from navigating for the next two weeks.source
  • 1523The Spanish conquest of Nicaragua continues as Gil González Dávila and 17 other soldiers arrive at Lake Nicaragua and claim it for the Spanish crown, calling the freshwater source the Mar Dulce. Gonzalez and 100 men with him have been welcomed by Macuilmiquiztli Nicarao, leader of the friendly Nicarao people, to explore the area.source
  • 1540Printing of the first translation of the New Testament into the Icelandic language is completed after King Christian III of Denmark finishes having Oddur Gottskálksson's text compared to the original Latin.source
  • 1554Mary of Guise is declared Regent of Scotland at a meeting of the Parliament of Scotland in Edinburgh.source
  • 1554Mary of Guise becomes Regent of Scotland.source
  • 1557The Spanish settlement of Cuenca, Ecuador, is founded.source
  • 1567The Earl of Bothwell is acquitted on charges of murder in the February 10 killing of Lord Darnley, the husband of Mary Queen of Scots. Upon acquittal he makes plans to become Mary's new husband.source
  • 1567James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, is acquitted on charges of murder in the killing of Lord Darnley. Upon acquittal he makes plans to become Mary's new husband.source
  • 1571The Ridolfi plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England is foiled by the capture of Ridolfi's messenger, Charles Baillie.source
  • 1586Francis Drake and the English conquerors depart Cartagena after having looted the city and being paid a ransom of 250,000 Spanish pesos by the New Granadan Governor, Don Pedro Fernández.source
  • 1606The first version of the Union Flag is created, to be worn as a national flag by English and Scottish ships.source
  • 1633Galileo Galilei is convicted of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church.source
  • 1654Oliver Cromwell creates a union between England and Scotland, with Scottish representation in the Parliament of England.source
  • 1665The burial of Margaret Porteous is recorded; hers is the first known death during the Great Plague of London. This last major outbreak of Bubonic plague in the British Isles has possibly been introduced from the Netherlands. Two-thirds of Londoners leave the city, but over 68,000 die. The plague spreads to Derbyshire.source
  • 1676Richard Raynsford becomes the new Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.source
  • 1678The Treaty of Casco Bay is signed between officials of the Province of New York and the Penobscot tribe and the Wabanaki Confederacy, bringing an end to further fighting that has happened in the two years since the end of King Philip's War in the modern-day U.S. state of Maine. Under the terms of the treaty, English settlers pay rent to the Penobscots and are given back farm land that had been confiscated in the war, while the English settlers agree to respect the Penobscot land rights.source
  • 1694The French ship Diligente, commanded by René Duguay-Trouin, covers the escape of a convoy of ships that he is escorting, but then is surrounded and attacked by six Royal Navy ships led by David Mitchell. Most of the Diligente crew is lost in the battle, and Duguay-Trouin is captured.source
  • 1709first edition of The Tatler magazine published.source
  • 1714Italian Jesuit missionary Niccolò Gianpriamo is dispatched from Portugal on an evangelical trip to Asia starting with the Portuguese Indian colony of Goa, where he arrives after five months.source
  • 1717writer and politician Joseph Addison is appointed Southern Secretary in the remodelled government now dominated by James Stanhoe.source
  • 1718The Neva Yacht Club is foundedsource
  • 1732King Christian VI of Denmark-Norway signs the charter for the new Danish Asia Company (Dansk Asiatisk Kompagni), granting it a 40-year monopoly on Denmark-Norway's trade in Asia, leading to the creation of Danish India and cities of Trankebar (now Tharangambadi in Tamil Nadu), Frederiknagore (now Serampore in West Bengal) and the Frederiksøerne Islands (now the Nicobar Islands).source
  • 1749the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, designed by James Gibbs, is opened as an academic library.source
  • 1752The Kingdom of Afghanistan, under the rule of Ahmad Shah Durrani, recaptures the city of Lahore four years after its capture by the Sikhs of Punjab.source
  • 1752The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Spain's Royal Academy of the Fine Arts, is formally established in Spain, eight years after first being proposed to King Fernando VI by Jeronimo Antonio Gil as a small school in Madrid. The foundation of the Royal Academy is considered by historians to be "an essential step in modernizing Spain" during the Spanish Enlightenment.source
  • 1756Siege of Fort St Philip begins when the French under Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu, land near Port Mahón on Menorca and besiege the British garrison here in a prelude to the Seven Years' War.source
  • 1760Two of six French ships run into a British blockade led by Britain's Admiral Edward Boscawen. Of the remaining four, one sinks before it can reach North America.source
  • 1764HDMS Prindsesse Wilhelmine Carolina is launched at Nyholm in Copenhagen.source
  • 1770American Revolution: Parliament repeals the Townshend Act.source
  • 1770The Townshend Acts are repealed by Britain's Parliament by the efforts of Prime Minister Frederick North, with the exception of the increased duties on imported tea. The American colonists, in turn, stop their embargo on British imports.source
  • 1770Monkland Canal authorized.source
  • 1776American Revolution: The Royal Colony of North Carolina produces the Halifax Resolves, making it the first British colony to officially authorize its Continental Congress delegates to vote for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.source
  • 1778King George III appoints the five-member Carlisle Peace Commission to present peace terms to negotiate an end to the rebellion of Britain's 13 American colonies.source
  • 1779Spain and France secretly sign the Convention of Aranjuez, with Spain joining an alliance against Great Britain in return for France's pledge to recover all Spanish territory lost to the British.source
  • 1779Treaty of Aranjuez (1779)source
  • 1779Treaty of Aranjuez (1779)source
  • 1779France (at this time in alliance with America) signs a secret treaty with Spain to wage war against Great Britain.source
  • 1782Battle of the Saintes: A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse, in the West Indies.source
  • 1782A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse in the West Indies at the Battle of the Saintes.source
  • 1782In the Battle of the Saintes, the British fleet defeat the French after a campaign in which Admiral Sir Thomas Foley has played a major part.source
  • 1796War of the First Coalition – Battle of Montenotte: Napoleon Bonaparte gains his first victory as an army commander.source
  • 1796Battle of Montenotte, French victory over Austria and Sardinian forces. Napoleon Bonaparte's first victory as an army commander.source
  • 1798The Helvetic Republic, a French client republic, is proclaimed following the collapse of the Old Swiss Confederacy after the French invasion; Aarau becomes the republic's temporary capital.source
  • 1802Beethoven leaves Vienna for a small nearby Austrian village named Heiligenstadt where he would cope with his declining mental and physical health including his growing deafness. He would stay until October and there he would write an unsent letter to his brothers called the Heiligenstadt Testament. In the letter, Beethoven contemplates suicide but it was his passion for the art of music that prevented him so.source
  • 1807April 4–12 – Froberg mutiny: The British suppress a mutiny at Fort Ricasoli, Malta, by men of the irregularly-recruited Froberg Regiment.source
  • 1809April 11–15 – Napoleonic Wars – Battle of the Basque Roads: The British Royal Navy defeats the French fleet in the mouth of the Charente, although officers on both sides face subsequent courts-martial.source
  • 1814The Royal Norwegian Navy is re-established.source
  • 1820Alexander Ypsilantis becomes the leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece.source
  • 1835British ship George III, transporting male convicts from Woolwich to Hobart sinks in D'Entrecasteaux Channel with the loss of around 134 (128 convicts) of the 294 people on board.source
  • 1837The conglomerate of Procter & Gamble has its origins, when British-born businessmen William Procter and James Gamble begin selling their first manufactured goods (soap and candles) in Cincinnati, Ohio.source
  • 1838Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews hanged in Toronto.source
  • 1847the Massachusetts Donation of 1847 arrives at Cork on USS Jamestown.source
  • 1849Astronomer Annibale de Gasparis discovers the asteroid 10 Hygiea.source
  • 1861The American Civil War begins with the bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina.source
  • 1861American Civil War breaks out, leading to the Lancashire Cotton Famine (1861–1865).source
  • 1862Great Locomotive Chase (Andrews' Raid) – Union volunteers steal Confederate steam railroad locomotive The General (which will still exist in the 21st century) in an attempt to sabotage the rail network.source
  • 1864American Civil War: Battle of Fort Pillow – Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers who surrender at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.source
  • 1868April 9–13 – Battle of Magdala: A British-Indian task force under Robert Napier inflicts 700 deaths and a crushing defeat on the army of Emperor Tewodros II; the British and Indians suffer 30 wounded, two of whom subsequently die. Tewodros commits suicide and Magdala is captured, ending the British Expedition to Abyssinia.source
  • 1869Metalworkers' strike at Cockerill in Seraing violently repressed (inspiring Karl Marx to write The Belgian Massacres).source
  • 1876The Indian Act comes into force in Canada.source
  • 1876The Indian Act is passed. Consolidating and expanding on existing Canadian laws, it defines the special status and land regulations of Aboriginal peoples in Canada who live on reserves; status Indians have no vote in Canadian elections and are exempt from taxessource
  • 1877Theophilus Shepstone annexes the Transvaal Republic as a British colony, in preparation for confederation. Resistance to British rule begins.source
  • 1877The United Kingdom annexes the South African Republic, violating the Sand River Convention of 1852, causing the First Boer War.source
  • 1877The University of Tokyo is officially established in Japan.source
  • 1879Mary Baker Eddy founds the Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts.source
  • 1879Mary Baker Eddy founds the Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston.source
  • 1891The first official game in the Association football league of Argentina (1891 Argentine Primera División) is held in Caballito, Buenos Aires.source
  • 1896German football club Hannover 96 is founded.source
  • 1917April 12 (N.S.) (March 30 O.S.) – The Autonomous Governorate of Estonia is formed within Russia, from the Governorate of Estonia and the northern part of the Governorate of Livonia.source
  • 1919French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru is arrested.source
  • 1922The United Kingdom's Prince of Wales arrives in Yokohama aboard HMS Renown and rides by train to Tokyo, starting a one-month visit to Japan.source
  • 1923The Kandersteg International Scout Centre comes into existence in Switzerland.source
  • 1923Transvaal – Dunswart to Apex deviation, 4 mi 16 ch.source
  • 1924HMAS Australia is scuttled off Sydney Heads.source
  • 1925Sheikh Said was arrestedsource
  • 1925The Coluna Prestes movement is launched at a meeting in Foz do Iguaçu.source
  • 1927The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 renames the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The change acknowledges that the Irish Free State is no longer part of the Kingdom.source
  • 1927The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 renames the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The change acknowledges that the Irish Free State is no longer part of the Kingdom.source
  • 1927April 12 Incident (Shanghai Massacre): Kuomintang troops kill a number of communist-supporting workers in Shanghai. The 1st United Front between the Nationalists and Communist ends, and the Civil War lasting until 1949 begins.source
  • 1928A bomb attack against Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini in Milan kills 17 bystanders.source
  • 1928April 12 – 14 – The first east–west transatlantic flight by aeroplane takes place from Dublin, Ireland, to Greenly Island, Canada, using the German Junkers W 33 Bremen.source
  • 1928A bomb, directed against Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, kills 18 people at the Milan Trade Fair.source
  • 1930FC Wangen bei Olten is foundedsource
  • 193412 April and 13 April - Adolf Hitler, Erich Raeder and Werner von Blomberg sailed through western Norway aboard the German Panzerschiff Deutschland sailing through the Sognefjord and Hardangerfjord. The voyage was Adolf Hitler's first journey abroad since becoming Chancellor in January 1933. During the visit Hitler and Blomberg were observed having a lengthy private conversation. Alan Bullock speculated that discussions regarding concerns about Ernst Röhm and the SA may have taken place during the visit. The visit was documented in contemporary Norwegian newspapers including Bergens Tidende.source
  • 1936The Moose River Gold Mines collapse in Nova Scotiasource
  • 1937Frank Whittle ground-tests the world's first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.source
  • 1940Opening day at Jamaica Race Course features the use of parimutuel betting equipment, a departure from bookmaking heretofore used exclusively throughout New York. Other tracks in the state follow suit later in 1940.source
  • 1945Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes the 33rd president of the United States upon the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia of an intracerebral hemorrhage.source
  • 1945A devastating tornado outbreak occurs across the United States, which kills 128 people and injures over 1,000 others. This is heavily overshadowed by the death of President Roosevelt.source
  • 1945Richard Strauss completes composition of his Metamorphosen.source
  • 1954Bill Haley & His Comets record "Rock Around the Clock" in their first session for American Decca in New York City; it is released on May 20 as a B-side, but only in 1955 becomes a #1 hit, helping to initiate the rock and roll craze.source
  • 1955The Salk polio vaccine, having passed large-scale trials earlier in the United States, receives full approval by the Food and Drug Administration.source
  • 1961Albert Kalonji takes the title Emperor Albert I Kalonji of South Kasai.source
  • 1961Vostok 1: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space, orbiting the Earth once before parachuting to the ground.source
  • 1962Armed Palestinian Arab militants, who infiltrated into Israel, fired on an Egged bus on the way to Eilat; one passenger was wounded.source
  • 1963The Soviet nuclear powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish Straits. Although severely damaged, both vessels make it to port.source
  • 1965A historic and extremely destructive tornado outbreak struck the Midwest region of the United States, killing 266.source
  • 1972Carmen Amelia Ampuero is selected as Miss Peru Universe 1972.source
  • 1976The 1976 West Bank local elections were held.source
  • 1978Louis Pilot is appointed the Luxembourg national football team's new coach.source
  • 19801980 Liberian coup d'état: Samuel K. Doe overthrows the government of Liberia in a violent coup d'état, executing President William Tolbert and ending over 130 years of democratic presidential succession in that country.source
  • 19801980 Liberian coup d'étatsource
  • 1980Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope, a plan to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research, setting off from St. John's, Newfoundland and running westward.source
  • 1980A Transbrasil Boeing 727 crashes in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, killing 54 people.source
  • 1981The National Constitution Drafting Commission is formed, chaired by Amos Sawyer, with the goal of producing a new constitution.source
  • 1981The first National Redemption Day is celebrated, with Foreign Minister Henry Boimah Fahnbulleh giving a speech celebrating the anniversary of the 1980 coup.source
  • 1981The Python roller-coaster is opened in the Efteling theme park.source
  • 1981The Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia, with NASA astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen, launches on the STS-1 mission, returning to Earth on April 14. It is the first time a crewed reusable spacecraft has returned from orbit.source
  • 1984Palestinian gunmen take Israeli bus number 300 hostage. Israeli special forces storm the bus, freeing the hostages (one hostage, two hijackers killed).source
  • 1985El Descanso bombing: A terrorist bombing attributed to the Islamic Jihad Organization in the El Descanso restaurant near Madrid, Spain, mostly attended by U.S. personnel from the Torrejón Air Base, causes 18 deaths (all Spaniards) and 82 injuries.source
  • 1987The murder of Ang May Hong happened in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiasource
  • 1991The Warsaw Stock Exchange opens in Poland.source
  • 1992The 42nd Vuelta a Colombia ends in Bogotá. Fabio Parra of Seguros Amaya wins.source
  • 1999Representative Juan Manuel Corzo and 39 other passengers on a plane heading from Bucaramanga to Cúcuta are kidnapped by National Liberation Army (ELN) guerillas.source
  • 2001Police crack down on student protesters, demanding greater freedom of speech. This leaves 50 students hospitalised.source
  • 2002Augustin Bizimungu is arrested for his involvement in the Rwandan genocide.source
  • 2003Hungary approves joining the European Union in a referendum.source
  • 2005Shahrokh Meskoob, 81, Iranian Man of letters, writer, translator, scholar and university professor.source
  • 2005Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh rules that forcing women to marry against their will is against Islam.source
  • 2009April 8 - April 12 – Maersk Alabama Hijacking occurs, the ship being taken over by Somalian pirates off the coast of Somalia.source
  • 2009Captain Richard Phillips of the MV Maersk Alabama, who was abducted by Somali pirates, is rescued.source
  • 2012Mutinous soldiers in Guinea-Bissau stage a coup d'état and take control of the capital city, Bissau. They arrest interim President Raimundo Pereira and leading presidential candidate Carlos Gomes Júnior in the midst of a presidential election campaign.source
  • 2012Despite warnings by U.S. President Barack Obama that Jong-Un has nothing to gain from provocations, Pyongyang proceeds to launch a satellite launching rocket, which disintegrates in mid-air.source
  • 2013The official opening of Nalaikh Mosque in Nalaikh, Ulaanbaatar.source
  • 2018April 4–15 – The 2018 Commonwealth Games are held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.source
  • 2019President Mirziyoyev names his daughter Saida, as the deputy director of the Agency for Information and Mass Communication.source
  • 2020OPEC and allies strike a deal to cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day, the largest such cut agreed upon, starting May 1.source
  • 2025Iran and the United States hold their first high-level negotiations since 2018 over the Iranian nuclear programme in Muscat.source

Births

  • 959En'yū, emperor of Japan (died 991)source
  • 1116Richeza of Poland, queen consort of Sweden (died 1156)source
  • 1432Anne of Austria, Landgravine of Thuringia, consort of William III, Landgrave of Thuringia (died 1462)source
  • 1484Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect (died 1546)source
  • 1484Maharana Sangram Singh, Rana of Mewar (died 1528)source
  • 1500Joachim Camerarius, German classical scholar (died 1574)source
  • 1541Ipatii Potii, Metropolitan of Kiev (died 1613)source
  • 1550Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain of England (died 1604)source
  • 1577King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (died 1648)source
  • 1586April 12 (bapt.) – John Ford, English dramatist and poet (died c. 1639)source
  • 1602Daniel Knudsen Bildt, military officer (d.1651)source
  • 1612Simone Cantarini, Italian painter and engraver (died 1648)source
  • 1639Martin Lister, English naturalist and physician (died 1712)source
  • 1670Gustav, Duke of Zweibrücken, prince (died 1731)source
  • 1726Charles Burney, English music historian (died 1814)source
  • 1748Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (died 1836)source
  • 1777Henry Clay, American politician (died 1852)source
  • 1777Henry Clay, U.S. Senator from Kentucky 1806-1807, 1810-1811, 1831-1842 & 1849-1852 (died 1852)source
  • 1778John Strachan, first Anglican Bishop of Toronto, Born in Aberdeen, Scotland (d.1867)source
  • 1816Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, 8th Premier of Victoria (born in the United Kingdom) (died 1903)source
  • 1869Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (executed 1922)source
  • 1871Ioannis Metaxas, Prime Minister of Greece (died 1941)source
  • 1885Hermann Hoth, German general (died 1971)source
  • 1914Armen Alchian, American economist (died 2013)source
  • 1914Adriaan Blaauw, astronomer (died 2010)source
  • 1942Jacob Zuma, 4th President of South Africasource

Deaths

  • 46 BCEMarcus Porcius Cato (the Younger), Roman politician (born 95 BC) (commits suicide)source
  • 45 BCEGnaeus Pompeius, son of Pompey the Great (executed after the Battle of Munda)source
  • 238Gordian I, Roman emperor (born 159)source
  • 238Gordian II, Roman emperor (born 192)source
  • 352Julius I, bishop of Romesource
  • 371Zeno of Verona, Christian bishop and martyrsource
  • 434Maximianus dies on Great and Holy Thursday. He is succeeded by Proclus, who becomes archbishop of Constantinople.source
  • 434Maximianus, archbishop of Constantinoplesource
  • 901Eudokia Baïana, Byzantine empress and wife of Leo VIsource
  • 1107Burchard, bishop of Baselsource
  • 1111Berthold II, German nobleman (born 1050)source
  • 1125Vladislaus I, duke of Bohemia (born 1065)source
  • 1141April 12 or April 13 – Engelbert, Duke of Carinthiasource
  • 1167King Charles VII (Sverkersson) is murdered at Visingsö by supporters of Canute I (son of Eric IX), who proclaims himself king of Sweden. However, Charles's half-brothers Boleslaw and Kol Sverkerson proclaim themselves rulers of Östergötland, in opposition to Canute, which leads to fights for the power in Sweden (until 1173).source
  • 1167Charles VII (Sverkersson), king of Sweden (born 1130)source
  • 1237Berengaria of León, Latin empress consort (born 1204)source
  • 1237Philip II de Méréville, French priest and bishopsource
  • 1237Philip II de Méréville, French priest and bishop (Birth year unknown)source
  • 1256Margaret of Bourbon, queen consort of Navarre (born 1217)source
  • 1374At Almazán, now part of Spain but at the time a town in the Kingdom of Castile and León, a peace agreement is executed by King Enrique II of Castile and King Pedro IV of Aragon, with the two monarchs agreeing to the wedding of Enrique's son and Pedro's daughter.source
  • 1443Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterburysource
  • 1443Henry Chichele, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury for almost 29 years, dies and is succeeded by John Stafford on May 13.source
  • 1500Leonhard of Gorizia, Count of Gorz (born 1440)source
  • 1526Robert Cockburn (diplomat)source
  • 1530Joanna la Beltraneja, princess of Castile (born 1462)source
  • 1531In the Songhai Empire that rules most of West Africa and the Niger River valley, the Emperor Askiya Musa is assassinated by his brothers after less than two years on the throne. Askia Mohammad Benkan is enthroned the same day.source
  • 1555Queen Joanna of Castile, long under confinement (born 1479)source
  • 1562Brian O'Neill is murdered by his kinsman Turlough Luineach O'Neill and is succeeded (in the eyes of the English administration of Ireland) as chief of the O'Neills by his brother Hugh.source
  • 1665the first recorded victim of the Great Plague of London dies. Over the summer it is thought to have spread as far as Derby and on 6 September the first plague death takes place in the Derbyshire village of Eyam.source
  • 1675Richard Bennett, British Colonial Governor of Virginia (born 1609)source
  • 1681Pietro Paolini, Italian painter (born 1603)source
  • 1684Nicola Amati, Cremonese violin-maker (born 1596)source
  • 1704Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and theologian (born 1627)source
  • 1720Balaji Vishwanath, Peshwa of the Maratha Empire (born 1662)source
  • 1725Giovanni Battista Foggini, Italian artist (born 1652)source
  • 1743Augustine Washington, father of the future first President of the United States (born 1694)source
  • 1748William Kent, English architect (born c. 1685)source
  • 1769Thomas Morgan, politician and lawyer, 66source
  • 1788Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-born composer (born 1719)source
  • 1866Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English Member of Parliament and developer (born 1801)source
  • 1878William M. Tweed, American politician (born 1823)source
  • 1879Richard Taylor, American Confederate general (born 1826)source
  • 1912Clara Barton, American nurse (born 1821)source
  • 1945Franklin D. Roosevelt, American political leader and statesman, 32nd President of the United States (born 1882)source
  • 1950Pal Mëlyshi - LANÇ activist and Sigurimi membersource
  • 1955Teo Kim Eng, businessman (born 1893).source
  • 1975Josephine Baker, American-born French entertainer and activist (born 1906)source
  • 1980William Tolbert, President of Liberia, in Monrovia (born 1913)source
  • 1981Joe Louis, 66, American professional boxer, he was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 until 1949, he was a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II because of his historic rematch with the German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938, cardiac arrestsource
  • 2006Rajkumar, 76, Indian actor, cardiac arrest.source
  • 2022Five soldiers are killed and several wounded when the army convoy struck an explosive device placed by suspected Islamist militants in Pendjari National Park, according to two military sources.source