/year

April 14 in history

230 sourced entries recorded on April 14, from 43 BCE to 2023 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 43 BCEBattle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Caesar's assassin Decimus Brutus Albinus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, but is then immediately defeated by the army of the other consul, Hirtius. Both consuls are killed (Hirtius does not die until after the Battle of Mutina).source
  • 193Lucius Septimius Severus is proclaimed Emperor by his troops at Carnuntum, in Pannonia Superior (Balkans). He marches with his army to Rome.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
  • 966Mieszko I, first duke and prince of Poland, is baptized a Christian, which is usually considered the foundation of the Polish state. Mieszko's baptism, under the influence of his wife Doubravka of Bohemia, brings his territories into the community of Christian countries. The lands ruled by Mieszko cover about 250,000 km², and are inhabited by about 1.2 million people around this time.source
  • 972Otto II (the Red), joint-ruler and son of Otto I (the Great), marries the Byzantine princess Theophanu (niece or granddaughter of John I). She is crowned empress by Pope John XIII at Rome. Creating an alliance between the Ottonian Dynasty and the Byzantine Empire (called the Tzimiscian Peace).source
  • 1028The 10-year-old Henry III (the Black), son of Emperor Conrad II (the Elder), is elected and crowned king of Germany in Aachen Cathedral by Pilgrim, archbishop of Cologne.source
  • 1129Following the Capetian tradition, King Louis VI (the Fat) has his eldest son Philip crowned as co-ruler of France at Rheims Cathedral. Louis himself becomes the national protector of all France.source
  • 1205Battle of Adrianople: Latin forces under Baldwin I are defeated and eliminated in a successful ambush by Bulgarians, Vlachs and Cumans. Baldwin is captured and taken as prisoner to Veliko Tarnovo – where he is locked up at the top of a tower in the Tsarevets fortress. Later, Baldwin is possibly executed by orders of Kaloyan (this according to the Byzantine historian George Akropolites).source
  • 1223On the island of Sri Lanka, King Chodaganga Deva lands at Trincomalee on the Tamil New Year's Day (the 1st of Chittirai of Shaka era year 1145) and makes a large donation to fund the Hindu Koneswaram Temple. The event is commemorated in an inscription in the Sanskrit language in the temple.source
  • 1297King Edward I of England makes an appeal outside Westminster Hall for support for the war against France. He apologizes for the high tax demands he has previously levied. Edward asks the Barons (some 1,500 knights) to swear allegiance to his 12-year-old son, Prince Edward of Caernarfon. Aware of the dangers of the opposition to his power, Edward appears before a large crowd and receives total loyalty.source
  • 1307Persian historian Rashid al-Din Hamadani completes his comprehensive chronicle of Persian history, the Jami' al-tawarikh, inscribing the Persian calendar date "24th day of Farvardin 686"source
  • 1312In Germany, Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen signs the Treaty of Tangermünde after having been captured by Waldemar the Great of Brandenburg. Under the treaty, Meissen cedes its territory between the Elbe River and the Elster River to Brandenburg, and Frederick the Brave pays 32,000 silver coins to Waldemar.source
  • 1316Qutb al-Din Mubarak, the 17-year-old son of Alauddin Khalji, succeeds him and ascends the throne as ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.source
  • 1321Prince Wenceslaus of Płock allies with the Teutonic Knights of Poland and signs an agreement at the city of Golub, pledging to prevent Lithuanian troops from passing through his principality.source
  • 1322Baron Badlesmere, another leader of the unsuccessful Contrariant attempt to overthrow King Edward II of England, is found guilty of treason at a trial in Canterbury. His death sentence is carried out later in the day.source
  • 1375The Mamluks from Egypt complete their conquest of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. King Levon V is imprisoned for several years in Cairo, until a ransom is paid by King John I of Castile.source
  • 1381The second Treaty of Guérande is concluded in France between Jean, Count of Penthièvre and Yann IV, Duke of Brittany as Penthièvre drops his claim to rulership of the Duchy in return for being released from Gloucester Castle in England and being paid a substantial indemnity. Penthièvre had been the eldest son of Charles of Blois-Châtillon, who had been Duke of Brittany until his death in 1364.source
  • 1390John VII Palaiologos overthrows his grandfather, John V Palaiologos, as Byzantine Emperor.source
  • 1393To resolve issues remaining from the six-year long war in Myanmar between the Kingdom of Ava and the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, a delegation sent by King Swa Saw Ke of Ava arrives at Nanjing, capital of Ming dynasty China, to seek the aid of the court of the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. The mission is unsuccessful.source
  • 1395Tokhtamysh–Timur war – At the Battle of the Terek River, the Mongol conqueror Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde at the Volga. The Golden Horde capital city, Sarai, is razed to the ground, and Timur installs a puppet ruler, Quyurchuq, on the Golden Horde throne. Tokhtamysh escapes to Lithuania.source
  • 1434The foundation stone of Nantes Cathedral in Nantes, Brittany, is laid.source
  • 1434The foundation stone of Nantes Cathedral is laidsource
  • 1438The County of Holland declares war on several cities of the Hanseatic League, triggering the Dutch–Hanseatic War.source
  • 1476The Treaty of Fribourg is signed by representatives of the Swiss Confederation and the Duchy of Savoy after France's King Louis XI intervenes to stop the war in Switzerland over former Savoyard territories in the Canton of Vaud.source
  • 1498Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reaches Malindi, in modern-day Kenya.source
  • 1502The formal coronation of Ivan the Great as Grand Prince of Moscow (encompassing most of the Russian people's territory) to reflect that he is the nation's sole ruler. Ivan had been co-ruler of Moscow from 1449 to 1462, ruler from 1462 to 1471 and 1490 to 1498, and co-ruler with his eldest son (Ivan the Young, 1471-1490) and his grandson, Dmitry Ivanovich from 1498 onward.source
  • 1517On Easter Tuesday, Dr. Bell, a preacher standing at St Paul's Cross in front of London's Old St Paul's Cathedral, delivers an inflammatory sermon at the instigation of a local broker, John Lincoln and accuses foreign immigrants of stealing jobs from English workers and taking away bread from "poor fatherless children."source
  • 1536The Reformation Parliament in England passes an Act for the Dissolution of the monasteries. Religious houses closed as part of Henry VIII's dissolution include: Basingwerk Abbey, Bourne Abbey, Brinkburn Priory, Buildwas Abbey, Cartmel Priory, Dorchester Abbey, Dore Abbey, Haltemprice Priory, Keldholme Priory and Tintern Abbey.source
  • 1554George Dowdall, Archbishop of Armagh, is commissioned to deprive married clergy of their offices.source
  • 1561The Arboga artiklar regulates the power within the Swedish duchies, limiting the political power of the King's brothers.source
  • 1561The citizens of Nuremberg see what appears to be an aerial battle, followed by the appearance of a large black triangular object and a large crash (with smoke) outside the city. A news notice (an early form of newspaper) is printed on April 14, describing the event.source
  • 1573grant of denization to Sorley Boy MacDonnell and other settlers from Scotland.source
  • 1576Ishiyama Hongan-ji War: In Japan, the Third Battle of Ishiyama begins as Oda Nobunaga sends 10,000 soldiers against the Ashikaga shogunate to capture the Honganji Temple.source
  • 1582King James VI of Scotland signs a charter creating the Tounis College, which becomes the University of Edinburgh.source
  • 1617Second Battle of Playa Honda: The Spanish navy defeats a Dutch fleet in the Philippines.source
  • 1634The Battle of Amritsar begins in India when Mughal Empire troops attempt to eliminate the Sikh religious leader, Guru Hargobind, by attacking Amritsar. The Sikh defenders hand the Mughal invaders an unprecedented defeat.source
  • 1635English adventurer John Clavell, practising as a doctor in Ireland at this time, marries a young Dublin heiress.source
  • 1638The Netherlands colonizes Mauritius, with colonists from the ship Dragon going ashore after sighting it the day before, an event chronicled by British traveler Peter Mundy.source
  • 1639In the Battle of Chemnitz, Swedish forces under Johan Banér inflict a crushing defeat on the army of the Holy Roman Empire, prolonging the Thirty Years' War and allowing the Swedes to occupy Pirna and advance into Bohemia.source
  • 1639Battle of Chemnitz took place near the town of Chemnitz, in what is now eastern Germany, during the Thirty Years' War. Swedish forces under Johan Banér inflicted a crushing defeat on Rodolfo Giovanni Marazzino who commanded the Saxons and an Imperial detachment.source
  • 1659The first meeting in CopenhagenCouncil of 32 Men is held.source
  • 1664All grants to the Compagnie des Isles de l'Amerique for development of French-claimed islands in the Caribbean Sea are revoked by King Louis XIV, including the rights to the islands of Martinique and Saint Lucia that had been sold to Marie Bonnard du Parquet prior to her death in 1659.source
  • 1702Volcanic eruption of Changbaishan volcano (also known as Paektu Mountain) on the China/Korea border takes place.source
  • 1703HDMS Elephanten is launched at the Royal Danish Dockyard in Copenhagen.source
  • 170714 April (25 April New Style) – At the Battle of Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession, the Bourbon army of Spain and France (with Irish mercenaries) under the French-born Englishman James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, soundly defeats the allied forces of Portugal, England, and the Dutch Republic led by the French-born Huguenot in English service Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway.source
  • 1707April 14 (April 25 New Style) – at the Battle of Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession, the Bourbon army of Spain and France (with Irish mercenaries) under the French-born Englishman James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, soundly defeats the allied forces of Portugal, England, and the Dutch Republic led by the French-born Huguenot in English service Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway.source
  • 1713First performance, in London, of Joseph Addison's libertarian play Cato, a Tragedy, which will be influential on both sides of the Atlantic.source
  • 1713first performance, in London, of Joseph Addison's libertarian play Cato, a Tragedy.source
  • 1714Queen Anne performs the last touching for the "King's evil".source
  • 1728Saint Serapion of Algiers, the first Mercedarian (of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy) is canonized by Pope Benedict XIII.source
  • 1736German adventurer Theodor Stephan Freiherr von Neuhoff is crowned King Theodore of Corsica, 25 days after his arrival on Corsica on March 20. His reign ends on November 5 when he flees the island.source
  • 1736Porteous Riots in Edinburgh. John Porteous, captain of the city guard, orders his men to fire into the crowd, causing six deaths.source
  • 1736The Porteous Riots erupt in Edinburgh (Scotland), after the execution of smuggler Andrew Wilson, when town guard Captain John Porteous orders his men to fire at the crowd. Porteous is arrested later.source
  • 1749British Royal Navy ship HMS Namur is wrecked in a storm near Fort St. David, India, with the loss of 520 lives.source
  • 1749second-rate HMS Namur is wrecked in a storm near Fort St. David, India, with the loss of 520 lives.source
  • 1750A group of enslaved West African, bound for the Americas, successfully overpowers the crew of the British slaver ship Snow Ann, imprisons the survivors, and then navigates the vessel back to Cape Lopez in Gabon. Upon regaining their freedom, the rebels leave the survivors on the Gabonese coast.source
  • 1750The Viceroy of New Spain, Juan Francisco de Güemes, issues a notice to the missionaries in Nuevo Santander (which includes parts of what are now the U.S. state of Texas, including San Antonio, and the Mexican state of Tamaulipas) to work peacefully to convert the indigenous Karankawa people to Roman Catholicism.source
  • 1761Thomas Boone is transferred south to become the Royal Governor of South Carolina after proving to be unable to work with the local assembly as the Royal Governor of New Jersey.source
  • 1765Three days after getting the news that the Stamp Act has passed, American colonists invade the British Army arsenal near the New York City Hall and sabotage guns inside by spiking them.source
  • 1781The Continental Congress votes a resolution thanking U.S. Captain John Paul Jones for his services.source
  • 1790Ólafur Stefánsson is appointed Governor of Iceland, the first Icelander to hold the position.source
  • 1796April 14–15 – War of the First Coalition – Battle of Dego: French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte defeat the Austro-Sardinian forces near Dego. The hamlet changes hands for two days in hard fighting. The battle confirms the vulnerability of dispersed coalition forces. The Austrians lose 670 men killed or wounded, plus 1,087 men captured. The French lose 621 men killed or wounded, and 317 men captured.source
  • 1796Hans Nielsen Hauge received his "spiritual baptism" in a field near his farm at Rolvsøy.source
  • 1807African Institution holds its first meeting in London; it is intended to improve social conditions in Sierra Leone.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
  • 1810James Cotton, precentor of Bangor Cathedral, marries Mary Anne, daughter of Henry Majendie, Bishop of Bangor.source
  • 1818August 9 – The United States Survey of the Coast operations is suspended.source
  • 1818United States Coast Survey operations suspended until August 9, 1832.source
  • 1834The Whig Party is officially named by United States Senator Henry Clay.source
  • 1844The murder of Charlotte Dymond in Cornwall.source
  • 1849Hungarian Revolution of 1848: The Hungarian revolutionary parliament in Debrecen declares independence from the Habsburg Empire.source
  • 1857Princess Beatrice, the fifth daughter and the youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, is born.source
  • 1858The 1858 Christiania fire. Several city blocks were destroyed, 41 buildings burned down, and around 1,000 persons lost their homes.source
  • 1861A major flood hits Montrealsource
  • 1863The Treaty of Huế is signed between Vietnam and the French Empire.source
  • 1865Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: President of the United States Abraham Lincoln is shot while attending an evening performance of the farce Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth.source
  • 1865United States Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family are attacked in his home, by Lewis Powell.source
  • 1874Astley Deep Pit Disaster: a mining accident as the result of an explosion in Dukinfield, Cheshire, kills 54.source
  • 1879The first use of a parachute in Australia occurs when Henri L 'Estrange's balloon ruptures above Melbourne's Agricultural Showgrounds.source
  • 1881The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight erupts in El Paso, Texas.source
  • 1885Sino-French War: A French victory at Kép causes China to withdraw its forces from Tonkin, in the final engagement of the conflict.source
  • 1890At the First International Conference of American States, in Washington D.C., The Commercial Bureau of the American Republics is founded.source
  • 1895A major earthquake severely damages Ljubljana, the capital of Carniola.source
  • 1899British Army troops in Hong Kong attack the Walled City of Kowloon, based on intelligence that Chinese Imperial Army troops have been stationed behind the walls to subvert Britain's 1898 lease.source
  • 1900The Exposition Universelle, a world's fair, opens in Paris.source
  • 1902The first J. C. Penney department store opens in Kemmerer, Wyoming.source
  • 1906Ole Irgens, politician (born 1829)source
  • 1906The Azusa Street Revival, the primary catalyst for the revival of Pentecostalism this century, opens in Los Angeles.source
  • 1907Belgium national football team plays Netherlands national football team in Antwerp.source
  • 1908The first Hauser Dam in Montana fails, causing severe flooding and damage downstream.source
  • 1909Adana massacre: Ottoman Turks kill 15,000–30,000 Armenian Christians, in the Adana Vilayet.source
  • 1909Physician Carlos Chagas discovers a tropical parasitic disease caused by the flagellated cinetoplastid protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, in the mining town of Lassance.source
  • 1912April 14/15 – The RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg off the Grand Banks of Newfoundlandsource
  • 1912April 14–15 – Sinking of the RMS Titanic: RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the northern Atlantic Ocean and sinks with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.source
  • 1912Santos FC, a Brazilian association football club, is founded in State of Sao Paulo.source
  • 1914The city of Irving, Texas, is incorporated.source
  • 1914April 14–18 – The first International Criminal Police Congress is held in Monaco; 24 countries are represented, including some from Asia, Europe, and the Americas; the Dean of the Paris Law School is president.source
  • 1916Gina Krog, suffragist (born 1847).source
  • 1918The Zionist Commission arrives in Palestine.source
  • 1927An earthquake in Mendoza Province causes three deaths and several injuries.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
  • 1928An earthquake occurs in Chirpan, Bulgaria, followed four days later by another in Plovdiv. Between them, they destroy more than 21,000 buildings, and kill almost 130 people.source
  • 1929The first edition of the Monaco Grand Prix is held.source
  • 1930Cape – Fort Knokke to Woltemade no. 1, 4 mi 5 ch.source
  • 1931The Second Spanish Republic is proclaimed in Madrid. Meanwhile, as a result of the victory of the Republican Left of Catalonia, Francesc Macià proclaims in Barcelona the Catalan Republic, as a state of the Iberian Federation.source
  • 1931A meteorite falls to earth on farmland in Pontllynfi, near Caernarfon.source
  • 1932John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton, at the Cavendish Laboratory in the University of Cambridge (England), focus a proton beam on lithium and split its nucleus ("splitting the atom").source
  • 1935Dust Bowl: "Black Sunday", the great dust storm in the United States hits eastern New Mexico and Colorado, and western Oklahoma the hardest (it will be made famous by Woody Guthrie, in his "dust bowl ballads").source
  • 1938Konak Terminal a busy ferry terminal in İzmir was openedsource
  • 1939At a meeting in Paris, French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet meets with Soviet Ambassador Jakob Suritz, and suggests that a "peace front" comprising France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, Poland and Romania would deter Germany from war.source
  • 1943Museum of the History of Barcelona was establishedsource
  • 1944INA hoisted the Indian tricolor for the first time on mainland India at Moirang in Manipur.source
  • 1944Bombay Explosion: Freighter SS Fort Stikine, carrying a mixed cargo of ammunition, cotton bales and gold, explodes in harbour at Bombay (India), sinking surrounding ships and killing around 1,300 people.source
  • 1944Bombay Explosion (1944)source
  • 1946Sh'erit ha-Pletah members of Nakam, the "Jewish Avengers", use arsenic to poison bread baked for SS prisoners of war held at Stalag XIII-D by the Americans.source
  • 1949The N'Ko alphabet is completed by Solomana Kante.source
  • 1950Influential British adventure comic Eagle is launched.source
  • 1954Aneurin Bevan resigns from the British Labour Party's Shadow Cabinet in protest over his party's failure to oppose the rearmament of West Germany.source
  • 1954A Soviet spy ring in Australia is unveiled.source
  • 1956Videotape is first demonstrated at the 1956 NARTB (modern-day NAB) convention in Chicago, United States, by Ampex. It is the demonstration of the first practical and commercially successful videotape format known as 2" Quadruplex.source
  • 1958Van Cliburn wins the International Tchaikovsky Competition for pianists in Moscow, easing Cold War tensions.source
  • 1962A Cuban military tribunal convicts 1,179 Bay of Pigs attackers.source
  • 1963The Institute of Mental Health (Belgrade) is established.source
  • 1973Pedro Vuskovic, Vice President of the CORFO was authorized by the government to contract with the Moscow Bank of Commerce an extension of 40 million dollars in recently contracted credits.source
  • 1978Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against an attempt by Soviet authorities to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.source
  • 1979Holy Saturday (additional holiday)source
  • 1980The People's Redemption Council is established, with Samuel Doe as its chairman and head of state of Liberia.source
  • 1980Iron Maiden's debut self-titled album Iron Maiden is released in the U.K.source
  • 1984Doe Maar stop and give two farewell concerts at the Maaspoort in 's-Hertogenbosch.source
  • 1986Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan was inaugurated.source
  • 1986Sudirman Arshad held an open-air concert on Chow Kit Road, which was the first time ever that a street concert drew a 100,000-person crowd on a Monday night.source
  • 1986Hailstones weighing 1 kg fall on Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, killing 92.source
  • 1988In the Geneva Accords, the Soviet Union commits itself to withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan.source
  • 1988The USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) strikes a naval mine in the Persian Gulf, while deployed on Operation Earnest Will, during the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War.source
  • 1989The U.S. government seizes the Irvine, California, Lincoln Savings and Loan Association; Charles Keating (for whom the Keating Five are named) eventually goes to jail, as part of the massive 1980s savings and loan crisis which costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $200,000,000 in bailouts, and many people their life savings.source
  • 1990Junk bond financier Michael Milken pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges. He agreed to pay US$500 million in restitution and was sentenced on November 21 to 10 years in jail.source
  • 1991In the Netherlands, thieves steal 20 paintings worth $500 million from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam; they are found in an abandoned car near the museum less than an hour later.source
  • 1993Hungary passes a law banning the public display of Fascist and Communist symbols.source
  • 1997Former SS Captain Erich Priebke is retried; on July 22 he is sentenced to fifteen years in prison.source
  • 1997Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, 11 km from Mecca; 343 die.source
  • 1999Kosovo War: NATO warplanes repeatedly bomb ethnic Albanian refugee convoys for 2 hours over a 12-mile stretch of road, after mistaking them for Yugoslav military trucks, between Đakovica and Dečani in western Kosovo, killing at least 73 refugees.source
  • 2000Ekushey Television, Bangladesh's first privately owned terrestrial television network, begins transmissions.source
  • 2002President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela is restored to power following an attempted coup.source
  • 2003The Human Genome Project is completed, with 99% of the human genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy.source
  • 2004Poland bans the use of chlorofluorocarbons.source
  • 2009Somali pirates hijack the MV Irene of Greece and MV Sea Horse of Lebanon. They also attempted to hijack the MV Safmarine Asia.source
  • 2010Volcanic ash from one of several eruptions beneath Mount Eyjafjallajökull, an ice cap in Iceland, begins to disrupt air traffic across northern and western Europe.source
  • 2011Apricot Island releasedsource
  • 2014Malta became the first European state to add recognition of gender identity to its constitution as a protected category.source
  • 2014Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping: an estimated 276 girls and women are abducted from a school in Nigeria and held hostage.source
  • 2016The Czech Republic's political leadership agreed to make Czechia the official short name in English.source
  • 2016April 14–16 – A series of major earthquakes strikes southwestern Japan, killing 277 people and injuring 2,809.source
  • 2018Syrian Civil War: The United States, the United Kingdom and France order the bombing of Syrian military bases in response to the sarin attack allegedly by the Bashar al-Assad regime on civilians in Ghouta.source
  • 2018April 4–15 – The 2018 Commonwealth Games are held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.source
  • 2020The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it expects the world economy to shrink 3%, the worst contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s.source
  • 2020U.S. president Donald Trump announces that the U.S. will suspend funding towards the World Health Organization (WHO) pending an investigation of its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its relationship with China.source
  • 20222022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: The Russian flagship Moskva becomes the largest warship to be sunk in action since World War II. Ukraine claims to have struck it with Neptune anti-ship missiles, while Russia claims it sank during stormy weather after an onboard fire.source
  • 2023Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) to search for life in the Jovian system, with an expected arrival year of 2031.source

Births

  • 1204Henry I, king of Castile (died 1217)source
  • 1315Emir Muhammad IV of Granada, Nasrid ruler (sultan) of the Emirate of Granada, now part of Spain. (died 1333)source
  • 1331Jeanne-Marie de Maille, French Roman Catholic saint (born 1414)source
  • 1521Johann Marbach, German theologian (died 1581)source
  • 1527Abraham Ortelius, Flemish cartographer and geographer (died 1598)source
  • 1578King Philip III of Spain (died 1621)source
  • 1629Christiaan Huygens, Dutch scientist (died 1695)source
  • 1674Magnus Julius De la Gardie, general and politician (died 1641)source
  • 1678Abraham Darby I, one of the English fathers of the Industrial Revolution (died 1717)source
  • 1689William Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine, Scottish army officer and Jacobite leader (died 1746)source
  • 1721John Hanson, President of the Continental Congress of America (died 1783)source
  • 1738William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1809)source
  • 1741Emperor Momozono of Japan (died 1762)source
  • 1770John Evans, explorer (died 1799)source
  • 1788David G. Burnet, President of the Republic of Texas (died 1870)source
  • 1788David Gouverneur Burnet, politician (died 1870)source
  • 1812George Grey, Portuguese-born British colonial governor, 11th Premier of New Zealand (died 1898)source
  • 181214 April (In Portugal): George Grey, Governor and Premier of New Zealand.source
  • 1832Wilhelm Busch, German humorist, poet, illustrator and painter (died 1908)source
  • 1852Henrique Oswald, pianist and composer (died 1931).source
  • 1857Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, youngest child of Queen Victoria (died 1944)source
  • 1889Arnold J. Toynbee, English historian (died 1975)source
  • 1891B. R. Ambedkar, Indian jurist and politician (died 1956)source
  • 1892V. Gordon Childe, Australian archaeologist (died 1957)source
  • 1977Sarah Michelle Gellar, American actresssource

Deaths

  • 69First Battle of Bedriacum: Vitellius defeats Otho's legions; Otho commits suicide.source
  • 344Chusdazat, Syrian Orthodox priest, martyr and saintsource
  • 344Pusai, Syrian Orthodox priest, martyr and saintsource
  • 911Pope Sergius III dies at Rome after a 7-year reign. He is succeeded by Anastasius III as the 120th pope of the Catholic Church.source
  • 911Sergius III, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 1070Gerard (the Great), duke of Lorrainesource
  • 1099Conrad, bishop of Utrechtsource
  • 1109Fulk IV, count of Anjou (born 1043)source
  • 1117Bernard of Thiron, founder of the Tironensian Order (born 1046)source
  • 1132Mstislav I (the Great), Kievan Grand Prince (born 1076)source
  • 1146Gertrude of Sulzbach, German queen (born 1110)source
  • 1205Louis I, French nobleman and knight (born 1172)source
  • 1205Garnier de Traînel (or Traisnel), French bishopsource
  • 1224Matilda of Dendermonde, Flemish noblewomansource
  • 1258Rüdiger of Bergheim, German bishop (born 1175)source
  • 1266Roger of Torre Maggiore, Italian archbishopsource
  • 1322Bartholonew Badlesmere, English nobleman (born 1275)source
  • 1345Richard Aungerville (also known as Richard De Bury), English writer and bishop (born 1287)source
  • 1424Lucia Visconti, English countess (born 1372)source
  • 1433Lidwina, Dutch saint (born 1380)source
  • 1471At the Battle of Barnet, Edward defeats the Lancastrian army under Warwick, who is killed.source
  • 1471Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, English nobleman, known as "the Kingmaker" (born 1428)source
  • 1471John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu (born 1431)source
  • 1480Thomas de Spens, Scottish statesman and prelate (born c. 1415)source
  • 1488Girolamo Riario, Lord of Imola and Forli (born 1443)source
  • 1517Tuman bay II, last Mamluk sultan of Egypt (born c. 1476)source
  • 1523Mirza Shah Hossein, Grand Vizier of Persia since 1514, is assassinated in Qazvin (now in Iran) by Shia nobles of the Qizilbash sect, and replaced by Jalal al-Din Mohammad Tabrizi.source
  • 1549Prince Zhu Zairui, age 12, heir to the throne of Ming dynasty China as the oldest living son of the Jiajing Emperor, dies a few days after becoming ill during the Guan Li coming of age ceremony.source
  • 1574Battle of Mookerheyde: Spanish forces under Sancho de Avila defeat the rebel forces of Louis of Nassau, who is killed.source
  • 1578James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (born 1535)source
  • 1578James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, in Denmark (born c. 1534)source
  • 1662William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, English statesman (born 1582)source
  • 1711Louis, Grand Dauphin, son of Louis XIV (born 1661)source
  • 1733Ippolito Desideri, Italian tibetologist (born 1684)source
  • 1749Balthasar Denner, German artist (born 1685)source
  • 1759George Frideric Handel, German composer (born 1685)source
  • 1759George Frideric Handel, composer (born 1685 in Saxony-Anhalt)source
  • 1787Benjamin Frobisher, fur-trader (born 1742)source
  • 1801Hajji Ebrahim Shirazi, Iranian politician.source
  • 1812William Nicholas (officer), English army officer, at the Siege of Badajoz (born 1785)source
  • 1930Vladimir Mayakovsky, Russian poet (born 1893)source
  • 1930Vladimir Mayakovsky, poet (born 1893)source
  • 1935Emmy Noether, German mathematician (born 1882)source
  • 1950Ramana Maharshi, Indian sage and jivanmukta (born 1879)source
  • 1951Ernest Bevin, British labour leader, politician and statesman (born 1881)source
  • 1964Rachel Carson, American biologist and environmental writer (born 1907)source
  • 1986Simone de Beauvoir, 78, French writer, feminist and philosopher, pneumonia.source