April 15 in history

230 sourced entries recorded on April 15, from 571 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

624Emperor Haraclius celebrates Easter at Nicomedia (now İzmit) then travels to Caesarea (now Kayseri), proceeding during April to Theodosiopolis. He leads troops into Armenia and sacks its capital, Dvin.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
1071Siege of Bari: The capital of Bari, the last Byzantine-controlled city in the Catepanate of Italy, is captured by Italo-Norman forces under Duke Robert Guiscard after a 32-month siege.source
11851185 East Midlands earthquake occurs. It is the first earthquake in England for which there are reliable reports indicating the damage, which includes destruction of Lincoln Cathedral.source
1191Henry VI, son of the late Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa), is crowned as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, together with his wife Constance by Pope Celestine III, on Easter Monday at Rome. Henry marches south and begins a campaign in Apulia. He besieges Naples, but encounters the resistance of Sicilian forces under Margaritus of Brindisi, who come to support the city's defense. Tusculum is destroyed by the rebel army of the Commune of Rome, on April 17.source
1208A fire breaks out in the Song Chinese capital city of Hangzhou, raging for four days and nights, destroying 58,097 houses over an area of more than 3 mi, killing 59 people, and an unrecorded number of other people, who are trampled while attempting to flee. The government provides temporary lodging for 5,345 people, in nearby Buddhist and Taoist monasteries. The collective victims of the disaster are given 160,000 strings of cash, along with 400 tons of rice. Some of the government officials who lose their homes take up residence in rented boathouses on the nearby West Lake.source
1225Pope Honorius III issues the papal bull Magistro Andree canonico Palentino, granting the Andree, a former Jew who converted to Christianity, the title of canon of Palencia, with full eccleastical dignities.source
1277Battle of Elbistan: A Mamluk army (some 14,000 men) under Sultan Baibars marches from Syria into the Mongol-dominated Sultanate of Rum and attacks the Mongol occupation force at Elbistan. Baibars, with at least 10,000 horsemen, defeats and overwhelms the Mongol forces. After the battle, he marches unopposed to Kayseri in the heart of Anatolia in triumph and enters the city on April 23.source
1308Abu Hammu I becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of Tlemcen after the death of his brother, Sultan Abu Zayyan I.source
1310Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad of Egypt has his predecessor, the former Sultan Baybars II, executed.source
1324The coronation of King Hugh IV of Cyprus, nephew of the late King Henry II, takes place at the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Nicosia.source
1369Saint Elzéar of Sabran (1285-1323) is canonized by Pope Urban V as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.source
1374The Council of Narbonne is convened for the first time since 1261 by orders of Pope Gregory XI, and will publish 28 canons of Roman Catholic law.source
1410At the wedding in Gien of Charles, Duke of Orléans to Bonne of Armagnac, the most powerful nobles of France form the League of Gien, joining forces to fight the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, beginning a civil war that will last for 30 years.source
1418The delegates from France and Germany sign the Concordats.source
1423Francesco Foscari is elected the new Doge of the Republic of Venice after the death of Tommaso Mocenigo. He will serve as the Venetian Republic's executive for 34 years before being forced to abdicate a few days before his death in 1457.source
1444King Wladyslaw of Hungary appears before the Országgyűlés, the Diet of Hungary in Buda, and pledges to the legislators present that he will lead the attack against the Turkish Muslims in the summer.source
1448Queens' College, Cambridge is founded by Margaret of Anjou.source
1450The Battle of Formigny takes place as French troops under the Comte de Clermont defeat an English army under Sir Thomas Kyriel and Sir Matthew Gough, which was attempting to relieve Caensource
1450The Battle of Formigny is fought as part of the Hundred Years War.source
1488The French army laid siege to Châteaubriant. The city falls on the French on April 23.source
1509The French army under the command of Louis XII leave Milan to invade Venetian territory. Part of the War of the League of Cambrai and the Italian Wars.source
1515The Emirate of Oman, ruled by Muhammad bin Ismail, becomes a protectorate of Portugal.source
1517The Ottoman–Mamluk War officially ends as the Ottoman Empire annexes the Mamluk Sultanate territories in the Middle East (the Levant), the Arabian Peninsula (Hejaz) and Egypt as provinces.source
1523Sir Thomas More, noted for being a Catholic social philosopher and author of the 1516 novel Utopia, is appointed by King Henry VIII as the Speaker of the English House of Commons for the first parliamentary session since 1515. He serves until the Parliament adjourns on August 15.source
1548General Zhu Wan of Ming dynasty China dispatches a fleet of ships, commanded by Lu Tang, to destroy smugglers and pirates at Shangyu, a port on Liuheng Island. The fleet sets off from Wenzhou and makes its attack in June.source
1549Spanish Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier departs from Goa on a mission to bring Christian ministry to Japan.source
1552The Act of Uniformity is given royal assent and imposes use of the Protestant Book of Common Prayer on England.source
1560Denmark–Norway buys the Estonian island of Ösel, from its last prince-bishop.source
1569Burmese–Siamese War: Mahinthrathirat reclaims the throne of the Ayutthaya Kingdom (modern Thailand) upon the death of King Maha Chakkraphat.source
1595Sir Walter Raleigh travels up the Orinoco River, in search of the fabled city of El Dorado.source
1614The Addled Parliament is assembled in England as the second parliament of King James I, and the first in more than nine years. Its members serve for two months. A new parliament will not be seated until more than six years later.source
1614The Republic of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Sweden enter into a treaty at the Hague.source
1614Pocahontas, the 17-year-old daughter of Mamanatowick Wahunsenacawh of the Powhatan Algonquian native tribe in the modern-day U.S. state of Virginia, is forced into child marriage with English colonist John Rolfe at Jamestown, a year after her capture in war. She is given the name of Rebecca Rolfe and departs with John Rolfe to England in 1616, dying before she can return.source
1624The city of Sala is granted town privileges by Gustaf II Adolf.source
1624The University of Saint Francis Xavier is founded in Bolivia.source
1632Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, mortally wounded in the Battle of Rain.source
1632Thirty Years' War – Gustaf II Adolf defeats Tilly for the second time within a year at the Battle of Rain. Tilly is severely wounded during the battle.source
1634Duke of Aarschot arrested in Madrid.source
1638Shogunate forces defeat the last remnants of the Shimabara Rebellion, in the fortress of Hara. In the aftermath, suppression of Christianity is strictly enforced, Portuguese traders are expelled and Japan enters more than two centuries of isolationism.source
1638the Shimabara Rebellion is put down.source
1641Aegidius Ursinus de Vivere is appointed by Pope Urban VIII to be the Roman Catholic Church's Patriarch of Jerusalem.source
1658In India, the Battle of Dharmat is fought in the modern-day state of Madhya Pradesh between rival claimants to the throne of the Mughal Empire. Prince Muhi al-Din Muhammad, the son of the Emperor Shah Jahan, leads 30,000 men in a triumph over 22,000 troops led by Jaswant Singh of Marwar and Ratan Singh Rathore. Despite heavy losses, with more than 11,000 casualties, Prince Muhi, who has adopted the name Aurangzeb, continues toward Samugarh and Agra and captures the throne at the end of July.source
1687Christian V's Norwegian Code was introduced.source
1700The coronation of King Frederick IV of Denmark takes place at Frederiksborg Castle in Copenhagen.source
1702The British Province of New Jersey, encompassing all of the modern-day U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of New York, is created as proprietary owners in the provinces of East Jersey and West Jersey surrender their rights to the Crown.source
1715In the British colonial Province of South Carolina, the Yamasee Confederation launches an attack on English settlements in disputed territory on Good Friday, launching the two-year long Yamasee War. The day before, agents Thomas Nairne, William Bray and Samuel Warner had participated in peace negotiations with the Yamasee at Pocotaligo. Bray and Warner are killed that day, while Nairne is tortured to death and dies on April 17.source
1720Ralph Allen of Bath is appointed to farm Cross and Bye Posts (i.e. to manage mail not going via London), leading to his reform of the system.source
1721A great fire in Gothenburg.source
1729Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion, BWV 244b is performed again, at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig.source
1738Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, premieres in London.source
1738première in London of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel.source
1745War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Pfaffenhofen – The Austrian Army drives the French Army out of Bavaria, forcing the Electorate of Bavaria to withdraw from the war.source
1748The Siege of the Dutch fortress of Maastricht is started by the French under the command of Maurice de Saxe as part of the War of the Austrian Succession. The fortress falls on May 7 after a little more than three weeks.source
1755A Dictionary of the English Language is published by Samuel Johnson (he had begun the work nine years earlier, in 1746).source
1758Samuel Johnson begins publishing the series of essays The Idler (1758–1760) in the Universal Chronicle.source
1783Preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War are ratified by the Congress of the Confederation in the United States.source
1784the first ascent of a manned balloon in the British Isles takes place with a hot air balloon at Navansource
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
1803Reykjavík is made a special jurisdiction with its own magistrate by royal decree. The first person to hold that position was the Dane Rasmus Frydensberg. His representative was Finnur Magnússon. In addition, two police officers were appointed, both of whom were Danish.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
1813foundation stone of new harbour at Newhaven, Edinburgh, laid.source
1817The American School for the Deaf opens in Hartford, Connecticut.source
1817An earthquake strikes Palermo in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.source
1820King William I of Württemberg marries his cousin, Pauline Therese, in Stuttgart.source
1820King William I of Württemberg marries his cousin, Pauline Therese, in Stuttgart.source
1840King's College Hospital opens in London.source
1847The Lawrence School, Sanawar is established in India.source
1850San Francisco is incorporated as a city in California.source
1850iron paddle steamer SS City of Glasgow, built by Tod & Macgregor of Partick, makes her maiden voyage as the first steamer on the Glasgow–New York route.source
1850Angers Bridge collapses in France killing around 226 of the soldiers crossing it at the time.source
1852Postal convention between Belgium and the Office of the Prince of Tour and Taxis signed in Brussels.source
1853The Bing & Grøndahl porcelain manufactury is founded in Copenhagen.source
1859An act provides for the Royal Danish Navy as well as the Botanical Gardens to leave Gammelholm which is instead to undergo urban redevelopment. The Navy's activities are moved to Nyholm while the Botanical Gardens relocate to their current site.source
1861Watchmaker Junghans is founded.source
1872Ten thousand demonstrate at Queen's Park in support of the striking Toronto printers. The police, prompted by the Masters Printers' Association and its leader, George Brown of the Globe, arrest the entire 24-man strike committee.source
1873April 15–17 – American Indian Wars: The Second Battle of the Stronghold is fought.source
1874May 15 – A group of young painters, Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes, Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs, gives their first exhibition, at the studio of the photographer Nadar in Paris. Louis Leroy's critical review of it published on 25 April gives rise to the term Impressionism for the movement, with reference to Claude Monet's Impression, Sunrise.source
1877First telephone line installed between Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts.source
1881Anti-Semitic pogroms in Southern Russia begin.source
1892The General Electric Company is established through the merger of the Thomson-Houston Electric Company and the Edison General Electric Company.source
1893Social-Christian Christene Volkspartij foundedsource
1894Portuguese legislative election, 1894source
1896Law on the making and importation of alcohol replaces duty on the capacity of distillery equipment (adopted in 1833) with a duty on the proportional alcohol content of the distilled product.source
1897Yamaichi Securities founded in Japan; it will cease trading a hundred years later.source
1897Drillers near Bartlesville, Oklahoma strike oil for the first time, in the designated "Indian Territory", on land leased from the Osage Indians. The gusher, at the Nellie Johnstone Number One well, leads to rapid population growth.source
1912Transvaal – Buhrmannsdrif to Ottoshoop, 11 mi 70 ch.source
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
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
1919U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issues a memorandum proposing a line, the so-called "Wilson Line", dividing the Istrian peninsula between Italy and Yugoslavia. Trieste and Pula, with the railway connecting them, lay on the Italian side; Fiume and Ljubljana, with the railway connecting them, on the Yugoslav. Učka (Monte Maggiore) was to be Italian, but the Wilson Line ran further west of Fiume than that of the Treaty of London. Italy would have none of the rights in northern Dalmatia granted it by that treaty, but it would receive the islands of Vis (Lissa) and Lošinj (Lussin). After the resignation of Orlando and Sonnino in June, the new Foreign Minister Tommaso Tittoni alters the course of negotiations by abandoning the Treaty of London and strengthening the Franco-Italian alliance, but he did not accept President Wilson's proposed "line". The French diplomat André Tardieu worked as an intermediary between Tittoni and the Americans, and he first suggested the creation of a buffer state out of a strip of land around Fiume, the future Free State of Fiume.source
1919Boston Telephone Strike of 1919 begins. Ends successfully for the telephone operators and supporters on April 20.source
1919The Save the Children Fund is created in the UK to raise money for the relief of German and Austrian children.source
1921"Black Friday" in Britain: transport union members of the 'Triple Alliance' refuse to support national strike action by coal miners.source
1925Fritz Haarmann, a serial killer convicted of the murder of 24 boys and young men, is guillotined in Germany.source
1928The formation of the Taiwanese Communist Party.source
1929Hankyu Department Store Osaka Umeda officially open in Kita-ku, Osaka.source
1931Assassination of Giuseppe (Joe the Boss) Masseria, New York City Mafia boss.source
1931Turkish Historical Society was foundedsource
1935The Roerich Pact, a Pan-American treaty on the protection of cultural artefacts, is signed in Washington, D.C.source
1936The Tulkarm shooting, followed by Jewish retaliation, begins the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine against British administration, and stokes opposition to Jewish immigration.source
1942WWII: Award of the George Cross to Malta: King George VI awards the George Cross to the island of Malta to mark the Siege of Malta, saying, "To honor her brave people I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta, to bear witness to a heroism and a devotion that will long be famous in history" (from January 1 to July 24, there is only one 24-hour period during which no bombs fall on this tiny island).source
1945One Hind aircraft flies to Matun for reconnaissance, returning on the 17th.source
1946Tsvi Misinai, Israeli computer scientist and researchersource
1947Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to play Major League Baseball since the 1880s.source
1948Pan American World Airways flight 1-10 crashes on approach to Shannon Airport in Ireland, killing all but one of the thirty-one passengers and crew.source
1955The first franchised McDonald's restaurant is opened by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.source
1957White Rock secedes from Surrey, British Columbia, following a referendum.source
1957The Distant Early Warning Line is handed over by contractors to the U.S. and Canadian military.source
1967Large demonstrations are held against US involvement in the Vietnam War in New York City and San Francisco. The march, organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, from Central Park to the United Nations drew hundreds of thousands of people, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Belafonte, James Bevel, and Dr. Benjamin Spock, who marched and spoke at the event. A simultaneous march in San Francisco is attended by Coretta Scott King.source
19691969 EC-121 shootdown incidentsource
1969The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a US reconnaissance aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.source
19701970 Balkans Cup: Albania ties with Yugoslavia 1-1source
1970The Apollo 13 crew sets the record for the farthest humans have traveled, 400,171 mi, which would stand until the Artemis II lunar flyby in 2026.source
1971A Philippine Air Force plane crashes into a rice field near an air base in Pampanga, killing all 40 people on board.source
1973Naim Talu, a former civil servant, forms the new government of Turkey (36th government).source
1975The Kabataang Barangay (KB) was created by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 684. The decree provided for the organization of KB units in the 42,000 barangays all over the country with the purpose of giving the youth a definite role in community affairs.source
19791979 Montenegro earthquake: A 6.9 Mw shock affects Montenegro (then part of Yugoslavia) and parts of Albania, causing extensive damage to coastal areas and taking 136 lives; the old town of Budva is devastated.source
1980Libya recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.source
1980Syria recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.source
1981The first Coca-Cola bottling plant in China is opened.source
1983Tokyo Disneyland opens to the public.source
1984Pittsburgh Light Rail opens to the public.source
1984The first World Youth Day gathering is held in Rome, Italy.source
1985South Africa ends its ban on interracial marriages.source
1986U.S. aircraft bombs airfields and barracks within Libya.source
1986Operation El Dorado Canyon: At least 15 people die after United States planes bomb targets in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Benghazi region.source
1987An insurrection in Sri Lanka by the Marxist–Leninist group, JVP, begins.source
1987The Temple Mount Faithful organise a march on the Temple Mount and the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, leading to a standoff between the group and Palestinians protestors. The same day, a settler in Kiryat Arba shoots and injures a Palesetinian student from Hebron University after an argument broke out between the two and the settler mistook a Quran the student was holding for a grenade.source
1989Malacca Town became a historical city and also a sister city of Kuala Lumpur.source
1989The Hillsborough disaster, one of the biggest tragedies in European football, claims the lives of 94 Liverpool F.C. supporters in Sheffield, England, a further three dying later.source
1991End of Apartheid: The European Economic Community lifts economic sanctions on South Africa.source
1993A car bomb is detonated in front of Bogotá's Centro 93 shopping mall by the Medellín Cartel, killing 8 and injuring 242. The blast destroys 100 commercial properties and causes damage valued at 1.5 Billion COP.source
2000Pope John Paul II names Eduardo Patino and Hipolito Reyes Larios as bishops of the newly created dioceses of Córdoba and Orizaba in the state of Veracruz.source
2001Extreme Championship Wrestling files for bankruptcy and ceases operations, is eventually bought by its competitor, the World Wrestling Federation.source
2002Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad leaves for Morocco on the first leg of a week-long tour which will also take him to Libya and Bahrain.source
2002Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti is captured by the Israel Defense Forces in Palestinian Authority administered city of Ramallah.source
2002Air China Flight 129source
2003Parliament of Finland elects Anneli Jäätteenmäki as the nation's first woman Prime Minister.source
2007An UMNO Youth (Pemuda UMNO) parachute team landed at the North Pole.source
2007April 15–22 – Three major marathon races were won by Kenyan men: Rotterdam Marathon was won by Joshua Chelanga, Boston Marathon by Robert Cheruiyot and London Marathon by Martin Lel.source
2011The Mexican town of Cherán is taken over by vigilantes in response to abuses from the local drug cartel. The new government is strongly focused on crime reduction and preserving the local environment.source
2013Boston Marathon bombing: Two Chechnya-born Islamist brothers (one a United States citizen) detonate 2 bombs at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States, killing 3 people and injuring 264 others.source
2016April 14–16 – A series of major earthquakes strikes southwestern Japan, killing 277 people and injuring 2,809.source
20162016 Uruguay tornado, an F3 tornado strikes the southwestern Uruguayan city of Dolores, killing five.source
2017Emma Morano, an Italian supercentenarian, becomes the last known person born in the 19th century to die.source
2018Guatemalan territorial dispute referendum, 2018, on whether the Guatemalan government should request the International Court of Justice to finally resolve the Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute.source
2018Milo Đukanović wins the presidential election with a majority of the votes.source
2018April 4–15 – The 2018 Commonwealth Games are held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.source
2019During Holy Week, a major fire engulfs Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, resulting in the roof and main spire collapsing.source
2020The 2020 South Korean legislative election is held to elect all 300 members of the National Assembly of South Korea and the Democratic Party of Korea-Platform Party alliance wins 180 out of 300 seats.source
2021Scientists announce they successfully injected human stem cells into the embryos of monkeys, creating chimera-embryos.source
2023Fighting breaks out across Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The RSF captures Khartoum International Airport, and the presidential palace in Khartoum.source
2023Nuclear power in Germany ends after 50 years, with the closure of the final power plants.source
2025A motorized wooden boat capsizes after catching fire in the Congo River near the town of Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 148 people.source

Births

1282Frederick IV ("the Fighter"), German nobleman (died 1329)source
1442John Paston, English noble (died 1479)source
1452Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist and inventor (died 1519)source
1563Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (died 1606)source
1563Guru Arjan Dev, Sikh guru, is born (dies 1606)source
1588Claudius Salmasius, French classical scholar (died 1653)source
1620Edward Villiers, English politician and military officer (died 1689)source
1642Suleiman II, Ottoman Sultan (died 1691)source
1646King Christian V of Denmark (died 1699)source
1684Catherine I of Russia, empress consort (died 1727)source
1688Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (died 1758)source
1707Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (died 1783)source
1710William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (died 1790)source
1710William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (died 1790)source
1721Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (died 1765)source
1721Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, military leader (died 1765)source
1732Morten Leuch, timber merchant and landowner (died 1768).source
1797Adolphe Thiers, President of France and Prime Minister of France (died 1877)source
1800James Clark Ross, British naval officer, explorer (died 1862)source
1817Benjamin Jowett, Master of Balliol College, Oxford (died 1893)source
1843Henry James, American novelist (died 1916)source
1883Stanley Bruce, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1967)source
1912Kim Il Sung, President of North Korea (died 1994)source
1933Boris Strugatsky, writer (died 2012)source
1939Jaime Paz Zamora, 32nd Vice President of Bolivia, 60th President of Boliviasource

Deaths

571Kinmei, emperor of Japan (born 509)source
584Ruadhán of Lorrha, Irish abbot and saintsource
628Suiko, empress of Japansource
943Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (born 920)source
956Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuchsource
1053Godwin of Wessex, English noblemansource
1075Erlembald Cotta, Italian military leadersource
1136Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, Norman noblemansource
1212Vsevolod III, Grand Prince of Kiev (born 1154)source
1220Adolf of Altena, archbishop of Cologne (born 1157)source
1237Richard Poore, English prelate and bishopsource
1246Peter González (Telmo), Castilian priest (b 1190)source
1310Baybars II, Egyptian ruler and regent (born 1250)source
1415Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek humanistsource
1446Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (born 1377)source
1473Yamana Sōzen, Japanese daimyō and monk (born 1404)source
1502John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (1475–1502) (born 1443)source
1504Filippino Lippi, Italian painter (born 1457)source
1519Henry, Count of Württemberg-Montbéliard (1473–1482) (born 1448)source
1549Christine of Saxony, German noble (born 1505)source
1558Hurrem Sultan, Ruthenian-born wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (born c. 1500)source
1569Maha Chakkraphat, Siamese King of the Ayutthaya Kingdom (born 1509)source
1570John Wood, assassinated.source
1578Wolrad II, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg (born 1509)source
1610Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (born 1546)source
1632Thirty Years' War: Battle of Rain – Gustavus Adolphus defeats Tilly's Catholic League armies for the second time within a year; Tilly is severely wounded during the battle and dies on April 30.source
1659Simon Dach, German poet (born 1605)source
1690Michael I Apafi, Hungarian Prince of Transylvania (born 1632)source
1696Johan Makeléer, 2nd Baronet, Swedish justice and member of the Gothenburg Court of Justice (born 1636)source
1719Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, mistress and later secret wife of King Louis XIV of France (born 1635)source
1742Samuel Shute, Governor of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire (born 1662)source
1743Eiler Hagerup d.e., bishop (born 1685).source
1761Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish politician (born 1682)source
1764Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV (born 1721)source
1765Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian author and scientist (born 1711)source
1819Oliver Evans, American inventor, engineer and businessman (born 1755)source
1819Oliver Evans, inventor and pioneer in the fields of automation and steam power (born 1755)source
1851Andrés Quintana Roo, Mexican politician and lawyer, husband of Leona Vicario (born 1787)source
1864Choe Je-u, founder of the Donghak Movement, is executed by beheading for sedition, at Daegu, Korea.source
1865Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (born 1809)source
1889Father Damien, Belgian Roman Catholic priest, missionary to Hawaiians with leprosy, and saint (born 1840)source
1925John Singer Sargent, American artist (born 1856)source
1925Fritz Haarmann, German serial killer (executed) (born 1879)source
1938César Vallejo, poet (born 1892)source
1941The Belfast blitz: 1,000 people are killed in bombing raids on Belfast. 71 firemen with 13 fire tenders from Dundalk, Drogheda, Dublin, and Dún Laoghaire cross the Irish border to assist their Belfast colleagues.source
1944Italian fascist philosopher Giovanni Gentile is assassinated in Florence by Bruno Fanciullacci, a member of the partisan Gruppi di Azione Patriottica.source
1966Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, politician (born 1906)source
1989Hu Yaobang, the former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, dies. The public reaction to his death spawned a chain of events which led to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.source
198994 fans are killed in a crush during the FA Cup semi-final at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield during the FA Cup semi-final between Nottingham Forest FC and Liverpool F.C. Around 300 others have been hospitalized. Several of those injured are in a serious condition and there are fears that the death toll (already the worst of any sporting disaster in Britain) could rise even higher. The youngest victim is a 10-year-old boy, the oldest is 67-year-old Gerard Baron, brother of the late former Liverpool player Kevin Baron.source
1990Greta Garbo, 84, Swedish-American actress (A Woman of Affairs, Anna Christie, Camille), pneumonia.source
1998Pol Pot, 72, Cambodian politician. General secretary of the CPKsource