/year

April 17 in history

221 sourced entries recorded on April 17, from 7 BCE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 69After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes emperor.source
  • 744Caliph Al-Walid II is besieged in his castle outside the city of Damascus. He is defeated and killed by Arab forces under Sulayman ibn Hisham. Al-Walid is succeeded by his cousin Yazid III, who dies shortly after of a brain tumor.source
  • 818King Bernard of Italy, illegitimate son of Pepin of Italy, is tried and condemned to death by Emperor Louis I. The Kingdom of Italy is reabsorbed into the Frankish Empire.source
  • 1172Henry II receives homage from the Irish princes who include Domnall Mór Ua Briain, king of Munster. He grants Hugh de Lacy the lordship of Meath (or Mide) for providing the services of 50 knights.source
  • 1194Richard I is crowned for the second time, at Winchester, to underline his rightful position as monarch. During the coronation, he wears a golden crown and is followed by notables from the Church and State.source
  • 1222Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury in England, opens a council at Osney Abbey, Oxford.source
  • 1264April 17–19 – English rebels under Simon de Montfort beset Rochester from two directions in a pincer movement from north and south. The garrison sortie burns the suburbs to deprive the rebels of cover. Initial assaults on the bridge the next morning are repulsed by Roger de Leybourne. In the evening, however, supported by archers shooting across the river, Simon launches an amphibious assault, wind and current carrying his fireship across to set fire to the bridge defenses. The rebels capture the castle's outer bailey and the garrison retires inside the keep on April 19. Meanwhile, rebels under Gilbert de Clare ("the Red Earl") occupy the cathedral. The siege then boggs down, Simon receives reports of a relief force and orders to withdraw on April 26.source
  • 1279Thawun Gyi settles at Taungoo (modern-day Myanmar), and becomes the first ruler of the Toungoo dynasty (until 1317).source
  • 1285Mamluk forces under Sultan Qalawun (the Victorious) appear with specially built war engines before the Crusader fortress of Margat and begin a siege. For a month, the Mamluks can make no progress and the assaults on the stronghold are repelled. Qalawun then invites a delegation of Knights Hospitaller to come and see the damage his engineers have done to the 'impregnable' fortifications. They understood they have no real choice and are forced to surrender on May 25. The Hospitallers are allowed to retire with all their possessions, on horseback and fully armed. The rest of the garrison is promised a safe-conduct to Tortosa – while Qalawun establishes a Mamluk garrison which he uses as a basis for further campaigns against the Crusader States.source
  • 1362Kaunas Castle in Lithuania falls to the Teutonic Order, after a month-long siege.source
  • 1380The impostor Tagaris follows his donation of relics to Ancona with what he claims is one of the nails from the True Cross upon which Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified in the first century, as well as a foot from the skeleton of Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus. His claims are believed by the leaders of Ancona and he is appointed as the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople by Pope Urban VI .source
  • 1393Sir Walter Blount and Henry Bowet are dispatched by John II, Duke of Aquitaine in France, a former claimant to the throne of Crown of Castile in Spain, to negotiate a peace with King Enrique III of Castile.source
  • 1436Hundred Years War: Paris is recaptured from the English by French forces.source
  • 1461Skanderbeg, ruler of Albania, reaches a three-year peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1464Swedish separatist rebel Kettil Karlsson leads his troops to victory over King Christian I of Sweden in the Battle of Haraker.source
  • 1492The Capitulations of Santa Fe are signed between Christopher Columbus and the Crown of Castile, agreeing on arrangements for his forthcoming voyage.source
  • 1509In Venice, the envoy of the French king Louis XII delivers the declaration of war to the Venetian doge Leonardo Loredan, thus marking the official beginning of the War of the League of Cambrai.source
  • 1515Mehmed I Giray becomes the new ruler of the Tatar Crimean Khanate (in what is now Russian-occupied Ukraine) upon the death of his father, Meñli I Giray.source
  • 1521April 16–18 – Martin Luther is examined before Emperor Charles V and the Diet of Worms, where he refuses to recant his writings and allegedly proclaims, "Here I stand", regarding his belief in the Bible alone, as the standard of Christian doctrine.source
  • 1523In Nicaragua, Diriangén, ruler of the Chorotega speakers, stages an attack on the Spanish invaders led by González Dávila. Having been warned by one of the Nicarao natives of the intended surprise attack, Spanish defenders on horses rout the Chorotega, but several of the Spaniards are wounded. The Spanish then decide to proceed no further inland.source
  • 1524Verrazzano's expedition makes the first European entry into New York Bay, and sights the island of Manhattan.source
  • 1539At Dresden in Germany, Heinrich IV of the House of Wettin, nicknamed "Heinrich der Fromme" (Henry the Pious) becomes the new Duke of Saxony within the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his older brother, Georg der Bärtige ("George the Bearded").source
  • 1546Dionysius II, the Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan of Nicomedia, is elected as the Patriarch of Constantinople to succeed Jeremias.source
  • 1555After 18 months of siege, the Republic of Siena surrenders to the Florentine–Imperial army.source
  • 1558The siege of Thionville in the Duchy of Luxembourg, is started by the French Army, led by François, Duke of Guise.source
  • 155817 April to 23 July – The siege of Thionvillesource
  • 1561Diego López de Zúñiga, 4th Count of Nieva becomes the fourth Spanish Viceroy of Peru, administering most of South America after the death on March 30 of Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza.source
  • 1571Pope John XIV of Alexandria begins a 15-year reign as leader of the Coptic Christian Church.source
  • 1577Battle of Lubieszów: General Jan Zborowski leads the army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the catastrophic defeat of most of Jan Winkelbruch's 12,000 rebels and mercenaries from the Commonwealth's richest city, Danzig, killing 4,420 of the men and capturing another 5,000 as prisoners. Only 88 of Zborowski's 2,500 troops are killed. The Danzig Rebellion ends at the end of the year.source
  • 1582Siege of Takamatsu: In Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi departs from the Himeji Castle in the modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture and begins his march westward with 20,000 soldiers to the Bitchū Province in the modern-day Okayama Prefecture. Along the way, he stops at the Kameyama Castle where he makes a rendezvous with the Ukita clan and 10,000 additional forces before proceeding toward the Takamatsu Castle.source
  • 1594Hyacinth of Poland is canonized by Pope Clement VIII.source
  • 1599the title Marquess of Huntly is created in the Peerage of Scotland in favour of George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly.source
  • 1604Tsar Dmitry of Russia makes a public conversion to Roman Catholicism in order to attract the aid of Jesuits in his attempt to rule all of Russia.source
  • 1606Venetian Interdict: Pope Paul V places the Republic of Venice under an interdict, as well as excommunicating Leonardo Donato, the Doge of Venice, and members of the Venetian Senate.source
  • 1627The States of Friesland agree on the 28-point Appeal about Abuses after allowing the citizens to voice their complaints.source
  • 1635Joyous entry into Antwerp of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria as new governor general, Gaspar Gevartius co-ordinating the reception and Peter Paul Rubens playing a key role in the monumental decorations.source
  • 1640John Pym makes a speech attacking the King in Parliament.source
  • 1652Brussels Council of Finances relaxes restrictions on the importation of English cloth, but limiting imports to Ostend.source
  • 1663The Ottoman Empire declares war against Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, beginning the Austro-Turkish War.source
  • 1665Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy (elected this year to the Académie française), begins a year's imprisonment in the Bastille for besmirching the reputation of the ladies of the French Court in Histoire amoureuse des Gaules.source
  • 1695The House of Commons of England decides not to renew the Licensing Order of 1643, and states its reasoning, beginning with "Because it revives, and re-enacts, a Law which in no-wise answered the End for which it was made". The lifting of censorship creates a more open society, and an explosion of print results. Within 30 years, the number of printing houses in England increases from 20 to 103.source
  • 1720Bajirao I is appointed as the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire by Chhatrapati Shahu, succeeding his father Peshwa.source
  • 1722Ditlev Vibe was appointed Governor-general of Norway.source
  • 1736Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, lays the foundation stone for an obelisk commemorating the Battle of the Boyne (1690) at Oldbridge, County Meath.source
  • 1736Frederick, Prince of Wales, marries Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, London.source
  • 1757The Spanish mission of Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá is founded by Spanish missionary families on the banks of the San Saba River near modern-day Menard, Texas. Less than two years later, the European settlement is destroyed by the native Comanche Indians who lives in the area.source
  • 1766James Craig's plan for the New Town, Edinburgh, wins the prize offered by the city council in January.source
  • 1766King Carlos III of Spain issues a royal cédula from Aranjuez to round up all ethnic Chinese in the Philippines and to move them to ghettoes in various provinces.source
  • 1774The first avowedly Unitarian congregation, Essex Street Chapel, is founded in London by Theophilus Lindsey.source
  • 1774the first avowedly Unitarian congregation, Essex Street Chapel in London, is founded by Theophilus Lindsey.source
  • 1780Battle of Martiniquesource
  • 1783the Renunciation Act, is passed by Westminster. It acknowledges the exclusive right of the Parliament of Ireland to legislate for Ireland.source
  • 1783American Revolutionary War: Colbert's Raid: A Spanish garrison under Captain Jacobo du Breuil defeats British irregulars at Arkansas Post.source
  • 1783American Revolutionary War: Colbert's Raid: A Spanish garrison under Captain Jacobo du Breuil defeat British irregulars at Arkansas Post.source
  • 1787the Edinburgh edition of Robert Burns' Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is published by William Creech including a portrait of Burns by Alexander Nasmyth. The poet has great social success in the city's literary circles; 16-year-old Walter Scott meets him at the house of Adam Ferguson. Burns also writes the first version of "The Battle of Sherramuir" this year.source
  • 1790In order to replenish the supplies lost with the Sirius, Phillip sends the colony's only remaining ship (HMS Supply) to Batavia.source
  • 1794April 17–19 – Kościuszko Uprising – Warsaw Uprising: The Polish people overthrow the Russian garrison in Warsaw.source
  • 1794April 17–19 - Warsaw Uprising (1794)source
  • 1797Veronese Easter: Citizens of Verona, Italy, began an unsuccessful eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces.source
  • 1797Battle of San Juan: Sir Ralph Abercromby unsuccessfully invades San Juan, Puerto Rico in what will be one of the largest British attacks on Spanish territories in the western hemisphere, and one of the worst defeats of the British Royal Navy for years to come.source
  • 1807The Richard and Mary, Captain Leikins arrives in England with (Maa-)Tara, son of Te Pahi, aboard. He meets Sir Joseph Banks.source
  • 1825Charles X of France recognizes Haiti, 21 years after it expelled the French following the successful Haitian Revolution, and demands the payment of 150 million gold francs, 30 million of which Haiti must finance through France itself, as down payment.source
  • 1828Royal Free Hospital, established as the London General Institution for the Gratuitous Care of Malignant Diseases by surgeon William Marsden, opens.source
  • 1830Chilean Civil War of 1829–30: Battle of Lircay, decisive Pelucones (Conservative) victorysource
  • 1856The Chicago Historical Society Museum is established at 1601 N. Clark Street, Chicago.source
  • 1861Virginia secedes from the Union.source
  • 1866The Tariff Bill passes through the Parliament of Victoria; Australia's first protective tariffs become law the following day.source
  • 1869The State of Morelos is created in Mexico.source
  • 1873April 15–17 – American Indian Wars: The Second Battle of the Stronghold is fought.source
  • 1876Friends Academy is founded by Gideon Frost at Locust Valley, New York.source
  • 1879Firedamp explosion at Agrappe Mine in Frameries.source
  • 1893Belgian general strike of 1893: Riots erupt in Mons; the day after, the Belgian Parliament approves universal male suffrage.source
  • 1893The Alpha Xi Delta Sorority is founded at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois.source
  • 1895The Treaty of Shimonoseki is signed between China and Japan. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea, and to concede the southern portion of Fengtian province, Taiwan and the Penghu to Japan. The huge indemnity exacted from China is used to establish the Yawata Iron and Steel Works in Japan.source
  • 1899The first elections for the 10-member Legislative Council of the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), limited to European candidates and voters.source
  • 1904Edmond de Gaiffier d'Hestroy replaces Maurice Joostens as Belgian ambassador to Chinasource
  • 1904Bangu Atlético Clube is founded at the Fábrica Bangu in Rio de Janeiro.source
  • 1905Railroad workers go on strike on the eve of the presentation of the new railway bill to the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Fewer than half of the railwaymen complied. Fortis remained steadfast, and after four days, the strikers gradually returned to work.source
  • 1907The first Minas Geraes-class battleship is laid down for Brazil, by Armstrong Whitworth on the River Tyne, in England, triggering the South American dreadnought race.source
  • 190958 police officers and sixty other people are injured as 6,000 fans invade the pitch and brawl with rival fans and the police at the end of the drawn Scottish Cup Final replay between Rangers and Celtic at Hampden Park, Glasgow. The 1909 Scottish Cup and all medals are withheld.source
  • 1912Lena massacre: Russian troops kill or wound 500 striking gold miners in Siberia.source
  • 1912A hybrid solar eclipse is the 30th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 137.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
  • 1917WWI: The Egyptian Expeditionary Force begins the Second Battle of Gaza. This unsuccessful frontal attack on strong Ottoman defences along with the first battle, results in 10,000 casualties, the dismissal of force commander General Archibald Murray, and the beginning of the Stalemate in Southern Palestine.source
  • 1917Leon Trotsky, en route from New York to Russia, is detained in Halifax. He will spend the next month in Amherst Internment Camp before being released.source
  • 1917(N.S.) (April 4, O.S.) – Vladimir Lenin's April Theses are published. They become very influential in the following July Days and Bolshevik Revolution.source
  • 1926Zhang Zuolin's army captures Beijing.source
  • 1929Rail disaster when Paris to Brussels Express runs into a goods train near Halle in thick mist.source
  • 1930Neoprene is invented by DuPont.source
  • 1931After the negotiations between the republican ministers of Spain and Catalonia, the Catalan Republic becomes the Generalitat of Catalonia, a Catalan autonomous government inside the Spanish Republic.source
  • 1932Haile Selassie announces an anti-slavery law in Abyssinia.source
  • 1935Sun Myung Moon, a teenage Presbyterian convert in Korea under Japanese rule, claims to have a revelation from Jesus, telling him to complete his mission from almost 2,000 years ago.source
  • 1937A crowd of 149,415 spectators officially (and at least 20,000 more unofficially) watch the Scotland national football team defeat England 3-1 at Hampden Park, Glasgow, an all-time European record for an international match.source
  • 1939Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Lord Craigavon, dismissed the Republic of Ireland government's position of neutrality as "cowardly".source
  • 1940The law of Village Institutessource
  • 1941WWII: Yugoslavia capitulates after the joint Axis invasion of the country results in the bombing of Belgrade.source
  • 1946Luxembourg signs a convention with France and Belgium to place the Luxembourg railway network in the hands of the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois, in which France and Belgium each take a 24.5% stake.source
  • 1949At midnight 26 counties officially leave the British Commonwealth under terms of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948. A 21-gun salute on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland.source
  • 1951The submarine HMS Affray sinks, killing all 75 crew members.source
  • 1952According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, a massive fire in Tottori City, resulting to 160 hectares (395 acres), total 7,240 houses and building damage, kills two persons.source
  • 1953Governor General Ghulam Muhammad sacked Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin, although he enjoyed the confidence of the parliament, and appointed Mohammad Ali Bogra to form a government on April 17.source
  • 1954Article 4 of Decree nr. 189 establishes ensigns for auxiliary and Coast Guard vessels as well as serving ships of the Romanian Navy.source
  • 1955Imre Nagy, the communist Premier of Hungary, is ousted for being too moderate.source
  • 1955April 16–17 - Abe coal mine debris collapse, due to heavy torrential rain hit in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, resulting in the death of 73 people, according to a confirmed JFDMA report.source
  • 1957Suspected English serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams is found not guilty of murder, at the Old Bailey.source
  • 1957A Vickers Valletta C.1 (VW832) of the RAF crashes in Queria after the plane's left wing detached in turbulence 5 minutes after takeoff from Aqaba for Habbaniya, killing all 26 occupants. The crash is currently Jordan's deadliest.source
  • 1958King Baudouin opens Expo 58, the first major World's Fair since the Second World War. John Carl Studder of El Paso, Texas, had queued for 48 hours to be the first visitor admitted.source
  • 1958King Baudouin of Belgium officially opens the world's fair in Brussels, also known as Expo 58. The Atomium forms the centrepiece.source
  • 1961The U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba begins; it fails by April 19.source
  • 1961Tuanku Munawir of Negeri Sembilan was installed as the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilansource
  • 1961The 33rd Academy Awards ceremony is held in Santa Monica, California: The Apartment (1960) wins most awards, including Best Picture.source
  • 1964Orient Lease, as predecessor of Orix Group founded in Osaka.source
  • 1964Jerrie Mock completes the first around-the-world airplane flight by a woman. Her solo flight in the Spirit of Columbus, which took 29 1/2 days, took off and landed at the Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio.source
  • 1964The band Them, fronted by Van Morrison, play their first gig at his rhythm and blues Club Rado at the Maritime Hotel, Belfast.source
  • 1967The Order of Canada is createdsource
  • 1969Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is found guilty of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.source
  • 1969Dorothy Fisher is the first woman and the fifth person to receive a heart transplant under Dr. Christiaan Barnard.source
  • 1970Apollo 13 splashes down safely in the Pacific.source
  • 1971The People's Republic of Bangladesh forms under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.source
  • 1973The West German counter-terrorist force GSG 9 is officially formed in response to the Munich massacre.source
  • 1975The Khmer Republic surrenders, when the Communist Khmer Rouge guerilla forces capture Phnom Penh ending the Cambodian Civil War, with mass evacuation of American troops and Cambodian civilians.source
  • 1975Following several weeks of successful fighting, the government of Cambodia surrendered at 7:00 in the morning to the Khmer Rouge guerillas when they captured Phnom Penh. That evening, sound trucks operated by the new regime began warning Phnom Penh residents of an imminent bombing attack and directing them to flee the city into the countryside. This would be the start of the Cambodian genocide after it was declared the year 1975 as Year Zero of which Angkar had established.source
  • 1976Everland, as well known for theme park in nation's, officially was open in Gyeongi-dosource
  • 1977Belgian prime minister Leo Tindemans' Christian Social Party gains eight seats in the lower house in parliamentary elections.source
  • 1978Ido Mosseri, Israeli actorsource
  • 1979Schoolchildren in the Central African Republic are arrested (and around 100 killed) for protesting against compulsory school uniforms. An African judicial commission later determines that Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa "almost certainly" took part in the massacre.source
  • 1982Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: By Proclamation of the Queen of Canada on Parliament Hill, Canada patriates its constitution, gaining full political independence from the United Kingdom; included is the country's first entrenched bill of rights.source
  • 1982Utilities company Electra establishedsource
  • 1984Metropolitan Police officer Yvonne Fletcher was fatally shot, during a demonstration outside the Libyan embassy in London, leading to an eleven-day siege of the embassy, and the severing of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Libya.source
  • 1984Changi Airport's second runway is officially opened to cater for more flights.source
  • 1986An alleged state of war lasting 335 years between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly declared peace, bringing an end to any hypothetical war that may have existed.source
  • 1986The Hindawi affair begins when an Irish woman is found carrying explosives onto an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv.source
  • 1991April 16–18 – General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev begins the first ever visit of a Soviet leader to Japan, but fails to resolve the two countries' dispute over ownership of the Kuril Islands.source
  • 1991The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,000 for the first time in history, at 3,004.46.source
  • 1996President Ion Iliescu and prime minister of Canada Jean Chretien inaugurate the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant.source
  • 19981998 Australian waterfront dispute: Patrick Stevedores fires all 1,400 employees.source
  • 1998The Chile–Mexico Free Trade Agreement is signed.source
  • 2001Nông Đức Mạnh is chosen as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.source
  • 2004Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vehicles in the Gaza Strip, killing Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.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
  • 2010Abdul Rahman Ahmed Jibril Baroud, c.73, Palestinian poet, heart attack.source
  • 2011Action 2012, a coalition of organizations supporting unification between Moldova and Romania, is founded.source
  • 2011The 2011 PlayStation Network outage begins, becoming one of the largest data breaches ever recorded, and exposing personal data from 77 million accounts on the platform. The outage lasted 23 days.source
  • 2020The U.N. Human Rights Office accuses Myanmar of carrying out daily airstrikes in the Rakhine and Chin states and that at least 32 civilians have been killed since March 23. The separatist Arakan Army unilaterally declared a month-long ceasefire to fight the pandemic, but the military rejected the ceasefire claiming a previous ceasefire had been reneged by the insurgents.source
  • 2020China revises the COVID-19 death toll in Wuhan upward, adding 1,290 more fatalities to bring the country's reported COVID-19 deaths to 4,632.source
  • 2020The China Securities Regulatory Commission approves a transaction in which Switzerland's Credit Suisse will take a majority interest in a China securities firm, making Credit Suisse the first foreign bank to own a majority of such a company since the easing of foreign ownership rules in 2018.source
  • 2021The Czech government concludes that the Russian GRU was responsible for the blast of two ammo warehouses in Vrbětice in 2014. 18 Russian diplomats and alleged spies are subsequently expelled.source
  • 2021The Soyuz MS-17 mission concludes, returning three crewmembers of Expedition 64 to Earth from the International Space Station.source
  • 2021Three crewmen from the International Space Station griping their spacejet of Soyuz MS-17 land on Kazakh Soil.source
  • 2024Gaza war protests at universities escalate across the globe and allege Israel is committing genocide.source
  • 2025The atmosphere of K2-18b, a candidate water world located 124 light-years away, is found to contain large quantities of dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide – two compounds that, on Earth, are only known to be produced by life.source

Births

  • 963Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and Norway (died 1014)source
  • 1199Marie of Ponthieu, French noblewoman (died 1250)source
  • 1277Michael IX Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (died 1320)source
  • 1313Constantine III of Armenia, king of Cilician Armenia (died 1362)source
  • 1447Baptista Mantuanus, poet and Carmelite (died 1516)source
  • 1455Andrea Gritti, Doge of Venice (died 1538)source
  • 1497Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador (died 1553)source
  • 1573Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (died 1651)source
  • 1578Maximilian van der Sandt, Dutch theologian (died 1656)source
  • 1598Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian astronomer (died 1671)source
  • 1599Patrick Fleming, Franciscan ecclesiastical scholar (died 1631)source
  • 1604Frans Luycx, Flemish Baroque painter (died 1668)source
  • 1615Jacques Goulet, early pioneer in New France (now Québec) (died 1688)source
  • 1619Birgitte Thott, translator, writer and feminist (died 1662)source
  • 1620Marguerite Bourgeoys, French Catholic nun, founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame (died 1700)source
  • 1621Henry Vaughan, Welsh author (died 1695)source
  • 1635Edward Stillingfleet, British theologian and scholar (died 1699)source
  • 1656William Molyneux, Irish politician, philosopher and writer (died 1698)source
  • 1669Jacob B. Winslow, anatomist (died 1760 in France)source
  • 1695Ludovico Valenti, Italian cardinal (died 1763)source
  • 1734Taksin, King of Thailand (died 1782)source
  • 1788Charles Hervey Bagot, South Australian pastoralist, mine owner and parliamentarian (died 1880)source
  • 1799Eliza Acton, English poet and cookery writer (died 1859)source
  • 1818Emperor Alexander II of Russia (died 1881)source
  • 1828Johanna Mestorf, German prehistoric archaeologist (died 1909)source
  • 1837J. P. Morgan, American financier, banker (died 1913)source
  • 1885Karen Blixen, Danish author (died 1962)source
  • 1894Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet politician (died 1971)source
  • 1895Ion Vinea, poet and journalist (died 1964).source
  • 1916Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan politician (died 2000)source
  • 1966Vikram, Indian actorsource
  • 1972Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketersource

Deaths

  • 7 BCECheng, Chinese emperor of the Han dynasty (born 51 BC)source
  • 485Proclus, Greek Neoplatonist philosopher (born 412)source
  • 617Donnán of Eigg, Gaelic priestsource
  • 744Al-Walid II, Muslim caliph (born 706)source
  • 818Bernard of Italy, king of the Lombards (born 797)source
  • 858Benedict III, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 858Pope Benedict III dies after a 3-year reign, in which he has intervened in a political conflict between the sons of Emperor Lothair I. He is succeeded by Nicholas I, as the 105th pope of Rome.source
  • 1067Robert de Turlande, French priestsource
  • 1071Manuel Komnenos, Byzantine aristocratsource
  • 1080King Harald III of Denmark dies after a 4-year reign and is buried at Dalby Church in Scania (modern Sweden). He is succeeded by his brother Canute IV ("the Holy") as ruler of Denmark.source
  • 1080Harald III, king of Denmark (born 1040)source
  • 1111Robert of Molesme, French abbot (born 1028)source
  • 1271Isabella of France, queen consort of Navarre (born 1241)source
  • 1321Blanche of Portugal, Portuguese princess (born 1259)source
  • 1331Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford, English noble and soldier (born c. 1257)source
  • 1344Constantine II, King of Armenia, is killed in an uprising and succeeded by a distant cousin, Constantine III.source
  • 1344Constantine II, King of Armenia (Gosdantin, Կոստանդին Բ)source
  • 1355Marin Falier, Doge of Venice (born 1285)source
  • 1427John IV of Brabant (born 1403)source
  • 1427John IV, Duke of Brabant (born 1403)source
  • 1529Louis de Berquin, French lawyer and Protestant reformer who was burned at the stake as a heretic (b.1490)source
  • 1539George, Duke of Saxony (born 1471)source
  • 1604Rasmus Hjort, priest, humanist, educator (born c.1525).source
  • 1645Daniel Featley, English theologian and controversialist (born 1582)source
  • 1652Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, English politician (born 1608)source
  • 1693Rutger von Ascheberg, Courland-born soldier in Swedish service (born 1621)source
  • 1695Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican nun, writer, philosopher, composer and poet (born 1648)source
  • 1704Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, leading Norwegian general during the Scanian War (born 1638)source
  • 1704Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, statesman and military officer (born 1638)source
  • 1711Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1678)source
  • 1711Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor dies, opening the way for the succession of his brother Charles VI. This complicates the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession as Charles is one of the two candidates for the Spanish throne, backed by the Grand Alliance.source
  • 1742Arvid Horn, Swedish statesman (born 1664)source
  • 1761Thomas Bayes, English mathematician (born c. 1702)source
  • 1790Benjamin Franklin, American scientist and statesman (born 1706)source
  • 1790Benjamin Franklin, publisher, inventor, congressman, ambassador, abolitionist and American icon (born 1706)source
  • 1843Samuel Morey, American inventor (born 1762)source
  • 1953Yi Si-yeong, Korean independence activistsource
  • 2014Gabriel García Márquez, 87, Colombian author (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera), laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1982), pneumonia.source