/year

April 23 in history

239 sourced entries recorded on April 23, from 303 CE to 2024 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 741A fire destroys the English city of York Minster, including its Church. The church is later rebuilt as a more impressive structure, containing thirty altars.source
  • 871Alfred succeeds as king of Wessex after Æthelred's death. He makes peace with the Danes, and pays them Danegeld, each ruling parts of England.source
  • 997Adalbert, exiled bishop of Prague, organises a mission to convert the Old Prussians in north-east Poland. On his way, Adalbert is murdered by pagans on the Baltic coast. His body is bought back for its weight in gold by Duke Bolesław I (the Brave).source
  • 1014Battle of Clontarf: Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, defeats a Norse-Irish alliance, although himself killed.source
  • 1224William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, one of the enforcers of the Magna Carta, marries Eleanor of England, Countess of Leicester, the nine-year-old daughter of the late King John of England and sister of King Henry III, in order to strengthen the Marshal family's connection with the House of Plantagenet.source
  • 1323Elizabeth of Carinthia marries Peter, Crown Prince of Sicily, co-ruler (with his father Frederick II) of the Kingdom of Sicily.source
  • 1343The St. George's Night Uprising begins in Estonia.source
  • 1344The St. George's Night Uprising: The Livonian Order hangs Vesse, the rebel Estonian Elder of Saaremaa Island.source
  • 134623 April (until April 29) – the castles of Lea, Kilmohide and Balylethan in Leinster captured by Uí Mhórdha, Uí Chonchobair (Ó Conchubhair Fáilghe) and Uí Dhíomusaigh [3].source
  • 1348Edward III of England creates the first English order of chivalry, the Most Noble Order of the Garter.source
  • 1374On Saint George's Day, in recognition of services, King Edward III of England grants the English writer Geoffrey Chaucer a gallon of wine a day, for the rest of his life.source
  • 1374Casimir IV becomes the new Duke of Pomerania upon the death of his father Bogislaw V, while Bogislaw's nephew, Bogislaw VI becomes Prince of Rügen.source
  • 1377King Edward III of England formally confers knighthood upon two of his grandsons, both aged 10, Prince Richard of Woodstock (son of King Edward's deceased son Edward the Black Prince), and upon Henry Bolingbroke (son of John of Gaunt), as well as his 13-year-old illegitimate son John de Southeray, and 11-year-old John de Mowbray. Two months later, Prince Richard will become King Richard II upon Edward's death, and in 1399, Bolingbroke will overthrow Richard and becomes King Henry IV.source
  • 1400In what is now Romania, Alexandru cel Bun (Alexander the Good) is installed as the new Prince (Voivode) of Moldavia by Mircea the Elder, the Voivode of Wallachia, after Mircea removes the reigning monarch, Prince Iuga.source
  • 1407The Banco di San Giorgio is founded by the government of the Republic of Genoa in Italy.source
  • 1437Pope Eugene IV issues the papal bull Dominatur Dominus, further to safeguard the rights of the Guanches, the natives of the Portuguese-controlled Canary Islands.source
  • 1437Malmö, at this time in Denmark, receives its current coat of arms.source
  • 1443The Duke of York, Richard Plantagenet, signs a treaty with Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy for an indefinite truce between the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Burgundy.source
  • 1445King Henry VI of England marries Margaret of Anjou, daughter of René of Anjou, the former King of Naples, at a ceremony at Titchfield Abbey in Hampshire.source
  • 1467The Albanian League of Lezhë, aided by troops from the Republic of Venice, is successful in ending the Ottoman siege of the fortress at Krujë after 10 months.source
  • 1469Cardinal Jean Balue, a close adviser of King Louis XI, is arrested for conspiring with Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and is charged with treason. Since there is a dispute over whether a Roman Catholic cleric can be tried by the royal court rather than an eccleastical court, Balue is spared the death penalty but spends the next 11 years in prison.source
  • 1486The Stafford and Lovell rebellion is started against King Henry VII of England by three House of York supporters, Sir Humphrey Stafford, Thomas Stafford and Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell, who had hoped to restore the Yorkist monarchy led by the late King Richard III.source
  • 1488The Siege of Châteaubriant in the Duchy of Brittany, started by the army of France, ends after eight days. Commanded by Louis II de la Trémoille, the French Army had bombarded the city with cannon fire and forced its surrender.source
  • 1488Konrad the Red of the Piast dynasty inherits the rights to the Duchy of Warsaw upon the death of his older brother, Duke Bolesław V, but the nobles refuse to accept him. Konrad and Bolesław's younger brother Janusz II of Płock become the new rulers. Duke Konrad III the Red's promises to pay homage to John Albert of April 20, 1496.source
  • 1491The city of Granada, capital of the Muslim Emirate of Granada in Spain, is besieged by the armies of Castile and Aragon, ruled by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella.source
  • 1496In the Marquisate of Mantua on the Italian peninsula, Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua decrees that all Jews in Mantua are to wear a yellow badge to distinguish themselves from the Christian residents of Mantua. He modifies the ruling three days later to declare that a Jewish woman may wear a yellow veil over her face in place of the badge.source
  • 1504Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor grants the Landshut inheritance to Albert IV during the War of the Succession of Landshut. Maximilian would pronounce an imperial ban on Ruprecht on May 4, whom Albert contested for the territory.source
  • 1508Prince Mihnea cel Rău, son of Vlad the Impaler, becomes the Voivode of Wallachia, with a palace at Târgoviște (now in Romania), upon the death of his cousin Radu IV the Great.source
  • 1515In Portuguese-occupied Morocco, the Governor of Safi, Nuno Fernandes de Ataíde, conducts an unsuccessful attack on Marrakesh, and is forced to retreat by defenders led by the Emir Nasr ibn Chentaf al-Hintati.source
  • 1516The Reinheitsgebot is instituted in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, regulating the purity of beer permissible for sale.source
  • 1521Revolt of the Comuneros – Battle of Villalar: Castilian royalists defeat the rebels. Juan López de Padilla, Francisco Maldonado, and Juan Bravo are executed the following day as the leaders of the rebels.source
  • 1523Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, brings the Spanish Inquisition to the Netherlands with the appointment of Frans Van der Hulst as the inquisitor general of the Seventeen Provinces, which will later become parts of the Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the southern Netherlands.source
  • 1543Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, follows up on his 1541 annexation of Hungary by invading a second time to capture areas that had been taken by Archduke Ferdinand, including Esztergom.source
  • 1549In County Wicklow in Ireland, Phelim O'Toole is granted a pardon by the King for unspecified offenses.source
  • 1563The cornerstone is laid for the construction of El Escorial, the royal palace for the monarch of Spain. Construction will not be finished for 21 more years, with completion on September 13, 1584.source
  • 1568Eighty Years' War: The Battle of Dahlen takes place in the Duchy of Jülich near the modern-day Rheindahlen borough in the German city of Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. Spanish troops, commanded by Sancho d'Avila, overwhelm a larger force of Dutch rebels led by Jean de Montigny, Lord of Villers.source
  • 1578(17th day of 3rd month, Tensho 6) The Siege of Otate begins in Japan after the death of Uesugi Kenshin, the warlord of the Echigo Province.source
  • 1583The Kingdom of England establishes its first diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1583After a siege of 75 days, Dutch Republic commander Hendrik van Bonnivet surrenders Eindhoven to the Spanish Netherlands.source
  • 1597Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.source
  • 1599The Earl of Essex arrives in Dublin at the head of 16,000 troops, the largest army ever seen in Ireland.source
  • 1635Boston Latin School, the oldest school in what will become the United States of America, is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.source
  • 1645April 23 (St George's Day) – English Civil War: One hundred and fifty Irish soldiers bound for service with King Charles I of England are captured at sea by Parliamentarians and killed at Pembroke in Wales.source
  • 1645April 23 (Saint George's Day) – English Civil War: one hundred and fifty Irish soldiers bound for service with King Charles I of England are captured at sea by Parliamentarians and killed at Pembroke in Wales.source
  • 1660Charles II becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland.source
  • 1661April 23 (May 3 N.S.) – King Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.source
  • 1661Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned King in Westminster Abbey. A new St Edward's Crown is made for the occasion.source
  • 1661Charles II of England, Ireland and Scotland receives his second crowning, in Westminster Abbey.source
  • 1666On Saint Christopher Island more commonly called St Kitts, a Caribbean Sea island divided between colonies of England and France, a battle near Sandy Point Town over control of the territory ends with a victory by the French over a numerically-superior English force two days after English Deputy Governor William Watts of Anguilla had sent an expedition to capture the neighbouring island of Saint Martin. Governor Watts and the French Governor of Saint-Christophe, Charles de Sales, are both killed in the battle.source
  • 1685The coronation of King James II of England (and his Queen Consort, Mary of Modena) takes place at Westminster Abbey.source
  • 1685coronation of King James II at Westminster Abbey, including anthems by Henry Purcell.source
  • 1686April 20–April 24 – three Roman Catholic judges are appointed to Ireland (but Charles Ingleby refuses to travel there).source
  • 1687Ignatius George II becomes Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch (or April 22).source
  • 1692A royal order for the establishment of Sankt Annæ Plads is issued.source
  • 1696Russo-Turkish War (1686–1700): Russia begins the second of the Azov campaigns (1695–96).source
  • 1697As Chinese troops from the Manchu Dynasty (ruled by the Kangxi Emperor) complete their conquest of Mongolia, Galdan Boshugtu Khan, ruler of the last part of Mongolia to be conquered, the Dzungar Khanate, poisons himself, ending the resistance to conquest.source
  • 1702coronation of Queen Anne in Westminster Abbey.source
  • 172023 April (St George's Day) – George I publicly reconciles with his son George, Prince of Wales at St James's Palacesource
  • 1724Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104, illustrating the topic of the Good Shepherd in pastoral music.source
  • 1731Henry Fielding's latest work, The Welsh Opera, is performed in Haymarket. It includes personal attacks on Frederick, Prince of Wales.source
  • 1733end of October – Wade's Bridge, Aberfeldy, designed by William Adam, built.source
  • 1763The controversial Issue 45 of John Wilkes's satirical newspaper The North Briton is published as a response to a speech four days earlier by King George III praising the end of the Seven Years' War. In what will become a test case for freedom of speech, Wilkes, a member of Parliament, is arrested for libel of the King and imprisoned, then flee to France.source
  • 1764Mozart family grand tour: 8-year-old W. A. Mozart settles in London for a year where he composes his Symphony No. 1.source
  • 1784The Congress of the Confederation passes the Ordinance of Governance to set guidelines for adding to the original 13 states in the United States of America.source
  • 1787Henri Van der Noot presents his "Mémoire sur les droits du peuple brabançon" to the States of Brabant.source
  • 1792The French d'Entrecasteaux expedition, consisting of frigates Recherche and Espérance, land at Recherche Bay, Tasmania to rewater and rest.source
  • 1794Francis II acclaimed Duke of Brabant and Limburg in Brussels.source
  • 1795Sweden becomes the first monarchy to recognize the French Republic - Swedish ambassador introduced into the French Convention.source
  • 1795Former Governor-General of India Warren Hastings is acquitted by the British House of Lords of misconduct.source
  • 1795former Governor-General of India Warren Hastings acquitted by the House of Lords of misconduct.source
  • 1809Battle of Ratisbon: Napoleon I fights his last battle during the Bavarian phase of the War of the Fifth Coalitionsource
  • 1811The Earl of Caledon proclaims George as a new magisterial district, named in honour of the reigning British monarch, King George III.source
  • 1825Royal charter granted to the Geological Society of London.source
  • 1827Scottish-born novelist John Galt founds the town of Guelph in Upper Canada.source
  • 1833A group of interstate slave traders agree to relocate their slave pens outside the city limits of Natchez, Mississippi, to the Forks of the Road.source
  • 183823 April 1838 - The arrival of the first German vinedressers in Australia. The barque Kinnear arrived at Sydney carrying six German vinedresser families who were one of the first group of foreign immigrants brought to Australia under the newly formed Bounty Scheme. They were Caspar Flick, Georg Gerhard, Johann Justus, Friedrich Seckold, Johann Stein, and Johann Wenz. They brought with them the first Riesling grape cuttings to Australia and worked in the vineyards belonging to John Macarthur's son William Macarthur at Camden Park. Major Edward Macarthur recruited these six families from the Rheingau region of Hesse in October 1837.source
  • 1850A mass meeting is held in Cape Town to petition Queen Victoria to grant the Cape Colony a governmentsource
  • 1873Third Carlist War EVENTS IN MADRID, SPAIN -- Brigadier General Carmona confronts the insurgents at the Madrid bullring.source
  • 1889Namaqualand – Braakpits Junction to Flat Mine, Concordia, 9 mi.source
  • 1891Chilean Civil War of 1891: Chilean ironclad Blanco Encalada is sunk at the Battle of Caldera Bay by torpedo boats. This is the first ironclad warship lost to a self-propelled torpedo.source
  • 1896Blackpool Pleasure Beach, a popular English theme park ("Britain's Biggest Tourist Attraction"), is founded by Alderman William George Bean.source
  • 1897Representatives of the Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation and U.S. Dawes Commission sign the Atoka Agreement, which becomes an important precursor for creating the State of Oklahoma.source
  • 1898Spanish–American War: A conference of senior Spanish Navy officers led by naval minister Segismundo Bermejo decide to send Admiral Pascual Cervera's squadron to Cuba and Puerto Rico.source
  • 1899The steamship General Whitney sinks off the coast of St. Augustine, Florida. While everyone on board escapes in lifeboats, one of the boats capsizes, drowning the captain and 16 other crew.source
  • 190023 April–12 May – the Automobile Club of Great Britain stages a Thousand Mile Trial, a reliability motor rally over a circular route from London to Edinburgh and return.source
  • 1903Budget removes Corn Duty.source
  • 1905German General Lothar von Trotha commander of troops in Germany's colony of Südwestafrika (modern-day Namibia), orders the extermination of the Nama people within the colony's borders, ultimately killing 10,000. Von Trotha's proclamation Aan de oorlogvorende Namastamme, proclaims that "The Nama who chooses not to surrender and lets himself be seen in German territory will be shot, until all are exterminated."source
  • 1906In the Russian Empire, the Fundamental Laws are announced at the first state Duma.source
  • 1909In Portugal, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Lisbon, killing at least 60 people.source
  • 1914The Afrikaans language receives official recognition, when Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven addresses the English caucus of the Cape Provincial Council.source
  • 1914MLB Chicago Federals host the Kansas City Packers in the first baseball game played at Weeghman Park (the later Wrigley Field).source
  • 1918Conscription Crisis of 1918 in Ireland: A general strike is held here against conscription.source
  • 1919The Potchefstroom Teachers' College opens.source
  • 1920April 19–26 – San Remo conference: Representatives of Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan meet to determine the League of Nations mandates for administration of territories, following the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1920April 19–26 – San Remo conference held at Castle Devachan in Sanremo, Italy. Representatives of Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Japan meet to determine the League of Nations mandates for administration of territories following partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The conference was attended by the four Principal Allied Powers of World War I who were represented by the prime ministers of Britain (David Lloyd George), France (Alexandre Millerand), Italy (Francesco Nitti) and by Japan's Ambassador Keishirō Matsui.source
  • 1920Mexican Revolution: Plan of Agua Prieta is proclaimed; rebellion against Venustiano Carranza commences.source
  • 1923The Gdynia seaport is inaugurated, on the Polish Corridor.source
  • 1923Marijuana is prohibited soon after the House of Commons passes a bill on this date that includes making marijuana illegalsource
  • 1924The British Empire Exhibition opens in London; it is the largest colonial exhibition, with 58 countries of the empire dramatically represented.source
  • 1927Cardiff City wins the FA Cup, beating Arsenal 1–0; it is the only time a team from outside England has won the competition.source
  • 1927April 22–May 5 – The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 strikes 700,000 people, in the greatest natural disaster in American history through this time.source
  • 1936With the commencement of the Arab revolt, the British authorities evacuate the Jewish community of Hebron as a precautionary measure to secure its members' safety, thus ending the Jewish presence of Hebron.source
  • 1940The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, United States, kills 198 people.source
  • 1941The America First Committee holds its first mass rally in New York City, with Charles Lindbergh as keynote speaker.source
  • 1942Exeter-born William Temple is enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.source
  • 1942Exeter-born William Temple is enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury (being translated from York) in succession to Cosmo Gordon Lang.source
  • 1946Das Volk ceased publication.source
  • 1948First National Games of Pakistan held in Karachi.source
  • 1949Chinese Communist troops take Nanjing.source
  • 1955April 18–24 – The Asian-African Conference is held in Bandung, Indonesia.source
  • 1956The first Merdeka talks were held, which failed on 23 May after failing to compromise on internal security arrangements. As a result, David Marshall resigned.source
  • 1961Emergency number 111 is introduced in Wellington.source
  • 1961Judy Garland performs in a legendary comeback concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.source
  • 1963April 21–23 – The first election of the Supreme Institution of the Baháʼí Faith (known as the Universal House of Justice, whose seat is at the Baháʼí World Centre on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel) is held.source
  • 1963Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (born 1884), Russian (Ukraine)-born Labor Zionist leader and the second President of Israel.source
  • 1965The Pennine Way officially opens.source
  • 1967A group of young leftist radicals are expelled from the Nicaraguan Socialist Party (PSN). This group goes on to found the Socialist Workers Party (POS).source
  • 1968President Mobutu releases captured mercenaries in the Congo.source
  • 1968The United Methodist Church is created by the union in Dallas, Texas, of the former Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren churches.source
  • 1968Surgeons at the Hôpital de la Pitié, Paris, perform Europe's first heart transplant, on Clovis Roblain.source
  • 1971The Rolling Stones release their ninth studio album Sticky Fingers.source
  • 1975Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips arrive in Australia to commence a two-week royal tour of the country, beginning in Sydney and then continuing in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.source
  • 1978April 18– 30 – The Khmer Rouge massacres 3,157 civilians in Ba Chúc, Vietnam.source
  • 1979Fighting breaks out in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group; protester Blair Peach receives fatal injuries during the incident, now officially attributed to the SPG.source
  • 1983Representing Luxembourg, Corinne Hermès wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1983 with the song Si la vie est cadeau. This victory equals France's record tally of five, although this has since been surpassed by the Republic of Ireland in 1994.source
  • 1985Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.source
  • 1989Zaid al-Rifai resigns as Prime Minister of Jordan in the wake of riots over government-imposed price hikes that began on April 18.source
  • 1990A power outage hits Makati, along with neighboring areas, during an ongoing, widespread daily crisis, affecting more than 300 government and major office buildings.source
  • 1993The World Health Organization declares tuberculosis a global emergency.source
  • 1997Thirty-one branches of Monte de Piedad, the Asia's oldest thrift bank formerly owned by the Archdiocese of Manila, go on "bank holiday" after being declared insolvent by the BSP. Church officials, including Cardinal and archbishop Sin, have been accused of causing the collapse of the bank. The bank reopens on May 8 under the Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Group.source
  • 1998The Yugoslav Army ambushes a group of Kosovo Liberation Army fighters attempting to smuggle weapons from Albania into Kosovo, killing 19.source
  • 1998The snacks maker Aprilia is founded in Târgu Jiu.source
  • 2005The first ever YouTube video is uploaded, titled Me at the zoo.source
  • 2008Poet Juan Gelman receives the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honour.source
  • 2012Kazakhstan issues an official ‘thank you’ to Sacha Baron Cohen for his comedy character Borat Sagdiyev despite an initial ban.source
  • 2014Opening of the new air terminal complex at the Heydar Aliyev International Airportsource
  • 2016American singer-songwriter Beyoncé releases her sixth studio album Lemonade.source
  • 2018As the death toll reaches 24, President Ortega cancels his reforms.source
  • 2018A vehicle-ramming attack kills 10 people and injures 16 others in Toronto, Canada. A 25-year-old suspect, Alek Minassian, is arrested.source
  • 2020Syrian Civil War: Two former high-ranking members of the Syrian Army go on trial in Koblenz, Germany, for alleged war crimes committed during the civil war. It is the first time that Syrian military officials are prosecuted for their roles in the conflict.source
  • 2021SpaceX launches the Crew-2 mission, carrying four crew members of Expedition 65 and 66 to the International Space Station aboard Crew Dragon Endeavour.source
  • 2021UEFA announces that due to a lack of guarantees regarding spectators caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland would be removed as a tournament host for the UEFA Euro 2020.source
  • 20232023 Paraguayan general electionsource
  • 2024Jamaica becomes the 140th UN member state to recognize the State of Palestine.source

Births

  • 1185Afonso II ("the Fat"), king of Portugal (died 1223)source
  • 1238Narathihapate (or Sithu IV), Burmese ruler (died 1287)source
  • 1336Olivier V de Clisson, "the butcher", Breton knight and constable of France (died 1407)source
  • 1408John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, English noble (died 1462)source
  • 1420George of Poděbrady, King of Bohemia (died 1471)source
  • 1464Robert Fayrfax, English Renaissance composer (died 1521)source
  • 1464Joan of France, Duchess of Berry (died 1505)source
  • 1484Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian humanist scholar (died 1558)source
  • 1500Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (died 1565)source
  • 1500Alexander Ales, theologian (died 1565)source
  • 1509Afonso of Portugal, Portuguese Roman Catholic cardinal (died 1540)source
  • 1512Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, Chancellor of the University of Oxford (died 1580)source
  • 1516Georg Fabricius, Protestant German poet (died 1571)source
  • 1522Catherine of Ricci, Italian prioress (died 1590)source
  • 1598Maarten Tromp, officer and later admiral in the Dutch navy (died 1653)source
  • 1621William Penn, English admiral and politician (died 1670)source
  • 1661Issachar Berend Lehmann, German-Jewish banker, Court Jew in Hanover (died 1730)source
  • 1676King Frederick I of Sweden (died 1751)source
  • 1680Anna Canalis di Cumiana, morganatic spouse of Victor Amadeus II of Savoy (died 1769)source
  • 1697George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, British admiral (died 1762)source
  • 1712Devasahayam Pillai, beatified Indian Catholic (died 1752)source
  • 1720Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi (died 1797)source
  • 1758Alexander Cochrane, British Royal Navy officer (died 1832)source
  • 1775J. M. W. Turner, English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker (died 1851)source
  • 1791James Buchanan, American lawyer, politician, and 15th President of the United States. (died 1868)source
  • 1791José Jorge Loureiro, soldier and politician (died 1860)source
  • 1812Alejandro de Castro y Casalsource
  • 1813Stephen A. Douglas, American Senator from Illinois, presidential candidate (died 1861)source
  • 1826Victoriano Sánchez Barcáiztegui, Spanish Navy officer and hero (died 1875)source
  • 1857Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (died 1919)source
  • 1858Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1947)source
  • 1861Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, British soldier, administrator (died 1936)source
  • 1891Sergei Prokofiev, Soviet composer (died 1953)source
  • 1897Lester B. Pearson, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1972)source
  • 1916Wang King-ho, physiciansource
  • 1949Lydie Err, politiciansource
  • 1968Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (died 2001)source
  • 1977John Cena, American professional wrestler, actor and rappersource

Deaths

  • 303George of Lydda, Roman soldier and martyrsource
  • 311Sima Yue (or Yuanchao), Chinese prince and regentsource
  • 711Childebert III, king of the Frankssource
  • 711King Childebert III dies after a 16-year reign, and is succeeded by his son Dagobert III as ruler of Austrasia. Pepin of Herstal becomes his regent.source
  • 725Wihtred, king of Kentsource
  • 725King Wihtred of Kent dies after a 35-year reign. The kingdom is divided between his three sons: Æthelbert II as overking, Eadbert I in West Kent and Alric.source
  • 871Æthelred I, king of Wessexsource
  • 915Yang Shihou, Chinese generalsource
  • 944Wichmann the Elder, Frankish noblemansource
  • 990Ekkehard II (the Courtier), Swiss monk and abbotsource
  • 994Gerard of Toul, German priest and bishopsource
  • 997Adalbert of Prague, Bohemian bishopsource
  • 1002Æscwig, bishop of Dorchestersource
  • 1014Brian Boru, High King of Irelandsource
  • 1014Tadhg Mór Ua Cellaigh, king of Uí Mainesource
  • 1014Sigurd the Stout, Viking nobleman (earl)source
  • 1016Æthelred the Unready, king of England, dies after a 38-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Edmund II "Ironside".source
  • 1016Æthelred the Unready, king of Englandsource
  • 1038Liudolf of Brunswick, margrave of Frisiasource
  • 1121Jón Ögmundsson, Icelandic bishop (born 1052)source
  • 1124King Alexander I of Scotland (born c. 1078)source
  • 1151Adeliza of Louvain, queen of Henry I of England (born 1103)source
  • 1170Minamoto no Tametomo, Japanese samurai (born 1139)source
  • 1196Béla III of Hungary dies after a 23-year reign in which he has supported the former Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos against the invading Bulgarians. Having made the Hungarian court one of the most brilliant in Europe and made his hereditary monarchy. Béla is succeeded by his 22-year-old son Emeric as ruler of Hungary, Croatia and Dalmatia (until 1204).source
  • 1196Béla III, king of Hungary and Croatia (born 1148)source
  • 1200Zhu Xi, Chinese historian and philosopher (born 1130)source
  • 1206Suero Rodríguez, Spanish knight and Grand Mastersource
  • 1217Inge Bårdsson, king of Norway (born 1185)source
  • 1256Sabrisho V, patriarch of the Church of the Eastsource
  • 1262Giles of Assisi, companion of Francis of Assisi (born 1190)source
  • 1266Gilles of Saumur, French cleric and archbishop of Tyresource
  • 1307Joan of Acre (or Johanna), English princess (born 1272)source
  • 1377April 23 or July 11 – Richardis of Schwerin, queen consort of Sweden (born 1347)source
  • 1407Olivier V de Clisson, French soldier (born 1336)source
  • 1501Domenico della Rovere, Italian Catholic cardinal (born 1442)source
  • 1505Muhammad Jaunpuri, Indian-born religious leader (born 1443)source
  • 1616(O.S., Tuesday) – William Shakespeare, English playwright and poet (born 1564)source
  • 1616(Inca date unknown) Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Peruvian author (born 1539)source
  • 1620Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, Palestinian-born Kabbalist (born 1543)source
  • 1625Maurice, Prince of Orange (born 1567)source
  • 1625Stadtholder Maurice of Nassau of the Dutch Republic dies, and is succeeded by his younger brother, Frederick Henry.source
  • 1635Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley, English courtier (born 1576)source
  • 1671Theodorick Bland of Westover, American politician (born 1629)source
  • 1681Justus Sustermans, Flemish painter (born 1597)source
  • 1695Henry Vaughan, Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet (born 1621)source
  • 1702Margaret Fell, English Quaker leader (born 1614)source
  • 1850William Wordsworth, English poet (born 1770)source
  • 1851Anne Darwin, daughter of Charles Darwin dies, sending him into a great depression.source
  • 1868Ramón María Narváez, 1st Duke of Valenciasource
  • 1907Alferd Packer, American cannibal (born 1842)source
  • 1922Vlaho Bukovac, painter (born 1855)source
  • 1975William Hartnell, English actor (born 1908)source
  • 1992Satyajit Ray, 70, Indian filmmaker, heart failure.source
  • 1993Cesar Chavez, 66, American labor leader and civil rights activist.source
  • 2001Fadil Hoxha, politician (born 1916)source
  • 2005Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, 94, Australian politician, longest-serving Premier of Queensland.source
  • 2007Boris Yeltsin, 76, Russian politician, first President of the Russian Federation (1991–1999), heart failure.source