/year

April 7 in history

225 sourced entries recorded on April 7, from 451 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 451Attila's forces invade Gaul and sack Metz. The major cities of Strasbourg, Worms, Mainz, Trier, Cologne, Reims, Tournai, Cambrai, Amiens and Beauvais are destroyed by the Huns.source
  • 529Emperor Justinian I issues the Codex Justinianus (Code of Civil Laws), reformulating Roman law in an effort to control his unruly people (see 532).source
  • 954April 6–10 – The Hungarians besiege Cambrai and burn its suburbs, but they are unable to conquer the city. One of Bulcsú's relatives is killed by the defenders, who refuse to pass his body over to the Hungarians. As a revenge, they kill all their captives.source
  • 1167Oath of Pontida: Supported by Pope Alexander III, the Lombard League is founded, a military alliance between the municipalities of Milan, Lodi, Ferrara, Piacenza and Parma, against the German invading forces of Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) in Northern Italy. The League (with other Italian cities) openly challenges Frederick's claim to power (Honor Imperii).source
  • 1174Pope Alexander III consecrates Richard of Dover as archbishop of Canterbury at Anagni. Richard returns to England bearing his pallium which he has received directly from the pope.source
  • 1219Al-Muzaffar II, Ayyubid ruler of Hama, arrives Egypt with Syrian reinforcements, leading multiple attacks on the Crusader camp at Al-Adiliya, with little impact. In the meantime, new Crusader forces bring badly needed supplies. Egyptian attacks continue through May, with Crusader counter-attacks utilizing a Lombard device known as a carroccio, confounding the defenders.source
  • 1311In Asia, Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan is proclaimed as the Mongol Emperor Renzong of Yuan Dynasty China, 10 weeks after the death of his brother, Külüg Khan.source
  • 1311Battle of Woplauken: In Europe, the Teutonic Knights defeat the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.source
  • 1317Louis of Toulouse is canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church by Pope John XXII.source
  • 13327 April Roger Mortimer's outlawry of Hugh de Lacy queriedsource
  • 1348Charles University in Prague, founded the previous year by papal bull, is granted privileges by Charles I, King of Bohemia, in a golden bull.source
  • 1383Nicolò Guarco is deposed as Doge of the Republic of Genoa and is replaced by Federico di Pagana, who in is forced to resign at the end of the day in favor of Leonardo Montaldo.source
  • 1445In southern Germany, the number of Duchies of Bavaria is reduced from three to two when Bavaria-Ingolstadt is reunited with Bavaria-Landshut, under the rule of Heinrich the Rich following the death of Ludwig the Hunchback of Ingolstadt. The Duchy of Bavaria-Munich, ruled by Albert III the Pious remains the only other duchy in Bavaria.source
  • 1446In England, Thomas de Ashton and Edmund de Trafford, both knights of Lancashire, are granted special dispensation by King Henry VI to use their research in alchemy to transmute substances into precious metals.source
  • 1449The last Antipope, Felix V, abdicates.source
  • 1488Francis II ordered the muster of Breton troops in Rennes.source
  • 1498Louis XII becomes the new King of France upon the death of his wife's brother, King Charles VIII. King Charles had struck his head on the top of a door frame while on his way to watch a tennis match at Amboise.source
  • 1501Shwenankyawshin Narapati begins an almost 26-year reign as King of Burma upon the death of his father, King Minkhaung II.source
  • 1507Easter Day: James IV is invested with the Papal sword at Holyrood Abbey.source
  • 1521Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.source
  • 1521Martin Luther preaches an inflammatory sermon to students at Erfurt, while on his way to Worms.source
  • 1533The Statute in Restraint of Appeals in England, declaring the king to be the supreme sovereign and forbidding judicial appeals to the papacy, is given royal assent.source
  • 1540The English cathedral priories of Canterbury and Rochester are transformed into secular cathedral chapters on Easter Sunday, concluding the Dissolution of the monasteries.source
  • 1541Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon, on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.source
  • 1570In Scotland, Colin Campbell of Glenorchy receives permission from the Regent, the Earl of Morton, to execute the chief of Clan Gregor, his son-in-law Gregor Roy MacGregor, and carries out MacGregor's beheading at Balloch in front of the Earl of Atholl.source
  • 1611April 7 (March 28 O.S.) – False Dmitry III, the third pretender to the Russian throne to claim to be Prince Dmitry of Uglich, son of Ivan the Terrible, arrives at Ivangorod and proclaims himself as the Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich I.source
  • 1620The earliest recorded earthquake in South Africa occurs at Robben Island.source
  • 1625Albrecht von Wallenstein is appointed German supreme commander of the armies of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II.source
  • 1641The deadline for Catholic priests to leave England expires. Among those who refuse to leave, Ambrose Barlow and William Ward become martyrs. Barlow surrenders on Easter Sunday, April 25, and is hanged on September 10; he will be canonized as a saint in 1970. Ward is caught on July 15 and executed on July 26.source
  • 1651Shunzhi, Emperor of China, announces in an imperial edict that he will purge corruption from government.source
  • 1655Pope Alexander VII (born Fabio Chigi) succeeds Pope Innocent X, as the 237th pope.source
  • 1661The siege of Fort Zeelandia, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) headquarters on the Chinese island of Taiwan (near modern Taoyuan City) is started by Koxinga and his invading force from China.source
  • 1682René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, exploring rivers in America, reaches the mouth of the Mississippi River.source
  • 1694The British Royal Navy's 40-gun warship HMS Ruby captures the French privateer Entreprenant in battle. The confiscated ship is renamed HMS Ruby Prize.source
  • 1712April 6–7 – New York Slave Revolt of 1712: An insurrection in New York City results in nine whites being killed, and 21 slaves and other blacks being convicted and executed.source
  • 1724(Good Friday) Bach leads the first performance of his St John Passion,""carefully designed with a great deal of musico-theological intent", on Good Friday.source
  • 1725George Cholmondeley, 2nd Earl of Cholmondeley, succeeds his late brother as Lord Lieutenant of North Wales.source
  • 1750Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone, a polygar in Tamil Nadu, raises slogans and launches a rebellion against Company rule in India due to his opposition to the East India Company's tax collection policies.source
  • 1760'Tacky's War', a slave rebellion, begins in Jamaica and lasts for 18 months. During the uprising, 60 white residents are killed and more than 400 black rebels die in the suppression of the revolt. Another 500 are deported to British Honduras.source
  • 1767Troops of the Burmese Konbaung dynasty sack the Siamese city of Ayutthaya, ending the Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767) after 15 months, and bringing the four-century-old Ayutthaya Kingdom to an end. King Ekkathat is found dead inside the city walls on April 9.source
  • 17737 April or 24 May – Freemasonry in France: The 200 masonic lodges are reorganized within the Grand Orient de France in a vast relational system hierarchized by affiliation.source
  • 1777The first session of the North Carolina General Assembly of 1777 meet in New Bern, North Carolina.source
  • 1788American pioneers establish the town of Marietta (in modern-day Ohio), the first permanent American settlement outside the original Thirteen Colonies.source
  • 1789Selim III (1789–1807) succeeds Abdul Hamid I (1773–1789) as Ottoman Sultan.source
  • 1795The metric system is adopted in France.source
  • 1795France adopts the metre as the unit of length.source
  • 1798The Mississippi Territory is organized by the United States, from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina; later it is twice expanded, to include disputed territory claimed by both the U.S. and Spain (which acquired territory in trade with Great Britain).source
  • 1805Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Eroica, has its public premiere at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna under his baton.source
  • 1805Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Eroica, has its public premiere at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna under his baton.source
  • 1807April 4–12 – Froberg mutiny: The British suppress a mutiny at Fort Ricasoli, Malta, by men of the irregularly-recruited Froberg Regiment.source
  • 1815Bathurst, New South Wales is founded following its discovery by George Evans. It is Australia's first inland European settlement.source
  • 1816March 29–April 10 – The Second Bank of the United States obtains its charter.source
  • 1816March 30–April 11 – In Philadelphia, the African Methodist Episcopal Church is established by Richard Allen and other African-American Methodists, the first such denomination in the U.S. completely independent of White churches.source
  • 1818Brooks Brothers, the oldest men's clothier in the United States, opens its first store on the northeast corner of Catherine and Cherry Streets in New York City, where the later South Street Seaport stands.source
  • 1819April 7 (N.S.) (March 26 O.S.) – The Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire emancipates its peasants from serfdom.source
  • 1823French forces, the "Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis", cross the Spanish border at the Bidasoa River.source
  • 1824The Mechanics' Institution is established in Manchester, England at the Bridgewater Arms hotel, as part of a national movement for the education of working men. The institute is the precursor to two Universities in the city: the University of Manchester and the Metropolitan University of Manchester (MMU).source
  • 1826Australia's first street lamp erected in Macquarie Place, Sydney – it burned whale oil.source
  • 1827John Walker begins selling his invention, the "Lucifer" friction match, in England.source
  • 1827John Walker begins selling his invention, the "Lucifer" friction match.source
  • 1830Wilhelm Bendz's painting The Waagepetersen Family is included in the exhibition.source
  • 1831Pedro I abdicates as Emperor of Brazil in favor of his 5-year-old son Pedro II, who will reign for almost 59 years.source
  • 1835Diogo Feijó wins the election as Regent of Brazil by just a difference of approximately 600 votes.source
  • 1837C.A. Reitzel publishes Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection. Third Booklet (Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. Første Samling. Tredie Hefte. 1837) containing fairytales such as The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes.source
  • 1838Tariffs raised on woollen cloth, porcelain, glass, crystal and chemical products.source
  • 1839The first long-distance railway opened Leipzig-Dresden railway.source
  • 1843Indian Slavery Act, 1843 was passed.source
  • 1843The Indian Slavery Act, 1843 removes legal support for slavery within the territories of the East India Companysource
  • 1845An earthquake destroys part of Mexico City, along with the nearby towns of Tlalpan and Xochimilco.source
  • 1849A large fire engulfs Toronto's downtown section. Started at 1 a.m. of an unknown cause, it started behind a tavern in the market section catching some hay then spread rapidly before destroying numerous buildings, including St. James cathedral. Flames could be seen from across Lake Ontario at St. Catharines, 40 km distant.source
  • 1853Prince Leopold, the youngest son and the eighth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, is born in Buckingham Palace; he has inherited haemophilia. During the labour, Victoria chooses to use chloroform, thereby encouraging the use of anesthesia in childbirth.source
  • 1855Battle of Kaba: The Kingdom of Tonga in the islands of the southwest Pacific Ocean (Polynesia, Melanesia / Oceania), intervenes in the war between the self-proclaimed Tui Viti (King) of the island of Fiji, Cakobau, and his rivals the Confederation of Rewa. It results in Rewa's defeat and the tenuous unification of Fiji under Cakobau.source
  • 1856Nelson College is founded in Nelson, New Zealand.source
  • 1857April 1–8 – Reform War: Crabb Massacresource
  • 1861A population census is taken in the United Kingdom. The population is more than double that of 1801 and those living in urban areas are in a majority.source
  • 1861United Kingdom census. The population is more than double that of 1801 and those living in urban areas are in a majority.source
  • 1862April 6–7– Battle of Shiloh – The Union Army, under General Ulysses S. Grant, defeats the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.source
  • 1868The Charter Oath, drawn up by his councilors, is promulgated at the enthronement of the Emperor Meiji of Japan, promising deliberative assemblies and an end to feudalism.source
  • 1895Nansen's Fram expedition to the Arctic reaches 86°13.6'N, almost 3° beyond the previous Farthest North attained.source
  • 1896Viggo Jensen wins a gold medal in Men's two hand lift and a bronze medal in Men's one hand lift wrestling.source
  • 1899The Shootout at Wilson Ranch, the last major gunfight of the Wild West era in the U.S., takes place in Tombstone, Arizona. Brothers William Halderman and Thomas Halderman, kill two lawmen. They will be hanged on November 16, 1900.source
  • 1900Resistance fighters led by Gen. Nicolas Capistrano launch a failed surprise attack against the U.S. troops, under Col. Edward Godwin, in Cagayan de Misamis, Mindanao;source
  • 1907Hershey Park opens in Hershey, Pennsylvania.source
  • 19101910 Costa Rican general election: Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno is elected president, defeating Rafael Iglesias Castro.source
  • 1910Theodor Nilsen Stousland, politician (born 1842).source
  • 1911May 10 – Battle of Ciudad Juarez (1911)source
  • 19221922 Picardie mid-air collision: The first midair collision between airliners occurs, between a Daimler Airway de Havilland DH.18 and a Grands Express Aériens Farman Goliath over Poix-de-Picardie, Amiens, France.source
  • 19221922 Picardie mid-air collision: World's first midair collision, between a Daimler Airway de Havilland DH.18 and a Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens Farman Goliath over Poix-de-Picardie, Amiens.source
  • 1926An assassination attempt against Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini fails.source
  • 1926Fascist leader Benito Mussolini survives an attempt on his life by the Irishwoman Violet Gibson.source
  • 1927Bell Telephone Co. transmits an image of Herbert Hoover (then the Secretary of Commerce), which becomes the first successful long distance demonstration of television.source
  • 1928Ballymena United F.C. are founded as Ballymena Football Club.source
  • 1933In Germany, the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service is passed, the first law of the new regime directed against Jews (as well as political opponents).source
  • 1933Raymond Paley becomes the first known skiing fatality in the Canadian Rockies on Fossil Mountain.source
  • 1934A major rockfall hit Tafjorden in Møre og Romsdal, creating a 64 m flood wave that destroyed the villages of Tafjord and Fjørå, killing 40 people.source
  • 1939Italian invasion of Albania begins; King Zog flees into exile, initially in Greece, with his wife and Crown Prince Skander (born April 5).source
  • 1940Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.source
  • 1947The largest recorded sunspot group appears on the solar surface.source
  • 1948The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.source
  • 1949Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, starring Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, opens on Broadway, and goes on to become Rodgers and Hammerstein's second longest-running musical. It becomes an instant classic of the musical theatre. The score's biggest hit is the song "Some Enchanted Evening".source
  • 1952The I Love Lucy episode "The Marriage License", aired this evening in the United States, is the first television show in history to be seen in around 10,000,000 homes, according to the American Research Bureau.source
  • 1953Dag Hammarskjöld is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations.source
  • 1954Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech, during a news conference.source
  • 1956Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.source
  • 1957A Varig aircraft crashes near Bagé airport, in Rio Grande do Sul, after suffering a fire on board. All 40 occupants on board lose their lives.source
  • 1959Israel created the first Holocaust Memorial Day by vote of the Knesset in Tel Aviv, to be observed on the 27th day of Nisan, which fell on 5 May in 1959. If the 27th falls on a Friday, the observation is held on the 26th.source
  • 1962The World United Against Malaria campaign was commemorated on a Malayan stamp.source
  • 1962Milovan Đilas, author and former vice-president of Yugoslavia is re-arrested.source
  • 1963Yugoslavia is proclaimed to be a socialist republic, and Josip Broz Tito is named President for Life.source
  • 1967Six-Day War (approach): Israeli fighters shoot down 7 Syrian MIG-21s.source
  • 1969RFC series begins with Network Working Group RFC 1 on ARPANET host software.source
  • 1973Tu te reconnaîtras by Anne-Marie David (music by Claude Morgan, text by Vline Buggy) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 for Luxembourg.source
  • 1973Luxembourg City hosts the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 after Vicky Leandros' victory the previous year. Representing Luxembourg, Anne-Marie David successfully defends Luxembourg's title, winning with the song Tu te reconnaîtras.source
  • 1975Prime Minister Long Boret met with representatives of the Khmer Rouge while in Bangkok, Thailand. He returned to Cambodia the next day, refused to leave when officials were offered a chance to escape, and was executed nine days later by the new regime.source
  • 1977Yitzhak Rabin announces his retirement from the premiership of the Labor Party, following the Dollar Account affair.source
  • 1977German Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light near his home in Karlsruhe. The "Ulrike Meinhof Commando" later claims responsibility.source
  • 1978U.S. President Jimmy Carter decides to postpone production of the neutron bomb, a weapon that kills people with radiation, but leaves buildings relatively intact.source
  • 1979In Japan, Yoshiyuki Tomino directs Mobile Suit Gundam, the first series of the metaseries of the same name.source
  • 1979Bangladesh started the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) to reduce child deaths from vaccine preventable diseases.source
  • 1989The Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea, killing 41.source
  • 1990Hamas declines the invitation to participate in the Preparatory Committee for Restructuring the PNC.source
  • 1990Iran–Contra affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of 5 charges for his part in the scandal; the convictions are later reversed on appeal.source
  • 1990MS Scandinavian Star, a Bahamas-registered ferry, catches fire en route from Norway to Denmark, leaving 158 dead.source
  • 1992The United States recognizes the independence of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The European Communities also recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina.source
  • 1992The United States and the European Community recognize the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina.source
  • 1992The government issues a proclamation for a referendum to be held.source
  • 1992The plane carrying Palestinian president Yasser Arafat and 12 others crashes during sandstorm in Libya.source
  • 1994The Rwandan genocide begins in Kigali, Rwanda.source
  • 1994The Hutu Rwandans started murdering thousands of Tutsi Rwandans and moderate Hutus. Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana was among those murdered.source
  • 1995First Chechen War: Samashki massacre – Russian paramilitary troops begin a massacre of at least 250 civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.source
  • 1999President Spyros Kyprianou flew to Belgrade to help with the negotiations for the release of the three American soldiers detained by Serbia.source
  • 1999Kosovo War: Kosovo's main border crossings are closed by Yugoslav forces to prevent Kosovo Albanians from leaving.source
  • 2001The NASA orbiter 2001 Mars Odyssey launches on a Delta II rocket.source
  • 2003The Archaeological Survey of India orders that Hindus be allowed to worship in the Kamal Maula Mosque.source
  • 2010Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev flees the country amid fierce anti-government riots in the capital, Bishkek.source
  • 2010At least six people die and at least twelve others are injured after a boat sinks in Lake Kivu while carrying people to commemorations to mark the 16th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.source
  • 2011The Israel Defense Forces use their Iron Dome missile system to successfully intercept a BM-21 Grad launched from Gaza, marking the first short-range missile intercept ever.source
  • 2013Taiwan plans to expand a pier on one of the disputed Spratly Islands, parts of which are also claimed by Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines, as the other claimants strengthen military deployment in the South China Sea.source
  • 2014The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic declares its independence from Ukraine.source
  • 2017In response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town, the U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in Syria. Russia describes the strikes as an "aggression", adding they significantly damage U.S.–Russia ties.source
  • 20182018 Münster attack: In a suicide attack, a man drives a van into people seated outside restaurants in a pedestrianised square in the old part of the German city of Münster, resulting in 5 other deaths.source
  • 2018April 4–15 – The 2018 Commonwealth Games are held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.source
  • 2020COVID-19 pandemic: Japan declares a state of emergency in response to COVID-19 and finalises a stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen (US$990 billion), equal to 20% of the country's GDP.source
  • 2022The UN votes by 93–24 to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, with 58 countries abstaining.source
  • 2025Colossal Biosciences showcases three grey wolves that are genetically modified to exhibit the characteristics of the dire wolf.source

Births

  • 1206Otto II, German nobleman (died 1253)source
  • 1428William Percy, late medieval Bishop of Carlisle (died 1462)source
  • 1470Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire (died 1498)source
  • 1506Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit saint (died 1552)source
  • 1613Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (died 1675)source
  • 1626Ole Borch, scientist, physician, grammarian, and poet (died 1690)source
  • 1644François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, French soldier (died 1730)source
  • 1648John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English statesman and poet (died 1721)source
  • 1648John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, statesman and poet (died 1721)source
  • 1652Pope Clement XII (died 1740)source
  • 1714John Elwes (politician), British politician (died 1789)source
  • 1718Hugh Blair, Scottish preacher and man of letters (died 1800)source
  • 1740Haym Salomon, Polish-Jewish American financier of the American Revolution (died 1785)source
  • 1770William Wordsworth, English poet (died 1850)source
  • 1770William Wordsworth, in Cockermouth, England (d.1850)source
  • 1772Charles Fourier, French philosopher (died 1837)source
  • 1774Joseph Bailly, fur trader and pioneer from Canada (died 1835)source
  • 1780William Ellery Channing, influential American Unitarian theologian and minister (died 1842)source
  • 1824Edward Jones, trespasser who continually broke into Buckingham Palace (died 1895)source
  • 1848Randall Davidson, British Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1930)source
  • 1868José de Castro, lawyer, journalist and politician (died 1929)source
  • 1873John McGraw, American baseball player, manager (died 1934)source
  • 1884Bronisław Malinowski, Polish anthropologist (died 1942)source
  • 1915Billie Holiday, African-American singer (died 1959)source
  • 1928James White, science fiction novelist (died 1999).source
  • 1939Francis Ford Coppola, American film directorsource
  • 1946Léon Krier, architectsource
  • 1954Jackie Chan, Hong Kong-born actor, martial artistsource
  • 1954Louisa Hanoune, politician and head of Algeria's Parti des Travailleurs (PT), or Workers' Party.source
  • 1957Kim Kap-soo, Kim Soo-chulsource
  • 2000Ivan Ivanov, singer and songwritersource
  • 2001Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha, athletesource

Deaths

  • 821George the Standard-Bearer, archbishop of Mytilene (born c. 776)source
  • 924Berengar I, king of Italy and Holy Roman Emperorsource
  • 924After having made a new alliance with the Hungarians, the Holy Roman Emperor Berengar I, King of Italy, is assassinated in Verona by one of his guards. Rudolph II, King of Burgundy and a claimant to the throne, takes full control of the Kingdom of Italy, while the office of the Holy Roman Emperor will not be re-created until 38 years later.source
  • 1008Ludolf (or Liudolf), archbishop of Triersource
  • 1088Burchard II (or Bucco), German bishopsource
  • 1140Aibert, French monk and hermit (born 1060)source
  • 1201Baha al-Din Qaraqush, Egyptian regent and architectsource
  • 1206Frederick I, German nobleman (House of Lorraine)source
  • 1234Sancho VII ("the Strong"), king of Navarresource
  • 1239William I de Cantilupe, Norman nobleman (born 1159)source
  • 1297Siegfried II of Westerburg, German nobleman and archbishop (born 1258)source
  • 1340Bolesław Jerzy II of Mazovia (born 1308)source
  • 1445Louis VIII, Duke of Bavaria, German noble (born 1403)source
  • 1498King Charles VIII of France (born 1470)source
  • 1498Charles VIII of France (born 1470).source
  • 1499Galeotto I Pico, Duke of Mirandola (born 1442)source
  • 1501Minkhaung II, king of Ava (born 1446)source
  • 1503Sophia Palaiologina, Byzantine princess and Grand Princess of Moscow (born 1449)source
  • 1553Gunilla Bese, defender of Vyborg Castle (born 1475)source
  • 1614El Greco, or Domênikos Theotokópoulos (Greek: Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος), Cretian painter, sculptor and architect (born 1541)source
  • 1651Lennart Torstensson, Swedish Field Marshal, Privy Councillour and Governor-General (born 1603)source
  • 1658Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, Spanish mystic (born 1595)source
  • 1661William Brereton, English soldier and politician (born 1604)source
  • 1663Francis Cooke, English Mayflower Pilgrim (born c. 1583)source
  • 1665Henrik Ernstt, jurist (born 1603)source
  • 1719Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest, education reformer, saint in the Catholic Church (born 1651)source
  • 1739English highwayman Dick Turpin is executed by hanging for horse theft.source
  • 1739Dick Turpin, English highwayman (hanged) (born 1705)source
  • 1747Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal (born 1676)source
  • 1778Former British prime minister William Pitt delivers his last speech to Parliament, and speaks to the House of Lords "passionately but incoherently against the granting of independence" to the American colonies, but collapses during the debate, and dies five weeks later.source
  • 1782Taksin the Great, King of Siam (Thonburi Kingdom) (born 1734)source
  • 1789Petrus Camper, Dutch anatomist (born 1722)source
  • 1789Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman Sultan (born 1725)source
  • 1789Petrus Camper, physician, anatomist, and palaeontologist among otherssource
  • 1803Toussaint L'Ouverture, Haitian revolutionary (born 1743)source
  • 1836William Godwin, English writer (born 1756)source
  • 1866Johann Sedlatzek, German flautist (born 1789)source
  • 1871Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, Austrian admiral (born 1827)source
  • 1886Mirza Yusuf Ashtiani, Iranian politician.source
  • 1889Youssef Bey Karam, Lebanese nationalist leader (born 1823)source
  • 1891P. T. Barnum, American showman (born 1810)source
  • 1928Alexander Bogdanov, Bolshevik (born 1873)source
  • 1939Joseph Lyons, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, dies in office from a heart attack at the age of 59. He is briefly replaced by his deputy Earle Page, who serves as the 11th Prime Minister, until a UAP leadership election is held to replace Lyons.source
  • 1939Joseph Lyons, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, Premier of Tasmania (born 1879)source
  • 1947Henry Ford, American industrialist, automobile manufacturer (born 1863)source
  • 1968British racing driver Jim Clark is killed in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim.source
  • 1968Jim Clark, Scottish racing driver and double Formula One World Champion (born 1936)source
  • 2009April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election protests: four people died and 270 were injured.source