April 15

Events

*1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.
*1632 - Battle of Rain; Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.
*1715 - Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
*1738 - Premiere in London of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel.
*1755 - Samuel Johnson's "A Dictionary of the English Language" published in London.
*1783 - Preliminary articles of peace ending Revolutionary War ratified.
*1802 - William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy see a "long belt" of daffodils, inspiring the former to pen "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".
*1865 - Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson is then sworn in as the 17th President of the United States.
*1892 - The General Electric Company is formed.
*1906 - The Armenian organization AGBU is established.
*1912 - The British passenger liner, the RMS Titanic, sinks in the North Atlantic, after hitting an iceberg two and a half hours earlier, the previous day.
*1920 - Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti allegedly murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store.
*1923 - Insulin becomes generally available for use by diabetics.
*1924 - Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
*1940 - The Allies begin their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which is occupied by Nazi Germany.
*1941 - In the Belfast Blitz, two-hundred bombers of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) attack Belfast, Northern Ireland killing one thousand people.
*1942 - George Cross is awarded to "to the island fortress of Malta - its people and defenders" by King George VI.
*1943 - An Allied bomber attack misses the Minerva automobile factory and hits the Belgian town of Mortsel instead, killing 936 civilians.
*1945 - The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
*1947 - Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.
*1952 - The maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress
*1955 - Ray Kroc opens his first franchise of McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
*1957 - White Rock, British Columbia officially separates from Surrey, British Columbia and is incorporated as a new city.
*1967 - Scotland defeats rival England 3-2 at Wembley Stadium, causing the Scots fans to jokingly claim their side as "Unofficial world Champions", creating the phenomenon of the Unofficial Football World Championships.
*1979 - A disastrous earthquake (of M 7.1) on Montenegro coast.
*1984 - British comedian Tommy Cooper suffers a massive heart attack while live on TV.
*1986 - The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya.
*1989 - Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of football club Sheffield Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool FC fans.
* 1989 - Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.
*1992 - The National Assembly of Vietnam adopts the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
*1994 - Representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities sign the Marrakesh Agreements revising the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and initiating the World Trade Organization (effective January 1, 1995).
*1997 - Fire sweeps through a campsite of Muslims making the Hajj pilgrimage; the official death toll is 343.
*2002 - An Air China Boeing 767-200, flight CA129 crashes into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Busan, South Korea, killing 128.

Births

*1452 - Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance polymath (d. 1519)
*1469 - Guru Nanak Dev, Founder of Sikhism (d. 1539)
*1489 - Sinan, Ottoman architect (d. 1588)
*1552 - Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)
*1588 - Claudius Salmasius, French classical scholar (d. 1653)
*1641 - Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician (d. 1722)
*1642 - Suleiman II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1691)
*1646 - King Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
* 1646 - Pierre Poiret, French mystic (d. 1719)
*1684 - Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
*1688 - Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (d. 1758)
*1707 - Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (d. 1783)
*1710 - William Cullen, Scottish physician (d. 1790)
*1721 - Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (d. 1765)
*1741 - Charles Willson Peale, American painter, soldier and naturalist (d. 1827)
*1772 - Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French naturalist (d. 1844)
*1793 - Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer (d. 1864)
*1794 - Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist (d. 1867)
*1800 - James Clark Ross, English explorer (d. 1862)
*1809 - Hermann Grassmann, German mathematician (d. 1877)
*1832 - Wilhelm Busch, German poet (d. 1908)
*1841 - Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian distillery founder (d. 1919)
*1843 - Henry James, American author (d. 1916)
*1858 - Émile Durkheim, French sociologist (d. 1917)
*1861 - Bliss Carman, Canadian poet (d. 1929)
*1874 - George Harrison Shull, American plant geneticist (d. 1954)
* 1874 - Johannes Stark, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1957)
*1875 - James J. Jeffries, American heavyweight boxer (d. 1953)
*1878 - Robert Walser, Swiss writer (d. 1956)
*1879 - Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer (d. 1980)
*1883 - Stanley Bruce, eighth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
*1885 - Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
*1886 - Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet (d. 1921)
*1888 - Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (d. 1904)
*1889 - Thomas Hart Benton, American muralist (d. 1975)
* 1889 - A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
*1892 - Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author and Holocaust survivor (d. 1983)
* 1892 - Theo Osterkamp, World War I and World War II German fighter pilot (d. 1975)
*1894 - Bessie Smith, American blues singer (d. 1937)
*1895 - Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards player (d. 1980)
*1896 - Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, Russian chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1986)
*1901 - Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
*1902 - Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
*1904 - Arshile Gorky, Armenian Artist (d. 1948)
*1907 - Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ethologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1988)
*1908 - Eden Ahbez, American songwriter (d. 1995)
* 1908 - Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
*1912 - Kim Il-sung, President of North Korea (d. 1994)
*1916 - Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
*1917 - Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
* 1917 - James Kee, American politician (d. 1989)
*1920 - Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany
*1921 - Georgi Beregovoi, Russian cosmonaut (d. 1995)
*1922 - Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor
* 1922 - Harold Washington, American politician (d. 1987)
*1924 - Sir Neville Marriner, English conductor
*1927 - Robert Mills, American physicist (d. 1999)
*1930 - Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, President of Iceland
*1933 - Roy Clark, American musician
* 1933 - David Hamilton, British photographer, film director and producer
* 1933 - Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)
* 1933 - Boris Strugatsky, Russian author
*1936 - Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
*1937 - Bob Luman, American country singer (d. 1978)
*1938 - Hso Khan Pha, Burmese politician
*1939 - Claudia Cardinale, Tunisian-born actress
* 1939 - Marty Wilde, British singer
*1940 - Jeffrey Archer, British author
* 1940 - Willie Davis, American baseball player
* 1940 - Woodie Fryman, American baseball player
* 1940 - Robert Lacroix, French Canadian professor of economics
* 1940 - Robert Walker Jr., American actor
*1941 - Howard Berman, American politician
*1942 - Francis X. DiLorenzo, American Catholic prelate
* 1942 - Walt Hazzard, American basketball player
* 1942 - Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)
*1944 - Dzhokhar Dudaev, Chechen leader (d. 1996)
* 1944 - Dave Edmunds, Welsh musician
*1947 - Lois Chiles, American actress
* 1947 - Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish politician
* 1947 - Mike Chapman, British songwriter
* 1947 - Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American writer and television producer
*1948 - Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)
*1949 - Tonio K, American singer
* 1949 - Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer
* 1949 - Craig Zadan, American film producer
*1950 - Josiane Balasko, French actress, director and screenwriter
* 1950 - Amy Wright, American actress
*1951 - Heloise, American newspaper columnist
*1952 - Bengt Gingsjö, Swedish swimmer
* 1952 - Kym Gyngell, Australian comedian
* 1952 - Sam McMurray, American actor
*1954 - Seka, American pornographic actress
*1955 - Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (d. 1997)
*1956 - Michael Cooper, American basketball player
*1957 - Evelyn Ashford, American athlete
*1958 - Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* 1958 - Dolores Gordon-Smith, British Writer
* 1958 - Noni Ιoannidou, Greek fashion model and actress
* 1958 - Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer
*1959 - Fruit Chan, Hong Kong film director
* 1959 - Emma Thompson, English actress
* 1959 - Thomas F. Wilson, American actor
* 1959 - Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player and general manager
*1960 - Tony Jones (snooker), English snooker player
* 1960 - Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist
* 1960 - HRH Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, heir to the Belgian throne
*1962 - Surjit Bindrakhia, Punjabi Bhangra singer
*1962 - Nawal El Moutawakel, Morrocan hurdler
* 1962 - Tom Kane, American voice actor
*1963 - Bobby Pepper, American journalist
*1965 - Linda Perry, American musician
*1966 - Samantha Fox, English singer
*1967 - Frankie Poullain, British musician (The Darkness)
* 1967 - Dara Torres, American swimmer
* 1967 - Alt, Brazilian comic creator
*1968 - Ed O'Brien, British musician (Radiohead)
* 1968 - Stacey Williams, American model
*1969 - Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
* 1969 - Jimmy Waite, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
*1970 - Flex Alexander, American actor
*1971 - Katy Hill, British television presenter
* 1971 - Sarah Jane Hamilton, British pornographic actress
* 1971 - Jason Sehorn, American football player
*1972 - Lou Romano, American voice actor
* 1972 - Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer
*1974 - Mike Quinn, American football player
* 1974 - Keith Malley, American comedian and podcaster (Keith and The Girl)
* 1974 - Danny Pino, American actor
* 1974 - Douglas Spain, American actor
* 1974 - Josh Todd, American musician (Buckcherry)
*1975 - Paul Dana, American race car driver (d. 2006)
*1976 - Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1976 - Susan Ward, American actress
*1977 - Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
*1978 - Austin Aries, American wrestler
* 1978 - Milton Bradley, American baseball player
* 1978 - Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
*1980 - Natalie Casey, British actress
* 1980 - James Foster, English cricketer
* 1980 - Raúl López, Spanish basketball player
* 1980 - Victor Núñez, Costa Rican footballer
* 1980 - Willie Mason, Australian Rugby League Player
* 1980 - Fränk Schleck, Luxembourgish cyclist
*1981 - Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentine football player
* 1981 - Seth Wulsin, American artist
*1982 - Anthony Green, American musician
* 1982 - Seth Rogen, Canadian actor and writer
* 1982 - Albert Riera, Spanish footballer
* 1982 - Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
*1983 - Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
* 1983 - Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
* 1983 - Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
* 1983 - Bronson La'Cassie, Australian professional golfer
*1984 - Rodney Carney, NBA athlete
* 1984 - Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
* 1984 - Ben Kasica, Guitarist of rock band Skillet
*1985 - John Danks, American baseball player
* 1985 - Aaron Laffey, American baseball player
*1986 - Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Dutch footballer
*1990 - Emma Watson, English actress
*1992 - Amy Diamond, Swedish singer
*1993 - Madeleine Martin, American television actress

Deaths

*1053 - Godwin, Earl of Wessex
*1220 - Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne
*1415 - Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek humanist and grammarian
*1446 - Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (b. 1377)
*1610 - Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (b. 1546)
*1621 - John Carver, first governor of Plymouth Colony
*1632 - George Calvert, Proprietor of the Avalon (Maryland) Colony (b. 1580)
*1641 - Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (b. 1581)
*1652 - Patriarch Joseph, head of the Russian Orthodox Church
*1659 - Simon Dach, German poet (b. 1605)
*1704 - Johann van Waveren Hudde, Dutch mathematician (b. 1628)
*1719 - Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon, second wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
*1754 - Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (b. 1676)
*1761 - Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish politician (b. 1682)
* 1761 - William Oldys, English antiquarian and bibliographer (b. 1696)
*1764 - Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (b. 1721)
* 1764 - Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer (b. 1679)
*1765 - Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian scientist and writer (b. 1711)
*1788 - Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
*1793 - Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian Jesuit missionary and geographer (b. 1718)
*1804 - Charles Pichegru, French general (strangled in prison) (b. 1761)
*1854 - Arthur Aikin, English chemist, mineralogist, and writer (b. 1773)
*1865 - Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
*1888 - Matthew Arnold, English poet (b. 1822)
*1889 - Father Damien, Belgian missionary (b. 1840)
*1898 - Kepa Te Rangihiwinui, Maori military leader
*1912 - Edward Smith, captain of the RMS Titanic (b. 1850)
* 1912 - John Jacob Astor IV, billionaire (b. 1864)
* 1912 - William T. Stead American author and journalist. (b. 1849)
*1927 - Gaston Leroux, French writer (b. 1868)
*1938 - César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (b. 1892)
*1942 - Robert Musil, Austrian novelist (b. 1880)
*1943 - Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian artist (d. 1882)
*1945 - Hermann Florstedt, Nazi leader (b. 1895)
*1948 - Radola Gajda, Czech military commander and politician (d. 1892)
*1949 - Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885)
*1957 - Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (b. 1917)
*1962 - Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1881)
* 1962 - Arsenio Lacson, Filipino politician and sportswriter (b. 1911)
*1963 - Edward "Carji" Greeves, Australian rules footballer (b. 1903)
*1969 - Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen of Spain (b. 1887)
*1970 - Ripper Collins, American baseball player (b. 1904)
*1971 - Dan Reeves, American football team owner (b. 1912)
*1974 - Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (b. 1906)
*1975 - Richard Conte, American actor (b. 1910)
*1980 - Raymond Bailey, American actor (b. 1904)
* 1980 - Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1905)
*1982 - Arthur Lowe, British actor (b. 1915)
*1983 - Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author and Holocaust survivor (b. 1892)
*1984 - Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedy magician (b. 1921)
* 1984 - Alexander Trocchi, Scottish writer (b. 1925)
*1986 - Jean Genet, French author (b. 1910)

*1988 - Kenneth Williams, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)
* 1988 - Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist (b. 1954)
*1989 - Nesuhi Ertegün, American record executive (b. 1917)
* 1989 - Hu Yaobang, Chinese politician (b. 1915)
*1990 - Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (b. 1905)
*1993 - John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geologist (b. 1908)
* 1993 - Leslie Charteris, Singapore-born author (b. 1907)
*1994 - John Curry, English figure skater (b. 1949)
*1995 - Harry Shoulberg, American painter, serigrapher (b. 1903)
*1998 - Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (b. 1925)
*1999 - Harvey Postlethwaite, British engineer and racing car designer (b. 1944)
*2000 - Edward Gorey, American illustrator (b. 1925)
*2001 - Joey Ramone, American musician and singer (The Ramones) (b. 1951)
*2002 - Damon Knight, American author (b. 1922)
* 2002 - Byron "Whizzer" White, American football player and U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1917)
*2003 - Erin Fleming, Canadian actress (b. 1941)
* 2003 - Reg Bundy, British performer (b. 1941)
*2004 - Ray Condo, Canadian musician (b. 1950)
*2005 - John Fred, American singer (b. 1941)
*2007 - Brant Parker, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
*2008 - Krister Stendahl, Swedish Lutheran theologian and bishop (b. 1921)
*2008 - Benoît Lamy, Belgian Movie Director (b. 1945)

Holidays and observances

*Ancient Latvia—Tipsa Diena was observed.
*Hawai'i - Father Damien Day—celebrated annually.
*India - Baisakhi, Pôhela Boishakh, Rongali Bihu
*North Korea - Arirang Festival held to commemorate Kim Il-sung's birth.
*Roman Empire—the Fordicia was celebrated in honor of Terra.
*United States - April 15 is the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension) in most areas of the country (see Tax Day).
*translation of relics of Goeric of Metz
*Abbo II of Metz
*Saint Petrus Gonzalez
*Saint Paternus
*Saint Hunna

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/15 BBC: On This Day]
*
* [http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Apr&day=15 On This Day in Canada] ----